The Liberation Begins

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my original characters and works, if you recognise it from somewhere else, surprise it isn't mine.

Betad by morde24, Atrius, Hermes, Priapus, Marethyu, Old man of the mountain and TheDonFluffles

The Guild of Gamers: The Warlock

Chapter 02: The Liberation Begins

"You know, if you ask really nicely, I'll let you cum," Raven says, making me grit my teeth as another girl rides me, another orgasm denied as her magic prevents me from reaching climax.

I wasn't sure what I thought 'the Archfey' would look like, but 'big titty goth girl' wouldn't have been my first guess, kneeling on the bed behind me with my head in her lap as she watches the other girl ride me, amusement in her blue eyes as she watches me thrust up into the other girl, somewhat desperately after what seems like the twentieth failed climax.

This is apparently both a dream while also being real, which is a bit confusing but that's what I get for dealing with fey I suppose.

The girl who is riding me is only the latest, appearing far more like a fey than Raven with almost glowing pink eyes and hair, translucent wings coming out to her lithe body as she moans.

The payment for my power up, to be the entertainment in one of Raven's orgies for the 'night'. I don't think any man would truly complain, but the fact that I can't climax is rather frustrating.

"Is it really worth all this frustration, just to keep your pride?" Raven whispers, running her hands through my hair as I look up at her, getting an ample view of her breasts given my position.

"Yes," I say simply, making her giggle again. She wants me to beg, but I can be a very stubborn person at heart.

The girl riding me lets out a loud, lewd moan as she clenches down on my shaft, her already tight passage squeezing me better than any of the lovers I had in my past life could hope to as she collapses onto my chest.

Of course she immediately gets pulled off and another girl takes her place, dozens of beautiful, ethereal girls surrounding the bed as they wait their turn.

This is going to be a long night.

— Next Morning —

Waking up with a morning wood harder than steel, I sigh to myself as I stretch and wince. The cave floor was not exactly the best place to sleep but needs must. I can worry about comfort later, because while we slept, the convoy made a good amount of progress given how far away I can feel my imp is.

But, my time with Raven has led to an unexpected boon. I have more than just imps I can call upon now, and taking a glance at the still sleeping Morgana I stand up and stretch, forming another ritual circle as I reach out with my magic and call for another familiar from Raven's domain.

Somehow, I get the feeling Raven's playing a game with me as the tiny fairy flies through the summoning circle, large blue eyes and blonde hair tied up in a bun, I recognise this fairy.

I doubt it's actually Tinkerbell, but she sure looks like her as she flies around my head a few times, wearing the short green dress she's so well known for.

It's not, I just thought you'd appreciate it. Appearance is rather irrelevant to a fey, we're all shapeshifters by nature after all.

To demonstrate, 'Tinkerbell' shifts into the familiar appearance of the pink haired girl I'd become so well acquainted with in my dreams, though much smaller, blowing me a kiss. Her dress shifts to pink as well, becoming more elegant (though still extremely revealing).

Does she actually have a name?

Of course, but good luck getting her to tell you it. Don't you know names have power?

Fair enough, I'm not calling her Tinkerbell though.

Hmm, Tinkerbell? Bell? Fuck it, Bella will do. If she doesn't like it she can tell me what her real name is.

The newly named Bella doesn't seem to mind as she flies around some more, excited to be in the mortal plane from what I can sense from her.

I should probably name my Imp as well, I'll think of something later.

"Bella, stay here and let me know if Morgana wakes up. Don't do anything to mess with her," I say sternly, making her pout slightly as she bows to me mockingly.

First, I need to make sure the first part of my plan will work.

Heading out of the cave, I step into a tree and slip into the Fey Roads.

It's hard to explain just what they look like as I walk along an overgrown path through a far different forest, trees and flowers in every colour of the rainbow, and a deep violet sky barely visible through the canopy.

I can hear whispers and laughter in the distance, and a thin mist covers everything I can see. I can't get lost as long as I stay on the path, but I can hear voices calling me to just step into the woods, promising me everything from unimaginable pleasure to the finest foods and drinks, and sights unlike anything I've seen before.

Out of the corner of my eye, I keep spotting figures dashing between the trees, playfully giggling and vanishing if I try and look towards them.

