When A Mage Revolts

Benjamin had chills that went up his spine.

He immediately activated the Water Particle Detection to observe the nearby surroundings.

The area was empty and vast all around. Apart from the mages, there was no one else. However, despite all that he saw, he could not brush off that feeling that he was being spied on.

It was simply too peculiar...

It has been a long time since he was addressed as "Benjamin Lithur" ever since he escaped from the Kingdom. Otherwise it would be like these mages who only knew him by his first name, Benjamin, but did not know that he came from the imperial capital’s Lithur household; or the bishop and Dick who recognised him but only referred to him as Grant.

In the eyes of many, Benjamin Lithur was a useless noble who was hiding in the imperial capital. The one that disappeared without a trace should be Grant Lithur.

That was why those line of words was shocking to Benjamin.

— He had already escaped the Kingdom of Helius and had been out of the woods till now. A total stranger has now seen through his identity, how was that possible?

"Did you manage to record down the process of that man disappearing from the tent?" Benjamin asked the System.

There were just too many loop holes. He has to make clear of these, one by one.

He was prepared to start from the incredible stunt the young man pulled.

"Yeah….. it was recorded but I think even if you took a look at it, you would not find anything useful though," The System hesitated before giving such an answer.

Benjamin was puzzled, "Why?"

"I slow-mo-ed his entire escape and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary," The System explained. "He simply crushed the ice and turned to run, that’s all. It was just that his actions were merely too fast, that was why it looked as though he disappeared into thin air."

"..."

Benjamin could not really believe this explanation.

The moment he heard the ice breaking, he reacted to it. He chanted the spell and summoned an Ice Arrow to be launched. The entire process took no more than three seconds. And now the System was telling him that this person depended on his two limbs to get away without a trace and left him a rugged note within three seconds?

Total bullshit.

Who was he? A super soldier who has been shot with a serum, or some mutant with special powers?

"To break away from my control with sheer brute force and escape the tent with lightning speed, is this the capability of the normal being?" He tried to confirm with the System once more.

"But he really did do it. Didn’t you check already? That he wasn’t a Mage and merely a civilian." The System paused and added on, "Didn’t he mention something about the magic potion developed by the Mage guild? Maybe that was the special effect that came with it that made him run like superman."

Benjamin was speechless from astonishment.

.... Magic potion, huh?

There was... a possibility.

Benjamin nodded as he thought it through.

Previously, he was able to retrieve a magical equipment from a priest that made one agile. Now that you think about it, if the Mage there developed a magic potion that was able to surpass all mortal limit to do things mortals are not able to do, it was not that hard to accept.

After all, he has no knowledge of this aspect.

Benjamin was sparked with immerse curiosity.

Magic potion... what would this be?

Although Benjamin did not really understand, but judging by what the young man has said, the Mage guild was still developing a potion to be immune to any magic or divine arts. The mages there clearly have very high skill sets in research and development.

Most importantly, could it really be developed? If it were to really happen, then how would spell casters survive? Benjamin had a headache thinking about this.

He thought that divine arts and magic were this world’s most powerful weapon. Now if you looked at it, that was not all to it. If these so called "magic potions" were really equipped with various miraculous effects and were high in production, then there was a lot that could challenge a Mage in this world.

If that were the case, then this world’s social structure would be different from what he had imagine. Under the influence of the magic potion, spell casters would still have a high social standing but would never be at the peak of the world without a worry.

— Even if it were a mortal, as long as they drank a little of the magic potion, they could achieve anything.

Benjamin felt a sense of danger.

Now he has to be cautious even when facing mortals from here on out. Just as the strange young man he met today. If he were to take Benjamin’s life, Benjamin would not stand a chance at that circumstance without alertness.

For real...

Benjamin immediately thought of another issue.

Now that he recalled the memory, that fellow had a lot of opportunities to finish Benjamin off but he did not. He came all this way to be frozen by Benjamin and spurt some nonsense, to only disappear and leave a ragged note behind.

What was the meaning of this? To welcome him to Icor?

It was possible... that the queen never did order for his stalking.

What was his real motive then?

"Sir Benjamin?"

Just as he couldn’t figure anything out, there was sudden shocked voice that interrupted Benjamin’s thoughts. Benjamin lifted his head up and saw Augustine standing outside the tent, lifting the sheet door with his head leaning in, looking at him puzzled.

"I’m alright." Benjamin returned to his sense and shook his head.

Augustine turned to all four corner to look around and bewildered, "Where was the lost young man? Wasn’t he going to live here? Where did the guy go? Right, I felt a slight magic disturbance. Was there something wrong with the guy, Sir Benjamin?"

Benjamin shrugged his shoulders and let out a little laugh, "It was more than something wrong..."

He paused after saying this and then proceeded to explain the entire story that happened to Augustine. After listening to Benjamin, Augustine was floored.

"... How could this be? I’ve seen a lot of mercenaries, but I couldn’t tell?" He seemed to feel guilty for not being able to see through the guy.

"That was only self-proclaimed. Who knows if he is," Benjamin shook his head and said, "It’s quite alright, he shouldn’t be back. Back to rest now everybody and let’s be more alert."

Augustine was becoming a worry wart but did not say anything further. He nodded and left.

Benjamin let out a sigh after seeing him leave.

There was simply too much of the unknown. There were things that he could not possibly understand today.

After thinking about it for another while, he decided to let it go and returned to his tent to rest — it was getting late and they had to be on their way tomorrow. He needed the rest.

There were just too many things happening today.

The fatigued Benjamin laid to rest in his tent and fell into a deep slumber.

Finally the calm returned to the night fall in the wasteland, and nothing else out of the ordinary happened the rest of the night. The next morning, the mages got up and continued their journey. The good news was, another two mages mastered the Flight Spell, perhaps after being stimulated by Benjamin’s steamed group flight from the day before.

Benjamin could only press that pressure promotes improvement and suggested that the rest of them continue experiencing the turbulence. After being rejected in its entirety, he had to give up the idea.

They continued their journey, following the original route.

It was a smooth journey, other than encountering a few beasts that were bombed by the mages for a feast. Everything went according to plan. They were moving onward to their destination, without stopping to rest much, even for meditation. They were in a hurry.

Finally after three days, Benjamin and the group made it out of the wasteland.