The Twin Mage

"How I am what?" Arthur yelled, having lost their cool for a second.

Now it was the Count's turn to become red up to their ears. Arthur followed Keyla, resisting the urge to make her move faster. This whole situation was completely unexpected, and was weighing heavily on their mind.

Since Arthur had heard of the painting, Morgan hadn't stopped laughing, projecting famous statues like the David by Donatello or the Perseus by Antonio Canova into their head. She had replaced the facial features with Arthur's and switched the Medusa's head with the Byk's, grinding on their nerves.

'I swear that if that moron of a Count had me drawn naked or something, I'll kill them faster and more cruelly than their psycho wife ever could.'

Luckily for the Count, that wasn't the case.

The painting was quite big, one meter (3'3") large and 1.5 meters (5') high, and represented the Byk, standing on its feet with glowing red eyes in a dark forest, occupying the center and the left corner.

Arthur was drawn while facing the magical beast, offering only the left profile to the viewer. Their small body occupied only the bottom right corner, engulfed in a magical aura. Their left arm and hand were set ablaze, supposedly because of a fire spell they were casting.

The perspective and darkness-filled background made the Byk seem big and terrifying like a dragon, while Arthur appeared as the only element of light, their face filled with courage and determination.

The enormous stuffed body of the Byk was placed a few meters to the right, half hidden in an alcove, to show the visitor the ending of the story depicted in the drawing.

'Well, it's not that bad,' Arthur thought. 'It's not the tacky horror I had imagined, and I am not even idiotically beautified. That's my actual face. Morgan, is it me, or do I look kind of handsome?'

'Well, I don't know,' she replied. 'It's definitely a version of you that doesn't glare and frown all the time. More importantly, they don't look like they are there because they have lost a bet, like you do when you watch yourself in the mirror.'

Arthur sighed in relief. At least they weren't portrayed in their birthday suit or in some kind of arrogant or overbearing pose. That would have been really embarrassing for them.

"What's the problem with the painting?" Arthur asked, scratching their head in confusion.

"The problem is that my father showed it to every guest, servant, and passerby that was willing to listen to him. He recounted how you singlehandedly defeated the malevolent beast in an epic battle of magic and wits," Jadon answered.

'That's quite an accurate recollection of the events, albeit entirely made up,' Morgan commented. 'The Count would make an excellent storyteller.'

Arthur dismissed Jadon's worries with a wave of their hand.

"You are overthinking it. No one actually witnessed the fight, the pelt is almost completely intact, and everyone knows about Count Lark's obsession with magic and sponsoring promising youths.

"They would be more likely to believe that either I lucked out or that the Count gave me some help, and is trying to distort me into being a hero. No offense, your Lordship."

"None taken," the Count replied. "So, do you like it?"

They were bouncing with impatience, waiting for Arthur's reply.

"What's not to like?" They shrugged. "I'm not an art expert, but it seems well painted. Both me and the Byk are depicted realistically. The only question I have is how could the artist know my…"

Then Arthur's eye noticed the painter's signature in the bottom left corner. It was a squiggly line, but with a leap of imagination, one could actually read the name 'Trequill Lark.'

Arthur turned around abruptly just in time to get a glimpse of Count Lark jumping with joy before regaining their composure.

Having cleared that issue, they silently returned to the Count's private quarters before resuming their conversation.

Arthur pretended to be casting a fake magic spell while actually casting their Hush spell. It would create a spherical air vortex that would make eavesdropping by conventional means impossible, by distorting the sounds coming out of the room.

"That will prevent anyone from listening in. As I was saying, taking everything into account, no one would actually believe such a story. Of course, the fact that everyone knows my face complicates things, but a covert operation is still feasible.

"The way I see it, we have two options. Option one: I pretend that I'm a half-baked magician who can't live up to what the Count said up until this point.

"This will give the enemies inside and outside the house the confidence to carry on with their plans, as if I am not even here.

"It should make it easier to capture whoever tried to poison you, but it also means that the assassin will be emboldened and attack more often.

"Considering that such a person could be a small fish, even eliminating them would do us no good. They would be easily replaceable.

"Option two: I play it big and loud, confirming all the rumors about me. That should put your wife on alert, forcing her to reconsider her plans and become more cautious.

"That would mean a temporary peace, but the next assassination attempts would be conducted by a skilled assassin who would strike only after careful preparation, giving them a high chance of success.

"At the same time, it wouldn't be easy to find another trusted mercenary on such short notice, if we manage to eliminate the first one. Both paths are filled with thorns and danger, so it's up to you to decide."

