The Assassination (1/2)
During the next several weeks after his recovery, Haalfrin is given his military assignment back, and he's shipped off to the army.
The war in the north still isn't technically over. Though, with Kaalhyme dead, the war is more of a formality than anything else – just a few stubborn clans to put down, really.
And so, Haalfrin arrives at the camp again. The casualties among his men were so severe during the battle of Gahl ridge that most of the faces he sees here are unfamiliar.
Thus, Haalfrin's old life of training up the soldiers begins again. The only real change is that after he became recognized as a capable mage, he's invited out by the commanders in the army to practice with the other higher-ranking mages.
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When Haalfrin arrives at the shared arcane training site, most of the mages are avoiding eye contact with him and purposefully finding an excuse to have a break in their training when Haalfrin approaches.
What Haalfrin doesn't know is that all these mages are already affiliated with other factions, and they don't want to appear like they're friends with the loser illegitimate prince Haalfrin is "tied to" – especially when Kanus's people are mostly in charge of the army.
Seeing all these mages ignoring him, Haalfrin just crosses his arms and says aloud, "Well, I guess my presence is redundant. Well, whatever. I have things to do." Frankly, Haalfrin doesn't care either way. If he trains and gets stronger, he'll just be harder to kill in the next battle anyway.
However, as he turns to leave, one of the mages calls out, "Hey you! I see you don't have a training partner. How about a quick spar?"
Haalfrin recognizes this man; he's one of Kanus's close guards. He forgets the man's name, but he's an older-looking 2nd gate mage.
Looking down the field, Haalfrin sees Kanus on his horse watching the battlefield. 'Hmm…,' Haalfrin thinks, 'Kanus probably ordered his men to find out about my abilities - a bit of scouting.'
Kanus's bodyguard walks up while stretching his sword arm. Once he steps in front of Haalfrin, he says, "Since you're in a younger body right now, I'll just wear some training bracers that quarters my mana. This'll make up for your weaker body strength."
Hearing this, Haalfrin holds up his short sword and says, "Deal. Let's have fun, shall we?"
Of course, Haalfrin's only REAL technique he knows is the body reinforcement spell. On top of that, since neither of them is going for the kill, Haalfrin's killing intent is nowhere to be seen, and his Death Aura remains safely tucked away in his soul.
During their short battle, his inexperience with his new powers shines through clearly. It's not that he's clumsy, but that there's a lot of magical combat that Haalfrin doesn't understand very well just yet, like how you have to be VERY careful about outputting a ton of mana at once, since as your power grows as a mage, you still don't weigh any more, which means you can knock yourself around easily if you don't anchor yourself.
It's issues like these that leads to Haalfrin lying on his butt in defeat within a few moments.
Several of the mages watching the fight turn and snicker at each other. "Did this man really kill Kaalhyme?" "Isn't that embarrassing for the Alsa'ree General?"
Instead of feeling embarrassed, Haalfrin stands up, dusts the dirt off his rear, and reaches out his hand to the bodyguard. They shake hands, and Haalfrin leaves the training field.
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Later that night, Haalfrin's brief training partner is reporting to Kanus. He tells the prince with a scoff, "That young 'high mage' is frankly a joke as a 2nd gate mage."
"For now at least," Kanus adds calmly.
The bodyguard looks up and says, "That man only knows one spell. More importantly, he doesn't have any other kind of protection that mages put on themselves - no elemental resistance or internal damage protection at all. He's a barbarian who relies on wildly swinging his sword around and intimidating his opponent with his ferocious onslaught. Any experienced and well-rounded mage of the same level can take him out if they come prepared."
"But...," Kanus says, "I heard that he defeated Kaalhyme before he even became a 2nd gate mage…"
"Kaalhyme was a great warrior," the bodyguard adds, "but he was more of a tactician than a front-line warrior. The man was also very simplistic with his fighting style - no fire, poison, or illusion of any of the sort. He didn't take advantage of any of Haalfrin's weaknesses. It was a bad matchup, rather than anything else."
Kanus thinks for a moment and hands over a vial of poison. "Take this and find a way to get Haalfrin to drink it. Make it quick! We've managed to keep him secluded for now, but we don't want him getting any teachers. If they teach him about magical combat, then he'll become much more dangerous."
More importantly, Kanus knows the archmage himself is looking for Haalfrin. He can't let the two of them meet.
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The next day, Kanus tells Tallus to take his men and stay behind in a smaller fort. Tallus reads his orders, and he gets incredibly nervous.
'It's unlike brother to put me in a secluded place away from the battlefield…' he thinks. 'This is literally a waypoint for supplies! Could he be planning to just get rid of me directly?'
