Chilled to the bone from the phenomenon caused by my frozen mana core after casting Draining Touch twice, I quickly learned how disadvantageous being colorblind was while holding two potions. The vials were identical, leaving me clueless as to which one healed and which replenished mana. Realistically, they could be one of the same.
Looking ahead, I let out a sigh, left wondering if I should continue going north. Luckily, the men that came to capture me brought more than enough supplies for me to loot. Firstly, I changed into comfortable clothes that fit me better than the tunic I gave Anna, and secondly, they had plenty of weapons from which to choose. Sheathing a dagger in my new belt, which had a small pouch stocked up on a handful of potions, and holding a sword in hand, I was ready to depart as soon as I figured out what to drink to ease the cold.
Seeing how a potion could come in clutch when it comes to surviving, I decided against drinking one that might yield no benefit. Instead, I relied on my ability to absorb mana from the atmosphere, which I learned to do by observing Fane using Mana Sense. But after trying it myself, it was easy to understand why he meditated to replenish his mana.
Raw mana outside our cores was grueling to control, requiring that we are aware of it at all times. However, seeing it floating around made it considerably less challenging; my ability to sense mana allowed me to feel the particles within a certain radius that I could then draw in. It took a bit of practice, but after a week of wandering around the forest aimlessly while munching on the harvested berries, I got used to it. At first, I could hardly take a step before losing control, but now even a light jog didn’t stop me.
Replenishing mana wasn’t the only thing I practiced. Mana Sense improved after continuous use, allowing me to sense everything around me, even with closed eyes. And seeing how important it was for me to circulate mana through my body, it was only natural to keep training exuding it.
Spending so much time alone was weird for me, but it sure beats having to be imprisoned in a cell. With no one around, there was lots of time to think about everything, allowing me to be as goofy as I wanted with magic that made me faster. If anyone saw me jumping around like a monkey or racing myself from one tree to another, I would’ve died from embarrassment.
I couldn’t even imagine the look on my parent's faces when they found out I could use magic, especially Eliot’s. I bet they’d be perplexed. However, if Penelope helped me, I could finally make Ellie smile whenever I wished. Perhaps I was getting ahead of myself, considering there was a long way to go before I reached home. Still, it was fun to imagine silly things such as what gift I could bring to Penelope on my way back. If I managed to preserve the potions, selling them would earn me enough to buy her a necklace. Hopefully, it makes up for the fact that I missed her birthday.
I awkwardly laughed at the idea of her being angry.
“What’s this?” I asked out loud as if someone was listening after noticing something strange.
What stopped me was a tree that appeared to be charred, as if something blasted it with fire that instantly extinguished. Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to reach home without further incidents, but my curiosity got the better of me. After a more thorough inspection, I noticed clear signs of fighting, including drops of blood and footsteps belonging to at least eight to ten people.
Despite going on various hunts with my family during political gatherings, I’ve never been too good at it, but trailing such obvious tracks certainly wasn’t what I’d call difficult. I wondered how far they were, never expecting to get an answer so quickly as a thunderous blast echoed throughout the forest. They weren’t far, and if I ran, there was a chance I’d catch the action, so I did. While it may have seemed foolish to do so, there was a possibility they could’ve helped me return home, and on the off chance that they were from the Shadow Syndicate, I could help introduce them to death. It took me less time than I expected to get close enough for the blasts to become loud enough to warrant slowing down and hiding from plain sight. However, when I finally arrived, I was surprised to see a dozen men surrounding a lone female elf wielding a rapier in one hand, barely able to stand on her feet.
“You idiots! She’s exhausted. Capture her,” yelled a middle-aged man wearing robes, extending his hands toward her. Fiery mana circled him as a large transmutation circle appeared out of thin air, forming three rays of fire. “Fire Spears!”
“Elemental shield!” she yelled, blocking the projectiles with a shimmering yellow barrier that deflected the flaming spears into nearby trees, charring them like the one I found.
Despite being exhausted and swarmed by enemies, the elven girl danced around them like children, parrying their strikes and retaliating. However, she seemed to be running low on mana, and her attacks weren’t deep enough to maim or kill her opponents. Observing from a distance, it was apparent by the lack of injured or dead opponents that she was either ambushed or attacked after already being tired.
“Flaming Barrage!” the robed man yelled, lifting his hands and forcing a large cluster of fire particles to gather, forming a massive transmutation circle in the air.
There was no doubt about it being a more powerful spell that took time to prepare, which is why his allies encircled him, protecting him while a few still engaged in a melee. She looked desperate to stop the casting, and for a moment, I wanted to step in; however, the odds of us coming out on top were low, considering she was on the brink of collapsing. Luckily, they appeared willing to capture her, which allowed me to wait before meddling.