The room fell into silence, the three nobles were pondering how they wanted to bet their lives.

"Isn't there a third option?" Keyla asked.

"If you can find one, sure. I am open to suggestions," Arthur shrugged.

'I wanted to give this a try since I gained the ability to change shape at will,' the surveillance spell explained.

'It's amazing! What can you do in that form?'

'The same as always. Store things and use the magic that you know by consuming your mana. If you allow me to do it, obviously.'

'Then what's the point? Last time we checked, our mind link was around 10 meters (10.1 yards). Sure, I could plant and use you like a bug, but then I would need to somehow retrieve you without raising suspicions. How far can you move on your own?'

'We are about to find out!' The surveillance spell started moving fast, first on the floor, then up the wall, until it reached the ceiling. Then it moved on the opposite side of the room, putting 5 meters (5.4 yards) between them.

'So far so good. I feel like I can move even further.'

Arthur opened the door of their room, checking with Life Vision to be sure that there was no one hidden in some corner or behind a secret passage that they were unaware of.

Then they let the surveillance spell get further away from them. It kept humming the entire time, making it possible for Arthur to determine how the strength of their mind link changed with distance.

At ten meters (11 yards), it was perfectly clear, like it was still on their finger.

After twenty meters (22 yards), it became muffled. They could still share its senses and communicate with it, but it required focus. At thirty meters (33 yards), its thoughts were barely a whisper.

'I don't feel so good. I'm afraid that this is my limit. If I get any further, I won't be able to receive your mana anymore, and I will begin to consume my life force in order to move. My reserves are not as depleted as when you first found me, but the idea of being all alone, bleeding energy with every step frightens me quite a bit.'

Arthur could understand its fear. It had already come very close to death once, and in order to survive, the spell had to pay a terrible price.

'If mana is the problem, let's see if I can do something about it.' Arthur created a string of mana with spirit magic and used it to connect to the spell.

Suddenly everything was clear again. They could even feel it perform a joyful dance. The spell was able to proceed swiftly until the distance between them was fifty meters (54.7 yards), the new limit of spirit magic's range.

Sending its mana over a further distance required increasing focus and energy consumption on Arthur's side. It was like casting and keeping several spells active at the same time.

For the surveillance spell to reach the servant quarters, Arthur required such concentration that they became blind and deaf to whatever was happening around them, going into a meditative trance.

'This is completely unacceptable! I need to babysit the Count and their kids at all times. What would happen if we got attacked while I play the sleeping beauty? Not to mention how can I possibly explain my "narcolepsy" to the Count without either losing their trust or revealing the spell's existence?'

Arthur tried to open their eyes, to listen with their own ears instead of using the surveillance spell's senses. It didn't come easy. It was like pushing a car uphill—the slightest mistake, and they would be back to square one. After numerous failures, Arthur snapped.

'Damn! If finesse doesn't work, let's go brute force!'

Arthur forcefully awoke. Their room was as they had left it, the door still barred from the inside since the surveillance spell had gone beyond their line of sight. They could hear and see again, but the burden on their mind and body was unchanged.

They could feel their mana being drained, their mind slower than usual. It was like trying to do mental calculations with a commercial jingle stuck in their head. The mind link was still there, but it was blocked.

'Seems that at this range I can either use my senses or its, not both. It's not great, but still an improvement. At least I won't have to fall asleep at the weirdest times.'

Closing their eyes again, Arthur asked the surveillance spell to come back. When it returned, they started planning their next moves.

In the following days, Arthur would stay with the three nobles at all times, barricading themselves in the Count's private quarters and surrounded by guards.

That way, from the outside, it would look like Arthur's arrival had changed nothing, but appearances couldn't be more different from the truth.

Arthur would make them drink only water they conjured, and before letting them eat even a single bite of any food, they would use magic to search for poisons and detoxify them.

They would also use Venire Rad Tu, the light magic diagnostic spell, to cover up their use of Invigoration, their body-strengthening/imaging breathing technique, to check their bodies for slow-release poisons they could have ingested before their arrival or any relevant anomalies.

The poison was mostly in the food, covered by spices and sauces. The only anomaly they could find was Keyla's acne.

'Poor girl! This stuff doesn't just cover her face, it also covers her back and shoulders. I guess for her debut in society, she will have to pick a dress that leaves a lot to the imagination.'

While Arthur was seemingly holed up, they were actually checking on their suspects one by one. To avoid useless energy expenditure, they would establish their mind link with the surveillance spell before attaching it to a plate, tray, or under a servant's collar.