Lucas stood moved to a discreet alleyway to hide his presence.
'Why are there mercenaries here?'
'I don't know, doesn't matter, the moment we entered their area we were a target. Plus, this can definitely be turned in our favor.'
'How?'
'Sending that woman to the church will result in backup from the priests. Considering she'll tell her tale, we would be seen as a savior.'
'Oh, I though we were just using her to experiment our magic?'
'Those aren't mutually exclusive, anyway, we need to focus.'
Lucas could sense the presence of another mage, though he should be around the same level as Lucas, that didn't mean anything since Lucas was weak as he was now. He could only do surface level spells like muscle strengthening that didn't require too much control. Only with a sneak attack could he have won.
'Question is, how many of them are there?', while Lucas could sense the mage, there could've been twenty bodyguards with him. He did have a weapon, but that was about it. If he could use his magic, he would immediately go to the roof to avoid the mercenaries, but now he was shackled to fight like a commoner.
'Should I take control?'
'Hmm, we have to not only survive this but also get our reward for this battle without being seen.'
'I get it, don't worry, I'll only kill the ones with weapons.'
'Fine, I've been in control for some time now, you should get a feeling of control over our magic.'
Lucas closed his eyes, from birth he had always had a split mind. There were multiple personalities caged within him, but that never held him back. Quite the opposite really, they stimulated each other's growth, making him stand above others his age. It also made making up plans a lot easier since he could always debate with himself. They both had access to the same memories and knowledge, but how they interpreted it and what memories they accessed was up to them.
One side was more focussed on the political side and keeping up appearances, but the other side didn't care about that in the slightest. The only thing that mattered was survival and victory.
"Ah, it's good to be back.", he clenched his hands slowly, yet the strength put behind the gesture was great. "Time for some fun."
'Are you going to keep talking out loud?'
"Hmm? Ah sorry,"...'I haven't gotten used to it, I don't really have to hold back normally.'
'It's fine, so tell me, what's the plan?'
'Simple, observe and destroy.'
'If I could, I would facepalm right now. Are you serious?'
'Don't worry, don't you trust me?'
'???'
Lucas focussed his eyes towards the mage, his eyes seemed sharper and there was a slight shine of madness in his eyes. Since he couldn't detect the other mercenaries from their mana, he could only use his willpower to scan the surroundings.
Lucas knew that the mage would either be fighting with or against the mercenaries. And although he had been lucky for some time, he knew what it was like to despair. He would never look at the bright side as that would be naive. Luckily, this was only true for half of his being.
'If I was a mage looking to kill peasants, what would I do?'
'Are you asking me?'
But no reply came, Lucas already knew what he had to do. Now he simply had to succeed, the first thing he did was return to where the body of the mercenary lay. The wicked smile on Lucas's face spelled nothing good for the group of unlucky mercenaries.
Some time passed when, "PIKE!?", a shout that came out of nowhere, startling Lucas. 'Hmm? The weapon? No, there should be no reason to shout that so loud, is it his name?'
Lucas looked down at the corpse he was mutilating, the organs in his hands felt rubbery yet squishy. The corpse was barely recognizable anymore, only the head remained intact, but Lucas had taken out the eyes and cut off the eyelids to show the bloody caverns. When he was done there was only a brutal display of gore.
'Good, this should be enough.'
'You're really sick in the head.'
'What? This is part of my plan, just watch.'
He had tried to spread every organ and drop of blood to create a pool of disgust that anyone would immediately see when entering the alleyway. The blood started to dry out in certain parts and his hands were covered in a dark red substance. 'Now we wait.', Lucas was keeping his eyes on the magical source, he could only sense its presence, but not accurately. If the mage moved closer he would realize and that was enough.
A few minutes later did he hear the footsteps of someone nearing his position. He had hidden himself behind a broken down stall, he only needed to move a single plank to reveal his location.
"Pike still hasn't answered, he's most likely already gone."
"Damn it!", two mercenaries were patrolling the street. Through the smells of the slum one could perceive the smell of blood.
"Jack.", one of the mercenaries said in a hushed tone while pointing to his nose. They had their own way of communication through signs. They all learned this from their leader, since he was their center and pillar of support.
The two started to encroach on the source of the smell, with their backs against the wall they found an alleyway where the smell increased in intensity. Standing by the corner, they wanted to peak if to see what they were dealing with. The street was empty, at least there was nobody standing around.
"Wait...no.", he could see from afar that there was something red on the floor.
"What, did we find him?", Jack asked his partner, to which he sighed with regret.
"Let's go.", they entered the alleyway without hesitation. There was no reason to stay hidden if the killer had already moved on. Once they got closer their eyes opened widely before they needed to take a step back.
