Fire Mage

Chapter 4: Bishop Reynolds

"What happened, kid?" Robb asked while grabbing the injured Eve Nightwind from John's shoulder.

"I-I don't remember much. We were kidnapped by some guys and were locked up in that mansion." John said with an exhausted face and pointed his finger towards the faraway mansion building. After that, he shook his head and muttered.

"This Lady- My mom is severely injured. Please help her."

Both nodded their heads as they heard his words and brought her inside. Meanwhile, John followed after them hurriedly and entered the dome-shaped building.

In front of him was a large hall with a high ceiling, and pews were neatly arranged in rows on the Aisle sides. Meanwhile, the sacred Emblem of Life, iron lampstands, and candles were placed at the front wall.

At the front stage was a white statue of a beautiful woman with a big chest. She wore a draped blouse, a long tulip skirt, and Dorsey shoes. She had big blue eyes, long curly hair, and a soft, beautiful smile on her face. A mere sight of the statue caused John's heart to thump harder. John stared into those big blue eyes and felt something was off!

"Charles, what happened to Eve?" A pleasant male voice came from the right side, causing him to turn his head.

In front of him was a white-haired man, who was around 40-years-old, walked towards his direction with large footsteps and was staring at Eve with concerned eyes. He had deep-set amber eyes, a square face, thin eyebrows, and a long hawk nose. He wore a golden line embroidered white robe, with a white beret in his hand, and held a unique golden pocket watch.

'Bishop Reynolds!' John easily identified him.

"Father Reynolds, please save my mother!" John bowed his head and asked anxiously.

"Tell me what happened." Reynolds signaled Hunt and Robb to place her on the long desk and asked calmly.

John checked her pulse rate with a weak smile and then started narrating the whole story while skipping some parts.

Meanwhile, Bishop Reynolds nodded his head and began to chant some weird incantation from time to time while listening to his narration.

By the time Bishop healed the wound on Eve's body, John also ended his speech.

But he wasn't happy at all.

'If Charles's memory is not wrong, this Bishop is a greedy and sly fox. He is also the one who came to offer 2000 gold coins for 23-hectare lands... Hmm? Her wounds are already healed but, why her pulse is not improving?' 

"I healed most of her internal injuries. But her soul is weakening, and she won't wake up anytime soon. Unless you purchase a 'Life potion' from the Holy Life Cathedral, saving her is almost impossible." Reynolds said with a regretful tone.

'Life potion, huh.'

"How much is it, Father?" John asked with a frown.

Hearing his words, Reynolds stared at him like a poisonous snake and muttered in a calm yet cold tone.

"500 Gold coins."

'I knew it!' John closed his eyes for a second and asked.

"How many days does she have?"

"4 hours. But if you get a loan from our Life Church using that 23-hectare land, you will be able to save her." Reynolds said with a sly smile.

'What a sly bastard!' He sighed heavily and asked.

"How much is the interest?"

"It's 5% per month. If you didn't pay the interest amount for three continuous months, we would confiscate your property legally. If you didn't pay the interest for the next 12 months, we would sell it." Reynolds replied shamelessly.

'25 Gold coins per month? With that amount, a commoner can live his life leisurely for a year! What a cunning bastard!' He glared at the Bishop for a second and coldly spoke while turning around.

"I will return with the land documents. Till then, take care of my mother."

Hearing his cold tone, Reynolds smiled widely and rubbed his hand.

"Father Reynolds, why did you lie to him? Life potion is only 40 gold coins, right?" Robb arrived near Bishop Reynolds and asked while watching John walking towards the exit in confusion.

"Cardinal Snake once ordered me to buy that land if an opportunity arises. Even I don't know about the details. But one thing is sure. If we didn't miss this opportunity, we wouldn't get that land from Eve. Did you hear his cold tone? A cornered cub will always act recklessly." Reynolds patted Robb's shoulder and turned his attention towards Eve.

…

Meanwhile, John walked out of the church and moved towards El Street, located one mile away from the Life Church. On the way, he glanced at the sub-quest window and noticed that the timer had changed from 2 minutes to 4 hours.

'As I expected, this system is not an omniscient one. It can predict using basic information and turns them into a game-like quest.' He snorted inwardly.

Then, he looked at the main Quest window and curled his lips upward.

[Main Quest: Escape from the Red-masked assassin, James.]

[Quest Description: On June 5th of the year 6396 of the Second Arcane Era, you and your mother were kidnapped by a mysterious Red-masked assassin and are now held in an unknown underground prison. Find a way to escape from this masked assassin and then determine the reason for this kidnapping.]

