Chapter 80: Murderous Intent
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Suzanna, you're saying that if there is an obsidian mage or a spirit mage, we are bound to lose?"
"No, that isn't what I mean. We do have two magisters, and I'm with you as well, so they won't have much of an upper hand but… I just want you to make a good decision. I don't want to see anyone hurt or killed."
"Remember when the orcs attacked us yesterday?" Anfey asked.
"Yes, why?"
"There was one orc that had a battlecry, and signaled us. You know what I'm talking about?"
"No," Riska said. "Be more specific, Anfey, why does that matter?"
"You're saying…someone's watching us?" Suzanna asked, suddenly remembering her conversation with Anfey.
"Of course. Or else it wouldn't make sense." Anfey stopped for a second before continuing. "Did you see that leader? He didn't look like an orc."
"It's not just that he didn't look like an orc," Suzanna said. "He wasn't an orc. I don't know how it was possible for him to command so many orcs, though."
"We'll find out soon enough," Anfey said. "What's taking them so long?"
"Should be quick," Riska said. "My magic coordination should be accurate."
After a few minutes, the three finally spotted the rest of the group, with Christian in the lead. They landed on the hill, and Christian hurried over. "Sorry about the delay," he said.
"What happened?"
"We can't control that unicorn," Christian said. "It ran off by itself, and it took us a while to catch it. Did we miss anything?"
"Nothing much. Rest here a little. We are attacking in a bit."
"Are we just rushing in like that?" Suzanna asked.
"What do you think we should do?"
"I don't think we should rush into this," Suzanna said.
"Did you find their campsite?" Christian asked.
"Yes," Riska replied. "About eight miles from here."
"Give me the coordinates," Christian said, as he set up the eyes of the sky.
Christian picked just the right time to use the magic. When he found the mountain Riska marked, he saw about fifty orcs walking out of the woods in a line.
"Anfey, I agree with Suzanna," Christian said. "Even if they don't have an obsidian mage, going there might risk discovery miles away."
"What do you recommend we do now?" Anfey asked.
"Riska and I can use a mist shield together," Christian said. "The shield can effectively block our magical surges, and it's fairly common for the forest to fog up. I don't think it's going to arouse any suspicions. The only thing is: we both need time for meditation afterwards."
"What if we circle around the back of the mountain. With the mist as a disguise, they might not realize we're there until we attack," Zubin said.
"He's right," Christian said, nodding. "Anfey, what do you say?"
"I like the plan," he said. "Go ahead. Discuss it among yourselves."
The group glanced at each other, feeling slightly uncomfortable. They were already used to Anfey giving them instructions on what to do. Now that Anfey gave them full control over the plan, it felt strange to them.
"What are you doing? Right now mist and fog would attract much attention. Once the sun is up you've lost your opportunity," Anfey told them. "Everyone needs to start thinking and come up with a possible plan."
He could teach them how to lose their naivety with cruelty, but there were many things he couldn't teach them. Things like planning an attack. That required their own efforts.
Right now it was like he was leading a group of children and playing a game of survival. A few weeks were fine, a few months could work as well, but any longer than that would never work. Sooner or later, they would encounter some sort of crisis. If they were still like naive children, the result could be devastating. Sometimes he needed to let go, because that was the only way they could truly grow up.
Soon the conversation became heated. Everyone tossed out their own opinions and ideas. In reality, their abilities were undoubtedly some of the best in the world. Not everyone could be chosen be Saul's student. Even the common ones like Feller would surely be one of the best if he was in the academy.
After a few more rounds of discussion, the group came up with a final plan. Christian and Risk would release a mist shield. Then, when they meditated to recover their magic, Suzanna, Sante, Zubin, and Sanchez would go to the back of the mountain and attack from behind. If the orcs tried to flee, Christian and the rest of the group could cut them off in the front. If they tried to fight, then the group also would attack from the front.
Anfey thought he could have came up with a better plan, but there were parts he admired as well. At least they knew how to trick their enemies. Distractions and mass attack from the magisters combined to form a solid attack plan. If the orcs had only around two hundred fighters, this team could easily take them out.
Seeing that Anfey agreed to the plan, the rest of the team was very happy. "Anfey, are you going with Suzanna or us?" Christian asked.
"Come with us," Suzanna said.
"Alright," Anfey agreed.
The orcs fighters would never imagine what kind of a team they were about to encounter. There were fewer than a dozen people in the world who joined the magister rank in their twenties, and two of them were on the team.
Swordsmasters under the age of twenty were even rarer. Even Ernest couldn't achieve that. The only reason Suzanna wasn't known throughout the land was because of certain events in her past.
Phillip didn't think much of the team, because he was so focused on getting revenge for his grandson. However, anyone with a brain could tell how valuable this team would be in the future.
The fog gathered around them and slowly became more and more opaque. It began spreading into the surroundings. Suzanna's group had already headed out, and was heading towards the back of the mountain after taking the long way around. With the magic coordinates, they wouldn't miss it, even if the fog was heavy enough to obscure sights.
The tribe was just over the small hill ahead. The team slowly walked towards the hill, their senses heightened to watch for any possible enemy movements. Suddenly, they heard voices up ahead. They hurriedly hid behind a bush and peered out quietly.
Two orcs, a man and a woman, walked onto the hill. After the Sacred War, the entire world was disorganized and chaotic. One sentient species would often take refuge in another's territory if it was attacked or experienced traumatic loss. After a few centuries, the world languages became very much assimilated. Now, every intelligent being knew at least two languages. One of the two was the species' own language, and the other was the human language. This was because humans had the largest population, and only humans and savages kept their own territories. After the magic beasts lost most of their strength, the humans had attacked and took over some of their territories. The other species, on the other hand, were forced to take refuge with the humans.
The approaching orcs, however, weren't speaking human language. Anfey had heard about orcs before. In the rumors, the orcs were painted as ruthless, cruel savages. It was said that they knew no shame, and their tribes were filled with nakedness and incest. Now that he had seen an orc, he realized that at least the naked part was untrue. Both orcs were wearing crudely made clothes. Plus, the two orcs looked awkward and uncomfortable just holding hands.
When they were a few feet away, a slight breeze blew by. The female orc raised her head and sniffed the air. Anfey knew that she was sniffing a strange scent. He didn't smell like anything, but the girls would put scented powder on their faces every morning. She must have smelled Suzanna.
Anfey jumped out of the bush and lunged towards the orcs. He found the manticore sting from his ring, and aimed it towards the female orc.
The male orc crouched down and retrieved the short staff hanging from his belt. He pushed the female orc aside, and tried to shout, either for help or a warning, as he was fending off the attacker. His reaction was according to Anfey's plan, who was trying to draw him over.
Anfey changed the direction of his attack. He drew back the manticore sting, then stabbed the male orc in the mouth with it.
This time the petrification did not happen. The male orc was very brave. The sting protruded from the back of his head, but he was still able to grab the sting with both of his hands, trying to buy some time for the female orc to escape.
Anfey kicked the female orc in the face. Then he raised his arms and lifted the male orc into the air. He pushed forward and threw the orc's body. It landed a few feet away and stopped moving.
The female orc was clearly weaker than the male one. She rolled on the ground a few times, then raised her head. She was lying on the ground in shock, and had forgotten to use the staff hanging from her belt.
Seeing that her companion was dead, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Anfey jumped up and struck her in the back with the sting. The sting pierced her body and nailed her to the ground. Then he pressed his foot against her head, pressed down, and pulled the sting out.
She grabbed his leg and scratched. Her strength grew weak, her body finally slumped onto the ground, and she laid dead.
"Idiot, why didn't you attack?" Anfey asked angrily.
"I…" Suzanna walked away, her eyes downcast.
That was the first time Anfey had become angry with her. She knew that she made a mistake, though. After Anfey jumped out, she should have followed him, but did not, which resulted in a mistake. They heard sounds coming from the other side of the hill. Clearly the woman's scream had alerted the other orcs.
Suzanna had killed a lot of people to date, but it was because they had threatened her and her sister. She couldn't turn herself from a victim acting in self-defense to a murderer. Compared to the people who had attacked her before, she couldn't bring herself to harm the two orcs because of their helplessness.
"What are you doing standing there? Do you still want me to fight for you?" Anfey asked her again.
Suzanna walked past him. "Think about it," he said coldly. "If the orcs kill us, who would protect Shally?"
Even though she was angry with Anfey, after she remembered what had happened to Shally before, she found herself even more angry with these ugly, armed orcs. She used her combat power, and dashed towards the orcs.
The obsidian and spirit mages did not appear. There were a few orc fighters that tried to stop Suzanna, but could not even touch her. She swept through their ranks, showing no mercy as her sword danced from orc to orc. Wherever her sword went, blood followed.
