Days of fights come out, slowing our progress. It was battle after battle, and our train was moving slow we were still about a week out at this pace. Repeatedly I was using my mana, the adventurers were getting injured, and we were run ragged. I eventually put the train to a stop.
"Owen, My mana is desperately short. I have no idea where all the enemies are coming from, but from beasts to humans attacking us, I am fucking beat. I have been horny as shit, and these fucking robes are making me frustrated. I need to stop and collect mana before the next fight. I feel nothing is around us.
Mally can make us invisible if we pull off to the side of the road, and we can spend a day or two recuperate. We have Me Mally, Emily, Kate, and two other adventurers alive, giving us very little combat power compared to when we first started. I am Fucking Tired. I haven't slept Owen since we have left the fortress, only meditating.
I need rest; the adventurers are full of cuts and need healing from me. WE NEED A BREAK!" I yell at him.
"Look, Chelsea, I get what you mean, but just because of all these attacks doesn't mean more are coming. We stop now, and we can be caught up too and then be taken down under a flood of enemies," he stated.
"That fucking makes no sense. Mally Is an accomplished Illusionist, and I have not seen an enemy completely dispel her Illusions. We are desperate, Owen. If I get attacked later today, I have one option run. I will run as fast as I can, taking Mally, Emily, and Kate with me. I have nothing to fight with Owen.
I have no Mana, and I am not even sure I could run far! I will fucking run for my life, taking those I care about. Why the fuck are you in such a hurry?!"
"The Cargo Chelsea Some of it is on a deadline we have already slowed so much, and someone must have leaked the contents for it to be so many enemies," He sighed at the last part, and I look at him sharply.
"What is inside?" I asked simply and very direct, looking at him. I demanded an answer with my eyes.
He sighed and looked at me straight in the eyes. "Hallow Beer is in the cart you have been staying," I suck in a breath; no wonder each was enchanted with hardening, and even a beast didn't break a casket. Hallow Beer was an absolutely addictive beer that could only be drunk by those at least B-rank or above anyone else would so addicted instantly they would seek it out all hours a day.
C-ranks could drink it and become sober after years of work, but those less strong would just become mindless in need for drinking it. It wasn't illegal, but it was closely monitored by authorities and was fucking expensive.
I wanted to do some tests on it and its distilling process, but Hallowed fruits were rare, and the farms they grew were insanely protected with at least a B-rank person at all times.
There were barrels and barrels of it in the back. I remembered our agreement with the profit afterward.
"You were going to treat these barrels of it as normal alcohol, weren't you? Thet would make a decent bit of money in the Dwarven Kingdom but nowhere hear Hallow Beer that powerhouses will snap up quickly since there is a supply and demand with the higher-ups in a kingdom. So you make a huge profit with that alone.
I would have used my name to cut corners also on all those taxes that come with it, majoring you a huge profit. This shit goes for thousands of gold a barrel, and you have at least sixty barrels. No wonder we are a target." I sigh, things becoming clear.
There must be an event that drives the price even higher, and if someone leaked the information on it from his contacts, that meant that more bandits would go out of their way for a retirement fund.
"FUCK!" I yell, "FUCK, FUCK, FUCK," I blow off some steam screaming, knowing we need to move. I walk back to the caskets of Hallow beer. I sit down, crossing my legs others have noticed my outburst, and I think. "Mally!" I shout out, and she appears near me.
"Look, no one needs to know why but we need to move, and quickly can you make the whole merchant train invisible while we travel down the road?"
"Nope, it wouldn't matter; the type of illusion needed for movement would destroy my mana pool in seconds of travel moving invisible spell on something so large is exponential I couldn't keep it up."
I tap my feet and contemplate we could divert attention from the rest of the merchants and leave them to die, but that is a terrible solution. I came to my last and realize we need to tuff it out.
"Fine, Owen, no more stops even at night we need to outpace the people who want our cargo. Nothing we can do with beast ambushes along the roads, but we sure as shit can outpace human bandits." I yell at him, and he smiles at me.
