51: The Hypocrite [1] 51: The Hypocrite [1] Their discussion went on for almost half a day; he taught many things and solved all of his doubts while giving suggestions about his future path.
His master gave him a new ring that would work as a better tool to hide his level, but would not work on suppressing him.
Vice-Tower Master Cedric also suggested that he be careful not to do anything that would reveal his level; the other towers also have their eyes and ears everywhere.
He stated, “You will only reveal your power and the runic eyes in the competition, meanwhile, you must break through to the 1st circle runic mage.” Axel asked hesitantly, “If I reveal it all, will the other towers not target me and my little brother?” Cedric revealed reassuringly, “Bring your brother to this place, and don’t worry I have contacted the tower master.
We will be prepared at that time, they won’t be able to do anything.
Its not like we are alone, a few of the other tower’s are our good allies.” Axel felt relieved hearing that.
After getting his stash refilled with more potions and medicines, of various kinds, as well as other magical materials, he bowed and went on his way.
While hiding his figure in the cloaking artifact given by his master, he carefully went out of the tower through a different passage.
Walking carefully he exited the territory of the mages, he breathed in the air and a nostalgic expression appeared on his face.
Even the air itself in the normal human was different.
The density of the mana particles was far less, there were impurities in the air itself.
But he didn’t mind it.
Axel first decided to visit the detective, he needed to find other Cancer evicted patients to test out the artifact on them, before giving it to his little brother and taking Akon with him to the mage’s territory.
The familiar old man asked him after a few minutes, “Who is it?” “It’s me, Ash, open up,” stated Axel calmly.
But the old man did not open the door immediately, Axel didn’t have that childish voice of a 9-year-old anymore; he now sounded like a mature teenager, with a deeper voice.
With some reluctance, the old assistant opened the door and saw an unfamiliar youth.
He asked with apparent wariness, “Who are you?
How dare you impersonate someone else?” Axel sighed and said, “Just tell Malric to come out.
I’m sure you don’t want to experience my killing intent again and pass out this time.
Just tell your boss.” But before the old man could say anything more, the detective came out.
He walked outside the door and stared at Axel intently, his eyes darting around Axel’s whole figure, as the man analyzed everything about him down to the smallest and biggest details.
But it was the sharp and determined look in his eyes, that made the detective sure of who the person was in front of him.
Malric still asked, “It’s really you?” Axel said matter-of-factly, “Yeah, it’s me.” Then he and the detective went inside, but the old assistant remained stupefied.
He couldn’t believe it.
He wanted to rebuke his boss.
But wisely chose not to, in the end.
Axel sat down in the same spot on the sofa, then looked at the old assistant to bring him tea as usual.
He was sipping the tea, but it was the detective who started the conversation, “How?” “Well, lets just say becoming a mage, forced my body to grow.” he revealed.
Axel was now wearing the ring which magically erased the pattern on his eyes, but the change in his eye color remained.
“But that’s beside the point.
I need you to immediately find other Cancer evicted patients,” ordered Axel.
The detective asked, “Can I ask why?
And have you really become a mage?” “Yes, you could say that, and I managed to get an artifact that might be able to stop the spread of that disease for a lengthy period.
But we need to test it out,” he revealed.
Understanding dawned upon the detective.
He asked Axel for 1 day, and he would be able to find at least 8-10 cancer-evicted patients.
Axel went back to his old broken home, where he slept in a very dirty place.
He wanted to visit his little brother, but did not.
He also couldn’t practice at that place.
Otherwise, the explosions of his failed experiments would make things troublesome, it would also reveal himself in the open.
Something which he wanted to avoid.
Time passed slowly as he slept on the dirty floor of his rundown house.
He didn’t mind the dirt and grime.
The magic clothes he was wearing kept him clean, and it was comfortable enough to sleep in without needing to change.
His mind unknowingly reminisced, how his sick mother used to lie right next to him, his coma-induced little brother used to sleep like a dead person.
But only he remained healthy; in fact, Ash rarely got sick in his entire life, even as a kid.
He was extremely resilient, like a cockroach that refuses to die.
A few trickles of tears escaped from his eyes and traveled down his cheeks.
The night passed, but he wasn’t able to sleep.
Guilt and pain crawled all over his mind, but he did not reject those feelings; he embraced them.
He liked those feelings.
He wanted those feelings.
The next day, the detective gathered the list of the cancer-evicted patients.
He read through the relevant details.
A sick mother with two infants, no husband.
Unable to pay the bills, she loitered around the hospital, but no one treated her.
Her two children begged on the streets, and no one pitied them.
An old father abandoned by his children.
A young man who was the only child of his two elderly parents was stricken with cancer abruptly.
A young orphan who was kicked out of the orphanage.
A little girl with a loving father, The wife of a loving husband.
The boy who only had his best friend.
And many, many more who all had cancer.
He wondered about all those innocent lives, their stories.
Their struggles, how this world shall never know them.
Did they not deserve to be saved?
But would he give a chance for them to be saved instead of his brother?.
He knew the answer, he would not.
He feels bad for them, yes.
But that feeling would only remain temporary.
With a sigh and a heavy heart, he took the list from the detective and went off in the direction of the central hospital without saying anything to the detective.
But Malric followed him, without needing any words to be said.
He inspected the boy, and it wasn’t hard to see how heavy his heart was, considering the boy himself struggled out of that same bottom barrel of society.
Axel first convinced the woman with two infants, she was suspicious of him at first, but then, when the woman heard Axel had a way to halt the disease a bit, and extend her time to live a bit.
She immediately agreed.
Axel took her into a private facility, where everything was set up.
Axel did not lack money now.
Even millions of gold weren’t much for him, being a disciple of Cedric Stormscribe.
He put the necklace on the woman and inspected its workings.
It seems to scan the body and lock onto the targeted cancer sells, then through complicated procedure.
Injects magic into the body of the patient.
To be precise, it creates a runic barrier around those chunks of those cells, completely halting the spread or growth of the cancer sells.
That was the most basic explanation of it.
The women remained in the designated chambers for a week.
Within that time, the woman seemed to operate like she were completely healthy.
She spent a blissful time with her two kids, with no worry for food or her disease, she was so happy that she believed she was cured, even though Axel had explained most of the parts to her.
But when a week had passed, Axel realized that it was indeed working properly.
When he told her that she had to give the necklace back and the week had passed.
The woman refused, “Impossible, I know this necklace is stopping the cancer.
I won’t give this up.
I can’t give this up.
I need to live, I must live.
I must,.” Axel did not know what to do, seeing that desperation, that determination to do anything for her children.
He was again reminded of his mother.
He said, “Like I promised, I will give you enough money, So that you and your children can live a life of luxury, never needing work again.
Even if you passed away, they would be safe and grow up well.” “NOOOOO, how can I expect me to believe those words?
How can I leave my children behind?” she shouted.
Unable to handle the situation any longer, his expression turned cold.
He released a tiny bit of his killing intent, and the women immediately fainted.
He made sure the kids were not affected by it.
But the kids started crying seeing their mother collapse like that.
Axel asked the detective to take her away and designate a personnel member to the woman who would give her the money and explain the situation to her.
Though the necklace seems to work, he needed to test it out on all the listed ones.
He asked the detective to bring the next person, he did not want to deal with all of this again, Axel wished he was a fully heartless bastard.
These things still affected him mentally albeit for a short while.
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Seeker_of_Chaos Cedric Stormscribe character art in the chapter comments.