Chapter 101: Witches
Chapter 101: The Sorcerer
Three years ago, Maltz Kent was bitten by a strange bat while he was out hunting, and when he returned home, the wound began to fester and pus, and after a few days of toughing it out, he started a high fever and fell into a coma.
The healers that were brought in shook their heads, and according to them, the Kent family could just prepare for the aftermath.
Just when the family thought that the earl was about to be called by the Lord, a mysterious figure came to the door.
It was a traveling healer who called himself “Barnett” and said that he had a way to save Count Maltz Kent.
The Kents were desperate at this point, but even though Barnett was dressed strangely, and his image was closer to that of a barbarian mercenary than that of a healer, they let him give it a try, because it couldn’t be any worse than it was now.
Unexpectedly, this man called Barnett really has some ability, through his mysterious medicine, Earl Kent quickly woke up from the coma.
However, both before and after the Earl woke up, Dr. Barnett did not allow anyone to watch his “treatment” process.
The Kent family was still very grateful to Dr. Barnett, and treated him as a guest of honor for more than a month.
Only Kent Earl himself knew that this “Barnett” savior was not a doctor at all.
Rather, he was a wizard!
Yes, a wizard! This serious illness made Maltz Kent aware of this fact:
Witches and magic were not something the Church had made up to scare fools, but they really existed in the world.
While his body was still in a coma, his consciousness was having nightmares:
himself in a vast labyrinth.
He looked around for an exit, but the maze seemed to be moving, and when he reached a dead end, he tried to follow a well remembered path back to his previous location, only to find that the path he had just traveled had changed drastically.
There were no horrible sights, no scary monsters, but there was something even more frightening – monotony, an extreme monotony.
As far as the Count’s eyes could see, nothing else existed but himself and the brick walls that made up the labyrinth.
The Earl of Kent soon went mad with this monotony, and he prayed to the Lord of Light that even a horrible monster would suddenly appear to frighten him.
After an unknown amount of time, a mysterious voice suddenly appeared out of nowhere, calling his name and guiding him on how to walk.
To the Earl, this voice was simply his savior.
Through the guidance of the mysterious voice, he finally walked out of the labyrinth in his dream, and the moment he did so, his body woke up from the coma he was in.
When he opened his eyes, the first thing that entered the earl’s eyes was Barnett’s face that was tattooed with a mysterious pattern.
For some reason, he instantly identified the person in front of him as the owner of that mysterious voice in his head.
“Hello, Mr. Barnett!” These were the first words he said after awakening.
Even he didn’t know why he was able to name the man in front of him, as if he had known him for a long time, although upon reflection he still knew nothing about him except the name “Barnett”.
The Count did not have the idea of sending this evil healer to the church for “identification”, but what happened later made this idea dissipate without a trace.
In the subsequent “treatment” process, the Earl of Kent more and more feel that the other side of the weird, after he summoned the courage to probe, Barnett readily admitted that he is a legendary sorcerer.
“Aren’t you afraid that I will inform the church?” He was surprised at the other’s forthrightness.
Barnett sneered and said, “I can save you from life, naturally, I can also let you die, and even life is worse than death, not just for you, but also for your entire family!”
Earl Kent winced, he had made a lot of enemies over the years, and had been threatened not a few times, but it was the first time that a single sentence could make him so fearful.
What was even more strange was that apart from the sneer at the beginning, Barnett’s sentence was clearly said in a normal and incomparable tone, could it be that he had become timid as a mouse after a major illness?
Thinking about it can only be attributed to the other side of the “wizard” identity, must have some unknown means to make himself afraid of him.
He temporarily suppressed the idea of notifying the church, because he could not leave the medicine in Bennett’s hands.
At that time, his body was still very weak, his fever was so high that he couldn’t even get out of bed, and once he took the medicine provided by Bennett a little later, he would feel his condition even worse.
After a period of Barnett’s continuous “treatment”, he had an inexplicable sense of dependence on the sorcerer, as if once he left the sorcerer, he would die soon.
