Chapter 449 Homecoming
‘Yep, they work much better than the originals.’
With a smile on his face Marcus was incredibly happy with his new magic focusing lenses.
After his first set had broken under the strain of his tier six spells, he had made plans to make a new stronger set.
This time instead of mithril he had used adamantine for the rings that held the lenses that were made of high-quality elemental crystals.
It was work that he was very proud of, and he had just finished testing how it handled the fusing of his two tier six spells.
Luckily his design worked perfectly, and he was now able to unleash a truly merged version of his tier six spells.
The only problem was the level of destruction this attack had behind it, which devastated everything in around a two-kilometer area, even when he did his best to focus it.
Ding!
‘You have leveled up to level forty-eight.’.
As Marcus received this level up notification, he certainly could not say he was happy about it, since he had just changed the landscape of an area forever.
And along with it he killed every living being there which had given him this level up.
However, his antics had not gone unnoticed, and the strongest beasts and monsters around quickly came to investigate what sort of maniac had decided to start blowing up their home.
‘Time to leave.’ Marcus though as a blast of electricity from a thunderbird that was a few miles away passed by him.
Going into his ghost form, he began making the journey back to the rebel camp outside of Valenhart, which he had flown hundreds of miles away from to test out his new weapons.
Luckily, with his speed he could cover this distance in just a few hours and arrived back at the camp around dusk.
The first thing he did once he had landed was to find Lyra, and make sure she was doing alright.
“How is it going? Are you ready to go and meet your cousin?” Marcus asked to Lyra who was currently performing maintenance on her kukri’s.
Nodding her head she said, “Yes, I am. I believe that Volos will go along with us. The king has already shown his willingness to execute people with only the slightest provocation, and I am sure he is afraid that one day it may be him and his family on the chopping block.”
Lyra then pulled out the shield Marcus had given her and said, “This is excellent work that is on the same level as the best forgmasters in our kingdom. Thank you for giving me this. I am sure with it protecting me I will be much safer.”
“I am glad to hear that. I always enjoy praise for my creations. Now I suppose it is time we meet up with Marek and take our leave.” Marcus said, getting down to business.
Taking a deep breath Lyra calmed down and released her lingering nerves.
“Okay I am ready, let’s go.”
Leaving Lyra’s tent, the two of them went to find Marek who was standing at the top of a hill that overlooked the city.
He was staring off into the city with a resolute expression on his face, getting ready for the rebellion’s biggest move since it had been formed.
“I suppose that the two of you are ready.” Marek said without taking his eyes off of the city below.
“Yes. It is time we go and meet with my cousin. With his assistance our troops will be able to maneuver into position with greater ease.”
“Very well. If you would not mind then.” Marek said to Lyra asking for her assistance.
She then cast her tier four illusion magic spell mass invisibility and turned both herself and Marek invisible.
Marcus on the other hand, simply went into his ghost form, his stealth abilities already being far beyond what Lyra’s illusions could create.
After that the three of them began making their way towards the city under the cover of night.
Soon they made it to one of the city’s main gates which was thoroughly protected by dozens of soldiers.
However, for the three of them, slipping past this gate undetected was child’s play, and they made it into the city proper with ease.
Yet as soon as they entered, both Marek and Lyra noticed that the city was off.
Not in that some elaborate trap had been set, but just that the walkways and canals were almost completely empty other than patrolling soldiers.
Normally, in this city, there was a healthy night life, and boats and people moved around at all times of the day.
‘Looks like a curfew has been instated.’ Lyra said over telepathy to both Marek and Marcus.
Hearing this, Marcus felt a bit like an idiot since he had not noticed this when he was investigating the city the day before, having been too focused on the military bases rather than the city streets.
‘Well, this should make it easier for us anyway. Now we are less likely to accidently bump into anyone or have to navigate around any crowds.’ Marek responded.
Taking a few minutes to scout around the area, none of them found anything amiss, and all seemed safe.
‘Okay, I will take us to the secret entrance that goes under the river. I believe it should still be there since only my parents and I knew about it. So, I do not think that even my cousin knows it exists.’ Lyra said taking the lead.
Quickly, Lyra navigated the streets of her home while Marek and Marcus followed.
‘This is the place.’ Lyra said as they stopped in the middle of an unremarkable alleyway on the edge of the city center where it met the water.
She then walked over to one of the walls of the alley and squatted down so that she could reach the very bottom of the wall.
There she removed a brick that while looking attached, was actually lose and came out with ease.
Slipping her hand under the space, she hit a series of buttons that were hidden under it, and within just a few seconds a small part of the alley began to open up and reveled a set of stairs.
After placing the brick back, Lyra said with telepathy,’ This way. If everything is still in order this passageway should take us all the way to the castle’s interior.
Following Lyra down the stairs, Marcus and Marek saw that it led into a small room that had some preserved food stores and water in it, as well as a door that led into the secret passageway.
Once they were all inside Lyra pulled a hidden lever on one of the walls and the opening in the alleyway closed up.
The three of them next checked the room to make sure it did not have any traps that would alert someone to their position, and when they were satisfied, Lyra opened up the door to the secret passageway.
‘Make sure to follow behind me closely. There are many different snaking paths down here meant to confuse any pursuers should my family have ever needed to flee the castle from a hostile force.’ Lyra said before taking the lead and beginning the last leg of their journey back to her home.