The path twists and turns, with the overgrowth making it hard to see where it even is as it seems to go back on itself several times, and I almost step off it by accident as I'm distracted by the sounds of music coming from within the forest, beautiful lyre music accompanied by a soft voice singing in a language I can't understand.

I'm seeing a pattern with the powers I get.

There's always a risk, a cost. My hellfire is powerful but a single mistake could cause me to lose control. My luck can run out if I overuse it.

The Fey Roads description claims I will always arrive at my destination safely, but if I step off the path myself is it really anyone's fault but my own?

It makes me cautious of the Mists, where's the downside? I refuse to believe it doesn't have some cost or danger, but I don't think the Fey powers feel like warning me of that cost until I discover it for myself.

Still, it's a tool I'll need for what's to come and as I reach the end of the path, I step out in a clearing a good distance from where I entered, looking towards the convoy I can see moving in the distance.

It would have taken me hours to catch up to the convoy, and that's if they weren't moving, but I got ahead of them in a few minutes.

I've already realised that the woman that got an entire cage to herself is Morgana's teacher, she's bound much more securely than any of the others.

They're scared of her, and they especially hate her. I've heard the term 'the Lodge' thrown around in relation to her, though I don't know what it means.

Freeing her could make this much easier, and it might not even be that hard since I've picked out the leader and he just wears his keys in a ring around his belt.

But at the same time, I might be able to call on my mist and use it to get in, free her and get out to increase our numbers and add a powerful sorceress to our efforts, I fear they'll slaughter the others once they discover she's missing.

With the confirmation that I can use the Fey Roads to catch up, I slip back into a tree and walk the path back to the cave.

— Morgana —

Waking up with a start, she bolted up in a panic before she remembered what happened last night, finding herself wrapped up in a heavy cloak.

"Ah, you're awake?" Lucas said, making her blink as she turned to see him sitting with his legs crossed a few feet away from her, biting down on some bread.

Her stomach rumbled, making her blush as he chuckled.

"Here, I… appropriated some food from a nearby village, it's nothing special, just some bread, but it'll have to do," Lucas said with a small frown as she accepted it. "I don't believe I learnt your name before."

"Morgana, my name is Morgana. I- did I thank you before? I can't remember, if not I'm sorry. Thank you for coming to my assistance, I don't want to think about what they'd have done to me if you hadn't arrived," Morgana said shyly, taking a bite of the bread.

It was very basic, but the hunters weren't big on feeding them so she practically devoured it, making Lucas smile and offer her some more.

It looked like he'd raided some villages' storerooms, berries, fruit and bread making up most of the food in the small sack he had.

She didn't blame him, and frankly she didn't care about the villagers. She'd learnt from her time in captivity that the locals saw the hunters as great heroes, protecting them from the evil mages.

"Don't worry about it, you were running on fumes as it was, I'm not surprised you collapsed when the adrenaline wore off," Lucas said kindly, a soft smile on his face as he watched her eat.

Blinking, she spotted a small winged being sitting on the ground next to him, eating a berry the size of its head.

"That's Bella, she's one of my familiars. She found the food for us, though obviously I had to gather it since she's not one for heavy lifting," Lucas said playfully.

"I see, did you find the others?" Morgana asked, making him nod.

"I did, my Imp is tracking them and I'm just waiting for them to stop for the night," Lucas said, making her perk up. "But it's going to be extremely risky, for both of us," he warned, making her nod hesitantly.

They were laughably outnumbered and she didn't know enough battle magic to really be that useful. Sure, she could take out a few if she was lucky, but all it would take would be a single dimeritium bomb and her magic would be gone.

It's how they got them in the first place, which didn't make sense to her. Most of the hunters were barely literate thugs, how did they have access to bombs made by alchemy?

Especially while they were burning alchemists at the stake. Who was helping them?

"Will we be able to catch up?" Morgana asked, trying to suppress her worries.

"I have a magic that can get us to them, that won't be a problem. The issue is what comes after, I counted at least fifty hunters, maybe more. In a fair fight, we'd get slaughtered," Lucas said with a frown, making her nod. "I have a plan, it's not exactly the best, but frankly we don't have the time or resources for anything better."

She couldn't take out twenty-five men, even at her best without any dimeritium in play. This seemed like suicide, but while she wasn't exactly fond of all her classmates, she couldn't abandon them to that fate.

