24 - Chapter 24

Burris was silent for a moment and then he whispered: “I checked. She doesn’t have any spell or a magic sigil on her.”

Roth touched his chin: “I was thinking about the Red Vulture in the Moonset Mountains. I heard that he was fine at first, and then he became delirious, but his power was getting stronger. Then he went completely insane, and his power weakened…It wasn’t because his power was really weakened, but because he couldn’t control his magic.”

Tarina stopped sobbing for a while. She leaned on the shoulder of her second brother Charles, looking at the sky with a dull expression, her tears were still wet on her face. Burris frowned and thought about Roth’s words: “Do you mean that this child also has the potential to be a sorceress and she is also affected by something in the Moonset Mountains? Why are her two brothers all right?”

Roth replied: “As far as I know, a warlock’s natural ability to cast spells does not have to be passed on to every child, and sometimes is not even passed on from generation to generation. By the way, do you know how Prince Lanto’s wife died?”

In Prince Lanto’s family there is only four persons, his children and himself; the princess died many years ago. “I heard it was an accident, but I don’t know the details.” Burris said.

Roth leaned close to the mage’s ear: “I have heard that the prince’s wife died in the mountains. She left the castle in the middle of the night and ran quietly into the forest. When the prince found her the next day, she was crushed by a silver spotted giant fir and had stopped breathing.”

Burris squeezed his eyebrows: “My lord, how do you know everything…?”

“Because I love to inquire about anecdotes.” Roth said frankly. “The strangest thing is that the big tree was cut by a lightning bolt. It was early spring, and there was no rain or snow on that day, and the sky was clear.”

“I understand.” Burris looked at Little Tarina again. “You suspect this is a phenomenon of ‘forced influence’…”

The so-called ‘forced influence’ was a phenomenon that occasionally occurred in the natural born spellcaster. A sorcerer’s spellcasting ability was hidden in their blood. Some people can awaken themselves in time, and if they are even more lucky, they can be appreciated and guided by senior sorcerers. There are also people who are gifted but never realize that they can cast spells. Generally, a ‘sorcerer ability’ is a gift, not a compulsive shackle. People who have this gift can choose to dig deep into their talent, or they can choose to ignore it during all their lives.

However, there is one exception: once a magical disturbance is encountered, the bloodline ability of the gifted person will be forcibly torn out.

A magical disturbance was a kind of outer power that remained in the world. It was said that it had existed since ancient times, and it was the remnant after the other world was cut off from the human world. It combined the forces of all kinds of unknown planes, including Hell or Dark Realm, and even some divine magic threads.

For most people, magical disturbances were not dangerous. Ordinary people couldn’t feel them; mages could use them for research, priests could judge the traces of gods through it, and experienced warlocks could use them to sort out the power in their bodies, so that their ability to control elements is more accurate and stable….In general, whether you are an ordinary person or a trained practitioner, you don’t have to worry about being hurt by a magical disturbance.

It was only threatening to one type of person -those who have the talent of a warlock but have not yet awakened. The disturbance will violently tear your body and mind, and you couldn’t wait to use your power. Whether you want it or not, it will make you burst out.

Some researchers believe that the disturbance will use all the power of the gifted person, and at the same time coerce outer magic into the victim’s body, obliterating their consciousness and devouring their souls. The victim will eventually become insane and just an empty shell carrying the disturbance. This phenomenon was called ‘forced influence’.

The good news was that few people had suffered from ‘forced influence’ since the records began. The first reason was that a magical disturbance was rare, and the second was that it was something good for the awakened warlocks; it wasn’t harmful at all.

Even if you were so weak that you could only light a small spark, you were considered an awakened warlock. Even if you didn’t know that this was called magic, and even if no one guided you, you wouldn’t be hurt by the disturbance. It was like swimming. Even if you could only float or swim like a dog, even if you didn’t know any athletic skills, you could swim as long as you didn’t drown in the water.

“But the situation in the Moonset Mountains is different.” Burris thought. “Even if the princess really died of forced influence, even now Tarina is affected by this… But what about the Red Vulture? He was a warlock many years ago, and he used magic to assist the prince in battle. Normally, the magic disturbance will not make such a warlock crazy, let alone make him weak due to mental instability.”

Prince Lanto returned to his horse, and Tarina was helped into the carriage by the maids and Charles. The team was ready to continue on the road. “So let’s go and see.” Roth stood up and reached out to Burris.

Burris accepted the help of the Skeleton King, took his hand and stood up. When approaching the carriage, Burris suddenly stopped Roth, who was about to lead the horse: “My lord, why are you interested in the Moonset Mountains?”

Roth straightened the reins and did not look back: “Because of curiosity. Of course, I want to take part in so many mysterious things. Besides, the king and the prince hired you, and I am your ally, so of course I want to follow along.”

Are you interested in magical disturbances? Burris had this sentence in his mouth but hesitated before asking. Finally, he changed to another phrase and asked: “If there is a magic disturbance in that place, can you handle it?”

“Of course, after all I am…” Roth looked around and said with his lips: “A demigod.”

