When A Mage Revolts

Benjamin’s heart was not moved by the old man’s threats. Instead, he suddenly looked to the mages behind the old man.

Come to think of it, since they had resorted to burning the books, this showed how the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic had caused a certain reverberation in Desert City. The monopoly of the ‘Desert Shadow’ was being threatened; that was why the old man had burnt the books in such a hurry.

So… Had these other members of the ‘Desert Shadow’ been affected?

"Hey, incantations or laws of meditation, the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic has them all. Why did you still take orders from this old man and burn the books?" Benjamin shouted at the mages behind the old man.

That was right. Not only was he going to knock the props out from under the old man, he was going to do it in front of him.

However, the retort that came from the opposition mages was not as satisfactory as he had expected.

"Save your breath! Our leader has always been good to us, we definitely will never betray the ‘Desert Shadow’," one of the mages immediately yelled back.

Benjamin was slightly disappointed.

It looked as if these mages had become accustomed to the lifestyle of dictating the whole of Desert City and flouting their might wherever they pleased. They were already part of this monopoly, and as long as the elder was not usurped, they would absolutely not betray him.

In the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic, neither the magical knowledge or the fighting spirit attracted them.

"Do you hear that? No one is falling for that trick of yours. You had better leave now, or else, I can’t guarantee what might happen next," the old man chuckled coldly and looked at Benjamin disdainfully. A deep hostility could be felt from his gaze.

It was very obvious that if it wasn’t for his consternation towards the group of people following behind Benjamin, he probably would have already struck by now.

However, right at this moment, flying out from the middle of Desert City were a few mages. There were not many, about five or six; they had glided out from some isolated buildings. Very soon, they arrived in the airspace above the city center.

Seeing that, Benjamin could not help but furrow his eyebrows.

Were these the men from the ‘Desert Shadow’ too?

However, taking a second look at the scene before him, the ambiance between the mages did not look too friendly.

"Why are you still here?" The old man glared at the mages who had turned up suddenly, shooting his query at them fiercely.

Receiving such animosity from him, uneasiness fell upon on the newcomers’ expressions. However, glancing at Benjamin, they suddenly gathered their courage and retorted.

"We are citizens of Desert City, why can’t we be here?"

"You…"

Observing the scene before him, Benjamin became aware of who those people were.

Were they Desert City’s native mages?

The desert mages had briefed him on the modus operandi of ‘Desert Shadow’ - they were lawless and had even taken over the city hall. And these indigenous mages who had refused to join them were, naturally, badly mistreated.

A lot of people had not been able to withstand it and had left Desert City, but there were always some people who were forced to stay on for some reason. They could only swallow their anger and keep their peace. They usually never revealed themselves and hence, were not much different from the non-magical commoners.

At this moment, Benjamin realized that these free native mages were the ones he needed to rope in.

"You… Are you really the mage who wrote the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic?" At this moment, the group of native mages flew over to Benjamin and asked meekly.

Benjamin nodded his head.

For a moment, their faces revealed expressions of relief.

"Magic is free. They should be used as powerful tools to fight oppression, and not as an excuse for which mages are besmirched." A mage spoke. "Sir, they may have seized our books, but I still remember this quote."

Hearing that, Benjamin was pleasantly surprised.

He had written this booklet purely to incite the mages to revolt against the Church; he did not expect it to also inspire these oppressed, lowly mages.

Thinking thus, his sight fell back to the ‘Desert Shadow’ mage.

"Great, found your back-up?" The old man did not take his eyes off the mages, saying, "Fine. You better get out of here with them, do what you want. But don’t you even dare have any ideas to do in Desert City."

"Desert City is not yours, it belongs to everyone," Benjamin replied sharply. "It’s only because no one placed much importance on this place that you could continue your dictatorship like this. Do you think you’re really that powerful?"

"Today, the only people who will get out of here is you."

While speaking, he clapped his hands once. Appearing suddenly in the skies were tight masses of icicles. The mages of the ‘Desert Shadow’ could not help but look astounded at the sight.

There was no recital of spells, no magic fluctuation, and yet Benjamin had successfully utilized his magic powers. To them, this was an incredible feat. Even the mages behind Benjamin were shocked; it would go without saying that the mages on the opposing end would be too.

The old man looked into Benjamin’s eyes and slowly became serious. However, perhaps due to the pride that came with being the local tyrant, he did not show any signs of retreat.

"Just a little scare tactic…..." He shook his head, and, like a mobster initiating a gang fight, commanded, "Go! Teach them a lesson!"

At his cue, the more than forty mages in number on his side, started chanting a spell in unison.

Feeling an intense fluctuation in the elements, there was an extra burden on Benjamin’s heart. Although he had many on his side as well, they were new and there was no coordination amongst them. In addition, he had no idea what they were capable of.

It was still all up to him…

So, he took his chances while they were still chanting and struck without hesitation!

In the sky, the number of icicles increasing in bursts to almost a thousand shot right down at the mages of the ‘Desert Shadow’’ like a sudden falling meteor shower!

But the opponent’s chants were fast too; by then, half of them had finished their chanting. Over twenty layers of elemental shields simultaneously opened up, protecting them.

In the blink of an eye, the icicles crashed into the shield; a frosted mist exploded in midair like fireworks.

Benjamin could not help but frown his eyebrows.

This was his first attempt at challenging so many mages. Even if he was confident with his magical prowess, but… It was still hard to say.

Could he do it?

In mere moments, the ice mist disapparated. Benjamin could see that this attack of nearly a thousand icicles had not hurt them in the slightest. The shields released by over twenty people had blocked every attack. At the moment, there were even a few intact shields, still steadfastly defending them.

That was a bit troublesome.

He also realized that relying solely on his capabilities to suppress a crowd was a very difficult task.

Or maybe… Well someone with a higher level could do it, but for him now, forty over enemy mages could already be a difficult bone to chew. Who would know, this could even backfire. Forget about some miraculous one-versus-hundred feat.

He could only say that he was lucky he wasn’t alone.

At the same time, while Benjamin had struck, the desert mages and native mages did not dilly dally. By then, they were already not very fond of the ‘Desert Shadow’ and his men, and had longed for a fight. Now that Benjamin had gathered them together, they had the ability to oppose them. It was only natural that they would not be submissive anymore.

Along with the low murmuring of spells, over ten layers of shield appeared, propped up defensively in front of them. Immediately after, a series of fireballs, ice arrows and more were also summoned, and fiercely charged towards the enemy!

"Tszzzz..."

Seeing this, however, Benjamin furrowed his eyebrows.

This group of mages… Were not cooperating with each other.

Their magic was clumped up together; the powers of the fireballs and ice arrows were weakened by being combined, and could not be a hundred percent unleashed.

A few tens of people were alright. Given some training, they would be able to synchronize like Joanna and the others. That would be adequate, but… What if there were hundreds of mages? Going forward, what if there were thousands?

At this moment, Benjamin suddenly realized that mage gang fights were an area of expertise that he needed to explore more.