Michael’s Mana Blade cut into the side of his enemy, making the man scream and drop to the ground. Around them were three more men, all grunting in pain. Without dismissing the Blade, Michael touched the orb in front of him, making it turn blue. Then, he turned to look at the eyes of the men he had defeated. They were filled with hatred, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t affected by it. Instead, he was looking for something else. He spoke as if he were thinking out loud.

“I wonder. Does your leader place you in my path because he thinks you can actually stop me, or are you just cannon fodder?”

The men narrowed their eyes.

“Even though he knows you might die, he still orders you to guard the Flags near me.”

At the mention of death, the men’s expressions visibly changed. Michael smelled their uneasiness like a bloodhound. He didn’t say anything else. He merely walked away and disappeared under the cover of the giant mushrooms. As soon as he was out of sight, he moved as fast as possible to a vantage point he had identified beforehand. It allowed him to have a clear line of sight to the Flag. He was waiting for the recapture team to appear. In the meantime, he cast a Whisper. His target was Rose. She picked up.

“Michael?”

“Hey. I’m calling for an update. Did you manage to talk to the other teams?”

“Yes, but it’s hard to coordinate anything without a method of long-range communication, like the one you have. Our only parameter to check if the plan worked is the color of the pillars of light.”

Michael clicked his tongue. It was true. He had yet to find another Mage who had formed a Circle and become capable of learning Whisper. None had completed their Class Evolution and obtained Meditation, which would have helped. Forget about creating a Circle, they were still struggling with the Skills they had learned, though they had made remarkable progress over the few weeks of the Tutorial. Michael didn’t know what progress was supposed to be like for an ordinary Mage, but in his opinion, they were taking too long. At least one or two more people capable of casting Whisper were necessary to properly lead Bluestone Village’s teams. Currently, they were more than scattered, each doing their own thing and going after certain Flags out of their own volition.

He wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that several teams were targeting the same Flag, only to end up getting in the way of one another or meeting once they reached their destination. The way things were right now was counterproductive. Territory Wars wasn’t an event that took personal contributions into account; instead, the result of the whole Village’s efforts was considered. He tried to compensate for the lack of organized effort by going after Flags on his own, but he couldn’t defend every single one of them. This scenario wasn’t sustainable. He spoke.

“Keep trying to talk to other groups. I’ll do the same. Remember, our focus is Redglow Village.”

She replied.

“Sure, but why are you only going after Redglow Village? We could aim for others as well.”

“Feel free to do so, but I have my reasons to concentrate on Redglow Village. There’s something I need to do before anything else.”

“Alright. Your help would be appreciated if we find better-defended Flags, so check on us every now and then, since we have no way to contact you.”

“No problem. Talk to you later.”

The ethereal mouth closed. The “call” was over. At that moment, Michael saw movement in the shadows. A group of men came into view, illuminated by the mushrooms’ glow. The spell was quickly dismissed. There were eight of them, in addition to the four he had injured before. He started making his way out of his hiding spot. Once he stepped into the light, the group froze. Even the Healers stopped in their tracks for a couple of seconds, before focusing on helping the injured men, now in a hurried fashion. Their urgency disturbed their concentration, decreasing their healing abilities.

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At the same time, Michael grasped the hilt of a sword made of mana. This was the conclusion he had come to. It was better to utilize Mana Blade and his physical stats to fight against these people. There was no need or desire to kill every foe he encountered; many of the people in Derek’s group had been coerced into joining, like his friends. Killing indiscriminately could result in the death of innocents.

However, he had been having trouble adjusting the power of his spells and Skills. He had grown too much, too quickly. His stats were so high that even the weakest Mana Sphere was capable of cleanly destroying limbs or killing others. He had never realized how fragile humans truly were. As such, the best way to handle the fights would be to get into a melee and utilize his physical stats, which were lower.

I need to have a better grasp of my own power.

He silently made this promise to himself as he looked at the men struggling to get to their feet and into a fighting position. Two archers aimed at him, but they were quickly thrown off by a few sidesteps. Even though Michael’s physical stats were lower than his magical ones, that didn’t mean they were low when compared to other contestants. They were more than enough against warriors on their level.

A Mana Sphere was fired toward him. It was on the larger end of the ones he’d seen, but it didn’t matter. Michael swung his Blade once the Sphere entered his range. It was unceremoniously cut in half and disappeared. The mana that made up the Blade was much denser than the Sphere’s. With an unimpressed expression, Michael talked.

“How long are you going to keep following your leader? Can’t you tell that he sent you here to die?”

This was the second part of Michael’s strategy. The vast majority of Derek’s men fought for him not out of loyalty, but out of fear. The group’s influence and size pressured those outside of it and even those in it to stay in line and follow Derek’s orders. As he had realized before, many had also been coerced into joining. It meant that the organization wasn’t the kind that would fight him to the death in order to protect their leader. So long as they were more afraid of him than of Derek – or if he convinced them to betray the organization – everything would fall apart like a house of cards. He didn’t need to butcher everyone sent his way. Planting the seed of doubt and having it spread was enough.

A man stepped forward, unsheathing the dual swords at his waist. He spoke.

“To die? We have been sent here for the exact opposite. We,” he pointed one of the swords at Michael, “are here to kill you.”

Michael tilted his head, his eyes carrying a dangerous glint.

“And why would you do that? What do you fight for?”

The man went silent for a few seconds.

“I fight to survive. You aren’t the only threat to our lives.”

His words seemed to invigorate the rest of the group. Fighting spirit blazed in their eyes. They unsheathed their weapons, while the Mages started chanting.

“Perhaps. But, if you attack me now, I will be the most immediate one. If you try to kill me, I will kill you in return. Are you willing to stake your life in the here and now?”

The man gritted his teeth. Michael’s words seemed to be having a greater effect than he anticipated. Had this man heard about the crew that Michael had killed? He yelled.

“Then what the fuck am I supposed to do!? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!”

It was time for the finishing touch. Michael extended his hand to the twelve men.

“Join me.”

All of them froze. Their eyes depicted their disbelief. He continued.

“You don’t need to change Villages or lose out on any rewards. You don’t even need to do anything. Just hide and wait for everything to blow over. Do that, and once I’ve handled Derek, you will have opportunities to grow. Spread the word,” he thrust the Mana Blade into the ground, “That I am not a merciless animal.”

For a few seconds, all was still. It was clear that the group had no idea what to do. Eventually, with a clenched jaw, one of them bit the bullet.

“Fine.”

The others turned to him, startled. One of them hurriedly spoke.

“Hey! Remember what happened to John when he tried to leave! You-”

“I don’t care anymore! I’m not going to fight this monster for somebody else’s benefit!”

The man looked at Michael.

“What are your orders, boss?”

“I’m not your boss. Just think of me as an ally.”

Without hesitation, the man strode to Michael’s side. Michael kept his attention on him at all times, waiting to see if it was an ambush or a trick, but it seemed to be nothing of the sort. Once the man reached his side, he looked at the rest of the group. They were at a loss, looking at one another. Eventually, another man silently walked up to Michael and stood behind the first man.

In the end, nine out of the eleven men switched sides. The other two looked at them as if they had been betrayed, and started stepping back. Michael gave no time for them to react. He dashed at them and slashed at their legs, making them lose their footing. Their yelps of pain were drowned out by his orders.

“Capture them and take them to Bluestone Village.”

The others nodded, picking up the injured ones.

It was the start of his plan to destroy Derek’s organization from within.