The Sixth School Book II Ch. 013

Author's note.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Than you guys for your patience, your understanding and messages of encouragement. It means a lot to me. Any way, I am now back at it.

As usual,

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All Characters in the story are 18 years of age and above...

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Chapter Thirteen: The true fear of the powerful...

Sometimes avoiding a fight is how you win the fight.

This was what was going through Greg's mind as he took the backseat and watched Morpheus decimate the necromancer. Greg had known right from the start that he was nowhere near powerful enough to take on the two seventh-tier mages. With that in mind, his task became rather simple, to make certain that the last thing the two of them would want to do is fight him. In this one aspect, his foes had inadvertently helped him. If they hadn't brought out someone to test him, Morpheus would have had to demonstrate his power using one of them. That's to say, a lot more of Greg's lifespan would have been burned away to achieve such an outcome. But without intending to do so, they had given him an out. They had given him a target that was only at the fifth tier. No different from the abyssal monster that Morpheus once killed. It would still burn away some of his lifespan, but no more than a decade, when all was said and done.

This was part of why Greg had been so skeptical when Morpheus had asked him to tell the necromancer to point to someone else to kill. They were lucky enough to avoid having to fight someone even more powerful and yet, the deity wished to throw that away and add another fight on top. Greg could almost feel Morpheus roll his eyes as he explained. 'There is next to no chance that he'll point to someone. To begin with, all that he can sense of you based on your mana is that you are either in the second or third tier. The fact that you are immune to his aura has made him cautious, but do not mistake that for fear. He's just trying to figure out what angle you are playing before he crushes you. Do you really think that a fifth-tier mage would be willing to make enemies of seventh-tier mages over the threats of a third-tier mage?' The deity had questioned.

It was a question that didn't need answering. Whoever the man before him was, they probably hadn't told him anything about fighting a deity. Mage Hira and Grenad were seventh-tier mages and they weren't willing to come right out and test him directly. If this man had known that Roka was in any way directly linked with a deity, then he wouldn't have been standing there so confidently. To him, Greg must have seemed like nothing more than a third-tier mage overconfident in his power. Even if one didn't consider the hit to his pride if he acted like he would be killed by a third-tier mage, the man would have made an enemy by pointing to one of the three powerhouses at the top of the stairs. In doing so, even if he won the fight between them, whoever he'd pointed to could easily kill him afterward. There was just simply no way he'd be willing to go along with such a self-harming course of action.

That, he wasn't willing to do so, however, was entirely beside the point. What would remain in the minds of everyone present was the fact that Greg had been willing to take on not only the necromancer but whichever powerhouse it was that had thought to test him. Even if he didn't fight a seventh-tier mage, there'd be no doubt in anyone's mind that he was perfectly willing to do so. All that remained was to make the seventh-tier mages thank their lucky stars that they had chosen to send forth a sacrificial lamb and not take him on themselves. For this, Greg had thought that Morpheus would go for brutality and gore. The deity, however, had scoffed at the idea.

'These are not children you are dealing with, Greg. Are you forgetting what your familiar once told you? To rise to the heights of power they have achieved, these people have probably done things that would give you nightmares for a century straight. If I wish to, I'm certain I could come up with brutality that would shake even them. But then, that's all it would do. It would only rattle them for a minute or two before they forced themselves to accept it as what was natural when the weak fought the strong. No, to really make an impression, you need to tap into the one true fear people like them have,' Morpheus' voice had rung out through their connection, a dark glee mixed in.

Greg wasn't sure what exactly he'd been expecting. Perhaps the deity would summon a terrifying monster and have them devour the necromancer. Perhaps he'd cast a rather creative curse on the man that would cause eternal torment. Maybe he'd enslave the man's mind, making it so that, to the end of his days, he would be at Roka's beck and call. All these were options that Roka contemplated as he awaited to see what the deity considered to be the true fear of such powerhouses. The answer, however, was both shocking and exquisite in its simplicity. Nothing!

