Chapter 30 - The First Display of Prime Magic

Rael continued to run until he arrived at the point where Layla, Carla, Tom, and Hans were waiting for them. As soon as he stopped, he put down Yareth, laying him down.

“Hans, quick, heal him.” Rael immediately asked.

“Okay, but you are not very well either,” Hans replied, putting his hands on Yareth.

“I am fine,” he said, pulling the arrow from his thigh and throwing it. “It is not like you can heal me.”

“Use this.” Layla threw a roll of bandage on him.

“When are you planning to stop stealing?” Rael asked as he began to wrap his injuries.

Layla let out a loud breath and wanted to respond, but Yareth, who was unconscious when Rael laid him down, began coughing.

"Rael, this is not working. My healing is being suppressed." Hans explained. “I think it is the shirt.” He pulled his hands. “No matter how much I use, I can barely heal him. Help me take it off. But be careful to not hurt him; it seems his body is not in good condition.”

"Then rip it out," Layla said, holding the shirt to tear it. But her strength did not seem sufficient because the more she tried, the more difficult it became.

"Let me," Rael said, tearing the shirt in half and throwing it away.

As soon as he did, Yareth took a deep breath as if he had been drowning. His eyes opened, and he began to take deep breaths, as if to compensate for the time he had been short of breath.

Hans placed his hands back on him, attempting to heal him as quickly as possible.

Yareth felt better and looked around, but when he saw people he had never seen before, he panicked a little. "Who are you? And where am I?" He tried to stand up, but Layla pushed him down and held him by his shoulder.

"Stand still so he can help," she said, pointing to Hans.

Yareth lifted his head slightly to see Hans with his hands on his chest. "A healer?" he murmurs. Then he lowered his head, attempting to steady his breathing.

“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know who you guys are, but thank you for letting me out of there.” Then gulped, "If you want to use me as a hostage to get something from my father, that will not work. That piece of shit had already abandoned me. Just give me a moment to breathe, and then you can kill me." He continued, looking at the sky with the same empty eyes.

"We will not kill you or hold you as a hostage. We want you to help us; that is all,” said Rael, who was wrapped in bandages.

When Yareth heard his voice, he looked up to see who was standing there. Only then did he remember how he got here. "Me? Help a terrorist? I may despise him, but I am not desperate to help the worst criminal."

"You won't be helping me; you'll be helping a tall freak," he laughed.

"It's not happening. I'm already at the bottom of the world. Just kill me and put an end to this.

"Okay," Rael said, lifting a rock as large as his head and placing it over Yareth's head. “I will drop this rock from here. You might die or survive; I don’t care. But before, answer one question.”

“I don’t think you want to waste your friend’s efforts right now,” Yareth pointed at Hans, “but ask away.”

“Do you want to kill your father?”

Hearing this, Yareth’s eyes widened. He didn't waste any time in getting up and standing on his feet. He was shaking, and his injuries, bruises, and cuts all over his body had not healed. But he didn't mind and looked Rael in the eye, who had already thrown the rock away.

“How?”

…

It took them nearly a day to arrive at the camp. They all seemed silent when they arrived because they had already discussed the majority of the issues.

Obviously, Yareth and his questions were the reason for the conversions. After learning why Tiberius was asking for him, he became curious about how others could find him in the dungeon. Because the dungeon was designed to be impenetrable, most of the paths resembled a maze.

Apparently, Felix's cat Candy had been entering the dungeon every day for two months and exploring its interior. Carla and Felix would wander around the dungeon looking for something useful, such as a backdoor.

Every day, Candy would travel for a few hours before returning to Felix to rest and eat. Carla would pull all of the information she had gathered unconsciously, including the dungeon's structure, guard counts, and their positions. Of course, it was not as precise as daha or the human mind, but after two months of research, they had everything they required. And, due to the mana detectors, Rael was the only one who could enter.

"So, this is where you live? In Tanshy?” Yareth asked as soon as he saw the camp.

"Not clearly inside," Rael clarified. “It is just away from the countries and dangers of Tanshy. Basically, this is the safe zone of Tanshy.”