Plus, Margarita had been the closest thing she had to a maternal figure, and while she didn't really have many real friends, she definitely cared for her teacher.

And somehow, she had faith that Lucas could save them like he'd saved her. He clearly had his own doubts about this, but he wasn't just giving up and refusing even to try.

"What should we do until then?" Morgana asked, making Lucas shrug.

"Honestly at this point I'm just biding our time, I don't want to risk leaving the cave and attracting any unwanted attention. Rest up and recover, tonight is going to be a very difficult night for us both," Lucas said, patting her on the shoulder as he knelt down and closed his eyes again.

As close as she was to him, she could feel the spell he cast, though she had no idea what he was doing.

"Lucas?" Morgana asked quietly, making his eyes open again.

"Hm, what's wrong?" Lucas asked, the spell cancelling. "I'm just seeing through my imps eyes, the more I can learn about the convoy the better after all."

"I- Thank you," Morgana said simply, making him smile and give her a nod.

"Of course."

Going back to his scouting, she settled down and tried to mentally prepare herself for what was coming.

— Morgana — Later —

Rested and as ready as she was going to get, she watched as Lucas opened his eyes with a resolved expression on his face.

"They've set up camp, so now is our best chance, are you ready?" Lucas asked, making her nod hesitantly.

"I am," Morgana said with confidence she didn't really feel, getting a soft smile from him in return as he walked up to her.

"Then let us be off, we have a lot of work ahead of us. Take my hand, and whatever happens don't let go until I say to," Lucas said, holding out his hand as she took it with a blush.

Being led out of the cave, Lucas walked up to a tree and she watched in shock as the tree opened up, the bark shifting and patting to reveal a glowing purple void which he immediately walked into, leading her into it.

Was this some kind of Druidic magic? She knew the druids of Skellige had some impressive powers that regular mages couldn't use.

Appearing in a strange forest, she remembered his words and followed carefully behind as Lucas followed a path she could barely see.

Turning as she heard whispers in the distance, Lucas paused and turned to her.

"Ignore them, they want you to step off the path, stick close to me and ignore anything you see or hear," Lucas warned, making her eyes widen as she nodded quickly.

She had no idea what kind of magic this was, but she knew better than to ignore his warnings. Magic was dangerous, every good sorceress knew that.

She believed him wholeheartedly if he said it was dangerous to step off the path.

Deep in the forest, someone whispered promises of power untold, they spoke of secrets they shouldn't have possibly known, and promised to help her claim her birthright if she just came to them.

All she had to do was step off the path and follow their enticing whispers, and she'd have everything she'd ever dreamed of and more.

Clutching Lucas' hand tight, she tried to shut out the whispers, unable to stop herself from glancing into the depths, seeing shadowy figures dancing in the distance.

But before long, Lucas led them to the end of the path and they were out again, on a hill overlooking a camp where the hunters had set up for the night.

What was that place? Lucas was clearly used to those paths, and it seemed more elegant but riskier than regular teleportation.

Looking over the camp, she shivered as she almost unwillingly counted the hunters she could see gathered around the camp.

They were so hilariously outnumbered.

"What should we do?" Morgana asked, turning to Lucas for guidance as he smiled at her.

"Wait, I'm going to slowly summon my mist to beguile their senses without raising any alarm, I'll make it so it doesn't affect anyone with magic within them, once it's summoned we'll make our next move," Lucas said, sounding far more confident than she felt. "Bella, turn yourself invisible. You know what I need you to do," Lucas ordered, making the tiny fairy on his shoulder hop to her feet and take the air, flying towards the camp as she faded from view.

How did he gain the service of his 'imp', which he claimed was a lesser demon, and a fairy that she could only presume was from Tír na nóg, given the magic she felt from it.

Did he have some kind of magic that dealt with the conjunction of spheres, allowing him to reach into other worlds to call on powers unknown to their world?

Had they travelled through a different world to get here? Was that why the ambient magic in that forest had felt so different to what she was used to?

If her theory was even slightly correct, Lucas was without a doubt one of the most powerful people she'd ever met, even if he had claimed to still be new to magic while they talked, waiting for night to fall.

At the very least, it meant his potential was insane, and every sorceress and mage would want to use him and his powers for themselves.

