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The situation was dire, the small ravine forced them to crouch and cover against the arrows. The stones near the river were big but were too far away, but there was no other option in sight.

Judeau was shooting arrows to keep the enemy at bay, avoiding that they could flank them there.

Some time passed while on that stalemate and Judeau was running out of arrows. Once they were flanked by the archers, they’d be done for.

Riou had considered his options, but was still uncertain on what to do “I can’t go and attack them head on… I don’t think I can dodge arrows, besides, it would be a bit too much for these mercenaries if I took them all like that… magic seems the best approach here” Thought Riou looking to his companions. “Now, should I just blast them out… or should I try a more silent approach?”

He pondered a bit on the kind of magic that he could use and not get too much attention.

“Necromancy? Yeah should be nice, I could get some undead minions to fight for me, nobody would even know I summoned them… but wait… Max never mentioned anything about necromancy. And thinking back, Allard religion is elemetal based, only Argos seems to have some connection to Death Magic” Riou thought to himself

“Max never mentioned anything about pure arcane magic either… now that I think about it… maybe it is some kind of taboo? No arcane, no death magic? Only Elemental?” Many questions raised on his head that he had no answers for “Better stick to the basics then and avoid any problem, it would be bad to get too much attention and be branded as a heretic or something.”

He took another quick look at the enemies “Ok… plan B” he was ready to stand up and burn the assassins to ashes. The wind suddenly blew stronger and the arrows of the enemies fell farther away and down the ravine. Riou smiled “That is also good… Plan C it is then” Riou quickly turned to the mercenaries.

“I’m getting tired of this, you had your chance, now you listen to me. I will try something, stay behind and follow me closely after I stand up” Said the boy confidently and readying himself to get out of the ravine.

Viktor looked with squinted eyes and uncertainty towards the boy’s confidence. But after a moment he returned to his usual smirk, “What the hell… fine, show us what you can do” he shook his head “I really hope you know what you’re doing… I’d like to get back to the drinking bear one day” Said the Mercenary leader.

Riou focused his mana, commanding the air in the surroundings into a strong current against the ravine and upwards, he stood up and climbed the ravine.

The wind shook even the mercenaries, they could feel the magic wind blowing with great intensity.

“Wind Barrier!” Shouted the boy for the mercenaries to understand his plan.

When he finished his words the strong current became a violent windstorm wall, unseen to the eye but clearly present. The arrows shot at were all redirected upwards with a violent strength just a few palms away from him.

The mercenaries noticed the arrows were ineffective against him and were completely surprised, promptly jumping up the ravine and joining the boy with big smiles on their faces. Viktor even laughed at the unexpected trick.

Judeau squinted his eyes and smirked at the sight of the magical display, unlike the others, he was not impressed by the extent of the boy's abilities.

“Let’s not waste this opportunity, come on!” ordered the big man behind the boy telling him to move the barrier towards the enemies.

The enemy force was clearly taken aback by the magical display, but as professionals they tried to adjust to the situation as quickly as possible.

As the main plan failed, they now wanted to regroup to fight the mercenaries heads with superior numbers.

But Riou didn’t allow that to happen.

He quickly went towards the center of the enemy forces while they kept shooting arrows at him. As he approached he could see about 20 enemies divided into two groups, he rushed between them and focused on the enemies in front, leaving one group to his party’s right. Each group had 5 archers and 5 melee fighters with swords.

While maintaining the wind barrier, the young mage forced the magic against both enemy groups at once. A very strong burst of wind blew at the enemies, carrying small rocks, branches and dirt from the ground.

The wind was so sudden and vicious that when the enemy noticed it was already upon them.

Most of these enemies were unable to guard against it, the dirt and branches hit their eyes causing them to momentarily lose sight of the enemy.

That brief blindness was not overlooked by Viktor and his mercenaries. The moment the enemy was blinded they immediately went on to attack the group closest to them in front.

All that remained was the group on their right.

The assault was swift. With weapons ready they quickly took care of the blinded enemy. Judeau had a clear view from their flanks, and took quick care of the ones that were already recovering, he shot three shots, his last 3 arrows in sequence at 3 different enemies, hitting them all between the eyes one after the other.

