Duke Baccarat, Imlay van Baccarat, Lord of the Baccarat Castle. He was one of the Dukes in the Bolgram empire. He met Cassian at a party held in the capital.
Since Cassian was a Duke around his age, he felt that befriending him wasn't a bad idea since there were no other Dukes around his age. And that's how their friendship began, or at least that's what Imlay thought.
To Cassian, he became friends with Imlay because he was useful. He was a Duke, a Master Elemantalis, had a large territory with many resources, and most importantly, he was a good meat shield.
Cassian was actually grateful Imlay came, because it meant he would have a living shield and defeating that Madcyke would become much easier.
But there was one thing Cassian didn't like about Imlay, he was very noisy. If not for his mouth, Cassian would actually consider Imlay as his friend.
"What are you doing here, Imlay?"
Looking at Imlay who arrived in front of him excitedly, Cassian asked.
"Oh yeah, about that. I heard you had a wife, so as a good friend, I came straight here to say congratulations. But when I arrived, you weren't home, so I asked your head maid, what's her name again? Uh.... Mona? Yes, it's her. When I asked her, she said you went to this diamond mine to take care of some problems. So I thought, maybe you're in trouble and need help! So I quickly changed my clothes and grabbed my armor from the carriage and-"
Cassian stopped listening, this was exactly why he hated Imlay.
Oh, seriously. How many words did I say again? Five? And he responded with a speech. What a narcissist.
"Oh yeah, by the way, how did I find out about your wife so quickly?"
Imlay leaned closer to Cassian and continued in a whisper.
"Because I have a spy among your maids."
Cassian did not react, as he already knew that, and the spy was not really a spy.
"Alright, whatever. Anyway, I really need help. So come with me, we're going into the mine."
"Okay."
Without asking anything, Imlay immediately followed behind Cassian. Geralt who saw them shook his head while thinking, that the two of them were indeed different from the other nobles.
"Well, that's exactly why I serve him."
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Inside the mine, everything was so dark that Cassian and Imlay had to move slowly as the only light they had was the lantern Cassian was carrying.
Normally, this mine wasn't this dark, but since Madcyke hated light, it seemed to have destroyed all the lanterns inside the mine.
"Hey, Cassian?"
"What?"
"What's a Madcyke?"
"I thought you wouldn't ask."
Cassian thought Imlay already knew, that's why he didn't explain. But the truth was, Imlay didn't know much about cursed beings.
"So, what are they?"
"Cursed beings', they can only be created by Warlocks."
"Warlock? That bald old man is even sending Warlocks now? What does he want from this mine anyway? I don't think diamonds alone would be enough to make him do something this extreme."
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
Regardless, since there was still no definite way to find out, Cassian preferred to take a defensive stance only, after all, he still had no clear way out to destroy Marquis Gobla.
For now, Cassian needed to solve this Madcyke problem first. So he told Imlay to stay focus.
Since they still hadn't found the Madcyke, Cassian and Imlay continued to walk deeper into the mine, until they stopped because they smelled blood.
"You smell that?"
Imlay asked Cassian to make sure they smelled the same thing.
"Yeah, blood and some kind of rotten smell."
"Uh-huh, like the smell of a dead body."
Cassian and Imlay both stopped and turned off their lanterns, knowing that Madcyke was hiding right down the hall in front of them. The Madcyke was resting, so it didn't notice Cassian and Imlay.
"It's hiding this deep, looks like that thing really hates light."
"Light is one of their weaknesses."
"Good thing i'm good with fire."
Cassian took out four potion bottles from inside his coat, he gave two of them to Imlay.
"What are these?"
"Physical strength enchanter and night vision potions."
"Oh..... Wait a minute, why is one of my potions have a different color than yours?"
"Mine has a mana recovery speed enhancer."
"Why doesn't mine have one?"
"Because you're an Elementalist, idiot. Why would you need a mana for?
"Oh, right. I forgot."
They both drank the potion. Right after Cassian downed the potion, he could immediately see quite clearly the dark hallways in front of him.
He could even sense that Madcyke was hiding behind a toolbox because the effect of the potion also enhanced his five senses.
Cassian immediately signaled to Imlay that Madcyke was back there.
"By the way, Cassian?"
But Imlay decided to stop and whisper something.
"What?"
Cassian responded irritably because he is worried that their surprise attack will fail.
"Do you always wear those fancy clothes to fight?"