The truth was that she was being groomed to join the Lodge before all this happened, so she'd met some of the members of the infamous Lodge of Sorceresses, she could just picture them salivating over Lucas' potential, scheming to use him to their own ends.

Not that she knew if the Lodge still existed, after their failed scheme led to the witch hunts in the first place.

Scowling slightly, she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She couldn't afford to be distracted tonight.

— Margarita Laux-Antille —

The hunters had mistaken the mist that had slowly accumulated as just a natural phenomenon, not giving it any attention even as it grew thicker.

But as magically attuned as she was, she could feel the strange magic within the mist, some spell that affected the mind woven into the mist itself, which made her straighten up and look to the skies, still seeing the bird flying in circles above them.

Feeling something land on her shoulder, she froze up and looked to see nothing, and yet she could feel what felt like tiny feet on her bare flesh.

"Don't reply, just nod or shake your head," a male voice said very quietly, coming from right next to her ear. "If I freed you, are you in a good enough state to help fight the hunters?"

Pausing, she watched a hunter walk towards his tent as he passed her cage, waiting for him to turn away before she gave a very small nod.

It was the element of surprise that had doomed her and her students, they'd been caught of guard with dimeritium bombs being thrown at them before they even realised they were under attack.

She'd been convinced to surrender to save her students from being executed, convinced they just wanted her for her role in the Lodge. Of course now she knew that they planned to kill them all either way.

If they had more dimeritium, it would be a problem but she would rather take that chance than be sent to Deireadh, where rape and torture awaited them all before the hunters decided to burn them at the stake.

"There's four cages with the other mages in them, which one has the best fighters?" the voice asked, making her pause as she glanced over at where her students were.

Their numbers had already dropped a worrying amount, and she could only pray that Morgana actually managed to get away.

Spotting one of her fellow teachers in one of the cages, she nodded towards it slightly, going still as another hunter walked past her cage which was in the very centre of camp.

"Understood, I'll be back soon."

With that said, the weight on her shoulder vanished and straining her ears she could have sworn she heard the sounds of tiny wings.

The large bird that had been tailing them flew down once more, landing at the edge of her cage once again as it stared at her with unnerving eyes.

Time passed, but as he promised the invisible creature once again returned, her eyes widening as she watched a ring of keys slowly fly towards her cage, slipping between the bars as her heart started to beat faster, worried a hunter would notice as the invisible creature picked a key and put it into the lock that was keeping her bound to the bars, turning it with a click.

The chains loosened but didn't fall as the key was pulled out, floating into her lap and pulling some of the fabric of her torn dress over the key ring as a hunter walked by, not noticing that she had just a little more wiggle room.

She still had more chains, some manacles binding her arms above her head, one around her neck and the manacles around her ankles, they weren't taking a chance with her.

But even as the hunter looked at her, he failed to notice that she was one step closer to freedom, his eyes more focused on her exposed breasts than the chains holding her.

Once he left, the keys moved to her legs and undid the manacles down there, mostly hidden by her dress, then the one around her neck was undone.

The invisible being didn't pull it open, but she could feel that all she'd have to do was give it a tug and it'd open up.

The mist suddenly grew thicker, obscuring the hunters' vision as the keys flew up and started to free her hands, her heart beating faster as she expected the hunters to suddenly notice.

But they had no reason to suspect, and as her hands were freed she stood for the first time, watching the keys float towards the bird who shifted into a strange red-skinned creature, who grabbed them and flew up to the cage door, unlocking it with a click before it flew towards the cage she'd nodded to before.

"Are you ready to start the show?" the voice asked, making her nod as she slowly moved to the front of her cage, opening the door and stepping out for the first time in days.

"I am," Margarita said, looking around and watching as the red creature unlocked the cage it had flown to.

— Lucas —

Getting the right key each time needed some liberal use of my luck power, but now the strongest mage of the group is free and we can start the show.

Most of the hunters are in the same large tent, enjoying some booze they liberated from a nearby village. I waited until they were good and sloshed before making my move so here's hoping some of them have blacked out.

Summoning a ball of hellfire, I take aim and throw it from my vantage point. My aim is straight and true, the basketball-sized ball of demonic fire hitting the main tent where the hunters are, and immediately the hive is awakened.

I can hear screaming coming from within as hunters flee the tent in shock, but Margarita wasn't idle and they find themselves facing a group of pissed off sorceresses, having freed several of the mages in the cage she claimed had the best fighters.

