“Oh my, what a mess. That’s why you should never rely on someone else to do your job.” the male figure said, walking forward with calculated steps.

Silvy looked at him. She knew this guy, and he should be dead, killed by her. And yet…

Rherdir, the court mage of the governor, was in front of her, no wounds on his body, perfectly healthy, a grey robe covering him.

“You… you should be dead!” Silvy exclaimed.

“I’m quite fine, thank you. That wasn’t me after all.” he said, stopping a few meters from Silvy, Zatha at his side.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

He tilted his head. “Well, I could tell you that, but why would I reveal my secrets to you? Granted, it wouldn’t matter much, but still.”

“Then what are you doing here?” Silvy asked, careful.

“Do you mean philosophically or physically? I don’t have the answer to the first one, unfortunately.” he said, looking at Silvy.

“What?” she answered, not comprehending.

He sighed. “Zatha, dispose of her, please.” he said with a dismissive tone. “Oh, no need to hold back.” he added.

“Yes, Master.” Zatha said, rushing forward.

Silvy readied her weapon. She had already fought this woman, and she had kept up only using her body above its limit. She’d have to do it again…

Zatha moved fast, faster than last time, Silvy barely parrying the thrust with her mana blade. Silvy riposted, Zatha dodging her hit effortlessly, kicking Silvy in the stomach, the child smashing against the wall, a swing cutting her stomach.

If there was something you shouldn’t do to a bag of holding, it was cutting it. The inside was a vacuum, and many people had discovered, much to their displeasure, that cutting through the fabric was akin to creating a hole in a dam.

Zatha’s sword cut deep in Silvy’s belly, hitting and lacerating the bag of holding hidden where the stomach would be, the contents bursting outside, the glass flasks exploding in a thousand pieces, the content spilling onto Zatha, a white and yellow cloud hiding the surroundings, the red flask with the wraiths a bit stronger than the others, fortunately.

“Zatha, didn’t I tell you about the bag? Why did you hit her stomach?” Rherdir asked, annoyed.

“Cho, mashthersh.” Zatha tried to speak, her mouth incapable of forming words.

The cloud quickly dissipating, Silvy saw Zatha’s state, her invisibility mantle having fallen off. Her face, unprotected and having received most of the liquid, was now a bulb of flesh, very similar to the one appearing when she had poured a healing potion on her arm. Even her right hand, having touched a few drops of healing potion, had now a bulb of flesh growing out of it. Silvy’s eyes were wide open.

“That’s impossible…” she whispered, incredulous, on her knees near the wall. Zatha was…

“She’s undead, just like you. You thought you were the first? Please, don’t make me laugh. You are the first with two cores, though, and a failure.” Rherdir said, irritated.

That wasn’t a common undead. Silvy couldn’t feel any light coming from Zatha, no link. She was half-monster, like her…

“Why have you stopped, Zatha? Eliminate her.” Rherdir said, impatient.

Zatha moved forward, thrusting her sword towards Silvy, the child dodging to the side, Zatha not following through but stopping in place, her moves slower than before. She… couldn’t see anymore. The flesh had grown out of her face, her eyes blocked by it. This was an opportunity!

Silvy rushed forward, her legs’ muscles snapping, her sword swung diagonally at Zatha’s neck, her shoulder and right arm muscle breaking. Zatha blocked the hit, following with a riposte, Silvy easily dodging the blind hit, attacking now from the side, again the hit parried. How was Zatha defending?! Her eyes were nowhere to be seen… the noise and what she was aiming at, Silvy realized retreating. Silvy was light, but the floor was made of stone and also bloody, her steps easily heard and her location pinpointed. Moreover, she had aimed at her neck both times, the weak spot. That meant…

“This is painful to watch.” Rherdir said from the side, apparently not interested in involving himself.

Silvy ignored him and attacked, Zatha turning and parrying a non-existing hit aimed at her neck, Silvy instead aiming at the sword’s arm, cutting deep but not enough, Zatha retaliating but not hitting the child. Zatha stopped in place for a second, her left arm outstretched, a ghostly figure appearing from nothing and rushing at the child, Silvy automatically cutting it, not sure what it was but having no time to think.

“Another one lost like this. Why does nothing ever work when you are around, Silvy? It’s like you are a curse or something.” Rherdir asked, annoyed.