For a long time, Imlay had always wondered why Cassian always wore his fancy suit to fight. He wondered, did Cassian not have any other clothes to fight in? Because most wizards always wore a cloak or a staff.
But Cassian only wore a black suit and black pants. He wasn't wearing any of the gear that other wizards wore.
"Really? You're asking me that now?"
"I'm curious."
From the point of view of an Elementalist like Imlay, Cassian not wearing wizard gear was strange.
Though Cassian had no particular reason, he only wore clothes like this not because of style or anything. But simply because he didn't fight like other wizards, if other wizards mostly fought from a distance, Cassian was just the opposite.
Since Cassian could only use Illusion, Creation, and some defensive magic. Cassian can't attack from afar. All of his magic must be used at close range to be effective, as illusion magic can only affect enemies from a short distance away.
So for Cassian, the staff and cloak would only get in the way in his battles. Of course, Cassian wore other equipment to increase his mana, but he wore it inside his suit so that his enemies could not see it.
"Real men have standards, Imlay. Now shut up, and attack that Madcyke before it realizes we're here."
"Alright, but answer my questions seriously later."
Imlay did not want to linger here either, so he would satisfy his curiosity later.
Imlay slowly approached the passage where Madcyke is, while Cassian stayed behind and prepared his spell.
*Creak*
Unfortunately, even though Imlay had taken the night vision potion Cassian had given him, but he was not used to it, until he stepped on a broken board right on the floor in front of the hallway Madcyke was on.
"Oops, sorry."
"Seriously, Imlay."
"Don't blame me, it's my first time using the night vision potion!"
With its keen senses, the Madcyke noticed their presence and came out of its hiding place. Most people always mistook Madcyke for a woman because Madcyke was indeed made of a woman, so their appearance almost looked like a woman.
But that's only when viewed from afar or in a place with poor lighting conditions, up close, Madcyke's appearance is far different from a woman other than their long hair.
Madcyke has red-colored eyes and an ugly face hidden behind their long hair. And the most striking thing is, their big claws, but these claws will only get bigger when Madcyke wants to use them.
So no wonder if there are those who think Madcyke is a naked woman if someone only sees them with a glance.
The Madcyke looked at Imlay with its red eyes, and without waiting a moment, the Madcyke lunged straight at Imlay.
"Kyahhccckkk!"
"Oh, shit."
While taking a defensive stance, Imlay used his elemental power. He pulled out his sword and enveloped it in flames. Although Madcyke's attack was very fast, Imlay was able to withstand her attack with ease.
Sharp claws met with a blazing sword. It was clear that the Madcyke was at a disadvantage, feeling the heat and flames from Imlay's sword, the Madcyke immediately retreated and took a quick distance.
However, even though Imlay managed to injure her, the wounds inflicted by instantly regenerated quickly.
"What the hell is that? You didn't say she could regenerate!!!"
"You're the one who didn't ask."
Thinking that Cassian was easier prey, the Madcyke charged straight at him. Imlay tried to block it, but the Madcyke used its claws to climb up the ceiling and past Imlay's sword block.
"Oh, come on. She can walk on the ceiling!?"
Cassian did not remain silent as he saw the Madcyke lunging towards him. He used his creation magic to create a pair of daggers before taking a defensive stance.
The Madcyke attacked Cassian with her claws, but since Cassian had seen her attack earlier when the Madcyke attacked Imlay, he already knew the Madcyke's attack pattern and speed so he could predict her attack easily. Plus, this wasn't his first time fighting a Madcyke.
Of course, Imlay didn't remain silent either, seeing that Madcyke was focused on attacking Cassian, Imlay launched his attack from behind.
But Madcyke wasn't stupid either, she knew Imlay would attack, so when Imlay came, she turned around and opened her mouth to launch some kind of attack on Imlay to force him to retreat.
That was the moment Cassian had been waiting for, the moment the Madcyke turned around, Cassian immediately cast his magic.
"Fuz!!!"
The Madcyke was surprised as her body was suddenly thrown towards Imlay, but unlike the Madcyke, Imlay was grinning.
"Taste this, wolverine!"
Imlay slashed at Madcyke with a vertical slash, her attack hit Madcyke, but not fatally, as Madcyke managed to twist her body in the air to avoid.
They took their distance from each other, Madcyke whose stomach was wounded moved away to recover with her regeneration ability while Imlay walked to Cassian's side to regroup.
"Now what?" Imlay asked.
"As usual, I divert it with magic and then you kill it."
