Chapter 18: Secrets inside secrets

A calming darkness was enveloping the room as I woke up on my new bed. I was in my room which was situated in the catacombs, deep inside the castle. Yesterday, when I left the dungeon together with Korpus, my teacher guided me here and gifted me this room, saying it was one of the empty storages which didn’t serve any purpose.

“The queen has sent me a message that a room for your personal use was prepared for you.” Those were his exact words as he was guiding me through the catacombs.

It must have been true, because when we arrived I could see that the room, despite being an empty unused storeroom before, was now left without a single speck of dust. On one side stood a double-sized bed, which must have been brought here just recently. In one corner of the room was prepared something that looked like a writing table with a chair. It was useless to me as I didn’t know how to write properly yet. Near it stood a library which was empty as I didn’t possess any books yet either. On the other side of the room was stationed a simple wooden wardrobe.

It was a weird feeling for me to call something like this my own as I was only a servant and slave just recently. The room didn’t have any windows as it was in the catacombs, but this didn’t pose a problem for me. As an imp, dark places were more to my liking and offered me the feeling of safety. Teacher told me that I will need some clothes, new weapons and some other minor things if I want to be useful in the future, but those can be purchased on another day and that for now I should just rest.

Like he suggested I went to bed and surprisingly I fell asleep. I must have been quite tired from all the things that have recently happened.

Now, after I finally collected my thoughts and woke up, I prepared to leave my room to go find Korpus in his laboratory. Before he left yesterday he asked me if I knew where it is and after going through his knowledge that was planted in my head I confirmed with him where to look. Just as I was prepared to leave, somebody knocked on the door.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

I stared at the wooden door before me, not sure what to think. There shouldn’t be anybody who knew about me and wanted to visit me, so I was becoming suspicious about this sudden visitor.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

After not responding, the knocking repeated itself, as if probing if I was still in the room.

“Yes?” Staying silent wouldn’t solve anything so I responded, prepared to attack whoever appeared.

The knob on the door moved as they opened and a young looking demonata girl appeared from behind them. Slowly walking inside, she bowed to me while introducing herself.

“Good morning master Malakhay. My name is Aliss and I have been assigned as your personal maid as of today.”

“What?” I wasn’t able to suppress my surprise and asked stupidly while still staring, not believing my own eyes.

“As I said previously, as of today I shall be your personal maid master Malakhay, so don’t hesitate to give me your orders.” She repeated herself while standing still before me.

Inspecting her, I could tell at first glance that she was a demonata with those small horns on her forehead. In comparison to me she was quite tall, but when I remembered my teacher she was certainly much shorter than him. I would say she was around 1,6m. Her body looked quite slim, but I couldn’t tell this with utmost confidence as her black maid uniform covered it really well. She kept her black hair short, only reaching to her shoulders and tied them in a ponytail. Her dark brown eyes were inspecting me as if they were trying to predict what kind of order I will give to her.

“I never heard about this. Why would somebody serve me when I have just arrived? I don’t have money to pay for a servant.” I proclaimed, trying to figure out a way out of this mess. I don’t need a servant; I don’t even know what I would use her for.

“You don’t need to worry about money master Malakay, as her majesty the queen was the one who appointed me to serve you. She claimed that you will probably have your hands full with your lessons and you would probably welcome some help with trivial matters. Also, if I may be so bold as to repeat her words, she said that you should consider me as a part of your reward as she deemed your previous wish unsatisfactory.”

As Aliss explained everything to me I still didn’t know what to think. I’m repeating myself here, but I don’t need a servant. Why would the queen even bother in the first place in granting me one? I may have returned with Korpus, but why would she go to extra lengths to express her gratitude when she already promised me the entrance to the royal library? As I thought about it only one thing came to my mind. Is it possible that she wanted to show me her good will and in that way slowly bribe me to her side? No, that is unlikely. She already has powerful servants, why would she want an imp? It was then when my brain finally jolted. I see. This maid isn’t the queen’s gratitude, but her leash. She is to be my observer and informant for the queen about what I’m doing.

If that is so, I probably can’t send her away. It would be actually bad for me because the queen would just send somebody else and this time they would probably stay hidden from my eyes. Korpus also must know about this, after all, the queen is the one who commands him. Why would the queen want me under control when Korpus is already there with me? As I was pondering about this I was able to think about only one theory that was giving me some reason. The royal library. Korpus wouldn’t be able to be with me all the time, so she will need somebody who can watch me without raising my suspicions when I’m in the library or alone in my room. That means that there is something interesting to be found in the library.

