"There are many mages in the desert. It will take quite some time to gather them up," was what Morris said before they left. Thus, only the twenty to thirty mages at the scene followed Benjamin as Morris remained in the desert.
He had stayed in silence for too long now that he needed to prepare for his comeback. Besides, only he had the actual power to persuade the rest of the mages in the desert; there were approximately a hundred of them.
Benjamin was very excited about this. Not to mention the thirty mages who left alongside with him, if they managed to get the other hundred mages in the desert to join the cause to revolt against the church, his influence would rise to a whole other level. Thus he would finally have enough leverage to stand up and deal directly with the church.
A three-digit amount of mages! Even if they only released a spell each, thousands of soldiers would still need to hide from their attacks.
However, a hundred-people team was still a start for Benjamin.
Ferelden has a population of a few hundred thousand; there would at least be ten thousand mages residing in the country. Mages amounting to a hundred was only a number that could be admired but it was not far-reaching enough to affect the whole country.
Hence, Benjamin did not lead the convoy back to the City of Rayleigh after they left the desert. Instead, they arrived at the Desert City.
"The church has sent quite some a number of priests to do missionary work in the Desert City, but all of them were chased away. Although the mages in the ‘Desert Shadow’ were quite rubbish, they never once retreated when they were facing the church."
Those were the words from one of the mages in the desert that left with him. Benjamin nodded, deep in thought.
The Desert City was located so far from civilization that it was difficult for the capital’s influence to permeate into the area. Technically, the city was a whole separate country by itself. The mage organization, ‘Desert Shadow’, took control of the land. Even if they were incredibly hostile and were very domineering towards external mages, the Desert City was the only place in this world that was completely run by mages.
Most importantly, they shared the same attitude when it comes to the church.
That was why Benjamin decided to come and pay them a visit. Although Benjamin had killed someone within the organization which led to the start of some difficult chain of events, but at least that was considered as internal conflicts. It was a wiser choice to temporarily cast them aside and face the external threat in unison when the latter was standing just by their door.
However, the deciding factor of the visit was that this time, Benjamin came with his own people.
The Desert Shadow only had around 60 mages, and aside from their leader, the mages were only mediocre at best. If they really refused to come to a settlement, Benjamin would immediately get rid of this organization, and let these secluded mages take over the ruling of the Desert City. Then, this place could be the second base for the mages aside from the City of Rayleigh.
Although this place is totally shielded from the external influences of politics, it was too valuable for Benjamin to give up. If events would really evolve as Morris predicted and they failed, this place could be their second chance. Then, they would not lose everything.
Just like that, Benjamin led a group of people and walked into the Desert City.
These mages have already established their own conflicted relationship with the Desert Shadow, which caused them to suddenly quiet down the moment they stepped into the city. There seemed to be a suffocatingly low pressure surrounding them and Benjamin, who was leading them, did not speak much as well. This scene was much alike one where mafia overlords flood a place for revenge, hungry for blood. The street passersby were collectively terrified as they immediately scrambled back into their homes, peeking behind their curtains to watch and satisfy their curiosity.
Benjamin and his convoy noticed the trails of the Desert Shadow not long after they entered the city.
"What in the world is that…." Benjamin frowned as he gazed into the distance.
Towards the direction where the center of the Desert City was located, green smoke rose from the ground, as if someone was burning something. A few mages even flew in the air, circling the smoke like they were patrolling.
"What are they doing?"
The mages beside him shook their heads. "No idea. We’ve never seen this during our previous visits to the Desert City before."
After some consideration, Benjamin led these mages and flew towards the center of activity. They soon flew near the city centre. It looked much like a complex, and they saw a large number of mages gathered around. Those mages formed a circle around a huge steel barrel that was on fire, and they were continuously throwing something into it, as if they were really burning them.
Benjamin’s heart jumped as he tried to get a better look.
They were burning books and books of The Declaration of the Freedom of Magic.
"That….."
The mages from the desert were surprised. Benjamin, on the other hand, felt a jab of heartache.
D*mn it…. They poured their sweat and blood into writing the book and even forked out their own money trying to mass print it to get it out to the public. Moreover, Benjamin asked for multiple favors from friends just to publish the book, and now they were burning it by the tens! How dare they? Did those mages even acknowledge them as humans?
Hence, Benjamin flew straight towards the middle of the city center, completely ignoring the patrolling mages. Then, he chanted a spell and summoned a large-scale Water Ball to fall from the sky. Everyone in the square was smacked dizzy by it.
The steel barrel that was rolling in smoke was completely extinguished by the impact.
"Who… who are you? What do you want?" The patrolling mages immediately surrounded him. They looked at Benjamin with guarded eyes.
However, just as they surrounded Benjamin, the mages who came from the desert promptly followed. They stared at the mages of the Desert Shadow, and with their previous conflicts, the elements around them all shimmered and vibrated with vigor; the atmosphere felt electric and violent.
The patrolling mages immediately chickened out after noticing their audience. They distanced themselves from Benjamin as they flew backward, no longer brave enough to surround him.
Benjamin scowled and shook his head. "Why did you burn the books?"
At that moment, the mages populating the square flew upwards to join them. A brief count totaled the mages to around 40 people. They quickly gathered to form their line on an opposing side from Benjamin. They had slightly more manpower than Benjamin’s convoy.
"This is our turf, it’s up to us to burn what we want." The leading mage was a hostile old man. "You, on the other hand, are interrupting our business. What business do you have here, barging into the Desert City? You should’ve stayed hidden in your abandoned fields and deserts! What tricks are you playing at?"
Judging from his words, he assumed Benjamin to be one of the secluded mages. He did not recognize Benjamin as the one who snatched the masked woman away from the Desert City that day.
"This is your place?" Benjamin retaliated mercilessly, "The books you burnt are the ones that I wrote. Those books are for the people who need it. Who are you to burn them?"
The old man looked surprised at that revelation. He was not angered by it, though, as he laughed, "So you’re the brat who started it. Say, why are you so inept? You recklessly spreading this book around Ferelden, and some of it even ended up at our place. If the mages around here read it and learned everything, who would then listen to my commands?"
Benjamin was hit with a truckload of realization.
A mage organization like the Desert Shadow was probably maintained by their absolute control over knowledge - any mages nearby who wanted to learn spells and the Law of Mediation could only do so by listening to the organization’s demands. Otherwise, they would have no way of advancing themselves.
However, the appearance of The Declaration of the Freedom of Magic broke this monopoly. Mages could now learn magic by themselves, and no longer had to listen to the orders of others. This would, of course, cause dissatisfaction among the monopolists.
Benjamin barked out a laugh, his tone harsh and cold as he sneered, "If your words were of those reasons, why wouldn’t the people listen to you? If you’re spouting nonsense, isn’t it normal for the people to not obey?"
As if on cue, the mages behind Benjamin chuckled in agreement. In line with Benjamin’s words, they cast taunting looks at the old man.
"You…." The old man lost his words. He was immediately infuriated by the situation. "You insane man! I advise you to get out of the Desert City as soon as possible, or else, we would treat you with no mercy!"