Supreme Magus novel Chapter 975

Chapter 975 Madness for Hire Part 1

"There was nothing left to heal, yet I consider myself lucky. I survived to tell the tale and Baron Wyalon put me behind a desk instead of firing me. The only battlefield left for me is that against paperwork, but I can at least train recruits." The Sergeant said.

"Why not regrowing it?" Nalrond was baffled at human society abandoning its veterans.

"Not even his Excellency’s personal mage knows how to do it, and even if she did, it would cost too much. I’m a member of the militia, not of the army. Jambel can’t afford to send all those like me to the White Griffon."

Regrowing a limb required two teams of three Healers each. Hiring six mages at the same time was something beyond even a noble household’s abilities. The six great academies were the only place that provided such services at an affordable price.

"Interesting." Lith took several purple potions out of his pocket dimension. "Drink one of these now and another one once per hour until our return."

"Will they make my arm grow back?" The Sergeant was flabbergasted.

"Do I look like a god to you?" Lith scoffed. "Of course they won’t, but trusting me or not is up to you. See you later."

He opened a dimensional corridor that led the group where once the entrance to Zolgrish’s lab was. Once the three mages stepped through it, the Steps disappeared and the Sergeant turned the one-hour hourglass after gulping down the first potion.

"That was generous of you." Tista understood his intentions, but she had a few doubts. "What was in those flasks?"

"Not generosity, just foresight. If I manage to get the mines, I’ll depend on Jambel’s guards to keep the area safe from brigands and protect the cargo until someone picks it up.

"Jambel has no Warp Gate, so I’ll have to retrieve the silver personally from time to time or send one of the few people I really trust to do it. A few stolen silver nuggets are not a problem, losing a few kilos of it, however, is unacceptable." Lith replied.

He created a hologram representing the blueprints of the mines as he remembered them, showing Nalrond where he had spotted the biggest silver veins.

"I don’t plan on spending a single coin unless we find an alternative access point to the mines ." Lith nodded at the tons of rock and debris that once were a small mountain range.

"Nalrond, I need you to look for a path to the veins that starts from the ground and it’s stable enough to withstand being excavated without collapsing easily. The second most important requirement is that the silver must be abundant and not be too close to the old mines.

"The self-destruct mechanism has surely compromised their integrity and if you consider the thousands of tons of rocks weighing from above, reopening those tunnels is suicidal.

"Tista, help me look for arrays, traps, undead, or anything that could indicate that Zolgrish is still interested in the area. I’m not going to fight a Lich without an excellent reason."

Nalrond nodded and shapeshifted into his Emperor Beast form. He dived into the ground that parted in front of him and closed immediately after, leaving no trace of his passage.

In the meantime, Lith and Tista circled the ruins while casting Life Sensing arrays and Array detecting spells.

The former would spot any form of life or undeath that might have taken residence in the mines’ proximity while the latter would reveal any recent magical formation. Right after the lab self-destructed, Lith and General Vorgh, the army’s Master Warden, had checked the area without finding anything.

Unless Zolgrish had placed new arrays after they had left, the area was bound to be safe.

"Nothing on my side but animals." Tista reported via her communication amulet.