Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 46 (Part 1)
Hedler and Lant rested for a few days in the hideout Cory had prepared. They tended to Lant’s injuries and relieved their accumulated fatigue.
“How’s it outside?”
“It’s pretty empty now. As the sun sets, it clears out fast. We can move.”
While they were hiding here, Cory was responsible for scouting the outside.
Cory’s spirit, Silafe, flew around diligently, gathering information about the surroundings.
“And how about you?”
“I’m a spirit mage, after all.”
Although Cory spoke confidently, it wasn’t without danger. Particularly, when some of the wizards seemed to sense something and looked towards Silafe, Cory felt his heart drop.
“Lant, what do you want to do?”
“Let’s move. We’ve delayed long enough.”
They couldn’t stay here forever. Although Cory had prepared plenty of food for the long journey, it was running out quickly with the three of them eating.
Lant ate enough for three normal people. Hedler and Cory, being in their prime, also had large appetites.
The three of them ate so heartily that it was hard to manage.
“Take this.”
Hedler handed a potion he had to Cory. It could be used if they were injured or sold if they needed money.
“What’s this? You guys are more important.”
“We’ll cross the border in a day. Rodin will make more for us at the training center.”
“Hmm, then I’ll take it. Thanks.”
Cory packed the potion Hedler gave him. Lant also handed over his potion.
“Here’s mine too.”
“Thanks, everyone.”
“This is the last time. Cory, take care. It was great to be with you.”
Even though it was the last time, there was no sadness.
It was the day they were leaving to seek freedom. Such a day should be marked with a smile.
“You’ll hear from me again. I’m going to become the continent’s greatest spirit mage. My fame will spread across the continent, so keep your ears open.”
“Sure.”
They chuckled at Cory’s boast.
The sun had completely set.
Under the cover of darkness, Hedler and Lant cautiously left the hideout. Cory followed behind them.
“I’ll go first.”
“Okay.”
Cory used Silafe to fly into the sky.
Hedler and Lant waved to Cory who was floating in the air, and then they set off south.
It was hard to believe that the forest had been swarming with soldiers just a few days ago. Now, it was eerily quiet.
There were still a few soldiers patrolling, but they showed no signs of vigilance, as if they were just doing their duty without much concern.
Hedler and Lant moved south, avoiding combat as much as possible. By dawn, they had completely left the Kenas Forest.
“We were lucky.”
“But we still need to keep moving.”
“Yeah, let’s keep going.”
Even though they avoided most fights, they couldn’t avoid them all. They had to kill two enemy soldiers who were on guard.
It wouldn’t be long before the enemy noticed.
They had to run as far as they could before that happened.
“Run.”
“Okay.”
As soon as they left the forest, the two of them ran like crazy.
*Whistle!*
As they were running, they heard a faint whistle from somewhere in the forest behind them.
“Have they found us?”
“We were lucky.”
The whistle was distant. From the moment they heard it, it would be hard for the pursuers to catch up to them.
They kept running. They ran all morning, and as the sun started to descend from its peak, they saw a crowd of people ahead. They all wore familiar uniforms.
“They’re our allies.”
“Yeah, the soldiers of the Riyaz Kingdom.”
Hedler and Lant slowed their pace gradually. They raised their hands to show they were not enemies.
“Hey? Hedler! Lant!”
Someone emerged from the crowd. It was Deputy Commander Cliff, who had gone with them to the city of Hampton.
“Deputy Commander Cliff!”
“Oh, you guys. You survived.”
“We were hiding. Hehehe.”
They had finally returned from the enemy Ingram Empire to the Riyaz Kingdom. Their mission was successfully completed.
It had been exactly 44 days since they left the special forces training center.
* * *
Rodin made fake slave rods whenever he had time.
He made potions to meet the delivery date and conducted magical training every day before ending the day.
‘This is troublesome.’
It had been exactly 10 days since Commissioner Habinon started guarding the special forces training center. When Commissioner Elrov arrived for duty, Habinon left.
For the next 10 days, unless something special happened, Commissioner Elrov would be stationed at the central building.
Commissioner Elrov was a 5th circle mage. Given his sensitivity to magic, using magic in the central building recklessly was dangerous.
Rodin had no choice but to make fake slave rods daily, postponing the swapping with the real ones for later.
However, he had already swapped the slave rods for the 4th batch of 55 people.
‘The 5th to 12th batches remain.’
Fortunately, the 12th batch was small. Only nine people. Because of the royal family’s restrictions, they couldn’t gather more slaves.
The royal family of the Riyaz Kingdom only tolerated the special forces due to the exceptional circumstances of the war. They did not favor their conduct. Naturally, they intended to dismantle the special forces training center once the war ended.
Thus, they began to check the expansion of the special forces. They arrested Hardin, the key figure in the slave trade, and tightened surveillance to prevent the gathering of more slaves.
As a result, the 12th batch only had nine members. The 11th batch had 51, so it was less than a quarter of that.
‘The 12th batch is small. The 5th batch is too large. Still, it looks like I can finish in about a month.’
Although potion deliveries repeated monthly, Rodin actually only spent about 13 days making potions. The rest of the time, he pretended to make potions while enjoying personal time.
During that personal time, he made over 40 fake slave rods daily. With practice, he had become faster.
‘After that, I should finish reading the book. In about ten days, I’ll be done here.’
Freedom.
Though extremely important, Rodin had never yearned for it desperately. This was because he had erased the explosive property of the slave mark early on.
Rodin deliberately delayed obtaining freedom, as he could seize it anytime. There was no need to yearn for something so easily attainable.
But once the fake slave rod swapping was done, and he finished reading the book?
He planned to leave this place no matter what. War or not, it had nothing to do with him.
‘Let’s wrap this up.’
After finishing the final magical training session, Rodin left the advanced training room 3.
“Good work today.”
“Thanks. You guys work hard too.”
“Sure. Get some rest.”
By the time work was over and he was returning, it was either night or close to it. Winter hadn’t ended yet, and the cold wind was still blowing.
He tightened his coat and headed to his dormitory. Rodin paused momentarily in front of room 301.
“Huh?”