Mages and Archimages are sources of many stories and legends. The people could only rely on their poor education and these stories to give themselves an image of these powerful beings.

For a Governor like Yves, things were complicated. He knew what they represented in the writings and had received a decent education and that was why he thought he needed help.

His letter to the Viscount was for that. With the arrival of the Magus in a few days, things had changed a bit. There were only four days left for the Viscount's army to arrive.

If they could get the Archmage to bend without attacking him, things would be perfect. At that exact moment, hurried footsteps crossed the hallway in front of the Governor's office before a soldier stormed in, breathless.

Immediately, Yves looked away from the window and looked at the soldier, narrowing his eyes slightly. Never would a soldier dare to do this if it wasn't for something urgent, so he waited for the latter to speak.

- "Monsignor! S-someone was seen above the eastern ramparts" declared the soldier.

The Governor arched his eyebrow greatly.

- "You just came to tell me that someone was seen at the gates… Just for that?"

- "Not at the gates, Monsignor… Above" repeated the soldier for a moment, swallowing lightly.

Yves didn't seem to understand for a moment before his eyes widened. "The Archmage ?!" he thought before turning back to the window and looking east.

He couldn't see anything, but he had a bad presentiment. Immediately he turned around.

- "State of maximum alert! Close all the doors, shoot on sight" he ordered. “Take the three prisoners and use them as hostages,” he continued.

- "S-sir. The prisoners are no longer in their cells" replied the soldier timidly.

The Governor banged his desk furiously, crying out in anger. How could they have been so reckless? He should have placed a lot more guards.

- "Go" he resumed in a furious tone.

The soldier wasted no time in leaving the office without even taking the time to close the doors. He didn't want to stay here any longer.

Yves opened a drawer and took out a wand and a red stone from the objects seized from the young mage. While the wand had no special value, the stone had been taken to a jeweler who had identified it as a ruby ​​of extreme quality.

According to his estimates, the gemstone was worth at least 300 gold coins, which is the revenue of the entire city for a month. But then again, the jeweler had expressly informed him that he had never encountered this kind of stone and was certain that his estimate was probably too low.

If the Archmage was willing to give something so precious to vulgar spy agents, then attempting to compromise financially was pointless.

The fact that Raphael tried to offer the Archmage money in exchange for the shrine even made the Governor laugh. With both items in hand, he left his office and found the nearest soldier.

- "Find Raphael Cortez and comb the city in search of three prisoners who have just escaped" he ordered before heading towards the ramparts of the castle.

Just as he emerged from the stairs to reach the stone wall paths, a strange sensation seized him and everyone in the city as if he sensed that something was going on without really knowing what. Instinctively, they all looked up at the sky and widened their eyes.

In the starry, cloudless, night sky, great Northern Lights appeared one by one, lighting up the entire city as if it were day.

The lights seemed to be heading towards a specific point in the air emitting a powerful golden light.

Everyone in the city felt the immense energy, their hairs curled up, the hounds barked and the horses fidgeted and kicked the walls.

Everywhere, the aurora caused immense panic before a new sensation came over them. Like a feeling of lack, that something which was there a moment ago but disappeared.

Most of the people did not feel more discomfort, but it was quite different for the practitioners of magic.

Rita, Iracuz, and Rebecca immediately felt the difference. All surrounding mana disappeared almost instantly. They who had become accustomed to their surroundings found themselves deprived of mana.

The result was like someone living by sea-level suddenly went to live on top of Mount Everest instantly. Apart from the temperature, a noticeable difference felt would be the lack of oxygen.

In their case, Iracuz experienced sudden headaches while Rita and Rebecca were seized with nausea and spinning. The old one who was much frailer and was already exhausted almost fell if it was not for the help of Kiril who caught up with her.

- "What the f*ck is happening ?!" Artiel suddenly asked, keeping Rebecca from falling.

They had all seen the Northern Lights and quickly, the vision of what had happened in their village resurfaced.

"Isaac," thought Rebecca and Artiel.

- "I can no longer use my magic" suddenly whimpered Iracuz in full panic.

It was the second time something like this had happened and seeing the happy and anxious looks of the two teens at the same time, the response came quickly.

"Their master is here," he thought.

For his part, Kiril began to nibble his lip. Things had accelerated much faster than he wanted. Also, with the Aurora Lights, they had a lot fewer shadows to use when hiding with their gift.

