Chapter 71

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Chapter 071: Control Darkness

In the middle of the night, Jesse tossed and turned in his room, unable to sleep, not only because of the burn on his hand, but also because he was worried about getting caught.

He muttered softly, "Oh no, Saenor, it’s dangerous without using magic, but if I use magic, people will find out. It’s really hard."

Saenor peeked out from the bag and whispered, "I don’t understand, master, why are humans so afraid of the power of demons? Look at how kind and friendly I am, how considerate I am towards you, I am a good friend of humanity, aren’t I?"

"I want to know… what magic did you use on top of the tower to enchant my sword with flames? Is it that simple?"

"It’s just that simple, master," Saenor said. "But that flame affected your mind, I could see that, maybe it’s your mind affecting the fire. Your inner self might be even darker than a demon like me, it really scared me at that time!"

"That’s complete nonsense," Jesse said.

"You caught me, master, I was indeed talking nonsense, because there’s no way I could have been scared!" Saenor chuckled mischievously.

Jesse pointed at him and said, "Lower your voice! Do you want those priests downstairs to hear you? A blast of Holy Light would put an end to you, imp."

Saenor quickly covered his mouth and retreated into the bag, no longer speaking.

Jesse woke up from the soreness all over his body, it was already afternoon when he opened his eyes.

He found himself covered in bruises, as if he had been hit all over his body, his muscles ached terribly no matter where he touched.

The orange sunlight streaming through the window turned the whole room into a golden hue, Jesse felt a sense of uncertainty bringing overwhelming anxiety.

He knew why he felt this way, because many things were still uncertain, many things were unclear to him.

Was the power that killed the Gnolls last night triggered by his inner darkness? Was imp right?

Recalling every outbreak of powerful shadow energy in the past, whether it was against Gakin on the street, or against the wolves in the forest, or last night, it seemed to have extremely intense emotions as a precursor.

Could it be that these emotions were the source of the exaggerated shadow power he unleashed?

He remembered the conversation with a priest in the small building in front of the Cathedral of Light square, the priest said that shadows could breed from negative emotions.

He read in a book that ancient followers of ancient gods could use their own or others’ negative emotions, like fear, anger, sadness, etc., to harness Shadow Power for themselves.

So, what were his emotions last night?

Hatred? Madness? Or… something else? Or maybe that magic wand?

The Teron wand, which Saenor called the Eredar magic wand, lay on the table. It didn’t emit any evil aura, looked quite ordinary like a black stick, and seemed to have no magical power.

Jesse carried it all night but didn’t really use it in battle. He wasn’t sure if the wand played any role when his emotions got out of control at the end.

He couldn’t explain.

Sitting on the bed, Jesse pondered why he had turned into what he did.

Perhaps, it was just a strong desire to live.

He wanted to survive; he didn’t want to be slaughtered as easily as that apprentice, nor did he want to die silently on a mysterious tower and be forgotten.

So, he wanted to stay alive, no matter what, he wanted to live on. But this desire for life was unexpectedly ignited by evil flames, twisted into a terrifying force of darkness.

Jesse didn’t want to be controlled by these things. He wanted to control them in return. He had to manage his emotions, releasing them when needed and staying calm when they shouldn’t be released.

Because any normal wishes and thoughts could be distorted into completely deformed desires, leading to obsessions dragging him into hell. The dark forces would then use these gradually mutated things to manipulate the host, turning them into dark creatures even more terrifying than demons.

Suddenly, he felt the urge to pee.

He rolled out of bed, only to find that there was no chamber pot in the room.

Limping to the door, he saw Morganth hurrying towards him from the corridor.

"Mr. Jesse Seso, how are you feeling? I was looking for you."

"I’m okay, Master Morganth. It’s just that my hand injury is quite serious, but the rest of me is fine."

"That’s good to hear. I have some questions for you."

Jesse hesitated for a moment, did he discover his own secret?

Normally, he might feel a little nervous and worried, but now he realized he didn’t have any particularly strange emotions.

He needed to learn to keep himself calm, no matter what happened, he had to face things calmly so as not to harm himself.

"So let’s get straight to the point."

"Okay!"

"I want to know about the sword that was burned last night."

Jesse’s heart raced for a moment, he stopped what he was doing and said, "Are you asking why the sword I was holding caught fire?"

"Yes."

"I don’t know either, Master," Jesse said. "I was fighting with the Gnoll while holding that sword, suddenly it caught fire, the flames even reached my hair. I hadn’t held it for long before the sword was damaged by the fire."

"The magic that ignited the sword was Black Magic," Morganth coughed twice, saying, "Do you understand?"

Jesse said, "I heard soldiers saying that it was the dark spell of Gnolls that destroyed the sword."

Morganth nodded slowly, then asked, "Did you hear… or see anything strange before the sword caught fire, like whispers, or did you see any Gnolls making strange gestures?"

Ah, so you’re also caught up in this, Morganth was actually up to something similar to himself.

Morganth also wanted to find that Gnoll, to learn the Black Magic they somehow acquired, it seems they were kindred spirits after all.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief, the other party hadn’t realized that he was actually a kind of warlock too.

The imp summoning ritual of The Slaughtered Lamb group had made Jesse overestimate the level of Black Magic researchers in the Wizard’s Sanctum. But since someone like Morganth, at his level of shadow practice, would be expelled from the Wizard’s Sanctum, if he was found out, it wouldn’t end well for him.

After all, he was no longer just a mere practitioner of Black Magic, now if he summoned an imp, he could be classified as a "demon worshipper", Gakin really had tied himself completely to The Slaughtered Lamb group.

"Sorry, Master Morganth, at that time I was only focused on the enemies in front of me, I almost lost my life, I didn’t have any spare time to listen to any other sounds, you also know that last night was just too chaotic."

"I understand," said Morganth. "The Shadowfire Clan has connections with the Orcs who used to live here. They learned corrupt spells from an Orc Warlock, posing a big threat. If we can learn what they’ve learned, we can find a way to deal with it. I heard about your battle last night, rest well as recovering from Shadowfire’s flames is tough. When you meet the king, try not to look too worn out."

After saying that, Morganth turned to leave, leaving Jesse puzzled. Jesse immediately asked, "Wait, Master Morganth, the king? I’m going to meet the king? Where?"

Morganth explained, "My apprentice received a letter. King Varian is on his way to Stonewatch Keep. He heard about the Gnoll attack there and plans to visit the injured soldiers and officers, including you. Impress him, and it might turn out well for you."