Occult Awakening: From Commoner to Archmage

"I'm just glad you're safe," Thomas sighed. He appeared to have calmed down a lot.

The trio had reached the front of the forest, where Luca explained everything to him. All three of the other nobles had left with their stewards and carriages, leaving only Thomas and Thalia's in the front.

Luca had a slew of bandages on his face and arm. Of course, he hadn't sustained any injuries in the fight against Vito and Jonny, but he had to make the story believable, so he inflicted a few injuries on himself.

It was an uncomfortable process, but it was nothing compared to the catalyst integration process.

For the story, Luca had chosen to go slightly with a twisted version of the truth itself.

"We spotted a mage passing through the forest, and Vito and Jonny decided to provoke him. They said the whole forest was the Duke's property, and he had to leave or they'd take him to you."

"We hadn't even known he was a mage, but he grew irritable quickly and began attacking the two. I wasn't able to see well as it was very bright, but he killed Jonny really quickly. The same thing happened to Vito, but this time I was able to see what happened to him."

Thomas' brow furrowed. His hands trembled slightly, but he quickly hid them within his coat.

"What happened to Vito? What did you see?"

Luca took a brief second to speak, as though he was recollecting his thoughts. The fabric of his coat dug into his fingers.

"He put out a single arm and… fire. A large serpent of flames devoured Vito's whole body. Every part of him was gone and left with no ashes. Well, almost every part of him."

"Almost?"

"Yes. Everything but his head was gone. Then I saw the mage pick up the head and speak to it."

Luca was very liberal with the way he told the story. He intentionally omitted the part where Vito drank a potion and transformed into some sort of aberration. He also omitted the part where the strange liquid came out of the man's head.

All of this was for one purpose alone. He simply wanted to see Thalia's reaction. And she appeared as shocked as Thomas did when he described the story. She didn't seem so surprised when he spoke about the mage killing Vito and Jonny, but something deep in her eyes changed when he said the mage spoke to the decapitated head.

'Does she think I did something to make the head speak? She didn't know her potion had that effect?'

If that was the case, then it truly worked out in his favor.

He wasn't dumb enough to think that she wasn't faking her reaction, but he didn't bet on that either. Thalia was already in a state of shock when he mentioned that Vito and Jonny were gone.

Thomas sucked in a huge breath and put on a brave face.

"What happened next?"

"I was hidden in some bushes when he killed them, but he spotted me and sent that creature after me. Thank the Sun Father you found me just in time."

"Yes, thank the Sun Father indeed."

"Did you see what the mage looked like?" Thalia asked for the first time since they found him.

Luca shook his head.

"If you mean his face, then no, I didn't. He looked very strange. His head was wrapped completely in a black cloth, and he was clad head to toe in black with a dark feathered cloak over his back."

That was the bait he threw out, and Thalia bit onto it immediately. It was only brief and only for a split second, but her eyebrows relaxed slightly.

"That's really unfortunate," she said. "I didn't know them as long as you did, but they seemed to have rather large mouths. May the Lord welcome them in the Radiant Hall."

Her words almost made him burst into a large cackle.

'Radiant Hall my arse. They'll be meeting Moth and the Count in Hell.'

Thomas recovered himself.

"I'll have to inform the Duke about this development. We can't be having mages roaming about in the forests. And in the meantime, I truly apologize for putting you in such harm's way."

"What are you on about, it was a rather interesting experience." Luca laughed.

"Interesting? You almost died, and we didn't even get any game."

"Of course we did. And I'd say that stag over there is far more impressive than any other thing we could have hunted."

The baron had an incredulous look on his face as Luca spoke.

"What in the Sun's name are you on about? This is a big issue!"

"Yeah, yeah," he waved the man's words off, "You have to learn to live in the present, or risk losing yourself to the past. It's as simple as that. I'm safe right now, far away from the forest, and about to head into the city. That's all I need to know."

"You're truly wise beyond your years, Luca. I should still compensate you for going through all this trouble."

"You could give me a rifle and I'd be quite ecstatic," he joked.

"I wish that was in my power to give, but it belongs to the Duke. I'll speak to him about giving it to you."

Luca had been eyeing the rifles greedily ever since he saw how easily and precisely they could deal with a summoned creature, and rifles were supposedly only the smaller versions of something called a 'cannon.'

He knew magic probably had far more destructive potential, but he couldn't ignore a regular mortal weapon. He wanted to take it apart to learn how it worked, then apply the principles to his spells.

It was ambitious, but who was a man without ambition.

Thomas bid Thalia goodbye and got back on his carriage as they both went their separate ways into the city.

However, Luca stared at her a bit longer from the corner of his eyes. She would answer to him later.