As he entered the Walton estate, Mr. Walton called him over.
"Lucas, come here."
"Is something wrong, Mr. Walton?"
"My daughter Felicia is getting married in a week's time, and I'll need your help with the wedding preparations tomorrow. Make sure you wake up bright and early. And another thing, I've heard you've been causing problems with the Hathaway's son—the youngest, the boy named Luke. Furthermore, you've been dragging my daughter Lisa into your mess. Know your place! Don't go around making trouble for me."
"I'm sorry, sir. He was using fire magic without a mana ring, and Lisa was there. I couldn't allow her to get hurt. I only wanted to protect her."
"Lisa? My Lisa?" Mr. Walton asked, surprised by Damien's response. No matter how cruel he was to him, he was still a man—a man who loved his daughters very much. Damien knew that all too well. "I'll have to have a talk with Mr. Hathaway about that. You can go now, Lucas," he said, his voice tinged with anger.
Inside his shed, Damien put away his groceries in a safe place and collapsed onto the pile of animal fur that served as his bed.
A week passed in a flash, and today was the day of Felicia's wedding. Damien had been up at the crack of dawn, running errands for Mr. Walton. They were working him like a dog, and he had no choice but to comply.
At the moment, he was dragging a cart filled with bottles of liquid needed for the wedding along the bumpy cobblestone road to the estate when he was ambushed by an angry Luke.
"You came to give me a hand?" Damien joked.
"You've been spreading lies about me, filthy swine. Because of you, I may never become a mage apprentice."
"I don't remember telling any lies about you. If you'll kindly get out of the way, I need to deliver these to the Walton estate," he said, continuing to approach Luke.
"How did you survive what I did to you? I killed you, I know it. Your body was all burnt up, so how are you here?"
"Well, clearly I'm not dead. That pathetic magic of yours couldn't kill me."
Luke balled his fists in anger, ready to strike at any moment.
"Something is different about you. You used to be afraid of me. I've made you eat dog shit before, remember," Luke said, smirking. "I know you're just pretending not to be scared of me. I'll just have to make you stop pretending," he said, flashing a golden ring with a red gem in the center. The ring was wrapped around his finger—it was a mana ring.
A silent understanding passed between them. Damien knew what Luke was hinting at by showing off his mana ring, but he wasn't Lucas; he wouldn't allow himself to be bullied by this rich snob.
Before Luke could react, Damien grabbed one of the bottles from the cart and sped off in the opposite direction.
"You coward!!" Luke roared, chasing after him. "I knew you were just pretending. I'll show you your place."
Damien ran through the streets of the town, leaping over shopping carts and knocking down stalls, with Luke hot on his tail. He sped through the town until he reached the entrance of the forest—the same forest where Lucas had died. Luke was unable to keep up, and Damien had somehow lost sight of him.
Using the bushes as cover, Damien prepared to ambush Luke. He delivered a solid blow to Luke's face, knocking him to the ground. The glass bottle filled with liquid he had taken was nowhere to be seen. From his position on the ground, Luke summoned balls of fire from the palm of his hand, hurling them straight at Damien.
The fireballs exploded, engulfing the forest in deep orange flames. Luke looked around, searching for Damien's body, but he was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, a glass bottle filled with liquid shattered against Luke's face, sending splinters into his eyes as blood trickled down his cheeks. His body soaked in a slimy substance.
Unable to see, all he could hear was the boy who appeared to be Lucas laughing at him—a filthy peasant laughing at him. Overcome by rage, Luke summoned all the magic he could muster and aimed it at Damien. The moment he released the energy, his body exploded, his flaming insides raining down from the sky as what remained of him was launched into the air.
The explosion created a massive crater in the forest, the sound echoing for miles.
Damien, who had managed to escape the blast, looked at the aftermath without joy nor pity. Luke meant nothing to him; his demise was the result of his own actions. Flames still raged around him when a figure emerged from the shadowy depths of the forest.
His presence took Damien by surprise. It was the strange mage from the church—the one who had caught him pickpocketing.
"Excellently done," the man said. "You handled it perfectly."
"What are you doing here?" Damien asked, but the man didn't answer. Instead, he continued to approach him. "...How much of it did you see?"
"I saw everything. I knew it would be interesting the moment I saw you grab the fish oil. Well played," the man said, clapping his hands. "Everything you did was calculated. You running into this forest, ambushing him to keep him on edge, even the way you laughed at him. You knew exactly how to provoke him into losing control. You're truly remarkable, Lucas."
The man was right; every move Damien made had been deliberate. From the moment he grabbed the bottle of fish oil from the wagon he was pulling, he had a plan. Fish oil was the true source of wealth for the nobles in the town of Leinster.
Fish oil is magically extracted from a rare type of fish called a Kappa. Mages with fire affinity use it to enhance their firepower, but it is considered extremely dangerous, with only a small amount used at a time. Luke, covered in fish oil after Damien threw a bottle at him, had exploded when he released a powerful fire blast aimed directly at Damien.
The wagon Damien was carrying was stacked full with bottles of fish oil, meant to be a gift from the Walton family to the groom's family during the wedding ceremony.
"We need more people like you, Lucas—quick-witted, capable individuals who excel not only in magic," the man said, placing a hand on Damien's shoulder. "Tell me something: do you have any idea what will happen next?"
"I'm guessing you'll make this all go away."
"Why is that?" the man asked, testing him.
"Because you're a generous man who believes strongly in atonement."
"Good answer."
That wasn't the truth, and both of them knew it, but some things needed to be left unsaid. The real truth was that the man had found a new pawn.
"Let me formally introduce myself. I'm Edmond Rosevelt, a gold star mage. I think you and I will work nicely together," he said, giving a polite bow. "Come along now, Lucas. Let's make haste; I can't be late to my own wedding, can I?"