I quickly sidestepped, allowing the short spear that my attacker wanted to impale me - miss. This situation had continued for almost an entire minute, with him attacking and me avoiding the spear while retreating. I could not be sure if it was because of skills or simply because of the guy being inexperienced, but his attacks were extremely easy to read, and so, I probably would be able to continue like this all night.
Using the small respite from before, before he was ordered to kill me, I had used 'Life Radar' and confirmed that the other guard that had not been so asleep was moving towards where the main fighting was.
This meant that except for my attacker and Gunthard there were no baddies around. Rolf was hidden until the wagon with the VIP, and Gunthard was almost near it, which meant that shortly the two will meet. As for Wilfried, I was more or less sure that he was planning to attack Gunthard from the back.
"So none of them are planning to help me, huh?" I thought while forced to quickly walk a few steps back, breaking the distance again. "Even if I can continue this for a long time, it's not a good idea. Noone can be sure of not tripping with something in the worst moment, can one?" I proceeded to ask myself such a question and found that it was indeed logical.
Still, what could, and what I should do? I took another glance at my opponent, this time with 'Status Screen' mode on, and confirmed that all of his skills were of average or less.
"Screw it, I surpass him in every stat and skill, so what I am hesitating about?" Angrily asking myself while comparing the numbers, almost as in D&D, I decided to act.
*Swoosh*
The iron speartip cut through the air, but this time I concentrated on its movement, sidestepping only a few centimeters. And as the speartip missed my stomach, or whatever the guy was aiming for, I grabbed the pole with my left hand.
My opponent had been using the spear in one hand, trying to improve his reach by holding it by the lower third, and so as I grabbed the spear just a pair of centimeters below the tip, there was still about a meter between us.
He immediately tried to pull it back, but not only our strengths were different, but the wider tip prevented my hand from slipping off.
The guy suddenly shook his head and in place of trying to pull the spear away from me, pushed it with all his strength, while his left hand darted towards his belt.
The upper part of the pole was made of polished wood, without the clothed grip in the middle that prevented the guy's hand from slipping as the tip did to mine, and so the spear began slowly moving.
His left hand had reached for a dagger, and I supposed he planned to just reach me and use it.
"I will send you to the wheel!"
Oh yeah, I was right. Regretfully for the guy, I wasn't planning on dying tonight.
I may be not a great fighter, no I was probably a bad one, but my opponent wasn't better than the old me on earth, and so he simply did not consider that I will simply allow him to advance a couple of steps, bring him 50 cm in and then kick with all my strength.
Initially, I was aiming for his leg, but the guy had spread them to make a lunge with the dagger...
"AHHHHHH" And so received it to his male pride, probably the only pride such lowlifes could be said to have.
As he let go of the spear and began slowly crouching, I immediately used it as a stick and with a small swing landed it on his shoulder. Then his head, and continued without aiming when he fell to the ground.
*Crack*
I only stopped when the wooden pole broke in half.
"Is he even alive?" I murmured with a slight shock of being not stressed about the fact I just probably beat a guy to his death, but of the simple fact that I did not know.
But a few light groans and whimpers, almost like the ones from a beaten dog confirmed that I did not kill him.
***
For good measure, I gave the downed guard a few kicks until he stopped making sounds and then decided to be safe and tie him up. But my rope was in the bag inside the wagon, so I had no other option but to go on my knees, take the guy's belt from him, and practically on feel, as the previously enormous fire had been slowly beginning to die out tie two of his arms behind him.
I ignored that one was bent in a strange angle, considering it my imagination, and then began to listen to the surroundings.
In my 'escape', I had moved about forty meters from the girls' wagon and a few minutes had passed, so why I did not hear anything from that direction? Were not Wilfried and Rolf there to block Gunthard?
Without losing more time, I got up and ran towards the covered wagons.
"Lindar! You okay?" Wilfried's voice stopped me in my tracks, and I looked down, only to see him poking from below the wagon where the girls were.
"Yes, albeit the other guy isn't. What about you? What happened? Where is Gunthard?"
"Stop, stop. I was about to go look for you, but it's good that you solved it by yourself. As for us, we did not fight, Gunthard suddenly darted away, and we didn't follow as to not reveal ourselves"
"Let me try to locate him"
"Please do" Wilfried said while crawling out and standing up.
Life Radar confirmed his words, as one dot, the one that I supposed to be Gunthard was quickly making his way to the east. He had already passed the well and probably was running, as, during the 15 seconds of the spell, his dot moved by a good chunk of distance.
"Strange, why is he running?"
"Where to?"
