Chapter 87: Amnesia

[Level Up]

Level: 8

[Mana Aggression + 3]

[Mana Encapsulation + 4]

[Mana Protection + 2]

Strength/Mana Aggression: 124 —> 127

Speed/Mana Encapsulation: 129 —> 133

Magic: 169

Constitution/Mana Protection: 120 —> 122

Mana Points: 999,999,999+

[You have received ten stat points.]

[One of the bonus rank rewards from the Flamelord will receive an upgrade once gained.]

Hisrewards for reaching the top rank were ones he’d been waiting for, and he was curious what bonuses he might receive. But standing in a crowded arena wasn’t the time for it. Crosp turned and beamed at him. “You did well,” he said, clasping a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at Snake; the duel’s other condition would happen automatically. The three of them, each participant and Crosp, who oversaw the duel, had sacrificed mana to uphold the promises and conditions of victory. Now that the duel was concluded, it was time for Snake to pay the price. His reduction to first year was a simple matter. Dean Crosp would handle that.

The removal of his memories was different. The arena itself would uphold that condition. 

Mana warped around them as the runes of the arena came to life. Snake groaned as magic poured into him, and then he screamed as his memories were stolen. Sen turned to look at Dean Crosp. “Can you show me?” he asked. “The memories.”

Crosp frowned. “That would be…he’s still a student. It’s an invasion of privacy,” he said, but sounded unsure. 

“A student with links to a sealed goddess. I need to know how he came into contact with her. I can look on my own, but your magic would make it safer and more fluid.”

Crosp thought for a moment, then nodded. He turned to the healers who had approached and stopped when they realized they weren’t needed. “Take him to a private room,” he ordered. He looked at Sen. “I’ll help, but not here.”

Sen nodded. The crowd was still cheering, though some of them had taken pause at Snake grimacing on the ground. The healers transported a floating Snake as quickly as they could move. Crosp turned to follow, but a bright light shone on the arena. He turned to look up, and Sen followed his gaze. The Queen of Towers stared at him, her hand glowing brightly. Though he knew she was old, she didn’t look it. A long blonde and white braid hung from her head, and she stared at him. With his attention on her, she offered the most subtle nod imaginable.

Huh, I guess she might not want me dead after all? 

[Or that’s just what she wants you to think. Shoot a fireball at her private viewing area just to be safe!]

Sen returned the gesture. His eyes dropped to Susanna in the audience. She looked shocked at the display. He pursed his lips, nodded at her, and hurried after the healers. He wasn’t sure exactly how the historia spell would work, but he didn’t want to risk missing any of the memories.

They hurried to the waiting room, and Snake started convulsing so much that the healers were forced to set him on a couch. 

“Leave us,” Crosp ordered them. They looked back at him in surprise, but Sen beckoned with his head for them to listen. They obeyed this time. Neither of them wanted to get on his bad side after seeing that fight unfold. 

As soon as the door closed behind the healers, Sen pointed a hand in either direction. “Seal Room Maxima. Greater Barrier Maxima.” 

Crosp focused his own magic. “Share Memory Academia!” he said. The magic was weaker since they weren’t on academy grounds, but Crosp had a high level of mastery over the technique, so whatever difference there was Sen couldn’t detect it. 

One moment he’d been in the waiting room, the next he was in a living memory, watching a village burn to the ground. A group of men in black robes with purple lines upon them moved from building to building. People screamed. Men, women, and children. At the head of the black-robed figures, three men stood before an altar with a statue of a stone serpent upon it. 

Sen recognized two of them. Each of them stood to one side of the third man, who faced away. 

Marrow was one of them. His face still a mess of stitches and scars. He wore a contented expression. He smiled and swayed his head at the sound of people dying and screaming all around. The second man he only knew from the memory Milim had shown him. He had bright orange hair and a beard that appeared as if it were on fire. An enormous warhammer rested on his back. His arms were crossed, and he faced the only other man with his hood down. The one Sen didn’t recognize. This man had short, spiky black hair and radiated powerful mana. When he turned, everyone gathered paid attention. It was difficult to make out his face. 

Two cultists in black robes approached with an old man and a young boy in tow. They threw them on the mud before the black-haired man. He looked down at them. “Is this him?” he asked, staring at the old man.

One cultist nodded. “Yes, Master. This is the village chief, and we believe this is his son.”

The black-haired man smiled. He turned and aimed a hand at the ground. “Let’s get started then.”

The runes of a giant summoning circle exploded all around them. They turned a deep green, and the black-haired man looked straight down. Two black eyes with an emerald green aura around them blinked beneath the runes and stared up at the cultists. Those serpentine eyes squinted. “Arcane,” she hissed.

The black-haired man laughed. “You’re familiar with my work, then?”