Every foe in that group fell quickly. The mercenary strikes were deadly, aimed at the head, neck and heart. Those dogs of war moved as a pack of wolves, cornering and attacking the prey in a silent but well coordinated manner.

Some enemies tried to fight back but with the vision affected it was too much of a handicap to overcome against such a merciless group.

Meanwhile on the right side, Riou noticed the enemies decided to pack together to protect themselves. A perfect moment to test an area of effect magic, Riou thought to himself.

Commanding his mana and the wind, he created a small swirl effect at the center of the enemy group. And agitating his right arm in a circular movement pushing it up, he intended to create a vortex of wind upwards.

It was a perfect test for his mana control, with a little effort he tried to use his mana with precision. And he was able to create a sudden whirlwind in the middle of the enemy group.

It bursted up throwing all the enemies upwards, they reached the height of a two story house, strong enough to launch the enemies into the air and knock them down.

The height was not nearly enough to kill, but was enough to do a lot of damage to them and keep them down to the ground.

The whirlwind vanished instantly after it bursted.

As they went down, Riou walked towards the nearest opponent that was still conscious.

“Who sent you?” Asked the boy to the assassin in the green hood.

The man was still recovering his air after hitting his back with such force. But there was no sign of him wanting to talk, and silence was the only answer Riou got.

“Why are you after us?!” asked the boy, threatening the man’s life, pointing his hand at him as if a violent spell would come of it at any moment.

The man had the common look of Allard, dark hair and eyes and the toned skin shade of someone that worked under the harsh sun of Allard. Lots of scars on the face, but there were no runes anywhere that Riou could see.

The man paid no mind to the threats, he kept silent and his mind began to wander, he seemed to be absent from its body. His eyes showed no interest as if he had already forfeited his life.

Viktor and the mercenaries were approaching him by that moment as they had finished their work on the other side.

*Fweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhh* Viktor gave a low long whistle of surprise. “A wind specialist huh? And this young” Said him looking to Levi for a moment before continuing the talk with the boy “I never saw a barrier soak up so many arrows at such close range. And that other thing you just did? Wow, what was that?” Continued Viktor clearly excited “You must be on advanced Mage training or something, to be this young and so powerful” Kept going the mercenary leader as the others were also approaching and listening carefully. “Now I understand why you said you could handle yourself, I gotta give it to you boy, you got me fooled back at the tavern… and not many can fool me like that”

Riou looked confused to Viktor “Really? This level of magic advanced?” Thought the boy before answering.

“I’m still an apprentice, my master is the one who really knows magic” Said Riou diverging the attention from himself.

“This Max is your master right? I know that Syldis said he was your old man, but it didn’t buy that… so this is how it really is” Viktor started to ponder about the ramifications of this discovery and began thinking out loud.

“If you can do all this and he is your master…” Realized the mercenary continuing thought process out loud “I thought it was strange to get a contract from the Bear herself… so the great magus is the one we are after… Ha! I knew it had to have more to it, the bear wouldn’t hire us otherwise!” Said Viktor satisfied he was able to finally put the puzzle together.

All Mercenaries widened their eyes to the news… Levi was the first to speak

“The great Magus!? Really? It is said he is over 200 years old… how long are you studying under him?”

Riou smiled awkwardly “Yeah, it’s going on for a good time now, but he doesn't want people to know I’m his apprentice… so I’d appreciate it if you kept it a secret”

Viktor nodded, “Don’t worry, this is a contract after all, we never disclose information to our employers. We will keep our mouths shut”

“But you should know by now boy” Said Viktor approaching and looking at the man Riou was trying to interrogate “this kind of assassins don’t know who hired them, they are part of an underground organization… only the higher ups know the contractor's name” Explained Viktor.

“They are expensive and deadly loyal to their cause” said Callan in a serious tone looking at Judeau that was gathering the remaining arrows he could find with the enemies.

The man at Riou’s feet was without a drop of fear, silently staring into the sky, showing an unwavering will. The boy understood what Viktor said. But he couldn’t help but wonder if some kind of information could be gathered.

