Chapter 8 – Uproar

“Silence!”

Karzek's booming voice deafened the ears of everyone present as it thundered through the hall. As a result, the bandits stopped their chattering while they waited for their boss to tell them what this assembly was about.

“In a month we will attack Gartenz. Prepare yourself until then.” The hall had already turned quiet before, yet it was still able to descend into a further level of silence. All of the men seemed to have stopped breathing at the same time, unable to process what their boss had just proclaimed.

“Are you ser-!?”

One foolish man was about to refute Karzek, but before he could finish, the man lit up in a bright flame. The dazzling human torch screamed out in agony for some time, thrashing at his empty surroundings that had already been cleared by the nearby bandits in a hurry. Without any attempt to help him, they watched the man slowly sink to the ground as his cries died down, signifying his demise. The bandits watched this scene filled with a new horror that shook them out of whatever stupor they had been in. They remembered why they'd never refuted anything the man said and a third silence filled the hall.

“Anyone else?” Karzek asked, and the silence was his answer. He dispersed the gathering, and each bandit went about their activities as they silently thought about this event.

“He wants us to attack Gartenz!? Has he gone completely insane this time!?” Eric, who had long recovered from the venom, shouted out in a drunken stupor. Together with Erwin and another man, the three sat around a table filled with delicacies and alcohol. From cheese to fresh meat to the best alcohol they could find, anything one could wish for was there - Except for one thing.

“This...” Neither Erwin or the other man could answer him. No matter how they looked at it, this was a fool's endeavor.

“Rob some merchants? Sure, gladly! Attack a heavily guarded transport from the military? Risky, but count me in! Attack an entire military base close to the academy? Fuck, no! Do we look like such fools to him!? Come on, Erwin, Warren, say something!”

“...It's true. I don't know what the boss is thinking...” The man called Warren responded. Out of the three, he was the least incapacitated by the alcohol. He'd thought carefully about their boss' motives but... No matter how strong he was, this was something way over their heads.

“He's gone mad! A lunatic, like he always is!” Erwin joined in on the cursing, also inhabited by the alcohol.

“You know why he dares to oppose Gartenz!? It's because regardless of the outcome, he will survive. But what about us!? He couldn't care less about us! It's been fine that way before, but this time he's going too far!!” Eric shouted out until the entire tavern could hear him. Under normal circumstances, they'd all try and stop Eric from making a scene, lest they got involved in his antics and Karzek caught wind of their slandering. This time, however, no one bothered stopping him. After all, similar thoughts were occupying their minds.

“And what's with this shitty excuse for a drink!? I want Aien's ale, damn it!” Eric threw the mug filled with red wine into the air until it splattered against a wall, where it gathered with about a dozen half-empty cups. Each was filled with a different kind of booze, yet none was able to satisfy their palate that had tasted 'the drink of Gods.'

“It's the best we've got. To think that this pisswater was taken off a noble's secret carriage to evade taxes... What's so good about this stuff? Sigh...” Erwin answered and poured the contents of his own mug next to the table, onto the ground. At this point, it also took them double their usual amount of drinking to get drunk from the regular alcohol they were served.

“You know that his last batch got ruined by the storm we had last week.” Warren shook his head with a pained expression as he followed suit in emptying his mug. And these three weren't the only ones. Basically, anyone in their bandit group couldn't do without Aien's ale anymore.

“Yeah? That's just what he tells us!” Eric continued, the amount of alcohol eventually getting to his head despite the 'pisswater' it was supposed to be.

“Have you heard about that rumor? Apparently, that damned Karzek forbade him from brewing any more. I'm sure that bastard just wants to keep all of it to himself! Poor Aien got himself caught up and has to obey that tyrant.”

“You know what!?” Erwin suddenly got fired up himself and stood up as he slammed his hands onto the table. Whether it was the alcohol or Karzek's recent treatment of them, dissatisfaction was welling up within him. And he knew he wasn't alone.

“Aien should be our boss! He may not be the strongest, but he always knows what's best for us! I'm sure no one would dislike the idea!”

