Lucen, who continued walking towards the cave located near Ashpeak mountains, surprisingly did not find any other monster.
’Is the presence of the dead body of a young dragon scaring off the other monsters?’
Unlike before, Lucen had his arquebus at the ready and had already loaded it with a lead ball, looking around to see if there were any monsters. Surprisingly, aside from the Glacier hares, he saw no other monster, but he did see a few deer and an owl, but even those were nowhere to be found when he got nearer to the cave.
There was also the occasional movement in the shadows that should be something, but he could not see clearly.
’This silence... It’s like a horror movie.’
He clicked his tongue.
’Tsk. Damn it, now I want to watch something... but there’s nothing like that in this world.’
His mind drifted as he trudged forward through the snow. He started thinking about alternative entertainment that could replace movies in this world.
’There should be plays or something, right? I haven’t seen any in the city yet, though. Just a few bards reciting tales at taverns.’
The more Lucen recalled about his past life, the more he realized how little entertainment this fantasy world had to offer.
’Well, I guess I won’t have time for entertainment anyway, since even before the story starts, it’s pretty much game over for the North if I don’t do anything.’
Lucen exhaled another cloud of frost into the still air and gripped the arquebus tightly. The cave entrance was just ahead, a jagged mouth of dark stone at the base of a cliff, partially hidden by snow-covered pines. Everything was too quiet. No monster howls, no wind, not even the crunch of small animals beneath the underbrush.
’The Ashpeak Cave, good thing it’s in the same general position. Finally arrived, it took two whole days to get here.’
Lucen couldn’t help but sigh at the thought that, in-game, getting to this place doesn’t take half an hour, but in the real world, it takes two whole days. Still, camping out wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, since there were no monsters nearby.
It was that moment Lucen heard a faint crunch of a branch and quickly ducked and hid behind a tree as he looked in the direction from which he heard the sound. In the distance, he saw cloaked figures appearing. There were four he could see, but he wasn’t sure if that was all of them.
’Tsk, of course, this wasn’t going to be simple.’
Unlike when he faced his first monster, Lucen was oddly calm as he aimed the arquebus at one of the approaching cloaked figures.
"Lucen Thornehart. Come with us quietly. We don’t want to hurt you."
Lucen stood from cover, eyes calm, breath steady. His red eyes gleamed with a quiet, simmering fire as he was ready to pull the trigger.
"And who exactly are you people?" The figures didn’t answer.
’Four visible. Probably more in hiding. No good cover for a full fight. If they have mages, I’ll need to hit first.’
Lucen narrowed his eyes, expression hardening, he was ready to show these fantasy thugs the power of guns.
"If you guys don’t identify yourselves, I’m going to treat you as enemies."
The figures still did not respond. Lucen strengthened his resolve. It was now either kill or be killed. Lucen aimed his arquebus at the nearest visible figure. His hands were trembling ever so slightly, still, despite that, thanks to his skills, gun knowledge, and marksmanship, his stance remained firm.
Lucen repeated to himself, It’s either me or them, and fired.
The loud sound of thunder echoed in the area, which surprised Harlik, the leader of the mercenaries, who came to capture Lucen.
He was in his late thirties, Broad-shouldered, with thick arms and a hard, combat-scarred physique honed through years of mercenary life. He was not bulky like Thalos. His body was more leanly built, not from training but from survival. His uneven dark brown hair, streaked with early gray at the temples, looked like it had been cut with a knife, not a mirror.
His Steely-gray eyes looked in confusion as he was unsure as to where the sound of thunder came from. As he looked around, he saw that one of his men had fallen to the ground.
Harlik yelled, even as the ringing in his ears dulled his own voice. But in truth, none of them had seen any spell formation, no chant, no glowing circle, just a flash of fire, some smoke, and a hole in their comrade’s forehead.
The survivors scrambled for cover, instincts overriding confusion. Harlik then used his Aura to protect his body from whatever was to come. Harlik’s cloak flared outward as translucent energy shimmered over his skin like armor of moonlight. He was a second mantle aura user and had some experience fighting mages.
"What kind of spell was that?! I saw nothing, and it was only a sound, and then one of us died." One of Harlik’s men, visibly shaken, spoke.
"No one said that the eldest son of the Iron Duke was a f*cking mage! How come there were no rumors about this?!"
