Claud peeked out of his window, stole a glance at the two brilliant stars high in the sky, and resumed his shivering. A blanket was pulled tightly around him, but he knew full well that the chances of it actually doing something of use was slightly lower than the chances of finding a pure-ranked lifestone on the streets. It was purely for his psychological well-being; nothing else.
He wasn't the only one shivering in his boots either. On his left, a little box was also jiggling and shivering, clearly intimidated by the awesome aura that was leaking from the Spear of Fate, who had finally arrived at Licencia. A small handwritten book sat in front of him, the pages fluttering like flowers in the wind.
"Moons…" Claud felt his nails bite deep into his skin. "What am I supposed to do? That's the bloody Spear of Fate floating above us, looking down and yelling out a challenge to me! He wants to kill me! To kill me!"
Crown, who had apparently felt his distress, rolled over and nudged his hand. Claud restrained his fear and picked up the little box, who was jiggling like one of those jelly desserts he tried a few months ago. It wasn't feeling better either, but at least Crown didn't need to deal with the overwhelming fear of death that had occupied a good half of his brain.
Taking a deep breath, he forced aside his fear to look at Crown.
"You alright there, little fellow?" Claud rubbed the top of the box. Before he could add another sentence of comfort for Crown, the air quaked again.
"Thief of Time!" Zulan Patra's roar echoed out into the evening sky. "Is this how you belittle me? Am I not worthy for you to even show your presence? Come out! Let us fight! I would rather not dirty my boots with the filthy soil here!"
Claud gripped his fist so tightly that blood began to leak out. Staring up at the two stars in the orange sky, he pulled out the bag of lifestones he'd stolen from Times and Banks. His vision was tinted with a shade of red, and his hands trembled as he picked up the handful of pure-ranked lifestones he'd stolen and stuffed them into his mouth. An exhilarating current of life surged through his veins, flooding his body and revitalising it — but he didn't have it in him to enjoy the sensation.
Picking up the small handwritten book Isolde had passed to him, his eyes fixated on a certain page. Steeling his resolve, he reached into the bag full of lifestones and forced another handful into his mouth, where they melted away again.
"Crown," Claud murmured. "I am going to draw a second circuit. Help me."
The box shivered, and then clambered onto his shoulder.
"Moons take you, Zulan Patra." Claud forced down another handful of gems. "You're forcing my hand…"
Another mouthful of sweet life ran down his throat.
"I didn't kill anyone!" Claud took out the last of the high-ranked lifestones and stuffed them into his mouth. There was a dull pain in his mouth, but he had no desire to think about that. What he needed to do was to gather as much life as possible; he had learnt from Isolde's little book that mana-users could use not just mana, but also life. More importantly…using one's life would unleash attacks of an incredible magnitude.
He was not a fool. Skills could still fail. If his Presence Nullification couldn't succeed in blocking off the Spear of Fate's pursuit, then it would come down to a fight. And Claud was not the kind of person to roll over and die.
That just wasn't him.
Claud picked up the bag and dumped the contents onto his lap. There were no more high or pure-ranked lifestones there; whatever left was but middle and low-ranked ones. The middle-ranked lifestones could still provide more life force, but it was too little, too late.
"Crown. Help."
The little box began to glow. Within seconds, the glittering emerald stones came apart, turning into a stream of green light. The emerald radiance began to darken visibly, thinning out to form a long strand of blue light.
Normally, a mana-user would change the lifeforce in their body into mana, not draw them out like this. Claud, however, had spent an hour or so experimenting with Crown after he received the small book from Isolde. Given that he was utterly inexperienced with the concept of drawing even just one mana circuit on his body, it would be far better to let Crown, who had long conveyed to him its intention to help, take over.
The box paused, and then did a backflip. Somehow, Claud understood what it meant, and within moments, his body began to glow blue. Lines of mana were showing on his body, and in a practiced motion, Claud stripped off the clothes on his upper half to reveal a complex web of mana conduits. A dense nexus of blue lines was drawn on his right chest, above his heart, their radiance ebbing and growing with his heartbeat.
Crown bounced twice.
"Do it," Claud spat. Mana swirled around him, creating hundreds of blue lines that seemed to centre around his heart.
