A few hours ago.
"Excuse me, sir-" the guard who went to inspect the carriage found that Zack was not inside, finding only a deserted carriage. While he checked the magician's situation, his companion inspected the surroundings, looking for possible ambushes.
BAM
Only to be interrupted by the noise his partner made.
"What's going on?" the other guard asked as he ran to see what was happening.
"He´s not here"
"Hey? What do you mean? “Who is not here?” the guard asked confused. Seeing the empty interior of the carriage, he understood everything.
They both acquired serious expressions. If they do not handle this well, the consequences can be unthinkable.
They separated to look to see if any of the bandits had kidnapped him without being noticed.
"You found it?"
"No, and you?" They both searched the surroundings, but after a few minutes of searching, they did not find even the slightest trace.
“I'm going to activate my skill, protect me” one of the soldiers commanded his companion, who nodded without the slightest complaint.
After a few seconds in place with his eyes closed, he opened his eyes and looked in one direction.
"I got it. Come on" The two men ran out in search of the missing magician, leaving behind the open field full of bodies of the bandits who had perished in this place. Completely absent of living beings.
…
..
.
Seconds passed, and these turned into minutes. Suddenly, right in a corner of the battlefield, beneath the carriage that had been assaulted before, the ground began to move, and a figure emerged from the ground with difficulty.
…
While his escorts were chasing the bait he had placed, Zack left the field with calm steps, towards his next objective.
That´s right. From the beginning, everything was a trick. There was no teleportation spell, no great magic that would make him disappear.
First of all, if Zack could do those kinds of spells, he would have a tier 2 class at least. The space branch is one of the most complicated branches of magic. Even the easiest space spell is not something someone like him can learn.
The idea was very simple, since there was no way for Zack to get rid of his guards, they had to leave there of their own free will.
The plan was this: Zack needed something to distract the guards. It didn't matter what it was; an animal attack; a problem with the weather; or… an ambush by bandits. Among these, the last one was the most likely, so he prepared the rest of his plan, hoping that an ambush would take place. Fortunately, it was like that, otherwise, Zack would have been in serious trouble. There aren't many things that can distract his escorts with tier 2 classes, after all.
The next point of his plan was to hide. In the bandits' hunting ground, there are not many places where one can hide that are not occupied. Even if he could find such a place, a search of the surrounding area could get him discovered, so he needed a good hidden hiding place.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
When the bandits attacked them, Zack used spells to strengthen the guards and began bombarding the rear so they would focus on the front. After the bandits began to flee, Jack used a tier 1 earth spell: Pitfall, to make a hole large enough to enter. The noise of the other spells falling on the bandits not only made them scared, but also hid the noise of the earth moving to make the hole under the carriage. Once the hole was prepared, he just had to hide and cover the hole.
Under other circumstances, the guards would have noticed that the ground beneath the carriage had changed compared to how it was before. That was no longer possible. The multiple spells that Zack cast to scare away the bandits had left the terrain unrecognizable, so neither of them noticed.
The only thing left was to get them away from the place. From the moment they knocked on his door in the village, when he was using spells, Zack knew that the guards had a way of sensing his mana.
Zack understood that the people who would be escorting him would have ways to track him, and considering those people would be soldiers, the means they would have to know his location would be limited.
The tracking skill is not a typical skill of the knight class, the most predominant class in the castle. This skill is more common in hunters or scouts, so the skill can't be at a very high level.
Depending on the type of ability to track him, Zack would have to use certain techniques or others. He even went so far as to ask for an exaggerated amount of tea, at the house of the mayor of the town where they slept, to extract its components in case the tracking ability was through smell.
Fortunately for him, the tracking ability from his escorts was based on the ability to detect mana. When Zack realized this, he almost wanted to laugh.
The idea was good. If Zack tried to use a spell, the guards would detect him, making impossible for him to escape. Everyone knows that a wizard is useless if he can't use magic. Unfortunately, relying on your ability to detect mana in front of a mage is a joke. At least, one with enough knowledge to know how to avoid such detection.
The knowledge of how to hide from detection by other Mages is not basic, but it is well-established knowledge that any mage worth their salt should learn throughout their career. What Zack did was transfer his 'mana imprint' to the rabbit that he had transported in the carriage with him during the journey in the forest, while he, thanks to his preparations and the enchanted clothes that he prepared the night before, was able to evade the search of the guards and trick them of where he was.
Zack would love to see the look on the guards' faces when they find out that what they had been chasing was a simple rabbit. Unfortunately, there were more important things to do.
The measures he had taken until now were only temporary. The important thing now was to get far enough out of the detection range of the tracking skill and erase his traces in case someone specialized in tracking was brought in to search for him. And Zack was ready for it.
…
After half an hour walking, Zack arrived at his destination. In front of him, a huge river flowed constantly, and a variety of aquatic animals crossed its waters without being aware of where they were going.
In the entire route that Zack was going to take, from the capital to Stormblade City, there were only three places where he could make a successful escape: the forest of abundance, the valley of bandits, and the river that crosses both places. However, the first two are too dangerous, Zack doesn't know exactly what would happen to him if he made a successful escape in those places, so he only had the river left.
The river Zack is referring to does not have a specific name. The river begins in a mountain in one of the neighboring countries and crosses part of the northern domain of the kingdom of Parmece, approximately a third of the territory until it empties its contents into the sea. Along its route, the river divides into multiple flows at various points, crossing a considerable number of towns and cities, and serving as a source of water and food for a large part of its population.
Once Zack was in front of the river, several spells began to cover his body. Strengthening spells, temperature control spells, underwater breathing, and many others that Zack had practiced. All with the goal of helping him survive what he's going to do next.
Contrary to what you see in the movies, where everyone survives, falling into a river can be fatal. It doesn't matter if you are a child or an adult when you are in the water, the most important thing is to try to get out of it. Otherwise, if you let yourself be carried away by the current, you will most likely lose your life. And that's exactly what Zack is trying to do.
The only chance to truly escape the clutches of the kingdom is to make himself truly untraceable. With the means he currently has, letting himself be carried away by the current of the river while underwater and emerging at an undetermined point is his best option.
It would be a lie to say that upon observing the force with which the water moves, Zack did not think about backing down.
For a moment, he thought about looking for another less dangerous alternative, but that was not possible. He had gone too far, and he knew perfectly well what his fate would be if he were captured.
Still looking at the river, Zack took a deep breath and jumped forward with all his might.
Splash!