Published at 16th of February 2024 2:22 pm

Chapter 71. The Truth Shall Set You Free

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Nox’s heart dropped as they walked through campus. The frequency and number of patrols had fallen in the weeks following the attack on Nox and Annabelle. More than a month had passed since the disappearance, and it was on the outer edge of the market ring. However, Kris claimed the wards within the campus were strengthened. They detected combat magic and powerful controlling spells.

While the former was straightforward and easy to recognize, the wards struggled with the latter. Clever spell casting could turn anythingth into a debilitating or controlling effect. Wards quickly identified mind magic, vegetation sprouting from the ground, or strong conjurations. Most importantly, they activated when detecting arcane struggle. Nox didn’t just need to identify what had locked his arms; he would also have to rescue his friends and escape afterward. The chances of armed individuals following them in the shadows were far too high.

It felt as if Nox had lost control of his joints. Meanwhile, Lillin and Annabelle walked on either side of him stiffly like marionettes. He concluded that one of the pair escorting them was a healer of some sort. Particular physician spells, especially those used for surgery, demanded manipulation of the body’s inner workings. Nox guessed someone had turned such magic into one of control and capture. It was intelligent and effective. The university hired several doctors and healers. The war magic and research departments also taught several courses on the subject. As a result, the university’s wards probably ignored spells and essences related to the field.

The abductors—or whoever they were—had people on the inside. Nox was sure they had several students and staff in their employ. They needed people on the inside to circumvent the wards, patrols, and all other security measures. The library assistant was a minor player or bribed and threatened nobody. It wouldn’t surprise Nox if professors engaged in the plot too. He wanted to pool Professor Stefann Lorenzo with the conspirators, but his disdain for the man probably had something to do with his opinion.

Nox closely watched the skinny male finger leading them and Lillin as they exited the campus. He needed her to wake up before making a move. She didn’t just have the most raw power of the trio. Her spatial storage was full of essence glass and alchemical concoctions. Lillin’s help would help him retrieve the rod half of Ratra’s Bow and his pouch from the male captor. Then he’d stir Annabelle with smelling salts, and they’d have a chance of escaping. If they created enough noise, the university and city guards would come to their rescue.

Unfortunately, Lillin didn’t stir. The attackers had successfully knocked her out cold. They most likely used powerful sleeping vapor and had the library assistant deliver it when she passed their table. The brew had to be odorless and exceptionally powerful. Someone likely used shadow essence or something similar to ensure Annabelle’s Danger Sense didn’t react. Lillin would’ve pulled biomass out of her inner-dimensional storage if she had any warning. The increased weight would’ve hopefully slowed the concoction’s effects.

As Nox thought about how he got a sense of the who. Pieces finally fell into place. He recognized the leading man’s figure, body language, and gait and no longer needed a clear view of his face to identify him. It was Vys. As an expert in poisons, he had the know-how to create the necessary brews to incapacitate targets.

Nox tried to recall if he had ever revealed his sigils to Vys. The party, Pudge, and the staff knew about it. Even if Nox never revealed its existence to the poison mage, Professor Das could always let it slip. He thought back to the aftermath of the first assault. Besides Pudge, he had only revealed the sigil’s existence to Alexander and Caitlin. Even then, he struggled to comprehend how Vys knew nothing about it. Alchemists often relied on the Sigil of Immunity.

When Nox tried to speak, his mouth didn’t respond. The magic binding his arms had also sealed his lips shut. He tried looking over his shoulder at the woman bringing up the rear. His neck and shoulder muscles didn’t respond either. Nox flooded his mana channels like he had when they first exited the library. The results were the same. The hold didn’t weaken, and no wards were activated. He attempted activating Crystalize Essence again but got no results.

“You’ll end up with a knife in your back if I have to warn you again,” the woman behind him whispered. “I know just the right spots so that it won’t be lethal, and my magic will ensure you don’t bleed out. Believe me, cripple. You don’t want the pain.”

The escort brought Nox and his unconscious companions to an old tavern against the wall separating the market ring and the nobles’ quarter. It was a much too fine an establishment for abductors. Nox recalled passing it not long before he and Annabelle were attacked. Instead of talking them in through the front, Vys led them to the back of the building and down a flight of stairs to the cellar.

Mostly young nobles and the affluent visited the venue, and the staff had a reputation for denying commoners admittance. Pudge claimed that most people needed an introduction before enjoying the establishment's fine food, liquors, and entertainment. Despite the female company he kept, no one had offered to help him gain entry.

