A Peasant’s Guide To Sorcerery: 19

A Peasant’s Guide To Sorcerery: 19

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Commissioned by Ichypa

Wordcount: 2500

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Interlude: Su

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After receiving the gift from Lord Zhang, I was visited by Lady Bai.

Lady Bai wore robes that were primarily white, with a lavender waist skirt, and a pink sash. A braid with a small jade ring hung from her sash. Her clothes fit her figure well, and lords of cities would have fought to claim her as a wife for her body alone. Her hair was such a light black and hued that it was nearly a light purple, while her skin was unmarred by any blemish. With her slight, sharp nose and pink lips, she had a visage that made me imagine an emperor would demand her to be his wife.

She would then kill that man for making such a foolish demand, while crushing the nation he commanded.

“My Lord Zhang granted you a gift. Show me.” I did not waste time. I got to my knees, and held up the weapon with both hands. It frightened me. The weapon I bought out of curiosity was transformed into something of unimaginable power. Something that I didn’t wish to keep. I had fired it upon a mountain and with my improved vision, I saw the shot go straight through the mountain top and go past it into the sky. “Do you know why he did this?”

I had feared the weapon, when I should’ve feared what it meant in the eyes of all others in the household.

“I had purchased it out of curiosity. Lord Zhang took note, and stated he was concerned that I received a poor weapon, then he improved it before returning it to me.” I kept my head against the floorboards, and my palms against the floor as well. A hum left the lips of the God Soldier amongst God Soldiers. A being that desired the attention and love of the man who I just received a gift from.

My lips moved to speak of my innocence, but I made them still.

 I wished to imply nothing.

Lady Bai was silent for what felt like an entire hour, but when she spoke again I wished that the silence had stretched on for an eternity.

“Lord Zhang hasn’t deigned to give me a gift.” The words sent a chill down my spine. He had given the dragon feigning to be an archivist an axe. Lady Ying had a sword. Now, I had a gun. I did not like this in the slightest. I wanted no trouble, yet here I was kneeling with my head against the floorboards, before an entity that can destroy me with a flick of her wrist. “What must I do to earn it?”

I wished to tell her to ask, but I knew that answer was a foolish one.

“Lord Zhang… does his utmost to be perceptive and show his care. I believe, my lady, that you need only try various weapons and find one that you prefer. Then, he will provide something to you made entirely by himself.” I did my utmost to separate myself from the three of them. This weapon, I wished to scream, was not made by Lord Zhang. It has only been modified by him. Not something he worked carefully to create for my sake. “I assure you that you will receive a weapon handcrafted by himself—

Suddenly, I found myself moved, seated upright, and across the table from Lady Bai with snacks laid out between us and all the windows to my room opened to admit light.

No longer was I prostrating myself before Lady Bai, but instead seating across from her like a host.

I realized why as the door to my room slide open.

“Hey, Su! I thought about that thing I gave you, and I made something much, much better! Here you go!” Lord Zhang entered with a smile on his face, clad in his usual peasant robes, and looking like a farmer that should be out on the field. His clothes were brown, the hem of the robes was above his knees, the sleeves didn’t reach past his elbows, and he wore wooden sandals. Instead of a sash, a rope bound his clothes together, and a wood plaque denoting his name and status hung off that rope. A peasant with fair skin and white hair at first glance. A monstrous existence to all who knew the truth. “Try it!”

The weapon he provided was a terrifying block of metal with white, glowing wood coursing through it like veins. Upon touching and accepting it, I felt fire, metal, and wood in perfect harmony in the handle. I swallowed thickly as it felt like a toy in my hand, yet all my senses told me that if I did as he asked, I would ruin the whole mountain top that I fired it at.

Right after I tried to imply that I received nothing made by his own hands alone, he proceeds to come here and place a weapon of unparcelled power in my hands!

Right in front of his most ardent admirer!

Lady Bai was smiling and serene, but even though her smile reached her eyes, I could feel her cold and deadly gaze between her lidded gaze. Through that gaze alone, I felt a specter of death forming behind her and reaching for my neck. In her eyes, I must’ve just lied to her, and just received a personal gift from someone she idolized, adored, and worshipped with all her being.

The moment Zhang leaves is the moment my life will end—

“Oh, Bai! If you’re done chatting with Su, I need to make you armor, weapons, and then we need to get you lots of nice clothes.” And, in an instant, like a storm bearing both misfortune and gifts, Zhang turned the situation around completely and utterly. Lady Bai’s face went from promising death behind a smiling mask to a bewildered and entranced lady. It was almost comical. She looked to be a of the highest privilege and standing, but she was fawning and almost in tears at the words of a peasant farmer. If I didn’t know the terrifying truth, then I would’ve scoffed at the sight. “I’ve been busy, but I’ve made time for you for the whole day! We can do this every week now!”

“I… I am undeserving of such attention, my creator, but I graciously accept.” Lady Bai mimicked my earlier movement, right where I had performed it. Before Lord Zhang, on her knees, she bowed her head until her forehead connected with the floorboards. Unlike the fear and terror I exuded in the same position, she gave off nothing but joy and happiness, as she was elevated above all others in an instant. How the leader of all the God Soldiers thought that she was below me or the others, I didn’t know, but I had no intention of asking. “Are we to spend time together now?”