Another ball of fire strikes one of the tents as I move closer, making a smaller sized ball and tossing it at one of the hunters who is desperately reaching for his sword that he'd placed down for the night.

Most of them aren't even in their armour anymore, since it's around 2am at my best estimate and they were either drinking or sleeping, and as my fireball strikes him, he shrieks in pain as the flames start to consume him.

Morgana isn't wasting any time either, throwing lightning bolts at the hunters which strike with far more power now that she's not on the brink of collapse, the smell of burnt flesh making me frown under my mask.

Now's not the time for me to get squeamish, because even with Margarita and some of the other mages freed, we're still at a disadvantage numerically.

Still, I see why Morgana speaks of Margarita with such respect as she turns two hunters into frozen sculptures, before shattering them with a second spell.

She's definitely the most powerful mage on the field, which makes keeping her safe very important.

One of the hunters runs out of a tent, holding what looks like a primitive grenade in his hand and thanks to Morgana I know what that is.

A dimeritium bomb,it's made of a metal that has a unique property that nullifies magic. The bomb itself is apparently alchemy, making these men hypocrites as they use a branch of magic to fight against the mages.

But I was waiting for this, and before he can throw the bomb, he's dive-bombed by a rather large crow, which immediately starts pecking at his face.

It doesn't sound too dangerous in theory, but my imp is sadistic and the hunter screams as his eye is plucked from his head, flailing to try and fight off the demonic bird as the bomb is all but forgotten.

I spent today practising with my hellfire while I waited for nightfall, so as my fairy directs me to one of the tents, I move forwards and raise my hand.

Instead of a fireball, I create a wall of purple flames that wraps around the tent, entrapping the leader in a circle of flame. A circle that's closing in on him as he comes out of his tent, looking around in a panic as the purple flames grow closer and closer.

It's mildly ironic, since I've heard him boasting about how many freaks he's burnt at the stake, and now it's him who shall burn.

I don't watch, as even if I wasn't in the middle of a battlefield I wouldn't want to bear witness to his fate as I try and ignore the shouts of panic turning into screams of pain.

Another hunter tosses a bomb towards Margarita, but to his shock it stops in the air and flies back towards him, Margarita glaring at him as his own bomb blows up in his face.

It doesn't do much damage, but it didn't need to as someone blasts him with a ball of regular fire.

He's lucky, regular flames just kill you. Hellfire consumes your body and soul, there's only one afterlife for people who are killed by it and it's not the one they think they deserve.

My hellfire manipulation skill will grow as I kill beings with it, because I'm sending every single victim to Grayson's realm. I'm not just killing them, I'm subjecting them to eternal torment.

And yet, I've watched these men, seen how they treated the sorceresses they have captured, heard them boasting of their deeds and reminding their captives of the fate that awaits them.

I find myself incredibly low on pity, they wanted to feed the mages to the 'eternal fire', and turn about is fair play. They seem to love the idea of this eternal fire, I'm sure they'll become entirely too well acquainted with it.

I'm nearing my limit on how much hellfire I can have out at once, and my little wall trick is useful but demanding, so I snuff out the flames, as they've already done their job.

A hunter charges at me, sword drawn with a desperate look on his face, but before I can even turn to him, a lightning bolt strikes him, sending him flying back, Morgana glaring at him as he tumbles to the ground.

She doesn't bother waiting to see if he'll get up again as she hits him again while he's down.

Giving her a nod, I see some hunters heading to one of the still occupied cages and create another wall of fire to prevent them from reaching the still imprisoned sorceresses.

— Morgana —

These men had killed some of her classmates, planned to torture them all and burn them at the stake for the heinous crime of being born with magical talent.

She'd seen some of them trying to get to the cages, whether they wanted hostages or to just kill as many as possible as the tide turned against them, she didn't know, smiling as a wall of purple flames blocked their way, before it started to advance towards them.

Lucas' control was impressive, she'd watched him practise in the cave as he manipulated the flames into different shapes, seeing how much he could control at once.

His diligence and practice were paying off as the scum found themselves purged by the very flames they loved so much.

The tide had clearly shifted, as Margarita protected the cages while some of the less talented students helped free the others, their numbers swelling as the hunters fell.

