Felix returned to his house and first told Jane about the mobilization. Afterward, he and Sinnet made their way to the local army.
Following Sinnet to the eastern district of the city, Felix arrived at a barrack where the local forces were stationed. The knight pointed at the patrolling n and explained the current military status.
"We have 300 professional soldiers, 500 contracted militia soldiers, and five aura knights. Including you and the lords, we have 10 mages. However, only five are serving in the army. As for the rest, well, they're nobles. They won't join the front line."
Felix counted on his fingers. If Robert and Roland were mages, there would be two more mages lurking in the mansion and the citadel. He wondered who they were.
"So, we have six mages, including . Who else are we bringing along?"
Sinnet laughed, "Not so fast, Sir Ariel! I know you're eager to fight, but we have to prepare so rations and backup supplies in case of ergency. We don't know what we will face in the woods."
"I thought we were traveling light." Felix frowned, disagreeing with Sinnet's thod.
"We are facing a thousand-man army, after all. We need to be well-equipped and carry enough arrows to cause so damage. Otherwise, this skirmish will only strengthen our enemies."
Sinnet entered the command tent and relayed his orders to his subordinates. The soldiers in chainmail armor saluted and rushed to call over the ranger units.
Ten minutes later, two hundred archers and militia rangers gathered in front of the command tent. The hired mages led the units, carrying long jewel staffs. However, they wore armor like the other soldiers, which puzzled Felix.
The five mages didn't look like mages at all. In Felix's mind, he thought of them as barbarians in knight armor holding a mage staff.
"I thought mages usually wore light clothes. Won't heavy armor get in their way?" Felix asked.
Sinnet grinned and puffed his chest, "Earth mages are tougher than ordinary mages, Sir Ariel. They have a strong physique comparable to one-star aura knights. Their stamina is also superior to those weak nobles pretending to be mages. Well, these guys were born commoners. They had to do everything to survive."
In this world, commoners could also beco mages if they were born with innate talent. However, not all mages could succeed as their social status and wealth were inferior to the nobles, who had access to resources and better studying materials. Thus, most commoner-mages strove to be hybrid combat mages who could physically fight if needed.
In addition, their specialized elent affected their constitutions and growth rate. Earth mages, that Sinnet referred to, had thicker skin and bigger bones, resulting in a better physique overall. Casting spells while wearing heavy armor posed no issues.
Felix pursed his lips and silently watched the troops while Sinnet handled everything. The knight chose the 100 best rangers and trained archers from the group and ordered them to mobilize in an hour. Everybody rushed back to their camps to prepare their supplies.
An hour later, the chosen n were ready, carrying bows, arrows, canteens full of water, and large cloth backpacks full of miscellaneous supplies.
Looking at their backpacks, Felix had the urge to introduce them to modern ballistic nylon backpacks, which were a lot sturdier and more durable than their weak-looking pieces of cloth.
When the troops assembled again, Sinnet ordered the march. Felix, Sinnet, the three burly earth mages, and 100 archers left the city through the east gate and marched north.
…
Traveling on the main road for half a day, the sky turned orange. At the western horizon, the sun was no longer visible, only orange light remained.
Despite the darkening sky, Sinnet and the troops never stopped marching. None of them bothered lighting torches as if they had been trained to travel in the dark. Everybody chewed their jerky and maintained their pace. None of them seed tired even though they had walked several miles.
Felix, walking next to Sinnet, narrowed his eyes as he could no longer see far ahead. He opened the system nu and asked Jessica in his mind.
'Jessica, can I have a night vision screen or sothing similar?'
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