As I came to this conclusion, I smiled back at the maid before me.

“Nobody worked for me before so I don’t know how to behave in this situation. I lack a lot of common sense about this world as I was born just recently, are you still OK with serving me?” I asked her, already knowing what her answer will be.

“That is not a problem master Malakhay. I’m here to serve you.” She stubbornly repeated her previous lines.

“Very well. Now, I must go and find my teacher. Meanwhile, do whatever you want to do. When I get back I will want to learn from you about a lot of things that I lack. Is that acceptable?” I was still asking and not commanding, but this was probably for the best. After all, I should appear as harmless as I can.

“Certainly. I will do as you wish master Malakhay.” She answered politely while bowing again.

As I closed the door and left my new maid behind me, the smile I had on my face vanished. As I pondered about how to get rid of her I slowly approached the laboratory where Korpus should be right now. Stopping before a large door, before I was able to knock the voice of my teacher invited me in.

“Come inside Malakhay.” Hearing those words I opened the door before me and entered.

The laboratory looked similar to the one in the elven forest. A lot of books lying all over the place, a big table with a comfortable looking chair and a lot of apparatuses everywhere you looked.

“Before we start, I need to explain some things to you first.” Teacher said to me, putting the book he held in his hands down. “Yesterday, the queen asked you if you will help her. You accepted, but afterwards nobody has explained to you what you are to do, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Malakhay, who are the Realm Walkers?” Teacher asked me out of nowhere. I must say, he liked these questions which he just seemingly randomly asked out of nowhere.

I thought about it and in the end I found out that I don’t know. Teacher understood my silence and nodded.

“The truth is nobody really knows.”

After hearing him I must have looked surprised, because Korpus chuckled as he continued.

“They appeared for the first time around 21 years ago. They came suddenly, out of nowhere and truth be told, at the start nobody paid them any attention. But as they remained here, they were quickly becoming more powerful and things started to change slowly. Be it magic, martial arts, warfare or wealth, they have gained an edge probably in every aspect and the only weak spot of theirs are their numbers and the fact that they are not entirely united. They are almost godlike when it comes to their speed of learning new things. We don’t know if it is normal for them, but they take the appearance of races present in our world as their own.” Teacher paused his speech and looked at me, his eyes demanding my opinion.

“From your words they seem to be gods, teacher.” I responded, not knowing if my thoughts are correct.

“There were many at the start who thought they are, but that can’t be true. Then we realized a truth that was so obvious it screamed before our eyes. Do you know what this truth is?”

I was only able to shake my head as teacher asked me his question.

“No? Think about it a little, I will even give you a hint, their name: Realm Walkers.”

As Korpus mentioned this, I did as he asked and after a few minutes my eyes got wider as I came to a conclusion which my teacher demanded from me.

“They can travel from one world to another.” I said, still not able to fully comprehend how ridiculous this ability probably was.

Korpus nodded satisfied with my answer.

“Probably yes. I say probably, because they never confirmed it, but also never negated it, so this is as close as we can get to their origin. If we assume this is true, then they must have come from some other world of which we don’t know anything about. There are many speculations about the reasons that they appeared in our world. Some say their world was destroyed, others they were banished by their gods, or that they travel to appease their warlike nature, but nobody knows for sure. And now comes the question why I am explaining this to you.”

As I listened something inside me told me that I won’t like the answer.

