chapter 9

It was night time and Amelia had left early. He remembered the tasty food he had during the stay of the academy. He wanted to have more food and remembered that unlike the academy he had to go to the dining room to have food. He was leaving the room when he Erwin. Erwin seemed to be rather in a good mood and he seemed to have grown stronger. Erwin suddenly noticed the presence of James and bowed his head. James looked at Erwin and remembered the words that had been told by Amelia. He smiled at Erwin and said.

James: Erwin, please invite Rosy to my room along with four her most powerful subordinates. And also, please inform the matron that I would like to have food from the market along with my new subordinates.

Erwin bowed his head and walked away. James thought about it and returned to his room. He soon found his pouch of gold coins and slowly looked around the amount he had. It would be enough for more than six people. He was waiting for in hi room when there came a knock on the door. James stood up and opened the door. He invited the five new soldiers into his room. It was later that he noticed that all of them were female.

James: Rosy, why are all of them women.

Rosy: As you see, most of the powerful people are women except a few exceptions. In here anyway all the twenty are women.

James: How well are they in terms of assassination.

Rosy: For now, not well. But since your enemies are supposed to at least as powerful as you we have already started training.

James: I was thinking about us going to the market as to get to know each other.

Rosy: As you say ser.

James walked out of the room followed by the others. After reaching the door of the mansion he turned and looked at the others who had come along with Rosy.

Rosy; They are your soldiers ser.

James: I would like to know their names.

Rosy: It would be hard to remember the names of all these people, hence we decided to name them in order to their ranks, I am Left Zero, they are Left 1, 2, 3,4.

James: Interesting methodology. But wouldn't that make them feel a little bad.

Rosy: No ser. You cannot remember the names of all the soldiers under you.

James talked no more and walked forward. He waited at the gates, turned around to face the others besides him.

James: we are not going to use any horses. We shall not fall into any fights and never use the name o the house. Act as if Rosy is the leader.

They had walked over to the common market place of the Block B section. They were walking along the way when Rosy's steps slightly faltered. James stopped to look what it was and saw her looking towards one of the shops. James advanced to the shop and so did the others. James looked at the items and so nothing of any importance. He did not like being dependent on an object for power. James looked at Rosy.

James: What were you looking at?

Rosy: It was nothing ser.

James: Don't worry. I shall buy it for you.

Rosy's face blushed slightly. She looked at the shop and selected a bracelet. The others looked at James questioningly and he asked them choose one for themselves too. James payed the money for the objects in gold and continued walking. James saw a food's inn and went inside. He took a seat and ordered some foods. He asked his comrades to do the same. He looked at his comrades and smiled.

James: How is the food.

Left 1: It is good ser.

James: Good. Why don't you tell me about yourselves?

Rosy: There is nothing to be spoken of ser.

James: Fine, why don't you tell me about your ambitions?

Left 2: Our Ambition is to serve you ser.

James did not like where this was going. He did not want this to be an empty conversation. But the fact seemed that this was an empty conversation and there is no way he will be able connect to them on a human level. He wanted to escape from there but did not know how to do it in an awkward less manner. James stood up and looked at Rosy. He made his face look serious and said.

James: I have some important business here. I want all of you to return back to the mansion and if any asks to report as if I had gone on a venture.

All of them saluted James by bowing their heads slightly. James walked out of the tavern and he was feeling slightly free rather than the compressed feeling. He knew he had to kill some time before returning to the mansion. Stupid Amelia. He did not have to agree with her on this regard. Anyway, he was going to run through the market. He was pretty sure he will not get anything important here. He walked through the streets cautiously and took the longer and circular path to reach the mansion. He was walking on the road when he observed the jewellery shop. He went to the jewellery shop and looked at the items. He saw a beautiful hairpin on the colour of pale white.

James: How much is the hairpin worth.

Shopkeeper: 22 gold coins.

James was astonished by the price of the artifact. Earlier it had only taken 2 gold coins and he also would have had a good sum returned had he been interested in accepting them.

James: Why is it so pricy. It does not even have any magic induced in it,

Shopkeeper: Maybe, but the hairpin is made of a material called ivory which no one knows how it is obtained or from where it is obtained. The fact does remain there are very few such as these.

James: It doesn't matter if it is rare but the fact is that it is nothing but and ornament if magic is not induced.

Shopkeeper: Amy wizard can induce the magic and note the fact that it is one of the easiest objects where magic can be induced.

James touched the ivory hairpin and was able to feel the magic in the ivory. He looked at the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper laughed.

James: Do you always tend to be here.

Shopkeeper: I move from Queendom to Queendom and sometimes Kingdoms.

James: You are saying there are kingdoms where men rule.

Shopkeeper: Once a while ships travel through the south sea to far away places. Sometimes men walk farther than the merchant city in the east and find people with power that rivals many beings.

James accidentally snorted as he attempted to stop the laughter that was coming to his mouth. He looked at the shopkeeper who was laughing all aloud.

James: How about you tell me the way ivory id obtained and I will buy it for 20 gold coins.

