Chapter 306 - I Stand Firm

Master Mardox fell silent and seemed conflicted, but he had always been known as someone who always stood firm about his decision. He was starting to waver, especially when Zenia told him about beating the enemies at their own game. But, he always believed that sticking to the old ways of handling things was the best choice to make. 

Prazia had undergone a lot of changes under King Odhran's reign, and the changes were disastrous. It was the same with the other kingdoms that he had been to. He would have stayed in Herzegova if it was not burnt down. When he reached Shadora, he made sure that there would be little to no change. It was fortunate that the only thing that changed in Shadora was the young people's view on marriage. 

However, he did some improvement on some of the things that the Shadorans use. He also made them believe that the last mage, who happened to be him, had died a hundred years ago. Chief Elder had no idea how Master Mardox did it, and he did not want to find out. In his estimate, Master Mardox had been living in Shadora for nearly four decades only.

When they staged the play about the death of Master Mardox, they already agreed that Dantes Astoria must keep the half-sphere. They still did not know whether it was safe to take the half-sphere out of Prazia without being detected. Master Mardox had already decided to search for Prince Joram in another kingdom. 

The play started rolling when they found a fresh cadaver in the forest. The man was killed by a wild beast, and his face was ruined. The dead body resembled Master Mardox in height, built, and most features. They just made more cuts to make it appear that an S-rank wild beast killed Master Mardox. S-rank beasts were the strongest among the strong beasts. 

In Prazia, there were wild beasts that were not affected by magic. Even the strongest magic wielder may find it difficult to kill a strong wild beast and would likely lose his life when facing an S-rank wild beast. The wild beasts were untamed, and no specific magic spell could restrain them. One should use a combination of spells to tame the beast. The beasts remained loyal to their master once they were tamed by their owners.

The night they found the substitute dead body, Master Mardox had decided that it was time for him to disappear. It was the sign that he had been waiting for. 

"Master, how do I know where to find you?"

"I will send you something and follow everything according to instruction."

"Where do you plan to go?"

"I will search for Prince Joram in every kingdom and try to settle there."

When Dantes Astoria reached the Capital of Prazia, he shouted for help in front of a clinic. He lifted the dead man carefully from his horse and called out to a doctor to help him treat his master. 

The doctor and his apprentices helped Dantes Astoria, and they carried the dead body inside the clinic. The doctor examined the body quickly and gasped.

"Gentleman, this person is already dead for at least two hours. Why did you still bring him here?"

"Doctor, we came all the way from the Forest of Illusion and lost my way as I tried to save my master and escaped an S-rank wild beast. My master protected me, and he died in my stead."

Dantes Astoria's tears rolled down his cheeks like rain that day. It was indeed a good performance. He wished that his master could see it. He felt a bit disappointed, but he was satisfied with the result. Up in a tree, one of Master Monsat's men was looking at them through a window of the doctor's office. He could see the man lying on the table was Master Mardox. The man left to report everything he witnessed to Master Monsat.

Dantes Astoria looked at the direction that the man on a tree had disappeared to. He smirked because the man took the path leading to Master Monsat's secret base. He let the doctor finished everything that he should do and arranged for a funeral for the dead body the following day.

No one came from the family of Master Mardox, not even Master Monsat. Dantes Astoria buried the unknown body befitting a Master of a prominent family.

'Good sir, may you rest in peace. Thank you for helping us with your death. This is the best thing that I can do for you. I wish I could give you more.'

Dantes Astoria waited for his master's letter patiently for years. One day, it finally arrived. He was instructed to go to Brettina and to stay there for a while. Dantes Astoria took the half-sphere out of Prazia and brought it along with him to Brettina. Master Monsat and his men did not detect anything. 

After four or five years, Master Monsat had verified that the Sphere of Destiny must be whole to make it work. Master Monsat sent his men to nab Dantes Astoria who was the suspected keeper of the other half-sphere. But when they reached the place where Dantes Astoria used to live, it was empty. The sorry state of the place told them that it had been years since Dantes Astoria had left the place.

When Master Monsat died, it was Dark Magic Lord's turn to search for Dantes Astoria. Master Monsat had long abandoned the search for Dantes Astoria when he saved Jorick. But, his lead disciple had other plans in mind. The Dark Magic Lord did not heed his master's last wish.

Master Mardox instructed his disciple to do some things in Brettina. Dantes Astoria waited for many years before boarding a ship that would take him to Shadora. Dantes Astoria only learned about the other way to break the seal when he became the apprentice of the last mage of Shadora, who was actually Master Mardox.

Dantes Astoria already assumed another identity in Shadora when Dark Magic Lord began sending his men to look for the half-sphere that Dantes Astoria had been keeping. It was not the first time that Dark Magic Lord sent some men to look for Dantes Astoria in Shadora. Chief Elder and his spies failed to discover that Prince Roland was Dark Magic Lord's grandson. Even Zenia and Vaughn did not know about it, but they would soon find out. The Dark Magic Lord did his best to help cultivate the power of his grandson, Prince Roland. 

"Give up, child. Nothing will ever change my mind. I cannot help you, or rather, I refuse to help you. I am content with how things are in the present. I may change my mind later, but I'm sure that now is not the time for me to do so."

Zenia gritted her teeth and couldn't believe that she would meet someone as stubborn as Master Mardox.

"How can you be so…unreasonable? Just try to look at how things are going. I'm sure you know about those men from Prazia who are searching for Dantes Astoria. They are looking for him because the Dark Magic Lord must've found a way to break the seal using the Sphere of Destiny and the Orb."

Master Mardox shook his head, "King Odhran is not the true heir. He does not even possess an ounce of magic in his body. Besides, Dark Magic Lord would send some men in Shadora to look for Dantes."

"He may not have it, but what about his daughter? You also know that Princess Odette is now in Prazia, and they began to search for Dantes Astoria again after she arrived in that kingdom. Doesn't it look suspicious?"

Zenia was saying those things even though something was telling her that the true heir to the throne was Jorick. But, she could not reveal anything about Jorick to the two people that she just met. In her eyes, the master and apprentice were people that she must investigate further before giving her full trust.

Vaughn kept quiet, but he was processing everything that Zenia had said. He knew that injecting his own ideas may not be helpful at the moment, especially when his little devil was trying to convince a stubborn old man.

'Why does Master Mardox remind me of great-grandfather?'

Master Mardox looked at Zenia and tried to fight back the urge to believe every word that she uttered. He knew that Zenia was trying to convince him to help them, and she may be using a special kind of negotiating technique to make the other party submit.

Master Mardox smirked inwardly, 'This child is good, but I should not give in. Even if Princess Odette has magic, it is still impossible for her to command the Orb.'

"Master…" Chief Elder understood what Zenia was trying to explain, and he couldn't help but agree.

It was possible for a parent without an ounce of magic in his body to give birth to a powerful magic wielder. Although he had not seen Princess Odette, it was possible that she had magic within her body.

"Everything that has been happening now could be a mere series of coincidences. Every argument that you presented is nothing more than a wild, intelligent guess. It could be true and it could be false – no one knows the exact truth unless we test Princess Odette and see whether she possesses magic or not. But if we do that, we need to abduct her. Her disappearance will surely make King Odhran and the Dark Magic Lord suspicious. We will only make matters worse. It is best to let things flow naturally. You may even find a more suitable solution in the coming days."

"Are you trying to say that we just need to let things continue as they are and not intervene? If we intervene now, we might prevent it from escalating into something uncontrollable later."

"Child, we don't even know what we are dealing with. Why create trouble for yourself when the real trouble is not yet troubling you?"