Burris nodded: “Where there are magical disturbances, there are likely to be residual thin spots on the plane. Thin spots on the plane are very dangerous. You must be mentally prepared in advance and be more careful.”

As he said this, Burris took a deep breath in advance. He didn’t understand what he was nervous about. It was the other party who should be nervous.

The Skeleton King did not answer immediately. After turning on his horse, he looked at Burris with a grin and answered: “I know”.

After lunch, Tarina, who had been crying all the way, fell asleep. Burris wanted to read for a while, but it didn’t take long for him to get sleepy too… the carriage was bumping at a constant speed, and there were vague conversations outside the carriage. Burris leaned on the cushion of his seat and entered a half deep sleep.

In the dream, he was still sitting in the prison cart brought by the knights of the Temple more than sixty years ago.

They have been walking in the rime forest for several hours, the end of the forest couldn’t be seen, and the snowstorm was getting bigger.

The Knights went the same way as they had come, but they were much slower than before. They had planned to cross the Shiva[1] river before dusk, enter the border of Ourd after dark, and return to the Northern Star City by way of the territory of Ourd…Now it seemed that they may not be able to get out of the rime forest tonight.

As long as you could get out of the forest, crossing the river was not a problem. The Shiva river had a freezing period of five months in a year, and even heavy cavalry could pass through it. It flowed through several kingdoms and independent city-states, and traversed the northern end of the mainland like a faint silver necklace, separating the area where the Confederacy of Ten Nations was located and the northern frosty plain. Residents of the Ten Nations rarely crossed the river to the north, and the natives of the Frost Plain hardly dared to go south. What they feared was not the frozen river, but the silent and dim forest on both sides of the river.

This cold forest was a testing ground for necromancers long before Yriel, the Lord of the White Tower, was born. In the past, unlike in the present, the necromancers at that time were not only feared by others, but also expelled and excluded by the whole society. As a result, most of them were forced to leave their warm and rich hometowns and live in the rime forest and frost plains that no one was interested in. In fact, the nomads on the plains also rejected the necromancers, but they couldn’t do anything about it. The countries on the South Bank of the Shiva River were indifferent. The north bank didn’t belong to them, and the nomads were not their responsibility.

Later, Yriel became a leader among the necromancers. He ruled the tribes on the plains, conquered the natives in the forest, and even wiped out the fellow mages who opposed his plan… His white tower stood high on the frosty plain, like a spear that pierced the land of wind and snow. From then on, the whole plains and forest had become the kingdom of the undead.

According to the code of the Confederacy itself, as long as the ruler on the plain does not cross the Shiva River, the Confederacy of the Ten Nations had no right to interfere in any of his actions. The Otarot Temple tried to interfere in this matter several times but was obstructed by several countries along the river. Although the temple diocese was independent of the kingdom, it was obvious that they couldn’t send troops to attack other territories at will. Otherwise, today they declare war on the necromancer, and where will they be sending their troops tomorrow?

The Great Shrine of Otarot Church was located in the Northern Star City, and the shrine was called the Tower of Silent Prayer. The Tower of Silent Prayer hoped to collect as much evidence as possible to prove that Yriel’s hand have reached the South Bank. In this way, no country or city-state could oppose the plan of encirclement and suppression.

In fact, everyone knows that Yriel’s rule covered both sides of the Shiva River, and the Gem Forest on the south bank had been occupied for several years…It’s a pity that the evidence obtained by the temple was not enough. They could convince a few mages, but they couldn’t persuade the politicians and nobles.

To the temple, the apprentice Burris was just a noble person in need. The apprentice first contacted the mages in Ourd, and then contacted the Tower of Silence through them. He betrayed his mentor and took the initiative to surrender a series of thrilling evidence -Yriel’s ambition didn’t stop at the north bank of the river. Now he had obtained the Gem forest, and Fesisit and Ourd were also at risk in the future.

After getting the evidence and obtaining the support of neighboring countries, the temple finally sent elite knights to realize their plan of several years of killing their enemy. Before leaving, the commander of the detachment specifically asked the officer: Yriel must be executed. What about his apprentices in the tower? Especially the one who repented…

At the time of this conversation, the apprentice Knight Manero happened to pass by the entrance of the assembly hall. He heard only a small part of it, not the final outcome.

Now, as he walked by the prison cart, he gave a general account of what he had heard and comforted Burris, saying: “It’s all right, just go to the temple. They won’t be too hard on you. There are mages in North Star City, and we often cooperate with them…”

Of course, you have cooperated with mages, and they have taught you a lot of things, such as how to judge the starting position to cast a spell, such as how to deal with a mage…Burris curled up in the corner of the cart and nodded casually to Manero’s words.

Manero thought that the mage, who was no more than a few years older than himself, was afraid of going to the temple. The little knight may never be able to understand that Burris was more sad than afraid. Since then, he had no hometown, no belongings, no identity that could be confirmed. He not only made a betrayal that was rejected by all the necromancers, but also cut off his own wings.