Morpheus did nothing... or at least, that's how it must have seemed to the ones before him.

The first thing that Morpheus did when Greg let the reins go was somehow erase all of his aura making it completely undetectable. A move that surprised Greg as he'd thought Morpheus would use it to intimidate the necromancer into submission. Had he not trained with Olivia for the past several months, he'd have been forced to ask the deity why he chose this course of action. The three rules of combat according to Olivia, however, had quite literally been beaten into him again and again over the months. The second rule of which was that the body was always advertising what it planned to do next. Your task as a fighter was to figure out your opponent's tells all the while hiding your own. Or better yet, misdirecting them. And that's exactly what Morpheus was doing. While he didn't exactly have a body of his own, his powerful aura whenever he took control was an easy tell.

Greg had immediately understood and agreed with his thinking. While using his powerful aura to intimidate everyone present would have been a formidable opening move, it would have given them something to look out for. With the deity's aura hidden, however, the powerhouses before him had no way of telling when the deity took him over. It was a lot like having a kitten that could morph into a ferocious tiger at any moment. Even when Morpheus eventually withdrew and ceded control back to Greg, they'd have no way of knowing for sure he was truly gone. To them, it would seem like Morpheus was always at hand, ready to take over whenever it suited him. If there was a clear delineation between when Morpheus was in control and when Greg was only mortal, then the powerhouses might conspire to either intimidate or even attack Greg, thinking him weak, and rightfully so. As things stood, however, they'd think twice before trying anything, lest they found themselves facing the deity rather than the young man.

Morpheus had then proceeded to just stand there. Morpheus was a deity, not a human being. His grasp and control of the laws didn't require gestures or the movement of limbs. Greg didn't even know if he had limbs in his true form. With his ability to take any shape or form, Greg had no reason to believe that the deity's true form was even humanoid. To everyone watching him, it must have seemed like he was just standing there. Through their connection, however, Greg could feel it as Morpheus warped space around the necromancer. It was always an odd feeling to feel Morpheus tap into the very laws of the universe. With his limited understanding of magic and the laws that governed this universe, Greg couldn't see, feel, or in any way directly interact with them. When Morpheus interacted with them, it was a lot like seeing ripples on what was a clear pond. While the water was undisturbed, it was so clear that one could easily forget it was even there. It was only when Morpheus figuratively put a finger in that pond, that Greg became aware of the laws that governed everything around him. Like how, with a simple step, he twisted the rules of the world, causing his foot to land on the same step that the necromancer was on.

It spoke to the level of control that Morpheus had that he could wrap the necromancer in warped space without harming even a single hair on the pale man. The man was wrapped up in twisted space like a mummy and barely noticed it. Even a small mistake on Morpheus' part and the necromancer could easily have been torn to bits. And while it would have been impressive for him to destroy the man without even moving a limb, that wasn't what Morpheus was after. So long as there was an actual fight between them, Morpheus would have failed in his task. No matter how bleak the odds, the powerhouses would come away thinking that there was a chance to fight Morpheus. By not attacking, defending, or even moving, the message was being sent. Forget winning, were they even powerful enough to start a fight with the deity?

It dawned on Greg what Morpheus had meant by tapping into the real source of their fear. Horrors and brutality were things the powerhouses could handle as they had more than likely encountered them in spades throughout their long lives. They couldn't be easily shaken by being shown more of it. But what if someone showed them that it was all meaningless? That all the power they had amassed over the years through bitter struggle was pointless. That even with their power, they were little more than what Seraphia had called them, worms! Sending the necromancer forward as a sacrifice hadn't in any way tested the deity. Instead, it just highlighted the gap between the two. Even more than putting his power on display, Morpheus had laid bare the futility of theirs.

"Unfortunately... I don't give second chances!"

Greg was quietly grateful that Morpheus didn't give back control to him after executing the necromancer. Greg understood the necessity of making a statement. Still, he wasn't certain he could have kept himself from turning green at a person being reduced to a meatball the size of a golf ball.