Again another attack from Silvy, Zatha this time dodging. Silvy moved to her right, ducking below Zatha’s hit, her sword cutting again into Zatha’s right arm, this time slashing it away. Zatha kicked Silvy away, moving forward and grasping her sword on the ground with her left hand.

They exchanged hits, Zatha parrying even without seeing. Silvy was fast, but Zatha was faster, her legs dripping blood and wounded even if Silvy hadn’t hit them. She was going beyond her limits, like Silvy. Silvy got angry, realizing she was keeping up only because of a fluke. No matter how much she improved, there was always someone stronger...

Should she keep attacking Zatha, or should she eliminate Rherdir? He wasn’t intervening, but he was a potential danger. Moreover, it seemed like Zatha was under his control, so if she killed him...

Disengaging Zatha, Silvy rushed at the mage, the woman trying to block her. Silvy jumped above Zatha, easily dodging her blind thrust. Now in front of the mage, she noticed he wasn’t preoccupied at all, watching her with a slight smile, almost taunting her to hit him. Silvy thrust forward without thinking, her sword passing through his heart… with no resistance, his figure slightly distorting.

Her eyes wide open, Silvy lost balance, overextending, not dodging Zatha’s hit, the woman’s sword piercing through her spine, piercing it. What?! Why?!

“Please stop a moment, Zatha. That expression is priceless. You see, my specialty is mind magic, and with it, illusions. This is just that, an illusion. I’m very far away right now. After all, I don’t want to be anywhere near this city, knowing what’s about to happen.” he said with a smile, looking down at Silvy.

“What…” the child feebly said, lying on the floor, her legs not responding. Zatha had broken her spine, and once bones were broken, there was no movement even for undeads. This was a good time to reactivate her regeneration Skill, deactivated before so her internal organs wouldn’t grow back...

“Hmm…” Rherdir looked at the ceiling with a hand on his chin. “You know, I shouldn’t say this, but it’s not like anyone will survive. I was the one responsible, the one behind everything. The governor was just a puppet in my control. Mind magic is truly fascinating, don’t you think?” he asked smugly.

There was no way he could have done something like this with mind magic. “There are only two spells of mind magic that actually control the mind, Suggestion and Defiance. You can’t control people with only those two!” Silvy exclaimed defiantly, not believing his words. Lindrl had taught her only those two existed and were intermediate spells. That was why there were no people specialized in controlling the mind, as specializing in only two spells didn’t have much sense, and the results were limited.

“I suppose it’s true, if you limit yourself to sapient knowledge. But there are more mind spells, humans just don’t know about them.” he said with a patronizing tone.

Silvy looked at him confused. “You… are not human?” she asked. He looked human. His hair was short and gray, and his human ears were clearly visible.

“Oh no, I’m human. That doesn’t mean that knowledge comes from me. You see, there are other superior beings other than Gods. They call themselves Archdemons and are very helpful, as long as you satisfy them. Each Archdemon has a certain desire, but that hardly matters now.”

With a despising tone, he added. “At least they are not like Gods, forcing their rules and regulations on us, almost as if they want us to live in a warring and retrograde world. Did you know they are against new inventions? It’s like they want us to stagnate in this era, with no hope of advancing.”

“What are you talking about?” Silvy asked, not following his logic. Was this guy going crazy?

He sighed. “I suppose I should explain it with simpler words. I’ve made a pact with an Archdemon, an existence similar to a God, and received mind magic of advanced tier and the power to cast it. But I wanted more, I wanted immortality, a way to go against the Gods, so I researched a way to become an undead. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for humans. But not for Archdemons. Following their instructions, I created the correct potions and process needed to create half-monsters, undeads retaining their will and mind. Imagine my surprise when it worked only on half-elves. Zatha, show her what you are.” he said, looking at the woman with a smile, Silvy following his gaze.

Zatha moved her light brown hair to the side with her left hand, showing slightly pointed ears, just like Silvy. A half-elf.

“I’ll surely find out how to make it work for humans, one day. Anyway, let me ask you a question. How did you escape my control? It has never happened before.” he asked, curious.

“Your control? Mind magic doesn’t work on undeads…” Silvy said.