Nevertheless, with Isaac's presence, they had a strong ally. At least if they could regroup. As he was about to carry the old one on his back to take her away, sudden energy enveloped them all in a halo of white light.

- "What ..." Kiril pushed before feeling his feet take off. "Huh ?!"

Artiel and Rebecca suddenly smiled when they saw their feet lift off the ground. It reminded them of a familiar feeling, they all smiled as they gazed up at the bright sky.

- "Don't worry Kiril, it's Isaac" Artiel declared to the captain who started to panic and took out his sword.

As soon as that was said, the captain relaxed almost immediately. He wasn't sure they were out of the woods, but they had better luck than being captured by the soldiers.

Nevertheless, something interested him.

- "You call him by his name?" he asked intrigued.

Artiel and Rebecca blushed slightly which intrigued both the captain and the old woman even more.

The two teenagers had become close enough with the elf that they could call him by his first name rather than an honorary title? It was more than desirable which made the two adults smile.

They slowly rose above the rooftops before being able to see the entire city and especially the approaching soldiers. Kiril eyed them warily and began to draw his sword in preparation if they got there before they were out of arrow range.

Although a sword wasn't much help, it was better than nothing. But as he was about to fully unsheathe it, suddenly their speed tripled.

In an instant, they reached about fifteen meters of altitude then about thirty in a few seconds. Artiel immediately looked up as they saw their elevation climb. He was still not used to heights and, according to him, he would probably never be.

After ten seconds, under the gaze of the archers unable to touch them, the group approached a golden point floating two hundred meters above and came to a stop.

Once close enough, they could then make out the silhouette of Isaac with his hood hiding his ears, the two apprentices sighed loosely. They were safe.

Rita and Kiril meanwhile were still intimidated by the elf's aura. Even so, the three practitioners of magic were slightly relieved by the mana circling around Isaac.

Surrounding the elf was his aura bubble containing a fairly substantial amount of mana. The change was abrupt and their body made it clear to them with sudden nausea, but the latter cleared relatively quickly.

It felt like stepping from a desert to a rainforest. The change in humidity and temperature was great, but not extreme enough to cause serious damage as they seemed to be protected by a fine transparent membrane.

- "Are you fine ?" asked the elf who came to smile when he saw his two apprentices before noticing Kiril and Rita. "I didn't expect to see you here…" he added.

Immediately, Rita and Kiril lowered their gazes in a sign of respect. The two apprentices did the same, but for quite a different reason.

In the case of Artiel, he lowered his gaze but closed his eyes so as not to see the ground below.

- "We're sorry, we failed in our mission" announced Rebecca.

- "We will accept with humility the sanction that you think is sufficient" added Artiel immediately.

The elder turned to the two teenagers and nodded. It was a perfectly normal reaction for two officers on a failed mission.

They should ask for forgiveness from their master and accept the punishment that awaited them without complaining. Their education was not to be redone in the end.

Iracuz on his side also lowered his gaze when he saw everyone doing so. He tried to make himself as invisible as possible.

- "Later for the apologies, is he with you?" hastened to ask Isaac, pointing to Iracuz. He hadn't gotten used to honorary titles or people's bowing.

Like Artiel's phobia of heights, Isaac's embarrassment will likely never go away. All raised their heads and turned to Iracuz who came to introduce himself.

- "I am Iracuz Cortez, ex-soldier and spy of Erivia" announced the young man without wasting more time.

- "Spy?" asked Isaac intrigued.

Rita and Kiril were equally intrigued. Did they have an enemy spy with them? The reason why the latter was in the same cell as Artiel and Rebecca intrigued them which made them arch their eyebrows.

- "I collaborated with your apprentices to provide them with as much information as possible" finished Iracuz.

Isaac nodded positively and turned to Rebecca with a small smile.

- "I see that you were able to use the precious stone that I gave you," he said simply.

In his eyes, the only valid reason for an enemy spy to join their rank was through a bribe. Immediately, Rebecca shook her head negatively.

- "He joined us of his own free will," she said before pausing. "To tell the truth, he was the one who found us," she said at last.

Isaac arched an eyebrow. Is he the one who found them? What did that mean? For now, he didn't want to linger here any longer.

- "Well, if you have all the information you wanted," he said before turning to Iracuz. "Your services are no longer required. I'll drop you off in the town," he finished.

Immediately the young man widened his eyes.

