Chapter 16: Chapter 15: Gold Eyes Of The Mage

Between the capital city and the great forest of Lidande, smoke rose up high into the sky. The open field was covered in fog as the members of the Night Ouen watched the aftermath of Alum’s spell. Turen was the first one to open his mouth. “So this is why his evaluation was so high….” Turen said, and the others agreed with a nod. The person who caused all this was lying down on the road as he had collapsed from exhaustion. Jan had sent a letter to the guild requesting an investigation on the cult case. Which, in turn, would get forwarded to the military, which handles these cases. 

They decided to head to the closest village to investigate. Waiting for the wyvern squad would still take quite an amount of time. They had put the unconscious Alum in the cart and made it as comfortable as possible. They looked at the young man with pity in their eyes. “To think he would encounter something like this on his first adventure…” Nuli said. “Well, although rare, we see things like this from time to time,” Jua commented as they both looked toward the detonation site.

 

Later, when the four had set up a camp, and the driver cooked something for them to eat, Alum woke up. It was now the evening; as the sun started to go down, Alum got off the carriage. “Huh? Where are we?” He asked the others who were sitting around the campfire. “Oh, good, you're awake,” Turen said. Jua then told him to come to sit down with them. And he then received a bowl of soup from the driver. “Thanks… Mr. Hul.” 

After finishing their meal, the others told Alum what the plan was. They were now close to the village and were waiting for backup. The situation did not look good as the place was filled with monsters. Not only that, the headless bodies had come back as undead, forming an abomination of corpses. “There is also a possibility of survivors,” Jan told him. “The stench of the place should mask the scent from living humans in hiding, making the beasts unable to find them.” Alum nodded, “I see. Then when will help come?” He asked. To which they shook their heads, “we don't know. Tomorrow, today, or even a few days.” Jua said. “How strong are the monsters?” Alum asked Jan, who had been investigating. “From the looks of it, there are undead abominations and giant fang wolves. The wolves are around C-ranked. The undead abominations, I do not know.” Jan explained to Alum. 

Alum thought about it for some time and decided to ask, “hey Jan, would it be possible to take me with you? You’re trying to find survivors, right?” Alum asked. They looked at him and smiled. The Alum they had gotten to know thus far was back, his eyes weren’t empty and lifeless anymore, and they all felt relieved. “Sure, I can bring you along, but… will you be fine and all? You just woke up from mana depletion.” Jan asked with a concerned tone. “Actually, I have a faster mana recovery rate than most people, and I should be fine,” Alum replied. “Then it’s decided,” said Nuli while cheerfully smiling. “On, Nuli, you’re so adorable!” Turen said while hugging her. “Honey, stop it! The others are staring! Jeez!” She flirtingly replied to Turen's actions. The sight, of course, made Jan and Jua sigh as they seemed to have gotten a headache from those two. This made Alum chuckle, and the rest soon burst into laughter. 

 

Later that night, Alum and Jan snuck into the village to search for survivors. Quiet footsteps and coated in a thin layer of mana to cover their scent, they snuck past the abominations and the beasts. And there seemed to have gathered more monsters since Jan’s evening report. Some of them were fighting over the corpses that had yet been corrupt, and some died becoming undead themselves. Alum still hasn’t gotten over the sight he saw at the carriage and held back his emotions. Jan tapped his shoulder to shift his focus to something else. And as they took a closer look, it seemed to be a place surrounded by a barrier that couldn't be seen by the naked eye. “It’s an illusionary barrier,” Jan whispers to Alum. He nodded as they headed toward the barrier; an undead beast suddenly popped up in front of them. 

Jan tries to get away from it as fast as possible so they can flee before the beast makes too much sound. But he was surprised when Alum had frozen the beast solid, and he had cast the spell so fast Jan didn’t have time to grab him and run. Looking at Alum sent a shiver down his spine, and the cold golden eyes briefly shone, and the calm atmosphere made it eerier. It was as if Alum had become another person. But Jan knew what type of person Alum was, so he quickly calmed down. “We can’t get our hopes up,” Jan whispers. “I know,” Alum replied with his usual soft voice in contrast to his cold eyes. 

“There could be cultists behind this barrier,” Alum said. Jan agreed and thought for a way to enter the barrier without being detected. The caster would immediately know if someone entered the barrier. As Jan was in deep thought, Alum had bent the barrier. Snapping out it, he looked at Alum and asked him what he did. He told Jan he would explain after they entered. 

 

As the two entered the barrier, they saw a large building. Hiding in the trees, the two of them saw guards outside. They looked much tougher than the ones escorting the carriage. “Are they cultists?” Asked Alum. to which Jan shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I recognize those guards. But we still need to have our guards up.” Jan explained. He then asked Alum how he was able to bend the barrier. Alum just said he was able to do so because the barrier wasn’t all that stable to begin with. By influencing it with more stable and controlled magic, he could take control for a brief moment. 