“Torture? That's a bit too much isn’t it? ” he pondered for a moment seriously considering the option.

“So what do you suggest?” He asked the mercenary leader.

Viktor just nodded to the others, each of them walked towards one of the fallen enemies and proceeded to kill every one of them in cold blood.

Riou watched silently as they killed them without a second thought.

Riou was not too happy about it.

“This way we lower their ranks and buy some time. Don’t be mistaken, they will continue coming for you. All we did here was to delay them for a while.” Said Viktor looking at the last man alive down by Riou’s foot.

Viktor approached the assassin and positioned his sword to the man’s chest while looking into his unwavering eyes. With a quick stroke he punctured itt, the enemy smiled as blood poured out of his mouth, not a word or scream of pain.

“Indeed, loyal to the very end” thought the boy seeing the man’s face.

The mercenary removed his blade and cleaned it on the body’s clothes.

“It was a smart move boy” Said the mercenary “I mean, keeping your secret from everyone. If they knew what you were capable off, chances were that we would be the ones in the ground now”

Carrick spat on the ground “If they had brought mages, that would have been bad…”

Viktor signaled his mercenaries “Make sure all of them are really dead and let’s move” Said looking at the sky not too happy. “We are behind schedule”

Night would come soon and they had a lot of ground to cover.

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The group was walking closer to the river bank and back to the city. The night was dark but the clouds allowed some light to shine through every now and then to illuminate the path.

“Ok, when you gonna tell me what a Dracar is?”

“Shhh! Silence!” Urged Levi beside the boy.

Riou whispered back “Come on, tell me something?”

Carrick whispered back to him “Imagine a big lizard with an iron hide and claws like daggers that don’t give a fuck, if they smell you, you are good as dead”

“That sounds bad, why do you let them have hunting grounds so close to the capital?”

“Because their meat and blood smells like shit and is fucking dangerous to hunt them. Someone will always die”

“Besides, they are very territorial and hunt alone, there are actually very few of them in these lands, so the chances we will actually find one is very slim.” Whispered Callan.

“But their claws, bones are very expensive, some alchemists do pay good money for them,” said Carrick with a smile almost wishing to run into one.

“Don’t be a fool, we will be in bad shape if one shows up, now silence and pay attention to the path” urged Levi.

They couldn’t see far away, only a few steps ahead but it was enough to keep them going at a steady pace.

They moved In complete silence and with full attention to their surroundings. Riou could feel their tension, their hands were eager to pull their weapons out at any moment.

*CRACK*

The sound of a branch breaking in the distance, all mercenaries were with weapons ready in hand and turned towards it.

They kept in guard for a few moments, waiting for something to happen... until they slowly relaxed and continued on their way.

As the clouds increased, the light reduced, so Judeau’s was just a few steps ahead of them now.

Didn’t take long for Riou to feel a gaze from the darkness. An eerie feeling took him as he stopped and stared in the direction.

Judeau was the first to notice the boy’s sudden stop. In reaction to it, he quickly readied his bow in the direction the boy was looking. At that sight, all the other Mercenaries also readied themselves once again.

“There is something there” Said Riou slowly and in a low tone, he could tell, something was looking at him from the shadows of the forest.

The boy was trying to make sense of what he was seeing, squinting his eyes and forcing them, he identified a feeble light amidst the black veil.

Yellow eyes staring right back at him with an unusual interest.

Judeau fired an arrow in the direction and the eyes vanished. “Dracar!” Shouted Judeau preparing another arrow in a hurry.

The Mercenaries took a defensive position with their back to the river side, all facing the forest in front.

The silence was abnormal, no insect or wind was blowing at that moment.

Only the river behind them continued to flow.

Riou somehow was able to feel the beast's presence, like the time he spent in the darkness, the insects that roamed around him. Like that moment, he now could tell that there was something hunting him once again, something that was slowly approaching, but he could not pinpoint its exact location.

Suddenly heavy steps in their direction, slowly approaching. As the sound grew louder another sound began to be heard, something dragging on the ground behind it.