Seeing his subordinates panicking, Harlik glared at them and signalled them to stop. The men, seeing their leader’s action, quieted down.
Once everyone had stopped speaking, Harlik looked at his subordinates and ordered them using hand signals.
Harlik couldn’t blame his men for panicking. This was something different from anything they had faced before. They had fought with aura users, mages, barbarians, and monsters before, but none was . Just a sound of thunder, no chant, no visual cues, just the sound, and then cold death arrived.
As the mage in the group started chanting, they saw something appear on the ground. It was an iron sphere; Harlik did not know what it was, but his instincts told him that it was something incredibly dangerous.
Hearing the command, the others tried to run away from the iron sphere, while those who were too close strengthened their defense either by using a first circle mana shield or using their first mantle of aura as a shield. Unfortunately for them, that decision cost them their life.
The iron sphere exploded with a burst of fire and shrapnel, making an even louder sound than the one before, breaking apart and killing the two near it. With that level of explosion only, someone like Harlik, the leader of the mercenary group who was at the second mantle of aura, would have survived, albeit with some injuries.
’Damn it! This kid was supposed to be a sickly loser! The reports about him were all f*cking false! I have already lost three of my men! What was that thing that clearly wasn’t a spell?! It was an object. Was the North hiding such a monster?!’
Despite the shock of the situation, as someone who has been in a few battlefields and survived, Harlik, as the leader of the mercenaries, knew that panicking only meant a quicker death.
Harlik signalled his men to scatter and surround Lucen. Even though he did not know what other trick Lucen had in his sleeves, this tactic was effective against lone mages below the third circle.
While their group was moving to their positions, Harlik once again heard the sound of thunder, and the same as before, after hearing the sound, one of his subordinates died. Harlik, seeing the death of another one of his companions, clenched his hand harder onto the hilt of his sword.
When he saw the others get into position, Harlik strengthened the aura in his body and spread it towards his towering shield to strengthen it. Harlik charged towards Lucen’s position while roaring, attracting the other party’s attention.
Harlik once again heard the sound of thunder, but this time, no one died as he felt something hit his shield, slowing down his charge. The power of that attack was great, but it was unable to penetrate his shield coated with his aura.
Now, with renewed confidence, Harlik continued his charge. His subordinates were also attacking the area Lucen was in with first circle magic and a few arrows. If Lucen survives, that would’ve been great since they will be able to finish their mission; if Lucen dies, they don’t care anymore since they no longer have the luxury of thinking about such things.
Spells, arrows, and explosions tore through the snow, kicking up a blinding white fog that made it hard for both sides to see clearly.
Another thunderclap cracked through the fog, but this time, no force struck him. He glanced sideways and swore. Another one of his men was down. Harlik moved even faster than before.
Harlik was about to reach Lucen’s position, or so he thought, when he arrived in the place Lucen was, he was no longer there.
"But he was here, he should have been here!" Harlik growled, eyes darting across the snow for blood, tracks, anything.
The area had been surrounded, and there was no way for the twelve-year-old to leave without any of them noticing, so that could only mean one thing... Harlik knelt on the ground and saw a trail that was almost covered by the snow, but it was obvious where it was headed.
"He escaped into the cave."
Harlik signaled his subordinates, who all gathered around him.
"So, boss, are we going after him?" One of his subordinates asked the others waiting for his answer.
Harlik sheathed his sword and closed his eyes deep in thought. The boy they were supposed to capture was more dangerous than they imagined. He had already lost five men in that battle. Five men were lost in a battle against a twelve-year-old!
They were mercenaries, and death was always beside them, but to die in a battle against a twelve-year-old. Not only that, but they failed to finish their mission. If word got out that they tried to kidnap the eldest son of the Iron Duke and failed at that, not only would they not get paid, but they would lose their credibility.
Harlik gnashed his teeth in frustration.
’I knew nothing good would come of taking a job from those unknown guys. It would have been better to have died on the battlefield somewhere. Still, they offered a lot of money, I thought this could be our last job, and we could go and enjoy our lives... Now I’ve lost, Jeremy, Anice, Ike, Ruper, and Matt.’
Once again thinking about his dead subordinates, Harlik gripped the hilt of his sword even more tightly.
"... We’ll follow him in."