A Warlock's Ascent

There had been very few moments in Dave's life where he was so terrified that he damn near pissed his pants. One such incident happened recently when he came face to face with the Big Black Dragon in its nest.

He remembers the moment when he thought that the Dragon had spotted him and was looking straight at him. It was at that moment he really started seeing a bright light calling him. And now all he had to do was leave this body and go to the light.

But then somehow he made it out of the nest of Roghorth. He made it out alive. He then promised himself that he would never go near that Black Monstrosity again. And he wants to honor that promise as well. But from the way things are going on, it doesn't seem like he would be able to honor his promise.

Before coming to the Escort mission, Grump had a little talk with him about the mission. And he had made some things pretty clear to him…

"You want me to follow everything that you say?" Dave repeated what Grump said.

"Yes. Every single command that I give you should be followed." The old man nodded.

"Is there any particular reason for such a request?"

"Woah Woah…. This isn't a request. It is an order."

"An order? Who the hell do you think you are?"

"I am your superior. You are alive because of me. And you will stay that way if you listen to me…" then the old man sighed and said "Listen very carefully kiddo, in missions like these a party cannot afford to be disobedient to the party leader. Or otherwise, the lack of discipline could cause the whole party's death."

"That is bullshit. What if you gave me an order that could potentially throw me into the hands of death? Then there is no way I am following your orders."

"Throw you in the hands of death? Are you an idiot? You are a precious commodity to me right now. The only way I would ever let you go is when I gain the same talent as you. Or there is no choice. It is highly unlikely that these two scenarios could happen."

"If you say so," But Grump didn't stop right there. He then started to instruct him about how he should behave amongst the clients and all.

He instructed him that he should follow his every command, and was never to question his judgment in front of the client. This doesn't give off the right message to the clients and shows them that they are not united as a team. And this could never work out in their favor. So he insisted that he never argue with his judgment in front of the clients.

Also, the old man Grump discreetly pointed out the priorities of the mission. The first priority was his own life. He cared for his life. And it holds the highest value to him. The second on the list would be him, as he was currently very valuable and indispensable right now. And then comes the client. That means that if a time really comes when he had to make a choice between who to choose, he would choose him above the clients.

Hearing the old man's reasoning did give him a sense of assurance that the old man would protect him if the time comes. But this also made him understand that if the situation worsen then the old man wouldn't think twice before abandoning him.

He didn't blame him or hated him for this fact. Because it was in human nature to think about their and their loved one life first. This served as a reminder to him that he should not be dependent on anyone.

***

As Dave walked behind the group, he was thinking about whether he should ask Grump about his plan. He knew that the old man wouldn't take any dangerous steps just to make money. If the old man had decided that they would go from Roghorth's domain, then he would have a plan.

Their second destination was the shore of a very big lake. The river that they were following mixed with the lake here at this point. There was little big fog around the lake which was making it hard to see what was beyond it.

But even through the fog, he noticed that there seem to be a very big island towards the center of the lake. And that Island was made from red color mountains which were permeating a red color gas from it.

Looking at the red fog surrounding the Island, he realized that the island must be Death Valley that he had seen on the map. And Carlin also mentioned that the island in the middle of the lake is always covered in poisonous red gas which is very harmful to anyone. That is why no one goes there.

But the strangest part about the whole situation was the River itself…

After seeing the map of the world, he made a lot of assumptions about the world. And one of them was about the Rivers around the Midgard, he thought that they originated from the Valley. No one specifically mentioned river originated from Death Valley. He just assumed that they did because it was fairly logical. But now as he stood on the shore of the Lake and was looking at the scene in front of him, he started to think that maybe logic could not always be applied to this world.

When he realized that rivers were flowing from the opposite direction, he understood that he had it wrong. Grump was sticking to his original plan, they would be moving from Cloudhold, not the Roghorth's domain…

Their true motive for coming here was a tree that stood tall by the bank of the river. There was a similar one on the other side of the river. Both the trees were connected with a set of two ropes tied parallel to each other. And it is only after looking at the ropes, he understood what they were doing here.

Getting to the other side of the river was pretty simple. A person would latch himself up with a hook and a rope from the big rope on the top. And then simply all they need to do is slide their way to another side by maintaining their balance on the rope on the bottom. As there was a safety hook attached to the top rope, it was a pretty easy task to get from one side to another.

At least what he thought…

He was the first one to go to the other side. Getting to the other side was a terrifying thing ordeal as the ropes wobbled because of the wind and his weight. A time came when he thought that he would fall down as he lost his footing on the rope below. But the hook saved his life. He then regained his footing and finally made it to the other side.

Behind him came the old man. He did have some difficulty while coming there, but he was able to make it in the end. Then came the young man and finally came Grump.

After everyone was on the same side of the bank of the river, they set off once again. As they moved further, he started noticing the difference between the domains of Ravenshade and Clouldhold.