Anfey stood and watched, stunned. Everything that stood in Suzanna's way was severed by the blinding sword. Necks, arms, legs, even the staffs were no match for the sword, and were cut in half by the blade. Nothing was able to stop her.
Two orc-raised Armored Rhinos were led to the fight, but after seeing Suzanna's ability, both of them turned and ran away. Magic beasts were not stupid. They didn't relate to orcs, and weren't willing to sacrifice themselves for them.
There were only two states one can be in when doing something. In one of them, a person's whole mind was focused on the task, and in the other, it was not. When one was completely committed, sometimes even defeating more powerful enemies was possible.
Clearly now Suzanna was wholeheartedly committed to what she was doing. Suzanna was thinking, about her attack was instinctive. Her eyes were glazed over, but she was certain of every orc's movement and attack. With every swing of the sword, she could take out an orc, but she couldn't tell why she was swinging her sword. She could even predict the orcs' movements, and shield Anfey from an attack.
The rest of the group lingered behind Anfey and Suzanna. Sante and Sanchez were responsible for finishing off the remaining orcs, and Zubin was responsible for killing any orc mages should they appear.
The hill was already covered with bodies of orcs. The few dozen orcs that came to the scene were all finished off, but Suzanna did not stop. She began heading for the village.
The village seemed to be impoverished. There were only around half a dozen huts, all built from grass and mud.
The women and the children were running around the village. Suzanna turned her gaze towards a heavily guarded cave in the distance. Some orcs were there, guarding the cave. Suzanna was fast with her killing, but it still took some time. These orcs hadn't gone to help their friends, and it was obvious they were guarding something valuable.
Suzanna jumped into the air and headed for the cave. On the other side of the village, around seventy orcs with weapons came to the rescue of the ones in the village. Some of them even climbed onto a watchtower and began attacking Suzanna with arrows.
Magic surges ripped through the way. A fiery comet descended from the sky and hit the watchtower, which then burst into flame. A few orcs fell to the ground in flames.
Christian, who released the comet, was leading the attack. Immediately, fireballs, wind blades, and earth spikes bloomed throughout the village.
Compared to Suzanna, the mages had appeared relatively at ease. The fog shield was still in place, and they couldn't tell if they had killed soldiers or defenseless women and children.
The grass huts were either set aflame or leveled by the magic. Sante summoned a fire wall that stood in the middle of the village. The orcs that had just arrived weren't sure how to get around it, and the mages took advantage of that time. A wind blade swept through their ranks, and a few fireballs incinerated the orcs.
The orcs in front of the cave gathered in to close rank. Every one of them appeared enraged. None of them tried to run, and none of them showed signs of fear. They were natural warriors, and it didn't matter how powerful their enemy was, they would not back down.
Suzanna didn't want to test her determination against theirs. She was there to kill. The bright white combat power around her froze for a second, then she waved her sword and swept it across the orcs.
The sword cut through the orcs and their armor, leaving half a dozen of them on the ground. It left a deep wound on their chest, almost severing them.
Suzanna dashed into the cave without stopping.
Sanchez used a spell and summoned a small light that hovered in front of the remaining orcs. The small light quickly grew in size and became orange in color. It became a fire wave and enveloped all the remaining orcs.
Facing weaker enemies, swordsmen were never as efficient as mages. Suzanna had only killed half a dozen orcs with a stroke of her sword, but Sanchez had killed more than twenty. The pain of being burned alive wasn't something determination could fight. The orcs wailed in pain and squirmed on the ground. Some slammed their bodies against the wall in the blinding pain.
The fire only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to kill or seriously injure the remaining orcs.
Anfey stopped. Zubin knew what he was worried about, and used a frozen spell to lower the temperature of the cave.
Anfey worried for Suzanna's safety and jumped into the cave. After he landed, he looked around and found no armed orcs. Suzanna was standing there with her sword held out in front of her, staring at a raised platform. On the platform was a large chair made out of bones, and a black-haired young man was sitting on it. In front of him were three old orcs. They were on the floor, and crying. They looked very emotional, as if they were begging the young man.
The cave wall was covered with carving by the orcs, and it looked very mysterious. The cave was very clean, and there were a few young female orcs standing by, too scared to move.
The young man looked as if he didn't know what had happened outside. He was looking at his own feet. His expression was strangely calm, as if he couldn't see Suzanna.
Anfey looked at the young man and saw that his hands were gripping the arms of the chair. Usually when someone gripped something, it meant they were nervous. Anfey smiled. If they were able to make him nervous now, it meant that he had no other cards to play. Suzanna was confused by the strange appearance of the cave and the way the man presented himself, and didn't attack. He could fool Suzanna, but could not fool Anfey.
"How long are you going to sit there? Until we leave?" Anfey said as he joined Suzanna.
"Sorry to disappointed you. We're not leaving."
"My dear visitors, are you trying to anger me?"
"I'm not trying to anger you," Anfey said. "You angered me. I have a problem, you see. I don't like it when people look down on me. So you better get down here."
"My lord, please, use your godly powers, and let this be the murderers' eternal grave," one of the old orcs called. Perhaps because the young man was using human language, he did too.
"My lord, they were slaughtering our people outside. You cannot let them go," another old orc called.
"Slaughter? You were the ones that attacked us first," Sante snorted. "The great mage Harn once said that time changes everything. Now even the orcs know trickery."
"Get up," the young man said. "Let me think about it." Then he closed his eyes, and it was as if he didn't even see Suzanna and the rest of the group.
Suzanna frowned and leaped into the air. She was the most powerful one there, and she would be the one to see exactly how powerful the man was.
When she was still a few feet away from him, a bright light flashed. Suzanna gasped, and her combat power disappeared.
"Is that Antimagic Terra?" Christian and Zubin called in surprise together.
Suzanna was caught off guard. She lost her balance and almost fell to the ground. A sword appeared in the young man's hand. He waved the sword and Suzanna's sword flew out of her hand. By the time Suzanna caught up to what was going on, the young man had already placed a sword on her neck.
"You can disrespect me once, but not twice," he said. He returned the sword to its scabbard and closed his eyes. "Go."
Anfey was worried for a second, but then wasn't. He didn't care how powerful that terra was. He remembered very clearly how the man had declared that he would kill everyone that talked too much.
He couldn't fool Anfey after saying something like that.
Suzanna clenched her fist and her body shook, as if she was regathering her power. The Antimagic Terra was too powerful, and all magic and combat power stopped functioning within its range. After a while, Suzanna picked up her sword and walked off the platform. She admitted defeat.
Zubin and Sante stared, frowning. Terra was something that surpassed the power of men. Very few people could use it, and they were all blessed by the gods themselves. There were very few even in history. Even the Great Magister couldn't fight people with Terra, let along young mages like them.
"Sorry," Suzanna whispered.
"It's alright," Anfey said. He began ascending the platform. Terra? If he really had the power of Terra, why did he let Suzanna go? Letting her go meant that he didn't want to, or couldn't, kill her. There must be something wrong with that terra.
Chapter 81: Show the True Color
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The young man with black hair could not take the stupid provocation any more. He suddenly stood up with rage. He pointed his sword at Anfey. Everyone could sense from the tension in the air that the fight was ready to start.
"Anfey," Zubin called out nervously.
"Anfey, come back!" Suzanna was worried as well.
Anfey waved his hand with a smile and casually walked forward. He looked calm and casual. He thought he would be fine, since the tip of that young man's spear was made of wax. He wanted to know whether the young man could affect him the same way that he had made Suzanna's combat power disappear. He had to fight with him to know it, though he knew it would make Suzanna and others worried.
"You are a guest from far away. As you wish, you did make me mad. You will pay for it," the young man with black hair said coldly.
"Saint, please crush their spirits." An orc chief smiled and bowed sincerely to the young man when he saw that young man was firm about the fight.
"It does not matter what you say. What matters is what you do and whether you are able to do it." Anfey walked on to the stage with a smile. There were light circles shining on the stage, which swallowed Anfey. Anfey closed his eyes to feel his own qi. He did not feel his qi had been affected by the young man, but rather had been slowly moving in his twelve regular channels and eight extra meridians. Anfey felt more confident about the fight, knowing his qi had not been affected.
"You will pay for your arrogance," the young man with black hair said frigidly.
"You will pay for being pretentious. It's weird that I still have qi with me in your Antimagic Terra. I have to remind you that you are going to make a fool of yourself." Anfey smiled.
"Am I?" The young man's face got serious. He thrusted his sword towards Anfey's chest with force and speed. It looked like he was ready to kill Anfey without any concerns.
