Feeling the warm rays of the early morning sun on her face, linda opened her tired eyes. Her legs felt deathly numb, but she was happy. Her master’s face was peaceful. linda noticed that Varn and Thar were also slowly waking up and looking around the car.
linda was surprised that Walter had kept up his Water Cannon spell for an entire night. "Good morning, Walter..." she said in a sleepy voice.
"Good morning, Miss linda," he replied in a calm voice. "We will be arriving soon."
linda looked out the car’s window at the illuminated landscape. "Sure enough, it’s a wasteland," she murmured. All she could see was cracked mud covered in sparsely growing grass among the frost for endless miles. The occasional naked tree dotted the horizon, lording over the desolate land. Due to the dry climate and lack of rain, this plateau was an impoverished land with infertile soil.
Nevertheless, the entourage moved forward at a moderate pace along a cracked road that ran alongside a slow-moving and shallow river. Up ahead in the distance, under the shadow of the looming mountains, a small forest that appeared as an oasis surrounded by endless barren lands could be seen.
linda couldn’t help being curious and asked Walter, "Walter, I am also planning to study Water Magic in the near future. How can you maintain the Water Cannon skill for hours on end?"
Walter kept his focus on his spell and driving the car but answered, "I have a B grade in both Mana Control and my Water Cannon skill. Compared to my maximum power, maintaining the skill to move the car at such a pathetically slow speed is hardly laborious for ."
"B-grade, that’s quite impressive," linda said.
"Nothing compared to the Young Master," Walter respectfully replied.
linda would have made more idle conversation, but Jack stirred, his peaceful face suddenly changing to a bloodthirsty one. Without even opening his eyes, he murmured, "Bandits up ahead."
Jack had made use of his unique skill set to detect the threat. With his [Lazy] trait, he could practically sleep while standing up. So, while sleeping, he made use of his [Concentration] trait and had his Clairvoyance skill running. He was worried that the knights surrounding him would make a move to kill him during the night, but they had been well-behaved so far.
Clairvoyance [D]
The ability to see things and events that are happening far away and locate objects, places, and people using a "sixth sense."
As one of the essential skills in a psychic mage’s arsenal, he had been practising it as often as possible. Hence it was already at the D grade. At the mont, he could detect living things within a hundred ters and directly look at things within ten ters. With every level up, his sight while using the skill improved, but currently, he could only see the outlines of things and no other details.
linda was startled and looked around, yet apart from the small forest in the distance, everything else was flatlands for miles. Not an ideal place to conduct a bandit attack. Looking down, she noticed Jack was calm, even showing a hint of amusent. linda relaxed her stiff body. If Jack wasn’t worrying, then neither would she.
Jack opened his eyes and checked the location of the sun. "Walter, the bridge to the castle is from the east bank, right?"
Walter glanced at a map situated on the seat to his left and shook his head. "Regrettably, I have no idea, Young Master. I have never visited the Tarlington Fortress before."
Jack sat up and tried to rember the information from the ga. Alas, he had never paid attention to such an unimportant detail while playing.
"So, about the bandits, Young Master..." Walter asked in a concerned tone. "Should we notify the guards?"
Jack just laughed. "It’s not the bandits I fear. It’s these disloyal dogs surrounding us."
Thar nodded at Jack’s statent. "I felt a weird sense of killing intent from them ever since we t them at the palace—well, everyone except that dwarf Beldroth."
linda chid in, "Erm, Beldroth is an elf, just a really short one. He is related sohow to the princess, I believe."
Jack agreed. "I assu Beldroth will stand by our side. From my guess, he was sent here to spy on for the king. However, with his Wind Magic, he can easily make trips during the night to deliver information or escape if necessary."
Thar looked out the window at the knights and said in a low voice, "So, why did you call the knights disloyal? How bad are we talking?"
Jack leaned back in his seat and looked outside the window at the knights. "Every few hours through the night, we stopped to rest by the river. During this ti, all the knights, without fail, except Beldroth, would sneakily take a pill with water. I suspect it’s an antidote for a poison... and using Clairvoyance, I had a little sneak peek into one of their pouches and found only five pills remaining."
Thar’s face turned grim. "You said they took one every few hours. Then they only have a day or two to live at most."
Jack leaned back and closed his eyes. "I wouldn’t be surprised if they tead up with the bandits to deal with us."
Walter asked in a low voice, "Young Master, should we try to escape? I can speed up the car..."
"No. This car cannot traverse the barren landscape at a high enough speed to escape the wind mages. This is a rare opportunity." He flashed a bloodthirsty smile. "Ranking up in the comfort of the ho is a waste of ti and takes too long. Why turn down the opportunity to fight when it arises?"