As if nothing worth noting had happened, Morpheus stepped forward. Again, the world twisted before him, space and causality being thrown out of whack as rather than taking one step forward, he reappeared just a step away from a pale-faced Deriel. In a few seconds, I'll probably kill your father and his two friends," Morpheus nonchalantly stated. There wasn't even an inkling of threat in his voice, each word uttered more as if it was a chore than a task of any significance. By the rising terror that Greg could see in the boy, Morpheus' matter-of-fact tone was even more terrifying. "You, as his filial child, have thus stepped forward to offer your life in his place," Morpheus continued, an amused smile playing on his lips. Deriel had already begun desperately shaking his head in the negative even before Morpheus finished his statement. "Come on, you've brought your former bride and the future mother of your children along," Morpheus continued with a glance at Calyn and then at Nerissa. "Surely it isn't to put such cowardice on display. Tell me, why is it you stand before me!" Morpheus demanded, now sounding quite unamused.

'What are you doing?' Greg couldn't help but question Morpheus through their connection. He too had found it odd that Deriel and those from the Sydrak clan would be here. To him, however, the real focus should have been the three at the top of the stairs.

'If you saw two seventh-tier mages about to fight, where would you sit to get the best view?' Morpheus questioned in return even as Deriel continued to quiver as he tried to put together a coherent answer.

'Watch? I'd be doing my best to get the hell out of...' Greg stopped mid-sentence as it suddenly clicked why the presence of this group here was such an oddity. He'd been inclined to ignore them as just observers who were unimportant. After all, any of the three powerhouses less than fifteen feet away could wipe out this group with barely any effort. To him, it just seemed wiser to focus on the greater threat. Morpheus, however, was right. If they came to blows, then forget these four, half the city, would probably need to evacuate to be safe from the fallout, if not more. Simple curiosity couldn't justify the risk that this group was taking by being here.

Morpheus was in control of his body, so nothing about his expression changed. Greg, however, couldn't help but chastise himself internally as he realized that he had grown arrogant. Even if it was by letting said deity possess him, it was still a heady feeling to have the power of a deity flow through you. It was all too easy to forget that he was still the weak link in this partnership. Despite being the actual deity, Morpheus was the one who kept a cool mind and correctly analyzed the situation. Greg didn't have enough lifespan to fight the three powerhouses at the top of the stairs. This group could easily stand by the side and watch him fight. Once he was weakened and on the verge of death, even they would be enough to kill him. They weren't just a sideshow, they were just as much a real danger to him as the ones at the top were.

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn. But perhaps I'd be better positioned to answer you," It was Lina, Elder of the Sydrak clan that in the end took pity on Deriel. The young man had been trying to speak up for the past twenty or so seconds but the words seemed to have been choked out of him by crippling fear. It would be all too easy to look down on the Governor's son, over the fact that he seemed about ready to collapse from fright. He, however, had just watched a fifth-tier mage be crushed like he was little more than a biscuit. To stand before someone that you know down to the root of your being, could kill you with the wave of a hand, is not something many could do without shaking in their boots.

Morpheus' gaze turned to the woman who'd just spoken. Even with her, Greg could see fear and caution in her eyes. She, however, had lived far longer than Deriel and had thus had longer to master her emotions. "Deriel, the Governor's son came to our clan to seek the hand of my niece. After an agreement was arrived at between our two families, he returned to Ethavel with Calyn as his bride-to-be. On the flight back, however, they encountered Roka, your vessel. Calyn was immediately enchanted by his handsome looks and valiant air and couldn't take her eyes off Roka," she laid out. Greg couldn't help but smile internally at the thinly-veiled flattery.

