Chương 13: Chapter 008 The Blood-Red Rose And The Assassin’s Blade

Jack tried to refocus on what was important. A thousand thoughts and memories tried to flood his mind—some not quite his own—but only one mattered. Could he stop his father from working on the blood magic book that caused their deaths? It wasn't that simple, though. His father was only one of the leading Expert Scribes at the Royal Library. Even if he could stop him, another scribe would take his place, and their family might die in their stead. Can I live with passing a death sentence on someone else?

He thought about Jasmin, the daughter of another Expert Scribe at the Royal Library. I can't take that risk. Jack rubbed the back of his neck, weighing his options with care. How can I stop the grimoire from being deciphered? He considered preventing it from being deciphered by destroying the book. If he could intercept and destroy it before it reached the scribes, the problem would be solved. He covered his face with his hands in despair. He had no idea where the book of forbidden spells originated.

He recalled the similarity of the blood magic ritual chant he'd witnessed earlier that day. All he knew for sure was that it was written in an extinct Elven language, and it was in the Royal Library, a few years from now. The book could be anywhere now. With the sound of songbirds still singing above him, Jack stood up and paced the temple again. That's not enough to go on. Could I steal or destroy the book after I know where it is? He shook his head.

With important texts, they almost always worked on copies, not the originals, which were kept locked away. He couldn't stop the grimoire from being deciphered. That meant a scribe's family would die. Jasmin's sixteen. I wonder what she's doing now? His thoughts wandered to meeting her, and his heartbeat raced. Would she even like me as I am now? I won't be a scribe. I'm not really a teenager. He looked down at the blood-red rose while running his free hand through his messy hair in despair.

Should I even try to connect with her? She'd had a good life without him; she didn't need him to be happy. Jack sat back down to think while trying to put meeting Jasmin out of his confused mind. He had a serious problem to solve, so his potential future love life could wait. Is there anyone above Greaves I could inform that he was deciphering a blood magic grimoire? Blood magic was forbidden for good reason. A cult of blood mages had almost destroyed the Kingdom of Mercia a thousand years earlier.

The class was considered so dangerous that anyone discovered with the class was summarily put to death. There were no exceptions. Jack was assuming the Baron wasn't authorised to continue deciphering and translating the book after learning it was forbidden knowledge. But who could he tell? And how could he prove the encrypted book contained forbidden spells? His thoughts drifted to one of his past bad decisions. Why did we keep on deciphering the book? Why didn't we stop? We should've stopped. If only we'd stopped.

He'd asked himself these same questions thousands of times. He and his father were well aware of the crown's policy on forbidden blood magic, yet they barely batted an eye when the Baron ordered them to continue deciphering the book. They should've stopped. It made no sense; it was like they couldn't see how bad the decision was. It's like we had our minds manip… Jack stopped mid-thought. The slaver. No. It couldn't be. A shiver ran the length of his spine at the realisation.

Could blood mages have mind control skills? It would explain so much. He shook his head. Everything he'd ever studied indicated mind control wasn't possible. Every book said it was impossible due to human willpower. There were persuasion skills like [Rogue's Tongue] and the politician's skill [Convince], but even with those, they were relatively weak. Orcneas can be enslaved by necromancers. Isn't that mind control? He scratched the back of his neck as everything fell into place.

Why would we be taught mind control doesn't exist, when it clearly does? The bastard manipulated us with a blood mage skill. It must be. Anger surged as he recalled the times the Baron had persuaded them to keep working on the forbidden grimoire. He took a deep breath to calm his mind. I'm going to make th at bastard pay for this. He took another deep breath. Who can I tell that the Baron is involved in blood magic, and how would I explain that the encrypted book contains blood magic spells?

I'll need to warn them he has a mind control skill. Jack had just witnessed twelve nobles perform a forbidden blood magic ritual within the safest city of the Kingdom of Mercia. There might be many more blood cult members within the city. He might ask the wrong person for help, someone who is being controlled. He considered sending an anonymous letter to the head of the Royal Library and even to the Inquisition, whose role was to hunt down users of forbidden classes.

This might be an option, but there wouldn't be any evidence until after the grimoire is deciphered and translated. Wait. I know the cypher, and I have [Perfect Recall]. He sat up straight and smiled. [Perfect Recall] allowed a scribe to recall any written text verbatim. I can send a copy of the first section of the translated grimoire to the Inquisition before anyone tries to crack the puzzle.

"Damn it!" Jack remembered he couldn't choose the scribe class this time and cursed his bad luck. He scratched his face where he used to have a sensitive burn scar that would annoy him when he was agitated. He gave up on the idea of gaining access to the blood magic grimoire. He'd never gain access without being an Apprentice Scribe. I' ll send an anonymous accusation that Greaves is trying to access a blood magic grimoire and warn them that blood mages probably have mind control skills.

He smiled at the idea of the inquisitors arresting the Baron and hanging him. He scratched his chin in thought. Without proof, would the accusations be enough for an inquisitor to investigate? Jack wasn't sure. I can't rely on luck. I must be certain. This is my family's life at stake. He gulped due to anxiety. He couldn't guarantee his father or another Expert Scribe wouldn't decipher the grimoire, resulting in Greaves killing a scribe's family.

