Supreme Magus

Chapter 3419 Who I Am (Part 2)

"Of course I know you." Alinor answered to buy time and not anger his assailant. "Everyone knows the Supreme Magus Lith Verhen."

"No, you don't know me. Very few do." Lith chuckled, sending a chill down Alinor's spine. "You know my name and face like everyone else but that's it. If you knew who I am and what I do, you would have never approached my mother in my presence."

As Lith stood up, his shadow spread to the rest of the room as if he had turned into a black sun. The room disappeared, leaving Alinor stranded in an endless void. There was only him, Lith, and countless white stars.

Chittering stars that turned out to be eyes and teeth. The darkness was but a thin veil and countless invisible hands prickled at it in the attempt to pass through. Alinor felt their finger grasping at him, their claws scratching his skin.

"What do you want from me?" He managed to ask as the shadows vanished as quickly as they had appeared.

Lith wanted the man scared, not mad with terror.

"A good question." He nodded. "I want what you sell. Information. Now it's your turn to answer. Who hired you to spy on me? I want the names of your clients."

"I can't tell you that." Alinor swallowed hard. "They would kill me."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"You would be so lucky" Lith smiled. "I've already shown you who I am. This is what I do. Brezza.

Alinor watched Lith's finger trace the same rune all kids learned from a tender age. Yet instead of a gust of air to clean the dirt, several streams of lightning bolts emerged. They struck at Alinor's feet, away from his vitals. The current moved up his body while avoiding the heart and the brain. An air cushion filled his screaming mouth, ensuring that he wouldn't bite off his tongue during the seizure.

When Lith was done, the room was filled with the smell of ozone and cooked meat. "The names." Lith repeated as Alinor was still frozen in shock.

He found his own smell delicious and the realization nauseated him. Alinor started heaving, emitting retching sounds when Lith said:

"No? I still have five elements. Infiro"

Another rune, another wave of blinding pain. Literal blinding pain.

Alinor shielded his eyes with his hands as the chore spell heated the vitreous humor within. At first it was like having needles stinging at his cornea, then everything went white with pain.

One second later everything went black. A thick liquid ran down Alinor's cheeks and he thought they were tears that his body produced in the attempt to cool down his eyes.

Until his eyelids became flabby under his fingers because there was nothing stretching them anymore.

Alinor's eyes had burst like punctured yolk and now streamed down on in his face like running eggs.

"Vinire." Alinor didn't see the rune but he felt it.

The pain stopped and before he could realize what it truly meant he was looking at Lith again. His eyes were back in place and no wound remained on his body.

"Three more elements." Lith's tone was still calm, like they were discussing the weather. "After that, I can always start over. I'm a Healer, Alinor of Vinea. I know exactly how much pain I can inflict on you without killing you.

"I can push you to the brink of death and bring you back as many times as I want. The night is still young."

Lith placed a clock in front of Alinor. It was barely one in the morning.

"If I tell you everything, will you let me go?" Alinor clung to the dimensional ring on his finger.

The small artifact held more than his money. It embodied his hopes and dreams for the future.

"Of course." Lith replied without a single crease altering the smile he had worn since his appearance. "I'll keep you with me until we're done checking the list of your clients. After that, I will let you go. You have my word."

***

Lith's sudden arrival in Vinea had ruffled many feathers and his attempts to keep his identity under wraps only contributed to making people more nervous.

Very few, however, could afford Alinor's services and most of them were just nobles with repulsive vices or a too-intimate knowledge of the members of the local Undead Cort.

They feared Lith had been sent there to assist the local Constable Office with its investigations. He was infamous in the underworld as a Ranger and many Constables of Vinea were sick and tired of their leads going cold at the wrong moment.

No one, however, was more worried than Ashazi Gelt, shadow ruler and boss of Vinea's underworld.

'So far so good.' He thought while reading Alinor's report and those he received from his sources inside the various departments of the city. "There seems to be no ongoing investigation.

'Verhen didn't visit anyone, requested no documents, and no one from the Constable Office went to his hotel.'

Ashazi had no way to monitor the amulets' frequencies but there were many things one could learn from a man's habits, purchases, and even his trash. Ashazi had sent his most

loyal men to scour the vicinity of the Mermaid Reef without having any direct contact with the staff.

Ashazi was afraid that Lith might recognize them or be alerted by their presence. It was the reason he had ordered Alinor to perform a long-distance surveillance and not engage Lith in any way.

The fact that Kamila was a Constable herself and with an exemplary record at that, only made things worse. The crime lord needed to make sure it was really a family trip and not an undercover operation conducted by the married couple while keeping the local authorities in the dark.

'Running away is not an option.' He thought. Not only has Verhen never missed a target but it would be worse than death for me. The moment my so-called lieutenants smell weakness, they'll use my absence to take over my empire.

"The bastards know most of my safe houses since they helped me establish them. Once I lose my power and authority, the riches I always carry on myself will be useless. All it takes is a common thug with a knife to rob me of my life and treasures and this filthy city is filled with them!

"Those ruffians would gladly bring my head and possessions to the new ruler of Vinea just to sit near the table and get the scraps of their master like a loyal dog.' Ashazi had built his fortune on such a tactic and knew all too well how it worked.

It wasn't enough to escape to a different city. He should also give up on his lifestyle and become a nobody. He had made too many enemies over the years, and they would never pass up the opportunity for retribution if they found him.

"This is really good. Alinor is worth every single gold coin. The more Ashazi read, the more relaxed he became. 'All early reports lead to the same direction. Verhen is not here

for me.

'Yet it's too early to let my guard down. Maybe he's just taking things slow which means I have to act fast.'