"Unfortunately, the blood of the youth runs hot quickly. Burning with jealousy that another man had caught his bride's eye, the young man took an unfortunate step and sent his guard after you. What he planned to achieve in so doing, I can't claim to know. Curious to know what kind of man she would be wedded to for the next one hundred cycles, however, my niece sent her guard after Deriel's guard. Her only intent was to have her guard watch Deriel's guard and report back as to what he'd been tasked to do. It was never her intention that her guard attack your servant. Regardless of her intentions, however, the Sydrak clan recognizes that a mistake was made and the fault lies with us. The head of our clan has asked me to convey our willingness to give restitution for any offense caused. He's also made it clear that the Sydrak clan doesn't consider itself an enemy to you. All this was an unfortunate misunderstanding caused by the rash actions of the junior generation."

Some small part of Greg knew that he should be shocked. A whole clan had come to apologize for the actions of one foolish young man. If what Olivia had learned of the Sydrak clan was true, then it wasn't just any clan. While not the strongest clan in terms of absolute power, they were the most powerful clan as far as body enhancers on the continent went. Unexpected as this turn of events was, Greg wasn't really shocked. In this world, strength was all that mattered. It stood above reason, law, logic, or even morality. If you are strong, then you are right. If you are strong, then you are the law. If you are strong, then you are beyond reproach. If you are strong enough, you don't have to justify yourself to anyone. Such a behemoth as the Sydrak clan should have cared nothing whether someone of the younger generation was offended or not. When that individual was attached to a deity, however, then the whole situation was flipped on its head. Right now, even though Olivia was the one who almost killed Calyn's guard, they were the ones hoping and praying that he didn't take offense and pursue this any further.

Morpheus' gaze quietly shifted from her aunt to the girl in question. "A hundred cycles," he declared without preamble. The deity's tone left no room for debate, this wasn't a negotiation offer. They were stated with the certainty of an emperor giving an edict. "You will serve at my side for a hundred cycles as atonement for your actions. In return, the Sydrak clan will have nothing to fear from me!" Again, he wasn't asking, Morpheus was informing the girl how things would be.

Greg didn't miss the varied reactions from the three members of the Sydrak clan. Calyn looked like she had just been asked to spend the next hundred years between the jaws of a dragon. She did not know what would be asked of her, but whatever it was, forget saying no, she'd have to give her everything to do it right lest she earn the ire of this deity. For the next one hundred cycles, she'd be walking a very tight line lest those jaws close around her. Her aunt had similarly gone rigid. A look of unwillingness in her eyes as she swallowed hard. The third and final member of the Sydrak clan was the only one who seemed to be sagging with relief. Nerissa clearly wasn't concerned in the least about the fate of her cousin.

"As an elder and representative of the Sydrak clan, I hear your judgment and thank you for your leniency in this matter. The Sydrak clan accedes to your wisdom," Elder Lina spoke rigidly. Greg could tell that it was taking every bit of will she could muster to utter the words. "Can I report to the head of my clan that this matter is settled?" She questioned, still in that forcedly formal tone. Morpheus only offered a quiet nod of assent. "Then my role as Elder is at an end. Right now, I only speak as the woman who raised this girl since she was a child after the death of her mother. Please, take me instead," the woman spoke, bowing low before Morpheus.

Greg had already hated the idea of forcing someone to become his slave. There were many things about this world that he was coming to accept and adapt to. This, however, was one line that he wasn't willing to cross. Greg didn't know how this world would influence and twist him in the future. He had never thought of himself as a saint or paragon of virtue. Perhaps a day will come in the future when he is willing to force someone into service against their will. That day, however, was not today. To enslave a girl, especially with someone who was essentially their mother watching, was just too twisted a move for him.

He was about to voice his vehement objection to Morpheus through their connection. The deity, however, seemed to have picked up on his train of thought and answered his objections before Greg could even begin. "I couldn't care any less if you choose to let her go as soon as the seventh-tier mages are gone. I have no need or use for the brat. Do not forget, however, who we stand before. Every single thing we do is being watched closely. Show weakness or indecisiveness in any way and this situation could easily turn to disaster,' he laid out.