"Anfey!" Zubin called out Anfey's name when he saw the sword almost touched Anfey's chest. He released levitation magic and flew to the stage. If Anfey had to die here, he would try his best to save him no matter what it would cost him to fight, and no matter how powerful that young man was.
Sante chanted the abracadabra with his eyes blood red. Suzanna ground her teeth and then rushed back to the stage. Those orcs looked up and were ready to watch a bloody scene with excitement. Then everyone was so shocked that they were frozen to the ground with eyes as big as plates after seeing how Anfey countered the young man's strike.
Anfey reached his hand out and gripped the sword between his thumb and index finger. It looked so casual that it seemed Anfey was picking up a flower. The young man tried to thrust his sword forward with full force, but he could neither thrust it forward nor pull it out of Anfey's fingers. The young man's forehead started to sweat when he realized his sword would not move a bit in Anfey's fingers.
"You have neither magic power nor combat power. Are you affected by the Antimagic Terra?" Anfey gave him a sarcastic smile. "If this is the legendary Antimagic Terra, I have to say it is trash. If there are two fully-armored soldiers in this field, they could easily kill you."
That young man's face turned beet red. He even tried to shake the sword with two hands, but he was merely a strong normal guy in the Antimagic Terra, while Anfey was a qi master with strong force. The difference in forces between two of them were huge. If Anfey were a stone column, then the young man was just a dragonfly on the stone column.
"Ah…Ah…" Zubin was so into watching the stage that he forgot he was flying with levitation magic and almost fell to the ground. Luckily, he had quick responses and saved himself from falling on his head by regaining control of the air elements.
Suzanna was watching Anfey closely on the stage in surprise and excitement. Sante heaved a sigh and relaxed a little bit. Those orcs were shocked and could not believe what they just saw. The almost god-like saint was easily beaten by Anfey, which meant that their tribe was going to disappear.
"You did one thing right, that is, you did not hurt my friends. That is why I am not hurting you yet." The young man with black hair was pulling the sword out with full force when Anfey playfully let his fingers go. The young man hit his chest with the shaft without any advanced notice. He had to move back five or six steps before he finally fell on the ground with a huge bang.
"You are our captive now." Anfey walked slowly to the young man. He stood not more than 2 feet away from the young man. He seemed to be tempting the young man on purpose to attack him again.
The young man's face turned from purple to pale. The struggle showed in his eyes. After a while, he tossed his sword on the ground and got up slowly. His mind was gone and he stood there silently without a word.
"I am going to kill you." The orc chief lost himself and rushed towards Anfey.
Anfey did not fight back right away. It looked like he was waiting until the last moment and slightly dodged to the side. The orc chief rushed passed Anfey. Maybe it was a coincidence or could have been on purpose that the orc chief tripped over Anfey's feet. The orc chief stumbled a few steps forward and fell off the stage.
If the orc chief had positioned himself to jump off the stage, an eight-meter tall stage would not be dangerous, not even for an old orc. However, his head hit the ground first. Dirt flew up and danced with the wind. The orc chief trembled a little bit and died.
Suzanna jumped onto the stage. This time her combat power was not affected. The Antimagic Terra must have disappeared. How could an Antimagic Terra disappear so easily? Suzanna glanced at the young man with black hair. She realized the young man was not in charge of the Antimagic Terra. He just temporarily simulated the magic forbidden effects in a certain area.
"Sante, can you go and tell Christian to end the battle as soon as possible? Ask him to be careful. There are some orcs who went out for patrol and will be back to join the battle," Anfey said to Sante.
"I will." Sante nodded and walked out of the cave.
"It is our turn now. So, tell me your name first." Anfey looked at the young man with black hair with interest.
"My name is Hui Wei", the young man answered.
"How did you start the Antimagic Terra?" Anfey asked. This was the real reason Anfey did not kill him and kept him. If Suzanna was beat so easily in the Antimagic Terra the young man created, then there would be nothing to be scared of against Phillip. If Anfey could start the Antimagic Terra himself, he could perform 100% of his qi while Phillip's combat power would have almost nothing left in the field.
"You will kill me anyway no matter if I tell you or not. I could not find a reason to tell you." Hui Wei's lips closed so tight that made him look very stubborn.
"If you tell us how you started the Antimagic Terra, I will not hurt you. You do not have to worry about me keeping my word. I have a good reputation for it," Anfey said with a smile. Hui Wei just sneered at Anfey. "If you tell us, you can take the chance whether I would kill you or not. If you do not tell us, then you do not even have the chance to gamble." Anfey still had a smile on his face, but his words were threatening.
"I am not telling you." Hui Wei looked very firm about it.
"You do not have to answer me now. You will have few days to decide." Anfey tried to lighten up the conversation. Then Anfey curiously walked a couple of times around the big chair made of bones. He was trying to find something unusual. He sat casually on it at the end. The back and arms of the chair were made of bones. It looked pretty scary. It did feel comfortable to sit on with the layer of animal fur on it.
The battle outside had almost ended. Most orcs in the battle were killed. Only the old and the females survived. Christian asked Riska to ambush the orcs who would return to help, and Blavi to watch the captives. Christian and Sante walked into the cave.
Christian asked loudly at the entrance of the cave, "Anfey, who set up the Antimagic Terra? Which one?" Christian was usually mature and calm, but learning about the Antimagic Terra just made him lose control and ask loudly. Some master swordsmen and senior magisters were legendary, but the Antimagic Terra was a legend among legends.
Anfey pointed at Hui Wei with a smile. Christian flew to the stage and stared at Hui Wei. Hui Wei had his eyes half closed and ignored Christian. He looked like he was going to change his mind no matter what Anfey would do to him.
Christian chanted an abracadabra. A visible surge hit right on Hui Wei, but he kept quiet.
"He has both magic and combat power. Anfey, did you say he was in charge of the Antimagic Terra? Are you sure about that?" Christian asked.
"I might be making a mistake myself, but everyone saw it. It cannot be mistaken. Christian, did you say he has both magic and combat power?" Anfey smiled.
"Yes, his magic power is stronger than yours, and his combat power is stronger than Niya's." Christian gave it some serious thought and said "There is no way he is in charge of the Antimagic Terra."
"He actually did it. I was…I was…" Suzanna felt so embarrassed. When she rushed into the Antimagic terra and found her combat power was suppressed, she was shocked and did not know how to respond to the change. Suzanna's weapon was easily taken away. It was not a history she was proud of. If it were not for Anfey, they would have been deceived by Hui Wei.
"You do not have to think about it too much. He will tell us in a few days," Anfey said casually. He pointed at two orc chiefs with a finger and said, "You two, come here."
Those two orc chiefs looked at each other and stumbled over to Anfey. The chair was still the same chair, but the person sitting on it had changed. The two orc chiefs did not show any loyalty or sincerity to Anfey as they had to the young man with black hair. No matter how much they hated Anfey, they did not dare to show it, since their lives were still in Anfey's hands.
"Tell me, how long has your tribe been living here?" Anfey asked. Suzanna's treasure map showed that the treasure was right here. If these orcs had been living here long, Anfey might have to find traces on these orcs to find the treasure.
"Master, we have lived here over half a year," the orc chief on the left answered politely.
"Where were you half a year ago?" Anfey continued.
"We were living in the Stone Forest in the Forest of Death," the orc chief answered.
"Lier," Suzanna said loudly. "Forest of Death is over four thousand miles away from Forest Clarm. How did you move here?"
"Suzanna is right." Zubin nodded. "There are five countries in between. How could orcs get here? Before they reached Forest Clarm, they would have been killed by humans."
The orc chief on the left realized from the shock that he had told the most important secret of the tribe when he rushed to answer Anfey's question under stress.
"Tell!" Anfey said coldly. He saw that orc chief looking angry and regretful. Anfey certainly knew what had happened.
"Master, please forgive me. I did lie. We just moved from the south of Forest Clarm." That chief orc trembled and kneeled on the ground. He cried, "There were something left by our ancestors for us in the south of Forest Clarm. I was afraid…then I lied about it. Please forgive me for that."
"It's not hard to forgive you as long as you tell us how you moved here from the Forest of Death. I will release all orcs as well if you tell us the truth," Anfey said with a smile.
The orc chief was shocked. "Master, we have never been to Forest of Death. We grew up in Forest Clarm. Master, as you know, Forest of Death is over four thousands miles away from here. How could we escape from Forest of Death to move here?"
"Christian, how many captives do we have out there?" Anfey did not want to play the game with the orc chief anymore. He turned around to look at Christian.
"About 60. Are you worried that they would escape? Not possible. Blavi has been watching them," Christian answered.
"Zubin and Sante, can you bring 30 captives in." Anfey gave the order.
"Yes."