He glared at the spearman high in the sky, and was once more overcome with both fear and fury. If the folk tales were true, a tetra-folder like Zulan Patra could eradicate an entire city with a few swings, and then pay some pathetic restitution to the Emperor to get off scot-free. If that really happened…
A small mound of dust shot to the skies, interrupting his chain of thoughts. The Spear of Fate had stabbed out casually at a random part of the city. Screams rent the city, only for them to be silenced by the unnatural pressure that had been pressing down on Claud ever since he arrived.
"Tot! I grow weary of waiting games like this! Monster from the Third Godsfall! Do you truly dare not face me? Or am I, Zulan Patra, Blessed of the White God, really unworthy of your attention? Must I massacre this city to get your attention? Or do you not care about them either?" The Spear of Fate whipped his weapon around in a pretentious manner, and then raised his hand. "Very well! If you're not coming…then let me find you!"
Claud didn't quite know what Zulan Patra was about to do, but from the looks of it, he clearly had an investigative skill at the ready. At that sight, Claud got to his feet, and clenched his fist. The defensive artefacts he'd purchased earlier activated a moment later, and the air around him warped slightly as his defences came to life. He could feel mana and life churn within him, ready to unleash the strongest blow in his entire life if his final defence failed.
The blue light weaving around Claud began to intensify. It was evident that Crown had detected something, something that Claud felt a second later.
It was the feeling of being locked on by a predator. It wasn't something the Band of Duplicity could contend with; Claud's instincts were telling him that it worked on more nebulous principles.
Like destiny. Or fate.
Claud, however, didn't budge an inch. Such a sensation definitely came from the Spear of Fate's skill. He could feel the blood coursing in his ears — if Zulan Patra discovered his current location, he was at least going to put up a fight.
However, when it came to concealment, this was his battlefield.
Just as the feeling of being eyed was about to reach its peak, Claud clenched his fist and tore up a skillstrip. The feeling of being stared at vanished — no, it was diverted at something else that was and wasn't him at the same time — and he clenched his fist in victory.
A roar split the skies. "Don't think you can elude me!"
At that cry, Claud bared his teeth and fought the urge to laugh. The feeling of being so close to a pack of searching guards doubled, tripled, but Claud knew that he was safe. Presence Nullification had, as expected, countered the Spear of Fate's searching skill. Zulan Patra would give up a few seconds later, and then slink into the night, defeated.
Or he would, if fate didn't have other plans.
Without warning, the strands of azure mana flowing around him erupted into a prismatic radiance. The unsettling feeling of being eyed winked out entirely, a sensation that was swiftly followed by an anguished cry from the skies.
The web of mana all around him crumbled away a second later as the sudden, anguished scream shook the city and pierced through his eardrums. Forcing himself to ignore the pain, Claud gritted his teeth and looked out of the window.
Zulan Patra…didn't look that good. Even from the ground, Claud could tell that he was gravely injured; his doubled-over posture, one that reminded him of a cooked prawn, gave it all away.
A second cry erupted from the Spear of Fate as Claud squinted at the flickering azure star. "Thief of Time! You would injure me so? Without even looking at me? Are you telling me that I'm unworthy of your attention?"
Claud removed Crown from his shoulder, and then glanced at the little box, who had rolled over in a dead faint when the strands of mana flared. Clearly, the little fellow had done something, something that had injured the Spear of Fate so.
The self-proclaimed master thief patted the box appreciatively. What would Zulan Patra's expression be like, if he found out that it was a box that had somehow stopped his investigative skill and injured him badly at the same time?
The Spear of Fate let out another roar, one tinged with bitterness this time, before a faint red fog flew out of his mouth. The mana writhing around him faded away, and Zulan Patra began to fall.
Claud let out a sigh of relief.
For now, it was a stay of execution. The man who had taken it upon himself to challenge what most knew as a monster from the Third Godsfall had been grievously injured. A four-fold mana-user had been defeated in the public eye, without the other party moving at all.
For all intents and purposes, the legend of Tot had been set in stone. The utter defeat of Zulan Patra and how he fell from the sky would be seared in public consciousness, haunting Licencia and sung in ballads for decades to come. For now, however, Claud could only be thankful that Presence Nullification had worked.
Perhaps no one but Claud himself would know the truth about the Thief of Time, and how he nearly died long before his allotted lifespan.
He patted the little velvet box, and then flopped over on his bed. He didn't know what the future had in store, but one thing was for certain — Licencia was not going to be at peace for the foreseeable future.
Not with what happened today.
[End of Book 1: The Legend of Tot]