He waved his head, dismissing her statement. “Please, that’s not what I’m asking. Zatha here is controlled just fine. It worked on previous experiments as well, so I don’t see why it wouldn’t work on you. It’s something to do with the other core, isn’t it?” he asked, thoughtful.

“Why should I answer you?” Silvy spit out, suppressing her anger. He had controlled her… from when? When did it start, when did it stop? Did it actually stop, or was he bluffing? She had never felt as if she was controlled...

“Because I’ve already told you so much. It’s politeness, really. Didn’t anyone teach you manners?” he asked with sufficiency.

Silvy had enough of this conversation. She threw her sword to Zatha, piercing her head.

“Oh dear.” Rherdir said, Silvy casting another [Mana Blade], throwing it again, another sword piercing her still opponent. Right now, the danger was Zatha, as Rherdir was nothing more than an illusion.

“Zatha, finish her off. It’s three steps in front of you, a step to the right.” Rherdir said, instructing her of Silvy’s position, Zatha complying.

An awkward battle took place, Silvy parrying Zatha’s hits while lying on the ground and unable to move her lower body, Zatha attacking blindly, trying to cut off Silvy’s head, getting closer and closer each time. Was this her end? Zatha was stronger than her, even in this condition...

A firebolt hit Zatha’s head, the woman ignoring the hit, Irhiva casting another one, Zatha’s hair catching fire. She cast another, her breath now short, hitting again Zatha’s head with no result, walking forward.

“Eliminate that woman. Oh, also the king. I want to see him die with my own two eyes.” Rherdir said, his voice full of sadistic pleasure.

Silvy’s sword swung towards Zatha’s legs, the woman stopping her attacks to obey the order. Her right foot was cut off in a swift motion, the woman losing balance and falling, Silvy swinging the sword again at her neck, Zatha managing to dodge it even while falling.

Now at a distance of about three steps, lying one in front of the other, Silvy threw the blade at her head again, Zatha parrying it before standing up on a single leg, a firebolt hitting her head and making her fall once again. Silvy wasn’t sure why, but she seemed more… stupid? More basic, as if she couldn’t think properly. Was this the result of a direct order?

Zatha quickly stood up again, running towards Irhiva and the king even without her right foot, Irhiva now without mana and short of breath, clumsily tried to tackle Zatha, the undead ignoring her pitiful attempt and cutting her head off, Mana Blades thrown one after the other by Silvy with no effect. Her head was embedded in blades, but she moved as if they didn’t impair her at all.

*crack*

A nasty sound came from Silvy’s back, snapping into place thanks to her regeneration Skill. Silvy stood up, but it was too late, Zatha’s sword thrust downward, piercing the helpless king’s skull, killing him on the spot.

“Finally.” Rherdir said, satisfied. “That insufferable fool is dead.”

Silvy realized there was no point fighting Zatha anymore. Rherdir was an illusion, and Silvy had no idea where he actually was. She turned around, pondering if she should kill the governor, as apparently he was just a puppet, the mage appearing in front of her.

“Leaving already? Don’t you want to hear my incredibly evil plan?” he said, taunting her with a huge smile.

“You won’t tell me anyway.” she dismissively answered, walking through him, Zatha slowly following her at a distance.

“You are always so irritating.” he said scornfully, his illusion appearing again in front of the child, Silvy walking past him.

“I truly wonder where I failed. You were acting exactly as I ordered you when you woke up, coming into the city, bringing me to your associates, becoming an adventurer…” he said, sighing.

Silvy stopped in place, turning to him. “Bringing you to my associates? You mean…” she asked incredulously.

“That pitiful group of orphans, yes.” he said, waving his hand. “My control was working fine until you went into the sewers, becoming weaker after that. What happened there? What did you do? You won’t leave from here alive anyway. Don’t you want revenge on Zatha? You should try to kill her.” he said with a haughty tone, pointing at the woman.

After the sewers… What had happened there? If this guy was to be believed, and she had not much reason to do it, something had happened to make him lose control over her. Was it the whole state? That was the first time she had used it. Or maybe it was something else…

“Playing the silent game?” he asked, Silvy ignoring him and walking up the stairs. He seemed to talk enough by himself…

“Ah, whatever. I must bring the experiment under my watch more quickly next time. I wanted to hire you through the royals so nobles wouldn’t interfere, but that backfired magnificently…” he mused at a low voice.

