Warlock of the Magus World – Redux

The eerie quietude of a particular cave was broken only by the repeated sound of a blade being sharpened. The sole light in the room came from a flickering torch embedded on the wall.

Within the gloom of the large rocky confine, one could see a tall and broad figure humming softly to himself, as he prepared a series of instruments of various shapes and purposes. However, they all had one thing in common: they could be used to inflict untold amounts of pain on the human body.

Close to the figure sharpening his knife, a completely naked person was lying down on a giant rock that had been smoothed out by the streams of underground water over the years. The person seemed to be asleep, and his skin was covered with blemishes that looked like vanishing scars. His complexion was also extremely pale and had black circles under his eyes.

"Are you comfortable? I left your hands and feet untied so you can relax better." -The figure spoke, as he tapped the hand of the pale man gently with his knife.

Silence. There was no answer.

"Oh right, first you have to... wake up!" -Leylin said, emphasizing the last words as he drove the tip of the blade under the right thumb fingernail of the man, removing the fingernail altogether as well as a piece of flesh.

There was a piercing scream, and the man's eyelids opened brusquely. He stared furiously at his enemy, and there was a fire in him that said he would do anything to get revenge. He hadn't let out any tears though.

"Welcome back, little Alfonse. I was getting worried that you wouldn't recover from your blood loss." -Leylin said, as he smiled warmly.

"Fuck you. Just kill me and get this over with." -Alfonse all but hissed at Leylin.

"That's not how this works." -Leylin smirked.

"Then how does it work? Are you just going to cut me for your own sick fun?!" -Alfonse hollered, as he became more aware of his situation, and the pain in his thumb.

"No, of course not. I just want some information, that's all. If you give it to me, I promise I won't let you suffer any longer." -Leylin said reassuringly, as his expression turned serious.

There was silence again. Alfonse weighed his chances of escape. There were none. He knew that even though he was not bound by the vines, they would come out immediately if Leylin felt the need to. His apparent freedom of movement was nothing but a manner of psychological torment.

His magic was also not a possibility. He was exhausted and out of both Spiritual Force and Mana Energy. As if that weren't bad enough, he had no weapons either. In the extreme case that he managed to steal the knife from his captor, the fact that the vines would appear came into play again. He had nowhere to go, no way to escape. He was doomed.

And so, he made a decision that he would regret for the rest of his life.

"Fine. You want information, I'll give it to you. But first, you'll have to swear on your name and titles that you will kill me swiftly and without pain." -He felt a lump in his throat as the phrase came out, but he knew there was no other road for him to take. It was either this or hours of torture at the hands of this psycho.

He knew that Leylin could just betray him again, but he chose to have blind dumb faith. It was all he had left in order to not go crazy on the spot. He desperately wanted to believe that there was a chance of not experiencing the horrors that Leylin's tools and evil aura promised.

"I, Leylin of House Farlier, 4th Baron of Extreme Night City and heir to Viscount John Farlier of the Chernobyl Islands, swear on my honor that I will end your life swiftly and without any pain after you've answered all my questions." -Leylin put down the knife, and placed his hand on his heart, as he declared solemnly.

Alfonse was convinced, and he nodded shakily. He did not want to die today, but he had lost the battle. He had to resign himself to this cruel fate.

"First question. Why did you want to kill all of us, including Viscount Jackson?" -Leylin did not waste any time, as he put the knife away with the rest of the tools, causing Alfonse to release the sigh he did not even know he was holding in.

"Basically, me and my associates, whom you killed... we had an operation going on behind Jackson's and the rest of the acolytes' backs..." -Alfonse told, as he averted his gaze. He was briefly grieving the deaths of his friends. He wouldn't admit it to them when they were alive, but he had become fond of them to a degree.

"I am going to need you to be more specific. Or should I get my utensils?" -Leylin raised a brow.

"Alright, alright! Sorry... Look, I discovered an untouched deposit of magic crystals, deep under the mountains south of Extreme Night City..." -Alfonse made sure that he got Leylin's attention, and then he continued.

"My crew and I designed a way to start mining the crystals without alerting any of the acolytes in town or even some of the stronger individuals from the nearby Magi gathering points. We used slaves bought from different prisons all over the province as workers, and then used my mutated lizards to keep watch over them and the crystals. We only purchased five to ten slaves per prison so as to not raise any suspicions. We assigned them to extract the crystals and we paid them with their freedom once they had met their quota. Only we did not actually free them... We... made sure to always tie up any loose ends..."

"Interesting. Keep going." -Leylin now had his hand under his chin, and his demeanor was fully business-like at the moment.

"When I realized that we could start getting an even higher output since there were multiple veins we had not accessed yet, I proposed to my associates that we expand the operation. For that, we would require the ability to move with impunity across the province to gather more slave manpower, but Viscount Jackson stood in the way of that plan."