As Judeau was able to pinpoint the source of the sound, he shot the remaining arrows one after the other in that direction. The metal tip of the arrows was hitting something very hard, giving the characteristic metallic sound of ricochetting and bouncing off.

And the steps kept coming near at a steady pace. Like a predator slowly approaching, trying to not startle its prey.

Out of arrows Judeau threw his bow to the side and readied his throwing knives.

The brothers stepped up and got in front of the group, with no fear they stood strong in anticipation of the approaching enemy. They wanted to be the first ones to fight.

Viktor also stepped up, right behind the brothers to support their attack.

Judeau was a few steps behind now and kept his place. Levi joined Viktor in front of Riou that was kept behind.

Viktor looked at him “Boy… another surprise from you would be very welcomed now! If we face this thing heads one, most of us will die.” As Viktor finished his sentence the thing began to step into the light..

Riou got mesmerized by the sheer size of the beast.

As it approached, it became clearer, a beast that resembled a lizard in all fours. With matt dark scales and a line of red spikes on its back, covering head to tail.

The head was big and the jaw could easily bite someone in half, a slithering long tongue kept coming out from its mouth.

The legs were much longer than what they should be, flexible and agile. Nothing like you would expect from a lizard. The thing moved more like a tiger than a reptile. A very fearsome sight.

It’s bright yellow eyes had menacing vertical pupils and looked at Riou at all times with intent.

Three large claws on each limb, two front and one smaller at the back. Curved and sharp, meant to slash and hold the prey.

It moved slowly towards the brothers while its eyes remained on Riou. Judeau tried to throw his knives at it as it got closer.

But wherever he threw them, it just hit the thick scales and bounced off without causing any damage.

“No way they can handle this!” Thought Riou was preparing himself, focusing his mana to call into the whirlwind magic again to destabilize the monster.

But before he could do anything, instinctively perceiving the danger, the dracar took the initiative. It suddenly moved in a blink of an eye, rushing vigorously towards the three men, pouncing at them while slashing horizontally with his right sharp claws, clearly trying to make its way towards Riou.

The brothers in front took the hit, the beast was too fast and too powerful.

By taking the blow head on, Viktor was spared from the claws and was just sent back by the impact together with the two brothers.

“Boy!!” Shouted Viktor standing up and rushing back into position without taking his eyes from the monster that was upon him.

The Dracar stopped and turned to Viktor, swinging his tail in his direction. The mercenary jumped dodge it and continued investing against it. Viktor knew it was risky to engage the beast, but there was no other choice so rushed forward as the beast recovered its momentum.

Viktor was about to strike it when he suddenly stopped on his approach. He could feel that the beast was ready to retaliate on him, the moment he got too close it would rip him apart with its claws.

The brothers were still down, slowly moving trying to get back into the fight, but blood gushed from their wounds. The pain prevented them from standing up again.

The monster's eyes were fixed at Viktor. Levi used the chance to rush forward to help the mercenary leader that was in trouble.

It was all too fast, but Riou was ready. The strong wind was forming beneath the beast and could be felt by Viktor and Levi.

The whirlwind suddenly erupted like before, violently trying to burst the Dracar up in the air.

The Dracar immediately spreaded his limbs and body weight on the ground, it was just too heavy and rooted on the ground to be affected by the spell.

The magic staggered the beast for a moment but that was it..

“Shit, I messed up… it wasn’t enough” thought the boy. “I need more control, a smaller spell and with a more direct approach”

With an idea in mind Riou rushed forward in a sprint. Concentrating his power to his closed hands, compressing the air into them with his mana.

Putting more power to it he formed a glowing sphere of pressurized air around both his hands.

The Dracar was well aware of the boy as his instincts were screaming danger towards him once again, by that point the beast completely forgot about the other two mercenaries.

And switching his target to Riou, the monster changed stances from an aggressive to a defensive. It curled back waiting for Riou to approach.

Riou found it strange, the Dracar seemed to have some intelligence and even was able to discern danger, maybe even detect magical abilities.

As it was completely Ignoring Viktor and Levi, they used the opportunity to strike. They took a clear swing with all their strength against both the rear legs.

The slash was strong enough to penetrate the thick scales and cause a light wound to the legs.

