Not (Just) A Mage Lord Isekai

The nice thing about being a mage with a grimoire literally packed to the gills with first order spells was the versatility. With a little preparation, I could do a lot.

Such as use the librarian spell, Hush, to silence every noise we made.

Combined with Eagle Eyes and the cover of darkness, our approach to the village went without notice, despite the half dozen men standing guard amongst the stone longhouses.

Honestly, I doubted Calbern needed Hush, but it was best to be careful.

At least for the moment.

I noticed that Tanis wasn't among the guards stationed at the top. I wondered if the large man was being kept in reserve by Grivis. Or maybe he was he'd been punished for relaying my message instead of attempting to subdue me.

Before we began, I brought the others close. Practically touching. Had to be, to hear each other with Hush active. "Remember, we want to do this peacefully. No death. They might just be innocent guards."

Receiving nods from both of them, I tapped Tresla on the shoulder. She moved forward, and sent smoke rings up around one of the guards. She hadn't explained what it would do, other than insisting that she could neutralize them quietly for the night. When he slumped spinelessly to the ground, his equipment scraping and banging as he fell, I wondered if she understood what quietly meant.

The way Tresla visibly winced, her hood shifting as she checked the nearest guards, it was apparent it hadn’t gone as planned.

Still, the other guards hadn't noticed, so we continued our covert infiltration.

When we popped over the edge, I couldn't help but smile at Grivis making it so easy for us to find him. He'd posted a pair of guards outside one of the buildings, a former galleon that had been tilted onto its side, the mast stretching across the chasm with rope railings for support. The cargo access had been reworked as an entrance, and there were several platforms I doubted were an original part of the ships design along its length. One such platform had been erected near the base of the mast, where the guards were standing.

"Trap?" I mouthed at Calbern, who simply shrugged.

There wasn't anyone else out, so I assumed it was either his home or where they stored the crude they’d shot at us. As we descended, I realized the real challenge.

Everything was connected. Everything moved.

Making our way down to the building was a bit like crossing a spider's web. Too strong of a jerk, and the spider would feel it. Not every motion would be noticed though. Even with everyone asleep or in hiding, the rigging still shifted on its own. Which meant we were moving slow. Which meant eating up more and more of my mana. Across three people, Hush combined with Eagle eyes barely ate up more than my regeneration. Still, at the pace Calbern set, to ensure I didn’t suddenly alert the guards, it was going to take us over an hour to get down to the level the building was on.

Which didn't account for us making it across to the building. We probably should've circled around the chasm and come in directly above.

We were going to stand out like a sore thumb.

Except when we got to the mast-turned-bridge, Calbern slid underneath. After a quick glance at the underside, I didn't even attempt to follow him. On his own, he shimmied across in under a minute, the solid bridge, hiding his movements.

Just as he was about to climb up, a gust tore through the chasm, setting the net to waving slightly.

Which wasn't enough to get the guards to do more than glance down. Behind them, Calbern rose up, one of their stun rods in each hand. A few sparks and a faint buzzing sound later and they were both slumping down. I was impressed. Both with Calbern and Hush. We'd tested the stun rod I’d nabbed from the guards and they were just as loud as using a lightning spell.

It seemed Hush countered that, to a degree.

Calbern spun both of the stun rods before slipping them down to hang on his belt.

Tresla and I hurried across the rope bridge with haste, our concern gone with the guards neutralized.

Calbern waited with his ear pressed against the door. And I once more lamented not having a spell to increase hearing. The only first order one I possessed came with a significant downside. Even a loud thud had a high chance of causing the sort of hearing damage Minor Heal couldn't fix. Useful in very specific circumstances, but not many.

While Calbern listened for enemies or traps, Tresla and I each took one of the guards’ stun rods before tying them up with their own belts. Once they were secured, I nodded to Calbern, who tried the door. It was locked, but taking the keys from one of the guards solved that.

"What are you doing, I told you I don't want to be disturbed unless you found that impostor," a nasally voice said as Calbern stepped into the room. I peeked around the frame.

The person I suspected was the owner of the voice was crouched over something I couldn't make out from my awkward angle. Calbern was just inside the room, crouching behind a wooden desk. As I inspected the room, I realized it was a lot deeper than the wooden facade of the galleon, though most of the depth was stone instead of wood. At the far end stood a pair of doors, and I couldn’t help but wonder if goons were going to come streaming out of them.