Racks of wine bottles, dark cherrywood, and oak casks stood piled in a corner, and barrels taller than Ernest lined the wall. Vys led them to the giant wooden container on the farthest wall. He knocked it on it twice before running his fingers along an innocuous section of the rim. The wood lit up with silver runes. When he turned the tap, no liquid came out. Instead, something clicked in the barrel, and the front swung open.

A tunnel awaited on the other side. Vys and the woman escorted the trio through it and past several prison cells. Young men and women wearing the university’s colors occupied them. Most appeared closer to sixteen than twenty. Nox guessed most had barely created a Protostar.

Vys passed several empty cells before stopping in front of one. He opened the door. Nox and his unconscious companions walked in wordlessly. Finally, the poison alchemist faced him. When their eyes met, Nox saw shame and guilt. Vys failed to hold his gaze. Meanwhile, the woman retrieved three heavy handcuffs from around the corner.

“Do the women before you release the spell,” Vys said.

“Why? Ratra is conscious. They’re not.”

“Didn’t you read the dossiers?” Vys sighed. “There is something off about Grey. I’d rather not take the risk. Besides, Ratra has extensive mana burn and a tiny mana zone. His magic is also mostly utility, and can’t hurt us without his weapons or concoctions. Grey is more dangerous with her gravity magic.”

“Fine.” The woman sighed. She handcuffed Lillin, then Annabelle, and Nox last. “It doesn’t make a difference anyway. Besides carrying a little bit more weight than expected, Grey is ordinary. You were worried about the wrong person.”

Then the woman turned on her heel and marched away. Lillin and Annabelle collapsed in a heap, and Nox regained control of his body. He wanted to charge Vys immediately but knew it would do little good.

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“Why?” Nox asked.

“I’m doing what I have to for my family, Nox,” Vys said. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh, the matter is as clear as day. So you sold out your friends for approval and profit.”

“This is the one opportunity for us to become more than pariahs!” Vys kept his volume low. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve spent pushed aside and feared because of our magic? This is our one chance to climb. I’m sorry this is happening to you—”

“Should we cut off one of Oakheart’s fingers or ears?” The woman returned. Nox finally got a good look at her face and recognized her straight away. She often assisted in Professor Wolfhammer’s class as the healer. The woman’s magic was one of the reasons Louis just had acid burn scars on only one hand. “Her father will need proof before he pays out.”

“That decision is not up to us.” Vys hesitantly glanced between her and Nox. “Let's get out of here. The council will want to know about his immunity. It changes things.”

“Wait, Vys,” Nox said as the man turned to leave. “What’s going to happen to us?”

The poison mage paused while his companion rolled her eyes and disappeared beyond the cell’s entrance. “You’re unique enough to be kept aside,” Vys answered. “Someone wants you as their alchemist monkey and mana battery. Lillin, on the other hand—” He looked down at Lillin’s unconscious body. “The council wishes to sacrifice him to their god.”

The two men stood in silence. When Nox didn’t ask further questions, Vys exited the cell and closed the door. A translucent barrier materialized for a second before disappearing. Then the man walked away. Nox waited until the sound of hardened leather heels on stone faded into the distance. Then rubbed his sleeves together, hoping to dislodge the pouch sewn into the inside of his arm. It sat just below the elbow over his mana burn scars.

Mou was a paranoid woman. Worried that the random beatings he received would escalate into more, she stitched pouches of healing brews into his sleeve. Because of Nox’s tendency to roll up his cuffs, his shirt sleeves always bunched around the elbow. Combined with the warped skin around his scars, the area always felt and appeared unusual from the outside. It was a perfect hiding place.

The pocket had come in use occasionally during hunts away from the Golden Isles, but Nox didn’t bother making the alteration after coming to Woodson University. Things changed after the initial attempt at crippling him. He stitched the loose pockets into his university coat and the garments he used for regular wear. Pills were significantly easier to hide than vials and easily came free after several minutes of effort. Nox only wished he had thought to store Rock Melter and Trap Foam, too. He only had a couple of each recovery pill, some smell salts, and a single capsule containing his favorite cocktail of empowering brews. Nox consumed it first before helping the others.

Annabelle stirred straight away, but Lillin didn’t react. “C’mon,” he hissed, slapping the mimic woman. She didn’t respond.

“Where are we?” Annabelle groaned, sitting up. Her eyes were still closed, and she wayed. Nox willed the essence glass exteriors of his pills to stabilize as he forced them into her mouth. She resisted for a moment but gave in as her eyes met his. Then as she gagged on the liquifying pills and coughed, Nox returned his attention to Lillin.