Turning toward the kobold, who had been quiet for the entire conversation, he said, "Varn, will you follow outside? Place yourself between and the knights."
He thought back on Varn’s abilities.
[Varn Yddryr]
[Kobold]
Schools of Magic:
[Wild Magic (B)]
Primordial Mana Manipulation [C]
"Manipulates the raw and untad mana around and inside you."
Chaos Vortex [D]
"Creates a swirling ball of wild affinity mana that destroys other mana on contact. Can be thrown."
Chaos Zone [F]
"Creates a domain of wild mana around the caster, reduces the effectiveness of incoming spells, and enhances wild mana spells."
Jack was reassured of his plan to place Varn between him and the mages. "Since I have suitable weapons, my combat potential has skyrocketed. However, I will still require assistance dealing with so many knights. From my estimations..." He glanced out the window. "They seem to be around the C-grade mostly, but I can feel the aura of one or two B-grades among them.
"Look here—" Jack said, directing Varn’s eyes at a young woman and an older-looking man. "Those two are B-grades. Keep them busy for while I dispose of the small fry."
Varn weakly nodded. He had witnessed death before, but he was a sheltered prince of the kobolds. He had never participated in a life-and-death battle before.
Noticing Varn’s ek behaviour, Jack handed him a card. It was silvery gray and covered in complex blue runes. "This is enchanted with a ’deflect’ rune. It will automatically defend against a life-threatening attack but will consu a large amount of mana."
Varn took the card and admired it, treasuring it like a second life. He quickly placed it under his shirt.
Jack leaned forward and beckoned everyone to get in close. Then, in a low voice, he said, "The plan is this." He pointed to the floor as if enacting a battle scenario.
"When the car begins to cross the bridge, the bandits will notice us and co out. If my guess is correct, and the knights are indeed planning to kill us, this would be an opportune mont to attack, as we will be trapped between a rock and a hard place. I will walk toward the bandits with the pretense of negotiations. Varn stays near the car and behind . The signal to attack the knights will be when one of them loses their head."
Varn opened his mouth to speak, but Jack continued. "You will understand what I an when it happens. Anyway, once the fight starts, I will ascend to the skies above. Varn, you stay on the ground and disrupt the B-grade mages with your wild mana."
Jack then turned to Thar. "Your tal Magic is still at the C grade, and Rune Engraving will not be useful for combat. Sa with you, linda. At the mont, you only know a single spell above the C grade, and that’s a cleaning spell."
linda let out a sad sigh, but Jack added with a grin, "Once the fight starts, feel free to attack so injured knights with your Water Cannon spell. It will level up quickly when used to kill others. Here, take this..." He handed her a life-saving card, and she wrapped it in cloth and stowed it safely.
Jack then sat back, and everyone else followed. "Walter, your job is to protect the car and its occupants the best you can. If things turn south, feel free to flee with Thar and linda."
Walter nodded from the front seat.
A few minutes of pin-drop silence followed as everyone ntally prepared themselves for the potential battle ahead.
Eventually, the car reached the forest; the road continued onward through the trees and led to a large clearing. In the middle, surrounded by the forest, was a large lake. In the center stood a beige-coloured castle. It had a single tall tower on the eastern side overlooking the lake. On the western side of the castle was a single bridge that was the sole walkway across the calm lake.
Although from its intimidating walls, Jack could agree with it being called the Tarlington Fortress, the first bastion that protected the realm from the vampires, it was clearly made with one purpose in mind. Absolute defensive power. Not a single spot was wasted, as battlents lined every wall. Despite the castle’s smaller size when compared to more luxurious ones made for kings, Jack thought this was the most fortified and intimidating castle he had ever laid his eyes on. Yet, it had been abandoned and left to crumble. A fortress from a forgotten old era. Now, it was his.
The entourage followed the river that was fed by the lake and moved onto the lone bridge. It was around two carriages wide and made of a sand-coloured stone. At the far end was the fortress gatehouse, with its magically enhanced portcullis slowly rising. Out walked a group of n and won of varying ages. They looked ragged with ssy hair and worn-out clothes.
Beldroth noticed the bandits and stepped forward. "This is property of Duke Wilson. Please vacate the premises imdiately!"
Seeing the defiant look on the people’s faces, Beldroth turned and knocked on the car’s door. "Sir Jack, how do you wish to deal with these squatters on your land?" he asked with interest. Beldroth wanted to see how a noble vampire could tolerate humans inhabiting his future house.
Opening the car door, Jack stepped out into the chilly January breeze with grace. He took his ti adjusting his suit and looking up at the peaceful sky. The sun was high above the castle, and not a cloud was in sight. He couldn’t help but sigh as he felt the knights behind him slowly closing in and encircling the entrance.
"It’s showti," he murmured to himself.
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