“Zatha, stop her. Doesn’t matter if you can’t win, but don’t let her leave the city.” he said, suddenly disappearing. Don’t leave the city? Why…

She didn’t have much time to ponder, the woman quickly climbing behind her, the two women crossing their swords on the stairs, Silvy retreating up and up, barely keeping up. Neither of them was taking it easy, Zatha’s remaining arm spraying blood all around the stairwell, Silvy doing the same, their muscles pushing beyond their power and snapping. Zatha only had her left arm, but Silvy was slowly losing, accumulating cut after cut. This woman was this strong without eyes and using only her left hand.

She couldn’t win like this. She looked around, studying the environment. The stairwell was narrow, and her opponent was using sound to understand where she was. Maybe…

She waited for their blades to cross, Silvy jumping back like she had done many times before, Zatha rushing forward, Silvy jumping up instead of backward, dismissing her Mana Blade, her arms and legs pushing against the walls, the child high enough Zatha passed below without touching her.

Zatha rushed forward, thinking Silvy had jumped back, but stopped after a few steps, not hearing anything, Silvy behind and above her. The child cast Mana Blade, swinging at the woman’s neck while silently falling, the blade connecting and cutting through, the head removed from her torso, the body collapsing onto the stairs, head falling next to it.

She had done it. Just like this, she had won against an opponent much stronger than her. She could hardly believe it, but she had won. The potions blinding her, her intelligence decreasing after the orders, and Rherdir disappearing and not giving her further indications… These details together had made her the winner. If only one of them had been absent, she’d be dead.

No, it wasn’t over yet. Not against an undead. Silvy looked at Zatha’s head, full of holes from her attacks. She had to remove the core from her head, and only then she’d truly be dead.

Two dozen seconds later, Silvy reached the end of the stairs, having crushed Zatha’s core and taken her bag of holding. Another invisibility mantle, now worn by her, had been inside, together with a sizable amount of money, clothing a bit too big for her and weapons, a lot of them. Silvy arrived in a room full of dead guards, much like the one below. What was going on in the palace? It was quiet. Too quiet…

She got out of the room, a bloody hallway in front of her. The carpet, the wall, the expensive decorations, all of them were covered blood, corpses one after the other along the corridor. A few doors were to her right and left, but she recognized this place, having gone through here without being blindfolded, the child exiting through the door at the end.

Rherdir had said little, but he had said to not let Silvy go outside the city. First thing she should do, in this case, was getting outside the city. The door led her to a bigger hallway, one she recognized. Walking through the castle towards the exit, Silvy found bodies here and there, most of them with no visible wounds. Poisoned maybe? Maids and butlers were lying on the ground without wounds, but the few guards had blood on them, having put up a fight. This was quite a mess, but she might be able to use it to get out and away from the city. Even if she wanted to eliminate the governor, who knows where he was. She would not waste her chance of escaping for a revenge she might not even take.

Reaching the main entrance of the castle, she pushed it a bit, spying what was beyond. Guards were patrolling outside as if nothing had happened, relaxed like always. It would need how much preparation for something like this? And the number of deaths… Didn’t Cazhi say to keep the casualties to a minimum? Well, he was dead now, so she couldn’t ask him. Maybe he had been a puppet as well...

Silvy wasn’t sure how good the mantle was in broad daylight, but it would probably give her at least a few seconds undetected. She opened the door just enough to pass through, rushing for the wall close to the gate, climbing the stairs and jumping to the other side once on top.

“Alarm!” a guard shouted from the top of the wall, pointing at the escaping shadow, Silvy sprinting away. Well, that went better than expected. The guards were slower and she quickly left them behind, a few arrows trying to get her but missing. She didn't know the noble district's streets, but if she kept going west she’d find the wall, sooner or later. A few minutes and patrol avoiding later, the wall was in front of her, Silvy finding the closest stairs and repeating the same trick, this time unseen.

*Thump*

A loud noise came from behind her, the ground literally jumping up and down, making her fall together with most passersby. She turned around, seeing half of the city sunk below the rest. What?...

