Supreme Magus novel Chapter 503

Contrary to Lith’s expectations, the following day the wargs didn’t attack the city and during the night no one died. Yet it didn’t make him feel happy, it only made his worries increase.

’So much self-control can only mean one of two things. Either they are waiting to increase their numbers before they resume attacking, or losing two warriors in a single day made them scared.’ Lith thought.

’In their shoes, I’d regroup and pick an easier target. Since I’m in my shoes I need to find them as soon as possible either way. If the pack becomes too big and they all learn true magic, I’ll need backup.

’If they change targets, it will just be the same situation in a different location, since I’m in charge of the whole damn region.’

Lith was no Jirni, but after spending so much time together in Othre, he had more an idea of how to conduct his investigation. Tracking the wargs’ accomplices within Maekosh was just a waste of time.

No matter if they were shapeshifting wargs or just humans that had smuggled them inside the city and hid them in their homes, if they had managed to fool the overly paranoid inhabitants of the city, Lith had no way to find them.

There were simply too many people to check with Invigoration, without a solid lead, it would be like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack. Finding the wargs, on the other hand, was likely to be easier.

To feed the pack and increase their numbers, they needed food and a lot of it. Lith had no idea if a monster could die of starvation, but he was almost certain that they would not fast for long willingly.

During winter there wasn’t much they could hunt, so he found the closest settlements to Maekosh on his map and alerted them of the threat with his communication amulet.

He could only hope that hunger would cause them to make a mistake or that by examining the carcasses the Balkor department could help him to track his prey.

***

Free country of Lamarth. Beyond the eastern borders of the Gorgon Empire.

Like any decent mage in the three great Countries, The Master received countless reports about the monster outbreaks he had caused. At first, they had considered the anomalies to be a good omen.

Their treatment worked even better than they had predicted and if it was applied to an orc shaman, it could make them friendlier to the cause. Soon, however, everything spiraled out of his control.

Some spawned too fast, other had become too powerful, but the worse part was that all of them stuck out like a sore thumb. Their plan of raising Abominations disguised as monsters quickly backfired as every country started to investigate the phenomenon.

"I don’t get it, Xenagrosh. What could have possibly gone wrong?" The Master whined.

"It’s the nature of research." The Eldritch shrugged. "A lot of failures are required before succeeding. Now we know why Thrud limited her experiments to humans. Monsters are great breeding grounds, but their unique nature makes them unpredictable.

"From this experiment, we learned that it’s better to stick with Thrud’s strategy. Humans for the Abomination who were humans, beasts for beasts, and so on. It will be slower, we’ll still need to kidnap a lot of people, but it’s much safer.

"Your plan was sound, my disciple, only its initial result was poor. We’ll do better the next time." She patted his shoulder.

"I guess you are right." The Master sighed. "I’ve never been so wrong, though. I never am, dammit!"

"Don’t worry, sugar, you weren’t wrong." Xenagrosh’s sensual voice said.

"Sugar? Are you drunk or what?" The Master respected her but there was nothing more between them.

"That wasn’t me." Xenagrosh said turning toward their surprise guest.

She was a woman of rare beauty, with grey skin and silver hair. She was wearing a comfortable mage suit which emphasized the perfect proportions of her body. More than her skin or hair, it was her second set of arms that identified her as not human.