It wasn't going perfectly, as she saw one of her classmates fall to a crossbow bolt that embedded itself in her chest, but they were winning.

"Fuck, where's the dimeritium bombs?!" one of them shouted, trying to weather the storm of magic being thrown his way.

"I can't find them, I swear the chest was right there!" another replied, a malicious giggling filling the air as Lucas snorted in amusement.

"Good work, Bella," Lucas said quietly, making her grin as she realised what had happened.

Nice work indeed. The little fairy was definitely growing on her.

Realising their defeat was inevitable now that so many mages were free, many of the hunters broke and tried to flee, but she had been waiting for this.

Nobody was escaping this place, she wouldn't let them flee to run to their masters and bring reinforcements after them, this was probably the biggest group of hunters that had been gathered so far but the mad king Radovid would send more when he learnt of this.

Picking off the ones who tried to run, she stuck true and hard, showing them as much mercy as they'd have shown her.

They didn't deserve to live, and every one she killed was one Lucas wouldn't have to.

She could tell. He tried to hide it, but killing those men bothered him, and here he was killing again because she asked for his help.

She wouldn't have been able to free Margarita, she wouldn't have even been able to catch up with the convoy, Lucas could have just refused to endanger himself for their sake, and she wouldn't have blamed him in these times.

That said, issues with taking lives or not, Lucas definitely had the highest kill count so far as she watched five hunters try to group up, only to be circled by a wall of purple fire, trapped and unable to escape as the flames moved closer.

One tried to leap through the fire in desperation, but as he reached the other side, he screamed and tried to pat himself down to put out the flames that were clinging to him.

No amount of struggling would put out those flames.

He might not particularly like what he had to do, but he clearly wasn't letting it stop him from doing what needed to be done.

Before long, the fighting died down and the night went quiet, or relatively quiet as the students celebrated their freedom.

"Morgana?" Margarita said, shocked and happy as she spotted Morgana standing near Lucas, making her smile.

"Professor, I'm glad to see you're alive and hopefully well," Morgana said, seeing her teacher's torn clothes.

"As am I, I feared for the worst when you fled," Margarita said with a small smile. "I take it your friend is responsible for this fog?"

"He is, he saved me from the hunters and I asked him to help free you," Morgana agreed, making Margarita smile despite the curious and slightly suspicious look in her eyes as she spotted the masked man.

"Then we have you to thank for our freedom, may I ask your name?" Margarita said, turning to Lucas.

"You're welcome, and I'm Lucas, but we can exchange pleasantries when we're somewhere safe. I don't think any got away but I'd rather not stick around to find out," Lucas replied, making Margarita nod.

"Indeed, but I fear my original plans are ruined. From what the Hunters said, Novigrad is not as neutral as I had been led to believe, the free city is now a haven for the Hunters," Margarita said with a frown. "And I doubt Aretuza is even still standing, Radovid made his intentions towards it clear."

"So you have nowhere safe to go?" Lucas asked, making Margarita shake her head, trying to fix her dress as much as she could to cover her breasts, not that Lucas seemed to be looking.

Probably? It was hard to tell with his mask.

— Lucas —

Fuck, I was hoping they had a safe haven already picked out.

Told you they didn't~

Yeah, yeah.

Raven, kind and generous patron she is, has offered to grant me a demiplane to act as my sanctuary from which I can wage my war against the witch hunters.

For a cost, of course.

If they don't have a safe haven, I can't just leave them to be captured again. I didn't do all this, kill so many, to delay their fate by a week, a month even a years

Fine, what's the price?

I have two options for you, either you accept a much larger quest from me or you allow me to make some minor adjustments to your world and spice things up a little~

You mean make things harder for me?

You know I love it when you're nice and hard, but honestly no, not this time. This world is just a little boring and I think you'd enjoy the changes I'd make.

Why do you even need my permission?

The rules mean I can't alter your world without either yours or Gray's permission, I don't want to make things more difficult for you, just more fun.

In exchange for me making the show a little more interesting, I'll grant you a little slice of the Feywilds to call home, it even comes pre-furnished for you and your new refugees.

A secret sanctuary where the hunters can't reach, where only my Fey Roads ability will be able to open the path and allow people to enter or leave?

