As the sun set in the west, a faint bright red colour appeared in the sky, indicating it was morning. They decided to set out again to reach the tower on time, but the map was not on their side, as it still indicated that a few kilometres remained after a few days of travel.
"Ahhh"
"What's wrong, Collen?" Clara asked.
"How long are we from there?"
"It is just about 5 kilometres."
"Arah, I'm getting tired."
"Stop complaining, he saved us all, so this is the least we can do."
"Alright."
"Hey, Clara, I don't think I'm the only one who feels something is really strange about Lucius. That strange power, would he be able to control it, unlike what Liam said?"
"I know what you are saying, but we can't afford to think about that now. When he is saved, we can start thinking about what would happen, but I know he won't lose control."
"How sure are you? From what I saw, he doesn't like us, so for him to reveal his hidden power is so strange, like, why did he save us after all we did to him?"
"Yeah, but whatever the reason, he saved us, so I don't care."
"If you say so, Clara, I won't go further."
After hours of relentless walking, both Clara and Collen were drenched in sweat. Collen was barely able to walk due to the weight of Lucius on him. But Lucius's body did not improve; it got colder, paler than before, like he wouldn't make it. Every hour, Clara injects magic into his body; even though his body rejects it, it is still keeping him safe and his heart from getting weaker.
Clara checked the map once again and said, "Wow, we are there, Collen," she said excitedly, pointing at a tall and long building in the distance.
"Ahah"
"Finally," he said, breathing heavily as he laid Lucius down by the entrance of the tall tower when it came into view. But before they could knock on the door, it suddenly opened, shocking them, revealing two young people standing there as Clara talked.
"Please, we need help to save a friend. Is there anyone named Zafarah?"
"Who are you to call him that?" the two disciples said angrily.
"Please, could you first save my friend?" Clara said angrily.
"Master Zafarah doesn't accept people from the palace, so go back," they stated angrily.
"Ahaah," Collen laughed.
"After walking for more than 4 days, you are saying we should go back, which is impossible."
"Collen, we need to speak nicely, or they won't help us."
"I'm sorry, my friend is cranky after travelling for so long, so please don't be offended. But please, my second friend is dying. Please, could you call your master for us?"
"Clara, stop wasting your energy; they won't help."
Clara kept begging for a while, but still no change. The master felt something change in Lucius's body, so he came out.
Without saying anything else, he said, "Bring him in."
Moments later, Lucius was lying in a small, cosy room.
"Master Zafarah, please save him," Clara spoke worriedly.
"I can't save him, it's beyond my capability."
"What do you mean?"
"He is supposed to be dead by now, but something else is keeping him alive, even though his body has reached its limit."
"What?" they both said, confused.
"You don't need to understand, but you just need to know that he is not dying yet."
"But for now, let him rest, you two go outside," Zafarah said.
Hours have gone by, but Lucius has yet to wake up, and they have started to worry as they slept. By the next day, he finally regained consciousness.
With a splitting headache, Lucius opened his eyes reluctantly as he tried to make out where he was, but the familiar scent of medicine hit his nose, and for a second, he thought he was back at the hospital, but when his eyes became clearer, he could make out that it looked like a room for treatment, but before he could stand up or move any further, an old man entered the room.
"Don't move yet, your body is still weak," he said.
"Who are you, old man?"
The old man just laughed and said, "I'm a doctor."
"Oh, I'm sorry, thanks for saving me."
"I didn't save you."
"You didn't?" Lucius said, looking surprised.
"Yes, I didn't, but you know what saved you."
After the old man said it, he remembered what that entity said.
"I only have some advice for you. You should know what you are dealing with, or you will become what you can't recognise."
Lucius flinched, hearing that, but still he said, "I had to survive."
But the man just smiled, and before their conversation could go further, both Clara and Collen entered the room.
"Lucius, how are you feeling?" Clara asked worriedly, but Lucius paid no attention to her or Collen.
"What do we have here?"
"So you guys can be worried about me, oh, I forgot it must be because I saved you, so I went from useless to useful."
"Lucius, how could you say that? Don't you know how worried Clara was about you?"
"Are we familiar?"
"What did you say?"
"I said, 'Are we familiar?' because, for all I know, you guys hated me."
"I—"
"Collen, it's ok," Clara gestured to Collen to stop. "He's right, we hated him, so it's natural he hates us."
Before he could say anything again towards them, a sharp headache hit him.
"Ahha"
Everything turned black as he was transported to a different place, unlike the last one he saw. This time, he could see three people talking about how the experiment was failing and how they were unable to control the animals. Before he could see more, he came back to reality to find all of them shocked because he was screaming.