“The day they appeared, they started to attack monsters. Be it plain beasts, like wolfs in the forests, or monster races like goblins, orcs and trolls, or even demonata and demons themselves, the Realm Walkers didn’t hesitate and attacked viciously. By the time we became alerted and wanted to do something about them it was already too late, because some of them became powerful. From amongst them the most powerful ones started to assemble other Realm Walkers and they formed something they call guilds. The guilds nested themselves in kingdoms around the world and in exchange for authority and rights to rule over themselves they started to push our forces even more. We lost territories and millions of us died, some species, like dragons, almost became extinct. The situation became dire 15 years ago when monsters became ready to jump at each other’s throats for even a little more fertile land. The husband of the current demon queen utilized this and formed a faction which was able to suppress the demon queen’s power. The queen ordered us lich-lords to stand down, because if she were to start a struggle for power a war between us would spell the utter annihilation of the monster races. So we stood down and only observed. Her husband started to be reckless and with his armies attacked the neighbouring country of beast-men to the north. In the beginning he was successful, but it didn’t last long. Drunk with his newfound power he clashed with armies of Realm Walkers and other nations and was utterly defeated. Everybody standing behind him perished together with him. After his defeat the Realm Walkers started to march on the queen. She did whatever she could to salvage the situation and sent us to defend the borders. It was the bloodiest war I have seen in my life, but we were more or less successful. The allied nations of the Realm Walkers were also exhausted and finally decided to pull back. Without them the Realm Walkers also slowly retreated, but even after all of this a peace treaty was never established. Even now they occasionally come and pillage our lands, but we avoided extinction. The paradox is that the deaths in the war lowered our numbers to the point where we were able to coexist together once again and the queen was able to slowly rebuild. During this time we lich-lords protected the borders as much as we could. But as we were able to live in relative peace, the irreversible is approaching us once again. The land is becoming insufficient and once we get to the edge, conflict will be irreversible. We are bound to go to war again, be it with Realm Walkers or with ourselves. But to wage a war successfully against the Realm Walkers we must find out more about them. In the past years the queen has collected devoted individuals and issued a single mission to them: find a way to defeat the Realm Walkers, by any means.”

Teacher didn’t need to continue for me to understand what is he trying to tell me, but he still looked at me as he proclaimed: “Yesterday, when you agreed to help, this was the world you stepped into.”

“But teacher, you were the one who himself said that I’m only an imp when you summoned me. I don’t know if I will be useful at all in this matter.” I said, realizing that this was probably an impossible task; the only thing that awaited me at the end was a quick death.

“Refusal isn’t an option for you anymore.” He said, half humorously, half seriously. “But don’t worry so much, I and the queen, we are quite good at discerning people and I believe you would do well with this assignment. I will prepare you to the best of my ability and your first task isn’t that dangerous. We know that there are some Realm Walkers which have infiltrated our lands similarly like Malthazar. All of them need to be identified. Then we will be able to put bounties on their heads and chase them away.”

After hearing out Korpus I thought that wanting something like that from me is ridiculous. I don’t want to go to hunt something with the power of a demigod. I will need to think of a way to get out of this shit, but first I will need everything he can teach me. For now, I should play along and after the opportunity presents itself I will see what I can do about it.

“Of course, I don’t need to remind you that everything you have heard here will stay only between us. Shall it be otherwise, I will kill you myself.” Korpus said, looking at me as if he tried to find out if I will uphold my part of the deal.

“This secret is safe with me, teacher.” I tried to reassure him, knowing he is not joking.

We silently stared at each other for a few seconds, until he was probably satisfied.

“Now I want to ask, is your new room satisfying?” Teacher changed the topic and the previous serious atmosphere has disappeared.

“Yes, I never thought that I will have such a large place for myself. But I’m still confused about that maid that showed up.” I answered honestly.

“So you have already met her. I know it must be new to you, but she will be helpful. And in due time you will also need to learn how to handle your subordinates. I recommend you not to abuse her, very few things are as bad as a servant holding a grudge against his master.”

“I will remember your words teacher.”

“Good. Now let’s start what we came for. You need to learn a lot of things after all.” Korpus said as he studied me for a while. “For now, open your Status and read it to me so I can understand what will be the best thing to start with.” He instructed me without losing any more time.

Only now that he mentioned it I remembered that I can look at my Status. The last time I did this was on the Abandoned plains, before I was captured by slave traders. After that I was too busy being tortured to check it out.

“Status.” I spoke and a familiar window opened before my eyes.

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STATUS

Name: Malakhay

Race: Higher Imp (lesser devil)

Affinity: chaos

Title: Warlock

: Shadow lord

Class: Mage

Rogue

Skill tree unlocked: Dark magic - novice (1%)

: Stealth tactics - novice (1%)

: Shadow magic - novice (2%)

Spell book: Raise undead

Touch of the undead

Soul weapon

Bloodline: Magic of origin

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As I stared at my status, I was quite surprised about all the changes that have happened. First of all, my race has changed and from previously an imp I have evolved to a higher imp. That’s probably the reason why I look more mature now and not like a small child.

