League of Legends

Chapter 811 The Source of Magic

The relentless wind of the Freljord blows sparks that roll all the way over nearby rooftops.The greedy flame devours frantically every time it crawls through a place.

Kegan, unaware of the disaster behind him, was heading north through the clouds.

He had better things to do than stay and watch old Regon's mansion burn to ashes.The burnt place must be dealt with first.

When he climbed to a high enough place and was in the mood to look back at his masterpiece, the sun was slowly rising over the sea, and the fire had been extinguished, leaving only a thick column of smoke curling and thinning in the morning wind.

Kegan held a handful of snow against his burned cheek, hoping to see Regon's big house reduced to a pile of black ash in the middle of the village.But what he saw took his breath away.

He was too scared to speak, his body was covered with bruises, and he staggered when he ran, but he still tried his best to return to the scene of his crime.

At first no one noticed his return.

The survivors wandered among the charred wreckage of their houses, nothing of them existed, and he was just another silhouette in the smoke.

He found her outside the charred ruins of Tshwana's home.

Together with her husband and son, she lay quietly on the ground.The three of them were covered under the same black blanket, silent.

Kegan crouched beside them for an indefinite amount of time.

His mind is empty, his body is weak, and he may even cry.

When he was by her side, he only clearly remembered two things. The first one was the faces of the family he saw when he pulled down the blanket. After confirming that it was her family, he put the blanket back on.

For the second thing, he put his hands on the muddy shroud, praying that his mother's ancient magic might be invoked.But as always, the talent he deserved didn't turn out as he wished.

They were motionless, he was no longer whole.

After a while, naturally, someone else came over.

Kegan knelt by Shwana's side, ignoring their insults and scolding.

People cursed "witchcraft" and "bad luck" and cursed the day of his birth.Kegan let the words overwhelm him, nothing compared to the hole in his chest and the pain in his cheek.

These people didn't know anything, and they blamed Kegan in their grief because they didn't know who to blame, let alone who did it all.They cursed him only for his blood, not his crimes.

Kegan left the burned village without looking back, and walked into the wilderness as originally planned, but the pleasure of revenge that he had expected turned into bitter ashes in his mouth.

For the next few weeks, Keegan was nomadic.Follow the tracks of wild animals, or the trails of merchant travel, and walk inland.There is no specific direction, and no one knows where there is smoke.The only places he was familiar with were the desolate woodlands and mountain ridges where his mother collected herbs.

Even Vallard, the nearest village, is weeks away and likely to house the survivors of Regon.Even if Kegan found a place, he didn't think people would welcome him warmly, more likely they would kill him.

He hunted as best he could, but he was not a real hunter.

Day after day, month after month.

The sky sank into eternal night, and the weather became even harsher.

He had met no one from any other tribe, nor had he seen any sign of a village.

All he could see was the vast snow and ice that hadn't changed for several days. The Freljord didn't care about his life at all, and only responded with the howling wind.

By luck, or through a cruel twist of fate, he found a cavern of pale stone identical to his former home.Emaciated and weak, he lay on the cold rock, feeling his skin slowly freeze to the stone.He was going to lie here until the storm passed, or just lay there and die, whichever came first.

That same night, he met a man who became his master.

The meeting scene of the two people under the arrangement of fate is far from being compared with any story of a wandering poet or an ancient legend.The visitor just stood at the entrance of the cave, staring at a tattered figure on the ground suspiciously.

"This is..." the old mage murmured, "What is it?"

Kegan's consciousness came and went, as did his sentience.

"I am neither a ghost nor an illusion," said the old mage. "I am Ryze, and you, miserable bastard... who are you?"

Shortly after sunrise, Kegan woke up.

A nightmare as usual, and Kegan couldn't change anything.

Not surprisingly, he saw the old mage sitting down with his eyes closed.He knew that the old mage was meditating, although he couldn't understand why he sat motionless for an hour every day.It's like hesitating back and forth between half asleep and half awake, whether to sleep or wake up...

"Good morning." The old mage didn't open his eyes: "You didn't sleep well."

As always, a statement, not a question.

"Why do I feel that you are looking at me even if you close your eyes?"

"Because you're not used to being around people, you always suspect they're up to something."

Kegan grunted, "There's nothing wrong with being a little wary."

Ryze smiled, still meditating.

Kegan was a little annoyed: "What's so funny?"

"Sometimes, I listen to you as if I hear myself. I don't trust people, but it's a kind of character, which is especially like me. But I can't blame you, after all, you have suffered so much .”

Kegan got up and stretched beautifully: "Well, I heated up the leftover oil soup, how about an early meal?"

"Kegan, are you going to gather firewood, or use your own fire?"

This question was extremely provocative, and Kegan spent a lot of effort: "Go firewood, I will try to use magic next time."

Another laugh, a maddening laugh.

Kegan picked up the dead wood unhurriedly, replaying the conversations between the two of them over the past few weeks in his mind.

Some words seemed to have been stuck in his heart, itching the burns on his face that had healed. It wasn't until he returned to the camp where he threw down his arms full of broken branches that he finally figured out what the words were.

"Master."

Ryze didn't move, but the air around them seemed strange, slightly pungent.

"Ok?"

Kegan cleared his throat, trying to find a proper way to put it. "When you talked about magic yesterday, you talked about... what creations."

Ryze still didn't move, save for his lips, darkened by the spell.

"I said, you go on."

Kegan took a breath, not knowing where to begin: "Water comes from rain, ice, and the sea. Fire comes from sparks and tinder, or lightning strikes the forest. Forests are made of trees, and trees are made of seeds."

"Yes, in the main. So what is the conclusion of your argument?"

"That's... everything has a history, everything has... origin, a source. Is this also the case for magic? Does it have a source in the world?"

Ryze didn't answer right away, but in Kegan's view, his calm was no longer a kind of tranquility, but something restrained.

After a long time, Ryze made a sound.

"That's a smart question, friend. There's a purity in your savage thinking, and I applaud your idea, but we're not ready to talk about it right now."

The Savage clenched his teeth, trying to swallow his anger.

In the end, he asked a question worth answering, and Ryze still didn't let him.

He asked, "But I was thinking... if you master the rain, you can make new rivers. If you have a thousand seeds, you can plant a new forest. If you have iron, you can make An axe. What if you mastered the source of the magic? You don't have to channel or push the magic. You just order it."

Ryze opened his eyes.

At this moment, his eyes were colder than all the winds in the Freljord.There is compassion and appreciation in it, but more, it is still a morbid fear that penetrates the bone marrow.

scared...

The thought made Kegan's skin crawl.

He didn't know why, and he couldn't think of anything in his words that would stimulate the master and stir up the cold and hard fear in his soul.

"No." Ryze said grumblingly, "We'll talk about it when you're ready. It's not right now."

Kegan nodded, he was curious about Master's restless eyes...

(End of this chapter)