From the shore, he saw that there were tons of mountains and mountain ranges in the distance. And from the looks of it, the mountains were surrounded by dense forest. Seeing the dense forest made him remember the blabbering of Grump when they were surveying the Ravenshade city…

"Cloudhold is a shithole. It is surrounded by dense forest and mountains which becomes like a breeding ground for monsters. Most of the monsters that spawn there are not killed right away due to a lack of personnel there. That is why it is a very hard place to live in." Those were Grump's exact words when he asked about Cloudhold.

Then Grump started to mention that Cloudhold is the place where the most dangerous monsters of Midgard are found. As monsters are not killed there as soon as they spawn, the monsters start evolving. And they become more dangerous as time passes.

To stop a monster from evolving further, all the great cities have a policy that they care about monsters soon after they are spawned. This keeps the monsters from evolving. But as the personnel in Cloudhold are little as it is, monsters are not killed soon after they are spawned. That is why Cloudhold has a very high number of evolved monsters. Which makes it very dangerous to roam around freely…

After they had made some distance between them and the river, Grump stopped everyone. He then declared that they will be making a camp around here. After that, he instructed him to cook something to eat for them. While he went off to scout the area.

Young Ricardo was very happy that now they could throw away their hoods and be free once again. And his happiness increased when he invited him to light a bonfire with him. He wanted to try it as well, as he had never done it before and had only seen servants do it for him.

Dave didn't like the young spoiled rich brat. But he had to give it to the boy as he was very knowledgeable. As he wanted to get close to the boy to get more information out of him, he asked him to help him out. He instructed the boy to go around the camp and gather as much dried wood as he can.

As soon as the young boy got out of earshot, the old man got into action. He walked up to him, as he was taking out pot and cutlery from his inventory. The old man went to his back and without hesitation kicked him on his back.

The kick wasn't really powerful so in a sense, it wasn't able to faze him. But he did fall down face first as soon as the old man kicked him.

"What the hell is your problem?" Dave asked the old man while getting up.

"You listen to me maggot. I don't want you to come near my grandson again. Or otherwise, you will be in for a lot of pain. Trust me, I know some people that could hurt you. They could hurt you very badly." Dave just stood there boiling with anger. But he didn't retaliate. He knew that after this job he would never meet the old man. Plus he was a client, if he retaliates now, he doesn't know how would Grump react.

"I understand," he apologized with his head down.

"You better understand it. Low Borns like you have no business mingling with people like us. You will make us tarnished, just like you." The old man said and then he turned around and left.

He just stood there and took it from the old man. He was enraged. Especially after he heard the Low Born sentence. He had heard a similar sentence like this before, because of his parents. When he was in high school, many parents would urge their children to stay away from him, he was a low-born according to them.

Once he had a crush on this girl. He befriended her and wanted to ask her out. But her big brother found and beat him up. 'Some people are born in the upper curve of society. And some are born at lower. Know your place and stay away from my daughter.' her brother said.

To this, he remembers the exact words that the man told him. And he still thinks about it to this day. People have been judging him based on his father and mother all of his life. And in a world where no one knows about his history, he still considered a lowly existence. He didn't like that. He didn't like it a little bit.

***

There comes a time in every powerful person's life when they have a chance to gamble and win big. These gambles are usually very risky deals that could lead to the downfall of the said, powerful person. But if the gamble pays off then the person who gambled, becomes a legend.

Grego, the nutcracker, an underground boss of the secret dealing of Ravenshade played such a gamble after the beast tide hit…

Helian Rtoss, the city lord of Barcelma contacted him. After the beast tide hit, the city of Infragilis and Barcelma was in bad condition. They have lost good people to the tide. And he wanted him to smuggle the infamous Potion Master and Alchemist, Hamel Gomez out of the Ravenshead. And deliver him safely to Infragilis.

And in return, he promised to pay with enough money and resources that he could officially dethrone Carlin. With her gone, it would be easier to make someone else sit in the City Lord position. And maybe the new City Lord would turn out to be one of the men who are on his payroll.

He couldn't deny the fact that the offer itself was very tempting. Controlling Ravenshade city means a lot of power and money in his hands. The city's domain is in a bad situation currently, but there was nothing that enough resources and strong men couldn't fix.

Thus he made a gamble. He made his trusted friend take Hamel and his grandson Ricardo out of the Ravenshade. He trusted his friend and he knew about his skills. Thus he was sure that he would be able to complete the job…

Like always, Grego was sitting in his booth alone. He had expensive wine in his hand and was enjoying a quiet time. It was then one of his men came running towards him with a slip of paper in his hands…

"This better be important," Grego mumbled as the man came to him.

"Sir, I was in contact with one of our friends in Cloudhold. And we have just received this report." The man said while handing over the report to Grego. The old man took the report and started going through it. As the old man went through the report, his face started changing expression. And by the end of the report, the old man's face had become completely pale. The old man then instantly got up and started running towards his office…