Another Meeting
At the centre of the battlefield were the high-ranked warrior Siegfried and the two-headed ogre commander.
Siegfried’s body was now soaked in blood, and his warhorse had long since disappeared. There was a massive wound on his thigh now, and he could only use the silver-white longsword as a crutch to stay upright.
Opposite him, the two-headed ogre only seemed a little ruffled, but had no large injuries. Just from its heaving chest, it was obvious that much of its energy had been exhausted, and it might even have suffered internal injuries.
The few shamans nearby surrounded the two along with the regular warriors. Evidently, the victor had already been decided. Unless he got some assistance or pulled out a powerful magic scroll, the future of this high-ranked warrior would be bleak.
“Huff, huff… So I’m finally going to die?” Everything in front of Siegfried was a blur. Watching the two-headed ogre closing in, his limbs were like lead, with no strength in them whatsoever.
“Lena, I’m coming to keep you company!” The various scenes from his life appeared in Siegfried’s mind, finally stopping on the instant that the black-robed female wizard smiled.
Afterwards, he watched the large claw hammer strike down, the target obviously being his brain. If nothing went wrong, his head would have burst apart like a pumpkin.
However, the lady luck seemed to favour him at that moment. The huge claw hammer stopped still in mid-air, and the two-headed ogre’s expression was filled with fury and shock. A crimson dagger appeared through its chest.
“What’s going on?” A hint of doubt flashed on Siegfried’s face, and his body began to involuntarily rise.
A young man with a draconic expression had grabbed hold of his arm and was flying speedily, the winds that struck Siegfried’s face were so strong that he could feel pain. At his back were the enraged howls of the ogres, as well as a few useless fireballs or lightning arrows.
‘Hold Person! As well as Flight of the Dragon! Have I been rescued by a passing wizard?’ Siegfried suddenly felt a hope for survival.
At this moment, he saw the wizard doing a pretty turn in mid-air, evading the attacks of the shamans on the ground. He pointed downwards with his right hand, and terrifying black corrosive clouds descended and blocked the views of many ogres.
Cloudkill! Leylin, who now had nothing to worry about, flapped his wings and carried Siegfried away from the battlefield.
Feeling his head spin as he flew, Siegfried crumpled to the ground, the smell of soil and crisp grass having him involuntarily take a few greedy breaths. It was only at this moment that he could size up the wizard that had saved his life.
‘Very young, but his magic abilities far exceed Lena…’
Siegfried respectfully lowered his head. He knew that there were many spells that could help maintain one’s youth. The wizard who looked young in front of him might very well be an old freak with mood swings.
‘But he looks rather familiar… Wait!’ Siegfried struggled to get up, “Are you the fighter who was accompanying that high-ranked female knight, Ley?”
“You actually remember me?”
“Whatever it is, thank you for saving me!” Siegfried thanked him sincerely, and tacitly did not ask questions regarding Leylin.
“Don’t worry about it. I just couldn’t bear to let this go to waste!”
“Couldn’t bear to let what go to waste?” At that moment, Siegfried felt an unprecedented sense of danger, but he who was grievously injured had no way to resist. At the moment of his death, all he saw was a blood-red dagger piercing his throat.
‘If he was going to kill me… why save me?’ Siegfried closed his eyes with this question inside his head, while Leylin felt the immense power gained from the Devilblood Dagger.
A two-headed ogre commander and a high-ranked warrior on top of that; it made him feel slightly full.
At this moment, the prompt of the A.I. Chip sounded in Leylin’s mind. [Beep! Host has gone through a two-time boost from the Devilblood Dagger. Strength+2.5, Agility+1, Vitality+2.65, Spirit+0.001.]
A hot stream flowed from the dagger to all parts of his body, and was greedily absorbed by his cells. Leylin lifted his right arm, the slender palm holding within it strength that was now not lacking when compared to the ogres. On top of that, there were even constant after-images from it.
“I’m quite close to having all my attributes at 10 points, reaching the fundamental first step of perfecting my genes…” Leylin mumbled, looking at his stats. There were already changes.
[Leylin Faulen. Age: 16. Race: Human, Rank 10 Wizard. Strength: 8. Agility: 7.6. Vitality: 9.2. Spirit: 10. Status: Healthy. Feats: Sturdy, Erudite. Possessed Spell Slots: Rank 4 spell slot (3), Rank 3 spell slot (5), Rank 2 spell slot (7), Rank 1 spell slot (???), Rank 0 spell slot (???)]
