A Testament Of The Dark Magician

His voice slightly trembled despite his previous attempts to remain courageous. The girl tilted her head to one side, a look of deep confusion etched against its cold mask. 

Roland almost wanted to weep joyfully seeing that ghastly wand placed back into her hip belt. He actually survived; he might've sunk to the ground and thanked whichever God was watching him. But then.

Suddenly, Alyssa's hand snapped forward and grabbed him by his neck. Roland felt his entire body seize control of itself. He thought her magical prowess was dazzling. But the grip around his neck contained the strength of a bear.

Alyssa released him from a death grip, allowing Roland to fall, leaving him spluttering for air when his heels met stable ground. She wiped her two hands together and cleared her throat. 

"It took you a while RoRo, so that means you do remember? Good, this is good. It means…" Her sleight of hand was impressive, as Roland could've sworn he blinked once and saw a golden metallic needle appear against her dainty palm.

"Three years ago, you swore to obey my every command. You do remember, don't you? One of the reasons I spared your pitiful life." She said with a slight smile. 

Roland retained his emotions and thought deeply about the issues here. It wasn't inconceivable to imagine the desperate version of himself pledging to an unhinged, beautiful girl. It actually made sense now when he remembered the main point of that letter. 

'If she was the one who Roland was getting all the info about those mysteries and secrets. He probably made the deal knowing he had no intentions of upholding it.' 

Now, all that remained was to discover what sordid promise was made. And why it had to be him to make it.

"Take this. You just need to get close enough and jab him with the pointy end here. He'll mistake it for a pinprick and say nothing more. Hehehe- but in reality, this alloy is strong enough to bring a Gold Ranked body to their knees." 

Roland's attitude suddenly changed hearing that, he quickly connected the dots but couldn't quite believe what was being told to him. 

"You mean…I agreed to kill a…" he swallowed his spit harshly before he continued. 

"Someone with a Gold-ranked body." 

Alyssa's deranged smile pulled even wider. She took two steps forward and placed one of her dainty hands against his face. 

"Not just any gold rank, but the gold rank. Your grandfather. The Patriarch of this castle." 

 ***

After Roland agreed to complete his side of the bargain. Alyssa allowed him to leave. Though he knew she would be back soon.

He returned to his sleeping courters near enough in one piece, thankfully. Other than his bruised ego and a very frost-bitten arm. The injuries he sustained were not too problematic for him to handle. 

'So in the space of a single day, I was almost poisoned, put unconscious by the aura of a monster, and nearly lost my arm due to the misplaced adolescent anger of a borderline schizophrenic young woman.' 

Roland pressed the left side of his temple and took a deep breath. Entering his room, he kept his eyes lowered. He noticed a shadow move and raised his head. He sighed in relief and noticeably cheered up when he looked at his trusted death knight waiting inside. 

"Phew, thank goodness I thought you were- " 

Cutting him short, the willow rushed forward and bundled himself onto a single knee again, with his masked head hung low. The muffled voice began bombarding him with countless apologies. 

"Forgive me young lord. Forgive me for forsaking you again, forgive this weak protectors misgivings, forgive me for breaking the oath sworn, forgive me for being naïve, forgive me for leaving you an-

" 

Roland sensed a headache fast looming if this continued and quickly raised his arm to silence the noisy fellow. 

"Enough! Sigh… just tell me slowly what's happened." He asked the death knight. 

"I…sigh, I was deceived…I had no idea he was assigned to protect…" 

Roland narrowed his brows, trying to work out what had got the usually composed fellow so worked up like this. 

"I don't understand. Try that again; it's even slower this time. And also, I won't hold it against you. By the ordeal I experienced myself..." Roland paused, remembering those expressionless blue eyes beholding him like a hawk. 

"I'm guessing something outside of your power…stopped you?" He guessed after piecing together how easily Alyssa gained access to him. 

"Y-yes. I wasn't aware a second Death Knight was present. More specifically…my elder brother." 

Roland stood there silent for a few minutes. 'His brother?' Now, that was a twist of fates he hadn't expected. But now the picture looked a lot more clearer. 

"And he's… stronger than you, I take it?" Roland asked simply. 

The willow shivered. With his fist pressed against the ground, Roland's fist clenched tighter, and he felt a tremor beneath his feet. 

Shallow cracks webbed against the ground. Roland flinched closer to the wall as he watched the crawling smoke burning against the willows body.

'Goodness! What's wrong with everyone lashing out.!'

"He is…for now." Breathed the willow, emitting a strange faint smoke rising away from its body. 

Roland had to rub his two eyes at first to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He almost thought to ask Omega about it, but his instincts could gather what this was. 

'This was his Ki' He was seeing it more clearly now. And something told him his iron body was to thank for that.

Roland wasn't good dealing with these kind of scenarios in truth. Still, he sheepishly walked towards the shadowy figure and gently placed his palm against his shoulder. 

"Don't worry, we'll both be prepared next time." 

Roland meant that from the bottom of his heart. That would be the second time he found himself in a hopeless position. The shame of it all began to irk him more than he expected. 

'So Alyssa also has a death knight of her own. If I cannot rely on the willow, then I have to rely on myself.'

An iron body wasn't enough. At the very least, he needed to advance to possess a Bronze body. A feat only a handful of youth his age could even attempt. Whilst few amongst them actually succeeded. 

Roland studied his options and made a decision. 

"I'm going to need your help; my mother's body tempering manual is unfinished. And I'm afraid I don't have enough time to perfect it." Roland studied the willow whilst he began to slowly convey his plan. 

"If I don't find a way to increase my strength quickly I'm afraid of the fate that will befall me. Secondly, I need you to find me a map." 

"A map of the cloud kingdom?" 

Roland quickly shook his head from side to side. 

"No, I need a map of the whole world."

He announced with a slight smile. 

A measured silence ensued between them. Roland very much understood that this declaration likely revealed his plans. They silently watched one another until the masked figure finally broke the calm. 

"Alright, leave it with me… I'll think of something. Young Master ." 

A delightful smile birthed across Roland's face; before he could say something else, he felt a slight itch against his arm. In fact, Roland hadn't realized he was using the arm previously inflicted with the terrible frostbite. 

He lowered his gaze and scrutinized himself. A deep gasp escaped his mouth when he noticed his arm was as good as new, apart from the feint markings around his brown skin where the ice once bloomed. There were no longer any traces or signs of frostbite. 

Naturally, he was quite alarmed and immediately turned towards Omega for answers. 

The system produced 3D design modules after his own body. Roland stared eagerly as the data arrived before his eyes, stating his arm was in perfect condition. 

Roland almost froze in shock and blinked several times at the floating module, with a host of different reasonings flashing across his thoughts. There was only one realistic answer. His gut and mind finally arrived at the conclusion of his sudden healing speed. 

"Am I…an undead?"