"Sorry, boss lady," Calbern said in a surprisingly high pitched voice. "But plans have changed."

“Really not the time,” I muttered under my breath.

"Changed, what do you mean-" before Grivis could stand, Calbern was across the room, both stun rods buried in the thinner man’s chest.

I stood, stepping into the room after him, taking a closer look. It looked like an office, one from Ro'an, not any I'd seen on Earth. Big wooden desk, wooden chairs and a bunch of fancy paintings. Nicer than I expected, this far out.

Moving across the room, I flinched when I saw what Grivis had been crouched over. Or who. I didn't know her, but I imagined she'd been pretty before he'd gotten to her. Wasn't sure if she was alive, but I still kneeled next to her and ran Minor Heal. When it took, I cast it again while looking towards Grivis. He had a pair of nasty burn marks on his face.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Unusually nasty work from Calbern.

"Not a good look, torturing his own people," Tresla said, motioning to the victim’s vest.

It had been so stained by blood I hadn't noticed, but it was the same as the rest of the guards. Her emblem was a little different though.

"Is he alive?" I asked, waving towards the torturer who'd been running the village up till a minute ago.

"Unfortunately, yes, master Perth. I thought you might desire to question him," Calbern said, his posture perfect and his hands tight at his sides.

"Can't imagine that'll be pleasant. For him," Tresla said, stepping forward to look Grivis over. She pulled a few pieces of jewelry off, tossing them on the table. One she held up, smirking. "A ring of protection. Did you see it?"

"Indeed. That is why I employed two," Calbern said, nodding towards Grivis' face.

"You're a very dangerous man, Calbern," Tresla said, but I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Thank you, scholar Tresla."

Right as my mana hit twenty percent, the point I'd promised myself I'd stop, the woman I'd been healing coughed. A bloody lump splattered on me as she rolled to clear her lungs.

"Right. That was on me," I said, staring down at the mess. Then I gestured towards Grivis. "Pass me a rag."

Calbern's smile was cold as he cut Grivis' shirt to shreds. It looked expensive, but there was no way I'd use it for anything but rags.

Thankfully, Calbern handed me more than one rag, and I was able to wipe the blood off my leg while handing an extra to the woman who'd finished coughing.

A croak came from her throat, and I immediately brought a canteen of water from my storage and offered it to her. "Sorry. Should've thought of that."

After taking a long pull off the canteen, she slumped back against the wall, her eyes flicking over to Grivis, then over each of us to settle on Calbern. She studied him for several long seconds before taking another drink then looking at Tresla for a second before back to me.

"So… the untied flapper finally pissed off the wrong people, huh?" she asked, her voice rough and raspy as she spit another clump of blood to the side.

"Indeed," Calbern replied, offering her another strip of cloth.

"Even using his shirt for rags. That'd make him livid, if he saw," the woman said, running a hand through her hair, only to pull it away in disgust. "Amazed I'm alive. Name's Selvi."

"Took a bit of healing, Selvi," I admitted. "Wasn’t looking great for a bit there. And I was only able to fix the worst of it.”

“What did-“ Selvi started asking, only for a cough from Grivis to cause her to twitch backward. "He's not dead?!"

"No," I said, frowning as I stood up and moved over to him. "Should he be?"

"Could be I'm biased, but absolutely," Selvi spat, pushing against the wall and making her way to her feet. A second later, Calbern was there, holding his arm out for support. She stared at if for a second before grunting and letting him stabilize her. "Did you at least take his rotting staff?"

"He didn't have a staff," I said, glancing around the room. "Calbern?"

"None that I was able to discern, master Perth."

"Always has Balthum's staff," Selvi said, her eyes scouring the room. "He wouldn't have let it out of his reach."

"That's his name," I said, snapping my finger and pointing at her. When everyone looked at me, I waved my hand. "Not important. One of those a storage ring?" I asked, gesturing to the jewelry on the table.

"I… don't know. There were many artifacts Balthum left behind when he got himself offed. Grivis only kept me alive 'cause he thought I knew how to activate them. Didn’t. And even if I did, I wouldn't have told the little prick," Selvi said, spitting again, though this time directly onto Grivis. "Guess he ran out of patience."

Wasn't sure if there was a code of conduct for how I was supposed to treat prisoners, but spitting on him after he'd tortured her nearly to death seemed acceptable. Would've done worse to my old man, if I'd been able, and he’d never tortured me.

Not directly, anyway.

