Rody raised his small bow with his left hand, giving a gentle wave to Jill, then placed a self-made poisoned wooden arrow on it, aiming at the jackal-man walking in the middle.
'Whoosh', the wooden arrow nailed into the neck of the burly jackal-man, unprotected. Years of hunting honed Rody's archery skills, making it easy to ambush a large, slowly moving target. Although Rody's magic and fighting energy were suppressed by the drug, his innate reflexes and intelligence were not sealed. His understanding of archery was on par with elves, who are natural archers. In multitasking, Rody could rapidly shoot different arrows at different targets, each arrow endowed with different magical properties.
The only regret was that Rody couldn't enchant the arrows himself; he had to rely on his dark servant to cast spells.
The burly jackal-man was paralyzed by Rody's poisoned arrow, stumbled, and fell to the ground, struggling in vain.
The surrounding jackal-men were taken aback, too slow to react. A high-speed spinning fireball came tearing through the air, blowing off half of the jackal-man archer's body, blood and sparks flying everywhere.
The jackal-men leader rolled on the ground to avoid the fireball's explosion.
Seeing a human soldier with a sword charging at his two fallen subordinates, the leader erupted in anger, howling and running on all fours, ready to tear the detestable human to pieces. Suddenly, a chill invaded its back, and before it could scream, its voice froze in its throat.
It watched as its body rapidly frosted over, extending to its arms, and saw its airborne body lose control and crash to the ground...
The two jackal-men soldiers, protected by wooden shields, were unharmed. Seeing Rody charging, they raised their shields, gripping their axes.
If this human swordsman couldn't break their wooden shields, they were confident of chopping him up under the barrage of their axes. The jackal-men soldiers were confident, as the human swordsman had no fighting aura, at most a three-star swordsman, not a threat.
Unfortunately, Rody suddenly stopped. He neither charged nor swung his sword.
Two black dots shot from the sky, silently crossing the jackal-men's throats. Only when blood sprayed out, staining their wooden shields red, did the jackal-men realize how they died, and by whose hand. Their simple minds couldn't fathom that a peculiar human, unable to cultivate fighting energy, could develop fighting energy and magic on his dark servant.
"What a cunning fellow..." the red-hatted dwarf watched, dumbfounded.
As a clever dwarf, observing the entire battle process, it could judge the strength of both sides. In terms of power, Rody and Jill were much stronger, but if they fought openly as knights, they might kill only two jackal-men. Once the enemy noticed the magician, they'd have to be extremely cautious of the enemy archers.
The red-hatted dwarf believed Rody and Jill could defeat the five jackal-men, but never expected the battle to end before it even began. The five jackal-men fell effortlessly under Rody's cunning strategy.
"Something's not right," Rody returned, not looking too pleased despite his victorious ambush, puzzling the red-hatted dwarf. Wasn't it time to boast? To praise his own martial prowess? To recite poetry and kneel respectfully before the princess, dedicating the victory to her?
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"What's wrong?" Jill asked softly, wiping the mud from Rody's face with a handkerchief.
"These jackal-men were well-trained soldiers, I saw demon symbols branded on their arms. Clearly, they're demon forces scattered around, at least demon mercenaries," Rody nodded. "It seems the demons have heavily infiltrated the Land of Evil. With demons ahead and pursuers behind, our return to Phyllick could be troublesome..."
"It doesn't matter, I'm not afraid of anything when I'm with Rody," Jill seemed unfazed, even enjoying these days.
"I guess I'm completely ignored," the red-hatted dwarf was about to make a long speech when it noticed a flash of fire in the distance. It quickly lay down, urgently signaling Rody and Jill to hide. "Quick, hide! There are fire spirits, and it would be terrible if they discovered us!"
"What are fire spirits?" Rody looked in the direction pointed by the red-hatted dwarf, seeing two bizarre creatures floating in mid-air.
They resembled small dwarves but without hats.
Moreover, their bodies were ablaze, floating forward on the heat of these flames. Rody was slightly taken aback; he remembered seeing such flame-covered creatures in books from Father Cedro's shelf, but none matched these 'fire spirits' that resembled small dwarves. Were these unknown demonic creatures or recent demonic sacrifices?
