Assassin's Chronicle

The dwarf stood where he was, confused. Kumaraghosha handed him a small bow, but he did not take it. He knew that he had messed up. Even though Anfey did not intend to punish him, the dwarf still felt ashamed for making such a big mistake.

"Why are you still standing there? Didn’t you hear what I just said?" Anfey asked, lifting a brow. He could be very forgiving when forgiveness was the best solution. He knew that the dwarf had made a mistake and there was no point in punishing him.

He killed the orcs in Forest of Death because the orcs were greedy and capable of revolts. If he had not taken care of them, the orcs would surely rob him and escape. The dwarves, however, were different. They were much more humanlike than the orcs, and even though they had a temper, they had served him well. Anfey didn’t want to punish this dwarf and anger the other dwarves.

"Go," Alice whispered, trying to contain her anxiousness. She was nervous because she knew that she was different from Suzanna and Christian. She had not yet earned the trust of Anfey and his companions and their relationship was frail. Thankfully there were witnesses testifying that the dwarf had indeed fired the arrow by accident, or else she did not know how to explain it herself.

"How did you control that arrow?" Kumaraghosha asked. The question was on everyone’s mind. According to legend, there was a group of mages who could swipe other mages’ power to use magic. As time went on, these people slowly died out. Figuring out Anfey’s method of controlling the magic arrow could be key to rediscovering these legendary mages.

"I don’t know," Anfey admitted.

Kumaraghosha, Alice, Ling, and Long all fell silent. They looked at Anfey and narrowed their eyes.

The legends had exaggerated the legendary mages’ power. No one liked people who could take their magic way. Modern day mages all feared and hated these legendary mages.

After the legendary mages disappeared, common mages came into power. The legends recorded and exaggerated the ancient mages’ power but not their allegiance and their morals.

"Anfey," Suzanna suddenly said, "I’m bored. Let’s go take a walk."

"Sounds good," Anfey said. He knew that Suzanna would not do things for no reason. She must have something to tell him.

After telling Alice to take care of the aftermath, Anfey and Suzanna left together and went to the woods near the entrance of the underground tunnels. Anfey glanced at the gnomes and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Do you remember when you told me that you’re stuck in your training?"

"Yeah," Anfey said. "Why’d you ask? What’s wrong?" After he received the Heart of Nature, he found that he could sense things he could not sense before. This led to new discoveries, like the ability to sense the elements that make up everything in the world. However, there were no records of how to harness this power, and Anfey could not figure it out by himself.

"Do you want to take some time off and train?" Suzanna asked.

"Why?"

"Didn’t you see Alice’s reaction?"

"I did," Anfey said. "I know this ability is rare, but not all of my enemies are mages."

"Then why don’t you use more magic in battle?"

"Habit, I suppose," Anfey said with a shrug. "I trust my fists more than I trust magic."

"I’m serious," Suzanna said, frowning.

"I am too," Anfey said earnestly.

"All joking aside," Suzanna said with a sigh, "if you want to be a paladin, you have to practice magic. If you don’t, you can’t flaunt that title." Suzanna paused for a moment. "You aren’t spending nearly enough time meditating. You should start that habit again. You do not understand the power of people who could do what you just did. If you become an archmage one day, you will be practically immune to magic."

"That road will be difficult, surely," Anfey said with a smile.

"Either way, right now you barely know enough magic to bully Shally," Suzanna said, clicking her tongue.

"She told you?" Anfey asked, surprised. That was not something he was proud of.

"She’s my sister," Suzanna said with a snort. "She keeps no secret from me."

Anfey sighed but did not say anything.

"We’ll talk about that later," Suzanna said. "I’m not saying that you have to become an archmage. I just want you to try harder."

"Alright," Anfey said, nodding. "I’ll practice more magic."

Suzanna grinned. She took Anfey’s hand and leaned against him.

"Maybe you’re right," Anfey said. "I should pay more attention to magic." He looked at Suzanna and added, "You’ve been acting strange lately."

"How so?"

"You’re always distracted," Anfey said. "What’s wrong?" He remembered Suzanna’s mother and what she was going through. Yolanthe promised that he would protect Suzanna’s mother, but with a war going on, who knew what would happen? Yolanthe wasn’t omnipotent.

Suzanna sighed. "I’ve been having this strange urge lately."

"What kind of urge?" Anfey asked, curious.

"I don’t know how to explain it to you," Suzanna said, shaking her head. "I don’t think you will understand."

"Maybe I will."

"Well, it’s like this urge to fight, you know what I mean? This urge to find a swordsman on my level and use my combat power."

"Hmm," Anfey said. "That’s strange." Suzanna grew up with harsh discipline and constant danger. She shouldn’t be easily disturbed by urges.

"I know," Suzanna said, "but I can’t help it."

"Did you talk to Ernest about it?" Anfey asked. He was worried that it was a side effect of Divine Punishment.

"I did," Suzanna said. "He said to just let it be."

"What?" Anfey frowned. "What kind of advice is that?"

"I’m not sure," Suzanna said. "But I have a theory."

"What is it?"

"My mentor told me that it is very possible that I would rise in level within five years," Suzanna said. "I think I might be nearing it."

"Master swordsman?" Anfey asked, surprised. Even though he knew that Suzanna would likely become the youngest master swordsman since the Holy War, he was still surprised.

"Maybe," Suzanna said. "It’s just my guess."

"This is wonderful!" Anfey said, hugging Suzanna tightly.

"Thanks," Suzanna said with a smile. "Though... I’m worried. I don’t know what will happen."

"This is good news," Anfey said. "It’s wonderful. Don’t be afraid. Why don’t you practice with Shinbella sometime?"