Gradually, from the sense of dependence and generated a sense of trust, a not less than their own son, unreserved trust, even the count himself is surprised at his own transformation, the previous him for the next of kin outside of people will hold a certain degree of wariness.
In the process of getting along with each other, he witnessed all kinds of magical ability, so that he is more and more interested in the “magic” this kind of legendary things.
“Master!” At some point, he switched to this respectful address to Barnett, “Can I learn magic from you?” He summoned up the courage to ask these words, the two natural instincts of human beings: the thirst for power and the curiosity of the unknown, and magic just happens to satisfy these two points.
And he also had a realistic motivation, if he mastered this mysterious power, then some things would be able to unfold more conveniently, such as making his knighthood rise one more level, or making his coffers more full.
After Barnett heard him ask this, he suddenly laughed openly, as if the long-awaited thing had finally happened.
But after laughing he gave an icy answer, “I can’t!”
Earl Kent was greatly disappointed, “Why?”
The other replied, “There are three reasons.”
“The first is that you are too old and have passed the best period of enlightenment.”
“Second, studying magic is an extremely energy-consuming job, even if you don’t get this disease, your mental state now is no longer what it was when you were young, and it’s simply not enough to support the study of magic.”
“Thirdly, still because of your mental state, even if you are a heavenly prodigy and can understand the constructs of spells by spending less energy, your mental strength is not enough to support the casting of spells, and forcing them may be life-threatening.”
After hearing these three reasons, Earl Kent felt as if the world had gone gray all of a sudden, and the door to a brand new world was just closed to him.
Then Barnett was heard murmuring, “But ……”
He instantly became excited again, “Master, you have a way right?”
Ever since he passed forty, he would rarely get this excited.
Sure enough, Barnett said, “I have a secret technique that can strengthen your body and also enhance your spirit, after you use it, although you still can’t be comparable to those who have been exposed to magic since childhood, you can still be successful in a small way if you are lucky.”
Seeing that there was a ray of hope, Earl Kent anxiously asked, “Master, what exactly is the secret art? Teach it to me!”
So he was taught a regimen: sucking raw animal blood and taking a secret medicine three times a day, meditating and breathing to a prescribed rhythm before bed.
Barnett said, “This is an extremely long process, but this secret art will stop your body from aging, and you need not worry about not having enough time. Once your physique and spirit have recovered to an attainable level, I will teach you some introductory magic, and after that it will be up to your own efforts and luck.”
Finally, he emphasized, “Make sure you don’t stop, or else you’ll lose all your efforts.”
Earl Kent repeatedly said that he kept it in mind, and that he could also stop himself from aging, how many nobles could only dream of that?
In the days that followed, since the Earl already had one foot in the world of magic, Barnett revealed some information to him one after another.
There are many more wizards in this world, and for a long time there has also existed a mysterious and powerful wizard organization: the Secret Society.
This organization has been secretly fighting against the Church, and has provided a haven from the wind for many wizards who have committed themselves to it.
Barnett is a member of this organization.
The sudden knowledge of the forbidden gave the Count an inexplicable thrill, as if he had returned to his childhood days decades ago, when he had known a few secrets and had felt great.
What made him even more ecstatic was that Barnett promised to introduce him to this organization if his magic could reach a certain level.
“Mr. Barnett.”
Not caring whether the other party was willing to accept this title or not, Earl Kent just called out, and Barnett also acquiesced to this title.
A month or so later, despite Earl Kent’s retention, Barnett was leaving, but said that he would come back to check on Earl Kent’s spiritual power status, and would teach him magic once it was appropriate.
Sure enough, Barnett then came to Bailan Castle a few times one after another, and it was through these meetings that Count Kent learned the tip of the iceberg of the grand plan of the organization behind him.
However, even he himself can not realize is, do not know when to start, all this happened so naturally.
The author’s level is too catchy to try to write that feeling of the forces behind the scenes coming out of the woodwork, but it never feels like that.
Which readers to recommend a similar bridge in other people’s books, so that I can see how the gods portrayed.
(End of chapter)