Could these flame-covered small dwarves become his dark servants?
If he could add these blazing flames to Nicholas, Marcus, and Emma, their combat abilities would undoubtedly increase significantly.
Rody asked the red-hatted dwarf in a low voice, pointing at the two flaming dwarves, "Are these former dwarves? Did the Flame Lord transform them into this?"
"How did you guess?" The red-hatted dwarf was now thoroughly impressed by Rody's unmatched intellect. Just hearing the name of the Flame Lord from Chief Horned Helmet, he dared to make such a bold guess. Such a sharp mind was unparalleled among humans.
"Even though their bodies are transformed, some habits never change," Rody said calmly. "You dwarves like to laugh, and you laugh quite distinctively."
"Is that so?" Jill looked at the red-hatted dwarf in surprise. "I didn't notice until you mentioned it, but now that you say it, it seems true."
"There used to be a magic of 'laughing' known to both dwarves and fairies that could reduce hostility and increase friendliness when they smiled. Unfortunately, our tribe's magic is lost, only fairies have preserved it," the red-hatted dwarf said with a hint of regret.
"Jill, let's go back and inform Chief Horned Helmet, then leave this place quickly," Rody felt it was unwise to stay longer.
"I also have a bad feeling, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I just feel really sad," Jill murmured in a voice as soft as a mosquito's. When Rody looked at her, she smiled and shook her head, "Maybe it's just an illusion. I often have these inexplicable feelings. Don't worry too much about it. I think we might be rescued soon. Aunt Pajie can find me through the life gem, but maybe she hasn't come because we're too far away."
Worried about encountering fire spirits on the road ahead, the red-hatted dwarf led Rody and Jill in a wide detour towards the dwarf territory.
Passing a barren stone mountain, Rody was surprised to find fire spirits on the rocky cliffs. Though unsure if the Flame Lord was hiding in this mountain, Rody really wanted to capture a fire spirit to see how it was transformed by the Flame Lord, what enchantment method was used to attach the flames to their bodies.
Concerned for Jill's safety, Rody suppressed his desire.
Back in dwarf territory, Jill seemed to understand what was on his mind and suddenly said to Rody, "If you really want to go, then go! I'll wait here for you to come back! But remember to come back early, don't make me worry!"
"No, there will be other opportunities," Rody shook his head. How could he explain to the beautiful tutor if something happened due to his absence?
"It's okay, I feel very safe, no ominous feelings." Jill lowered her head, whispering softly, "I... I'm worried, actually, I'm worried about you."
"Then wait for me here, don't leave even for a step," Rody looked at the sky and said, "It's afternoon now. I promise, I'll be back before sunset, no matter what, I will come back! If there are enemies, find a place to hide, completely block the life aura emitted by your body, and use the storage space to absorb the heat emitted."
"I'll be very safe, don't worry," Jill lifted her small face, giving him a shy smile.
Watching Rody disappear from her sight, Jill stood at the window, still reluctantly gazing in that direction. She quietly thought, when Rody's mother bid him farewell, did she worry about him like herself? Did she, like Jill, want to keep him by her side forever, yet also wish for him to freely chase his dreams?
Perhaps she felt the same way as Jill at this moment...
Waiting quietly for him, isn't that also a kind of happiness?
All afternoon, Jill stood outside the window, hoping the sun would set early so she could see his figure rushing back in the sunset's afterglow.
What would he say to her when he returned? Lost in thought, Jill's little face showed a trace of sweetness. Suddenly, in the sky, someone cried out in shock and joy, then swiftly descended like lightning.
"Aunt Pajie, is that you?" Jill heard the voice, leaping up in joy. But when she ran out to see, she almost wanted to cry.
The beautiful tutor Margaret, in her snow-white mage robe, was stained with blood, and her half-face was speckled with blood. But when she saw Jill, she immediately smiled, rushed over, hugged Jill, kissed her fiercely, and happily said, "Thank goodness, my little darling is safe and sound! Where's that rascal Rody? It seems I need to commend him!"