“Vitality is already very close to the bottleneck. Besides, a stronger body is more suitable for my spiritual force…” Regular wizards commonly had powerful spiritual force but weak bodies. Leylin, however, was entirely different. Alongwith powerful spiritual force, he also had a terrifying vitality and strength comparable to holy warriors!
“Things will only be perfected when my vitality matches my spirit. Strength and agility are both important as well… Are these the laws governing the World of Gods?” Leylin sighed, and his hands then began to search the high-ranked knight’s body in a practiced manner. As a high-ranked fighter and the captain of the large mercenary group, the Ashen Hawks, he should have some good items on his body. Leylin never let chances like these pass by, but was left disappointed.
“Besides the magical armour and weapons, he doesn’t even have a bag of holding? Does that mean all mercenaries are poor, and even a first class captain is the same?” Leylin only managed to find a few magic artifacts and a coin pouch from Siegfried’s corpse. There were tens of gold kronas inside, as well as a few cards from the church of wealth, which would come up to around ten thousand kronas.
It was a pity that these cards were bound to the user and had to be authenticated to use. After his death, nobody could take out that money unless they could deceive the verification methods of divine force, as well as deal with the rage of the Goddess of Wealth. When it came to those who vied for coins with her, the Goddess of Wealth would probably become even more crazed than an enraged dinosaur!
For regular bandits, such a profit was a great wealth enough to squander away for half a lifetime, even though the crystal cards could not be converted. However, Leylin cared little for this.
‘Something’s off! To take care of such a large mercenary group, the Ashen Hawks as well as wizard, he should have more wealth than that. Could there be other hiding places? In that case…’ Leylin quickly peeled off Siegfried’s clothes and checked everything inch by inch.
Finally, he found something. At an area near his chest on the shirt, there was a difference in terms of texture as compared to the surrounding regions. If one did not look closely, it was impossible to identify.
This method of concealment immediately aroused Leylin’s interest. He quickly cut out this material and began to unravel this riddle.
‘Mercenaries use potions of invisibility at most. With the A.I. Chip’s simulation tests, they’re easily found, but with a wizard by his side, it might be necessary to use magic…’ Such intricate decryption work obviously was not a huge issue for Leylin. Soon enough, after being soaked in a solution, the fabric of the shirt was dyed a light yellow.
Reveal All! Appraisal! Rays from a series of spells appeared, and light red lines appeared on the parchment to form a map.
“A treasure map? Interesting!” Leylin memorised the map in an instant. Upon seeing the name of the region in the corner, the sides of his lips quirked slightly.
“So it’s in the Dambrath Capital? I should take a look then…” After hastily tidying up the traces here, Leylin then left the area.
“I took care of the two-headed ogre, and without a leader, there will probably be unrest amongst them. There’ll even be power struggles for the new commander position; they likely won’t have the energy to pursue me. The merchant group have walked quite a distance, and I’ll be able to reach Gloomwood Castle a short distance away. That’s an important checkpoint into the kingdom. After that, I’ll enter the central plains, where I won’t be threatened by the ogres…”
Leylin found his way and began to hasten towards Gloomwood Castle.
“Sigh… I should have kept the warhorse. I’m going to have to walk there with my own two feet. I hope I‘ll find a few lost warhorses. Even if they’re worn out, I’ll still take them…” Just as Leylin was mumbling, his expression suddenly changed, “What the hell, there really is one!”
His expression abruptly showed delight as he turned to the right. A couple hundred metres ahead there was a black dot eventually turned larger, and the regular sounds of trotting were heard. After that, a figure being carried on the back of the horse entered Leylin’s sights.
However, after he got closer, Leylin’s smile widened.
“Hey, we meet again!” Leylin took the initiative to draw close and greet him, while the other party looked as if he had seen a ghost.
“Damn it– No, I mean… Ley! Why are you here?” In front of Leylin was that human archer who had stolen Rafiniya’s warhorse amidst the chaos. As for his name? Leylin had never taken notice of that.
He had actually dared break out of the siege by fleeing in the opposite direction and succeeded! His luck and guts were not to be underestimated. However, he did not seem to be in the best condition now. Not only did he have injuries, the large wooden bow that was always by his side had disappeared.