The black knights screamed in pain while holding on the wall because the fire ants bit their exposed hands and face and even worked their way inside the men's clothes. Some men let go of their hold and fell in that instant.
The alerted guards ran and lifted the torches to where the shout came from and to their amazement, they saw a swarm of fire ants walking on air. But they understood what that meant. Ming had warned them on the possibility that the enemies might try climbing under a cloaking spell.
The guards didn't delay and struck the spears to where the ants were. However, the black knights abruptly jumped down before the spear hit them and dashed away, shrieking.
The guards didn't run after them but they reported the incident to Ming. The general heard it too but didn't suspect Mafan, thinking the adviser was still in Flamefort City, Goding's capital city. He thought General Hester instigated it and headed back to the camp.
The black knights ran like crazy and would dare jump in a mud pool if they saw one. In the end, they sprinted back to the village, heading straight to the water well. Fortunately, one of those who stayed behind saw them returning and stopped them from leaping down the deep well.
Inside the village house, Mafan saw them crouching at the corner with swollen faces. A guard covered them with blankets since they had to take off their clothes to get rid of the ants.
Mafan threw a fit with this failed attempt.
"Ahhhh!!! Curse this city," he yelled in exasperation for experiencing one setback to another
First, he lost against two fragile-looking women. *Crack!!!* He smashed a chair to the wall.
Second, losing his power and influence over the army. He kicked wooden debris while thinking of this. The victims m.o.a.ned as the splinters hit them.
"Arrghhh!" Mafan howled, tilting his head up. "I hate this prideful general. Damn him!"
He swore to punish General Lofey. Yet he knew it was an impossible feat for this man's name was enough to make the court think twice, doubling his irritation.
Last, infiltration attempt foiled because of the insignificant insects. What else more he needed to face before he could get ahold of this city? He smashed everything in the house until there was nothing left.
It even crossed his mind to rush to General Lofey's tent and punish him but... the man was a hero and a born Godingan. Unfortunately, Mafan's influence on the masses was not that deep compared to this well-loved soldier.
After a while, he sat in the middle of the mess and looked back at his life.
Mafan was born from a wealthy merchant family living in Fuyu City, capital of Youshi. He was handsome or considered 'pretty' as he resembled his mother's beauty and ladylike complexion. Though he lacked manliness in his countenance, his brilliant mind covered it up for him.
Hence, his family was proud of him. His father called him the future tycoon because of his talent in handling business as a young man. He became a sensation in society. Renown families, including the royal family, sent marriage proposals for their daughters. Not until his power manifested at age fifteen.
One time in school, a government official's son, challenged Mafan for one-on-one combat. Mafan refused politely but the boy's arrogance wouldn't let him and call him a sissy. This annoyed Mafan. Out of unrestrained emotions, he yelled, " Die! " And the next thing happened shook everyone in fear. The boy slashed himself with a sword and almost died.
Mafan denied he was a Chiangda for he didn't know it yet. However, he failed the test. He fainted when they held the Wag stone at his face.
From there, everything in Mafan's life went downhill. They imprisoned him in the Chiangdas' special jail. When his father heard of it, had a heart attack and died.
To make a long story short, his clansmen blamed his mother and Mafan for his father's death. They stripped Mafan's mother of her title as the first lady in the family and sent in isolation.
As a born nobleman's child, life was hard in jail but he stood his ground. No one cared to visit him, not even his mother. Then one night, his Ma's loyal servant visited and gave him his mother's favorite dress. It meant she passed away.
That night, Mafan wailed in agony after learning his mother died trying everything she could, even giving up her body to the officials, just to convince them to take him out from jail. Yet, he remained inside after what she had gone through. He then made an oath that he would get out of prison and avenge her death.
The next day, his attitude changed and baffled the guards. His stubbornness was gone. He willingly bent his knees and did humiliating things to befriend the prison guards. Later, he became the warden's lover boy but held his purity to lure the warden in the palm of his hand. The warden didn't insist on him because he enjoyed the way Mafan refused his advances.
The plucking will be very sweet after a long wait. The warden thought.
As a lover, Mafan had privilege visitations in the warden's office and discovered the Wag stone's limitations.
One day, he heard that Goding country was a haven for Chiangdas and hastened his escape plan. He tempted the warden to bring him to an Inn with a promise he'd satisfy him by giving his v.i.r.g.i.nity. Inside the room, the evil warden gulped hard as l.u.s.t overwhelmed his good sense when Mafan took off his clothes, exposing his smooth and pale n.a.k.e.d body.
The unsuspecting man took off the Wag stone along with his clothes after Mafan lied that the stone would still affect him. This was the warden's mistake. He didn't know the stone had no effect on Mafan at a specific distance because of his mental power. Mafan took the chance and controlled the warden's mind.
He used the man to kill the people who hurt him and his mother. After the massive killing, he let the warden brought him out from Youshi's borders. And before they reached Flamefort City, he let the man jumped at a cliff.
With his unconstrained power and intelligence, he made his way up the political ladder in Goding's royal court until the king made him a royal adviser. But he held his hand from taking full control of the good monarch. He did his job with finesse and astounding results wherein all praises were given to the king. Thus, no one suspected Mafan had a hand of it.
After experiencing the greatness of his mind manipulation, he wanted to learn and explore more of his power. He took advantage of his position and built his own office somewhere the king would never investigate, in the silent bas.e.m.e.nt of the royal library. This was where he did his experiments.
Later, he learned from one of the king's sons that there was a hidden library where only the royal family could gain entrance; he manipulated the prince to bring him there and found the archives that were long forgotten. The secrets of their world, Chiji.