The Lich who Brings Ruin

Chapter 2 | Awakening (2)

"Hold on, can you repeat that? I think my ability to hear as an undead isn't as sensitive as I thought." 

"Uhm, alright? Among the Seven Pillars, Golvan Rezeth is their strongest mage who is currently a 7th Circle. He's the only publicly known mage to achieve this level." 

For a moment, the whole library was silent as the lich stared at Lena bewildered. Eventually the silence would be too much for the poor girl as she started fidgeting around in her seat waiting for Versci to respond. Unfortunately for her, he was very much still trying to accept what he had just heard.

(The strongest mage in the world right now is only a 7th Circle, even after three centuries since my passing.)

This fact caused Versci to go through a multitude of emotions.

From mild anger.

(What have these imbeciles been doing since my death? Even though I didn't like to make a name for myself, surely, some of them must have bore witness to my strength and chose to achieve a higher level?)

To denial.

(Wait a minute, this is just a front. In order to keep possible enemies on their toes, they're hiding their true power.)

Until coming to a logical conclusion to ease his mind.

(Aha! That's it, it seems I'm facing some cautious foes. Definitely.)

"Right, I'll need to be wary of other forces too if the current strongest is supposedly only a 7th Circle mage. Are there any kingdoms left that haven't been conquered by Marius yet?"

Lena let out a sigh of relief again before continuing the conversation. The silence was unnerving to the point she wanted to get off her seat and walk around just to calm herself.

"There are only two major forces that have yet to fall under the Empire's fold. These are the kingdoms of Druaka and Sereth. Recently they had formed an alliance to further resist the Empire's influence, leading to a stalemate for now." 

"I see, do you have a map on you?" 

"Ah, yes. But it's not as detailed as maps owned by military or nobility." She reached into a satchel that was tied to her hips, taking out a roll of paper before handing it over to Versci.

"Let's see here." Unfurling the map, he calls for a table as it floats in before setting the map down. 

The map had very little changes from what Versci was already familiar with, aside from the current territories of each kingdom and the Empire. Unsurprisingly, the former territory of Beisatz had fallen under Marius Empire's territory, more specifically the Hakon Kingdom, whose territory was comparatively small to the others surrounding it.

"Can you tell me about the kingdom we're currently in? I'm not familiar with it."

"Certainly. Hakon can be considered the most impoverished of all the conquered kingdoms. With a lack of land, they don't possess enough space to build houses for most of their citizens as well as not having enough farmland to sustain themselves. Needless to say, order will soon fall."

It was a terrible situation to listen to. It was also saddening to hear the land formerly occupied by Beisatz now belonged to a failing kingdom. It was then an idea appeared in his head.

"If I'm to understand this correctly, there are currently seven different kingdoms conquered by Marius. The one we're currently in is Hakon, which is the weakest of all seven. Is this right?"

"Yes, Master." 

If he had lips to smile, Versci would be showing a trademark grin he was famous for. This grin usually led to large-scale events.