She failed to stop the casting, resulting in a massive barrage of fire arrows dropping from the sky, and in a desperate attempt to save herself, she futilely recast the shielding spell but was blasted away from where she stood. Despite all that, she still tried getting up, covered in dirt and cuts; however, her body couldn’t follow as she collapsed to her knees before falling face first to the ground. The bastards hunting her sighed in relief upon her defeat, swarming her within seconds to restrain her arms and legs.
Based on clothes alone, I knew they didn’t belong to the Shadow Syndicate. It was likely that they were slavers belonging to a guild that commonly ventured out into Elven forests to hunt for prey. Apart from Eleron, elves sold for quite the price, sometimes ranging within tens of thousands of gold.
“Let’s take her to camp,” said another man who appeared like the captain.
“I thought you said this would be an easy mission!” yelled the robed man.
“Calm down. We caught a rare one,” the captain argued.
“Yes, but that’s because my magic was strong enough to defeat her. Had she not been a first circle mage, we’d likely all be dead now.”
“Calm down!” he yelled angrily. “This is why I hate newbies.”
“The boss is right,” said another slaver with a lecherous gaze and a wicked smirk. “She’s a fine piece of ass. Mind if we have a go at her first before selling her? Nobody has to know.”
“Hands off,” the captain commanded. “We’ll talk once we’re back in camp. This place gives me the chills. It’s as if someone’s watching me.”
I’ll admit, his senses were sharp, but I was confident I could tail them unnoticed. It was finally time for me to go on a hunt.
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Sitting atop a tree in the middle of the night, I observed their camp lit by a small bonfire, like a predator waiting for its prey to fall asleep. They couldn’t risk having light attract unwanted attention as monstrosities lurked around the Beast Lands, so instead, they relied on a smaller fence and bell strings to warn them of trouble. While such simple tactics worked wonders against beasts with lower intelligence, it did naught against me, who could see them even with my eyes closed.
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There were more of them waiting by the camp as they took the girl westward, a few hours away from where they fought. However, the extra five or so men made no difference as it appeared none of them, apart from the robed man, possessed a mana core. While it might’ve not seemed like it, mages were rare, and even rarer were those with a talent for it. I wouldn’t’ve been surprised to learn that there were less than a thousand mages in Eleron and maybe a few hundred who ever surpassed the third circle.
With my prey scouted, all I had to do was wait for the perfect opportunity, which finally showed itself as midnight arrived. Most of the enemies I had to deal with were asleep already, leaving only three lookouts spread around the camp.
With a wicked grin, I lowered myself and exhaled deeply, allowing mana to pass through me. Magic allowed me to move faster than most humans, making it difficult to defend without magic against my attacks unless they were on par with swordmasters. I felt like I had become one with the shadows, darting around with a dagger at the ready, aiming to deliver a killing blow on the nearest sentry. With the bell strings outlined, avoiding and leaping over them was a piece of cake, allowing me to sneak up on the clueless man who soon found himself laying in a pool of blood after I slit his throat from behind while covering his mouth as to avoid unnecessary screams. Now that the camp’s flank was exposed, I waltzed right in with a clear goal in mind.
Sneakily maneuvering around the camp to avoid being seen, I noticed someone slowly leave their tent. Yawning deeply, a man walked out with nothing but a tunic and some light pants, looking exhausted from a long day of travel. While probably looking to take a piss, he unluckily chose to go straight toward the dead body, marking himself as my next target.
Taking a deep breath, I shut my eyes and focused on my surroundings while waiting for him to come around the corner. Mana Sense was hard to explain as it allowed me to sense everything within a dozen-meter radius that wasn’t behind total cover. Carelessly walking through the camp, foolishly caught in the illusion of safety, the man walked right into a fatal trap as I grabbed him from behind in a choke that snuffed his life within seconds, after which I dragged him in between two tents.
Taking deep breaths made mana circulation easier as it enhanced my focus and calmed me down. It was the perfect method for someone as inexperienced as me until I had a chance to learn from a teacher. However, I still needed a lot of practice to avoid wasting excessive amounts of mana when my supply was so low, meaning that I couldn’t prolong my fights past a few minutes and even less if I cast Draining Touch.
Many would’ve used the opportunity to sneak into the tents and slit the throats of those asleep, but all it took was one mistake to make it a brawl. My plan was much simpler and entailed gaining every advantage possible.
“I swear to god I hate night watch,” said one of the sentries that wandered around, mumbling to himself.
Considering he was wide awake, there was a good chance that a silent takedown was improbable, but now that I was close enough to execute my plan, it didn’t matter. Grabbing a bucket of water resting by one of the tents near the campfire, I rushed into his full view.
“Hey! Who’re you?” he yelled loudly, alerting the others.
However, it was too late as I unloaded the water onto the fire, engulfing us in darkness thanks to the trees blocking the moonlight. Panicked, the guard unsheathed his weapon and swung around aimlessly, utterly helpless against my quick draw that decapitated him, as I finally switched to using a sword.