Had he still had control of his body, Greg probably would have opened his mouth before wordlessly closing it. Despite his instinctive desire to argue against enslaving someone, Greg knew that Morpheus was right. Right now, even the perception of weakness could easily be a lethal threat for them. And much as he hated the present situation, he wasn't willing to die just to keep either Calyn or her aunt from feeling bad.

The explanation from Morpheus had taken a second or two. There, however, hadn't been any awkward pause in the conversation as Calyn was the first one to react to what Elder Lina had just asked of Morpheus.

"Aunt Lina, Don't! I am willing to..."

"Silence!" Never in both his lives, had Greg heard that word spoken so forcefully. Whatever objections Calyn had been about to offer, died on her lips as she found herself unable to defy the command.

"Do you suppose that if I wanted you as a slave there is any force that could keep that from being the case?" Morpheus spoke, his voice completely unfeeling.

"T... two, I will serve you for two hundred cycles in her place," Despite her voice quivering with clearly suppressed fear, Elder Lina pressed her plea.

"My word on this is final. However, I am not unreasonable. I cannot promise to protect her against the world, but because of your plea, you have my word that I will not raise my hand against her while she serves me," Morpheus stated. Knowing the deity, Greg knew that this concession wasn't made out of any sentimentality, but as a calculated move to show that he could be reasoned with.

"Fi... five," the word came out as barely a whisper. The fear in the woman's voice was palpable, as she understood perfectly well that she was pulling on the tail of a dragon. If Morpheus took it the wrong way, he could easily kill her and still take Calyn as his slave. Still, the woman's love and care for Calyn must have run deeper than her fear of Morpheus as she was willing to risk his wrath for her sake.

There was a long silence on the stairs as Morpheus regarded the woman. For a second, Greg was convinced that Morpheus would agree to the woman's plea. It was a mercy that he wasn't the one in control as Greg doubted that he wouldn't have caved in the face of such a pure expression of love. In the end, however, Morpheus just turned to regard Calyn with a flat, completely unmoved gaze. "You may take the rest of the day to say goodbye to your family," he granted, his tone relaying that the discussion was at an end. Elder Lina's gaze fell. She had pushed her bravery to the very limit, putting her life on the line for Calyn. However, even a blind person could see that Morpheus wouldn't be moved. To push any further would just be seeking death for no gain at all.

"Now, leave this place before you get caught up in a fight you want no part of," Morpheus commanded before turning his gaze back to Deriel " As for you, go stand by your father. Right now, your fate and his are rather tightly entangled," he growled. Deriel, who only a second before had looked like he would have happily given a limb to be anywhere but here, actually hesitated, casting a jealous and somewhat resentful gaze at those from the Sydrak clan who were quickly withdrawing from the scene. Morpheus didn't waste any more words, rather, his hand began to rise once more. Having seen what Morpheus had done to the necromancer, Deriel stumbled and almost fell three times as he scurried up the stairs.

What he missed in his hurry, however, was the fact that Morpheus had aimed his palm at where the necromancer had been standing. The meatball that had not too long ago been the necromancer, was still on the stair where he'd been standing. Like Thor summoning his hammer, the meatball flew up from the ground and into Greg's palm. Before the procedure with his teacher, Greg wouldn't have been able to hold up the ball as easily. After all, nothing of the man had been lost, the ball weighed just as much as the necromancer. With his newly gained strength, Morpheus barely noticed the weight of the thing as his hand closed around it, before, with a casual swing, he tossed it at the feet of the three at the top of the stairs. "An amusing opening gambit. But surely you wouldn't insult me by thinking this a sufficient challenge, would you?" Morpheus questioned with a smile. By the uneasy looks on the faces of the three at the top, Greg knew they could see right through the false cheer to the burning wrath that was aimed at them. "Come on, which one of you will step forward to test me?" He questioned.