After Alum’s short explanation, they got closer to the building and saw that the guards had strange eyes. It was as if they were possessed. And indeed they were. Because Jan remembered that these two, in particular, were friendly and would always have something to chat about with each other. “Do you think you can find whoever controls them?” Alum whispers. Jan nodded, and with determined eyes, both of them split up. 

Alum was now in the building, sneaking around. He saw cultists happily talking with each other as they passed him in the hallway. He cast his own original spell [Abyssal Depth]. It was a barrier designed to isolate any noise. The thin layer of water covered in mana would absorb the sound waves and store them for Alum to make the barrier go hypersonic if he wanted. As he snuck closer to them, he removed the hood of one of them, cutting the head off with [Water Blade]. The other quickly pulled out his weapon, which ended in vain as Alum shot him with [Drop Bullet]. Alum shivered as he looked at the two dead bodies. But he quickly regained composure as his golden eyes shone briefly.

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He borrowed the clothes from the one he had removed the hood from and cleansed them from any blood. After that, he hid the bodies and froze them so there wouldn't be any scent. He had cleaned up instantly, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Even with these clothes, he still needed to sneak around. It made him less suspicious if someone were to see him from afar but utterly useless up close if they knew each member well. 

After navigating this seemingly big building, Alum found a group of people in a big room, they were tied, and guards were watching over them. From the looks of it, the guards are under a spell that controls them, and they don’t seem to be cultists. That made it hard to free the people who were tied. Another thing Alum noticed was that they were all good-looking people, girls, boys, men, and women. No single elderly or infant. This could mean many things, but Alum decided not to think about it since he would free them when the time came. 

After observing for a while, someone came into the room. Alum was hiding in the shadows from above, looking down. The one that entered was a cultist, ordering a girl and a boy to get up. The boy had a dark expression as he walked toward the cultist, and the others didn’t say anything. The girl got up and started walking toward the cultist. But another boy got up, acting desperate, trying to stop the girl from going. From their looks, they seemed like siblings. The boy yelled desperately, “Ameth! Ameth!” but the cultist ordered the guard to tie the boy's mouth so he wouldn’t make more sounds. Then they left, and the guard released the boy.

Hearing a name so similar to Amethely made Alum almost lose control. He couldn’t just watch anymore and decided to follow them. The boy seemed calm, but his expression was dark. As for the girl, she was still lifeless ever since the cultist called her. Following behind them, Alum walked without making a sound. They later made it to a room, and upon entering, it was as Alum suspected. The smell of body fluids and the sight of men and women lying on the floor, either dead or broken. He could even see early teens among them. 

The cultist spoke. “I’ve brought them,” he said with a cold tone. The man and woman looked at each other, “Honey, we got new toys.” The woman said. The man commented. “Ohh, she’s a real cutie, ain't she? And you got a nice-looking boy for yourself, too, Hon.” Hearing his reply, she looked behind the cultist. “Oh, the one behind you looks nice too; let me have him~.” The cultist looked at her confused and said, “what are you—” before the cultist could finish his words, Alum had sliced off his head with Depth Cutter. He had already activated [Abyssal Depth] and closed the door behind him. 

Everyone in the room was looking at Alum. Cold shining golden eyes looked at the two pieces of trash in front of him. The two of them had gotten up and were ready to fight. Alum couldn’t help but make a cold snarky comment, “aren’t you cold like that?” He asked, and the two of them looked at him with anger as the man charged toward him. Alum patted the boy and girl and told them everything would be fine, and they looked at him with tears in their eyes. 

Charging toward him was a muscular man twice as large as him. The man swung his claymore and hit Alum's blade, only to be repelled. He was shocked that his hit would be repelled by such a thin-looking shortsword, but nonetheless, he found Alum to be a threat. “Hon, strengthen me!” He yelled at the woman behind him, asking her to cast a spell, but to her surprise, the output was relatively low, confusing them. They looked at Alum. “It’s my playing field you’re in. Do you think I’ll give you anything?” Alum said with a cold smile. They both realized they were inside a barrier and tried to destroy it, only to have the attacks repelled. 

Both of them look desperate as they realize they are trapped with someone they can't beat. They started to beg for their life, even blaming each other, and in a final moment of desperation, they both charged at him. Alum cutting the divine claymore in half as his Depth Cutter sought its way to the man's throat. Seeing her lover die in front of her, the woman stopped in her tracks and backed away. She then tried to jump off the window, repelled by the barrier, and landed on the floor, she begged once again, but Alum had no mercy for them. Alum smiled. Although he was smiling, his eyes weren’t, which sent a shiver down her spine as Alum finished her off with [Drop Bullet].

AN:

Thank you for reading!

Early chapter hoped you enjoyed, and also, as you may or may not have realized, this isn’t just fluff. 

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