Blessing of Magus

VII - More Explanation & Andra's Condition

Okay, it is official now. This day is the worst day ever.

From the destruction of our home to Mama’s death, I thought this day could not be any worse. But I am definitely wrong. Here, in a cave, the source of our problem talked about Andra’s death casually, like it is something that happened daily. I really want to slap her face right now.

However, much to my disappointment, I took a deep breath and tried to control my emotion. It will be no good to lose my calm right now, especially to the only source of our information. After I get a bit calmer, I look at him coldly and said,

“Explain, now.” She gulped a little bit.

“As I have already told you before, I have a suspicion that Andra is a mage. Do you remember about it?” I nodded. “Well, the book that he held confirms my suspicion. That is Blessing of Magus right?” I keep silent, not confirming or denying her accusation.

“You don’t need to tell me anything, because I know what the book is. It also answered why Andra could use magus even though he kept denying that he is a mage. The book has a power to purify the magus from whoever it chooses.”

“Wait, the book chooses Andra? Does that mean it has a consciousness? What the hell?”

“Well, I don’t really know about it. The book itself is still a mystery even among the mages community. But from what I know, the Blessing of Magus is the legacy of Magus itself. He wrote seven books in an ancient language that was rumored to be the language of God. Until today, no one has ever managed to decipher the books until the end, even just one book.” She finished her explanation.

“So, what does it mean for Andra and why is it that Andra will die in four days?” I ask the most important question. She just sighed and closed her eyes before answering.

“After explaining all of those things about Blessing of Magus, you are probably thinking it is strange, suspicious even, for me to know a lot about that book, considering how precious it is. The fact is, my family, Agniis, is one of the holders of the book. One of my ancestors found the book in a flea market, or so the record said.

I told you before that people started to learn to become a mage when they were 3 years old, right? The truth is, not everyone can be a mage. Only the one who has a large amount of magus can learn the art of mage, and that is up to a mage master to decide how large the magus is needed if people want to learn.

The Agniis family is famous for our mercenary, so we don’t have any mages among our rank. However, everything has changed since we have one of the Blessing of Magus. Magus inside the body of babies inside our family increased astronomically, attracting the attention of the mage community. Since then, we are known for being the best healer magus in Pangea.

Back to Andra’s condition, we have a similar record in our family when the book came to our family for the first time. Ordinary people over 10 years old who have their magus purified by the book would start to have a very high temperature, their breath will be very heavy, and they would fall unconscious for at least 3 days before they died.

It cost more than a dozen people to die for the same cause for us to know what is the problem. The problem is the magus inside their body was purified in an instant, and their body didn’t have a chance to adapt. It is like spilling a sea into a river, with the sea being the magus and the river being the body. The overload will slowly damage the heart, the source of magus, and within three days, they will die.”

The more she explained, the more depressed I become. But I don’t want to show a weakness in front of her, not when I still don’t know what is her intention right now. I know that she still wants our, or without Andra, my help to save her sister.

“So, is there anything that we can do to save him?” Surprisingly, she nodded.

“Yes, there are. My family is a healer mage, and after we found the cause of the death, we did a lot of research to find the solution. We developed a method to make the magus overload slower inside his body, at least enough to wake him up from his unconsciousness. After that, he will have to practice his body until it can hold his own magus.”

I looked at her carefully and ask, “What is the cost?” She smiled slyly.

“You help me save my sister, and I will put a good word to my father. Don’t worry, he will listen to what I said. I am his heir, after all.” Outside, I just look at her with a blank face. But my mind is secretly applauding and cursing her quick thinking at the same time.

‘She turned out her desperate position into a great deal between us, from the position that she needed our favor into the equivalent exchange. More than that, it is me who is in the disadvantaged position now, because I don’t know anything about magus, so I cannot confirm what she said. Also, I am not looking forward to knowing about the ramifications of our deals. What a cunning bastard. At least she is still looking for my help to rescue her sister, which will be my only card for now.’

I keep looking at her with a blank face before walking out of the room, not saying anything. While Andra's condition is probably getting worse, I don't want to look despair and give her an advantage. So, my leaving the room without saying anything is a power play by me who want to say, you need me more than I need you, placing her in a more desperate position.

But before I leave the room, she said calmly, without hinting any nervousness.

“You better think fast, because if your brother dies, you don’t have anyone but you to blame.” I clenched my fists and leave her alone. The weather outside is clearly mirroring my mind right now, full of chaos and storm. I don’t have a lot of time to think. My brain is screaming at me, telling me to accept Sara’s proposal. But I have a gut that this is not as simple as what it looks right now.

“DEVIN!” Cosma’s shout suddenly snapped me out of my thought. I looked around and see that I have stood in front of the twin’s room for a while.

“We called your name several times but you keep looking at us with a blank face. What happened?” I smile and rubbed their head.

“It is about Andra’s condition right?” This time, it is Nina who asked me the question, looking at me worriedly. I just sighed and nodded tiredly.

“Yeah. His condition is getting worse, and Sara, the lady in the other room said something about him will die in four days or so. She gives me a proposal to save her sister in exchange of her family’s service to help Andra. Apparently, her family is some sort of doctor.” The twins just look at each other strangely and ask me,

“Andra’s condition is related to the so-called Blessing of Magus, isn’t it?” I snapped my head and looked at them with a dumbfounded face.

“Where did you know that word?” Now, it is the twins that looked confused, before Cosma replied with another question.

“What do you mean where? Of course from Andra’s book? It is the one that Andra held before the strange door that bring us here appeared, right?” 

“Yeah, we took it from Andra’s body when he fell unconscious. Is that something important?”

“Wait, You can read the book?!” They nodded hesitantly, not sure what it means. As for me, this realization gives me a strong headache. If the twins mentioning the book is surprising, this time, it shocked me to the core. After all, Sara just confirmed that no one has ever managed to decipher the book itself.

“Wait a minute. Do you feel something wrong with your body, or anything else that you can feel?” I narrowed my eyes. After what Sara said about the late purified magus, I am worried that something bad like what Andra suffered now will happen to the twins in the future. But Cosma's answer once again surprised me.

“Do you mean our magus? Yeah, we can feel it since we arrived at the forest. We just know what it is after reading the book for a bit.”

"Then, why did you not tell me or Andra?” They just shrugged.

“You raised a red alert, so we didn’t dare to tell you before.” I sighed tiredly while rubbing my forehead, getting more headaches from the twins.

“Well, what have you read in that book?” Nina looked at me cautiously before asking,

“First thing first, did Sara tell you about Andra’s condition?” While curious, I nodded and explained to them what Sara told me. After hearing what I said, their face turned grimly, and before I can ask what was wrong, they dropped the bomb, their discovery,

“Don't bother with her offer. We have read the first chapter of the book, and we know about Andra’s condition. If what we thought is true, what Sara offered will only cripple Andra’s body and led him to death.”