People around her screamed and ran away, Silvy checking with her mana eyes-

A huge amount of mana was gathering and forming near the mages’ guild. Advanced spell? No, this was different. It looked chaotic, not orderly like a spell should be. A bad feeling came over Silvy, the child standing up again and rushing for the gate as fast as possible, pushing her legs beyond their limit, her muscles tearing and breaking even more. People were fleeing en masse, clogging the streets. Silvy jumped up and to her right, leaping from roof to roof, avoiding the running people. This was terrible. She could feel her hair standing up, the mana gathering in enormous quantity. Faster, faster!

The gate was in sight, guards and soldiers trying to maintain order, the people not caring and rushing forward, trampling over the unfortunate fallen ones. It was total chaos, but Silvy was avoiding it using the roofs.

A loud rumble came from the mages’ guild, the ground sinking further, this time bringing down the whole city and periphery. Silvy saw the house in front of her sinking down while mid-air, the child missing her target and going over it, crashing into the wall of the next house, which was now crumbling.

Standing up again, she noticed the floor had broken in many places, now bumpy and cracked everywhere. Many people had wounds after the fall, the ground having sunk at least three meters in a single second. There was no time to think, nor for pity. The surrounding houses were now collapsing, her fastest route not viable anymore. She ran, trying to avoid people lying down or standing up, but trampling over them if necessary. Her hair and those of everyone else were literally standing up now, the mana so concentrated everyone could feel and fear it. Faster, faster, faster!

Then she saw a huge shadow overhead. She looked up, the high external wall crumbling down in many pieces, many towards her like an avalanche. It’s not over!

She crouched, jumping up and above the torrent of rocks crushing and burying the surrounding people. Her new perspective showed the gate was no more, the wall above it having fallen, just like the rest of it, falling inward and outward, creating an insuperable barrier for many.

She landed on one of those rocks, jumping again forward, her target closer and closer. It might not be passable for many, but not for her, Silvy jumping up and up, rocks falling from her landings, passing what remained of the wall, sliding and falling on the other side, fortunately not breaking any bone. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but she had to make more distance! Running and running, people watching with an open mouth the phenomenon from outside the walls, Silvy ignoring them and rushing farther and farther, feeling her hair slowly standing down again. Maybe she-

--------

Lindrl was worried, but she couldn’t do much other than trust Silvy. She wanted to help, but Gorvan was monitoring her, afraid she’d take action. And she’d do it if the king decided to kill her. After all, Silvy was the only person that could help her reach immortality.

Oh, she had grown attached to the child in these months, she wouldn’t deny that. But she wasn’t helping her because of a good heart. Well, not only for that. No, she wanted to undergo the same procedure and Silvy was the best way to reach that objective. She didn’t trust Kal to help her, the archmage too greedy. Gorvan would readily destroy everything related to this experiment, and she would never trust whoever was behind it all. But Silvy? Lindrl had helped that child a lot, so she was surely grateful to her. A bit of a push, some aura scan when needed, and once they had recovered the process and Silvy had become a stronger mage, Lindrl would undergo the procedure, reaching immortality. Would she kill the child after that? She still hadn’t decided, but-

*Thump*

A loud noise came from outside, Lindrl’s study sinking into the ground, the [Archmage] quickly creating a barrier and flying outside. What was going on?!

Gorvan flew up to her, a disaster below the duo, the ground cracked and destroyed, mana flowing chaotically.

“What…” she whispered, unable to speak.

Gorvan was looking around, searching for the source of the problem. “Kal’s basement. It comes from there.” he said, pointing at the tower, the mana chaotically surging in and out of it.

The two archmages rushed down, breaking the entrance door, the librarian appearing next to them a moment later, the trio rushing downstairs.

A reinforced metal door was at the bottom of the stairs, dividing the outside from Kal’s hiding place, almost indestructible. Almost.

“Stand back.” the librarian said, his whole body morphing into a giant spring slowly contracting, a battering ram in front, the spring releasing and pushing the ram forward at high speed, loud noise coming from the impact, the door visibly denting. After two dozen of hits, the door was sufficiently open to see inside, and then it happened again.