“Yeah!” Eric chimed in eagerly as if it was something he'd come up with himself. Their voices were loud enough to travel to the adjourning tables, and without exception, everyone starred at the table of the three with mixed expressions. Each bandit was feeling conflicted, involving disbelief that someone had just dared to utter these words, to hesitation and what they should do. In the end, no one came to stop their drivel. Instead, the nearby people soon followed suit in their proclamations until the entire tavern was filled with the shouts and songs that worshiped Aien as their true leader.

Meanwhile, the man himself was busy within his own building as per usual. It was the middle of the night, yet he was working himself to the bone. Whether it be studying or creating medicine, there was always something he was busy with. Rarely was a minute of his time spent on leisure or relaxation.

He stared down at the two flasks in front of him. Long glass tubes filled with a tiny amount of blood-red liquid. Aien took out the brown pouch he was given by Erwin some time ago and carefully opened it to reveal its contents. It was filled to the brim with grey dust, looking like something you'd find lying around any casual household. Carefully, he put the tiniest amount he was capable of onto one of his hands. He continued to rinse it through his hands until he felt like he only held a single grain in his hands. Then, after taking an arm's length of distance, he let the grain drop into one of the vials. Nothing happened.

He repeated the earlier process and dropped another grain into the other flask. This time, he immediately gained some distance between himself and the flask as the grain fell down. Directly after the grain made contact with the liquid, an explosion occurred. The entire flask was shattered into tiny pieces, and on the wooden table a small hole, the size of a fist, had appeared.

Aien brushed off the few pieces of glass on his clothing. Whenever he did some experiments or handled messy plants, he chose to wear a dark cloak that covered his entire body. Through the year the cloak had been stained far too often, but the black color was able to hide most of the mess. Slowly, he lowered the arm he'd used to guard his face that was turned into a frown.

“So it needs to get into contact with Aer to create a reaction...” He muttered to himself with a slight tone of disappointment. Aien looked at the two remains of the flask which had contained his own and Erwin's blood. He'd found the answers to his questions, but it wasn't the one he'd hoped for. Then again, this outcome was to be expected.

Deciding it was time for a short break, he stepped out of the room to gaze at the moonlight shining down. If the weather was right, the light reflected by the three moons could almost illuminate the night like day. From a distance, he heard the disturbance caused by the festivities of the bandits. He gave them only a short glance before turning to look at the place Karzek resided in. If everything went right, then soon... he might taste freedom for the first time. Or lose his chance to do so forever.

Putting these matters aside, for now, he headed towards Erwin's house that was several minutes away from his own.

More than three weeks passed by and the mood within the village continued to worsen. 'Doomsday' came closer and Karzek didn't show any signs that he'd changed his mind, causing the minds of the bandits to gradually be filled with distress. They began shivering and mumbling to themselves regularly by now, some even drifting between illusions and reality. Most of their time was spent drinking, but the effect became more negligible as time went on. Eventually, they no longer found any solace in drinking and the mood hit an all-time low.

That's when a ray of hope shone upon their unfortunate lives in the form of Aien. Three days before the departure Aien announced that he'd finished a new batch of his Ale. The news spread like wildfire and not long after his entire house was surrounded by every single bandit. Eagerly they waited for the man to step out of his home as they cheered his name to the skies, causing an uproar in this bandit village as never before.

Eventually, Aien stepped out to receive his admirers. Instantly, all noise ceased from existence as they listened attentively for the man to speak up as if he was an envoy from the Gods.

“Everyone, I'm very sorry for the delay!” Aien raised his voice.

“Within minutes the last batch will be finished and I'll assure you there is enough for anyone present here!”

“Aien! Aien! Aien! Aien!”

The entire crowd erupted into another uproar, their combined voices almost shaking the earth. Even after Aien had returned into the building, the cheers of admiration didn't stop. Inside the building, Aien went into the room where he'd stored the barrels of ale and did most of his experiments. He walked to the table filled with various flasks, that contained all kinds of different liquids. Some were gathered from plants, others from wild animals as well as many blood donations from his fellow bandits. After taking one of the flasks, he walked over to a barrel and opened it. Looking down into it, he added the liquid into the ale.

“That's enough of your nonsense, Michael.”