"Roger roger."
Cassian clapped his hands together while reciting an incantation, while Imlay ran towards the Madcyke. Once again, the Madcyke's sword and claws met.
Every time Imlay slammed his sword against the Madcyke's claws, sparks flew out.
"Seriously, how hard are this thing's claws?"
Although Imlay had enveloped his sword with his elemental power, the Madcyke's claws still looked fine. He felt like slamming his sword into another elemental swordsman.
Imlay jumped back to take Madcyke's distance.
"Cassian! Are you done?"
"I'm here."
The Madcyke was surprised that Cassian suddenly appeared from behind her, she immediately changed her focus to attack Cassian who was closer to her, but her attack went through Cassian's body, then another Cassian suddenly appeared beside her, and she could not avoid it.
If that Madcyke could make an expression, right now she would probably have an expression of astonishment.
*Bang**Whoosh*
Cassian's kick immediately hit the Madcyke in the stomach and sent her flying towards the other side of the tunnel. That just now was one of Cassian's Illusion magic, "Shadow Clone".
Despite being thrown and slammed into the wall, the Madcyke was able to recover quickly, due to her regeneration ability. The Madcyke immediately got up and looked very angry, without the slightest pause, after her regeneration ability successfully recovered her wounds, the Madcyke charged again at Cassian.
Yet, when she was in front of Cassian, it was not Cassian, but Imlay who is preparing to swing his sword.
Cassian used his illusion magic to disguise Imlay's presence and he also used the illusion magic "Fury" on Madcyke when he kicked her to make her desperate to attack him.
Imlay swung his sword, unlike earlier where only Imlay's sword was covered in flames, this time his entire body was also filled with flames. Madcyke, who had already lunged quickly, could do nothing but try to block Imlay's attack by putting both of her claws to block it.
*Boom*
Explosions and smoke enveloped the entire tunnel, even Cassian who had tried to dodge was still hit by the air from Imlay's move.
"Are you kidding me, Imlay? Do you want to bury us!?"
"Sorry, I miscalculated my slashing power."
Imlay who appeared from behind the smoke could only scratch his head and show that he was truly sorry. He was also aware that his attack earlier could have buried them.
Cassian just shook his head, after all, they weren't buried, and that Madcyke was also split in half and burnt to ashes. So you could say his business here was done, although he was a little annoyed that his suit was a little dirty.
"Alright, let's get out of here, I don't like all this dust."
"What about the corpse?"
"Let my knights take care of it."
Seeing that Cassian had turned around and started walking over, Imlay looked down at Madcyke's charred corpse.
"What a pity, perhaps when she was alive, this Madcyke was a beautiful woman."
Imlay began to walk after Cassian after leaving that useless comment.
*Creak**Creak**Creak*
But, just as they were about to turn back, they heard a loud cracking sound.
"Uh..... It's not my fault, right?"
Cassian ignored Imlay's question, he was only focused on hearing where the cracking sound came from. Since the potion's effect was still ongoing, Cassian looked towards the place where Imlay had launched her attack earlier.
There, he could see the ground starting to crack little by little and the cracks continued to spread.
"We should leave now."
Right after saying that, Cassian started running.
"Hey, don't leave me!"
Imlay also followed him after falling a little behind.
But not long after Cassian ran, he stopped, and Imlay who saw him stop also stopped.
"What's wrong?"
" It's stopped."
Cassian couldn't hear anything else, meaning the avalanche had stopped. Wondering, Cassian walked back inside.
"Hey, man. Are you seriously going back in there? We could get buried, you know?"
Cassian keep walking.
"Oh well, whatever."
When they arrived back at the place where they had fought earlier, it had been replaced with a sizable hole. Cassian and Imlay looked into the hole together, and Imlay who saw what was there was so shocked that he opened his mouth.
"T-T-That, is that what I think it is?"
In shock, Imlay began to stammer. Even Cassian, who usually did not let his emotions affect his expression, made a surprised expression.
"Huh' so this is why that bald bastard wanted this mine so badly."
At the bottom of the hole was a tunnel, or more like a cave filled with colored and glittering boulders, but the boulders were not diamonds, they were even more precious stones.
Mana stone. The rarest and most expensive natural resource in the world, and as it turned out, it had been in the soles of Cassian's feet all along.
"I will be rich. Very rich."
"You'll give me a small share for this, right? The waterworks in my castle been having a bit of trouble lately."
"No."