As we made our way through the tunnel, I replayed in my mind the last words Mia and Mathias had exchanged.
Obviously, Mia is more than willing to comply with Mathias' demands, especially when most of them can only be accomplished in the distant future when the war should be over. So, it makes a lot of sense for her to promise something that she might not have to deliver, but I doubt Mathias missed that point.
So, it's very likely that he'll make some move to ensure he gets something if our kingdom doesn't live up to his side of the partnership.
It's probably going to be a great deal of appeal, if we're lucky he might go down a path similar to the 'pig' he hates so much.
He will stuff himself with external supplies and destroy his future only to break through and increase his stage rapidly over the next ten years when he will likely ask if the kingdom is willing to rally the team to aid him in his revenge.
He may have given the time limit of thirty years, but I doubt he won't ask and try to do his revenge mission much sooner. So, I think ten years would be a good number to bet on.
But what I'm sure of is that no matter how long it takes him to assemble the team of assassins, I won't be on it even if I have the power to be a part of it. Damn suicide mission, I've never seen the power of a blue core warrior, but from what I could gather from the conversation his aura must have much more deadly 'tricks' than red core warriors.
I'm even more afraid of what kind of changes the blue core limit can have on a warrior's power, from what I've read in the past the aura changes quality completely when the warrior becomes an advanced warrior and I don't want to see that happen until I do. even be at some stage of the red core.
Upon exiting the tunnel and being greeted by the night breeze, we are surrounded by a few members of the unit. My focus automatically went to Raven and the Little Flame who was behind her watching us with those blazing expectant eyes.
Mia moved forward leaving me and Volkan behind.
"He wasn't there, just weak slaves fixing the mine structure."
"But something?"
"No, the mine was too messy for us to retrieve any slaves for interrogation. Maybe there's a chance to find him at the cult's base in the forest, the sword he wields is quite important so maybe they want to keep him safe in their base."
"Maybe, but it's also possible that he's far from here. Unfortunately, the sun will soon disappear and try to make reconnaissance of the cult base at night and very risky. We will set up a small camp for the night, after the sun comes up, we will try to locate the target again."
"We should investigate the base now! The bishop needs to know where the artifact is."
"Your opinion is irrelevant, stupid little girl, and it is quite obvious that the security system at this cult base is unusual to go at night when we don't have sunlight to weaken guards and perhaps other cult trappings and an unnecessary risk."
"And you're forgetting the fact that the target might be at the cult now, but he might also end up returning to his base in the mine at dusk. Guess you didn't think of that little brainless girl, after setting up camp beyond the lookout we'll have a small group awake guarding the path between the pine forest and mine."
"Let's go, but just in case we're very unlucky and the target leaves the forest while we're away. Wolf, will stay here doing the first shift, use the flare to call us if you see any strange movement in the forest or mines, understand?"
"Yes, I'll find a good spot to watch the whole area."
With this a very humiliated and angry Little Flame, she is actually close to having a mental breakdown as she is dragged away, it looks like Raven is going to set up camp further south and go back to negotiate with Mathias alone after getting rid of Little Flame.
It wasn't long after the sun had set for me to have company, while the rest of the unit moved away from the mine and the forest, I was trapped under a tree guarding the outskirts of the pine forest. Since I have to keep watch I won't waste my time looking at the mine, after Raven buys Mathias, the only enemy in the region will be the cult.
Raven showed up, he didn't even waste his time talking to me and headed straight for the tunnel Volkan had kind of left open. He just created a small layer of dirt to pretend the tunnel was closed in front of Little Flame.
The visit between the two was very quick, almost two hours after she entered the tunnel, she was already leaving without the backpack she was carrying on her back when she entered. Will this go unnoticed by Little Flame? I doubt she isn't watching team members and it was a big backpack.
I thought Raven would leave after she finished negotiating with the slave leader, but she came toward my hiding place.
"What did you think of Mathias?"
Complicated question.