Manero was still looking for something to say, and Burris responded casually without a word. At this time, the knight at the front of the team made a gesture of standing still, and everyone stopped.

The rime forest in the snow and wind was not quiet. Withered branches and ice fell to the ground, stiff shrubs swayed, and the chaotic wind was like the cry of a banshee…Among these noises the only thing lacking was the sound of living creatures. There were no animals and birds in the rime forest.

Crack, crack, crack. Something was approaching from the misty distance. It stepped on the semi hard snow, broke the branches blocking the road, and seemed to drag heave objects made of metal…It sounded like a flail or iron shackles…

“Corpse Heart Guardian!” Burris opened his eyes wide, and squeezed on the fence of the prison. “Sir! Sir!” He shouted to the leader in the distance. “Let them mount! Get them all mounted! Use spears!”

“What? …Stay quiet!” The commander of the detachment understood the second half of the sentence, but he did not understand why the little mage was suddenly so excited. In his opinion, such shouting was just a deliberate exposure of their position.

Burris fully understood the knight’s thought. “Please! Let them get on their horses and tell them to use their spears! It’s the same whether I yell or not; that thing has no hearing and can’t make a sound. It finds enemies by sensing body heat. We have been discovered! That thing is very tall, its skin is very hard, and its weakness is in the center of its back, similar to the heart in a human chest…Arrows and light weapons are useless. Charge up with a spear and chain hammer!”

The commander of the detachment hesitated for a moment, made a gesture and ordered everyone to mount. The commander’s adjutant casted a displeased look at the mage. “There is an ambush in the forest. Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“I wrote it clearly in the letter!” Burris yelled aggrievedly. “When you arrested me, you said that you had killed all the nearby constructs!”

Manero also got on the horse and put on his visor, which made his voice dull. “We should have killed them…Either the ones from the tower or on the way. When we came, we were ambushed by constructs in the forest.”

Burris held the railing of the prison wagon with both hands, and looked around nervously: “What did you encounter? You blocked the attack? That’s the Demon Guardian! The Demon Guardian will not take the initiative to seek the enemy unless you enter their guard range. Unlike the Corpse Heart Guardian, it will take the initiative to hunt! Their core fuel is the undead, which is usually hidden in the soil. After being activated…”

Halfway through, Burris stopped. He suddenly realized the great danger -there must be more than one Corpse Heart Guardian on this land.

Corpse Heart Guardians were very alert, active, and even had a certain degree of desire to kill, so it was more difficult to control them. At ordinary times, Yriel seldom activated them. They had been dormant underground for a long time, restricted by magic… Now that Yriel was dead, his spells were probably no longer valid.

If this was the case, how many experimental constructs were hidden in the rime forest? How many have died, and how many have regained their freedom with the death of their master?

in front of the team, the enemy’s figure appeared faintly. It was a giant construct as high as three people. It was dragging a heavy thorn chain in each hand, and the decayed smell of death lingered around its body. At the order of the commander of the detachment, several knights positioned in a siege formation. Some were responsible for hindering, and some were in charge of frontal attack. The detachment commander and the other two knights were responsible for encircling the rear.

Burris did not understand this, nor did he know how capable the knights of Otarot Temple were. Since they could defeat so many golems and monsters, and could kill Yriel, they should be strong enough…

There was a spell hidden in Burris’ fingertips -a spell that could slow down the speed of the Guardian and appease his rage. It can only be used against Corpse Heart Guardians, and it may not be effective against other constructs.

But the Knights said they wouldn’t allow him to cast spells. Burris huddled in the corner of the cart, nervously looking at the knights, hoping that they would win.

By the way, was that stalker still there? Suddenly, Burris thought of the figure wearing a long-horned helmet.

Is he really just one of the knights, and I lost sight of him? Or is he an escaped experiment, and because he still has a normal mind, he left with us for a while?

Suddenly, a violent bump almost tossed Burris up. He opened his eyes abruptly, and swiftly held the little Tarina in front of him.

The coachman cursed the long and rugged road, and Tarina stared out the window blankly, with tears on her face… Burris sighed, helped the little noble girl sit back, and leaned back on the mat.

This nap was shallow and short, but it was enough to restore his fatigue. At the moment he was awakened, he could actually rush to catch Tarina who had almost fallen down… As expected of his young body, so healthy and full of vitality.

In the past in the dream, he was also at this age.

Burris looked back from the window. Roth rode at the end of the line, half blocked by the floating bone seat. He looked thoughtfully into the distance, much more serious than usual. After perceiving Burris’s gaze, he immediately grinned and winked playfully.

Translation’s notes:

[1] 希瓦 : (xi wa) This could be Shiva or Khiva. As always, I have troubles figuring out this kind of names and I am deeply sorry about that 🙁

By the way, this is just a clarification, in case you are not as nerd as me. In this story the warlocks/sorcerers are born with magic in their blood. They don’t need to study magic to cast spells, and mostly, their spells consist in elemental magic, specially fire magic. The mages need to study magic to be able to cast spells, as they weren’t born with this power.

Thanks for reading and if you have a suggestion or spot a mistake, please tell me 🙂