The orc chief's eyes were moving fast. It looked like he was trying to guess Anfey's intentions. Hui Wei struggled to swallow. His reaction was a lot faster than the orc chief's.
Chapter 82: Survival Is of the Utmost Importance
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After a few moments, Sante and Zubin led a group of thirty orcs and lined them up on the raised platform. The group was mostly the old, the young, and the females. There were a few young males, but they were all captured due to their injuries.
"Listen. Until I get a satisfying answer, I will keeping counting. Every time I add a number I will kill one of them here," Anfey said coldly, then turned. "Suzanna, I trust you with this."
Suzanna hesitated, but then nodded and jumped down from the platform, unsheathing her sword.
The orcs erupted into chaos. Anfey called out, "Christian, kill everyone that is causing the commotion."
Christian drew in a breath and began whispering a spell. The air was filled with magical surges, which effectively silenced all the orcs.
Christian was, in fact, against the idea of harming their captives. If it wasn't Anfey's order, he would have objected, but now his hands were tied. No matter what he thought, he didn't want to call Anfey out publicly for it. It was not in his best interest to ruin his relationship with him. He figured he would find Anfey privately afterwards and talk about it.
"Sir!" one of the elders to the left cried out, "why are you doing this? We really did come from the south."
"One," Anfey said coldly.
Suzanna raised her sword, and one of the injured orcs was dead before he could even scream, his blood splattering all over the ground. The orcs let out a scream, but then quickly covered their mouths with their hands to stifle the scream. Anfey had said anyone who caused commotion would be killed as well.
"Sir! We are innocent, we don't know anything!"
"Two!" Anfey, in the end, was a cold person and cared not for pleas. Suzanna cut down another orc, the metallic scent of blood intensified.
"Sir!"
"Three!"
Suzanna waved her sword and ended another orc's life. So far, all she had killed were men, since she couldn't bring herself to kill any of the women or children.
"You demon!" the elder cursed, lurching towards him.
Anfey kicked the elder and the latter grunted and fell to the ground. "Four," he called.
"Five."
"Six."
"Seven."
Anfey counted all the way to ten, and the elder's eyes were already glassed over. He stared at the roof of the cave blankly, but he didn't show signs of telling the truth, either. The other elder had appeared stubborn from the beginning, and so Anfey didn't pay him much attention.
There were already ten orcs lying on the ground, dead. Suzanna was not a good executioner. She was not systematic, and the way she killed the orcs varied from orc to orc. If she had killed them in battle, no one would have paid any attention, but now her targets were orcs waiting for death, and the message she conveyed was completely different.
Anfey thought about the situation for a moment, and stood up slowly. "You see," he said, "your elders have abandoned you, they want to trade your lives for their secrets!"
The orcs exchanged looks, and the despair spreaded out in the room, some even began sobbing.
"But, I realize how unfair it is for them alone to decide your fates," Anfey said, smiling. "I am giving you all a chance."
All the eyes were suddenly on Anfey. He waited for a moment before continuing. "I will ask you some questions. Whoever answers can leave, and my men will not stop him. Of course, whoever has lied will die, and the one exposing him will live. I only have a few questions."
"The first one: Where were you three years ago?"
A female orc stood up before he even finished. "I know, I know," she screamed. "We were in the Stone Forest in the Forest of Death."
"Good. You're free to go. Second one: Where were you a year ago?"
"I know!" another woman with a child screamed. "We were in the same place."
"Good. You're free too."
"Sir," she said timidly. "Can I give the chance to my child?"
"Be my guest," Anfey said amicably.
The woman walked over to the first woman, and handed her child to her. She looked at her child for a few moments before whispering a few words to the first woman and returning.
"The third question: Six months ago…"
"I know, sir! You're asking where we were then, right?" the woman jumped up and asked.
Anfey hesitated before smiling, and said, "Yes. Do you have an answer?"
"We were here six months ago," the woman said.
"Great. You are free to go," Anfey nodded.
The woman cheered and dashed towards the first woman. She held her child to her chest and embraced him tightly, tears streaming down her face. They had only separated for a few moments, but her joy was enough to put all the rest of the orcs on high alert. They stared at Anfey, waiting for his next question. Sure, their chance of living would mean their friends' deaths, but by then no one cared much.
"The next one: Why did you come here?"
"For a sanctuary, a safe place!"
"I know, sir! For a safe place!"
"A sanctuary! Sir, I answered first, I did!"
An old orc and two women stood up simultaneously and shouted out.
"Bastards!" the elder screamed in anger. "You're betraying your ancestors? The mighty Beast God will not forgive you! Do you want your soul to toil…"
Before he could finish, Anfey kicked him across his chest, and he fell to the ground and was silent.
The three orcs hesitated, and dashed to the front, screaming, "Sir, I answered first!"
At first they argued in human language, then slowly they regressed into their native tongue.
"Silent!" Anfey called. "You all answered correctly, but one answer can only redeem one person. I will give you another question." The three orcs stared at him, nervous.
"Where is the sanctuary?"
"With them!" the older orc said.
The two women jumped up, agitated, staring at the old orc with hatred and anger. Had Anfey allowed infighting, surely they would be fighting each other by now.
"On the elders?" Anfey asked, surprised. He had expected their sanctuary to be a place.
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, you may go." He turned towards the two women and said, "You may answer the next question. Can you find it?"
"Yes!" the women called out at the same time.
"Alright," Anfey said, smiling, and pointed to the elders. "Go find it. Whoever finds it first can go."
The two rushed onto the platform, and each picked one of the elders.
"Bastards! You…" the elder cursed angrily.
The woman was angry as well, and did not hesitate as she struck the old man in the face. Seeing their people slowly slaughtered and the elders' stubbornness, the orcs had came to resent the elders. They didn't dare to fight with Anfey, so the weaker elders became their targets of rage.
"You..." the elder stared, his eyes filled with anger and disbelief.
The woman struck him again, the elder fell backwards and passed out on the ground.
The women began searching carefully. After a few minutes, one of the woman stood up and handed a piece of red stone with strange carving to Anfey. "I found it," she cried. "I found it, sir!"
The other woman sank to the ground and began sobbing. She had missed two chances at life, and was devastated.
Anfey took the red stone. "Alright," he said after a few moments. "Since you both tried, I will spare both of you." Anfey had killed many people, but that was because he needed to survive. Killing without reason would make him a butcher. He wasn't a good man, but he was far from that. He had received what he wanted, and he decided to show mercy.
The woman on the ground stopped her tears in shock. After a few moments, she stood up and ran down the platform, smiling, glad that she had earn a chance at life.
"One more question," Anfey said. He picked up the elder's staff from the ground and tossed it down. "The first person to grab this has the right to answer. Now, how many orcs were present at the Stone Forest?"
The rest of the orcs rushed forward, and a young woman was the one to pick up the staff. Before she could run up the stairs, the other orcs dragged her down. It was so chaotic Suzanna had to step in and organize them. After the orcs were driven back, the woman was bleeding, but her mind was still intact. "I got it," she cried. "I did."
"Alright. You may answer."
"Umm, there were…" the woman lowered her head and began counting. After a few moments, however, she was still struggling to grasp the exact number.
"A thousand?" Anfey realized that she may be lacking in the mathematics, and wanted to help her.
"No, sir, not that many."
"A hundred?"
"No, sir, no, not that many," the woman said.
"Really?" Anfey asked. "What about twenty?"
"Um…" the woman began counting again.
"Fine, fine," Anfey sighed. "You may go." He would save more time if he just let her go. Who knew how long it would take if he had waited for her to finish. "One last question. What is the usage of this?"
As the orcs dove for the staff, Christian turned to Anfey. "There's no use asking them that," he said. "I don't think they would know. Let me see that."
Anfey glanced at Christian and handed him the red stone.
Chapter 83: My Rights
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Christian was knowledgeable in terms of magic, but no one knew about everything, including Christian. Judging from the magic surges from Christian, he had tried various ways to test the reaction of the red stone with the strange carving, but the result was disappointing. Anfey had waited long for Christian, then finally he smiled. He did not sneer at Christian. It was just a smile.
"It is different than what I thought." Christian felt awkward and passed the red stone back to Anfey. "As far as I know, shelter is a treasure bestowed by Beast God to immediate relatives of ancient orcs. There were seven shelters. Most of them were with wolf orcs, bear orcs, and leopard orcs. I do not know how these orcs got one. In other words, shelter is a portable magic transmission portal and has a fixed coordinate in the magic world.
"Fixed coordinate in the magic world? Does it mean we will be sent to the same place every time we use the shelter?" Anfey asked.
"You are right." Christian nodded. "It is said that all the shelters are connected. If one shelter can help transport someone to the Stone Forest in the Forest of Death, then there must be another shelter that starts from Stone Forest."
