The night before he left Mount Horeb, Amon taught Moses what he should know about the path of practice and the coming tests he was going to face. They partly ca from Bairs ssage, and partly ca from Amons own experience. Bairs experience was slightly different than Amons, he was first taught the power of two sides, becoming a first-level warrior and sorcerer, then practiced magic and beca a ninth-level mage, and eventually went from the beginning again, achieving the sixth-level on the path of power of two sides.
Amons struggles and reality were different. From the beginning, he followed the path of power of two sides all the way to the sixth level. This path was discovered by CrazyOle from the technique of Duc and furthered by Bair. When Amon taught it to Moses, it was already a clear path.
Amon didnt teach the young miner any martial arts or magic skills. He wanted him to solely focus on the practice of the power itself. On one hand, there wasnt much ti, and on the other hand, it was not convenient for Moses to practice martial arts or magic skills as a miner in front of the guards and the priests. Even the practice itself had to be kept a secret.
Lastly, Amon told his new disciple, If you want to break out of your misery, you need to be strong yourself. There will be all kinds of hardships and dangers in your way back ho. You have to be prepared. All I teach you cos from the technique of Duc. So you can also teach it in turn to your fellow clansn whom you can trust. But they need to make the sa vow at first.
The seeds were sown. What was needed now was ti to see them bud and grow. Amon left Mount Horeb with the parangons and escorting guards. He perfectly accomplished the mission. For him, however, the most important and aningful thing about this journey was finding the surviving Ducians. Maria didnt tell him where they were, she sent him to them instead.
Maria summoned him again shortly after he returned to the shrine. The eting was held in the sa study room as previously. The servants were told to leave, following which, instead of making a report about his inspection to the mine, Amon got on his knees and greeted, Thank you! I finally found the surviving Ducians! I owe a favor to the mayor, who wished his son could go ho. His son is now the leader of the surviving Ducians. And they all want to go ho.
Maria looked at him. There was regret in her eyes. She raised her hand, Please have a seat. I know what you want from , but I am sorry, I cannot give orders to release them. They are the Pharaohs slaves. You must have the Pharaohs permission for that.
Amon took a seat and asked, You told to read books about the art of war. Does it have sothing to do with this?
The Adoratrice nodded, If you just wanted to pursue personal happiness, all you needed was to beco a great warrior and plead loyalty to the Empire. You could certainly have obtained a noble title and lived a good life. And that applies to most everywhere in this world. But I know there are other things you long for, which can prove to be very demanding and hard to achieve. The rich and fertile land newly erging after the flood will bring wars and conflicts to the territory. If you can perform outstanding achievents in the service of the Empire on the battlefield, you will have the chance to request the Pharaoh to release your clansn.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I think I know what to do.
It was indeed a way to save his fellow n. War exploits could not only bring one a nobiliary title, but also the chance to be granted a boon by the Pharaoh, by way of granting freedom to so enslaved miners.
But it would still be challenging, even with Marias help. It mostly depended on himself. Becoming a supre warrior was just the beginning
Staring at each other, looking into the others eyes, the two fell into silence again. Maria was supposed to tell Amon about the details of the mission to Duc, but seeing his eyes, she felt that there was nothing really important to say. The assignnt was not important now. As for Amon, he had a lot of gratitude in his heart. But he knew that he didnt need to say it out loud. He preferred to just stay like that, watching her eyes, her face, listening to her every breath.
Unfortunately, he couldnt sit there watching her for ever. It was Maria who broke the silence this ti, No matter how difficult it will be, Amon, I wish for you to take care of yourself. If you have done your best and yet dont succeed, dont bla yourself. As long as you have a pure heart, you can co back to anyti. Mother Isis will protect you.
She put a small box on the table, I was planning to send a mage to this mission. This Terroculus was the necessary tool to record the information and the reward for the mission. But then I changed my mind. A warrior is more suitable for this kind of task. So I decided to send you.
I still give you this Terroculus as the reward for this mission. You are not a mage. But I believe you have your own way to record. Rember: you are on a secret undertaking, so you shouldnt use your own na. A blank certificate of identification and a passport will be given to you, which will be valid once you put a na on them. You can also hire bodyguards. You should be leaving in a few days. Go get ready and be careful. I am waiting for your good news. As for the Terroculus, I hope you can keep it.
It was a great compensation for such a quest. The largesse would have made sense if the mission had been taken by a mage, but Amon was known as a warrior, which made the aning of this windfall deeper.
Amon already had a Terroculus, in which CrazyOle had stored a lot of ssages. Perhaps Maria was doing the sa thing. Since Amon was only a warrior, Maria wasnt expecting him to read any of the ssages, if there was any. But Amon was a sixth-level sorcerer, and he was good at spatial and ssage magics.
