In the middle of the night, Jes tossed and turned in his room, unable to sleep. It was not only because of the searing burn on his hand but also because he was worried about being exposed.
He muttered in a low voice, "It's over, Saeurno. If I don't use magic, I'll lose my life. If I use magic, I'll be found out. It's really difficult."
Saeurno poked his head out of the bag and whispered, "I don't understand, master. Why are mortals so afraid of the power of demons? Look how kind, friendly, and considerate I am. I am a good friend of humans."
"I want to know... what kind of magic did you use on the tower top? Enchanted my sword with blazing flames? Is it that simple?"
"That's as simple as it is, master." Saeurno said, "But that blaze affected your mind. I saw it with my own eyes. Maybe it was your mind that affected the flame. Your heart might be even darker than that of a demon. I was really scared at that time!"
"That's complete nonsense." Jes said.
"You saw through me, master. I was indeed talking nonsense because I could never be scared!" The imp grinned slyly.
Jes immediately pointed at his nose and said, "Keep your voice down! Do you want to be heard by those priests downstairs? A flash of holy light can kill you little imp."
Saeurno immediately covered his mouth and retreated back into the bag, not speaking anymore.
Jes didn't know how long he had slept. He woke up from the soreness all over his body. When he opened his eyes, it was already afternoon.
He found himself covered in bruises, as if he had been beaten all over his body. No matter where he pressed on his muscles, it hurt terribly.
The orange sunlight shone through the window, bathing the entire room in gold. Jes felt a sense of panic brought on by uncertainty, extremely oppressive.
He knew why he had such a feeling because many things were still unresolved and many things were unclear to him.
Was the power that finally killed those gnolls last night inspired by the darkness within him? Was what the imp said right?
Recalling every time in the past when he burst out with powerful shadow power, whether it was against Gajin on the street, against the wolves in the forest, or last night, there always seemed to be extremely intense emotions as a prelude.
Could it be that these emotions are the source of his exaggerated shadow power?
He remembered the conversation with a priest in the small building in front of the square of the Cathedral of Light. The priest said that shadow can be bred by negative emotions.
He had also read in books that some ancient believers of the Old Gods could use their own or others' negative emotions, such as fear, anger, sadness, etc., to extract shadow energy for their own use.
So what was his emotion last night?
Hatred? Madness? Or... something else. Or was it that staff?
The staff of Talon, which Saeurno said was an Eredar staff, was lying beside the table. There was no evil aura emanating from it, and it didn't seem to have any magical power. It was as ordinary as a black wooden stick.
Jes had been carrying it on his back last night and didn't use it much in the battle later. He didn't know if this stick had played a role when he lost control of his emotions at the end.
He couldn't tell.
Jes sat on the bed, reflecting on what had caused him to become like that.
Perhaps it was just a strong desire for life.
He wanted to survive. He didn't want to be slaughtered so easily like that apprentice. He didn't want to die in an unknown tower so quietly and be forgotten forever.
So, he wanted to survive. He wanted to survive no matter what. And this desire for life was actually ignited by evil fire and distorted into such a terrifying dark power.
Jes didn't want to be controlled by these things. He wanted to control these things in turn. He must control his emotions and release them when it's appropriate. When it's not appropriate, he must be calm.
Because any normal wish or thought can be distorted into a completely deformed desire and turn into an obsession that drags him into hell. And the power of darkness will use these gradually mutating things to take control of the host in turn and turn them into dark creatures even more terrifying than demons.
As he was thinking, a feeling of needing to urinate came up.
He rolled out of bed but found that there was no chamber pot in this room.
Limping, he pushed open the door and saw that on the other side of the corridor, Mogans was walking quickly towards him.
"Mr. Jes Seso, how are you feeling? I was just looking for you."
"I'm fine, Master Mogans. In fact, it's just that my hand injury is more serious. There's nothing wrong with other parts."
"That's good. I have some questions to ask you."
Jes hesitated for a moment. Did he discover his secret?
Normally, he might be a bit panicked and worried, but now, he found that he didn't have any particularly abnormal emotions either.
He had to slowly learn to calm himself down. No matter what happened, he had to face it calmly so that he wouldn't be backlashed by this path.
"Then I'll get straight to the point."
"Okay!"
"I want to know about that burned sword from last night."
Jes's heart beat faster for a moment. He stopped what he was doing and said, "You want to ask why the sword I was holding caught fire, right?"
"Yes."
"I don't know either, master." Jes said, "I was originally fighting the gnolls with that sword. Suddenly, it caught fire. The fire even hit my hair. I didn't hold it for long before the sword was damaged."
"The magic that ignited that sword is black magic." Mogans coughed twice and said, "Do you know about it?"
Jes said, "I heard the soldiers say that it was the dark spell of the gnolls that burned that sword."
Mogans slowly nodded and then asked, "Did you hear... or did you see any strange sounds before the sword caught fire, such as whispers or gnolls making strange postures?"
Ah, so you're also following this routine. This Mogans is actually doing the same thing as himself.
Mogans also wanted to find that gnoll and learn the black magic they somehow got. They were really like-minded people.
He was also relieved. The other party hadn't noticed that he was actually a warlock.
The imp summoning technique of the people from the Slaughtered Lamb had made Jes overestimate the level of black magic researchers in the Wizard's Sanctum too much. But since a shadow practitioner of Mogans' level would be expelled from the Wizard's Sanctum, if he was discovered, his fate wouldn't be much better.
After all, he was no longer just a simple black magic practitioner. Now if he summoned an imp, he should be classified as a "demon worshiper." Gajin had really completely tied himself to the people from the Slaughtered Lamb.
"Sorry, Master Mogans. At that time, I was only focused on the enemies in front of me because I was almost dead. I didn't have time to hear any other sounds. You also know that last night was really chaotic."
"I see." Mogans said, "The Darkhide tribe is connected to the orcs who once occupied this place. They learned the corrupt spell from orc warlocks and are extremely threatening. If we can find out what they have learned, we can find a way to deal with it. I heard about your battle last night. Have a good rest. Being burned by shadow flames is very difficult to recover. Don't look too disheveled when meeting the king."
After saying that, Mogans was about to turn around and leave. The last sentence left Jes stunned and he immediately asked, "Wait, Master Mogans, the king? I'm going to meet the king? Where?"
Mogans explained, "My apprentice has received a reply. King Varian will come to Stone Fort soon. He has learned that Stone Fort was attacked by gnolls and plans to come here in person to visit the injured soldiers and officers, including you of course. Perform well. Maybe you'll turn misfortune into fortune."