I woke up to a conversation happening between Captain Eleron and a ghost? The man's figure was blue and hazy, like a hologram without the extra light. He had a long white beard and a set of very mischievous eyes that matched his current grin.

"-is affinity is incredibly high. You already checked him over yourself "

"I dare say I haven't checked enough. Why was his crotch missing it's most important instrument?" The ghost spoke and hid voice was rich and jovial.

"Stop that you pervert. Why the hell did you project yourself all the way out here?"

"You told me an impressive specimen was here. You said he grew....what was it? 5feet taller? You cut off his dick before I could even gauge how much body strengthening could make one grow. Tell me you left one of the new auguments intact?"

"THIS FUCKING GEEZER! Get the hell out. Right now. You redacted redacted redacted redacted redacted"

I never heard Captain Eleron cuss so much. I even added a few to my growing dictionary.

"Calm down Eleron, I still outrank y-"

"Nedes, please accept this sacrifice. He may be old but he is full of spirit"

"Are you trying to get me killed you bastard!!"

I burst out laughing. I couldn't help myself.

"Oh, my new best friend is awake. Eleron was such a spoilsport, he won't be missed."

"Good riddance. We were just discussing how to get your heart healed. If your affinity for the Arcane wasn't so high, I'd have sent you to the embrace of Nedes once more."

I was shocked and grateful. My well being hadn't even crossed my mind throughout their interaction partly due to my concussion and partly due to how absurd their interaction was.

How and why the hell could a mage hit so hard?

"Your little stunt nearly endangered the rest of your platoon. Due to the grace of our Commanding General. You have been spared"

General Agnus??? The human powerhouse that merged both majik and arcane text , taking them both to a never before seen level of cohesion and power. That General?

All of a sudden, I sensed a pressure from the ghost like figure I never felt before. I could see the densely packed mana in his projection.

Mana wasn't supposed to be solid like that.

"Good friend. I'll be able to help your little geart problem by calling in a favor from the phoenix clan, but what can I do? It's such a waste to use it on just a few drops of their blood. What can you do for me good friend?"

"Anything. I'm willing to do anything " I blurted out without a second thought.

Captain Eleron looked at me with pity in his eyes. Thought felt whatever it was would be worth it.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Become my lab rat" Agnus said while stroking his absurd goatee.

"What??"

"Let me run tests on you"

I did not like where this was heading one bit. Not one bit.

"I think I'll-"

"I'll get your balls back"

"This servant. Nay. This humble lab rat greets the great general!" My back was bent at a perfect 90 degree angle. The ultimate bow.

"He he. I knew I'd prefer you to that grumpy little shit."

"Yes yes. I'm grumpy. Now get out" Captain Eleron said in exasperation.

"I sense something."

"What is-"

"Order your men to move now!!! Head north. The new defense line is ready. I won't make it to you in time!"

I got up and gathered my squad. I was aboit to order them to carry their packs but General Agnus shot that down real quick.

"The fuck are you doing? Leave everything! Leave the injured! Carry only those that can run! That crazy bitch is sending them all this way!"

My sweat turned cold.

"Malcom. How long can you keep your air spell going?"

"Indefinitely, as long as I don't strain it. Why?"

"Hovercraft"

He got it immediately.

My men carried as many of the wounded they could while Malcom joined a few tents together and used their supports to form two hollow cylinders.

He came up with that idea diring the captain training. He, Gabriel and Cynthia, from a different group, thoight of different ways they could apply their abilities in various situations. Mobility was one of their greatest concerns. So far, everyone they saw had only ever walked from one place to another. There were no means of transportation, not even horses.

So they came up with the "hovercraft". Just join strong leathers together to trap the air, give ot a few supports and a skirt and you get a Hovercraft with Malcom as it's engine.

We could only accomodate a few of the less critically injured and pretty much priotized those under captain Elerons command, including the mage himself.

With Captain Eleron strengthening the construct, Malcom could let loose with his insanely high wind affinity and perfect pattern.

There was one small caveat. I was too heavy to get on, and we were the only ones left at the camp. The others, including our magnanimous captain Brutus, broke off into a sprint ages ago.

On a lighter note, Captain Eleron cast gravity magic on the less severely injured soldiers and tethered them to the craft. That way we were able to carry all the critically injured atop the craft.

Why didn't captain Eleron cast gravity magick on me? Well it was because I still weighed half a ton with it. The heavier the object, the more mana he had to pour into it. I weighed a literal ton with my armor on and Eleron hardly practiced Gravity magick at all. I could abandon my armor and be able to fit, but that would be incredibly foolish. If I wasn't the loteral tank I am, many would die.

Gabriels fogure flashed in my mind amd guilt tore through me once more.

Fuck. I signalled to Malcom and he started pouring his energy through his wind pattern. The crude construct lifted itself with the counter flow and stabilized. With one hand pointed down into the small gap on the craft and the other pointed backwards, the thing lurched forward with incredible speed.

The sudden lurch forward nearly threw everyone off, but captain Eleron and rest of the mages had formed a barrier around it.

It was pretty fast and before i knew it, it was a dot in the distance.

I cracked my hands and stretched a little. I couldn't wait to try out my new strength pattern. It was now fully combined.

The muscles im my legs bulged and I could hear my grieves reform around. I crouched down and poured more even energy into my legs and released all the tension in one powerful leap.

It took me about 10minutes to catch up with the others. I could keep up with them at a moderate sprint. I was aware Malcom was slowing down for me otherwise I wouldn't have caught up to them till much later.

On their short trip, they already caught up with the slowest groups and captain Eleron added a few more Soldiers to his growing human cloud.

I urged Malcom to increase his pace so we would be behind friendly walls before night fell.

He obliged and I had to pick up the pace with quick and short leaps.

Malcom watched me with amusement and increased his speed even more. I was now bounding around and creating small craters where my feet touched the ground.

He nearly doubled over and started callimg me the incredible bulk. I couldn't even try to be offended. I'll get that little shit later. Right now, all that was on my mind was survival.