Working for Jack of blades has been one of my greatest pleasures. For years I tried to succeed in the heroes guild before they kicked me out.

So what if I use necromancy? The guild supposedly claimed they don't care about what spells or morals we have. So I am Evil, so what? I have money and prestige! That means I can do whatever I want and there are no consequences. I also have power, unlike commoners, which my father taught means I can do anything.

Too bad I never quite got that mind control spell working properly. Had it worked I could have still become a hero. For six months I tried to brainwash one of the female heroes guild apprentices. Even with her arms and legs amputated and her tongue removed so she couldn't yell for help, she never broke.

She just gave me a hateful look every time I used her. According to the Guild Master, I was banished from the guild because of this attack against another apprentice. The real reason is probably that he dislikes me personally. Probably just jealous I am of noble birth and wishes he thought of my techniques himself. I found out years later she chose to end her life too. What a waste!

Having been banished from the guild and forced to seek my own fortune as I am the third son of my house. What was I "Ian Trant" to do? I got into an old profession of capturing and trading Nymphs. Eventually, thanks to my talent in creating unique spells I was taken under Jack of Blades wing.

Recently one of my best trappers and traffickers went missing. I had an order from a very important customer that he was to fill as fast as possible. Apparently a certain duke's Nymph turned/evolved into something he was calling a "succubus Queen" and broke free. Thanks to paying the guild handsomely to hunt the terrifying creature down and kill it all that was left to worry about was replacing his favorite toy.

So I went looking for my missing associate. I found trails from his home from him dragging a cage. Burt was always fairly strong but lacked endurance. So occasionally he let the cages drag on the ground as he went to place them in the woods. Following the trail, I was led into the Great woods Near towards the entry point to the Dark Woods. There was an old and now broken bear trap that was one of the tools Burt was known to use.

Using my Necromancy spells I was able to trace a weak connection from it to Burts remains. I had planned to resurrect his body and ask it who killed Burt. A discovery I made but never shared with the guild was that an undead doesn't have a soul. I told Jack of Blades this secret but he wasn't surprised. The man acted like he had known this for a long time but it made no difference.

Still, the undead I'd make of Burt would still have his memories and could lead me to the fool who killed him. I was going to torture this man for interrupting my profits. I cast my undead creation spell at his burial site but nothing happened. After several failed attempts I dug up his grave only to find his body had decayed way beyond what it should have. There was nothing left but bits of bone that were flexible like jelly and smelled of burnt hair.

"Gah!" I scowled.

I would have my revenge someday! Jack always assured me that vengeance can always be achieved if one is willing to wait.

So I went back to work helping Jack plan his assault on Oakvale. there were lots of little things for me to handle. Jack always needed money for his... "Projects". I, as usual, would handle the acquired merchandise from the slaughtered villagers and sell then discretely. Lots of towns and even bandit clans that needed to buy discounted provisions. A small discount is a good way to keep customers from asking too many unwanted questions. A good lesson I learned from my friends in the black market. I didn't use them much because although they guarantee no trouble will arise from they're brokering for you they charge 40%. Bah for 40 percent I'll risk some trouble. Not like Jack and I can't just kill whoever seeks to arrest us.

I was looking forward to torturing the Scarlet Robe hero and her young daughter. Jack told me we would be taking them alive. The daughter seemed a little too young to be interested in though. For now, I would have to settle with torturing Scarlet Robe and try to break her with my spell as well. Maybe I could get mind control working. It gives me shivers!

Our battle plan was perfect as the backwater town only had one guard. Since there were only one hero and a non-functioning cullis gate we didn't have to worry about any reinforcements arriving. A bunch of un-armed villagers and the only hero didn't even have a magical weapon.

Waiting from a good forty yards back from our bandit force I swatted at nats that surrounded my face. A few even got in my eye which caused me to look away as our assault began. The bandits spotted Scarlet Robe and Her horribly handsome husband running towards the front gate of Oakvale. A few arrows were fired but were stopped by an unseen force. Much to my dread, our assault was met with an instant counter-attack. We hadn't even killed one villager before a mysterious mage stepped in.

The man was terrifying with glowing eyes and a face made of darkness. Covered in tattered gray robes/cloak-like clothing. He looked like some ancient and all-powerful dark mage. Wielding some strange magicians rod he cast spells I've never seen before. He stopped Jack's most powerful attacks with his invisible barriers. As far as I know, there exists no spell that can stop Jack's "Hellblaze strike". It's one downside is it requires a weapon that can withstand hellfire that even the supposedly unbreakable enchanted weapons of the old kingdom cannot. You'd never believe the trouble I went through to track down that damn knife!

The unknown mage battled Jack and remained unfazed by his power. Impossible!!! What the hell is he? Just as I saw some attractive girl in the trees and started having a nice fantasy of her in chains she released a volley of arrows at our force. She too was using magic in this battle. In mere moments dozens of our force fell and I tried to slow our losses by turning the dead into the undead. It helped but made little difference to the lightly freckled reaper.

Jack was also perfectly countered by his opponent who was slowly getting the upper hand. I didn't have any directly offensive spells so once our forces were depleted that would be it. I didn't even get to see the end of the battle as I fled from the bull-like armored husband of Scarlet robe, the girl in the trees arrows, and Scarlet herself.

Lucky for me they didn't chase me too far but I fled off the main paths around the village. I ended up going away to the side of the village and up the hill along the coast. I could still see the village about 300 yards down from me as I went on a slanted tangent. I could easily find my way back to the main road once the coast is clear.

Trying to find a good place to hide I slipped into some mud that smelled of fresh piss.

"Curse these backwater bastards!" I cursed before I remembered I needed to hide and be quiet.

Now there was piss mud all in my black hair and bangs.

Focusing on the still lingering battle I could barely make out in the village I could tell both Jack and the mysterious dark mage were exhausted. Worse yet the unknown mage was now aided by the three heroes who chased me away. Jack won't be happy I left him to fend for himself!

The Heroic Jack has been known to kill people for less and this could be said to be a betrayal. I just value my life. Why did these people have to come along and not die when we say so and make trouble for me. Who gave them the right to defend themselves? They are just common filth!

If Jack spares me after this failure I'll have to invest in more offensive spells. Jack had suggested drain life but it has not helped in this battle so maybe I'll get beserk. Then I'll be able to take my anger out on my enemies and someday I will make those bitches my slaves!

Finally, it looked like Jack had the scary mage right where he wanted him. Jack was one strike away from victory but in one quick turn off events, Darkmage caught a frying pan and smashed it into master Jack's face! Of all things, he hit him with a freaking frying pan! WTF!

There was a massive pulse of Will energy released by my master because of either lost focus or trauma. I don't know why Jack's mask is so important to him but he rarely takes it off and when he does it never leaves his side. He almost never takes it off to begin with.

Surrounded Master Jack chose to retreat through one of his portals. The unknown mage and most likely also a Hero did not give chase. Neither did any of the other Heroes/Will users. I considered staying and spying to find out the Dark mages identity but if I did so I'd probably be caught. Once caught I would definitely be executed and then I would never get my revenge.

So I left in shame but one day I shall be victorious. Then glory shall be mine!