"Revenge, he just wants revenge and has almost no attachment to the other slaves, maybe a little sympathy for having gone through the same sufferings as them, but I doubt he cares much for them."
"True, I had the same impression at first, but after he demanded a fair number of materials for us, I'm sure there were some slaves he valued. I don't know if they want to use them for revenge on him or simply want strong slaves to lead others after he's gone."
"I think that would still count as revenge, he may have said that he just wants revenge on some slavers, but I doubt he wouldn't be happy to see the whole system that stands firm by exploiting slaves crumble. He may not have any intention of being the founder of a slavery-free state, but I am absolutely sure he will hate slavers until the end of his life, he is the type of person who holds a grudge."
"You may be right, Wolf, but I want to know if you've noticed anything wrong with his health. Won't he end up dropping dead before fulfilling his revenge?"
"I'm not a healer? How would I know something like that?"
"Just answer."
"I think he's fine, but I've never been in the presence of someone so confused. I know the stronger a warrior or mage is, the weirder and unique they can seem, but he seems healthy."
"Isn't the power of the sword screwing him over? That sword was made to be wielded by a pure-blooded, hate-filled elf."
"Maybe he has elven blood, I didn't even see a feature reminiscent of an elf in him - he has relatively smooth white skin, but he's living in a cave so he may have lost some of his tan."
"But the sword's energy is connected to his core but it doesn't flow through the rest of his body, I think his affinity for the light of destruction is too high or the divine artifact was badly damaged. Perhaps the sword cannot perceive that he is not an elf."
"A divine artifact that still works isn't stupid, it must have been separated from its god's divine power so it's allowing it to be used by a human. The problem is if the artifact can absorb mana from the environment to feed itself, if it can't it will be a limited category artifact."
"Limited?"
"Yes, an artifact that relies on absorbing divine power from another artifact or divine stones which are almost rarer than a divine artifact. Gods don't have much reason to create this type of stone, very few gods create them for their worshipers in very specific situations, and it's much easier for the worshipers of a god to use the divine power of the realm of the god they worship."
"If the sword is such an artifact, our realm would have to find these stones that contain divine power so Mathias' combat power doesn't drastically decrease."
"Exactly, the expense of maintaining him wouldn't be worth much in my humble opinion, if that's the case we'll have to find a replacement for him among the rebel slaves. With a glorious death for the sake of freedom, he becomes a useful symbol and we still have the rebellion and can sell the artifact to some temple."
"Okay, but I don't think this scenario will happen, I'm not that compatible with divine power, but it's pretty easy to see that the sword sucked mana from the memo environment in a very 'asleep' state when I saw it."
"Wonderful, now all that's left to do is screw the cultists with the bishop's troops. Tomorrow you will explore the enemy base in the woods, but as it is quite possible that there is a problem the rest of the group will stay close, unlike what happened today."
"You will say that the target is there and we come back, with this information the Little Flame can act in two very different ways, it can activate the space beacon that it must have with it, if that happens you must run away, we let's let the bishop's templars kill the cultists."
"But if she chooses to just send the information to the bishop, we'll have to keep watch out of the woods. If that happens you have to keep an eye on her, because Earth will help the slaves disappear from the area, but in case something happens and your job prevents her from sending messages or activating the lighthouse if she notices what we're doing."
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, but would the first scenario be better?"
"Absolutely, while they kill each other and we flee, Earth will have already made a tunnel for the slaves to escape the mine this morning instead of keeping watch, but it's up to them to hide their tracks by fleeing."
"Because of this you will probably spend most of the night awake watching the forest alone, I will try to give you some time to sleep before the sun comes up, but try to save your energy so you can run later as if your life depended on it, which and accurate, if you get close to the fight between the cultists and the templars your life will be at risk from being close."
"You don't need to remind me of that, I'll try to run so fast that even you will be left behind, this is how committed I am to surviving."
"Good luck with that, Wolf."