Chaos ran amidst the camp as countless men rushed out to greet the intruder; however, they found themselves ruthlessly being cut down one by one instead.
“He’s over here!” some of them yelled, cluelessly spouting nonsense as they saw their allies.
“Light up torches!” yelled out the captain.
Despite the captain being the obvious target, my attention was quickly stolen away by a large cluster of mana banding together to form a massive transmutation circle in the air that lit up the camp.
“Flaming Barrage!” the robed man yelled, hoping to take out whatever was killing their men.
Little did he know that I was aware of the lengthy cast time the spell had, and despite being out in the open and soon swarmed by enemies, he was an easy target for me to maim. Parrying blows from slow-moving targets proved effortless as they were still dazed from suddenly being woken up, allowing me to grab the tip of my dagger before chucking it directly at the caster. The spinning dagger found its mark as the mage lost control of his spell, wailing in pain from having his palm pierced. Honestly, I was aiming for his chest, but avoiding multiple attackers while being on the offensive was a grueling task. However, not having to worry about being blasted by a spell against which I couldn’t defend like the elf girl made my life significantly easier.
Without the transmutation circle, darkness again befell the camp, allowing me to continue the onslaught against those who were previously pressuring me. However, it was short-lived as torches got lit by some of the approaching enemies.
One of the men around me that still lived tried running back toward the light with his back exposed to me, giving me a chance to end his life which I’d gladly take, but as I thrust toward him, my sword was deflected by another.
Their captain had finally reached me and appeared to be battle ready. It was clear that he wasn’t like the rest of the grunts that surrounded us, making me thankful for being right regarding the robed man being unable to perform the somatic component of his spells without using both hands.
“Who are you?” the captain asked while carefully circling me.
Those still alive refrained from getting involved, understanding that there was no place for them in between us. However, I could tell they were looking for an opening to charge if the opportunity arose. Sadly for them, thanks to my Mana Sense, such an opening was hard to come by.
“Drop your weapon and accept swift death. Otherwise, you’ll regret refusing my offer,” I coldly gazed into his eyes, meaning every word.
“Ha,” he chuckled, readying his blade. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll have to pass.”
He dashed toward me with a thrust attack, allowing me to lock our blades using the cross-guard and to grab him by the wrist with my other hand.
“Draining Touch,” I whispered, unleashing necrotic energy into his arm. Terror filled everyone’s hearts as their captain screamed in agony while I got to enjoy being rejuvenated. Letting out a sigh, I watched as he fell to his knees, unlocking our blades and whispering, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He looked at me withered before I drove my blade through his unarmored chest. The death of their captain shattered their morale as some even dropped their weapons and stepped back. If it hadn’t been for the shock they experienced watching me cast such vile magic, they would’ve fled long ago.
“You’re a dark magician!” the robed man yelled with his pierced hand covered in cloth in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding after foolishly pulling out the dagger.
Slowly walking toward him, I flourished my sword, splashing the blood coating it across the ground.
“I am no such thing.”
“Everybody, run-” he yelled but was rudely interrupted by my sword piercing his gut after I dashed toward him.
Despite his warning and their desperate attempt at escaping, the malicious grin on my face made it abundantly clear that I had no intention of letting any of them live. Dying cries echoed throughout the forest as the slaughter continued until every last one of them was dead.
People often told me that I was a good person at heart, but now that felt like a lie. Even though I did all that to save the elven girl, it honestly felt satisfying to show no mercy to the wicked. While I can’t imagine myself harming innocents, I still couldn’t, with a clear conscience, call myself a good guy after killing so many. Who knows, maybe I’m just lying to myself. Regardless, the only thing that mattered was getting home.
When I found the girl tied up in a tent with her clothes still intact, I sighed, relieved knowing they didn’t do anything to her. She was still unconscious and feverish, likely from the exhaustion, so I planned to feed her the potions I had saved up once I found a safe place for us to rest. Luckily, looting their camp provided us with plenty of supplies, including food to last us at least a week, a tent, and bedrolls.
Carrying her in my arms left me awed at how light she was, weighing a tad more than Ellie while being the same height as Penelope. It wasn’t unusual for elves, but I’d never seen one before, so it caught me by surprise. However, what surprised me more was her placid expression as she rested on my shoulder.
After about an hour or so of going northward, we stumbled upon a large pond where I decided to set up the tent; the only thing left afterward was tending to her injuries. I made sure to clean up her cuts while allowing the potions to do the rest. Tucking her hair behind the long pointy ears allowed me to gently hold her head up while feeding the potions to her. Luckily, by the time I poured the second to last, all her injuries had been fully healed, and the mana within her core stabilized enough to stop the fever caused by the cold. She didn’t wake up straight away, but I was confident she was going to be fine in the morning.
There were so many things I wished to ask her, but with a deep yawn, I collapsed on the soft bedroll and sunk into sleep.
Chapter End.
Thank you for reading.
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