The man with a beard of flames chuckled. Marrow smirked. 

Serpia, the Goddess of Serpents, emerged from the ground, slithering upward and out of the runes until all of her body was outside the summoning circle. She coiled herself around the gathered cultists and their hostages. She scanned the burning remnants of the village. Her tongue flicked out of her mouth for a second. Her eyes widened. “What is this?” she asked. Her voice was a projection of pure mana rather than something that came from her mouth. 

Arcane, as Serpia had called him, gestured to the destruction. “These people called themselves your followers, but they were so weak. I used their blood as a sacrifice. Their connection to you allowed me to grant you freedom. Although it’s temporary for now, consider it a taste of what I can do.” He smiled and stretched his hands out to either side. Thunder roared, and the pitch-black of night turned even darker. Even the flames of burning houses lowered themselves in submission to the man’s mana. “The world is different now. The Council of Gods has grown complacent. So I got to thinking, why not start a group of my own? You destroyed your fair share of kingdoms back in the day. There’s no reason you should remain trapped in that seal forever. I can break it for you. Let’s work together, Serpia. Join me and you’ll never know defeat again.”

Serpia looked down at the village chief and his son. “These two, they’re all that’s left?” she asked.

Arcane raised a brow. “Seems like it.” 

Serpia closed her eyes. “I favored this village.” The wind rippled as she gathered mana. “I liked these people. They were so kind to me…they loved me.” 

Arcane glared at the man with a fire beard. “Colston, did the snake charmer not say she would appreciate this gesture?” 

The fire-bearded man, Colston, shrugged. “He did. But to be fair, doesn’t everybody love a good village burn?” he chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll remind him of his place. But what are we gonna do now? She looks angry.” Colston reached for his hammer. He had to be fairly confident if he was willing to go against Serpia at a moment’s notice. 

Arcane waved him off. “There are other paths. Let’s not waste anymore time with this.” 

Serpia’s tail lashed. 

Arcane, Colston, and Marrow disappeared in a flash, landing outside Serpia’s range. The other members of the cult weren’t so lucky. She ripped the tops of their bodies away like blades of grass. The young boy covered his head and sobbed into the ground. Beside him, the chieftain’s head was gone. Serpia had killed her own follower in a rage. 

Serpia blinked when she noticed. 

The boy turned to look at his dead father and then back up to the serpent leaning to look at him. “Don’t kill me,” he pleaded.

Serpia studied him for a moment. “Why not? Your village…your people, they’re all gone. What is it you wish to live for?” she asked.

The boy looked at corpses all around him. “I want to live so I can grow stronger. So I can kill men like that,” he declared, pointing at Arcane, Colston, and Marrow. 

Serpia nodded. She leaned her head closer to him, and the boy shook, but didn’t run. She pressed her face against his forehead, and Sen could feel the transfer of mana. The boy’s hands shot to his face, and he covered his eyes. He screamed.

“Then be strong,” Serpia said. “Be strong, my little serpent.”

The boy stopped shaking, and he looked up. His brown eyes had turned a shade of light green. They were slit like a serpent’s. His hands were covered in scales. That was when Sen recognized the boy he’d met at Brightsail Academy. 

Snake. This was a young Snake. 

This cult…the same cult that had manipulated the cult of Harpis. The same cult that had burned down Milim’s village in pursuit of Orttha. They’d been responsible for Snake’s meeting with Serpia as well? 

Who were these people?

At least he’d killed Marrow. 

Sen turned and noticed Arcane and the other two were watching the exchange. Marrow sighed. “Ah well, onto the next one!” he said, placing his hands behind his back as he walked off. Colston shrugged and turned too, though his head swiveled to enjoy the flames raging in the background. He grinned far too hard at the sight. Finally, Arcane stood there and turned his attention away from Serpia. 

Instead, he looked directly at Sen. “Hm, I was wondering when you’d show up. I’m sure we’ll talk soon, God of Magic.”

Sen took a step back. This was a memory. Had this man known he’d watch? No, that was impossible. Had he somehow stepped into the memory as well?

[No. We’re alone in here. It appears he left that message for you just in case. Though…it’s hard to think he predicted you’d go through Snake’s memories.]

But it wouldn’t be so odd to imagine I’d go through Serpia’s if I crossed paths with her again. A goddess he had a history with. 

Who was this man? 

The black-haired man disappeared into the shadows with a smirk still on his face. 

Serpia turned to watch Arcane’s subordinates walk off. Snake stared after them as well. “Who are they?” Snake asked.

Serpia hissed. The summoning circle was weakening, and Sen sensed her slowly being drawn back in. “The cult of Arcane, and the leader they serve.”

“Serve him? So he’s a god?” Snake asked.