I moved to the jewelry on the table. Using Access Storage wouldn't necessarily get me into a storage ring, but it should at least…

"Ah ha," I said, holding up the pendant. "A storage item. Now I just need to unlock it."

"If he has the key, I can bring it forth," Tresla said. "Won't be pretty though. You'll want to ask your other questions first."

"Will it kill him?" I asked, trying to remember what I'd read about storing one storage item inside another. Pretty sure it didn't work, at least for the lower order stuff. Something about dimensional overlap and weakening boundaries. There was some other stuff in there too, but Perth hadn’t been paying enough attention, and I hadn’t had time to delve into the topic.

"No. But he won't be talking for a week," Tresla said, a smoke ring drifting out to settle over his head.

"Ha, sounds like growing the Mats and eating them too," Selvi said, attempting to spit on him again but unable to work up the phlegm.

I handed her a second canteen of water.

Selvi grabbed it, took a hard swig of it then spit on Grivis, all while holding Calbern's arm to stay upright.

"Okay, let's start with some simple questions," I said, gesturing towards one of the chairs near the desk. "If you're up for it."

"Sure as the rope hangs down," Selvi said while stomping over to the chair, practically dragging Calbern along. "What'd you want to know?"

"You used to work for the Magus Dominus Balthum?"

"Sure. Everyone did. Was his personal guard," Selvi said, shaking her head and spitting to the side. "Worst decision ever. Thought it'd be all glory and honor."

"Guessing that didn't happen."

"Ha! What're you, the high dragon of understatements? Heights take you. Of course, it didn't fall that way," Selvi said, her fist curling around the arm of the chair.

"So… what did?"

"What didn't? If it was wrong or twisted… look, most of us hadn't known a life outside of Balthum. I thought I knew what I was getting into. Everyone knew… sometimes someone went missing. But it's Tetherfall. Dangerous here. People slip sometimes."

"But?"

"But… people didn't go missing nearly as often once Balthum died. Cause he was the thing what went bump in the night round here. Used people for his experiments. Or toys. Had a whole secret lab locked away in the dark. Took me there sometimes, though I don’t know the way," Selvi said, waving an arm. "Tried to kill him once. Been his guard less than a month and he took this girl. She was my friend. Real pretty. Not when he was done with her. Shanked him in his bed, straight through the heart and everything."

"It didn't stick," I guessed, glancing over at Grivis. "Sounds like this one was a step up."

"Sure, if you weren't on his shit list," Selvi said, shaking her head. "Or had something he wanted. Only reason he wasn't bad as the Magus Dominus was cause his power's all stolen." She took another deep breath. "But yeah, I stuck a spear the width of my hand through Balthum's withered heart. Instead of having the decency to die, he sat up, live as the morning wind. He met my gaze, then smooth as pudding, slid the spear out of his chest, his flesh regrowing. As I was still absorbing that, he said, 'Now you know.' Then he told me to get his breakfast started, like all I'd done was wake him early. Like I hadn’t just…"

Selvi shivered, and I was tempted to leave it there. But she shook herself violently before lifting her head up.

"If he was that powerful, how'd he die?" I asked, glancing over at Calbern. He nodded, his eyes playing over the artifacts on the table.

"That's the thing, isn't it? He just did. Was floating up out of Tetherfall one day, off to do his typical routine one second, dead the next," Selvi said with a shrug. "I always figured the little Rat finally found a poison that worked."

"Grivis?"

"Nah, the Wood Rat. Tetherfall's own good luck charm," Selvi said, smiling for the first time since she'd woken. "She's an orphan, lost both her parents to Balthum. But he could never catch her, no matter what spells he used."

"That's…" I was going to say unlikely. But I'd learned that the magic Perth knew was a very narrow subset of magic available on the continent. Obviously, it produced the most consistent results, given the number of Dragon-souled individuals, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t other magic out there. After all, dragons didn’t become great wyrms by using the ensouled method.

"Yeah. She's our own little piece of the storm. Grivis hates her almost as much as he hates me," Selvi said, still smiling. "You'll know her when you see her. Curly brown hair, cutest freckles, and can scale the rig like she's half rat."

"Oh. I think I've met her," I said, looking towards the door. "Technically, she was the first person from Tetherfall to greet me."

"Better than Grivis's men, by a long rope," Selvi said, leaning back and finally letting Calbern's arm go. "Must've led you here. Told ya. Lucky."

I didn't bother correcting her assumption.

Because Grivis had just woken up.