The last of the smelling salts did nothing. When a couple of more slaps and shaking did nothing, he attempted something more drastic. Nox recognized the runes on their restraints. They were mana limiters. Channeling arcane energies while wearing them resulted in increasing degrees of mana burn. He tried anyway. The Sigil of Immunity had nullified all discomfort when he infused the pills with mana. A little more wouldn’t hurt.

Nox was wrong. It stung almost as much as the aether ink tattoos. However, it wasn’t so bad his mind went blank, and he lost control of his spell. He cast the Galvanising Cantrip and poked Lillin with it. She jumped upright with a squeaking yelp.

“Where are we?” Lillin demanded. She gained alertness faster than Annabelle. Her pupils became slits as she studied the cell and her manacles.

“You were gassed,” Nox said. “It's Vys. He’s working with the abductors.”

“Dungeon Lord cult?”

Nox nodded. “They want me as an alchemist slave and you as the sacrifice.”

“I’d like to see them try.” Lillin snorted as she wrestled the handcuffs.

“What about me?” Annabelle asked, jerking her head. She still sounded groggy, but her eyes appeared more focused.

“They’re going to return you to your father,” Nox answered. “For a ransom, of course.”

“Bastards.” She tested her handcuffs too. A loud wince escaped Annabelle, and the runes on the metal flickered. “Mana restraints. These won’t be easy to crack.”

“What do you want to do?” Lillin asked. “I can get us out of here, but you know what that entails.”

Annabelle raised an eyebrow, growing more alert. Her eyes shifted between her two companions. “You’ll end up mana burned—”

“Hush, now,” Lillin scolded, her eyes remained focused on Nox.

“Do it,” Nox said.

Lillin’s arms expanded. Blocky growths stretched her skin, and it cracked like cheap porcelain. The restraints groaned under her growing biomass.

“By Yggdrasil!” Annabelle exclaimed much too loud as she scrambled away from Lillin. “What the hell—”

Nox had no choice but to loop his restrained arms around her and press a hand over her mouth. “Keep it down,” Nox whispered. “Lillin is our only way out.”

Eventually, the mana restraints cracked and warped. Lillin’s shoulders had multiplied in size. Her blouse ripped and came apart at the seams as her arms approached Ernest-like dimensions. Then the piece of metal connecting the two bands broke. A powerful tug proved sufficient to remove the warped cylinders. Then Lillin shrank rapidly, and Annabelle’s mouth hung agape against Nox’s hand.

“She was going to find out eventually,” Lillin said, shrugging.

Her nonchalance on the matter always annoyed Nox, but it wasn’t the time to gripe. He released the noblewoman.

“What the hell are you?” Annabelle demanded. Despite their circumstances, she almost appeared triumphant. “I guessed you were some sort of alchemical construct or homunculus, but that was monstrous!”

“That’s because I am a monster,” Lillin replied. She chuckled and looked at Nox. “I guess the mimic’s out of the bag.”

“Now’s not the time for this,” Nox said. “I’m sorry for not being honest with you earlier, Annabelle, but now’s not the time for this. They expect you to be still unconscious. Let’s get out of here while they’re busy.”

“But—” Annabelle glared at Lillin for a moment, then her shoulders slumped. “Fine, but I want a full explanation.”

“I’ll give you one after the semester ends, I promise. We’ll get out of the city, and then we can talk about this at length.”

Annabelle nodded and held her hands out to Lillin. The mimic woman grinned. She grabbed the length of metal, attaching both bands, and the black aura of gravity magic surrounded her fist. The metal creaked and groaned before breaking. Removing the rest of the restraints took little afterward. Then she did the same with Nox.

Once all of them were free, the trio approached the cell’s exit. Annabelle stopped Lillin before she could touch it. “There’s a ward,” she said. “My Danger Sense says it will alert our captors if we brute force things.”

“Then maybe I can help.” The air shimmered outside the cell, and Kris appeared amusedly smiling. “Disarming traps and wards are one of my many specialties.” All three students stared at her dumbfounded. Nox didn’t know how she found them or how long she’d spent outside the cell watching them at work. “But we’re not running. Your captors need a strong lecture in etiquette, and I’m in dire need of teaching assistants.”

“That was a terrible quip, Professor,” Lillin said. “I expected more from you.”

Kris snorted. “I didn’t expect a mimic to have standards on the matter.”

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