Shopkeeper: It is made from the exoskeleton o a giant animal that can even rival the dragon, known as the elephants. Ordinary elephants are just slightly bigger than horses but the magical ones can become really big and can even kill a dragon. By the way, the cost is 22 gold coins.

James stared into the brown eyes of the shopkeeper and the shopkeeper stared back with the same serenity.

James: How about you tell me how to kill a dragon and I shall pay the whole sum for the hairpin.

Shopkeeper: Are you truly going to believe the word of a travelling merchant, boy.

James: Maybe, but sometimes it is the words that we have heard years ago that helps us get out a life and death situation.

Shopkeeper: I am sorry but you only need to remember that dragons are also a living being. Then if you are powerful enough you can win easily.

James smiled and took his pouch. He took the 22 gold coins and took the ivory hairpin. He started walking away towards his household looking at the hairpin. He started filling it with the modification charms he had learned to use on weapons. As James walked he had a distant feeling of being followed. He looked around in a nonchalant way and continued moving.

James was sitting in his room when Selena came to the room. She had entered without knocking and seeing James reading the book had sat down at the table. James came to her and sat on the other table. Selena looked at James in a non-approving manner.

Selena: I heard that you had taken your new Lieutenant to the market place instead of coming to the dinner.

James: Was there any problem with it?

Selena: No, except the part that there was a feast ready in your honour and the fact that you went out with your subordinates and left them there all alone.

James: Well my lady, I did not know you knew how to use sarcasm.

Selena: I also know many other things.

James: I am pretty sure that nothing wrong had happened by my not attending. There seems to be no problem at all as no other guests were present.

Selena: Did you know that if there is a war the respective knights of the house leads the members and you will be the one to do it for the Rookwood house. You may have a personal battalion, but you also need to be friendly with the members of the warriors of the house. And not only that, you took five others from having the meal.

James: It was Amelia's idea and she was the one who suggested to me to take the new recruits to the market place as to create a bond.

Selena: You misunderstood her James. The fact of creating the bond can be done by you through other factors, like being a proper leader. You do not need to do these things as they will follow you nonetheless. Remember one thing, you have the right to order somebody, hence stop begging for favours.

James: Okay.

Selena: I am leaving.

Selena stood in a fury and left the room. James sat there thinking about the implications. He did know the fact that he had did something bad. He knew nothing good was going to happen by being in the house, at least no gain was going to be there. He decided to leave the next day.

It was the morning and James was in the practice hall with his sword. Amelia had come to join him seeing him practising. James stopped the practice and approached Amelia. There she saw Rosy with Amelia.

James: Rosy, we are leaving here soon and I would like you to be ready with the other four. I had decided to leave today instead of tomorrow.

Rosy bowed and left them alone. Amelia looked at James questioningly.

Amelia: why today?

James: Why not today?

Amelia: You are the one who did the act of changing the time.

James: And you are the one who is questioning it.

Amelia: Did something happen yesterday?

James: Nothing special. Here, I brought you a hairpin.

James gave the hairpin to the heiress of the house. She looked at it with wonder and sensed the magic in it.

Amelia: You do know right that I do not use the hairpin much.

James: Yes, but isn't it beautiful.

Amelia use the hairpin on her silver hair. James looked at the beauty that stood in front of him.

James: Do not remove the hairpin for my sake.

Amelia: As you say James. Are you sure you want to leave now.

James: Yes.

James left Amelia alone in the practise hall and walked towards his room. He did not have anything special to pack as everything he owned was already in use by him. His clothes were always the same, though he did use the hygiene magic on it. James went and stood by the door waiting for the team to arrive. Selena Rookwood arrived to see him standing there and went to him.

Selena: Are you leaving because of the talk yesterday?

James: No, my lady, I just wanted to finish the mission as soon as possible.

Selena: Will you be returning here after the mission?

James: I was planning about going directly to the academy.

Selena looked at him with the keen eyes. She touched James by the chin and said.

Selena: Remember James, we are not your enemies but your friends. There will be times when we fight but we are really friends.

James touched the hands of Selena and kissed it.

James: I know Selena, do not worry about my lineage.

James smiled to her and walked towards the stable. There he found the five members he was supposed to travel with being ready. He looked at the wristband and showed it to Rosy.

James: Do you know how to travel to this place.

Rosy: It will be a travel of three day.

James chose his horse and climbed on it. The fact was that was always with his mother in the tour to sell objects and he always took care of the horse. Hence even though he did not know whether a horse was good or bad, he did know what the horse felt.

They rode out in a hurry as the market place at that time was not much crowded. Many foods were already packed in the sacks. They were moving swiftly. After having crossed the market, Rosy every once in a while, came and looked at the wristband. They came to the forest not before long and entered there. They sat beside a small tree and had their lunch. They did not drink water regularly.

It was in the evening that when they had decided to rest for the day. The tents were made and James was already in his tent. The food was mainly biscuits but of the rich, creamy type. James was accompanied by Rosy in the tent. There stood a guard at all times, the duty of which was shared except for James.

It was the morning and James had been awake thinking about the world and magic. The fact that he had to use spells or the precise methods before doing anything haunted him. He wanted to be one of the few who was able to create spells. They had gone to the forest side for physical release. They were riding when a bird made of metal came and landed on the arms of Rosy. It began speaking.