"What the fuck is this...BLERGH!", Jack couldn't help but throw up at what he saw. The organs were littered around the place, the irony stench of blood permeated the entire alley. But the most distressing fact was Pike's head that filled them with dread. The image of that horrendous sight burned itself into their minds, filling them with nausea.
They had seen their fair share of corpses and killed plenty, but they never played with the intestines. Seeing their good friend, no, a part of their family being taken apart messed with their heads.
While Jack was throwing up, the other mercenary had to sit down for a second and take his eyes away from the butchered corpse.
"..why? Why would they do this? IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! KRGGH!", right after his shouting a hand covered his mouth while a sword was driven through his stomach. The blade immediately retracted.
"Huh? ARGH!", the other mercenary had only enough time to turn around before he lost his arm and a blade was pushed against their throat.
"Answer me, how many of you are there?", but the man was screaming pain from losing his arm. Lucas forced the blade closer to the man's throat, scratching it a tiny bit.
"Answer me.", his serious and threatening tone drove the man back to reality.
"T-Th-There are six of us in total. Please spare me I-"
SLASH
The man's head rolled for almost a meter before coming to a stop. Jack was still alive, but his condition didn't look good. He could barely look Lucas in the eyes before clamping down on his wound. The sword had punctured multiple organs and his intestines, he was dead if he didn't visit a mage with healing powers or the church.
"...Why do this?", he didn't even know why he asked this question. It just didn't seem fair, this job was to cull the weak, why was there someone stronger than them here? There shouldn't be anyone protecting these homeless beggars.
"Does it matter?"
"Wha-?", his head was cut off, leaving a fountain of blood behind. His eyes didn't falter in the slightest as if he had just stepped on an ant. With the two other bodies bleeding out, the alleyway was sure to keep this stench for a long time.
'How strange, they're clearly hired killers, but they were so emotional when seeing their dead friend. Shouldn't they be on guard and expect an attack? I prepared a whole thing as well, damn it.'
'It looked like they cared for one another, they are probably good friends. Considering the lengths they're going to in order to find him they should be a close-knit group.'
'Besides that, why is that mage not coming any closer?'
Lucas still had his target set on that mage, he wanted something from them. He had hoped that the mage would've come after him, the scene he made was specifically made for them, but the movement seemed to be random. Sometimes he got closer, other times he moved away.
'Could it be he doesn't know how to sense magic from afar?'
'No, any beginner mage gets taught that in the academy.'
'Then why prolong the inevitable, it doesn't make sense.'
'Should we trust that man's answer? Considering the situation he might be lying in order to trick us.'
'No, his life was on the line, and he immediately started to plea for his life. He's not a spy or assassin trained in this kind of field. He's human. I'll take the risk.'
'You're taking a risk? That's a first.'
'Shut it, I like being prepared especially with the political things since I don't understand them. Only you are capable of them. I can only shine in a fight.'
'Fine by me, let's see what you can do.'
Lucas created another masterpiece with the new bodies he received, but after waiting for a while the mage still wasn't coming closer. They were still moving around, but they didn't come to him. He could easily light a fire to attract the other men, but then he would have to fight against all of them. On the other hand, searching out to kill the mage could result in him having to fight on their ground.
As a mage, he could've easily put a bunch of exploding arrays on the ground, taking such a risk could be fatal. He needed to take a choice, lure all of them here or go into the tiger's den? Lucas couldn't win in a head on fight, he didn't have his magic, so sneak attacks were the only thing he had going for him. He did have muscle strengthening, but then the victor would the better trained one.
While Lucas did have some knowledge of Liam when it came to fighting with a sword, but that's where it ended. Tricks and backhanded fighting was his best option, or at least a part of Lucas thought, the other part would rather just leave instead of taking such a risk.
'If we still want to gain that, we'll have to go on the offensive. That woman most likely reached the church by now, knowing Micheal, he'll be here soon.
'It would be a waste to lose such an opportunity, but is it worth our life?'
'There are no rewards without risks. I'll take care of it.'
Lucas had decided, if he still wanted to get his prize he would have to burn his hands. He took what he needed and moved forward towards the mage. On the way he started to experiment with taking a tiny bit of magic and forcing it towards his eyes. If he had his magic vision detecting any possible magic arrays shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Improving his control proved to be difficult, in contrast to his other half, he was brutal in his control. It didn't flow naturally and with a guideline, it was pushed and forced in a certain position. The closer he got, the more nervous he became. He had to calm down, but he was nervous to fight against an actual mage that could kill him with little effort.