Tallus goes to bed that night with a bad appetite.
That night, while Tallus tosses and turns in fear, his men are celebrating just out of earshot, as they just received news that they're posted away from the newest campaign. They just want to be alive, after all!
Haalfrin abstains from the merry-making since he feels rather put out by their assignment. Not wanting to spoil the mood, he goes back to his tent.
Once he gets close to his tent, he hears some noises coming from inside… like some cloth is being moved around. Sneakily, Haalfrin pokes his head through the tent flap, and he sees a shadowy figure in the dark fiddling with something…
Haalfrin has this tent all to himself, so whatever the thief is touching, it HAS to be his!
Not knowing what else to expect, Haalfrin lunges into the room and yanks the man back by the scruff of his neck before he can react. (Of course, since Haalfrin is far shorter than the man right, now, he had to jump up, then physically drag the man closer to the ground in order to do so.)
"Speak!" Haalfrin spits out, "Who sent you!" The intruder (a young boy around 15) looks away stubbornly and refuses to speak.
Not getting answers from the boy, and having no patience to torture them out, Haalfrin looks over his things, and he sees a black aura in his water canister. It's the aura of death that he seems so familiar with.
Immediately jumping to a conclusion, Haalfrin bends down and picks up his canister. He uncorks it with one hand, then tries forcing it down the boy's throat. The boy shuts his mouth and panics.
"Ah, it's poisoned, then," Haalfrin mutters. He pinches the boy's nose, and when the boy gasps for air, he forces the drink down the boy's throat - spilling some of the liquid on the ground.
The boy twitches on the ground, goes limp, then quits breathing. His pulse weakens until he suffocates to death. "Paralyzing poison?" Haalfrin surmises.
The young mage doesn't wait long before a charming-looking young man materializes out of the air. The man has black chains around his waist, and he's holding the signature black lantern of a death god.
Haalfrin looks to the man and bows, "Jenri, I assume?"
The god Jenri glances over in surprise at being seen, pauses in realization, then tips his head. "Oh, the murderer can see me," Jenri notes curtly, "Freyya and Das told me about you."
Haalfrin leans back casually and asks, "Just to confirm, but which death god are you? You're the god for murdered souls right?"
"Das already placed dibs on your soul. Who I am is none of your concern." Jenri takes the boy's soul in his lantern, then abruptly turns to leave. "Now, please refrain from murdering people in the future. I don't want to have to see you again."
Before Jenri leaves, Haalfrin gives a mischievous smile, "Oh? What if I just drink the rest of that poison? That way, someone's scheme to kill me will have succeeded. You'll have to take my soul then – not Das."
The god glances over the bottle and chuckles. "That bottle lost too much of its contents. You barely have enough left to leave yourself sluggish for a few hours, but you won't die. Better luck next time." With that said, the god vanishes.
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Once Jenri is gone, Haalfrin looks out the tent and thinks, 'You know, that the prince probably has people watching to make sure I died – assassins ready to finish me off…'
Thinking of this, Haalfrin grins and holds up his water bottle. 'Sweet dreams then!'
In one gulp, he finishes off the rest of the poisoned water. Feeling a little drunk, sluggish, and dizzy, Haalfrin stumbles out into the forest with the intense urge to vomit.
'If that mastermind prince knows what he's doing, he'll take this chance to ambush me while I'm weak and vulnerable!'
Haalfrin gets antsy on his feet once he remembers a key detail. 'Back when I was being treated, they had to put mana sealing cuffs on me so that my natural mana circulation wouldn't nullify their medicine…'
He quickens his pace into the woods while thinking, 'I'd better hurry up, else my own magic will completely get rid of the poison!'
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Sure enough, once Haalfrin leaves the campsite, Kanus's men - including that very same bodyguard captain, watch Haalfrin leave.
The captain looks down with a worried face and wonders, 'Could it be a trap? Nobody in their right mind would leave the safety of the camp while they're poisoned.' The captain thinks about it more… 'No… I can't think of anyone who could come back up Haalfrin. The man must be stupid, or his brains must be fried by the poison.'
The captain draws his blade and silently motions to the others around him, "This might be risky, but we'll take the bait… It's a rare chance to get rid of a threat like this outside the protection of anyone who can report us; we can't have the archmage finding out that the child he's protecting has been killed by us."
A few arrows are fired from the darkness of the trees. Normally, Haalfrin would be able to dodge arrows from this distance with no problem, but his vision is so blurry and spinning from his difficulty breathing that two of the arrows actually hit him.