He stood and started pacing again before stopping in front of the marble statue of the Goddess Demeter. I have to kill him before anyone deciphers the book. His hand was resting on the handle of his new dagger. I have to choose a combat class and train hard for a few years before killing him. Jack clenched his fists and imagined driving a poisoned dagger deep into the Baron's fat gut.

His obsession with killing Greaves guided his thoughts as he touched the Choosing Stone and looked through the list of available classes again. There are a lot of combat classes. He pulled out a notepad and pen and wrote down the combat classes, sorting them into similar categories. For good measure, he included all the non-combat classes as well, so he'd have everything on paper.

Combat Classes Mage, Blood Mage, Earth Mage, Fire Mage, Ice Mage, Time Mage Knight, Spearman, Swordsman, Warrior Archer, Hunter, Ranger Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

Assassin, Infiltrator, Rogue, Scout, Spy, Thief, Tracker Inquisitor, Poisoner, Trapsmith Non-Combat Classes Actor, Administrator, Alchemist, Architect, Artist, Baker, Bard, Beggar, Blacksmith, Brewmeister, Carpenter, Cartographer, Cook, Dancer, Draughtsman, Explorer, Farmer, Herbologist, Hermit, Historian, Horseman, Housekeeper, Jeweller, Labourer, Librarian, Linguist, Maid, Mathematician, Merchant, Negotiator, Outcast, Poet, Priest of Demeter, Priest of Nemesis, Priest, Researcher, Scholar, Scribe, Stable Hand, Student, Tailor, Wanderer, Woodsman Jack had picked up the habit of committing to paper anything he wanted to memorise.

As a scribe, he'd had the skill [Perfect Recall], which allowed him to memorise anything he read or viewed that was written down. While he had his notepad out, he wrote down his affinities in a table format. He included three values. His 'Current' affinity value, the value 'At Death', and the value 'At Sixteen' in his first life.

Table of Affinities Affinity | Current | At Death | At Sixteen Fate 71%: 17%: 12% Time 62%: 43%: 38% Void 55%: 8%: 8% Divine 44%: 18%: 17% Arcane 43%: 24%: 22% Chaos 37%: 9%: 9% Death 34%: 11%: 8% Light 32%: 28%: 24% Earth 25%: 23%: 21% Darkness 25%: 11%: 9% Sound 21%: 18%: 13% Healing 21%: 17%: 15% Psychic 20%: 18%: 16% Blood 18%: 14%: 12% Fire 16%: 14%: 10% Metal 15%: 12%: 11% Space 15%: 4%: 4% Ice 14%: 6%: 3% Air 13%: 11%: 10% Luck 13%: 6%: 9% Water 11%: 9%: 7% Poison 10%: 8%: 5% Lightning 9%: 6%: 5% Nature 8%: 6%: 5% Gravity 3%: 2%: 2% Jack compared all his affinities.

They've changed so much. Why? He frowned. Without [Perfect Recall], that's going to make remembering things more difficult. He looked through what he'd written. Although I did remember all my old affinities, perhaps I'll be lucky and still remember everything I previously memorised. He gave a little chuckle when he looked at the percentages for the Luck affinity. My bad luck just kept getting worse. Over the course of his first life, his Luck affinity fell from 9% to 6%. Affinities aren't meant to decrease.

At least it's higher now. Hmm, 13%, still not great. Most people's affinities averaged around 20%, with whatever they were likely to be good at around 30-40%. Any affinity below 15% was considered below average, while anything above 35% was exceptional. It was rare for a sixteen-year-old to have any affinities above 40%. He shrugged. I need to concentrate on choosing a class. Jack was still standing in front of the Goddess of the Harvest statue, and none of the combat classes appealed to him.

He started to doubt his decision. He didn't want to be a fighter; he wanted to be a scribe. Despite his earlier hesitation, he thought of Jasmin again and smiled. She'd love the birds singing here. Would she marry a brewmaster or a hermit? He laughed at the thought, receiving a few strange looks from the other temple visitors. Don't get sidetracked. Why didn't the old lady tell me what to do? His recent memories felt foggy for a moment. He looked around for signs or guidance. There are no signs. What to choose?

His right hand itched where he'd cut it on the blood-red rose. I wonder what skills Novice Blood Mages receive? He pushed the intrusive thought aside, absent-mindedly scratching his itchy palm as he slumped back down on a pew. Jack made a list in his notepad of what was important. 1. Novice combat class capable of killing Greaves in under 5 years. 2. Fast levelling. Ideally, reach level 25 before I'm 20. 3. Kill all blood mages in the city. What the hell am I doing? He put a line through '3.

Kill all blood mages in the city.' while shaking his head. He wrote down the faster levelling combat classes in order of levelling speed. Archer, Warrior: 4yrs Spearman, Swordsman, Assassin: 4 to 5yrs Jack stopped writing before finishing the list. Damn. They are all bad choices. He scanned through the remaining combat classes; there were still a few classes like Hunter and Ranger that could be levelled in under five years, but none appealed to him.