There must be sothing inside this Terroculus, that was Amons guess. But he didnt dare to read it in the Isis Shrine, for using magic here might expose him as a sorcerer. He decided to go to the Archive. He had so handover works to do, and he surely wouldnt want to miss the chance to read so more docunts.
He was not planning on returning the books on the art of war any ti soon, since tatro could read them as well. If he was going to be commanding an army, he would certainly need an adjutant, and tatro was a good candidate. He even borrowed so more texts on the art of war. Anyway, he could store them all in Osiris Rib and read them while on the journey.
The day before he left, he patrolled the Archive and went to read the docunt Marducs Land once again. The first ti he read it, he was in a hurry and too excited, so this ti he read it with plenty of care and concentration, committing every word to mory. At the end of the text, he saw a familiar seal. He took out the token given by CrazyOle and compared the two. They were the sa! But the one on the papyrus appeared to be stamped in a hurry. It was just a vague insignia, almost unrecognizable.
Voices ca from outside. It was so of the other watchn talking and saluting. Amon hastily put the file back in the drawer and set the magic seal back. As soon as he turned around and made his first step outside, a voice arose behind the shelves, Officer, you dropped sothing.
Amon shuddered with a start. Calm as he usually was, he almost knocked over the drawers beside him. He wasnt expecting that anybody else would be in this storage room of precious docunts. Access to it was denied to anyone without proper authority or permission. What really shocked him was that, although he kept vigilant while in there, he failed to notice the coming of this person. He turned around quickly in fright, producing two daggers from his waist and posing himself for attack and defense in the narrow space between the shelves.
But the next second, he got on one knee and saluted, Please pardon , my Lord. I didnt realize that you ca into this room.
In front of him was a middle-aged man wearing a surplice. He looked at Amon with a aningful smile. Instead of a staff, there was a token in his hand, Is this badge yours? I saw it on the ground. Please take it back.
Amon was familiar with this man: He was Idu, the forr Senior Priest in charge of the Archive. After Urhiya was appointed to stay in Cape, he was promoted as the new High Priest by the Adoratrice. Idu was not as ambitious as his predecessor, he was quite satisfied with taking care of the old docunts and scripts. Coming from a small town, he didnt have a powerful clan behind. He was rewarded as Honored High Priest after he beca a supre mage. Once entering the Isis Shrine, he led a secluded life, staying away from politics. Right before Amon arrived in mfis, he unobtrusively ascended to the eighth level.
There were eight supre mages in the Isis Shrine besides the three High Priests. They were given the title of Honored High Priest besides that of Senior Priest, and enjoyed a high regard and authority. Idu, who was one of them, always kept a low profile. When the Adoratrice pushed his na forward when selecting the new High Priest, the Senate and the Pharaoh approved this promotion unanimously.
Once Idu had beco a High Priest, the post of the Curator of the Archive that he held when he was a Senior Priest was taken by soone else. However, Idu still had strong control over the Archive. He was now in charge of all the docunts of the Isis Shrine, not only those in the Archive , but also those about the slaves, the lands, and the taxes, which ant the power he currently had was much more than before. Nevertheless, his character didnt change much.
Looking at his smiling face, Amon subconsciously put his hand into his pocket, and found it empty. The token was gone! He felt himself soaked in cold sweat.
It was impossible for him to drop the token. He was sure that he had put it into his pocket, but now it was in the supre mages hand. The High Priest must have entered the room stealthily and taken away the token from Amon before he realized he was even there. He must have seen Amon reading the files, and with the token in hand too.
However, the supre mage pretended knowing nothing and affird that it was Amon who had dropped the token on the ground. With all the great pains he went through to be careful all this ti, he finally made a mistake. Facing a supre mage who he couldnt counter by any ans, Amon couldnt be any more nervous. He was still busy racking his brains for an excuse when he heard Idus words. Thinking quickly, he answered, Indeed it is mine. Thank you, Lord Idu. I must have dropped it by accident.
The supre mage kept an inscrutable expression and gave the token back to Amon, Very unusual token. It must be a precious keepsake. Things like this should be kept with care. And please pardon my curiosity, but would you kindly tell : who did you get this gadget from? It seems to be crafted and processed in a unique way that not many would be able to emulate.
The young guard had a feeling that those smiling eyes were piercing his soul, he tried to calm down and answered, It was a gift from an elder of my hotown, who has passed away.
The smile left Idus face, Oh, hes passed away? Thats unfortunate.
Amon didnt need to lie about this, Havent you heard about it? My hotown was destroyed by the flood. The elder who has gifted this token didnt survive the disaster.
