“There was nothing left to heal, yet I consider myself lucky. I survived to tell the tale and Baron Wyalon put me behind a desk instead of firing me. The only battlefield left for me is that against paperwork, but I can at least train recruits.” The Sergeant said.
“Why not regrowing it?” Nalrond was baffled at human society abandoning its veterans.
“Not even his Excellency’s personal mage knows how to do it, and even if she did, it would cost too much. I’m a member of the militia, not of the army. Jambel can’t afford to send all those like me to the White Griffon.”
Regrowing a limb required two teams of three Healers each. Hiring six mages at the same time was something beyond even a noble household’s abilities. The six great academies were the only place that provided such services at an affordable price.
“Interesting.” Lith took several purple potions out of his pocket dimension. “Drink one of these now and another one once per hour until our return.”
“Will they make my arm grow back?” The Sergeant was flabbergasted.
“Do I look like a god to you?” Lith scoffed. “Of course they won’t, but trusting me or not is up to you. See you later.”
He opened a dimensional corridor that led the group where once the entrance to Zolgrish’s lab was. Once the three mages stepped through it, the Steps disappeared and the Sergeant turned the one-hour hourglass after gulping down the first potion.
“That was generous of you.” Tista understood his intentions, but she had a few doubts. “What was in those flasks?”
“Not generosity, just foresight. If I manage to get the mines, I’ll depend on Jambel’s guards to keep the area safe from brigands and protect the cargo until someone picks it up.
“Jambel has no Warp Gate, so I’ll have to retrieve the silver personally from time to time or send one of the few people I really trust to do it. A few stolen silver nuggets are not a problem, losing a few kilos of it, however, is unacceptable.” Lith replied.
He created a hologram representing the blueprints of the mines as he remembered them, showing Nalrond where he had spotted the biggest silver veins.
“I don’t plan on spending a single coin unless we find an alternative access point to the mines .” Lith nodded at the tons of rock and debris that once were a small mountain range.
“Nalrond, I need you to look for a path to the veins that starts from the ground and it’s stable enough to withstand being excavated without collapsing easily. The second most important requirement is that the silver must be abundant and not be too close to the old mines.
“The self-destruct mechanism has surely compromised their integrity and if you consider the thousands of tons of rocks weighing from above, reopening those tunnels is suicidal.
“Tista, help me look for arrays, traps, undead, or anything that could indicate that Zolgrish is still interested in the area. I’m not going to fight a Lich without an excellent reason.”
Nalrond nodded and shapeshifted into his Emperor Beast form. He dived into the ground that parted in front of him and closed immediately after, leaving no trace of his passage.
In the meantime, Lith and Tista circled the ruins while casting Life Sensing arrays and Array detecting spells.
The former would spot any form of life or undeath that might have taken residence in the mines’ proximity while the latter would reveal any recent magical formation. Right after the lab self-destructed, Lith and General Vorgh, the army’s Master Warden, had checked the area without finding anything.
Unless Zolgrish had placed new arrays after they had left, the area was bound to be safe.
“Nothing on my side but animals.” Tista reported via her communication amulet.
“Same here.” Lith hoped he wouldn’t be forced to resort to his contingency plan.
“Fuck me sideways!” He said a second later when his array detecting spell triggered a spell detecting array that had remained dormant and invisible even to mana sense until the energy of Lith’s magic had fueled it.
‘What a brilliant design!’ Solus thought. ‘Leaving the array depowered to preserve its strength and make use of the enemy’s energy to activate your own formation makes it impossible for the intruder to react until it’s too late.’
“Code blue! I repeat, code blue!” Lith yelled inside his amulet while cursing the Lich’s ingenuity.
A depowered array was incapable to do any damage, but it was strong enough to send a signal to its caster.
Tista and Nalrond managed to Warp back to his coordinates just in time to see a Gate made of a red, spiraling energy open.
The humanoid figure that stepped out of it was that of a tall man with a skeletal body, with barely enough skin on his face to express emotions. The cold, red light of undeath shone inside his withered eyes, giving him a cruel gaze.
The Lich wore a golden magician robe and held in his right hand a silvery staff with several purple mana crystals embedded on it.
‘Bad news. His life force is off the charts and his blood core is almost entirely red. On top of that, everything he wears is heavily enchanted.’ Solus shared her mana sense’s analysis of the Lich’s prowess.
“We meet again, Zolgrish.” Lith’s voice was confident as his eyes flared up with darkness magic.
The Lich was taken aback by both Lith’s eyes and their apparent familiarity.
“Do I know him, Ratpack?” Zolgrish turned to a small being that was following him, being careful to remain hidden behind the Lich’s vest.
“He’s the Ranger called Scourge, master! You fought together against the usurpers.”
The creature didn’t resemble anything Tista or Nalrond had ever seen before. Ratpack was a small humanoid, barely 1.3 meters (4’3″) tall, with pale grey skin and thick grizzled hair.
Judging by his appearance and his voice, Ratpack seemed to be a male. He had small pointed ears, pitch-black eyes, and was wearing a yellow mage’s robe. Despite his jagged teeth and the claws at the end of his limbs, it looked more scared than dangerous.
“It seems you’ve become wiser and stronger, Stooge.” Zolgrish’s trademark lack of care for names seemed to be unchanged. “Let’s see how much.”
The Lich left the Adamant staff into Ratpack’s hands and stepped forward while Lith took a deep breath to calm down.
‘Let’s hope that Kalla’s teachings work on this madman as well.’ He thought.
Zolgrish eyes flared up with darkness magic as well, standing right in front of the human Archmage before offering Lith his open right hand. Lith slapped it with his own and went for a backhand palm strike to which Zolgrish replied in kind.
The amount of mana the two opponents released was enough to make the air vibrate and cause the body hair of those who witnessed the clash to stand up. Tista and Nalrond held their breath while weaving their best spells, ready to intervene the moment the fight started.
Yet instead of conjuring magic, the two men bumped their right fists up, down, and then frontally.
‘Okay, now make a full spin, and as soon as you are done lift your left foot and touch it with your right hand.’ Solus thought.