"According to what you said, another shelter's destination should be here. Am I right?" Anfey asked.
"Something like that." Christian thought for a while and said, "But, all of these are legends. Maybe the truth will be slightly different than legends."
"You do not know how to use this shelter, do you?" Anfey asked.
"I could not find the magic conjunction point. The shelters were bestowed by Beast God to orcs. I am not an alchemist. I do not know what tricks this shelter can do." Christian smiled bitterly.
Anfey laid his eyes on the orcs below. "I'll ask one last question. Who knows how to use this shelter?"
Orcs used to zealously answer Anfey's questions, but they hesitated to answer when they heard this one. They looked each other, but no one was willing to answer it.
Anfey thought to himself, "If these orc did not know how to use the shelter, shouldn't they have looked confused or disappointed instead of hesitating?" Anfey raised his voice and asked, "This is the last question. If anyone can answer it, you will have freedom. If no one can answer it, besides the few who already earned their freedom, the rest will be killed. It's your choice."
"Master, would you really give us freedom?" A female orc asked timidly.
"I have said that I have a good reputation for keeping my word," Anfey said.
"Master, to start using the shelter, you have to dedicate sacrificial offerings on the full moon, then the Beast God would come down for his blessings," the female orc said.
"Sacrificial offerings? What kind of sacrificial offerings?" Anfey asked.
The female orc answered, "You have to dig out a girl's, oh, no, I meant an unmarried female orc's heart, and put this red stone back into her body. This ritual has to start three days before the full moon. You need change a female orc every day until the full moon. As long as the shelter can absorb enough blood, it will start on its own."
Hui Wei suddenly interrupted. "Do you want go to the Forest of Death? I suggest you do not."
"Why not?" Anfey asked flatly.
"Because it took almost everything for me to escape from there. I do not want to go back there ever again. It was not a good place to be," Hui Wei said.
"Anfey, Forest of Death was not a good place indeed." Christian shook his head. "Do you…Do you really want to go there?"
"It is a magic beast forest, right? It should be similar to Forest Clarm, isn't it?" Anfey asked.
"Definitely not similar. Forest Clarm is just over a thousand miles wide, while Forest of Death is…I am not sure since no one has measured it, but it should be over ten times the size of Forest Clarm. We only met a few wyverns, manticores and unicorns in Forest Clarm. In Forest of Death, these senior magic beasts are everywhere. There are supreme magic beasts as well. I do not mean the ones evolved from senior magic beasts. I mean the real supreme magic beasts. I would not be surprised to see a couple or even more than ten manticores that had died in their cave. It is common in the Forest of Death," Christian said seriously.
"Forest of Death, Wild Prairie and White Bone Mountain are the most dangerous places on the Pan Continent. Forest of Death shares a border with Wild Prairie, while White Bone Mountain is in the north of Pan Continent."
Suzanna jump back onto the stage. She looked as serious as Christian. She said, "Anfey, if we go to Forest of Death, there will be too many unpredictable dangers; hundreds of Magic Wolves, packs of Flash Leopards, and waves of Magic Ants and junior and senior magic Killer Wasps with natural immune systems, a furious mammoth that can crush magic beasts and humans with one stomp, and other supreme magic beats. No matter which one we encounter, it would kill all of us."
"Anfey, do you know about Entos? He is also a student of the professor, just older than us. The professor asked him to get training in Forest of Death after he became a senior magister. Well, I am not qualified to go there for training."
"Are you students of Archmage Saul?" Hui Wei suddenly interrupted. It was obvious he had heard the name Entos. "It is ridiculous that you could not see humans as dangerous, but only see the danger from magic beasts?"
"Can you tell us what we were ignorant about?" Anfey sounded like he did not see Hui Wei's sarcasm and wanted to learn from him with patience.
"Forest of Death is a place without laws. As long as you are strong, you can rob and kill anyone you like. Besides some powerful mercenaries who have been digging gold in the Forest of Death and some powerful men wandering in it, you will never be able to know the identities of others in the Forest of Death. A bloody, evil slaughterer who robbed others could be a polite archmage or an honorable master swordsman outside the forest. Only in the Forest of Death will you see their dark side that they've been trying to cover. It's a pity that you will only be able to see their true colors when you are about to die; by then it will be too late." Hui Wei sneered. "It looks like you are pretty good, a senior swordsman, a junior magister, hmmm, not bad. However, I bet you would not live more than ten days in the Forest of Death."
"Are you trying to scare me?" Anfey smiled. It was believable that powerful men robbed and killed others in the Forest of Death. It was also possible that some humans had killed others for their own benefit. However, Hui Wei exaggerated how dangerous Forest of Death was. He made it sound like it was a tomb for humankind. If it was really as Hui Wei said, why would Saul send Entos to get training there? Wouldn't that be like sending him to die? Hui Wei also said there were some mercenaries searching for gold in the Forest of Death, which obviously showed that the Forest of Death gave them more benefits than dangers, otherwise no one would be willing to stay in the dangerous forest.
"You…Fine. If you want to die over there, then you can take your people and go. I am not going to that damn place." Hui Wei's face was purple.
"Don't talk bulls#*t. You are our captive. No matter where we go, you have to go with us, unless you can tell us how to start the Antimagic Terra."
Hui Wei turned his head to the side. He did not want to look at Anfey anymore.
"Anfey, what he said makes some sense. Forest of Death is located right among Ellisen Empire, Shansa Empire and Mercenary Empire. There has not been any law over there. It was not like Forest Clarm, which belongs to Maho Empire. It was almost burned to the ground in the Hundred Year Saint Battle, so there are neither many magic beasts left nor many people going there for training," Christian said.
"Do you know why these orcs came here? Because they wanted to leave Forest of Death," Hui Wei interrupted again. It looked like he really did not want to go back to Forest of Death.
"Anfey." Suzanna wanted to say something as well.
"There are a couple of days before the full moon. We do not have to worry yet. We have time to talk about it." Anfey waved his hand and said, "We have to think about what to do with these orcs."
"What to do with these orcs? Anfey, didn't you promise to free them?" Christian asked in surprise.
"Hahaha, don't worry. I am not going to hurt them. I just need them do something for me." Anfey thought a little bit and asked quietly, "Christian, would orcs like gold coins?"
"Of course." Christian smiled.
"Humans are so hostile towards orcs that I thought they would have no way to spend them," Anfey said.
"They can trade gold coins with other orc tribes. Gold coins are the currency on Pan Continent. They would work any place on the Pan Continent. Even if humans do not sell them goods, they still can find agents to shop for them. When those wolf orcs and bear orcs reach a certain level, they can transform into humans to wander in the human world. They need gold coins as well. Even those spirits want to accumulate gold coins. Gold coins will not be unhelpful at any time," Christian answered.
Anfey now had some idea how gold coins work. He stood on the stage and glanced at the orcs below him. Anfey had agreed to free them, but Zubin and Sante still blocked the exit of the cave. No orc was trying to test Anfey to see if they could leave. They curled up against the cave, tensely whispering to each other.
"You have your freedom now. You are going to have two options. One is to leave and the other one is to stay and work for me. If you want to leave now, I will not stop you." Anfey took out a handful of gold coins from his dimensional ring and tossed them underneath the stage. "If you are willing to work for me, you can get a gold coin. It's just a deposit. You will be paid more later on."
Orcs were all shocked, since they were considered the lowest level among other living beings on Pan Continent. Even female elf slaves had a higher position than orcs. People could at least appreciate their beauty, while nobody liked the orcs' ugly face. In other words, no one even wanted to have them as slaves. They had never had any experience of working for anyone.
Christian walked quietly to Anfey and whispered, "Anfey, are you trying to win them over to your side with gold coins? It is not going to happen. Don't forget how many orcs we have killed."
"I know. I only need them work for me for a few days," Anfey said with a smile.
"Master, are you really giving these gold coins to us?" A female orc shouted out.
"Of course, but I need you think carefully before you agree to work for me. It is not going to be an easy job. You have to work very hard, but at the same time I will pay you very highly as well. You will be happy with the pay," Anfey said.
"Master, I do not mind hard work." The female orc actually felt relaxed when she heard she only needed to work hard. She ran to the gold coins, picked up one immediately and put it carefully in her pocket.
"God, for the sake of Beast God, please look at them. They have given up their beliefs and self-esteem to work for a killer. My greatest Beast God, please come down…" Suzanna kicked on the orc chief's chest before he could finish his words. Blood sprayed out from his mouth. It looked like he had died.
The orcs had wanted to come forward to get gold coins. After they heard the orc chief's comment, they just stood there and looked at each other. They even showed Anfey a look of mixed feelings. The female orc took out the gold coin from her pocket and tossed it on the ground.
