Fear Not The Elf Who Knows 10,000 Spells - Chapter 17

Minus, The Witch POV:

When did the change happen, she wondered.

What made the future change?

Is it an unexpected power? Is it something Trenn is inherently capable of? Another Divine Gift that she didn't see?

Looking at the past, the origin of deviation... She caused it.

Minus herself was the cause. All because she her curiosity sent her to meet the insignificant (to her senses) mage who kept his mana detection up, while looking at her.

Because she met Trenn. Because she talked with Trenn. Because he saw her injury and healed her.

That is what lead to the events that led to his suspicion of her.

And now, her silence, while using Precognition to find all of this out, confirmed it in his mind.

"Why do you think that, young Trenn?" Minus asked, using the magical link to project her voice so Trenn could hear it. So only he could hear it.

Trenn frowned at how she addressed him but moved on.

For Minus, she called him 'Young Trenn' because, well, he isn't her enemy. Not yet anyways. She wishes to... study the boy a bit longer. He is interesting, so she will stay her hand for now.

Let him grow. Let him gain strength. Their battle will be all the sweeter then.

"You and Löwenjunges being injured at roughly the same time. Yeah, it could just be a coincidence, yet his reaction to your name also seemed off." He said.

"Oh?" Minus raised an eyebrow, even if the boy doesn't see it. "And how did you know? You hadn't activated Sight-Through Mana at the time."

"Heartbeat rose up. Body strengthen, that is Vigorkern enhances everything physically, including senses. Things were quiet around us, so it stuck out. He knows you, and I have a feeling you know him." Trenn's logic was childish.

Minus had half a mind to rebuke him and act offended, just to throw him off.

"Also," Trenn continued. "that negative energy you both had were similar. It felt like a deep wish for the afflicted to not just feel pain, but to die no matter what. That might happen with two people fighting to the death." He sat up.

"Child, just because some events happen in a circumstantial way, doesn't mean they are connected." Minus said coldly. Scolding in a way she knew professors would toward unruly students. She could try to copy a parent's disappointment, but she didn't think she could do it convincingly.

"There are no towns between here, Ackerheim and Hochfeld. Logically, if nothing abnormal happens, a person's travel route would be from one town to the next, without much change in route. According to Löwenjunges, the Coalition arrived and attacked thirteen days ago. It would take normal travel time between here and Hochfeld twenty three days. Ten days after you left. That's not enough time for a message to go the Coalition base, where ever it is in the Anfang region and to get here in that time. And the base can't be close to Schwanz as its Elves Shield territory, so they must have been following you." Trenn explained his thought process.

Oh? Minus thought in amusement. He doesn't think I personally had an active hand in this, but that my presence caused the attack.

"You think I used the town to fled from those zealots?" Minus asked, voicing wonder in her tone.

"Maybe." Trenn voice held uncertainty. His theories were less solid the more he talked now. "But the timing of it is suspicious." Confidence filled his voice once more.

Minus wondered where it sprung from. Probably youthful surety?

"Yet that is not enough to make such grave accusation, young Trenn." Minus said, disappointed at his deductive reasoning. She thought he'd be sharper.

"Minus, you passed by my home and suddenly the Coalition followed and destroyed it. You met me who's from that town, and mark me with a magical signal. I mention Löwenjunges and you feel irritated. You were feeling smug while he was injured, and while surprised by my ability to heal his eyes, you also felt angry at it. I don't have anything concrete but at this point I don't really need nor care to.

"Correlation might not be causation, but I feel the correlations are too many and too close that could paint a picture of the cause." Trenn said, before looking down. "Honestly the only thing I don't get is why would Löwenjunges attack you? Well... maybe he thought by killing you, then the Coalition won't come to this town, but no," he shook his head. "He'd have had to know they were following you in advance. The only answer I can think of is that he attacked you as soon as you arrived in town. The why still eludes me."

Minus blinked as what Trenn said just registered to her.

"What did you just say, young Trenn?" Minus asked.

"I don't know why would Löwenjunges attack you." Trenn said, yet raised his eyebrow even if he can't see her. "No, something else is bothering you. What part was it?" Trenn ran last bit of the conversation through his head. "That you felt angry for me healing Löwenjunges and undoing your work."

"You could feel my emotions?" Minus started to dig into the magical link, and she found Trenn's mana detection completely focused on it.

