NOVEL WEB Chapter 21: Undercurrent.
Chapter 21: Undercurrent.
In Longdale village, a group of men are busy digging a hole to bury the corpses. Some people watch the commotion, while others are already used to it.
"Hurry up!" Shouted Otis, beside him is a scarred-faced woman, Clara.
"Boss, please be patient." The group of men are the thugs in the village. They usually like harassing people, but the one that they are afraid of the most is Otis.
"Useless bastard!"
"Why don't you make them your disciples?" Clara asked.
Hearing that the thugs begin digging the hole faster. They are not stupid about how many people have already died after becoming Otis's disciples.
Seeing their reaction, Otis can only sigh. He made a mistake in the past. Even the brave one, when the test starts, can’t withstand the pain and runs away.
"It looks like I need to leave the village." Otis and Clara are among the last group of the primitive magic mage that survives to this day. They tried to spread their way of magic but failed. And a primitive magic mage doesn’t have an easy life growing up and prefers to be alone.
"How about you follow me?"
"Where are you going?"
"Wellspring town."
-
Gnoll monster nest. Grorlurk, the elderly goblin shaman, after finishing his meeting with the gnoll leader and elder, is resting in a hut prepared for him. Seeing that nobody will disturb him at night, take out a gold handheld mirror. He got the hand mirror when the goblins attacked his caravan entering the violet forest in the past. At first, he thought it was just an ordinary mirror, but several months ago, the hand mirror began to glow, and Grorlurk could see an orc's face in the mirror.
This time, when he uses the mirror, the monster that shows up is a dark orange-skinned hobgoblin. The hobgoblin is the next evolution of the goblin. However, their number is fewer than the goblins.
"Grorlurk, how is the preparation?" Without wasting any time, the hobgoblin asked.
"The gnoll tribe agreed, but the lizardfolk refused to join."
"Those two-legged lizards are too proud to join the monster alliance." The hobgoblin is not surprised by the news because the lizardfolk tribe in Pondover Forest acted the same way.
"What is your next order?" The goblin shaman, although considered rare in the violet forest, acted subserviently in front of the hand mirror. Because hobgoblins are superior species of their kind. According to the goblin ancestor record, the Violet Forest used to be a part of the Pondover Forest. However, humans have begun to conquer and colonize the forest, and in the end, they manage to separate the violet forest from the Pondover forest.
The reason the Cirean Kingdom doesn’t completely destroy the violet forest is that they don’t have the resources and money to eradicate the monster nest in the violet forest. There is also a political problem within the kingdom.
"Attack the Sheffield city."
"But. But. "We don’t have any siege weapons to invade the city." The elderly goblin's eyes were wide. The monster tribe in Violet Forest doesn’t have experience attacking a city.
"Don’t worry, I will send our ally to help destroy the city wall." After giving several more instructions, the image of the hobgoblin is gone and shows the elderly goblin's reflection.
-
Wellspring Town Slum the weather is getting colder each day. But there is nothing people in the slum can do; the only way is to gather some wood to start a fire to warm their bodies.
"I don’t understand why you can’t wait after winter."
"I am bored, and my friend is waiting for me in the violet forest fortress."
"I know your intuition is good, but be careful."
"Don’t worry, he tried to secretly test me, but I already knew about it." After that, Clara tells Otis about Levi.
Otis nodded. If Levi doesn’t do anything and immediately trusts her, it will be really suspicious. Especially if the woman has a scarred face and is powerful. Levi also doesn’t have a prejudice against primitive magic. Different from most mages on this continent. From their point of view, primitive magic is already outdated in the current age.
"You still haven’t told me the target?"
"Ian is the disciple of mage Gavin, a teacher from the magic academy."
"Why?" Otis knows his senior disciple's personality. That means Ian must have done something evil.
"I need to steal some magic books from him."
"You mean you came all this way to steal a book?"
"Yes, do you think I came here to kill people?" Clara is telling the truth. She accidentally found out about Ian when she tortured an evil merchant.
"But you said you were going to hunt?"
"Correct."
Otis looks drained and, at the same time, notices people secretly following them. "Someone is following us." Clara is a wanted criminal in the Cirean Kingdom. Although Otis and she enter the town using a secret entrance, there might be people who recognize Clara's scarred face.
"Don’t worry, there are many people with scarred faces in this slum; they only suspected me," Clara said without worry. With her strength and Otis, most people in this town are not their match.
When both of them enter an alley. Several men and women secretly follow from behind, but when they enter the alley, Clara and Otis have already disappeared.
-
A blonde-haired, chubby middle-aged man wearing a mage robe comes out of the town hall.
Ian has been waiting for his teacher for a few years without any news. As time goes by, he already used to live in the town. Since he is a mage, people here respect him and ask him for help and advice. Because of the money, he got lazy and stopped training and doing research.
If people from the magic academy see him, they will be in disbelief. Ian is a handsome man who turns into a chubby meatball.
Ian returns to his two-story house and knocks on the door. Opening the door is a young, red-haired maid with freckles.
"Master, you have returned."
"Has the launch been ready?"
"Yes, wait for me to reheat the food."
"Good, in these several days, I will not return and will be staying in the town hall to discuss the monster tide."
"Are you going to the border?"
"I will die if I go there." Ian makes a scared face. "We are discussing the monster tide from Violet Forest."
"But the monster tide from Violet Forest never reached here."
"That’s why they are discussing what to do when the refugee arrives in town later." Ian suddenly stops talking and takes a sniff. "Do you smell something strange?"
"No." After saying that, the maid becomes drowsy and collapses to the floor.
"What happens?" Ian is panicking, but he also becomes drowsy and falls asleep.
A man and woman come out of hiding.
"You carry the fat man; I carry the girl."
"Why me?"
"You are my teacher junior, and do you want a lady to carry heavy things?"
Otis resigns himself to his fate and uses his skinny hand to drag the chubby meatball to a room.
-
Violet Forest fortress wall Levi is sitting while closing his eyes. In the sky, a flock of birds is gathering and dispersing. After a while, the undead birds flew in a different direction and disappeared.
"This should be enough." Levi opens his eyes. While alone, he has time to contemplate. He is fortunate to survive in that world. What will happen in the second mission if he is suddenly dropped into a war zone or a location far from civilization without anyone coming to his rescue?
Although he feels that his luck has improved. He needs something to increase his chances of survival. After using the undead ritual formation, he realizes something. Since he can have his strength and magic in this world when doing missions, everything he learns here can be used when he travels to other worlds.
"There must be a way I can fly." If Levi can fly, he can escape from any dangerous situation.
There is a levitation spell, but that can only make him float like a balloon, and the amount of mana required can’t sustain the spell for a long time. The only way is to become a master mage or warrior. At that time, his lifespan will be extended, but he will gain the ability to fly. However, that will take him several decades, if he is lucky.
Since he can travel to a different world, he might find a way to prevent his soul from getting destroyed if he dies again. If there are no other options, he will turn himself into a dhampir or become a lich.
"Should I go to the mage nation?" Manofrea, or mage nation, is where most kingdoms send their talented people to study magic in the magic academy. However, only talented and exceptional students are accepted. The other way to enter is by using money and connections. What Levi wants is not to enter the magic academy but to learn more about magic.
While Levi is thinking, one of the undead birds returns, and sends a telepathy message.
"Oh, someone is coming here." Levi stands at the edge of the fortress wall and looks in a certain direction.