The Beginning After The End novel Chapter 100

Chapter 100

“Director Goodsky?” I sputtered incredulously.

“Y-yes. Although, ‘director’ doesn’t seem to be appropriate anymore seeing as how I was stripped of that t.i.tle. Who would’ve imagined I’d meet you in here, Arthur,” she replied weakly, and by the audible pant in her speech, it seemed as if she had suffered considerably.

“Stripped of your t.i.tle? I don’t understand. What is going on here? Why are you here, Director?” I leaned against the metal bars of my cage in hopes to hear her more clearly. From the source of her voice, I deduced that her cell was diagonally opposite my own, but because of the way the torchlights were set up, most of the cells were still in darkness.

“We will get to that later. Arthur, how did you end up being locked up? With your ability, I a.s.sumed you would be able to fend well enough for yourself or at least escape if necessary.” There was a hint of despair in Cynthia’s voice as she asked me.

“Tessia was held captive by Lucas and I had to use most of my mana to fight him. When two of the lances appeared, I didn’t have enough strength to escape,” I sighed.

“I...I apologize, I don’t quite follow. The half-elf boy, Lucas?”

It was obvious that Director Goodsky wasn’t aware at all of the recent happenings at her own academy, which I found unsurprising since she would’ve surely been there to help if she had known. I filled her in as detailed as I could in the quiet of the dungeon, only being able to a.s.sume that her silence was indication that she was fervently listening.

It was hard to tell whether the other cells had prisoners inside as well, but the information I was revealing wasn’t exactly confidential so I caught Goodsky up until the events of what had just happened with the Council.

“Can you describe for me how exactly the boy, Lucas, seemed to you when you fought against him?” Goodsky asked.

“Apart from the ma.s.sive increase in his mana manipulation capabilities, I noticed that his physical appearance was different as well. Let’s see, he had this sickly, gray skin tone as well as dark lines, which I a.s.sumed to be his veins, running down his face, neck and arms. His hair color had changed too; it wasn’t blond like I remembered it to be, but it was more of a dusty black and white color. The Wykes family had always been known to have a keen fondness of elixirs, no matter what the side effects may have been—”

“No elixir on this continent has the capabilities to enhance the user’s mana core that drastically Arthur. And, you weren’t able to catch a glimpse of what the leader of this whole disaster looked like?” Director Goodsky interrupted, her voice edged with frustration.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t arrive in time to see him. Why?”

“I just wanted to confirm some things, but I think I already have a basic understanding of the whole situation. I knew it was bound to happen, but not this soon. They’re moving forward with the plan much too quickly.” I could hear the director’s footsteps echoing as she paced insider her cell.

“What do you mean you knew it was bound to happen? Who are ‘they’? Director Goodsky, I’m beginning to have a nagging suspicion that I truly hope I could denounce as simply my lack of judgement...”

There was a brief pause from both of us where only the flickering snaps of the torches’ flames broke the still silence of the dungeon.

“I cannot say, Arthur. I am bound by forces beyond anything either one of us can hope to go against. I am truly sorry.”

“A binding? Huh, I see. How convenient. And is there a way to remove this binding?” I asked in response, sounding more sardonic than I had meant to.

“I have searched for decades on this matter, and all were futile,” Director Goodsky let out a deep breath, ignoring my tone.

“Then the reason you are locked up here is because...”

“From what you have told me and based on what I already know, it seems I have been made a scapegoat that the Council wishes to utilize as a convenient excuse for all that has happened recently.”

“Why would the Council need a scapegoat?”

“I cannot say the reason for this as well,” she replied. There was clear frustration in her tone, but not directed at me, but rather at herself. “Arthur, it is painful for me to continue talking about this. Even the very thought of mentioning what I know to someone activates the curse. We should both get some rest; heaven knows we’ll be needing it.”

Letting out a sigh, I stepped away from the metal gate and leaned my back against the rigid, stone wall of my cell. Even without the artifact binding my mana core, I was still unable to use any sort of magic here.

With nothing else to do, my mind began racing with different thoughts.

We were inside of a floating castle located above one of the deepest ends of the Beast Glades. a.s.suming that I could escape with Sylvie and Director Goodsky, would we even be able to make it out of the Beast Glades alive? Sylvie was out of the question since her recent transformation had left her in a state only slightly better than a hibernating bear. Goodsky was a silver core wind mage, which might be enough for us to fly back.

I backtracked my plan after realizing the three of us would still probably get wiped out. On our way here, the two lances had to constantly release a strong killing intent to ward off any beast. Even then, they were cautious enough to hide all of our presences at times. It would be near suicidal to think we can simply fly over the entire Beast Glades.

After what seemed like hours of deliberation, I could only click my tongue in frustration and roll over on the cold floor to try and get some sleep. It was impossible after all. It was becoming harder and harder to push down the sensation of hopelessness creeping up the more I continued to plan for our escape.