Glancing at the thirty or so mages, who I have noticed are entirely female as Aretuza is evidently an all girls magical school, I sigh before I pause.

"What if I choose both?" I ask, making Raven pause. I'm already in too deep at this point, why not just swan dive into the deep end?

The quest and the world changes?

Well, in that case I'll have to grant you some more power as well. But it'll be a massive quest, as long term as your current one.

I'll reward you as you make progress towards completing it.

Fuck it, make your changes and give me your quest.

You're fun.

My quest is simple, I dislike how the elves of their land are treated, elves are for fucking not killing. I want you to either foster cooperation between the elves and the other races, or make a place where they can be truly safe.

Dol Blathanna doesn't count, since Francesca Findabair is Nilfgaard's bitch, actually bonus points if you either kill her or free Dol Blathanna from Emhyr's grasp. Or just bend the uppity bitch over.

I have no idea who either of those people are, but I do know that Nilfgaard is invading the northern realms, so I can make an educated guess.

I'm just going to end up the defender of the downtrodden, apparently. Not exactly how I saw my second life going but whatever. You play with the hand you're dealt, not the hand you wish you had.

Saviour of Elvenkind

Objective: Stop the oppression of the Elven people

Reward: ???

[Beguiling Tongue - Lesser]

Through your pact with the Archfey, you've gained the natural charisma of a member of the fey court. Your words aren't supernatural exactly, but you'll find convincing others easier (especially when it comes to things your patron would approve of).

[Master of Myriad Forms]

Through your pact with the Archfey, you've gained the ability to shift your appearance, altering your body at will. You can also change to match any humanoid you've observed.

[Alluring Performance - Lesser]

Through your pact with the Archfey, you have gained an incredibly alluring voice and a powerful natural talent for singing and instruments. In addition, while performing you can attempt to charm either a single listener or the entire audience, making them more susceptible to your influence. This gives the targets no indication if it fails.

I'll even be kind and make it so that the Fey Roads won't lure people away when you're going to your sanctuary, aren't I just the kindest?

I'm awed by your generosity and beauty, Lady Raven, truly I am.

As you should be, now I have some work to do so have fun~

As a new location enters my mind, I turn back to Margarita, the clear leader of these mages. Most of them are around Morgana's age, though two of them are somewhat older, likely teachers instead of students.

"I have a sanctuary that the hunters won't be able to reach, it's far from perfect as I'm the only one capable of entering or leaving but it should do for now until we have a better plan," I offer, laying the cards on the table.

The reason I trust that Raven isn't going to mess with this is because it'd be interfering with my main quest from Lord Gray.

"Will it fit all of us?" Margarita asks, looking around at the gathering students.

An image of my new home flashes in my mind, making me smile beneath my mask, which I reach up and remove.

"It will, comfortably. I don't know about the long term, but at the very least you can use it to lay low, I doubt the hunters will take this lying down," I say simply, making her nod with a sigh.

"Indeed, and I doubt you saved us just to backstab us immediately afterwards," Margarita says with a small smile. "Are you from Novigrad?"

"No, I'm not a local. I was travelling, it was sheer dumb luck or perhaps fate that I stumbled across Morgana fleeing from the hunters," I admit, making her chuckle tiredly.

"Dumb luck can be more powerful than any magic, but I accept your offer, it's certainly not going to be safe around here, give me a moment to speak to my students," Margarita says, turning back to them.

I can sense genuine sorrow from her at the sight of the students who didn't survive the fight. I feel for her, but we were bound to lose some people.

I simply wasn't powerful enough to fight all the hunters myself, me and Morgana would have been killed if we tried.

This won't be the end of it, I need to get more powerful for the future, since somehow I think I'm going to get pulled into this war.

According to Morgana, King Radovid of Redania, the last northern kingdom left to fight off Nilfgaard, is the cause of all these witch hunts.

But if he is killed, and I've certainly considered it given what I've heard of him, Nilfgaard rolls over the land with ease and she doesn't think that would be much of an improvement. Nilfgaard evidently has a rather bad reputation amongst mages, as the emperor keeps them on a very short leash.

There's an intricate web of political manoeuvring that I don't understand in the slightest, a bunch of kings were killed just before the start of the war and it was blamed on sorceresses (which led to the witch hunts), and Nilfgaard invaded right after the realms were destabilised.