"We came here for a reason. As some of you know, you attacked us yesterday, but failed. I swear to the great Bright God, I have never looked down upon orcs. I think all living things should live happily together. I have my own principles though. No matter who tries to hurt me or my friends, I would give them no quarter," Anfey said.
"Was it my fault?" Anfey continued. "No! You attacked me first. I have every right to take revenge. I know I am a killer in your eyes. Those soldiers in your tribe are killers as well. They attacked us in surprise without any legitimate reason. It was their fault, not mine."
"Ok, I have said enough. If you want to work for me, you can stay. If not, you can leave now," Anfey said flatly.
The orcs looked less tense. Anfey's reasoning was easy to understand for the orcs who have struggled to fight for food with other magic beasts. It was like they were attacking magic beasts for food. Some of them had died in the fight. This was the rule of nature.
Chapter 84: From the Age of Chaos
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Perhaps because they had lived in isolation for years, the orcs tended be lacking in wit and were easy to convince. Anfey's words had stunned them and made them speechless. After a few moments of hesitation, they walked up and began picking the gold coins off of the ground.
"Sante, you still have coins in your ring, right?" Anfey asked.
"Of course." Everyone had a certain amount of coins and food in their rings. Anfey wanted to make sure that if any of them got lost or separated, the person would have the means to survive.
"Come up here. Remember what I just said?"
"Yes?" Sante blinked. He used levitation and lifted himself onto the platform.
"Go outside and tell all the prisoners what I just said. Give the coins to those who want to stay and work. Those who don't want to stay can go."
"Alright."
"You know what I mean by going, don't you?"
"You mean…" Sante lowered his voice. "You promised them freedom!"
"Only to the ones in here. The ones outside are our prisoners, after all. If anyone is stubborn enough to leave, you know what to do."
"Fine," Sante said, nodding.
"Alright. Tell Blavi and Riska to come in," Anfey said, smiling. "Zubin, go with Sante, won't you?"
Zubin nodded and left the cave. The orcs, seeing that the one that guarded the exit had left, felt a sense of relief. They were promised work and money and freedom, all things they didn't even dare to dream about in the past.
"Suzanna, come with me," Anfey said. He jumped onto the stone ridge across from the platform. He descended the stairs and entered the orcs' storage cavern.
Suzanna didn't know what Anfey wanted with her, but she knew it was important, or else Anfey would not have avoided Christian. She followed him nervously.
"Suzanna, I have to talk to you about something." Just as Suzanna had expected, Anfey did not even try to prepare her for the talk and instead cut straight to the chase.
"Go ahead."
"I feel the need to tell everyone about the map you are carrying. Don't misunderstand me. The treasure is still yours, and none of us would ask you for any of it. You are part of the team, and we have the responsibility to help you. I think everyone else would feel the same way."
According to map, the treasure should be buried somewhere near these mountain ranges. Anfey hired those orcs for the purpose of finding whatever was buried here as well. A search this scale would not escape everyone's eyes, and would sooner or later be noticed by somebody. If they waited until someone found out, it would create a sense of mistrust among the group.
"You didn't need to explain yourself," Suzanna said, smiling. "I trust everyone."
"You agree, then?"
"If you can really find it...I just need that sword. Everything else you can take."
"Stop, stop," Anfey said, shaking his head. "You sound like we are dividing up contraband."
Suzanna chuckled. "I do not have the spell, though," she said. "It was written under the map, but was already missing when I found it."
"Let's wait until we find it. Perhaps we don't need a spell for it." Anfey smiled and began walking out of the cavern. Blavi and Riska were already outside and speaking with Christian.
"Christian, come here. Sanchez, why don't you…" Anfey ordered, but after a moment he changed he mind. "Christian, bring him over anyway." Hui Wei had already given up struggling, but no one knew when he could use the antimagic area again. What if he tried to escape and harm the people outside, while their strongest fighters were all inside the cave?
The group used levitation and gathered around Anfey. Hui Wei looked like he had lost all will to fight, and quietly allowed himself to be carried by Christian.
"Anfey, what happened? Why the secrecy?" Christian asked.
Anfey glanced at Suzanna, and said, "There is something important you need to know."
"Why do you want me here if you are just talking? Let me go!" Hui Wei said suddenly, and began thrusting against his captor. He was much stronger than Christian, and could have easily escaped.
"You better behave," Anfey said coldly.
"I'm not interesting in your secrets," Hui Wei said nervously. "Let me go. I'm just outside, I can't escape. You have so many mages here, there is no way I can get out."
"No, you have to stay here," Anfey said sternly.
Hui Wei stared at him, and suddenly he dashed towards the wall. He was fast, and caught everyone off guard. He wasn't going to escape or hurt anyone. By the time everyone realized what he was doing, he had already crashed into the wall and fell to the ground unconscious.
Everyone stared at him wide eyed and confused.
Anfey talked over slowly and silently and checked his wounds and his breathing. "He's smart," he said, "he didn't hurt himself much. Just enough to knock himself out."
"Why did he do this?" Christian asked.
Anfey picked Hui Wei up off the ground and placed him on the stone ridge above. He jumped off the ridge and landed in front of Christian. "Say, Christian. If you become a prisoner, and your captors speak about secrets right in front of you, how would you feel?"
"You're saying he was afraid we would kill him?"
"Of course. He was afraid that after we learn the secret to the antimagic area, we would kill him. Otherwise, he would have told us about it long ago. Had he known our secrets, his chance of survival would be even lower." Anfey grinned. "He is braver than I thought."
"He is," Blavi said. "Who would bet with their own heads?"
"Now, let's talk about our own secrets," Anfey said. "Suzanna holds a treasure map."
"Treasure map?" The group's gaze fell onto Suzanna, then turned to Anfey. "What kind of treasure map?" Christian asked.
Suzanna retrieved it from her sheath and handed it to them. "See for yourself."
Christian accepted it gingerly. Blavi and Riska gathered around to look at the map.
"This is old," Riska said, touching the surface of the map.
"It was new when I got it, but during the fight we destroyed the magic on it. I think it will be a pile of dust in no more than six months."
"Why don't you make a copy?"
"No need. I already memorized the entire map."
"Suzanna," Anfey said, "why didn't you destroy it once you memorized it?"
"I couldn't bring myself to do it," Suzanna shrugged. "Every time I see it...it is like seeing my mentor again."
"Your mentor? Who is it?" Anfey wasn't the only one that cared about the question. Anyone who could train a twenty-year-old girl to be a master swordsman must be one of the best.
"Sorry, I promised him I would never give out his name to anyone."
"You don't have to say anything," Anfey said, smiling.
"Thanks," Suzanna whispered.
"Suzanna, how long have you had this map?" Christian asked.
"About three months."
"Time is constant. It doesn't matter if you are alive or not, time will affect you one way or another. If Suzanna is right, and this map has deteriorated this much in three months without that magic barrier, it should at least be six centuries old, if not seven."
"What does that mean?" Blavi asked.
"That means we are in for a surprise," Christian said.
Christian continued: "After the Hundred Year War, all the sentient beings in the world retreated into their own territories and rested. The magicked beings had brought severe damage to all the races. Only two hundred years later, however, another war erupted. Although it was only between the humans and the savages, it had been just as intense as the Hundred Year War, and in the end every race was affected.
"After the Hundred Year War, humans divided into three kingdoms, and after the war with the savages, they divided into a dozen nations. When faced with increasing threats from their enemy, the nations banded together into one nation in order to fend off their common threat.
"After the war with the savages and the orcs, the unified nation fell apart within two decades, and evolved into the world we know today. Of course, no one could stop the constantly changing politics of nations.
"In a chaotic era such as the wars, many noble families and powerful men found themselves staring their doom in the face. Some were able to rebound after the war, but many were instead buried by history. Treasures from that era must have something to do with those fallen nobilities." Christian knew this map would bring them a great surprise.
"I only know there is a sword in there. You might know it. It is called Song of Red Moon," Suzanna told them.
"Song of Red Moon? That is a sword of the devil! It is a holy relic of the orcs. Why would it be here?" Christian asked.
"That I do not know."
"What? Is it a powerful sword?" Anfey asked.
"I do not know exactly how powerful it is. Legend has it that it was forged by a great alchemist after a necromancer placed a spell on him. After the sword was forged, the alchemist was killed and his soul imprisoned in the sword. After that the sword became cursed, with the alchemist placing a curse on everyone that wields it," Christian said uneasily. "Suzanna, that sword is not for common people. The first user was captured by the magic beasts, and they tortured him to death. None of the other users fared well, either. You are powerful enough, you don't need to rely on weapons to increase your ability."
