Embracing Magic - E.M Chapter 55 (Part 1)
Rodin was a 5th-circle mage, but beyond his status as a slave, he had nothing to prove his worth. He had no intention of living as a slave, so he needed a different status.
“If only I had some money, I could figure something out.”
Fortunately, there was one thing working in his favor: they were in the middle of a war.
War throws everything into chaos. Corruption runs rampant, and there’s an increase in misconduct.
“Where would be best?”
Rodin carefully observed the trainees moving east, west, and south. He then noticed that Drok, who was heading east, was in a difficult situation.
“That idiot. Why’s he wandering around alone? Tsk, I’ll have to do something about him first.”
He slung two large bags over his shoulders, ignoring the weight pressing down on him, and started walking.
“Jito. Return.”
As a spirit mage, one always strives to keep their spirit summoned at all times. Rodin hadn’t sent his water spirit, Undine, back to the spirit realm since his magic had surpassed a certain level.
This was because spending time together naturally increased his affinity with the spirit.
The same was true for Familiars. The more time they spent together, the deeper their bond grew.
This bond served as the foundation for the growth of the familiar. If immediate reconnaissance wasn’t necessary, keeping the familiar close by was the best approach.
At that moment, reconnaissance around the area had mostly been completed. The Imperial Army had headed north, and the two commissioners had fled south.
Since the situation wasn’t urgent, Rodin called Jito back.
Dressed in a robe made from the transformed Jito, he quickly moved his feet.
* * *
Just as Rodin had seen, Drok was in trouble. A group of deserters had blocked his path.
There were about 50 of them—not a small number.
But they were just soldiers, none of whom knew how to use aura. Normally, Drok wouldn’t have had anything to worry about.
The problem was that Drok’s body wasn’t in normal condition. His leg hadn’t fully healed yet, so he couldn’t exert his strength properly.
‘What should I do?’
Even if he fought, it wasn’t certain that he would lose. After all, he was a 4 tier knight. If he fought with his aura blazing, he could likely defeat the deserters.
But he wasn’t confident. No matter how he calculated it, his chances seemed to be fifty-fifty.
‘Maybe I should just give them what they want and take it back later?’
In about ten days, his leg would be much better. In that condition, it would be easy to take out people who didn’t even know how to use aura.
‘The problem is whether they’ll let me live.’
He didn’t have much on him to begin with. All he had were the sword, shield, and leather armor he was issued before his mission. Even if they took everything, it wouldn’t be a great loss.
But if they decided to take not just his belongings but also his life, things would get tricky. If he had to fight after being disarmed, his chances of winning would be even lower.
“Hey, you there.”
“What?”
“If I give you my sword and shield, will you let me go?”
Drok carefully asked, deliberately limping to show his injured leg. He wanted to see how they would react once they noticed he wasn’t in normal condition.
If their expressions changed and they showed intent to kill, Drok was prepared to fight. Even if things ended badly, he wasn’t about to surrender his neck without a fight.
“Hey, this guy’s leg isn’t right.”
“Hey! Where’d you hurt your leg?”
“Fighting the Imperial Army.”
Drok answered while keeping his eyes fixed on the deserters. He slightly lowered his stance, ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
“What’s this? This kid’s in the same boat as us. Judging by his age, he must be a rookie.”
“For a rookie, his sword and shield are way too nice, aren’t they?”
“He probably took them off a dead Imperial soldier.”
“Or maybe he robbed someone like us.”
When they began thinking along those lines, the deserters’ demeanor changed.
“So, we can’t let him go, can we?”
“Yeah. A guy like that would come back for revenge later.”
“Then what can we do? We have to kill him.”
The deserters had made their decision. It was the worst-case scenario that Drok had hoped to avoid.
“Damn it. I knew it. I was a fool to trust a deserter. Come on, then! You bastards.”
“Oh, the kid’s got some guts, huh?”
“That just makes me want to kill him even more.”
“Kekeke.”
Drok got into a fighting stance, gripping his shield on his left arm and crouching low.
As he bent his knees, his unhealed thigh began to strain. He couldn’t apply his full strength, and his leg started to tremble.
‘Damn it.’
The deserters began to spread out, surrounding Drok. There was a murderous glint in their eyes. This wasn’t their first time doing something like this.
‘Just a few of you come at me first.’
Drok debated whether to reveal his aura and intimidate them or keep it hidden to make them underestimate him. He decided on the latter.
They had already seen him limping. Even if he showed his aura, the deserters wouldn’t likely run away.
“Die quietly, kid.”
“Shut up, you deserter scum.”
There were over 50 deserters in total. Their weapons varied, but their attire was mostly the same. They were all soldiers from the Kingdom of Riyaz.
Only two of them approached Drok with their weapons drawn, clearly underestimating him.
“Kid, let me teach you a les—”
Shhk!
In an instant, Drok slashed the throat of one of the men who approached carelessly. He immediately lunged diagonally forward, stabbing another man in the abdomen.
Thud!
“Gah! You, you…!”
“Huh? What the—?”
“What do you think? Kill him! Everyone, attack and kill him!”
The deserters, who had initially underestimated Drok, charged at him together, enraged by the death of their comrades.
“Come at me!”
Drok shouted defiantly, swinging his sword.
Shhk!
“Graaah!”
He sliced off the wrist of the man charging at him from the front. He twisted his body to avoid the spear thrust at him and struck the assailant’s chin with his sword.
“Ugh!”
Drok dealt with each attacker one by one. Although he hadn’t expected much of a chance, he was handling it surprisingly well.
The soldiers’ strikes were slow, and their movements were full of gaps.
Until now, Drok had only fought knights, so he hadn’t realized that as a 4th Tier knight, he was quite strong.
“Guh!”
“Ugh!”
Then disaster struck. His thigh gave out momentarily, causing him to lose his balance.
In that brief moment, a spear thrust from behind struck him. The spear pierced his side deeply, and Drok staggered.
As Drok faltered, the deserters quickly retreated. They pointed their spears at him, keeping their distance.
“He’s injured! If we just buy time, we’ll win.”
“Yeah, the bleeding is severe. Just keep pressuring him.”
The deserters were experienced. Individually, they were weak, but they had plenty of combat experience.
“Come on! You bastards!”
“No need to fall for his provocation. If we just stall, he’ll collapse.”
Unfortunately, Drok’s taunts didn’t work. The deserters kept their distance, only talking among themselves.
“His vision must already be spinning. There’s no way he’s fine after losing that much blood.”
“That’s why I’m here to help.”