Serpia nodded. “For now, until we kill him, Little Serpent. He’s the God of Arcane.” She lifted her head and stared at the burning village. “And we’re going to make him pay for this.” 

The memory faded, and Sen now stood in a forest clearing. He watched an exchange between Snake and Marrow. He saw Marrow give Snake the sword he’d recently become very familiar with. 

Serpentsfang. 

That was odd; how long had Snake had the weapon in secret then? 

He saw Snake staring with satisfaction at that very blade running Sen through. Memories flashed by, and Sen realized Snake had been lying about going after Sen’s siblings and friends after the duel. He hadn’t actually intended to harm them if he beat Sen. Snake had said all that to make him despair in his final moments. It was…cruel, but Sen didn’t disapprove. He understood the desire to make an opponent suffer. 

And then he saw Snake plummeting from the sky, staring up at Sen after his defeat. He turned to the crowd and spotted someone scowling at the outcome of the match. 

Marrow. 

He was here…in the arena. 

Sen broke out of the illusion as the memories caught up to reality. He’d seen enough. 

“Crosp, I need the room for a moment.”

The dean looked between Snake and Sen, and hesitated for a moment before nodding. The seal only prevented people from entering, not from leaving. When he was gone, Sen turned to the third person in the room. She was wrapped in a variety of stealth spells, but Sen had felt her all along. “If you’re going to follow me, I’m going to make use of you,” he said.

The God of Demon’s daughter appeared, removing her shroud. “How may I serve?” she asked, amused at having been caught.

“There is a man, a member of the Cult of Arcane, here. I’m sure you’re familiar with him.” He’d been involved with Harpis, and from what Sen understood, the Cult of Arcane was the only reason the Cult of Harpis was able to gain support from demons. 

She frowned. “Marrow? That would have…implications for my father,” Rella said slowly.

“Be Hidden Servant Maxima,” he said, running his hand through the air between them. The spell cloaked her in the power of the God of Magic. She would move as discreetly as he could now, as long as she was following his orders at least. When her task was completed, or she deviated from it, the spell would fade on its own. 

With that done, he ran his senses over her. “Marrow is strong, but it seems you’ve been training as well. You’ve grown a lot since our last encounter,” he noted. 

“I have to be stronger to fulfill our promise,” she said.

“That you do.” He pulled a bracelet from his temporal world and focused his magic on it, passing along the magic signature of Marrow’s spells. He’d created it for circumstances exactly like this. The bracelet was made of braided wolf fur and black metal. He passed the artifact to her. “Take this. It will help.” 

She took it, turning it over to examine it and then looking back at him with a quirked brow.

“A wolf’s spirit is housed within. It has a natural affinity for tracking, and I’ve imbued the bracelet with Marrow’s magic signature. The scent should be enough to track him down if you hurry. It can help in combat as well, but I doubt it will be of much use against Marrow.” He wasn’t going to loan her the pack leader or its mate.

Rella seemed fascinated by the bracelet. She slipped it around her wrist and examined it further. “I like this,” she said.

“You can keep the bracelet, but if you want the wolf spirit inside, you’ll need to really impress me.”

Rella bowed. “I’ll serve you as best as I can, God of Magic. When I find him, how should I contact you?” she asked.

Sen nodded toward the bracelet. “Send the wolf, it will find me and I will come.”

“It shall be done.” Rella disappeared into a burst of shadows.

Either she would be able to handle Marrow or they’d make enough commotion that he would sense it. Either way, he would find Marrow, and he would deal with him. It might take her some time to catch up with her target, so he’d move on for now. With that taken care of, he looked down and saw a stone tablet next to Snake. Crosp had embedded the stolen memories within with his magic it seemed. It floated up toward Sen under the direction of his mana, and he grabbed it. He tore open his temporal world and set it next to Serpentsfang. If he left these memories lying around, they might find their way back to Snake one day. Sen didn’t need the avatar of Serpia coming after him when he least expected it. 

Snake roused and opened his eyes. “Where…where am I?” he asked, looking up at Sen. His frame was lighter, as if he’d lost muscle, and it gave him the appearance of someone younger. Serpia’s power was gone now; whatever he’d gained because of her was gone with it. 

Sen stared at him and turned to leave. “Someone will come explain things soon.”

“Who…who are you?” Snake asked.

Sen looked over his shoulder. “There are a lot of evil people in this world already. Be better than them.”

As he stepped out into the hallway, he found several familiar faces waiting for him. His friends. Everyone had come to congratulate him. Zeke wore perhaps the brightest smile of all. The man was dressed in fine green garb and beamed when he saw Sen. Everyone else seemed to wait for Zeke to speak. “My friend! Are you ready to celebrate your victory?” he asked.

[Oh yeah! It’s time to party!]

Sen looked around at them all. Milim, his siblings, his friends, and he couldn’t help but smile.