It wasn’t much, but enough to distract the beast as the sudden pain changed his focus from the boy. Viktor and Levi quickly got away from the beast as Riou reached it.

Judeau also used the opportunity to capitalize on the monster's lack of attention, throwing his knives at its face to force his attention away from Riou.

The boy closed in on the beast.

He pointed both his arms upwards, aiming at the monster's chest.

Riou opened his palms and released his spell. It instantly bursted out with a very loud blast noise, exploding forward towards the beast.

As it was so fast that the naked eye of the mercenaries were unable to track what happened.

When they took a second glance at the beast they could only see that the half of it was missing and just the bottom half of it remained.

Viktor and Levi were unable to understand what happened and turned astonished to Riou. But it wasn’t time for that as the brothers needed help.

They rushed to them. Carrick and Callan had a deep wound, the slash went through the armor like it was a sheet of paper. It went deep, but luckily enough it didn’t seem to have reached any organ. Nonetheless the two were in grave danger and needed treatment.

Viktor and Levi ripped some cloth they had on a small pouch by their belts and used them to bandage the brothers and stop the bleeding. While they were applying the first aid to them, Viktor looked at Riou.

“What was that? I have never seen air magic like that before… There is no way that’s an apprentice spell” Said Viktor while bandaging Carrick that was laying down feeling the pain of the cut.

“Was it some kind of family magic? Or was it one of the great Magus spells?” Intervened, Levi clearly curious about it.

Riou just went with the flow.

“It’s one of the Max… I mean master’s air based spells, it’s a very difficult one, that’s why it’s not common to be seen. As I’m his apprentice he taught me in case of need”

“I see, but you are a Mage already for sure, all it needs is to show this power to anyone in the academy and they will grant you the title in a blink of an eye.” said Viktor while Levi nodded in agreement.

Judeau kept quiet, just listening to the conversation.

The Ranking system was a simple one and Max had explained it to Riou before. Apprentices would be able to use magic to a certain level and knowledge. Which was what most lords could learn at the academy or even studying with a teacher at home.

And when apprentice learned at least one advanced spell, they would move into the Mage title. Usually new mages stick to one kind or element of magic, which they have more affinity and just develop it further and further.

So a high tiered mage would be someone that is an experienced mage that can use one type of spell very well. The title is less commonly given to those who can combine spells from different elements. Like Lightning, Ice or even healing spells, these are less frequent mages but they do exist.

A master mage can do all of that and much more, he understands magic to such a degree that they can transform existing spells into deadlier versions of it or even create new ones. All based on heavy study and research.

And then comes the title of Magus or Great Magus. This is only awarded by the king of Allard to elate and honor master mages that reached a level that few ever could. It’s also a more heroic title than a magic related one, differently than the others given by the academy, this one requires the person to have performed deeds of valor worthy of such grace.

After a while the first aid was completed, Callan and Carrick were still not able to move on their own without risking opening their wounds again, they needed transportation.

Viktor assessing the situation looked at Levi.

“Levi, take Riou and go to the city, bring some of the boys and two carriages to transport these two back safely, they can’t walk like this. Judeau and I will guard them while you go.” Said the Mercenary leader.

Levi nodded in agreement. “I will be back quickly”

Riou, noticing Viktor was much calmer now, he had to ask “Aren’t you afraid another Dracar can show up?”

Viktor smiled. “You see this blood and corpse here?” Said Viktor pointing to the half Dracar “They have no fear, but they aren’t stupid. They can smell their own kind’s blood from far away. Right now this is the safest place to be.” Said the mercenary sitting down and relaxing.

Callan and Carrick were laid down side by side, now that the bandages were applied, they were very quiet, just focusing on their breathing.

She approached the body of the Dracar and picked some of the blood with her hand and smeared it on her shirt.

She signaled to Riou to follow her as she began to walk in the city’s direction at a fast pace.

“Why two carriages?” asked Riou curios to Levi.

“One for the brothers and one for the carcass. Viktor will sell it at the market, its claws and bones are quite a luxury item”

Riou smiled and shook his head, he should have known better.