"I promised my mentor that I would find it," Suzanna said, patting her longsword. "I won't actually use it. I just need it in my hands."
"That's good, as long as you don't use it. " Christian sighed in relief. "I mean, your mentor shouldn't, either," Christian added hurriedly.
"He won't use it, either," Suzanna said, shaking her head.
"Alright, let's talk about that later. First we need to find it. Starting tomorrow, we will have the orcs start searching the surrounding areas until we find clues," Anfey said. "You've seen the map. What do you think about that dot? I have a feeling that it is this very cave."
"You're right!" Blavi said, staring at the black dot. "Look at it. The black dot is under the mountain, and if this is where the treasures are located, then it is this cave!"
Chapter 85: Visions
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Christian grabbed treasure map and studied it for a while, his head nodding. "I also think it is here."
"Let's ask the orcs to start digging on the hill tomorrow. I heard they are very skilled. This hill is not huge. We will find the treasure no matter what, even if we have to dig the whole hill flat." Anfey smiled.
"Anfey, I…" Suzanna hesitated a little bit and said, "I have told you that the other half of the treasure map had been robbed. Without the spells on the other half of the map, we may not be able to open the treasure."
"What kind of spells?" Christian asked, worried.
"It's an ancient rune. I do not understand it," Suzanna answered.
"Ancient rune? Only alchemists like to study it," Christian said.
"Yes, my master told me this treasure was kept by an element lock," Suzanna said.
"Element lock? That does not sound good." Christian could not help smiling bitterly.
"What is an element lock?" Anfey asked.
There were so many things Anfey did not know about, and he humbly asked about them every time when he encountered them; so no one was surprised when he asked about an element lock. Christian whispered to answer Anfey's question, "It is a way to seal things. Only alchemists can create an element lock. After an element lock is created, it has to be unlocked with correct spells, otherwise the element lock will explode. It would be a huge explosion too. All the elements will be shuffled in chaotic order and turn the air into a vacuum."
"Then we can unlock it in the wrong way on purpose to cause the explosion. As long as we are careful, we would not get hurt. Will the element lock come back after the explosion?" Anfey asked.
"But the treasure would be blow up as well. The power of element locks vary. Usually alchemists will adjust the power of an element lock based on the size of the item they try to seal. The only way to safely acquire the treasure is to find the spells," Christian said.
"So I think we still have to find the treasure first. Don't worry about other things. Maybe the element lock has already expired and lost its effectiveness." Christian and others looked at each other, and then they all nodded. They knew no one would unlock the element lock without spells, not even archmages. Therefore, their discussion would not help anyway.
"Anfey!" Sante had already landed on the stairs when everyone heard his voice. He did not look too good.
"What happened?" Anfey frowned.
"I have told the orcs exactly what you have told me, but many orcs wanted to leave and did not want to work for us. What should I do?" Sante sighed.
"Didn't I tell you to kill any orc who wants to leave?" Anfey said.
"Ah, Anfey, there are more than fifty orcs wanting to leave, and a lot of kids and…" Sante said.
"I will go and take a look," Blavi interrupted.
Among Christian and others in the legion, Blavi acted on instinct the most. In modern language, he would be called very "feisty". He cursed at Zeda at Saul's house, and Zeda almost killed him with a kick. Besides Anfey and Suzanna, he killed the most on their journey to escape.
Personality usually developed little by little. Blavi had always liked to control others' lives. However, he was nervous and scared at the beginning of their escape, but felt excited now. Blavi had changed. He did not think it was a big deal to kill dozens of orcs. Instead, he was not happy with Sante's hesitation. Anfey had said clearly that any orc who wanted to leave needed to be killed. If it were him, he would not come back and asked Anfey again. He'd rather kill those orcs immediately when he knew they wanted to leave.
"Be careful." Anfey nodded.
"I will," Blavi answered quietly. He flew with levitation magic to the exit of the cave and sped up.
"Christian, an element lock has magic surges. Can you sense the location of the treasure?" Suzanna asked suddenly.
"I would not sense it, but I can set up a magic array to test it," Christian said.
"Orcs will work during the day. You can set up the magic array at night when the orcs are resting. There are only seven or eight days left before the full moon. We need to hurry," Anfey said.
Christian and others looked at each other, speechless. They had explained to Anfey how horrible the Forest of Death could be. They knew Anfey still wanted to go, otherwise he would not constantly emphasize the full moon. They understood Anfey was trying to prepare them for the trip, but did they have to go?
There was an intense magic surge outside the cave. Obviously, Blavi had started to kill orcs. Judging from the intensity of the magic surge, Blavi did not wait for the orcs to leave the village before starting to kill them. This was a warning for the rest of the orcs.
The look on everyone in the cave had changed, but Anfey looked like nothing had happened. Suzanna looked aloof. Riska was thinking with his head down. Christian looked a little sad. He did not want to see any killing, but he was smart enough to absolutely respect Anfey's decision. Anfey had not made many mistakes during their escape. To him, it was wise to respect Anfey's decision.
"Christian, can you take few people with you to pick up Niya and the others," Anfey said slowly.
"Ok," Christian nodded.
* * * *
When Niya and the others reached the tribe of orcs, it was already dark. Orcs had cleaned up the messy tribe when Niya and the others were on the way. They even moved everything in the cave out to clear up the room for them to sleep.
Anfey had thought to have orcs rest in the cave with Niya and the others, which would make it easy to watch over the orcs, but Niya was against it. She hated the look of orcs and their body odor. Anfey asked Niya to rest in the orcs' only surviving straw house. Niya was against that idea too. To be honest, the straw house smelled even worse than the cave. It was not because orcs did not want to be clean, but they never had the concept of hygiene. Hundreds of orcs lived in a village without any restroom facility. How could it be clean?
Anfey understood Niya's concern, so he asked Christian to set up a magic array and sent orcs into it. Anfey also asked Blavi, whom orcs hated and were scared of the most, to watch over them at night. If any orc wanted to escape, it would have to take a lot of courage to flee under Balvi's watch.
The problem of a shortage of food made Anfey's head hurt. Anfey had thought they would have more food after they took over the orc tribe. He did not expect the orcs' food to be so different than theirs. Orcs cut off ever-green trees with flowers and ground them into powder. They mixed the powder with some water and baked it under the sun. That was their bread.
Anfey tasted a little bit of the bread. To be honest, it was not horrible. It had a little bit of a bitter taste, but the texture was horrible. The orcs' bread was so tough that it could be used as weapons, to use Anfey's own words. When the bread was bitten into smaller pieces in the mouth, Anfey felt they were like small stones. He could not swallow them.
Orcs like to cut the magic beasts' stomachs open and take out their organs. Then they cut the magic beasts up, left them in a big pot and cooked them into a soup dish. Without mentioning their cooking skills, the pots had already shocked everyone. The whole orc tribe only had three pots, and one of three orc chiefs in charge of each. When orcs showed Anfey where the pot was, Anfey stared at the pot in amazement, and his jaw dropped.
Orcs did not have the habit of washing pots. When they were kicked out of the human world, they had to try to just survive in the forest. Therefore, some good habits they had developed in the human world had gradually disappeared.
When Anfey was approaching the pot, he heard a huge humming sound and saw a cloud of smog rising in the air. There were millions of half-finger sized dark blue flies covered under the cloud of smog. A little bit of soup was left in the pot and a layer of flies were floating on it. There were bumps on the side of the pot, which must have been left by different magic beasts. A nasty smell rushed into Anfey's nose. Luckily, Anfey kept his legs steady, otherwise he would have fallen by the wave of smell.
Anfey held his breath, turned around and walked away. If they were out of food, he would eat this kind of food. He still had other options, so he did not mention eating this kind of food, and he did not even want to look at it again.
Anfey was wondering how these orcs could have javelin throws, leather armor, and short-shaft sticks with wolf fangs when they were so short of basic items. He felt he should look for some clues from Hui Wei. He was not worried about this problem yet, since he had control of Hui Wei. Anfey had to pressure him to make him tell how to set up an Antimagic Terra first.
The second day, the orcs started to work on the heavy construction. Anfey kept his word and paid the orcs in gold coins at the end of day, which bolstered the orcs' morale. Orcs did not need to go out and hunt, since there were many mages in Anfey's legion who could hunt with magic. It was self-evident which was more efficient: hunting with magic or with spears. When several mages went out together, they always could bring back some junior magic beasts. Four days later, the magic array that Christian set up finally sensed some weak magic surges. This discovery was helpful in deciding the correct direction of their digging, instead of digging everywhere.
Anfey made a conservative estimate that they would need only two more days to find treasure. It was wise to estimate conservatively since thinking the worst could prepare him for surprises later on.