The next thing I noticed were the titles I have acquired. I was curious, so I read the information which was provided by the status about them.

Warlock: they are wicked and cruel beings which only the dark side of the world can offer. Others fear them as they are the masters of slaughter and assassination by combining dark magic and the ways of the assassins. Thanks to this trait either physical or magical combat is not a problem for them as they can very easily adapt to the situation.

As I read the description about my Warlock title I realized that my classes of mage and rogue must be directly connected to it. The same thing probably applies for the skill trees of dark magic and stealth tactics as they must also be related to warlocks. I must say, I’m glad for becoming a warlock as they seem to be powerful. When I was done inspecting warlock, I dubiously looked at my next title. Truth be told, something about it seemed weird. I had enough knowledge from Korpus to know that obtaining two titles was quite a rare occasion. It can happen, but one must learn for a long time to unlock a second title.

Shadow lord: Shadows are the prime and ancient race who should be extinct and forgotten in the modern world of Orbis. They were created as the first race by Tenebris, The Shadow God of Orbis, the first and most powerful god. As the beings that were darker than light and lighter than dark, they once ruled over the ancient world. Even the other gods feared their might and only after banishing their god Tenebris, were the other gods able to finally purge them. The other races were created only after their death, so the knowledge about Shadows has almost vanished from Orbis. Today they exist only as legends and myths in the oldest chronicles.

As I read this I didn’t know what to think. Seeing the name Tenebris made me think that I knew it from somewhere, but I couldn’t remember from where. If all that I have read about Shadows is true then I have a feeling that I definitely must stay quiet about them. My intuition tells me that I can get myself killed if this is revealed. Seeing the shadow magic in my skill tree, I’m certain that it is connected with the title Shadow lord. I quickly read the description about Shadow lords again and now I was fully convinced that I should never let others know about it.

The last thing that appeared on my Status was my bloodline. This was the thing I was surprised about the most. Teacher told me previously how hard obtaining a bloodline can be, but now staring at it I was left speechless.

Magic of origin: One of the first magics ever to be used. By learning this ancient art the mage can control the flow and purpose of the magic power without the usage of spells. He can form spells with his own mind, not being bound by the normal rules.

That sounds incredible, but I’m not really sure if I understand it. I will need to ask Korpus about this. I’m also sure that if I reveal my bloodline he probably won’t have a suspicion about me hiding something else. For now, I will pretend to be honest and naïve and I will reveal everything except the shadow business.

As I thought about my Status, Korpus coughed slightly, reminding me he is waiting for me. I was brought back to reality and remembered how he asked me to tell him about my Status. Looking at him I revealed everything except the title of Shadow lord and the skill tree of shadow magic. He just quietly listened to me, waiting for me to finish. When I spoke about my bloodline his eyes slightly shined, but that was all.

“Hmm. I must say I’m quite surprised.” He told me as I finished. “I expected that you evolved to a Higher imp as I looked at your grown body, but that you obtained a title so soon is a pleasant surprise. I knew a few warlocks in the past and each one of them was quite powerful. It is hard to master it, but once you are successful you will become a force to be reckoned with.” As he explained in a calm voice his good mood was obvious, if I’m not mistaking it I even noticed a little bit of excitement coming from him.

“But for now you are standing on the starting line. If I’m not mistaken you should be able to see numbers attached to your abilities in a skill tree.”

As master said this I quickly checked it and noticing the numbers he mentioned I nodded my head.

“If you remember, in the past I have already explained to you that we monsters can only see our progress in our Status and we can influence it only through training. The numbers you see represent your mastery with the said skills. Mastery goes through ranks: novice – beginner – advanced – expert - master - grand-master. As you obtain higher ranks more possibilities unlock before you in said skill tree and your efficiency also goes up. But as I also mentioned before, here is the line where the Status becomes useless to us monsters as we can only check our growth with it and not influence it like Realm Walkers. That’s why I told you before that you shouldn’t let something like numbers or levels influence your judgement too greatly when you are fighting somebody. For us its only numbers and those can be overcome with plans, strategies and deception. After all, why would you fight a master swordsman with a sword when you can kill him with a bow and he won’t be able to even see you?”

I understood what teacher wanted to say, but still wondered if it is as easy as he claims. Still, I think he is probably right and it will be good to remember this.

