Crimson Storm, book 1, chapter ten

Chapter ten, Inheritance

Connor carefully observed the scouts, looking for any sign of weakness in their formation. He felt the sand of the training arena under his feet, apparently the Magic Council felt that armour was an “unfair advantage”. So Connor was stuck with just his pants and tank top.

One of the scouts fired a poison blast, Connor leaped over the blast and knocked out the scout with a momentum enhanced punch to the face. He unleashed a lightning explosion as he landed, taking out even more scouts. Connor winced as a plasma blast hit him in the back. He turned to his would-be attacker. The scout paled a he realized his mistake. Connor called a bolt of lightning down from above, the scout dropped.

Two commissioners entered the battlefield.

“Daring today aren’t we?” Connor remarked in a sarcastic tone as he activated a crimson lightning mode spell.

Through rigourus testing, the researchers had figured out that Connor’s body couldn’t properly handle the power of crimson lightning. He was too weak to use its full power without killing himself, even using it in its least powerful form could wear him out extremely fast. Mode spells especially seemed to tax his body hard.

Connor didn’t really care. He shot forwards at incredible speeds and hit the first comissioner with a barrage of punches. The second comissioner threw Connor back with a huge blast of wind. Connor landed on his feet and sent the comissioner flying with a regular lightning blast, everyone in the room heard a sharp CRACK as her body hit the wall. The first comissioner had recovered from the punches, and tried to keep Connor at a moderate distance. This did not work. Connor zoomed across the battlefield at breakneck speed, slamming into the comissioner full force. The comissioner couldn’t get up after the impact

For his final challenge, a captain walked into the arena.

“You don’t scare me!” Connor yelled as he rushed the captain head on.

Connor might be an idiot, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that he couldn’t fight the captain head-on. So as Connor and the captain exchanged brutal blows, Connor threw the sand that he had concealed in his pocket directly into the captains eyes.

“AGH, SHI-!” the captain began before Connor knocked him out with a barrage of crimson lightning blasts.

Connor dropped to his knees as his magic use took its toll on his body.

“Well done!” Major Daniel congratulated “That was the most enemies you’ve faced yet”

While the major was busy congratulating Connor, Doctor Gem was using her healing magic to heal Connor’s opponents.

“These burns are like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” The doctor remarked as she was healing the captain who got a dose of crimson lightning.

“You’ve said that the past four times we’ve tested my abilities Doc, it shouldn’t be a surprise.” Connor reminded her as he got up.

“Doesn’t make it any less interesting. Oh, by the way, Jeremy wanted to speak to you about something. He said that he’d be in the library.” Gem replied

ten minutes later

The library smelled like parchment, ink, and leather. A scent that Connor had gotten used to in his week at the base, he often came here when he was bored or needed information on something.

“Ah, you came.” Jeremy said

“Yeah, you wanted to talk to me about something?” Connor asked

“mhm, here.” Jeremy answered, he pulled a sword from his belt and put it in front of Connor. “It was dad’s sword, I believe you won it in a fight? Sorry I couldn’t aquire the rest of your winnings, it was kind of hard to find his wallet since you blew him to bloody bits.”

“Ah, don’t worry about the wallet. I stole it before the fight even began, but since you’re here…” Connor grabbed his scimitar and put it on the table next to the other sword. “I did a bit of searching at the old house, and I found a clue that lead me to find this. It was grandpa’s, he wanted you to have it. Unfortunately, grandpa’s plans went way out of proportion after he died. So… here you are.”

“…Why didn’t he just leave it in the will” Jeremy inquired after a long pause

“Let me answer that question with another one: what DID grandpa originally leave you in the will?” Connor asked

“Well… He left me his old dueling vest and an amulet… Wait, no thats not right. He wanted you to have the amulet, but ah, you weren’t there.” Jeremy answered

Connor chuckled, “Funny thing is: he said in his diary that he was going to leave you a couple more things, including that very same diary. However, he left the more important items in a secret compartment hidden inside the house. I suspect that dad fiddled with the will a bit.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him, here’s the amulet too by the way.” Jeremy said as he handed Connor a nice looking amulet. “Thank you for the sword, I need to be going now though.”

“See ya.” Connor said

Connor observed his father’s sword, it appeared to be an elegant looking falchion. It radiated faintly with magic.

image

Connor then observed the amulet. At first, it looked like any other old necklace with a crimson gem embedded into the center. But as he looked closer, Connor saw faint glowing runes embedded on the outside.

A bright flash of light briefly blinded Connor. When he could see again, Connor found a crumpled up note on the table.

Connor, if you are reading this, then I have met a terrible fate. Your father was greedier than I had thought, and I was too late to do anything about it. But that is besides the point, by now, Jeremy should have found the vault belonging to the Crimson Circle. He has orders to seek you out once he finds the vault. He will explain everything once he finds you, so sit tight.

Connor, I’m sure that in life I seemed to care more about Jeremy than you. For this, I’m sorry. Everytime I saw pain in your eyes from being ignored all your life, I tried to help cheer you up. Even I knew it didn’t help, I’m sorry. The way you always swung that sword of yours around made it clear that you were full of hate and resentment. Everytime you looked at your brother, I could see the envy in your eyes. Don’t blame your brother for all has happened in your life, he can’t help the way you were both born. Please, for the sake of your old grandpa… Let go of your swelling hatred and your unquelled rage. Be happy, and help Jeremy grow the Crimson Circle.

I am sorry for everything that you’ve been through. I wish I could give you more than just this amulet, but I can’t risk your father intercepting the things I’m giving you. Jeremy has been instructed to give you some things from the vault to help you progress as a swordsman. The amulet itself has been enchanted to increase your strength, may you find it useful in your journey.

I love you

-Grandpa

As Connor wiped a lone tear from his face, he noticed some writing on the back that didn’t look like his grandpa’s handwriting.

You’re probably starting to realize that your stumbling into my tomb wasn’t an accident. I knew that the chances of you or Jeremy finding out about the circle on your own was slim. So I pulled some ghostly strings, and well, the rest is history. Your next goal is to find the vault, your grandpa left the key and book detailing its location next to the scimitar. Use them to find the vault and the hidden wealth that the circle amassed over the years.

Your grandpa’s plans were sound until his son stepped in and messed everything up. That resulted in a shift of leaders and heirs. Not usually ideal in politics, but seeing as your brother is already part of something big I don’t think he’ll mind.

Cheers, Rorik

end of chapter ten

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Thanks for reading :3

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Yo nice falchion.

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yo nice falchion

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