The three at the top looked at each other and in their eyes, the unwillingness to risk their lives must have been as clear to each other as it was to Greg. "We beg that you understand our position," In the end, it was Mage Hira that spoke up. Though Greg couldn't help but notice that she was careful not to step forward when doing so. "A child barely at the third tier claims to be linked to a deity. Even if it was true, we had to test it, otherwise we'd be thought fools easily tricked by every wild claim out there. The Mage Korath was picked because he was powerful enough to be lethal to the boy should he have proven to be a charlatan but no true challenge to your eminent self. We meant no offense by our actions and if any has been caused, we are willing to compensate for it," she laid out.

Greg could see what his teacher had been talking about when she told him about Mage Hira. Having grown up on the street, and risen through the ranks of power, she was a survivor above all else. In a few seconds, she had spun up an explanation for their actions that not even Greg could poke a hole in. Greg very much doubted that their motivations were anything as benign as just establishing the truth of the situation. That, however, didn't change the ring of truth in her explanation. Just because someone claimed that they were linked to a deity didn't mean it was true. If word spread that they had taken such a person at their word merely out of fear, not only would they earn the ridicule of others, but every other half-wit charlatan out there would think that they were naïve enough to trick. Whether or not it was true, they had no choice but to test the veracity of the claim. Had Greg been the one in control, he probably would have found himself agreeing with the logic of the statement. Unfortunately for the blood mage and the two with her, the one they were dealing with was an ancient deity far more experienced than Greg was.

"Understandable," Morpheus stated with a shrug of the shoulders. "If a child barely at the third tier had made such claims you'd have every right to be skeptical. Only... this particular child never claimed anything," he, in one statement, cut through Mage Hira's argument.

Having been relegated to the backseat in his own body, Greg couldn't exactly open his eyes wide. Still, the shock was there as he realized just how deceptively the blood mage had framed her argument. Greg had been in hiding all this time and had never once made any claims to her or anyone for that matter that he harbored a deity with him. It was Seraphia who had somehow recognized the presence of one of her old friends. With her descent, she had pointed out Olivia's presence within the crowd. Olivia had stepped forward and stated that she served at Morpheus' pleasure. If this had been a lie, Seraphia would probably have struck her down for lying to her face. That means that, before a deity, Olivia's claim that she served another deity had been accepted as true. For Mage Hira to turn around and claim that she was testing whether Greg was actually linked with a deity or not, means that it was not the claim of a child they were doubting. Instead, she was calling into question Seraphia's intelligence by implying that she had been lied to without knowing.

In this light, the tenor of their actions changed. The three didn't doubt that Greg was linked with a deity. Rather, they were probably investigating just how powerful that connection was. And if it indeed was powerful, just how ready the deity was to jump to the defense of the aforementioned child barely at the third tier. The necromancer had been them testing the waters to see if there was an opening to eliminate Greg, deity, or no deity.

"It is the way of the world that the strong have their way," the Governor spoke up for the first time since Greg stepped out of the carriage. Despite the unease he shared with the two seventh-tier mages, his voice was steady. "The weak can only lower their heads and bear with whatever the strong desire. I, along with the esteemed members of the Draknar alliance have been strong for so long that we forgot what it's like to lower our heads before superior might. I will not deny that we hoped that the boy wasn't as strong as we had been led to believe. No one hopes that their enemy is strong. You, however, have shown yourself to be strong and we as the weaker party have no choice but to lower our heads in this matter. Our fates are in your hands to do with as you will. But I urge you to consider both options that lay before you."

"On the one hand, you can be gracious and accept our compensation for the slight shown in this matter. I'm certain that you will find that we are very generous in what we are willing to offer as compensation for our transgression. On the other hand, you can also choose to vent your spleen and kill us. We wouldn't be able to do aught but struggle futilely for our lives. But even after you've killed us, you wouldn't gain anything other than momentary satisfaction from the act. Worse yet, you would have gained new enemies. The Draknar alliance can't lose two mages without an answer of some kind, lest it appear weak before other mage alliances. I can't boast any allies as powerful as the Draknar alliance. Still, I am not without those that would object to my death. And even if you killed everyone that came after you, you'd only expand the circle of enemies that would come after you. A completely unnecessary headache for your eminent self," With the practiced calm of someone who'd been part of several life-and-death negotiations, the Governor laid out his case.

