Epic Of The Demonic Sage

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Pure shock ran across their faces as if they were all in bewilderment that Lucius could utter such a thing in the privy of his own mind.

However, their surprise only lasted for a couple of seconds before they all succumbed to fury.

“You don’t even have the gall to feel anything, do you?! No regrets, no heart, nothing at all… you’re a monster!” Mira cried out and lashed out at him, even more furiously than before. Tears continued to pour down her face. “I had loved you! Wanted the good for you! I was ready to bear your child!”

“To think that we even trusted you for a single moment. You’re more of a devil than any of us!” Michal shouted.

“Devil? He’s deceptively good. Pretending to be like some angel, when he’s all rotten on the inside. This insidious man, he has made a fool of all of us.” Another voice said.

“Why would you have so much ambition?” Mira’s voice suddenly turned to pain. “You were already rising through the ranks. You’ve accomplished so much already than any servant of Barrom Clan has ever had before.”

“You’ve gained knowledge, far more than any of us, and yet you turned it for your own self gain without any regard for any of us.”

“Couldn’t things have been enough?” Mira asked, her voice raw with emotion. “Couldn’t you have been satisfied with what we had? You had suffered much, but… did you really need the whole world under your control? Isn’t there a limit to one’s desires?”

Lucius’s face became cold as he stared at the visage of Mira. Out of everyone who shouted and cursed him in his dream, she was somehow far louder than others and the first one who had grabbed onto his leg and tried to drag him down.

Perhaps it was because she was the one who had been at his side for a number of years before his plan had come to fruition.

However, Lucius knew that the ‘Mira’ in front of him was not the woman who had sacrificed her own child to get back at him.

It was a figment of his own mind, maybe.

“Begone,” Lucius said. “I have already said it earlier, but these dreams have no meaning or purpose to me whatsoever.”

***

Lucius opened his eyes and found sunlight seeping in through the curtains to his room. It was actually a bit brighter than he was used to, to which he frowned.

But more important than that, was the sensation that he felt.

“I’m covered in all this sweat,” Lucius said with a shake of his head. He was a bit displeased with his own body, and even more so that he would even have a dream like the one he had before. “Was I too tired from last night? Exhaustion can do so many things to the mind, it seems.”

He stood up and quickly went for his wardrobe to get a fresh change of shirt. Lucius removed his shirt without any delay and he slipped another new one on.

A couple of black spots were on Lucius’s back, unseen by the man himself, but they quickly disappeared after lingering for only a few seconds.

Lucius quickly made his way down for breakfast, his own stomach growling in hunger.

“The fatigue from last night must have truly done a number on me,” Lucius muttered before he arrived in the dining hall.

The Count, Countess and Viscountess Blackshield were all present already and looked up at his arrival.

“Ah, good morning Young Lord Asher. Did you plan on keeping us waiting for this long? I know I arrived late during the banquet at Etara’s Cross, but you need not delay yourself as well,” Viscountess Blackshield said with a wry smile on her face.

“I need not to, indeed, Viscountess. Forgive me for the delay.” Lucius laughed lightly before he took a seat. “I have been actually feeling quite hungry, so I am looking forward to eating.”

“You truly didn’t eat much during the time during the banquet. You were too busy mingling with everyone,” the Countess lightly scolded Asher.

“I think that was the primary purpose of the banquet, mother. To meet, celebrate, and interact with everyone who joined in honoring our victory.” Lucius responded before he received his food.

Lucius started to eat his food quickly, and ate it all at a good pace, which surprised the Count, Countess and even Viscountess Blackshield herself.

“With the pace that you’re going at, Young Lord Asher, somehow I can’t help but feel as if you’ve slept longer and are eating a lot in order to prepare for our spar,” the Viscountess said with a chuckle.

Compared to how the Viscountess seemed cold and distant from everyone during the time of the banquet, with hardly anyone even coming to speak with her, this time she was a lot more talkative and friendly.

It was actually a little surprising to Lucius, but he accepted it without much issue and merely laughed.

“That did not come across my mind at all, Viscountess. Truly, I am only famished after traveling from Etara’s Cross and the journey must have also winded me down.”

“Did you sleep properly last night, Asher?” the Countess asked with a slight furrow in her brow. She turned to Viscountess Blackshield. “Before, Kiana informed me that he spent quite some time reading late at night. There have even been times when he slept for more than twelve hours.”

Viscountess Blackshield was a little upbeat, but at those words, she suddenly frowned a little and glanced in Asher’s way.

Countess Lita’s motherly nature somehow almost reminded the Viscountess that she was truly dealing with someone who would have probably been around the same age as her son.

A more melancholic look crossed her face and she smiled somberly.

“It’s not good to worry the Countess like that, Young Lord Asher. I hope that you managed to sleep properly last night and eat more if you’re feeling hungry.”