Chapter- 25; Lennox

On realizing my powers were back, I quickly freed my hands and grabbed him by his neck, with my index finger on a mana focus point.

There were seven foci in total which enabled mana circulation throughout the body and also acted like a capacitor, that is storing mana as well.

Damage to even one such focus commonly caused paralysis or the person to go in shock.

"You're brave, I am glad to know that. Do you excel at dark or light?" He

asked, with his hands spread out, as though signaling defeat.

So he was aware of the very fact that I wasn't Esmeray all along. Since Heinrich was his alley, it was only natural I suppose.

I let go of his neck while shooting daggers at him with my eyes for kidnapping me and dragging me here so roughly.

"Dark. So make sure you never lie to me or hide anything from me" I hissed while glaring at him.

If I acted too friendly he'd be suspicious so I decided to act more natural.

But what if he is already a step ahead of me and knows I could be pretending?

I sighed on my overthinking and asked "So, how are we going to contact Tyrell?"

"We won't. He will. He will come to us. We have his beloved queen afterall." He smirked.

My jaw dropped on hearing him. How was he so sure?

"But, from today, you will have to live here and train with me. There's no guarantee of your safety at the Croydon Palace. You have to get stronger and increase your mana pool."

There! He could switch personalities just so fast and so naturally!

It suddenly hit me hard just how much had actually happened.

The emperor wanted to kill his son own for his selfish, despicable reasons.

Heinrich isn't with us anymore.

I am possibly the strongest dark mage, right! Why was that?

"I can use dark and light spells so easily, why?" I asked, thinking if there's a true logic or just an axiom.

"You exist in this time-line because of them. Your soul itself has adapted to it and so you can use them easily. The most complex ones may require a little practice but you should be able to learn quickly." He went silent for a minute as if to calculate something.

"How long have you been here?" He asked. "Over four months. Why?" I replied.

"How many times did you suffer from mana depletion?" He asked with grave tone.

"Once" I said. I didn't know what he was upto with that serious expression.

"Never do that again. You must have mana running throughout your body. Since you're alive because of it, mana depletion could be lethal for you. We don't know if you will last next time, so don't do it. You have to learn how to utilize you mana correctly too. How did you become a special captain again?" He knew how to piss me off! And on top of that he spat those words with such seriousness.

"Rest for today. You have to spend probably about two months here. We will start training from tomorrow."

I had many more questions but I was too tired to even blink my eyes. He lead me to a room which was small and looked like it had suffered several earthquakes.

The room only had a bed with a mattress as tough as wood while the furniture squeaked everytime someone sat on it. The room also had a cabinet and a mirror.

"Oh right, what's your name?" I asked, awkwardly.

"It's Lennox. Just Lennox"

"l see. I am apologize, Lennox, for not understanding how much you were struggling. I am sincerely sorry." He looked a little surprised but then he turned and left.

I had to win his trust to find out everything he knows!

I was a little uncomfortable and suspicious if I could really relax but my eyelids were too heavy and I drifted away from reality.

**

Everyday, he'd knock on my door at 5 am and lead me to down the shabby staircase, then to the backyard where we practiced everyday.

He taught me new spells and sparred with me to help improve my skills.

One day, out of the blue he asked me to come outside for the first time and help him.

We picked up cartons of food and I got to see the outside for the first time.

Every house had it's own traumatic story to tell. Some houses were burned, some looked like they were bombed and could collapse anytime.

Little kids who only had bones and skin, some were alone, some had a parent. The conditions were beyond worst.

Just at first sight, I could tell that they were suffering from several infections, almost everyone was malnourished and since there was no hygiene, who knows what else can happen to them.

It pained me to see them in such conditions, so I decided to help them as much as I could.

That day, Lennox and I distributed food among them and people considered Lennox their god.

I could see how much he was treasured by those people.

The next day, I went out with Lennox to see those people again. I had decided to help them in my way.

I told everyone to gather outside. Once everyone was out, I used earth attribute to renovate the houses.

There wasn't much I could do, but those walls that could collapse any moment, I completely replaced them with new ones.

The walls were simply made out of rocks so they didn't look stylish, though they were definitely much safer than their previous houses as I laid foundation for each house with utmost care.

It took us over a week to finish all the work for everyone.

Later, I brought alot of paint and let everyone paint their houses as I wanted them to indulge in something new so they could break out of their shell, living in their nightmares.

They were reluctant at first but soon gave in to my stubbornness.

Kids quickly picked their favorite shades and started painting everywhere. What was surprising was that the adults were no different!

Though they looked much happier and seemed to trust me now, I wondered if it was really the right decision to let them paint as things got out of hand.

By dawn, not only the houses but the floor and every villager was covered in paint. I shouldn't have done that afterall. Letting them paint on a canvas would've been a better alternative.

I chuckled on their half guilty and satisfied expression and everyone broke into laughter on seeing each other face.

At night everyone gathered outside after a long shower at the river nearby and had dinner together.

I gave them lessons on hygiene and also gave them medicines I prepared with Lennox.

A month passed by and everyone seemed in better condition. I myself learned many things here.

After learning a large scale protection spell I decided to put my skills to use by putting a shield, enclosing the entire village.

Shields created with mana need constant mana supply which was an impossible feat so we were obviously going to use magicals devices instead.

Lennox helped me with it as we had to form a hexagon and put a device at it's 6 vertices.

As soon as we were done, I casted the spell and everyone started chanting prayers in unity.

"In the realm where elements entwine,

Resides a tale of divine design.

Irene, a beacon atop celestial heights,

Radiating warmth, banishing the nights.

Caius, in shadows he mysteriously conceals,

Unseen protector when chaos reveals.

Let them guide us through life's turmoil,

Yielding guardians amidst the soil."

The shield slowly covered the whole village, radiating light which soon faded.

We succeeded.

**

After a few weeks of peace and helping, the villagers were slowly regaining weight and recovering from diseases and trauma.

It gave me incomparable happiness.

One day, Lennox and I were sparring when the kids gathered around us and were intrigued by every spell we casted.

"l want to be like Esmeray when I grow up!" A little girl named Lia shouted in excitement. "Will you teach us too Esmeray?" Another kid, Adrik asked.

That's when I got the idea of teaching their parents some spells so that they can atleast protect themselves.