All along he was reading her just as she was watching him.

Minus' body shook with mirth.

"Why are you suddenly so chippery?" Trenn asked.

"Because you keep exceeding my expectations, young Trenn." Minus said before laughing and shaking her head. "Shadow Warriors of the Empire."

"...Huh?" Trenn blinked in confusion.

"They are a secret group swore in service to the Empire. They eliminate individuals, especially mages, that could pose a threat to the safety of the Empire's stability or sovereignty." She said plainly. "And your friend, Löwenjunges is one of them. That is why he ambushed me, the moment he saw a chance."

Trenn's eyes widened and surprise but also a feeling of acknowledgement came to him. Like he had suspected such a secret for his friend, but not of that magnitude.

Yes, just as Trenn could read her emotions, she could easily do so too. Trenn grunted and squirmed as he could feel her doing so.

Minus grinned, amused at the young human's discomfort.

Trenn of course tried to block her attempt, yet Minus was the creator of the link, thus easily stopped him. He tried to outright break the link... and she stopped that attempt as well.

Trenn stopped trying to break the link after that. Odd that he gave up without giving it his all. Did he think it's not worth the effort, or that he could try again later?

"Why did you do all this?" Trenn asked once more.

Minus thought to simply tell him why... just to see his reaction. Even now, there isn't any genuine hatred in his heart, just muted anger. Annoyance was the more prevalent emotion.

But no. Not yet.

Of course, that Shadow Warrior could ruin the fun by revealing everything sooner, if Trenn approached him correctly.

Normally, a Shadow Warrior eliminates anyone that uncovers their identity, but Minus had a feeling this 'Löwenjunges' would try to recruit Trenn instead. Likely seeing his value as a mage combatant.

"Rather than wonder about that, shouldn't you be more worried about that small town your mentor is in?" Minus said in amusement. "You didn't think this was the full force of the Coalition's army? Now that they took Schwanz, in their eyes, why wouldn't they continue to conquer the rest of the towns that act as a center belt of the eastern side of this region."

"Wait, what are you talking about!?" Trenn said in a panic.

"Did you not notice them on your way to Schwanz?" Minus said, coyly.

Of course Trenn didn't notice them. He was too focused on maintaining the speed spell and on reaching his destination as fast as possible.

Trenn kept asking for more information, more details, but Minus said nothing. Giving the boy silence.

Now, it was time to see what he'll do. How will he grow from this?

===x===

What do I do?

I'm tired. There's no fucking way I could make it to Ackerheim on time. Assuming Minus was telling the truth.

Verify from Löwenjunges. First that then everything else.

"Hey!" Löwenjunges called out as he came over to where I was. I pushed myself and stood up. "Good work out there. We barely had to do any work." He said with a relived smile.

A smile he lost as he saw the look on my face.

"Löwenjunges," I spoke. "Were these the main forces of the Coalition? Or was there another force? Is it possible that while you were dealing with them here, a part of their forces headed to Ackerheim?"

Löwenjunges had a small frown on his face for a second, before it went back to concern.

"Trenn, it's over. You did enough. We need to regroup and work with the survivors to see what we'll do now and—" Löwenjunges began to say as he looked toward the others from this assault returning after having finished off what was left of the Anti-Elf scum.

"Löwenjunges." I almost shouted. "Was that all of them? Old man Schroff is in Ackerhiem. Is he going to be safe there?" I asked pointedly.

"..." Rather than a look of concern, Löwenjunges narrowed his eyes at me. A more cold calculation in his eyes. He relaxed and sighed after a moment, as if resigned so what will follow. "The Coalition had a banner of six hundred men when they attacked this city. A hundred broke off while the rest went on ahead." A cold pit struck my body and settled into my stomach. "We couldn't stop. We could barely hold on against fifty warriors and fifty mages."

"..."

"The mages bombarded the city, till they ran out of mana, and retreated to recouperate, while those that could still fight, well, you saw them, they were aiding the warriors in town before we dealt with them." He smiled. "Thanks to you."

I wasn't really all warm and fuzzy from his thanks, as I had a bigger problem in mind.

"...How the fuck did they get fifty mages? No, how many mages did they have in total that they could afford to leave fifty behind to take the city?" I asked in shock and astonishment at the resources and power the Anti-Coalition had. "Do mages grow on fucking trees and I didn't know!?"