Very quickly, everyone packs up, and I am gathering mana, trying as fast as I can to bring in more. It went a whole day and a half; my mind was sunk into meditation to get more mana for the inevitable clash again; my instinct called it out. We went one more day, and my mana neared half. I was not even sending out pulses so that I can gather faster.
"Attack" Was yelled out, and I stood instantly with my staff, my robe fluttering. I jumped out, almost tripping on my robe in exhaustion. This Robe had to go. I will get new clothing. I jump out and see more bandits thanking the high heavens. I had time to regenerate mana, and I aimed my staff shooting my form of Arcane missiles reaping the lives of bandits to win good armor, and arrows came at me.
I put up a mana shield blocking most of the arrows. Except one goes through with exceptional ease and prices me in the stomach. I cough a chunk of blood, my mind passing. More arrows rained, and my mind whirled back up, and a Mana shield came up, but I retreated as fast as I could. I shot back with more Mana bullets.
I release a pulse, gathering information on the enemy, and there are roughly forty enemies; twenty are in a melee with the last dregs of adventurers that badly need me, and all the rest are in the trees shooting at me. It seems my reaping of lives makes me a prime target. I run to one of the wagons for cover and Rip out the arrow screaming at the pain.
I see a chunk of my stomach come out with it and heal as much as I can so that stomach acid doesn't leak into the rest of my body, killing me.
I cough more blood, and the arrows are now pointed at my group. I pull out a mana shield over the top of them just before they get hit, but again one contemptuously goes through, killing one of the adventurers I failed to learn the name of. I rapidly cast more mana bullets killing the melee bandits in combat, and the arrows are on top of me again.
I run dodging most, but one hit my leg, comparing my movement. I was in serious trouble. There had to be a ranger using some type of skill or energy that could hurt wizards, I had no idea their rank or what was up, but they were sniping the adventurers and me. Only Seconds had passed, and we were in a terrible position.
I decided to picture a fragmentation grenade and used mana to throw it into the forest as I shot more mana bullets dodging as many arrows as I could. I couldn't identify the arrow the ranger shot, but I could use a mana shield to filter them out. I put the shield farther from my body than I am used to buying time and dodge at the last second.
I hear my grenade go off and a couple of screams as I finish up five more enemies attacking the adventurers with us. Seconds past as I dodge and bleed. I feel my blood dripping into my robe and shot the last of the enemies attacking. Emily uses her sabers when one becomes distracted and kills off two people with a strange movement.
I was losing focus, but we got in cover as more arrows came down, but my shield protected us. I decided I need this battle to end now. I decided that I will do a last resort trump card. I feel it out and Summon with one of the few things I don't want to do. My mana depletes faster than the blood coming out of my stomach, and I feel more and more tired exhaustion was starting to take over any thoughts.
I needed something to wake me up. My mana drained till I was at less than ten percent mana, and the spell kicks in. The arrows continue to fly, and I hide under the wagon.
"TAKE COVER!" I yell to everyone, hoping they hear. I see merchants jump out of the wagons and lay on the ground as a meteorite comes through the sky, becoming a meter wide, and I hear screams as it hits into the trees, followed by an earthquake. I smile as I feel the heat skyrocket.
I used the last of my mana, creating a shield to protect the merchant train from the blast, and felt my mana drain till the last and became an empty vessel. I barely kept consciousness getting out from under the wagon. I yell out, "Run Get This train moving, or we Die." I was panting, and I was in a small world with my vision becoming increasingly smaller.
I climbed onto the barrels and meditated; if I fell asleep, I would die.
My ladies joined me. I heard cries, but I forgot my surroundings, increasing my mana on my stomach, closing, and stitching my internal organs back together. I used mana as I gathered it holding images; simultaneously, my world became my injuries forcing my blood to circulate my heart to keep pumping my lungs to keep moving. I was repairing my body, and my world became my body. I was focused on it.
If anything were to happen, I was dead. I Hadn't eaten anything but dried jerky, and I didn't have the essential nutrition to let go of the mana image. I had to hold that image and hope that we made it to the city before being attacked again.
My world was so focused I became nothing holding over thirty images in my head while gathering mana all to live. I forgot myself, I needed nothing and nothing mattered I just held those images keeping my body alive.