Alfonse continued: "While it could be argued that Halius was the Viscount's most trusted half-beast lieutenant, it was not enough. Murphy was the true right-hand man. Nevertheless, he was a cowardly asshole who could barely get his head out of his ass in subjects outside of his books. I would never include him in my operation so we discarded that option. It left us only with the more radical solution... To eliminate all threats."

"So you set up the whole withering crisis as an excuse to lay your trap in here using your pet snake. How did you breed it by the way?" -Leylin interjected.

"I created it using various mutating experimental formulas from the unfertilized eggs of a mature Mankestre Snake. I spent months just to get one of them to hatch, in addition to the three years it took for the snake to grow to an acceptable size... This entire agenda was eight years in the making... But you came along and everything went to shit in less than six months..." -The resentment became evident in Alfonse's tone, but he managed to bite his tongue before it cost him his quick execution.

"Your lab, where is it?"

"My laboratory is not far from here, it's located 38° degrees east of the third gate of the city." -Alfonse responded, getting a nod from Leylin.

"After what you've said to me, it begs the question: what was it with your setting up the quest card in Abyssal Bone Forest Academy, and the deal you offered me?" -Leylin seemingly ignored his victim's blunder.

"It was the second phase of the plan. Once the extraction rates were up, I would have enough resources to start putting them to good use. Namely, buying as many magic artifacts, spell models, and potions as possible. I wasn't stupid enough to reach out to the more uncomplicated sources of these items, like Brey Canyon Market. It would make it exceedingly obvious that the localized point of our activity was this region, and the most cunning Magi would surely track me and the magic crystals down... The next best thing was one of the magic academies. Considering the three of us were Dark Magi, Abyssal Bone Forest was the alternative with the better stock." -Alfonse explained.

"And you determined to come to me with your offer in the precarious circumstances of facing the Mankestre Snake, thinking that it would pressure me into acceptance." -Leylin added, though he put it as a statement rather than a question. The acolyte with acne could only nod.

"I see. Excellent. My instincts were not failing me after all." -Leylin smiled contentedly, as he reached out for a bigger knife this time, letting the dim light of the torch reflect on the metallic surface.

Alfonse's eyes grew wide in fear.

"W-WAIT! You said...! You swore... that my death would be painless!" -He tried to jump off the rock aiming for Leylin's neck with his hands, but ten brown vines without thorns came out from behind and strapped him tightly in an instant. He didn't want to believe this was happening to him. But deep down, he saw this coming from a mile away.

"Yeah, yeah, I sure did. You surely must have expected something like this would happen, correct? Don't get me wrong, you are still worthless trash, but you can at least think that far... Anyway, I have much more pressing affairs to sort out, so I can either flay one half of your body with my favorite skinning knife, or I can do it whole but with a bigger knife. Terrible dilemma, I know." -Leylin spoke as if he were discussing a football match with a friend, as he was finished admiring his tool.

"NO, PLEASE! I gave you everything you asked for! My plan, the crystals! You must have mercy!" -Alfonse supplicated, but he knew it would get him nothing.

"I must get this over with right now. So, where to start... Your testicles? No, I'll leave that for last. When your brain begins to shut down from the huge pain and shock, when you feel the life escaping your mortal shell; that's when you'll need something to be shaken back into reality. I didn't bring any medicines to keep you alive, so this is as far as you go I suppose." -Leylin kept his casual tone, as his mask fell once more only to reveal the all-consuming void that was his soul.

The black-armored acolyte then positioned his blade right above the pale naked man's shoulder. "Don't be so nervous, just relax... It will be fun, hahaha!"

The air itself seemed to freeze at his every movement, and his smile guaranteed one thousand atrocities to any observer.

Alfonse could not put into words what he felt at this juncture. If he had to, he would probably say horror. Utter and absolute horror. Granted, Alfonse was a killer and a ruthless person himself, but Leylin had exceeded his every notion of what a cruel ending could be. His existence would end in a manner that he had never even witnessed in nightmares.

The laughs mixed with the screams, and after 15 minutes, there was a kind of stillness that would upset even the calmest of monks.

|=|=|=|=|=|=|=|

[It was too close for comfort back there, Doctor. If it had not been for the disposable magic artifact you obtained from Neela all that time ago, you would have been killed by the Rank 1 Ice spell for sure.] -Aralis tried to admonish her Master on his recklessness, but she was aware it was of no consequence to him.

'Indeed, I have to thank both Neela for procuring such a useful item for me at such a low price, and that mutated forest sprite who was kind enough to lend me its soul to power the artifact. The item's ability to reduce casting times for Rank 0 spells to only 20% of the incantation was incredible... I need more of those...' -Leylin concluded, as he was cleaning his knife with a bloodied rag.

[Was it worth it though? You expended nearly all of your supplies in that battle.]

