Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Lesaric didn’t know the reason, so he just stood there and rubbed a hand over his face.
“I don’t see how it could work against me,” he said. “I agree with the conditions of this contract. Shall we proceed now?”
“This conversation must stay between us, alright?” Delmore’s eyes were quite cold as she said this.
Lesaric remembered that, above all else, this woman was still royalty. Whatever weakness he felt before now was gone.
Delmore picked the paper up from the floor, it didn’t matter that it had been dirtied. She took out a pen and slowly harnessed her magical forces to write.
I, Le Teros Delmore Keith, protect Lesaric Horn.
The letters shone for a moment. Lesaric took the pen from Delmore and wrote beneath her words.
I, Lesaric Horn, protect Le Teros Delmore Keith.
His words also shone. With just these simple promises on paper, magical powers were imbued in their words and were forced into reality.
With the contract signed, Delmore couldn’t force Lesaric to do what his will wouldn’t allow him to. She was supposed to protect him figuratively as well. In the same vein, Lesaric had to protect her completely because of what he had signed. He couldn’t even tell anyone her secret now.
They were bound by magic; therefore this contract could be nothing but fair.
Bachlop, as the witness, put the piece of paper in his pocket. “Good,” he said. “Also, Mr. Lesaric, I know you must have realized this already, but the government of Libron has decreed that you are only to use limited powers. If you meet anyone outside of the lab, please be mindful.” With that, Bachlop smiled at them and walked out of the room. He needed to find something to treat Delmore’s wounds.
Delmore was flustered when she realized that she had been left alone with Lesaric. Bachlop! We should’ve left together!
Not aware of Delmore’s discomfort, Lesaric spoke. “You use magic.”
“Oh, yes,” Delmore said. “I know you didn’t expect that. Other royals barely use magic.”
“I’ve seen them spill magic before,” Lesaric said. “But I haven’t seen anyone who could control it to the point of writing sentences.”
There were magic particles glistening around them. They were small, but these particles contained magical powers that could become strong if someone willed them to be. They could even change the world.
Some people could become strong enough to create Granica which could allow them to strengthen their magical powers or even entirely cut off their existence from the physical world. It was the kind of power that was usually used on the battlefield. Those who were born with the blood of Horn already had potent powers so they were used to this type of magic.
Lesaric was the best among all of them, so he was able to use it like it was just another part of his body. Sometimes, he used magic powers to pierce or slash someone in combat. They were always dead in an instant.
A long time ago, everyone trained their abilities to gain influence in the world. But as time passed, the royals of the Terossa stopped using magical power as they had the Horns on their side who could create Granica for them. They had no reason to learn it themselves.
Delmore and Lesaric both knew what he was saying.
Delmore felt like she was indebted to him by just being able to breathe in front of Lesaric because she knew what her father and siblings had done to him, so she couldn’t speak all her thoughts aloud. So, she just said, “You’ll be freer in the lab. Do whatever you want to do, Lesaric. You can experiment or not, whatever you want.”
Lesaric didn’t say anything.
Delmore schooled her expressions, said her greetings, and left.
Lesaric looked around at the room. The particles of magic that Delmore had harnessed earlier to sign the contract were still glistening around him. They would have followed him as he stepped out, but they were kept at bay by the door.
***
In the year 211 of Homukruk, the kingdom of Terossa was still a small nation. It was located in the middle of the continent and rested on flat land, so they had food supplies but never in extravagance. Terrosa’s true power wasn’t in their material resources. It was in their knowledge.
Terrosa was a small nation, but their technology in terms of magic and science was the best in the continent. Baliha, the queen of Terrosa at the time, was a great scholar herself. She concocted medicine in the lab for her weaker subjects and spread that knowledge to the outer treatment centers.
Their technological prowess tempted the desires of other nations. To gain control over Terrosa meant gaining control over well-educated scholars and leaders in the fields of magic and science.
So, in the year 219 of Homukruk, Terrosa and Orsos went into a war. Orsos declared that Terrosa was too arrogant for its size and said that they would crush them. They said that a small nation such as Terrosa should act like one, that its rulers and subjects had no right to have the glory that only larger nations should have had.
Every nation in the continent waited for the collapse of Terrosa.
Baliha wept as her people suffered until she realized that what they lacked wasn’t their defense or their magical weapons. What they lacked was population. Even though Orsos was huge, their technology wasn’t any better than Terrosa’s. They were basically just throwing men at them.
So Baliha wondered, couldn’t they just make stronger people?
She gathered the researchers and the knights. She created Granica to open a space that was created with the magic line and brought in the knights who were good enough to take anyone’s life instantly. Baliha and the researchers poured all their magical science technology into creating knights that were beyond what normal humans were.
They called them Horn. It was the surname bestowed on the strongest knight, Ramsa Adban.
They amplified the magical power that flowed in their body so they could heal quickly and wouldn’t die easily. Their arms and legs were powerful, and they were able to twist normal people with ease. No country could stop them.
In the year 255 of Homukruk, Orsos lost.
After the war with Orsos, the strong knights of Baliha went on a campaign and expanded the border for Terrosa until it was was no longer a small nation. They became a huge nation that ruled the continent.
But the nobles felt uneasy by the sudden imbalance between them and the Horns. Maybe the Horns would overtake the throne someday? Maybe they would end the Baliha’s bloodline?
In the year 302 of Homukruk, Baliha had passed and King Riurum was becoming old. The nobles, who weren’t pleased with the ever growing might of the Horn, began to whisper their worries to the king.
They are dangerous… You need to put a gag on them to protect your legacy…
Riurum, who was becoming weaker the older he got, lost his mind and succumbed to the demands of the nobles. He called the knights and forced them to sign a pledge.
Those who have your blood shall protect those who have my blood. They will listen to them and will never be able to harm them.
The knights pledged loyally.
Even if our loyalty fades through the generations, our pledge will remain to protect the royal blood.
But this pledge trapped the Horns’ descendants and accelerated the corruption of the royals. The king’s descendants didn’t treat them fairly because they had no reason to. They were already loyal, there was no reason to take care of them anymore.
The royals had started to exploit the Horns. They took their love and crushed their honor. As the king started to treat them poorly, the nobles soon followed. The only thing the Horns got in return for their loyalty was shame.
Those with Horns’ blood flowing in them couldn’t harm the king, their pledge protecting him despite his abuse. The Horns were in despair, but their powers stopped them from even having an easy death.
Soon, those born with Horn blood were discriminated against. Because of the very pledge of loyalty they were coerced to make, the world was divided into its different classes and turned to abuse their kind. Their unreturned loyalty to the crown.