"To the east, past the well, probably to where all the attackers came"
"And what about Commander? And Boss?"
"I can not sense them"
"Did they move North?"
"It was so before, but I can not say"
As I explained, I wondered why the hell did Reuben and the others move away?
"There are four in one of the tents there, should we just go and ask?" I proposed.
"Huh? They left the drivers behind? I will go ask, you stay here" Wilfried decided, but before going towards the camp he first moved closer to Rolf's spot and asked him to stay here in case someone attempted to attack the wagon.
_______
Wait, something is off in the entire situation.
If the target was the VIP inside the wagon, why did the attackers attack Reuben and the others' camp? Why not rush at the wagon directly?
If they were meant to distract the main fighters while others did the job, why did the six reinforcements did not try after the wagon while Gris and Azar, the main damagers were occupied? Why continue fighting and moving towards the north?
Why did Gunthard shout about going after the VIP and then suddenly dart from the field?
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
And why the hell did the other guard, the one that 'woke' up along him and the one I downed ran towards where Gris and the others were fighting? To assist? How much could he do? Especially with the main target being here?
No, no. This can not be right!
But let's suppose everything is going as it is on a plan... What could such a plan entail?
_______
"Wilfried, stop!"
"Huh?"
"We are about to be attacked in serious"
"What?!"
"Just think about it, why the hell would Gris and the others leave the camp? They are being drawn out so Azar, the only mage they know about does not sense the approach of the true attack!"
"Fuck" Wilfried had no other reaction as I rushedly explained my conclusions.
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
"Young man, you have a good head on your shoulders. But you probably need to learn to be calmer, and less clamorous when presenting your reflections. After all, with such outcries, not only your allies will hear you, but even the enemy will" A deep baritone voice from behind said.
"Who?" Both me and Wilfried turned around in alarm.
"But you don't have to be concerned about that right now, as I am not an enemy" The speaker stood in the opening of the 2nd wagon.
"Lord!" Wilfried went to one knee immediately, and albeit I wasn't even in the know, I decided to show at least some kind of respect and lowered my head.
"Don't bother about pleasantries. I heard everything. Your name is Wilfried, right? Take your companion, the one somewhere beneath me, and go help that lassie, Gris"
"But..."
"That's an order. The young man near you was correct in his assumptions, and I think that two guards will not be of any significance against anyone who is targeting me. While if you help Gris and that chatterbox mage - they could be valuable" The man, whose face or even build I could not make out because of the shadows spoke coldly, but slightly relaxed by the last phrase.
"At your command! Rolf! Let's go"
And in less than an instant both Guild guards had left the scene. Or should I say practically flew from it?
"Now you... Ask the lassies to come out and dash towards where the animals are. They should be safer there"
"Yes... Sir" Somehow the sir came out almost by instinct. I could only wonder who was this man, or why he was referred to as Lord by Wilfried, but I did not doubt that he was someone important. Each of his words was akin to a command!
"Kierra, Angelique? Come out, quickly" I knocked on the wall of their wagon, and a moment later I heard the sound of something inside being moved. They had barricaded themselves indeed.
Thankfully as they left they did not ask anything, probably being scared of all that was going on. They just followed what they were told, and I felt remorse about not having stood firm and forbidden them from following me. If I did, they would not be in such a dangerous situation!
"How many activations of Life Radar you can manage?" The man asked as soon as the girls left. "Fuck, don't do that!" Albeit I wanted to shout that, I only turned around, only to find that the man had moved and was now standing behind me.
"Six" I decided to keep a single point for myself. Hell knows for what I could use it, but I did not want to be unable to use any spell, however ineffective they were for a fight.
"Then use it every twenty breaths. As soon as you verify the approach of anything, depart"
Probably my intention to ask something like "And what about you?" was easily readable, as the man, who I now saw grinned
"And I will stay here and meet my so-called assassins. Don't think much of it, all of this trouble is my responsibility after all. Just focus on keeping that two lassies, whatever they are for you - away from what will ensue here"
----------------------------------------
He looked about 45 years old and was dressed in what I assumed to be luxurious battle clothes. A white shirt that looked like silk below a steel breastplate and black pants tucked into leather boots with small metal plates on them. A hilt with a short sword hung on his belt, and albeit I could not discern any details, I suppose both were also richly decorated.
Still, what I was more interested in was his stats...