I'd put money on Nilfgaard playing a part in the assassinations, but I'm still missing several crucial pieces to this puzzle, and I don't like feeling out of my depth like this.

"We're ready, Lucas," Margarita says, getting my attention as I nod, moving over to a tree and opening up the path as her eyes widen slightly.

She's apparently a master of magic, so I have no doubt she's noticed that my powers aren't exactly normal.

"This way," I say simply, moving into the portal as Morgana follows behind, leading the group of mages through a much shorter path this time, with no whispers or attempts to lure us into the forest.

Stepping out at the other end, I pause as I see my sanctuary in the flesh for the first time, an elegant white castle built on an island in the middle of a lake, which is surrounded by high cliffs on three sides, beautiful waterfalls pouring down into the lake.

The only side that isn't surrounded by the high cliffs has waterfalls going down into a valley, and a white bridge leading over the water from the clearing we appeared in.

There are several other, smaller buildings, also made of brilliant white, and all I can think is 'Raven stole this architecture from Rivendell'.

My bemusement isn't shared by my guests, gasping and gossiping as they look around the admittedly beautiful and ethereal locale, sharing the violet skies and strange flora of the Feywilds.

"What is this place?" Margarita asks, her own voice catching slightly. She's not as awestruck as her students, but I can see her mind racing.

"Home, my sanctuary. You'll be safe here," I promise, getting the students' attention. "As for its name-"

Pausing, I realise I probably should have come up with a name on the way.

What's a good name for a magical sanctuary?

"Its name is Albion, and you are most welcome here," I say, stealing from Arthurian myths without a second of hesitation.

There will be troubles ahead, not least of which will be getting the supplies needed for three dozen women to survive since I don't think this place comes that well stocked, but for now these girls have earnt a moment's reprieve.

And damn it, so have I.

— Bonus Scene — Triss Merigold

Something had happened, and she had no idea if it was bad or good.

The hunters were always on the lookout for magic users, but today they seemed especially cruel and paranoid, she could see the fear they were trying to conceal.

From what she'd been able to pick up, they'd captured a large group of mages, but something had gone wrong and a bunch of hunters had died before the mages seemingly vanished.

She didn't care for the hunters' lives, but the increased alertness of the hunters was a problem, making getting around Novigrad much harder than usual, and it wasn't usually easy either.

If it wasn't for the King of Beggars' support, she and the other mages would have been caught already, and his support came at a very high price.

With him taking damn near everything she managed to scrounge together, she was no closer to being able to escape the country with her fellow mages than when she first arrived in Novigrad, hoping the free city was still a safe place for mages.

She knew the King of Beggars was doing it to keep her under his thumb, Francis enjoyed having powerful and desperate mages working for him, and by taking all of their earnings as 'protection fees' he could keep them under him.

They couldn't refuse, not trapped in Novigrad with so many hunters prowling the streets, but this stalemate couldn't last either.

Every time she left the grove the king 'ruled', she risked capture and she knew several of her fellow mages had already been grabbed.

To make things worse, the name being thrown around was Margarita, one of her sisters in the Lodge.

Radovid feared and hated magic, but it paled in comparison to his boiling hatred towards any member of the Lodge.

That Margarita apparently escaped was good of course, but Radovid would be incensed at this and his hunters would scour the area looking for her.

The only thing that would enrage him more would be Phillipa escaping, but nobody had seen Phillipa since the start of this mess.

Of course Phillipa had to hide from both Radovid and an enraged dragon, as Saskia (or Saesenthessis) had not taken kindly upon realising that Phillipa had been controlling her mind.

Dragons were prideful creatures, after all, and she had no idea where Saskia had gone after the fall of Vergen.

So she didn't blame Phillipa for laying so low, especially given the fact that Radovid had taken her eyes.

— Phillipa Eilhart —

…you had to be kidding.

Had she truly become so desperate that even a fool like Arthur de Vleester could trick and humiliate her like this?

Trapped in her own form, a dimeritium band wrapped around her leg, she scowled as heavily as she could in her avian form.

She knew Arthur was bitter about their past, but she hadn't expected him to betray her, frankly she didn't think he was brave enough to do so.

Now, trapped in this form and unable to use magic, she was at his mercy, and that, she found unacceptable.

She didn't know what he had planned for her, but she wasn't looking forward to finding out.