"What's wrong, Master Zafarah? I thought you said he is healed, why is he still in pain?"
"That is why I told you, and it has nothing to do with his injury."
"Lucius, what's going on?"
"What do I need to report to you now?"
"Clara, leave him; he won't talk."
But she hesitated.
"Leave it, he won't tell you."
"You heard him, Clara. I won't tell you, so leave."
While back at the ruins, after sending reports on the battle, deaths, and situations going on, the party started preparations to continue the mission. The head mage called out to the remaining mages and Shira about the next location on the map.
"After they return, we will continue the mission. So, for now, we will wait for backup while you guys heal."
But Liam kept training for days without rest because he could see that Lucius was stronger than him, which he wouldn't accept.
"You know, training so hard now won't make a difference because he is a lot stronger than you, and instead of resting, you are stubbornly training. How stupid are you?" Shira shouted angrily at Liam.
Smirking, he said, "It's not only me who is weak, so are you, so stop behaving as if you are holy."
Fuming, she shouted, "My power is for supporting, so it is you who is weak," leaving there before they started arguing.
On the other side,
Aside from the headache episode, his body is healing well, so they decided to return to join the rest of the party. He followed them to see how things were before leaving.
After days of walking, they arrived at the marked ruins, tired and exhausted. The place did not change at all. The curse energy still lingered around the area, but the only thing that changed was the absence of monsters. The trees still twisted with dark veins around them, and still, the wind and air felt extremely quiet, looking eerie as always.
The head mage, noticing them, smiled, saying, "I'm glad you are all right. In two days, we will journey to the south. There is another disaster there, and Lucius, the king is very excited about what you did and has decided to reward you when we go back. Even I am still surprised that you have that kind of power, but how come you didn't show us sooner?"
"I just discovered it as well."
"I guess you are useful after all."
"I guess so too."
"You must be exhausted. Come here and rest," the head mage offered his tent to him.
"Thank you."
For the next two days, everyone kept praising Lucius for his power while he was looking for a way to leave there, but as he noticed they wouldn't let him go, he had to do something. As he was thinking, Shira called him, telling him that the Head Mage wanted to see him.
Upon arriving at the tent, he was asked to scout the ruins one last time with the other four heroes in case of an emergency. As they all set out to scout the area, Lucius felt the curse energy growing stronger as they went deeper, but he continued, looking for the perfect opportunity to leave, only for fate to have another plan for him.
The further they walked, the more concentrated the curse was. As they reached a point, he suddenly felt a headache.
"Ahha," he shouted, gripping his head in pain, but suddenly he grabbed Shira's neck.
"Lucius… stop," her voice came out in a whisper from the force he used to grip her.
But he kept saying, "All humans must die."
"Lucius, stop, you are hurting me," she kept saying, but he didn't seem to hear and kept repeating, "All humans must die."
Due to his voice, the others turned back, but were shocked to find Lucius trying to kill Shira.
"Lucius, stop, you will kill her!" Clara shouted, but he still kept saying, "All humans must die."
"Clara, stop wasting your words on him, he can't hear you."
Liam just laughed. "Didn't I tell you he would lose control?"
"Liam, instead of laughing, let's stop him before he kills Shira!"
They launched together at Lucius, swinging their swords, but before they could reach him, they were all hit by the curse energy surrounding him.
They stumbled towards the ground with a loud bang.
"Ahh—dammit, he's so strong."
"Let's attack together. Liam and Collen, use your lightning to attack as well as me and Clara, and I will launch at him."
"Good idea."
As they launched at Lucius, despite attacking together, they were still no match for him, but they kept attacking, and for a second, Lucius returned to reality as he saw his hand; he gasped and released Shira's neck.
Coughing, she landed on the ground, terrified.
As he looked at the others and saw fear in their eyes, both Liam and Clara gripped their swords at him, and Collen still had his hands up, ready to attack.
Without thinking, he ran away from there.
After sorting out their thoughts, the remaining heroes returned to the party, and the head mage asked about Lucius. They told him all that had happened.
"You see, we should have allowed him to die then, but you all were saying we should save him, and now Shira almost died," Liam said arrogantly.
"Liam, now is not the time," Clara said, looking confused.
"Guards!"
"One of you will send a message to the capital, stating that Lucius lost control and is dangerous."
After that storm settled, they continued preparations for the next location.
While in a far place, watching what just happened, he smiled.
Moments later, someone entered that place.
"Lord Dox, what are your orders?"
Smiling, he just said, "Well, let's watch things unfold, and soon he will turn to our side, and by then we will be unstoppable, and those Royals will pay."