“But to know that you have obtained a bloodline so soon,” he shook his head from side to side as he continued, dropping the previous conversation as if it were insignificant. “I must sincerely congratulate you Malakhay. I have never met anybody as young as you with a bloodline. When I think about it, I must suspect that this happened because you devoured that soul-core from that shadow lurker and then shortly after that my own soul-core. By you being so young, the two soul-cores with bloodlines must have had a big impact on your evolution and it granted you your own bloodline.”

Korpus stayed silent after his explanation and only lifted one bony hand to support his chin as he thought about what he just said. Determined to find a reason for what happened he spoke again: “Yes, that must be the reason. When I include your title of warlock on top of it, which is deeply connected to lichs, it all makes sense.”

I looked puzzled at him after what he said and asked: “Teacher, how are warlocks connected to lichs?”

“Well, not a lot of people know about this, but as far as I know to this date only very powerful dark mages were able to become warlocks. There are a lot of other people who tried, but they never succeeded. That’s why I can be certain that my soul-core influenced you in this matter. Another piece of evidence about my influence are those three spells you have obtained: Raise undead, Touch of the undead and Soul weapon, all of them are my spells. You must have learned them when I granted you some of my knowledge.”

“Teacher, do you know what Magic of origin is? I don’t really understand it from its explanation.” I asked truthfully.

“Sigh, this is why you shouldn’t possess a bloodline. You don’t understand and bloodline comes only with understanding.” As he said this I became worried because I know it will be very hard to use something I don’t understand.

“But, from what you told me I can make a rough guess.”Korpus said, looking at me, probably thinking if it is a good idea to reveal it to me. I showed him a face full of anticipation and he must have decided that it is OK to enlighten me.

“From what you told me I suspect that you won’t need precise spell formulas to control spells.”

“Spell formulas?”

“I will explain with the Raise undead spell.” He spoke and started chanting: “Qullarım yüksələcək sizin, yuxu yüksəlməyə və mənim üçün öldürmək. [Rise my servants, rise from your slumber and kill for me.] What you heard is the exact formula which must be chanted if I want to activate the Raise undead spell. As I chant it, I must pour a certain amount of magic power into it depending on the effect I want to obtain from it and after that it activates and the spell is cast. But I think that with your Magic of origin you can change this phase. For example you will chant only: Artacaq və mənə xidmət [Rise and serve me.] and with it you can probably acquire the same effect as me. The information for the rest of the chanting will be provided by your thoughts.”

“Is there some difference except the chant being shorter, teacher?” I asked still not seeing any big benefit.

“Yes, there is. If I’m correct you can bend the spell to your will and influence its original effect. That is a very powerful tool if used wisely. For example, if there is another mage as your enemy, when he hears you chanting a spell and starts to prepare a defence for it, you have an ability to change your spell midway and create something new. He doesn’t anticipate this and can’t predict what spell you will use in the end. By not being able to predict he can’t defend and becomes an easy target. Do you understand Malakhay?” Korpus asked me, his face staying serious.

I think about what he said and nod my head. “Yes teacher.”

“Now apply this logic not to a single mage, but to a legion of soldiers that is under the protection of a group of mages. You are easily able to go around their defences and slaughter the whole legion and they wouldn’t even be able to properly respond to you.” Korpus studied me, probably waiting for my reaction. When I didn’t give him any he spoke again. “If I were younger I would kill you right now, because of that bloodline of yours. I will inform the queen about it and I recommend you not to tell anybody about it. Otherwise some people will try to obtain you and if they succeed, be it from your own will or not, the queen will issue an order to kill you and the lich-lords won’t hesitate.”

I gulped when I heard him, knowing he is not joking. With this I can be certain that the leash on me will only become tighter.

“But let’s stop here with threats and warnings.” My teacher again changed the mood in the room as if nothing serious happened. “For now you are my pupil and I’m your teacher. As long as you will support the queen I will trust you and stay behind you.”

“Thank you teacher, I promise I will not disappoint you.” I responded with pretty empty words which were probably expected from me.

“Good. Now that I know about your status and your abilities I know exactly where to start. Hahaha, be ready because when I’m finished with you I promise you that all humans will fear you on the battlefield.” After that a long laughter was heard from Korpus’s laboratory in the empty halls of the catacombs.