I pleaded with all that is good and merciful in the world that Lord Zhang would say yes, because I knew him to be the sort that always had other plans and machinations at play.

“Sure, but you’re spending time with Su. Do you want to come, Su?” Zhang looked at me with a smile, and before Lady Bai could ‘smile’ at me, I answered.

“Ah, we’ve just finished speaking. I’ll go and learn how to use this and tell you how it goes, Lord Zhang.” I smiled and bowed my head. Thankfully, Lady Bai gave the smallest of nods in the corner of my eyes, and I knew that I was safe. Lady Bai rose and so did I, and we both gave each other a bow of goodbye. “Enjoy your time together! Lord Zhang, please be sure to show  Lady Bai the whole of the town. She hasn’t been there yet!”

“Oh, right! I’ll do that! It’s good that I have a lot of time to spare today!” Lord Zhang beamed and reached out his hand towards Lady Bai. It would be foolish for a farmer to extend his hand in such a manner towards a refined lady. Such a thing could warrant the lady’s guards beating the peasant senseless. Instead, Lady Bai blushed prettily and accepted his hand with a true smile hidden behind her sleeves. “Have fun training with the new artifacts, Su! Tell me how it is later!”

I bowed towards him in reply, and felt a weight lift from my shoulders as he left along with the God Soldier.

Mere moments after they left, before I could even sit down, there was a knock on my door and it opened to reveal Lady Ying.

“Lady Bai and Lord Zhang are going to the city for the day.” I told her without being asked, and she gave a nod, before closing the door and leaving without another word.

A moment later, Yuen came, and I told her the same thing.

Was it foolish of me to not pick a side amongst the three of them?

Yes.

Would it be even more foolish to pick a side and become the target of the other three?

Absolutely.

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Knowing the absurdity of whatever he made, I swiftly travelled to the coast to test the weapon.

The absurdity of my own words was not lost to me.

A mere year ago, I would struggle to travel between towns. It would take half a season to travel between towns. The roads and trails made by the empire long ago were ill-maintained. Dirt trails between towns were plied by hardy merchants with guards, but travelling alone or in a small group was suicide. Monsters were aplenty in the woods, and then there were bandits, or even forces from small villages who’ve long abandoned all pretense of civilization.

Yet I could reach the coast on foot in just an hour, without even tiring, as I was now someone who walked the path to immortality. One of those few people who lived on the mountain tops, or secret valleys filled with sweet water and fruit, and who aspired for the heavens while all others lived in the mud and the muck. I had loathed those people with all my heart, while I strove to do anything in my power to live just another day more.

Now, I was one of them, yet the power I held frightened me.

I took the weapon Lord Zhang gave me. It was as light as a toy in my hand, yet simply holding it told me that it was a weapon that demanded respect. I kept my finger off the trigger, which was so small compared to a crossbow, and aimed it with care. It was like a handheld crossbow with two points between which a target should be placed. With a bolt from a crossbow, I had to take wind into account, worry about the strings being too frayed, and the bolt that I made not being properly weighed or feathered.

I was sure that the weapon in my hand now had nonesuch concerns, as I aimed for the horizon where the waves met the sky.

With trepidation, I aimed the weapon, and then squeezed the trigger.

A lance of molten metal so bright that it was pure white as it lanced out from the barrel. The speed with which it surged reminded me less of a flying bolt and more like a sword strike from Lady Ying: faster than mortal eyes can see. However, that was not all. It spun in its trajectory, like a drill in midflight, but with such speed that it looked as though it were still. The sea furrowed and split beneath it, and the water that neared it turned into steam. A great gouge persisted in its passing, along with a long trail of white steam that rose into the heavens, while the bolt flew into the distance until it collided with the sea.

Then, a great plume of steam and water erupted above the ocean with such height that I feared it would touch the clouds.

I had pulled the trigger only once.

The weapon thrummed faintly with immense power, as if to inform me that I could have pulled the trigger a dozen more times before it would have to take a day to recharge.

Knowing Lord Zhang, he’ll think of this as a trinket to produce and sell.

Though I had little courage, I knew that I now had to take a stand and do something.

These weapons could not reach the hands of normal people, otherwise what little peace we had now would be utterly shattered. This frightening weapon should never exist. I could only imagine what would happen if these weapons became as common as crossbows. A chill went down my spine as I realized that was what the creators intended. If Lord Zhang saw the funds that they were making, if he saw their ‘poor’ product as something to improve and sell himself, then there’ll be carnage and chaos. His weapons will be sold to the nobility of the town, then they will go to war with them, and then they will invite the attention of the immortals.

There will be conflict, his weapons will fall into the hands of others, then they will use it or improve on existing designs. Machinists and alchemists may take years to reach his heights, but they will reach it eventually, and then the world will be filled with these weapons for all to wield.

I needed to stop him… and I had to speak to him truthfully and privately to do so.

It frightened me immensely to have to do such a thing. I avoided the man, despite his goodwill. When I looked at his face, before recalling all his power and strength, the first thing that came to my mind was he killing of my fellows. I had watched as he killed them, then turned them to mulch for trees on the road between his farm and the city. The thought of it still made my stomach turn, so if I did not have to, I did not speak with him.

But there is no choice in the matter now.

Not if I wanted to prevent weapons such as these from spreading across the land.