[Mission accomplished!]

[Quest Reward: 500 general experience points (Exp).]

'500 Exp! That's a good sign.' He nodded his head and glanced at the tall mansion in the farthest area.

'James and his followers must have already noticed the blood trails. They will follow after it…But they wouldn't dare to attack the Life Church.' He shook his head.

'This boy's mother is indeed a brave one. Tsk, I will try my best to keep her alive. This is the payment for giving me this youthful body, Charles.' He muttered under his breath and moved towards El Street while putting the silver dagger on his waist along with its sheath.

A few minutes later, John reached El Street and began to search for his own house.

'45 El Street.' He walked on the dirt street road and soon arrived in front of a large two-storied house's entrance. Unlike other houses, this house was made of white granite rocks and looked prettier.

He walked into the yard while glancing at a few ornamental flower trees and opened the door using the key, which he took from near the porch pillar.

After that, he entered his house and pulled the long thread that was hanging from the ceiling. A second later, multiple candles started lighting one by one and illuminated the building with bright yellow light.

'Are these Magic Lamps or Magic candles?' He furrowed his brows and then went towards the wardrobe. He picked up a tight black shirt and black pants and then went to take a shower. Fifteen minutes later, he walked out of the bathroom and started searching for the land documents everywhere. There was no memory of those documents in Charles's memory, which made his job harder. But as a skilled assassin and a thief, he searched the important areas and soon found a suitcase under his bed.

It was not some complicated lock suitcase, so John opened it quickly. Then, he began to read the line one by one, and soon his expression turned gloomy.

Without the house document, the owner wouldn't be able to sell that land at all. The first seller of this house made such a complicated document.

'But why did the first seller went on a roundtable way to create such a complicated document?' He got puzzled.

'Damn, what is special about that land? That Bishop is eyeing for the 23-hectare land…And from Charles's memory, Eve also seemed to be predicted something. What is that damned Bishop is scheming?'

'Wait a sec…He might be eyeing for this house!' A thought surfaced in his mind.

'Possible! Then, what is this house hiding? Hmm, I need to have a long chat with Eve Nightwind.' He folded those two documents and was about to put them inside his shirt but stopped.

He felt a slight vibration from the ground. It was like 10 to 20 peoples were swarming in his direction.

If it were before, he wouldn't have noticed it. But after he received the [Sixth Sense] skill, his sense of perception improved to another level!

'Enemy! It must be James and his lackeys.' He unsheathed his silver dagger and made a swift movement towards the ceiling. The next second, the magic candles started to die out one by one, and soon the whole building absorbed into dense darkness.

[Chain Quest: Blood for Blood

The mysterious Red-masked kidnapper James followed after the blood trail and sent 12 professional killers to finish you off. Someone had already given your personal information to the enemy.

1. Find out the Spy who sold you out – Reward: 100 Exp.

2. Survive the upcoming ordeal – Reward: 300 Exp.

3. Kill the Red-Masked kidnapper, James – Reward: 500 Exp.

Mission Deadline: 1 hour.]

'Spy? The one who sold me out might be the Bishop. It's not a surprising thing. Well, I will ask him personally after I finish off these killers.'

'Tsk, I thought of saving up the Exp to select the main Class. But it seems I have to take a step back now.' He sighed heavily and put 150 Exp to the Trickster subclass.

…

[150 Exp deduced from the Host!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You became a Level 2 Trickster!]

[1 Free Attribute point rewarded!]

[20 skill points rewarded]

…

'Hmm, I need 225 Exp to level up once again. Thankfully, I still have another 400 Exp.' A smile crept on John's face as he put another 225 Exp on the Sub-class.

…

[225 Exp deduced from the Host!]

[You have leveled up!]

[You became a Level 3 Trickster!]

[1 Free Attribute point rewarded!]

[20 skill points rewarded]

…

'This looks good. My HP also increased!' He nodded pleasantly and added one free attribute point on the strength and another free attribute point on Dexterity.

He added 19 skill points to [Dark Vision], and the remaining 21 skill points to [Sixth Sense].

[Sixth Sense skill has reached its peak level!]

A shock went through John's brain as the skill upgraded. The next instant, his sense became heightened to another level.

'My Dark vision also increased to the peak level. I can walk in the dark like I'm walking in daylight.' He grinned viciously and then moved towards the kitchen.

'Kitchen knives will be useful during the fighting.' He nodded his head and soon blended into the darkness.

After taking a few knives from the kitchen, he moved towards the reception hall and then waited for those prey to stretch their necks!

…