Bird: James, I am Amelia, Ruby Senviness has started to play against you. She has said that you had spend time at the home rather than going to the hunt directly. She is planning to change the rules so as to make you suffer. We are taking care of it. It's just an information for you.

The bird flew away without taking any time to listen to anything. He was quite interested in the present developments. The only possible way for him to now remain a power was to b the bad guy. He knew what to do.

James: Rosy, I have an assignment for all of you. Return back without me right now. Say I wanted to travel alone to reach there faster. Then kill Ser Rina, the one who always walk alongside Ruby.

Rosy: Are you sure about it, ser.

James: Perfectly. And do not return to find me.

Ruby and the others turned their horses and continued moving towards the city. James took reigns and moved forward alone. He knew he was happy moving alone. He rested after a long time and erected a tent. He began to rest in the tent.

James was silently meditating when he started hearing horse-steps. He thought they were of Rosy and her underlings when suddenly the tent was lifted from the ground. He heard a gorse whining and saw his horse's neck had been cut. He saw the riders approaching him with their swords and one of them was even a wizard. He was hit with a lightning at his chest but nothing happened because of his suit. He took his sword from the ethereal plane and cut the two riders who had passed him then. They looked at him cautiously. The wizard approached him and started doing a spell. James suddenly produced lightning from his fingers and it hit the wizard at the centre. The wizard fell from the horse. The other riders began to retreat in panic due to the fact that their leader was dead. James produced firebolt from his palm and shot at the riders. They were dead, five in total.

James sat down after the battle. He was tired and shocked; this was the first time he had been in a real battle. He was really tired by mental exhaustion but he still stood up and went to check the tent. It was beyond repair and his horse was dead. He could have used the other's horse but they had already run towards the forest. He sat down and started meditating to keep his calm. He knew something had to be done about the fact that he did not have anybody besides him. He had decided to walk rest of the way further. He remembered that it was he who wanted to be alone and hence gave the order to others to leave him be. He wanted someone with him, who was trustworthy but the fact was he did not believe anyone, not even the Rookwoods. He remembered having read about the great wizards who are able to summon elementals of the type of monsters and are able to fight in the battles. It was even rumoured that there were wizards who summoned higher order elementals who were to take the shape of humans and live alone with the wizard until he dies.

He wanted to summon such an elementalist and wanted to create a castle and live beyond the northern boundaries of the queendom. It was done before by countless wizards, but they called themselves the dark lady or the dark lord. He till then did not knew what he had to become except to be strong and powerful, but now he decided to be one of the great wizards. He wanted to be a dark lord. He wanted to have an independent castle beyond the border on the hills and he wanted to be free.

James began preparing the elemental spell in his mind. He did not know which type of elemental he wanted to summon. The 'Air' was okay but not much powerless, the 'water' and 'earth' had material bounds. Then the choice was between fire or the shadow elementals. He knew the fact that shadow elementals had a trait of betraying its master but he also knew the fact that fire elementals had a trait of overrunning their master.

James prepared the spell of summoning and called onto the fire elemental. He concentrated his mana energy over to the fire plane and called forth an elemental. A ball of energy was formed in front of James. James looked at it with fondness hoping it to becomes big and take the shape of a human. The ball of fire formed eyes and mouth. The Fire elemental spoke.

Bobby: Hello master, my name is Bobby the fire elemental. How can I be of any service?

James: Can you take the form of a human?

Bobby: Why master? Do you want to do naughty things to me?

James: No, but it will be useful for me.

Bobby: Nay.

James was getting really angry by the fact that he had only summoned a minor level elemental. He wanted something big. The elemental was moving here to there playing in a manner. James began the spell of exorcism and upon finishing sent back the elemental back to its plane. James took some biscuits and began eating them in anger. James was a lot angry these days and he knew the fact. The fact that he was not able to summon a proper elemental implied that it was rather difficult to be a dark lord. He would have to be forever a servant to that god forsaken matriarch and had to marry the heir.

It was true that he loved Amelia, but he really hated the fact that he will always be a minor in the relationship. He wanted nothing but to be free of the clutches of these powerful beings. James picked up the sacks and began waking. It was rather hard to walk with the sacks as it was meant to be carried by a horse.

After walking sometime, he stopped due to the lack of motivation. He decided to try once more. He sat cross legged and began concentrating his mana. He kept in that position for hours until the next day began. Of course, his eyes were open. He used the mana and called forth to the fire plane. The sky filled with dark clouds. The clouds changed into red colour. There was bright light in front of where James was sitting. A gate was opened and from there came a beautiful human lady. Her body completely turned into flames and there stood flames in the shape of human. The gate closed on its own accord. The sky returned to normal. The lady reverted to the human form and looked at the person sitting cross-legged in front of him.

Lady: Are we in India now.

James stood and readied ice magic on his fingers. He did not want such a higher-level elemental to be his enemy.

James: No, never heard of it. This is Fenris.

The lady bowed and then said.

Lady: I am Agni, the Lordess of fire. In you service master.