A sudden voice originated from behind him. He'd never heard anyone step in or the sound of the door being opened. Aien didn't need to turn around to recognize to whom it belonged to.

“Boss, you're here? What can I help you with?” He asked astonished as if he was truly surprised to find out why Karzek had appeared here personally.

“Hmph!”

Karzek didn't care any longer about the act Aien was putting up. He gave the man one last penetrating look before evicting him from his mind. He'd been quite interested in what Michael was up to, but he didn't care any longer. He'd let these antics go on long enough, hoping to gain some entertainment out of them. From the way it looked like, that had just been a waste of his time.

Aien knew the crucial moment had arrived and there was no more time for hesitation or delay. Before Karzek acted, he had to do something. Thankfully, he'd already expected the man to appear before him one day and prepared himself accordingly. Without turning around, Aien took out another flask that was hidden inside the jacket he was wearing. It was filled to the brim with blood and with a decisiveness that could shatter stone, he commenced his plan.

The flask was crushed in his hand, which he then swung horizontally to scatter the blood around the entire room.

Whether Karzek was caught by surprise or simply didn't think of Aien as a serious threat didn't actually matter. Regardless, the man didn't react immediately to Aien's actions, but he didn't give him any time to be careless either. As soon as the vial was shattered, Aien felt the temperature within his body rising with blinding speed. Like a fire that was lit within him, he felt as if his whole blood had begun boiling. His skin turned a yellowish red, surrounded by a heat that distorted the air around him. A scene he'd witnessed several times before Karzek had turned men into short-lived torches.

However, before he erupted in flames, the blood had splattered across the floor and walls. With the sound of a deafening explosion, the entire room shattered and created a shockwave that sent Aien flying through the nearby window into the outside. Behind him, a chain-eruption of explosions occurred, seemingly without end. It had begun in the room he'd been in and continued on across the entire basement of the building. As a result, the whole foundation of the building was destroyed. Together with a blazing fire, the building collapsed into itself with rumbling shockwaves traveling through the grounds. Pieces of wood and stone were sent flying through the air with such might that made them almost impossible to dodge. Some of the nearby bandits were injured while the unfortunate ones were effortlessly killed. With impeccable ease, the flying debris had crushed their heads into a pulp.

The building had just finished collapsing, and the tremors began to cease when suddenly another enormous explosion originated from within the rubble. An explosion incomparable to the previous ones, sent some of the ruins flying while completely evaporating the rest. This time far more bandits were caught in the blazing ball of fire that engulfed everything in its surroundings. Within mere moments the building had disappeared together with a few hundreds of the bandits. In its place was a crater, twice the size of the previous building. A pitch-black hole within the ground filled with ash and debris.

Aien had watched this spectacle behind a hollowed ground. He'd approximately calculated the force of the explosion, and for the price of a burned back, he'd catapulted himself into some space he'd prepared beforehand. The clothes were burned off his back, revealing the searing burn wound he'd suffered. Together with a sprained ankle and a few broken ribs, he'd paid a lot for this. Despite that, there was not a trace of discomfort on his face as he thoroughly studied the crater.

Surrounding it were the shocked bandits who didn't know up from down anymore. Several dozens of charred bodies lay within the crater, no longer recognizable to whom they'd belonged while others had vanished entirely within the explosion, not leaving a trace of their existence behind. Other bandits had lost limbs and suffered severe burns as they cried out in anguish after being sent through the air in far worse conditions than Aien.

But he didn't care about any of that. Instead, he focused all of his attention on the center of the crater. The dust created by the wood and the smoke of the remaining fire slowly settled, revealing the target of his explosion.

When he saw the man, he couldn't suppress a wry chuckle. He'd expected this possible outcome, but It did make him wonder.

What the hell was a magus?

Within the crater, the man stood seemingly unfazed by this explosion that had killed hundreds and reduced an entire building to dust and ashes. Not even his clothes showed so much as a sign of being burnt or any trace of the events that had just taken place. Even without his armor, Karzek had not only survived the explosion but was casually standing in the middle of it.

The only change from before and after was the unyielding rage on Karzek's face that had slightly become paler. Like an enraged bull, his eyes had turned entirely bloodshot as they darted around to search for his victim.