Only the mage classes are appealing, but I can't wait ten years to level. His shoulders slumped at the reality of not being able to choose a mage class. I could've chosen time mage if it wasn't for Greaves. Anger rose like bile in his throat. I couldn't afford the Academy fees to study anyway. The mage classes were the slowest to level, and more importantly, they were weak at the novice level. All Novice Mages started with four weak starter spells.

It didn't matter if the class chosen was the standard mage class or the time mage class. They all received four low-power spells. It wasn't until level 25 that the Apprentice Mage would gain new, higher-level spells without having to study them for years. The basic Novice Mage received the following four spells. [Shield] Creates a fragile barrier that absorbs incoming force. At level 0, it can withstand one or two weak attacks before collapsing.

[Reflect] Forms a thin mirror that redirects a portion of incoming force back towards the attacker. At level 0, it can partially reflect one or two weak attacks before failing. [Ember Flicker] Conjures a brief flicker of elemental flame. At level 0, it can cause severe burns to an unprotected target. Requires direct contact with the target. [Frost Touch] Conjures a brief surge of elemental frost. At level 0, it can inflict severe cold and frost damage to an unprotected target.

Requires direct contact with the target. None of the novice-level skills was powerful. [Ember Flicker] and [Frost Touch] were the poor cousins to [Fireball] and [Frost Breath]. Both novice skills required the mage to touch the target while activating the skill. Where a level 0 [Fireball] would kill a goblin, [Ember Flicker] would give them a severe burn; that's assuming the goblin didn't fight back or break free. All the mage classes received [Shield] and [Reflect].

For the other mage classes, the two spells varied. The Novice Time Mage, for example, had [Chronos Touch] and [Foresight], both skills so weak they were impractical to use. It wasn't until the Novice Mage reached level 25 and selected the apprentice class that powerful skills like [Fireball], [Frost Breath], and [Chronos Sphere] became available. That's when mages became a fighting force to be reckoned with. Jack shook his head in disappointment. If only I had ten years, or even seven and unlimited gold.

I could've studied interesting magic for years. In his past life, he'd studied dozens of Secondary Novice Mage spells so he could level his [Inscribe Spell] skill faster; inscribing a variety of spell scrolls was the best way to level. An average mage would take ten years to reach level 25; even a prodigy with high affinities studying at the Academy full-time with support from a patron to pay a full team of adventurers to protect them while they trained in dungeons would take a minimum of seven years.

There was no way to reach level 25 as a mage in only four or five years. He wouldn't be capable of killing the Baron as a Novice Mage in time to save his family. Moving on, his shoulders slumped at the thought of becoming a paid assassin. It was the most obvious choice, but in his mind he'd already failed as an assassin and knew he couldn't spend four or five years killing innocent people to level up the class fast enough to use it to kill Greaves. I can't do it.

I'd have to join the Assassin's Guild and find a mentor willing to train me. Jack wasn't a cold-blooded murderer. They'll expect me to kill people. He could level more slowly without killing innocent people, but with the four-to-five-year timeframe, it just wasn't the right choice. Jack considered the other classes and shook his head. In his heart, he knew he wasn't brave enough to choose a melee class like warrior.

The idea of fighting with a sword or spear was enough to give him nightmares; he'd already suffered enough of those for two lifetimes. He sighed again at not being able to choose mage. He liked the idea of becoming a mage, though not as much as being a scribe. Realisation hit like a hammer. Fuck. I have to choose archer. The archer class was the better choice to kill the Baron before the blood magic spell book was deciphered and translated. He could train and level fast as an archer without killing people.

He thought back to experiencing no pain when drawing back the bow earlier that day. I can train properly this time. I should reach apprentice with plenty of time to spare. Plus, he could earn extra coin working as an archer without becoming a cold-blooded killer. Having made his decision, he put his notebook away and prepared himself for a life-changing decision.

"Please give me the strength to make th is choice, Demeter." Jack felt a warm autumn breeze caress his sweaty skin. He hadn't even realised he was sweating. It felt like he was standing before a field of golden wheat ready for the harvest. There was a strong floral scent, but he couldn't place the odour. He took a deep breath. Hmm. Reminds me of Mom's rose tea. The thought brought him a moment of joy. His hand, where the blood-red rose had cut him, itched again, like it was trying to tell him something.

He had a sudden urge to choose blood mage, but dismissed the forbidden class without a second thought. As the sound of songbirds washed over him, he took a slow, deep breath and felt himself calm down. His turbulent mind and tense muscles relaxed, and he felt ready to choose his future path. Jack closed his eyes and said, "Thank you, Demeter." He placed his hand on the Choosing Stone and selected Novice Archer as his class. He felt the instinctive knowledge associated with the class permeate his mind.

Unknown to Jack, the old lady who had left the blood-red rose behind was observing from the shadows. She was with the strange merchant he'd purchased his dagger from. The middle-aged merchant looked annoyed as she shook her head. The old lady smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. Several more people appeared; a man shrugged, a woman chuckled, before they all disappeared back into the shadows.