“Don't you get attacked?”

“Rarely.” Rael smiled. “Don't worry, we won't get you eaten.”

“So funny,” Yareth replied sarcastically.

“Well, I don't care if you laugh or not but you better behave yourself here, because if you try something funny against Tiberius or the kids, I will be the one to rip your head off.”

“I wouldn’t worry about Tiberius,” Layla interrupted. “While he still lacks the experience, I don't think he would be struggling against a half-dead prince.”

“He has grown that much?” Rael asked curiously.

“You would see if you had trained him as you promised. Always sleeping or eating.”

“Even my sweetie is working more than you are, Rael,” Felix giggled.

“I can't rely on you to protect kids, can I?” Rael replied, “Just bear with it. We won't have to go through these ever again.”

“Anyway,” Layla ended the conversation, “Let's give horses to kids and see others. We need to act as quickly as possible.”

No one said anything; only Rael nodded. They got off the horses and asked children who weren't in training to look after them.

Slowly, they walked toward the empty area where others were training. They were throwing punches and using magic to both attack their partner and defend. Ivy was walking between them, making sure they were not overdoing it.

“So you have your own military?” Yareth asked, seeing over fifty people training.

“You can't take over a country by yourself, can you?” Rael replied.

“Sorry but this won't work.” Yareth said, “Even with you. If you come up with the same kind of planning as taking me out of the dungeon, you won't even get closer to the castle.”

“What was wrong with our plan?” Layla asked aggressively.

“Well, you caused unnecessary chaos. I might be young but I have been around enough generals to see your mistakes.”

Layla was clenching her fists as he spoke. His well-being was part of their plan, and she was relieved that Hans could heal him; she could now pummel him as much as she wanted.

Rael, however, understood the situation and intervened. "We did the best we could given the time and information we had," he explained. “We spent two months getting the dungeon structure right, and no one noticed. But we needed to act quickly, so I volunteered as the only person whose entrance would not be detected by mana detectors."

Yareth was perplexed by his words because he didn't understand why he would go unnoticed by mana detectors but he did not interrupt.

“Even five minutes after my entrance,” Rael continued, “guards were unaware, so chaos only began when I was approaching your cell.”

“But you could still fi—”

“Kid,” Rael raised his voice a little and interrupted Yareth, “That plan wasn't flawless but it was successful. I don't think we need to discuss it further. Also, thinking about Tiberius and his relationships, I caused a little mess on purpose. We needed to lure a certain man there.”

“Who?” Layla asked.

“Rovshen. He is dangerous to fight against. He could at least waste enough of our time for backup to arrive. Having him away from the castle is good for us. He is also a good friend of Tiberius, so I would rather not get between them.”

“Luring him into investigation of dungeon break.” Yareth caught his idea. “Since the king would never send Charles that far, the only person who would go is Rovshen. Sending a ‘truthseeker’ to investigate is a good idea for the castle to learn the truth of the break, and it’s also a good opportunity for you to enter the castle.”

“You aren't as dumb as I thought,” Rael giggled.

“Hey, you are back!” A voice came from behind.

“Yup, we got the package,” replied Rael, tapping on Yareth’s shoulder.

Tiberius approached them slowly, stopping in front of Yareth and staring at him. Yareth also looked him in the eye without flinching. Tiberius slowly extended his arm. Yareth inhaled deeply as he saw this. He understood that shaking that hand meant agreeing to whatever they asked him, whether he liked it or not. But seeing the life in the dungeon, not seeing daylight, and having no hope of escape, he shook his head, believing that the worst had already happened to him.

"I hope we can—"

Tiberius paused mid-sentence and looked to his right. A fast-moving arrow was approaching him.

He immediately pulled his hand. At that moment, the entire world seemed to move slower than usual. Only Tiberius himself could move at his usual pace. The difference wasn't significant, but it was enough to allow him to catch the arrow before it struck him on the head. As soon as he caught it, time continued as usual.

"I told you he's not what he used to be," Layla said with a smile.