Morpheus narrowed his eyes at the man. "If I didn't know any better, I'd be tempted to think that you just threatened me," he spoke in a low but dangerous voice.

The man leaned forward, offering a deep bow. "If I have spoken any untruths, I am open to learning, " he said simply.

Greg didn't know much about the man. However, he could understand how it was he'd come to be the Governor of such a city as Ethavel. Rather than waste time arguing who was in the right and who was in the wrong, he'd immediately conceded that they were in the wrong. Morpheus was stronger and thus, by the rules everyone in this world seemed to operate by, he was the one in the right and they in the wrong. The man hadn't even claimed that they'd be able to put up a fight before dying. He'd taken it as a given that they would die. In doing so, he'd taken ego out of the equation. With right and wrong conceded and the outcome of the fight removed from debate, the man had masterfully turned the whole discussion into a tally of benefits vs costs. Take the compensation on offer now, and move past this whole ordeal, or kill them and deal with more headaches in the future. And even when Morpheus had pushed back that the words could easily be construed as a threat, the man had gently reminded him that, threat or not, they remained true!

In reality, Greg's position wasn't even as good as what the man thought. If all three powerhouses at the top of the stairs chose to attack, Greg didn't have enough lifespan left in him to support a fight against all three. He'd fall. It was just as much in his interest that this didn't devolve into a fight as it was in theirs. Morpheus had been combative all along, not because he didn't know this, but because he understood all too well that strength was the only thing that was respected in this world. The only reason the ones before him wanted peace was because they thought him stronger than them. If they thought differently, they wouldn't have even been talking. They'd have already attacked him.

All the tension seemed to leak out of the air as Morpheus let out an annoyed sigh and turned to look off to the side. Everyone present was a high-level negotiator. They could all see Morpheus had quietly conceded to the points made. "You will all sign contracts preventing you from speaking of my presence to anyone. I will not have you scurry away now only for you to go and amass an even bigger group to come at me with," Morpheus spoke coldly, his gaze turning back to the three at the top of the stairs. In a way, this part was even more important than whatever rewards he'd negotiate with them. Even if Greg was lavished in all manner of gifts, it would matter very little if the two seventh-tier mages turned the attention of the whole Draknar alliance in his direction.

"Naturally," Mage Hira immediately conceded, clearly relieved at how things were playing out.

"Well, with that out of the way, my servant will be along to negotiate proper compensation," Morpheus stated with a dismissive wave of the hand even as he turned around to head back to the carriage. Greg was certain that he had managed to intimidate the two seventh-tier mages along with the Governor into submission. But even with that fact, he wasn't willing to entrust his unconscious body to them. His body may have been drastically strengthened by the procedure he'd done on his teacher. He'd gone from having the body of a well-trained mundane human, to a third-tier body-enhancing mage. Be that as it may, he didn't hold any delusions that he was now powerful enough to host the consciousness of a deity like Morpheus. Chances are that, as soon as Morpheus stopped piloting his body, Greg would still pass out. His stronger body might allow him to regain consciousness much faster than before. The powerhouses at the top of the stairs, however, wouldn't need all that long to snuff out Greg's life.

This was why, right from the start, they'd never planned to stick around for the negotiations. Even when he wasn't casting massive spells, Morpheus was still burning away Greg's vitality the longer he remained in control of his body. Whatever negotiations would follow, Greg doubted that they'd be short. They were promising the moon now when their lives were on the line. Greg, however, suspected, that they'd try to give him as little as they could get away with when the negotiations finally came around. It was just human nature. Not that Greg cared. The true prize for him was to get these people off his back. He could have settled for nothing if they just agreed to back off. Now, however, he would have Olivia negotiate a king's ransom out of them for the privilege of having him leave them alone. The best part in all this was that, they had somehow managed to come out of this ordeal without the Draknar alliance finding out that his teacher was still alive...

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