Valerian, The Legendary

199 What Could You Gain?

Fallax did not understand this kid making such a demand out of nowhere. He was not a fool to not know the identity of Morgana Centurion. That girl was the strongest battlemage as they claimed her to be, and at a point in time, Fallax had the desire to train Morgana as a student under his tutelage.

For this dream of his, the old man personally visited the centaur nation. However, he was denied of an audience with the princess and the Emperor, Jamal, himself told him that the princess will be homeschooled and not sent away given that she was a future pillar of the nation and was too young at that time.

Fallax gave up his desire after that, he did try to sneak up and get closer to the princess, but the security around her was even more impregnable than what he could bypass silently. The old Magus Magister had his fair share of trouble and he did not want to add more to the list by kill centaur guards in the royal premises.

He was compelled to ask, “Valerian, What is going on here? If you do not explain the ins and the outs of the story than you can forget about me asking for help from the tower of light. That is final, the choice is yours.”

Valerian raised his eyebrow, he did not expect this old man to be this stubborn. Usually he would leave Valerian to deal with his own matters, then why was he looking deep into it today? Looking at the serious gaze of the old man, the child understood that if he did not clear up the purpose, than this old man will really not help him.

So, Valerian took a deep breathe and said, “This is what happened...”

He narrated the entire situation in the western continent, then what his plan was. He told Fallax about a few things about Morgana but nothing that was related to her past, when the old man tried to push it, Valerian replied, “Old man, can you stop pushing your luck? I will rather not get any help if I have to divulge with you on things that are held close by someone. Understood?”

Valerian provided him with the details that were necessary to understand his demand but that was it. He did not say anything further. Fallax knew that getting this much out of this kid was enough hassle, anymore and Valerian would rather give up on this entire task. Fallax thought about it and said, “It will cost you more than just my name, you will need to pay the Archmage some fees.”

Valerian nodded and said, “The Archmage do not lack money, so what do they want as payments, tell me?”

.....

Fallax nodded and said, “You are smart, this guy I know is thirsty for weapons, he is a mage, but his combat skills are not shallow, so if you want to pay him with something, then it should be a weapon that he can use with ease.”

Valerian did not think much and took out the dagger tied on his back, this dagger was the light dagger that he rarely used. He said, “This will work?”

Fallax was surprised at his decisiveness and shrugged his shoulders, “We will know when we ask him. Come along.”

That said, the old man took Valerian out of the art pavilion and they headed straight to the light tower. Fallax was dressed in his attire of a Magnus Magister. The students recognized him and bowed in greeting. Fallax nodded to them and asked a student, “Can you go and pass a message to Archmage Timothy, that Fallax is looking for him?”

“Certainly, sire.” replied a young student before rushing inside the tower to find the Archmage mentioned and pass on the message.

The students were efficient and Fallax and Valerian did not have to wait for long before a middle aged man walked out from the tower of light. The man had a solemn face, and Valerian could detect that this person was carrying at least seven hidden weapons on him. The child even wondered what had this guy faced to carry hidden weapons on his person so tightly.

Fallax gazed at the middle-aged man and asked, “Timothy, long time no see.”

Archmage Timothy raised his gaze to meet Fallax’s and nodded silently in affirmation. That was it. Valerian did not say much, it was not his place to interfere yet. Fallax did not seem to be bothered by this cold attitude and said, “Can we go to some secluded place to discuss a matter?”

Timothy raised his eyebrow and then nodded. The man did not say much and simply turned around to bring along the people behind him. Behind the tower of light and adjacent to the infirmary, there was a small garden which was rarely visited by the patients. However, it was still well maintained by the staff of the infirmary.

Valerian did not speak and followed the two people in silence. When they arrived at the spot. Timothy asked, “Speak. What is it?”

Fallax nodded and said, “We have someone who needs your expertise to cure the residue of shadow viper poison in her body. However, the identity of the person must stay a secret and the time of this process is limited to the evening only.”

Timothy was surprised, but these rules were somethings that he advocated, only when a patient wants to be free and known among the world do they share stories outside, but there were also people who hated to be known by the world. So, he would only leak the information when the patient has given consent.

However, the time they mentioned made Timothy frown and he asked, “Fallax, do you know that the procedure will not be completed in an evening?”

Fallax shook his head and cast a look at Valerian. This child was acting way too calm for his comfort. Valerian caught the hint and asked, “Sire, may I ask how long the treatment will last?”

Timothy did not think much and said, “It depends on the amount of venom inside the patient. I cannot say for sure, but the shortest treatment in the annuls of medicine I have come across was a week long.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “I have read a few books as well, and one of them said that the slower and the longer the duration of the treatment, the higher the risk. This duration displays the level of a medicus.”

Timothy raised his brows and cast a gaze at Fallax, who shrugged and said, “This kid was born with a knife in his mouth.”

The light Archmage was surprised that Fallax, the famous poison tongue was surrendering to a child. He cast a gaze at Valerian and said, “What you have said is correct but I need to see and check the patient properly before the treatment, you must understand that a minor mistake in the diagnosis can lead to a bigger problem that could harm the patient.”

Valerian nodded and said, “Given your skills if you are looking for the traces of poison then it should not take more than a couple of hours. Right? Other than that, the patient is completely fit, I can guarantee that because I had her checked by the Imperial Medicus of Lumen before coming here.”

Timothy was helpless, he did not know that Valerian lied to the man. He was spending time with Morgana and knew that the lady was healthy and everything was fine except the smiling aspect. The Archmage nodded and said, “I will take a superior quality weapon for this procedure, can you afford that?”

Valerian raised his eyebrow and flicked out the light dagger from his sleeves, the dagger was gentle looking, however, just when Timothy was about to lose his interest, Valerian flicked his wrist and the dagger flew through the void lodging itself in the wall behind the Archmage with a flash, and then with a flick of his wrist, Valerian called the dagger back too.

He said, “This dagger can be connected to the mana flow of your body, it is superior to the hidden weapons on your person, however, you will only get this after the procedure is complete. I will not give it to you blindly. I have trust issues, specially this old man.”

His eyes were pointing at Fallax, but Timothy was gazing at the dagger in his hand without blinking. Hearing that the dagger will be paid only after the treatment, the Archmage said, “Call the patient, I have important things to do.”

Valerian looked at him and said, “Prepare the medicine and the equipment that you need for the treatment and go to the battlemage tower, I will call the patient over there.”

Timothy nodded and left quickly. Fallax shook his head and said, “You tamed him with such ease. I wonder if human taming should be a skill too.”

Valerian shook his head and said, “Humans are already tamed by their desires. Host him, I will go find the patient, my time is short.”

Fallax suddenly asked, “I still do not understand what do you gain from all this?”

Valerian did not turn around to cast him a glance and said, “Two things, One less enemy, and second, peace of mind.”

That said, silver haired child left the place and Fallax mumbled, “If only I was a fool to believe that. You did not say but I know, you stand to gain the entire western continent by this move. Cunning bastard, you are trying to play chess with everything on line.”