Chapter 221: I Do Not Know

"And then what happened next?"

Roy drummed his fingers over the table.

"Mischiefs made its way to my doors. The Kingdom gave me a mission I am unable to complete. One after the other. As if they were doing it on purpose. Doing it to erase anyone that has any knowledge of the Mark.

"Before I left the Capital. We were in an inn where I met Edwin and Testa, I—and of course drunk—spoke things I shouldn't be."

"The Mark," Ned said.

"Good, you're listening pretty good. But don't get your hopes up, kid. It's a warning. So... Five years later, I settled things in the town called Moorkeg. I expected that the Great House of Soak would shelter me. Indeed, they did. But we're talking about the Royal House here. The House of Pendragoon. Of course, what can Great House do if the Royal House exercise its true power—none. They can do none. And so, I lost my mind. But not because of what the Kingdom did. But because of my cowardly nature—I gave up. And get high by inducing things I shouldn't have."

"What did you do?" Ned asked. Still listening to Roy.

Roy stood and went to the edge of the chamber where his bed was installed. For a beast, having a comfortable bed was already a luxury. Perhaps, only Roy and the other higher-ranked beasts could have this kind of place.

Roy went back to his seat after he took something out of his wooden bed. It was a half-empty vial of glass. The glass was elongated and was covered by a cork. Inside was a red liquid, sparkling as Roy rolled it over towards Ned.

Ned reluctantly held the vial.

"Open it," Roy said.

Ned did so, after opening, a strong smell gathered in his nose. But as he kept on smelling the red liquid, his feeling was being lifted high.

But after a short moment of smelling the liquid, Ned came to a halt as if something inside him told him to do so. Completely ignoring the aromatic smell of the red vial. He frowned, the first time he inhaled the smell was addicting. Without the mysterious feeling inside him, Ned couldn't stop smelling it.

"What's this?"

"Have you heard of Burner?"

Ned nodded, he wasn't ignorant with the word Burner. He was common with it back in O'rriadt as the outlaws were using it to trade, or just to quench their thirst for something. Burner was so addicting some people in O'rriadt worked only to trade for it.

But the result was devastating. As to how pleasant the smell was, the effect was far more potent than bringing you high. Burner was specifically used for Magic Capable. Be it mages or warriors, anyone that could use mana as magic could get addicted to Burner.

"The moment you absorbed it," Roy said, explaining. "The feeling that you can take over the world will surpass you. The more you absorb the Burner, the more your mana becomes unstable. Some have used it during the war to increase their magical strength for a very short time. It did though. But it was too addicting, the Kingdom must ban it for use."

"Why?" Ned asked. "What would happen if you kept on absorbing Burner?"

Roy turned his melted face away from Ned, away from his eyes, and away from the guilt that was too visible in his eyes.

"Let me guess," Ned said. "Your magic become unstable?"

"Moorkeg," Roy said. The old and arrogant, always frowning face was gone. His eyes were back looking at his hands. This time he was not wearing gloves, so his skin was visible of his past. His skin on his hand was cracked, and some part was dried. Like a fire quenched of water. Pretty sure Roy could hear the cry, the shouting, the begging of the townspeople as his magic was burning the entire village.

"So that's what happened... "

"All because of the Mark."

"Doesn't matter," Ned said. "You are you, I am me. And I can handle myself. Does the queen knows?"

"No," Roy said. "She doesn't need to. She must be focused on defending us from the invaders and the incoming war."

"So," Ned said. "Now, tell me about the Mark. What do you know about it?"

Roy paused, deciding whether to continue or not.

"It seemed that this is important for Edwin," Roy noted with his fingers tapping the table. "Then, I will help you. I owe the two big-time anyway. Okay, Marks are considered legends by other people, not to mentions elves. Only a handful of them knew. But, since you knew about it. Then I would assume others learned what it can offer. So what are you asking specifically, Ned?"

"How do I remove it?"

Roy jumped off his seat, unable to comprehend what Ned had told him. All this time, he was talking about the Mark. Little he knew, that in front of him, Ned had one.

"You don't have it." His voice was contrary to his words. He was both excited and worried. "Tell me, you don't have it."

"I do have it."

Ned extended his right hand then showed Roy his wrist. Since the Mark of the Knight's ability was passive to Ned, he rarely checked its current status. But with a focus, like his thoughts going inside his Core, but this time it was focused more on his wrist.

White light then shone under Ned's wrist. The light flowed into the pattern of an inverse triangle. Inside the inverse triangle was a word that resembled an 'S' letter with a throbbing line at its edges.

"Of all the Maker," Roy said in an awed manner. "Makers tongue. You have it in you. What can it do?"

"I cannot tell you that." Ned paused and retracted his focus off the Mark. "I told you, I want it extracted from my body."

Disappointed, Roy slumped back to his seat and said in a lowered voice: "I do not know. I cant help you with that."

All this time, he doesn't have an answer. The lines under Ned's jaw were visible as he clenched his teeth. The feeling of fatigue and hunger was gone as his feeling was assaulted with different emotions. Some he knew, others he wasn't aware of.

"Why Edwin!" He cried with his fist banging the table.

"But," Roy said. "I know a place you might want to visit to learn more about the Mark."

"Where?" Ned said after calming.

"After I learned about the existence of the Marks," he said, "I went to the Royal Library in which I have access to since I'm a Royal Knight that time."

It was Ned's time to drum his fingers over the table. "Capital," he muttered.

"Yes," Roy said. "Knighton."