- "No! Please, Monsignor! Take me as an apprentice, as a disciple, even a slave! Whatever you want," he said, bowing solemnly.

Isaac stopped and looked at Iracuz seriously. Wanting to serve powerful people seemed like a redundant thing in this world. However, becoming a slave was something extreme.

Although the Kilguana slavery system is being abolished, slave traders are likely to continue to abound for quite some time to come.

After all, even though slavery was prohibited in the world Isaac came from, it was possible to find cases of modern slavery.

Slaves as such are considered objects. They have no rights, so wanting to become one voluntarily could indicate either extreme dedication, folly or stupidity.

Something was wrong with which puzzled Isaac.

- "What do you want ?" he asked, forcing himself to show an interesting face.

Iracuz was surprised for a moment. He did indeed intend to ask for something in return. Without looking up, the young man answered.

- "Spare them. Spare Erivia, it has nothing interesting and is not worth your time," he asked without a hint of hesitation.

All were surprised by the daring request. Who would have thought that a simple spy would ask for mercy for his city? What is more, a spy who had betrayed the said city?

The young man in front of him puzzled Isaac. He had a story, a reason, a life but above all something that he cherished. He sought to protect it, he was ready to become a slave out of dedication.

- "I can help you capture the Governor and his acolytes if you want! The nobles are even ready to give you land, gold, whatever you want" added the young man quickly.

Isaac began to smile.

- "Get up," he said simply. Once the young man got up, he resumed. "I'm not going to take you as a slave," he said before pausing.

Iracuz widened his eyes in panic and began to retort when Isaac lifted his hand to indicate that he was not finished.

- "Nevertheless, I want to take you as a personal servant. Do you know how to cook?"

Artiel turned to his master, surprised. His dishes weren't enough for him? Did he prepare something he didn't like? The young man searched his memories for a long time.

- "Of course, I know how to make excellent pies and quiches too" announced the young man.

- "That is enough for me, you are hired" announced Isaac.

Iracuz then sighed in relief. He had succeeded! He had saved his hometown and his brother from more than certain death.

- "But…"

The young man immediately tensed and fell silent before following Isaac's gaze aimed at Artiel and Rebecca and in particular their bruises as well as the slightly reddened bump of his apprentice.

Iracuz shuddered. Something in the elf's gaze was wrong. It was a look that mixed anger, sadness but above all fear.

All along his way here, he had thought for a long time. What had happened to his apprentices? Were they dead? The sight of the battlefield and the blood on the grass had marked him greatly.

The stress and anxiety slowly turned to sadness and then to depression before finally turning to fear and anger.

He had also been able to see the recordings made by the stone and thus saw the many hidden facets of the governor. Despite the seemingly calm and serene atmosphere in the city, things were much darker.

Assassinations, thefts, and dispossession were tools used without moderation to take control of the city's businesses by the Governor. What is more, on the back of the Viscount apparently and even of his own family.

It sent chills up his spine.

Seeing his apprentices alive was enough for him. But seeing their condition, something in him cried out for vengeance and retribution.

Iracuz could quickly figure out what was going through Isaac's mind and he didn't like it too much.

- "I'm not going to let this go so easily," said Isaac finally before turning his gaze to the city below before snapping his fingers.

The instant the snap of Isaac's fingers echoed through the air, the spellbook in front of him closed noisily before the dawns suddenly dissipated.

On the ground, all around the city, an invisible line suddenly disintegrated and the mana absorbed and contained in it was suddenly released.

The whole town sighed in relief. Before Isaac came over to focus the newly released mana directly into his voice before inhaling.

Several seconds of silence passed during which the atmosphere throughout the city greatly stiffened. Everyone, young and old, under a roof or in the street, in pajamas, in armor, or in the middle of changing from one to another, felt intense energy build up above them, unable to do anything about it.

Then suddenly a voice echoed in the minds of the whole town. A unique, simple, and straightforward order that resonated within their very hearts and bodies.

An infallible order they were unable to disobey.

In the space of an instant, the entire city ceased all activity. Then, the next moment, all the doors of all the houses swung open before the inhabitants came out before setting out on the street, all in the same direction.

High above the city, Artiel, Rebecca, Rita, Kiril, and Iracuz observed what was happening in dread. Their minds seemed to have been spared by the massive order given by Isaac, but they had sensed the immense power that had been deployed over the city.

Simple words whose effectiveness made them shudder.

"Bring me Yves Leatrix and Raphaël Cortez."