Fire Mage (Web Novel)

Charles looked at Nash's memory and soon noticed that it had information about Royal Family and then about a sealed box called 'Cursed Crown.'

'Oh? Nash's original goal is to see if the Royal Family of Aetas Kingdom owns a specific artifact, huh. From the looks of it, Nash suspected that the Royal Family indeed possesses a Cursed Crown, and he felt that it might be what his employer is searching for... Bryson, huh. This world sure has many intellectual artifacts.' He let out a deep sigh and then thought about the previous dream.

'I also feel something was off about that dream. That palace! Although it isn't an exact copy of Aetas Royal Palace, it has similarities.' While he was in deep thoughts, Melody and Irzoch came from the nearby woods and soon arrived beside him.

After that, both didn't say a word and patiently waited for his further orders. In the meantime, Charles continued to think about the previous incidents and rechecked if any anomalies had happened earlier.

After some time, he shook his head in disappointment, turned his gaze towards his two subordinates, and spoke.

"Let's go. I'm planning on gathering our army and starting to march to the Royal Capital today."

"Today? Are we going for war?" Melody widened her eyes in shock and asked.

"It's hard to make preparations for journey in a single day, My Lord. Moreover, half of our army is still residing in Duke's capital city." This time, it was Irzoch who said in a concerned tone.

"No. More numbers will slow us down. It's better to take our newly formed elite knights to the capital." Charles said as he waved his hand, turned around, and started walking back towards the direction where the well-fortified castle was located.

Before long, the trio reached the castle entrance and walked in. Then, Irzoch moved towards the courtyard, invited the army captains, and told them to gather the elite army members at the entrance gate before 11 A.M. On the other hand, Melody and some guards went to the armory and took weapons for the 1000+ elite knights.

She gathered armors, shields, gauntlets, and leather bags for each elite knight. Then, she moved towards the storehouse, picked up a few twenty gunny sacks of rations, and placed them in five carriages. While Melody and Irzoch were preparing for the departure, Charles returned to the guest room and checked the spoil of the battle. He took out the coin necklace from his space ring and was about to replace Nash's soul imprint with his own but soon noticed that this artifact was resisting with all its might!

It even tried to escape from his grasp, but he grasped it tightly.

"Can you speak?" He asked, but no response came from it. Instead, it started acting aggressively like an animal.

The coin necklace showed its refusal, cast the 'Wheel of Fortune' spell, and attacked him further.

Upon seeing the resistance, Charles frowned deeply, forcefully placed his soul imprint on it, and checked more about the artifact.

'Heh, this artifact is still in a child-like state, huh. Necklace of Fortune... Hmm, this should come under a Series-A artifact section. Although it had powerful abilities, they aren't as powerful as Legend Rank spells. It has six symbols, and each symbol has unique abilities with a cooldown period of one week. The first one is a heart symbol, and it has an ability called 'Fortune Heart.' Unlike other abilities, this one will be active on its own from time to time and boost the artifact user's luck as a whole. Hmm? But why did Nash die?' Charles paused in surprise and soon thought of something.

'Is it because of me? Indeed, I can break those mysterious golden strings and even nullify any future-related powers. Did my earlier action cause his doom?' He furrowed his brows in suspicion. Then, he shifted his attention towards the artifact and read about the other abilities.

'Next one is called Ruby Eye or Mind Eye- it's an ability to erase one's memories permanently. The third one is called the 'Clover' symbol, and it can create a forcefield for protection. The fourth symbol is called the 'Peace Sign,' and it can create an ability called 'Order Inducement.' Hmm? It's an ability to maintain peace and order, huh. It's no use to me.' He shook his head and then checked the fifth symbol.

'Wheel of Fortune- User can use this ability to manipulate the luck strings and create fortune or misfortune incidents. The final one is called 'Strength of a Mammoth." Charles nodded inwardly and stored it inside his space ring. Then, he also checked Nash's bracelet and other artifacts and learned that they weren't much use for him.

Once he finished checking the artifacts, he stored everything in his space ring and started packing things for the journey.

'It's going to be a boring one.' He muttered inwardly and proceeded to work.

…

Duke's Castle, Northern Entrance Gate.

It was around 11. A.M.

At that moment, there were more than 1050 well-equipped cavalry Knights who stood in line and were waiting for further orders. They were Charles's well-trained army!

There were also five four-wheeled wooden carriages for carrying the rations, and one luxurious carriage appeared along with the group.

Currently, Charles, Irzoch, and Melody sat inside the luxurious carriage and waited for the knight squads to get ready for the departure.

After waiting for a few minutes, a silver-armored knight hopped on his white horse, drove towards the front, and shouted out a few orders.

Meanwhile, the cavalry knights also moved in different directions and formed four groups. Two moved towards the front of the luxurious carriage while the other two moved towards the back.

After that, the silver-armored knight took the lead and started moving towards the north-western direction.

Before long, the whole 1000+ cavalrymen, along with other six carriages, marched towards the north-western grassland and entered the nearby deep forest.

Their destination was, of course, the Royal Capital!

To reach the Royal Capital of the Aetas Kingdom from Duke Michael's territory, one had to pass through three different territories and multiple woodlands.

The first was the Demi-Valley. It was more than a 15 km long valley and a homeland for some animals. But unlike the other valleys in Faith Realm, this one wasn't a dangerous place, and any knight could pass through it as long as they possessed a minimum amount of battle experience. The only wild animal roaming in this valley was lone Blood Wolves.

The second territory belongs to a Count named Pierce. To make things worse, this guy was a supporter of Light Church. Although Charles knew that this guy would give them some trouble, he didn't put much thought into it.

Finally, the third territory was called the 'Sleepy Mountain Range.' It was also a safe place for travel as long as one had enough knowledge about the local fauna and flora.

Charles's army continued to march deep into the forest and soon reached the Demi-Valley's entrance around 6 P.M.

But, instead of going further, they stopped and chose to camp outside.