The ground shifted down, the trio smashing against the ceiling and then the ground again, their magic unable to be called forth, the mana too chaotic. Lindrl was now heavily sweating, blood running from her nose. They were now without magic, and if they didn’t stop this…

With their hair standing up, apart from the Librarian, the trio moved inside the room, Kal calmly sitting on the ground, a dagger thrust into his heart, his mana connected to the giant rune below the guild.

“What is he doing?” Lindrl asked unbelievably and knowing the answer.

“He’s destabilizing the rune. We are all dead…” Gorvan whispered, his face pale.

“Most likely. Excuse me, I need to protect my books.” Librarian said, his voice emotionless, without a hint of fear, before disappearing into the ground. Constructs didn’t fear death, after all, and its main instruction was to protect the books...

--------

Rherdir calmly sipped his tea, the city of Chilog left behind well before the incoming disaster, his carriage moving away. He had rushed out after Lem’s decapitation, pushing the horses to the limit, and now he was looking in the direction of the city, because he didn’t want to miss the show. It wasn’t every day you could see something like that, after all.

It was a shame he had to change the base of operation, but necessary. That child called Silvy had gone above and beyond what he had expected, in good and bad ways.

His first experiment had been a success, the undead created keeping its free will and memory. He, in his magnanimity, had tried to create a collaboration between the two of them, mostly because mind magic wasn’t working anymore, and it had betrayed him. Fortunately, the damage done hadn’t been much, so he had cleared it with the help of two of his puppets, Kal and Padrik.

After pondering over the problem, he had decided to test the use of mind magic before the undead process, hoping it would stick. And it did! He had been so delighted he had gone a bit too deeply in his prodding, killing its second creation soon after. Half-elves weren’t very common, so finding Zatha after that had been a blessing. After her creation, it hadn’t been hard to let her become a shadow, seeing as he was controlling the governor and she was extremely strong. But he wanted more. His previous experiments had confirmed people created through this process lost their magical ability. That needed to be changed, so he had created a new experimental formula while working on how to make it for humans.

A few rumors reaching a Grand Master possessing an elemental focus and Silvy becoming undead later, and the child had two cores in her, one undead and one elemental. Unfortunately, the defensive rune he had inscribed on her heart hadn’t killed that Grand Master. In hindsight, that was where everything had started going south, wasn’t it?

The child had obediently come back to the city, her friends eliminated to create a reason for her adventurer career. If everything had gone as planned, the child would now be a strong mage under the governor’s orders. Which means his. But after her first quest, she had become disobedient, sometimes going against his orders or freely interpreting them.

He had convinced her to not tell everything to the guild master, breathing a sigh of relief, hoping this was the end of it, that maybe his spell had slightly malfunctioned. And then she had gone and told it to an [Archmage]. Was it vengeance? Spite? Who knows...

He had almost decided to kill her there and then. But that would have brought a lot of troubles from Lindrl. Meaning he had to make do with this situation. Until the elves had invaded. That had brought too much attention to himself, so he had decided to clean everything once and for all. They’d blame it on the elves anyway. Still, he couldn't kill her in prison, or Lindrl would have been on his tail right away. Never underestimate the power of archmages.

Silvy had become less and less controllable with time. No, it was wrong to say that. His control over her had decreased four times. The first, after the sewers. The second, after the advanced magic in the slums. That trick had given him quite the trouble. The third, after the adventurer test. He should have killed her right there, in hindsight. And the fourth right after hiding in the mages’ guild, this time losing control completely. He still didn’t know why, but he’d discover the truth with the next one. He just needed another place to conduct experiments. Everything he needed was with him, so he’d just have to change the base of operation. Right now he was going north, to Estolm-

A giant explosion blossomed in front of his eyes, flames and smoke quickly rising up and up, almost reaching the clouds. He could almost see pieces of rubble flying away.

Then the noise and the shock wave reached him, ruffling his hair, his spoon tinkling against the cup, his face one of amazement, the heat reddening his face, a second explosion rising up after that. It was a shame he had to erase everything, but necessary. And the show was worth it. No proof would remain, and he could always change name and identity like he had done many times before. His carriage leisurely moved forward, the coachman not reacting to the explosion, already controlled by his mind magic. What a beautiful show. The flames were slowly dissipating, a black and grey cloud rising, taking a beautiful mushroom shape. It wasn’t something you’d see every day indeed. His family would have been proud.