'The benefits will far surpass the costs, Aralis. I'll make sure of it. With that magic crystal mine all to myself, the flow of cash will replenish my finances from the hit they took in the last ingredient run, and then some. I will have enough money to spit on the Poolfield Kingdom's Magi Houses and be able to afford the reparations.'

[Have you considered that maybe Alfonse was exaggerating when he talked about the sole licking?]

'Perhaps, but the facts point at a much more optimistic direction. They would not have gone through almost a decade of scheming if it wasn't profitable enough.'

[Ok, I agree on that. However, there's that little inconvenience called Viscount Jackson and the Poolgield Kingdom's Crown. What is your plan to circumvent them and keep the extraction of crystals intact?]

'I will not bother you with the details right now, but rest assured that I have everything under control. I am not that imbecile Alfonse. I am Dr. Fang Ming, otherwise known as Leylin. If I can't handle a simple illegal mining operation, then what good am I?'

At that moment, Leylin was interrupted from his inner conversation by a tall shadowy figure that appeared in the chamber with impressive discretion and speed.

The figure was clad in silver plate armor and a black cloak over it, and it had two bodies positioned over each shoulder.

"Master." -The figure carefully dropped the bodies, and got on one knee in front of Leylin.

"Greem. I take it you have completed your orders as I gave them to you?" -Leylin asked coldly without even sparing a glance at his servant.

Before he had set out on this expedition, Leylin had given instructions to his personal bodyguards. One of them had been to follow the caravan at a safe distance, and wait for a signal. When a giant sphere of purplish-black energies with the bodies of an acolyte and the Viscount emerged from the tunnel, the bodyguard slaves heard the message loud and clear.

"Yes. This humble servant has administered the Viscount with the medicines you indicated, and I have also cleaned the entire cave of anything that might be relevant for an investigation. Except for this main chamber, since you were here. Also, Fraser is waiting outside with your Lordship's carriage." -Greem recited dutifully, keeping his head low in submission.

"That is most adequate." -Leylin replied.

Since he hadn't been dismissed or given another order, Greem remained on one knee and unmoving between the two unconscious bodies.

Leylin then approached the grey-robed old man known as Murphy. He was sound asleep, and his deafening snoring made for an annoying melody.

Forthwith, Leylin emptied the powdery contents of a small brown pouch on his palm and proceeded to blow them directly into Murphy's face. The drugs made the geezer stand to attention like a soldier on a routine inspection, feeling a tad disoriented.

"What is going on?! Did we win?!" -Inquired desperately the old scholar, as he looked around the cave dreading the presence of one giant snake.

"Good Murphy. Thanks to your valiant sacrifice, I was able to defeat the evil monster." -Leylin did a gentlemanly bow, as he got closer to him.

"Really?! That's amazing! And... wait is that the Lord Viscount?! How is he?! Is he injured?!" -Murphy was surprised by what he saw as he turned to regard the shirtless body next to Greem.

"He'll live. Which is more than what I can say about you." -Leylin's amiable expression immediately turned ice-cold.

"I don't understand... Was I poisoned?!" -Murphy frantically started to search his pockets for an antidote, but Leylin's hand stopped him.

"No... You were crushed by the Mankestre Snake's tail when it was about to die. How unsightly it was. Your organs flew everywhere..." -At that point, Leylin's lips had curled into a sadistic smile.

Murphy could not process what his friend had said when a strong hand had already taken his entire skull within it.

"It was a mess!" -Exclaimed Leylin, as he sent Murphy crashing violently against a rocky wall.

The blood and gore splashed everywhere given that Leylin had put every bit of his Knight-level Strength into that throw. The raining pieces covered the Farlier Baron and his bodyguard, but the Viscount was spared.

"Ah, that was refreshing." -Muttered Leylin, as he used his signature water/fire spell to clean himself and his servant from any blood. In seconds, it was as if nothing had happened.

"Greem, use the acidic compound to destroy any evidence that Mister Murphy, or anyone for that matter, was here."

"At once, Master." -The Knight blurred out of sight, as he carried out his orders.

Leylin then moved his sight towards the Viscount with his hands behind his back.

[His Grand Knight status is the only thing that prevented him from perishing instantly. His vital signs are stabilized thanks to the potions and medicines that Greem injected him with. He will remain fully sedated for 6 to 10 hours. Judging by my estimations, he should make a full recovery in one month. I must admit though, I presumed that he would be left with at least one or two medical issues after his less than fortunate run-in with the snake. Turns out I was wrong.] -Aralis chimed in.

'That can be remedied.' -Leylin thought, as he used his armored boot to shift Jackson's body so that it rested on his stomach.

'None of us could predict that the Mankestre Snake was significantly more powerful for its age.' -Leylin grinned widely, as he stomped on the Viscount's spinal column several times, fracturing every vertebra while making sure that it didn't kill him.

"There you go, my Lord. Now you can ask the Crown to give you a welfare check or something, hahahaha!" -Leylin mocked out loud, as his servant was dissolving the last of Murphy's intestine.