Chapter 63 - Escaping Danger (1)

Arya touched his nose once he realized that it didn't hurt as much anymore. "He must've healed it." thought Arya as he got up from bed and did a few hops to check his condition.

"It's like I didn't just escape from a near-death experience last night. Damn, light magic seems rather useful. I need to learn as soon as possible." thought Arya as he walked to the door. "Time to get out of her-. Wait where is my pelt and more importantly where is the journal!?" thought Arya.

He searched around the room for his belongings before realizing that the guards must've taken them. "Damnit, they must've confiscated everything on me." thought Arya as he began knocking on the door like a mad man.

"Hey, what's all this noise about?" shouted a guard from the other side of the door.

"Where's all my stuff!? Where's the book and the pelt you found on me?" shouted Arya back. He didn't care about courtesy or acting like a scared child anymore. He had gained those items by coming face to face with death and he wasn't ready to part with them on the whims of a few guards and a light mage.

"Shut up kid. Before I come in there and shut you up. Mage Arcem has confiscated all your items until you are cleared of all suspicions." shouted the guard back, banging on the door to intimidate Arya.

Arya found it weird that through all this the guard hadn't opened the door to discipline him. He was counting on the guard coming in so he could take him out with magic, but for some reason the guard seemed hesitant to enter.

"Wait. What suspicions? I told you guys, my parents were killed by the beast and I just barely survived. Why would you be suspicious of a victim?" asked Arya this time more genuinely.

"That's what they all say. Just keep quiet and wait to be summoned." said the guard before Arya heard his footsteps leaving.

"I don't like the sound of this." thought Arya as he tried peeking through the keyhole.

Arya could've already frozen the door and shattered it if he was sure there wasn't a group of guards waiting outside. One wrong move and he might end up dead, after all, he was being suspected of something. He just didn't know what.

"What could they be suspecting me off? I mean if they are suspecting I am an ice-mage shouldn't I be meeting some higher-ups or something? What could possibly make them confiscate all my stuff and lock me up like some kind of beas- Or maybe, no, no way. Don't tell me they suspect me of turning all those people into beasts."

"It's the only logical explanation I can think of. But if that's the case then I'm in more trouble than I thought" thought Arya as a group of guards opened the door with their swords pointed at Arya.

"Mage Arcem has summoned you. Don't try anything funny or we won't hesitate to kill you." said the guard at the front, as Arya walked past them, their swords nearly touching his back.

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning to anyway," said Arya as he walked slowly in front of them. He clearly dropped the whole kid act. If they still threatened him even under the guise of being a child then there was no point in acting like one."

Arya made sure to not wander too far ahead of them, out of fear that they would think he was trying to escape.

The guards were confused by Arya's sudden change of character and wandered off for a second. "This way." said one of the guards after he regained his composure.

"Perhaps that was my chance." thought Arya, cursing himself for not attacking while they were still confused.

Arya was then led into a hallway, it seemed the small room was in the lower levels of a castle. Looking at the stone walls and long winding stairs, as well as the torches spread out at regular intervals, reminded Arya of medieval dungeons.

After walking up the stairs for a while they finally reached another large wooden door. One of the guards opened the door and shoved Arya in. It was a small room, probably about 4 by 4 meters with only a single table. There was a torch in the room but there was barely enough light to see.

The light mage sat alone in the dimly lit room, waiting. "Leave us." said the Arcem as the guards brought Arya in.

"But the Lo-" the guard tried saying but Arcem cut him off. "I am well aware of what the lord said. Do you mean to call me incompetent?" asked Arcem, prompting the guard to lower his head.

"No. I didn't mean to insult you Mage Arcem. Please excuse us." said the guard as he and the other guards left the room.

"Tell me. What do they call you?" asked Arcem when all the guards had left the room, looking at Arya with a shaded expression that was made even harder to comprehend due to the poor lighting.

"Arya. But what does that have to do with anything?" asked Arya answering in a steady calm voice to show that he was not intimidated.

"So you finally dropped the act? Well, I didn't believe you for one second anyways. The mana signature you are emitting is at the level of a 0-star tier 2 mage, its no wonder you couldn't hide it. Anyways it's clear you weren't the one turning people into beasts. You're too weak to be the culprit." said Arcem as he leaned back in his chair.

"If you're so sure I didn't do it, then why am I still here?" asked Arya, leaning back in his chair as well to show a rather relaxed ambiance.

"I have 2 questions for you before I let you go, well that's if you answer truthfully," said Arcem as he clasped his hands and put them in front of his face.

"Go ahead," replied Arya. He knew that he could only push his luck so far. If he showed too much disrespect Arcem would dispose of him.

"How did a midget like you defeat a fully grown Ryen? Even if you're a mage, you aren't powerful enough to defeat a fire Ryen.. And more importantly where did you get that journal?" asked Arcem, this time Arya could see that he had a serious look on his face.