Löwenjunges cracked a smile before a more regretful and serious look settled on his face.

"Our estimates are a two hundred total. With fifty dead, it would be a hundred and fifty." Löwenjunges said, and the number slammed onto my shoulders like the weight of the world. "The rest are a mix of warriors, archers and lancers, and maybe some priests but we couldn't be sure. None were spotted."

So definitely the Coalition had priests in reserves.

I wasn't stupid enough to think I can take a hundred and fifty mages of unknown varying strengths. The thirty three I took down and the eight in town were luck. A sneak attack the worked.

But a true head-on fight? I don't know how that would work.

"When I ran here I didn't notice any army." I pointed out.

"I'm guessing you came as soon as you heard about the attack?" Löwenjunges asked and I nodded. "Hmm, maybe they'll send a portion of the army back? Might have to prepare for that." He said to himself. "About what you said, if your army have mages, it's possible to move the army without being noticed." He finally answered me.

"How?" I ask with all the disbelief of someone telling me trees are naturally carnivores, and not elaborating.

"Cloaking spells."

...Okay, that makes sense.

I then stop at that thought as I consider what war would look like, when you can just field mages into battle. How much would things change?

Being used as the equivalent of cannons is an obvious one. But being used to bend light to hide large marches of soldiers, I didn't consider that.

You could probably even change the weather and kill crops for the opposition. Or make poison air and concentrate it onto a location.

I need to go back fast, but my tank is empty, I literally can't do anything big right now.

I looked down, fist clenched, frowning. How long does it take an army to get from here to Ackerhiem?

An army walks slower than just two people traveling on their own right?

Maybe I can rest for a day and then head back quickly.

"Trenn." Löwenjunges bends down to look at me at eye level, one hand on my shoulder. Damn, he's still so tall, I thought I grew in this year. "Enough. Don't worry about all of this for now, let the adults... let me handle it, okay? You did enough, you need to rest."

"But Schroff—"

"Five hundred men, a hundred and fifty mages or not, it's gonna take them a while to get there. I'd give it..." Löwenjunges thought for a while, as he stood up and held his chin. "Eighteen to twenty days. Sixteen at the worst. It's been thirteen days, there's still plenty of time for you to get there. The old man taught you that speed movement spell, right?"

"Hmm," I nodded. Löwenjunges smiled and let a sigh in relief.

"Then you have nothing to worry about. Go get some food, find a bed and we'll talk in the morning." He said as he turned to address the other villagers now turned freedom fighters, as they were laughing, cheering and celebrating their victory, with some coming over to congratulate me, and hug me.

"What a nice celebration." Of course, Minus had to ruin it by speaking in my mind. "The Shadow Warrior's words are true, you can rest without worry." Ah, fuck, what bad news is she gonna bring now? "If it wasn't for the fact that, that arrogant noble leading the Anti-Elf," she snorted. "Coalition had been pushing his army, all in the hope of swiftly taking over all the lands, this side of the Schwanzbruch."

Schwanzbruch was the river right next to Schwanz City. On the map with the region looking like the tail end of the continent, people tend to call that river, 'The Dragon's Tail Crack'.

I wanted to reply, but I can't talk to myself with everyone around me. The group were now heading back to the city and I was with them.

I pushed my focus onto the link between me and Minus. I remembered how the Ancient Einsam used to put words, sounds and imagines in my mind. I don't think I can do that to a mage more experienced than me.

But sound at least should be possible. It's just wind vibrations.

"You make it sound like everything on the other side of the river has already been taken by the Coalition."

I immediately felt incredulity, shock and mirth right away from Minus's side of the link.

"...That's right. The other four regions are already divided with only the heart region still in contest. And this region? The Anfang region is all but under the Coalition's control. Only the towns and lands this side, east of the river, are left." Minus replied.

How the fuck did no one know this!? No, I'm a kid, no one would tell me anyways, but there should have been rumors while Schroff and I were visiting the towns!

...Unless this is all recent and was happening right now before anyone could react.

"How long until the Coalition army reaching Ackerhiem?" I asked, hoping against hope that it's at least a day or something. Just enough time for me to regain my mana.

Fuck. Half a day is enough, or just—

"A little over, hmmm... Two hours."