The supre mage sighed, Im sorry to bring up such bad mories. I shouldve rembered that youre from the town of Duc and youre the young man who has extracted the Gods Tear and has returned Neros effects to Cape. You are an honorable young man. By the way, I heard that Nero had a remarkable private collection of magic scrolls which I believe he still kept mostly with him, even in his last monts. I was wondering if you would have any idea about one such scroll called Tiamats Wrath?
Amon thought for a short while and replied, Lord Nero did leave very generous gifts after him. I was given six supre scrolls and six advanced ones, but none of them is called Tiamats Wrath. I have never heard of this na before.
Idu nodded, Please dont mind it then. Its just the thirst of knowledge from an old pedant. Tiamats Wrath is the na of a kind of scroll that only exists in legends. Many dont even have the chance to hear its na. As far as I know, Nero was the only scrollmaker who had the skill and the ambition to produce one. But that item requires trendous efforts and rare materials. I dont know whether he had ever succeeded in his life. Oh, since you are here, please do a favor.
Amon replied hurriedly, Please tell what I can do for you, dear Lord.
Im an old man. Age has worsened my mory. I was here to look for a docunt. But apparently I got to the wrong room. Ill tell you the code number of the docunt. Please bring it to my place later. The docunt was locked in a drawer. You should go to the Curator to ask for the key. Tell him that old Idu needs to read a docunt from there.
Telling Amon the code number, the supre mage turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the watchman alone with the token. Amon found that the cold sweat had yet to dissipate. Feeling a bit chilly, he shook his head as if trying to shake off the fear and malaise from his head, then ran off to fetch the docunt for the High Priest.
For once, having the right key and not having to sneakily break and reset the seal, Amon easily opened the drawer. When he took out the required record, he was surprised. The docunt was thin. It was about the production and use of magic scrolls. On the cover page was written Tiamats Wrath. It was the very na of the scroll that Idu had ntioned just now. Amon couldnt help opening it and started reading where he stood. He almost forgot to breathe. He finally realized how precious and dangerous that naless grey scroll he possessed was!
Inside the docunt there was the procedure to fabricate a Tiamats Wrath. It required materials he hadnt even heard of, supre magic skills, subli craftsmanship and painstaking efforts. The possibility seed to only exist in paper, but Amon believed that Nero managed to bring this concept into reality. Tiamats Wrath was nothing like any other scroll. Without the proper knowledge, rely activating it would cost the users life. Once ignited, it was not possible for the user to control its imnse might, unless he was a deity. The power would destroy everything in its range, even gods wouldnt be able to defend against it. Even for the user, the very possibility to avoid it was only in the theoretical realm.
If Amon was resolved to sacrifice his life, using this scroll, he could drag almost anyone to death together with him! He understood why the gatekeeper of the Underworld would flee like a scared bird when he saw Amon holding the grey scroll. Nero must have been planning to die together with Bair when he joined the manhunt. However, in the end he didnt have the need to use it, since that sa Bair chose to bury himself along with his pursuers in the first place.
The docunt only had a few pages. Amon finished reading it in less than a minute, put it into an exquisite wooden case and carried it to the chamber where Idu used to deal with official business. The High Priest was waiting inside. Seeing Amon coming in, he smiled and nodded, You are fast. I have just sat down. Thank you, young officer. Please put it on the desk.
Amon placed the case on the desk and withdrew to one side, hands behind his back. But he didnt leave the room, neither did Idu open the case. After a short while, the High Priest raised his head from a closed folder and asked with feigned astonishnt, You are still here, Amon. Do you have anything else?
Yes, dear Lord. You have not checked the docunt yet. I await for further instructions.
Idu told the servants to leave and close the door. He then said, I have the utmost trust in you, officer. So theres no need to check. Now that theres only you and , please feel free to speak your mind.
The young guard took out two supre scrolls from his pocket and gently placed them on the desk, These two scrolls were part of the last bestowal I was conferred by the will of Lord Nero. I hereby present them to you to express my admiration, my Lord. I hope you will find them to your liking.
Idu didnt expect Amon to bring him a present like this. He was startled, but soon laughed and stroked his beard, Do you know how much they are worth, Amon?
The young guard answered, It depends on who is going to use them. I do not think their value can be asured by money. To an esteed supre mage like you, magic scrolls are just tools that help you save your ti and power.
The High Priest watched the young man with great interest, Ive experienced a lot in my life and I know what people are thinking. You wont be relieved unless I take them. So then, thank you, Amon! He took the scrolls with equanimity.
Amon let out a sigh of relief. He had been worrying about Idus reaction. Fortunately, Idu almost brought it out into the open, inferring that he knew what Amon was asking for, and just took his confernt.
[List of Characters]
Idu : Supre mage. The new High Priest of the Isis Shrine replacing Urhiya.
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