NAME & TYPE LEVEL (NOTE: Hiding anything below 15!) Kingdom of Neverc, Count (Title-Noble) - Strenght 19 Body 20 Agility 18 Education (Social) 24 Negotiation (Economics) 18 Economics (Economics) 21 State (Economics?) 22 Mapping (Adventuring) 18 Slashing (Martial) 22 Quick (Martial) 24 Spellsense (Martial?) 16 Leadership (Special) 20 Command (Special) 20 Planning (Special) 23 Warfare (Special?) 18 Investigation (Talent/Trait) - Logic (Talent/Trait) -
And these are only the ones above 15!
Sepyre's holy... (Can not find anything to use here, I have to find something better than what I used before after all).
What did happen for him to even leave his mansion or whatever he had, and travel to Churg? Not to mention traveling in a wagon without even leaving during the day?
Note: Find out what are 'State', 'Spellsense', and 'Warfare'. Skills I have never seen or read about.
----------------------------------------
The man took my long gaze as something normal, probably stemming from curiosity.
And indeed, his next words confirmed it.
"Young man, albeit I value your tact for not trying to use 'Analyze' on me, your curiosity is almost palpable. Usually, I would believe it insolence, but from what I infer, you honestly have no idea who am I, do you?"
"No, sir"
"I believe introducing myself would bring you more harm than good at this moment, so let's just consider me a noble traveling incognito"
"Understood"
"Now, about that spellcasting?"
"Life Radar" I immediately followed with the spell, but nothing had changed from the previous scan. Which I made known by shaking my head.
"Strange, I would have assumed that they would rush here with haste" As he spoke, one of his hands went to his face and he massaged his temples in a tired (thinking?) gesture.
"Sir, I am sorry, but... could not they first go around and make sure that Gris and Azar, the main combatants are dealt with? Before coming for you?"
"Hmm? That is feasible, but only if they still regard me to be in the dark. Which is inconceivable if they are targetting me"
His words were reasonable, but a thought flashed in my mind, and I voiced it right away
"And what if they do not know about Sir's identity? What if they are just targetting a noble?"
"Hoh, a very interesting theory. And one that may turn out accurate" The last words were said in a lower voice, and it was practically visible how his mind was working, as he calculated the possibilities for what I had just said.
"Catch" Suddenly, and with no notice, he threw me a small satchel that he produced from below the breastplate.
Thankfully Sepyre's upgrades and accelerated training had left me with far better reflexes than I could have expected, and I caught the satchel, which was surprisingly heavy.
"Inside you will find an 'Overload Orb', retain it in your hand and trigger 'Life Radar'. Be prepared for it to be challenging" He did not explain much, simply stating what I had to do.
But it was not like he wanted to hurt me, was it? If he wanted, he could probably kill me with a simple slash, and so I proceeded to follow on his words.
The 'Overload Orb' as he called it, turned out to be a small, not more than five centimeters diameter crystal. It appeared transparent, but my mana sense went crazy from the emanations coming from it as soon as I took it out of the satchel.
He wasn't lying about activating the spell being more difficult. If normally I just thought about the spell function and said the respective name, this time thinking about the spell felt like trying to recall something that I had long forgotten.
Still, it wasn't like I had, but more like it was hard to connect the words and the thought? I still can not truly explain what or how it was difficult, but the fact that it took me almost a minute to use a spell I was accustomed to using all the time, was there.
"Life" I took a breath before completing the spell name, the basic manner of activation learned from Sepyre's books
"Radar"
And almost cried in surprise, as in place of my kilometer and something (I should have gained a level or two, shouldn't I?), the 'map' that appeared in my mind was easily ten times the size.
"Do not allow your mind to drift, center on the north and the east from here"
"Yes, sir!"
"What do you see?"
"Fourteen to the north, and five more to the northeast" I concentrated and reported. As the spell duration ran out, I was sure that this time, my guess was right.
"The five, probably Gunthard and four more are moving towards Gris and the rest!" I almost shouted, and for some reason decided that I had to go there. To do what? Who knows, but I had to.
"Wait, do not rush. We will proceed there, merely I need you to do something first"
"Sir?"
"How advanced is your 'Storage' spell?"
"...Very" I could not entirely lie, but neither I could just come out and say that I probably had the biggest, meanest, and coolest 100/100 storage, could I? Not to forget that I did not require to spend mana because I had 'Inventory'.
"Can you store a wagon?"
"Yes" I nodded
"That means something past the 20th level, not shoddy"
"Sir wants me to store the wagon?"
"Yes, neither I nor the contents can fall into anyone's hands. Whereas I can defend myself, the wagon binds me here"
"Got it" I approached the wagon and for the first time, used 'Storage'. Albeit I had my inventory, the Storage spell still existed, and so...
If not for the situation, and having no public, I would have probably said something like "Do you see the wagon? Abra Kadabra... Now you don't!"