The second day at noon, a few orcs fell into an ancient tunnel when they were digging into the hill. The tunnel was slanted downwards so those few orcs rolled down the tunnel and dizzily fell on a pile. They tried to look around with the very weak element light. They were so shocked that they froze into statues.
They worked so hard to earn a gold coin a day. It had already made them quite happy. Right now they had gold coins everywhere at their feet, and countless jewelry shone under the dim element light.
Besides gold coins and jewelry, heavy armor and weapons piled up in the front and both sides of the cave wall. It was hard to see the texture of the weapons, since dirt had covered the whole stone chamber over time.
There was a silver box floating in the air. If these orcs had better eyes, they could tell it was not silver, but a rare mithril. Mithril was so rare that a palm size amount would make anyone wealthy.
A black arc and quiver and a 6-foot long giant axe were hung in the front of the cave wall, but the orcs' eyes were fixed on the gold coins under their feet. They stared at the gold coins. Without knowing who started or whether they all started at the same time, the orcs started to pick gold coins up and put as many of them in their pockets as they could.
That day Riska was watching over the orcs. It was not long before Riska noticed something unusual. Anfey, Christian, and Suzanna all came over shortly. They passed the long alley and landed in the stone chamber. The orcs in the stone chamber did not notice their presence and kept putting gold coins in their pockets. What they did was stupid since it was easy to tell what had happened. They all looked like they were pregnant.
"Put the gold coins down and get out!" Anfey said flatly.
The orcs just noticed Anfey and the others with him. Their bodies were frigid for a second, and then they turned around to look at Anfey with fury in their eyes. The gold coins had made them even less intelligent. They did stupid things that even junior magic beasts would not do.
Suzanna snorted heavily. She and Shally had tried so hard to search for this treasure. Today they finally found it. How could she allow these orcs to take any of it?
"Suzanna!" Anfey called her name quietly and then turned to thoe orcs. "Didn't you hear me? Put the gold coins down and get out!"
The orcs shook a little bit out of fear. They just realized the huge difference in power between them. If Anfey's legion were composed of regular people, they would have torn them up. The people in front of the orcs had killed soldiers in their tribe, captured their leader, and had power hundreds of times stronger than theirs. They hesitated a little bit and unwillingly tossed the gold coins on the floor. Every orc could be considered smart since they each kept a few coins in their pockets.
"These bastards!" Christian cursed after the orcs climbed back to the alley. This time even the generous Christian thought orcs were too much.
"Don't worry about them. Let's take a look at what we got today." Anfey smiled.
They all looked at the box in the air. This was the difference in perspective. Anfey and the others did not even care about the gold coins and jewelry at all.
Chapter 86: Greed
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Anfey only glanced at the chest before moving his gaze to the longbow. He walked over slowly and lifted it off the wall. Everyone else stared at the chest with wide eyes. They had all felt something, but did not want to believe. Anfey did not know much about magic silver. He had only read about it in books, and had quickly forgotten about it.
He brushed away the dust on the longbow. The bow was about four feet long and very heavy. There were no carvings or decorations on it, and the bow appeared very plain. Under the dim light, the bow's body appeared to be dark grey, and the string appeared to be dark gold. Anfey wasn't one to appreciate ancient artifacts, but he knew this bow was nothing short of extraordinary.
He slowly began pulling the string back, and even though he used his full strength, he was experiencing difficulties. He tried to draw the string back a bit more, and felt a sharp pain in his fingers. He released the string.
The string bounced back, making a sharp whistling sound that turned into a low buzzing. Anfey stared at it in amazement.
He put the bow back and turned to the great axe. The axe was about as tall as a man, the handle was as thick as a baby's forearm, and the axe itself was almost as big as a wheel. The axe was shaped strangely. The lower part of the axe was flat and smooth, the upper part turned abruptly vertical. Like the bow, the axe appeared old. It was black, and only the edge of the axe appeared white.
The axe probably weighed considerably more than a hundred and fifty pounds. Anfey reached over and picked it off of the wall. As he held the axe in his hand, he stumbled and almost dropped the axe. Anfey was caught off guard. He knew how strong he was. Holding this axe was completely beyond his ability.
He grasped the axe with his left hand, and before he could study it closely, he felt his legs shaking and sinking. He was standing on a pile of jewelry, which had supported him well before, but with the axe in his hands he was falling through the pile.
He hurriedly returned the axe to where it was before. He had tried his best to control it, but it still bounced off the wall and made a loud noise that startled the others in the cave.
"What are you doing?" Christian asked, looking away from the chest.
"Nothing," Anfey said. "Can you open the chest?"
"It's an element lock," Christian said, shaking his head. "It's impossible."
"Say, do you guys think this is magic silver?" Riska asked.
"Magic silver?" It had been too long, and well past Anfey's memory limits. He thought the name sounded familiar, but could not remember what it was.
"I feel like it is, but I do not know for sure," Blavi said, shaking his head.
"I've seen it," Christian said, "but that's not something you can tell by just looking at it."
"If we attack it, maybe we can tell."
"No, that way we will trigger the element lock," Christian shook his head.
"Christian, do you know how to undo the lock?"
"No, unless we have the right spell."
"You're sure?"
"I'm certain. Unless we can find an alchemist. There is no way we can manage that by ourselves."
"Alright," Anfey said, nodding. "Suzanna, look at this," he added, lifting the bow off of the wall.
Suzanna walked over and took the bow. It was too big for Anfey to use, and Suzanna was even shorter than him. The way she held the bow looked slightly awkward, but her power was undeniable. She was able to draw it almost full despite being more petite than Anfey. However, she could barely draw it open fully, and let go hurriedly. The bow vibrated and an arrow of air shot forward. It hit a wall and made a large hole on it. Anfey stared at the hole, and was glad the bow was not aimed at him.
"Do you know its name?" Anfey turned to Christian, who was the most knowledgeable of all of them.
"I don't know," Christian shook his head. "It can shoot out an air arrow, though. I have never heard of anything like this."
"Does anyone know?" Anfey's question was met with head shakes and low murmurs. "Suzanna, do you know?"
"No," Suzanna said, stroking the bow. Clearly she liked it, but it was not her weapon. Using a longbow like this was very draining, and she was, after all, a swordsman, not an archer.
"Nevermind. Suzanna, take the bow and axe."
"Me? No. I only need the sword."
"That's yours. You are the rightful owner."
"There, why don't you put it in your ring? My ring is full, and I can't carry around an axe all day."
"Alright," Anfey said. He didn't want to argue with Suzanna about pointless things. "Suzanna, there is only one thing left to do, if we can't figure out the spell."
"What is it?"
"Tell us who took the map, and we will get it back together."
Suzanna frowned and appeared hesitant.
"We still do not know where you two came from and what your pasts were. We know you will tell us when you are ready to do so. I think now is one of those times. We need to analyze where the map came from, and what kind of people we will be facing."
"Alright," Suzanna sighed.
"You don't need to tell us right away. We have plenty of time for you to think," Anfey interrupted her. "Christian, come. We need to seal off the passages. I don't think the orcs will easily give up."
Christian sighed, remembering the orcs. "Alright," he said.
When they returned to the cavern, the orcs were not working, and were instead chatting amongst themselves. Seeing the group emerging from the site of the accident, the orcs all turned their gaze.
Greed was limitless. There were very few people who could avoid the influence of greed, and Anfey was no different. When he had just arrived here, all he wanted to do was to kill Yagor and survive. After meeting Saul and Ernest and learning more about the world, he wanted to be one of the best. He felt that he should do something, instead of living alone, spending the rest of his life in absolute boredom. Sure it would be safe, but…
Like him, the orcs were ecstatic over earning one gold coin a day. After hearing their friends had discovered the treasure and seeing them returning with many gold coins, they felt Anfey was selfish. They were the ones who had discovered the treasure; shouldn't they get some of it as well? If it weren't for the difference in power and strength, they would have rioted long ago.
"Sanchez, get them out of here. Tell them to take three days off and give them each three coins," Anfey commanded, looking around the cavern.
"Alright," Sanchez said. He turned to the orcs and called, "All of you, out, out."
The orcs, hearing his orders, glanced at each other but did not move. Clearly they wanted to stay there. Greed could grant people strength sometimes, and it had helped them forget the slaughter that happened there only a few days ago. All they could think of was the treasure.
"Did you not hear me?" Sanchez called angrily. "Out with all of you!" He knew that after the accident, the orcs had become restless and would often disregard orders. They would often look at them with shifty eyes and resist orders passively.
The orcs slowly stood up and began shuffling out of the cavern. Some were muttering something in their own language, as if cursing the humans.
Anfey snorted, his eyes flickering with anger.