The Fearless War

Flames before Peace

The smell of blood invaded my nose as soon as I woke up, the ceiling above me was the same as the carriage but I didn't feel it was moving. I woke up with a feeling of weakness in my body and through the front opening I could see the night sky illuminated by what seemed to be a bonfire. Before I could stick my head out and see where I was, I heard Uncle Miles' voice from outside.

"Oz if you're finally awake come and help!"

Unable to answer anything, I reached up to grab my backpack with my sword strapped to the side and unsheathed it. With sword in hand, I breathed in accumulating mana with no surprise about my new mana control, jumped with my reinforced legs out of the carriage and was greeted by a tackle from something heavy. I put my arms with the sword in front of them and received the thrust to direct it to the side.

Had it not been for the reinforcement of my legs, the thrust would have thrown me backwards without any rest. I placed my sword in my hands and with the little light produced by the metal reflecting the fire of the bonfire I could discern the shadow of what was attacking me. Its size did not exceed that of a young adult, although its limbs were longer, and its legs had animal-like features. Its head ended in horned structures and its eyes showed a faint solid red light.

"Uncle Miles? What did you do now?! And why are we so deep in a forest?!"

For the first time since embarking away from home, I had encountered something about which I had no knowledge. My thinking had stopped, and I almost received a head-on attack from a rusty spear carried by the creature. At the last moment I retreated as a thin blade of a black dagger blocked the attack.

"Don't get so distracted Oz! Which by the way, I'll tell you I didn't do anything, first we need to take care of these kobolds first."

"How many are there?"

"I'm not sure, they're like pests, there's no end until the mother is done with."

Recovering from a bad foot stomp, I cut off the kobold's head and stuck a knife into a nearby tree to get a moment to analyze my surroundings. I strengthened my senses and without wasting time, I dropped down before a group of kobolds that had accumulated below me. With brute force I stabbed the first kobold and pulled a wooden club out of his hand. I blocked an incoming arrow with the club and taking advantage of the fact that they were still a bit stunned, I threw the broken weapon in my hand towards where the arrow came out and received as an answer a hissing sound that suddenly fell silent.

"How's it going on your side dude?!"

"Don't worry about me Oz, I could use the practice now and then!"

"How long were you going before I woke up?!"

"A couple of hours!"

As I kept fighting, I kept getting further and further away from Uncle Miles as the kobolds kept popping up after a while. Even though they didn't reach such numbers that they surrounded us, the constant flow made it a battle of endurance. I decided to separate my sword and take a stance with both of my sword tips pointed towards me, so that I could s***h at the same time as I cut through the kobolds.

After a while my blades began to press against my arms and to continue, I strengthened my entire body by overloading it with mana. My body felt more and more agile as I cut through enemies and dodged spears, swords and arrows aimed at me. The forest gradually became silent until my tired breathing filled the air. My arms had a burning sensation, and I joined the swords as I felt no more enemies around me.

"Are you done Oz?"

"Barely, Uncle Miles."

I sat in the back of the carriage so I could catch my breath and left my sword buried in the dirt. Suddenly the grass all around it began to burn, generating a small flame. I quickly pulled the sword out of the ground and realized that even though it didn't seem to be burning, the surface of the blades was too hot. Something I didn't realize because of the mana reinforcement that was yet to be burned from my body.

"What the f**k is wrong with the blades uncle Miles?!"

"Don't look at me Oz, and I think you need to look back a little..."

"What do you mean ...."

Behind me the corpses of the kobolds seemed to be scorched right at their wound as if they had been burned the instant I had cut or stabbed them. And the heat seemed to move away from the wound with corpses that had missing limbs next to a pile of ash. I immediately cut off my supply of mana and waited for the mana I had already consumed to slowly dissipate.

"How did I do that... no, it doesn't make sense..."

"Well, this I was going to tell you, your body suddenly started rearranging your spiritual veins since a few days ago."

"A few days?! how long was I out?!"

Uncle miles started to examine me already with his pupil completely white, moving my arms and describing the changes I had gone through. I couldn't believe I had lasted more than a day without being able to wake up. The most I had spent in the tower was at most a few hours, but not whole days. It also didn't explain why we had suddenly been attacked.

"I know you have questions, but I don't have all the answers Oz. The most I can tell you is that when you passed out, the flow of mana you caused when your veins unraveled made you look like wounded prey to the eyes of other monsters and beasts. So, several groups and packs followed us, specifically it started with the wolves about five days ago."

"So, I was moving mana while I was asleep?"

"And in large quantities I have to say, but as it only passed quickly through your body, it seemed no more than a desperate attempt to flee from an animal."

"Thanks for the encouragement ... And what does it have to do with what I just did?"

"Oz concentrate for a moment please, what elements do you have inside you."

"Fire and earth, why? ..... Aaah!"

My outer body did not seem to have changes, but my spiritual one did, even though the sensation and feeling of fire was limited to one side of my body, both swords presented such intense heat capable of cutting living beings as if there was nothing but air. I would have to be more careful not to overload my body with pure mana without knowing how to manifest it beyond a physical reinforcement since without having a clear idea, magic could be generated randomly taking the form of some element such as fire.

"Huuuh! How is it possible that you don't analyze at critical moments Oz?"

"Well excuse me Mr. Hematite adventurer.... "

"Don't sting it Oz."

"Okay, and well. How far do we have to go to get to Oldscar?"

"We would be arriving at sunset if there are no more stumbles. if you hadn't woken up, it would have been difficult to get into the city. Not so easy to explain a half-dead young man in a carriage, eh?"

"I don't think you would have been more than inconvenienced by carrying me, what time do we hit the road?"

"I'd say dawn to have time for everything, there are a few more hours left and there don't seem to be any more monsters, rest Oz."

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The next morning the forest where we were, no longer seemed as gloomy and lush as it appeared in the darkness of the night. Before taking out food for the vocats, I moved the bodies of the burned kobolds to a pile of bodies that Uncle Miles had accumulated in a pit. The burns on some of the bodies were still lingering and seemed to be absorbing mana to continue consuming in the heat. Yet another reminder not to use anything without control.

As for the weapons they used, Uncle Miles decided to break off the handles and parts made of leather or wood and keep just the metal, apparently, he was going to sell a part of it in Oldscar to get an inn that would allow such a large carriage with the animals we were carrying. After a while I managed to carry all the small bodies to the pit and sat by the fire that had been revived and set to cook meat.

"May I know who we are going to see in Oldscar, Uncle Miles?"

"You'll know when we get there, I'll just say she's a crazy old woman."

"A crazy alchemist? Not such a good opinion of her uncle?"

"It's not that, Agh ... just that I got to know her in some bad times. Don't make a big deal out of it."

Just as when he clashed with a nobleman's assistant, it seemed that his past was the source of my uncle's hatred for nobles, something that still came to hurt him and seemed as ingrained as if it were part of his very nature. I wanted to know with all my might the reason or the events, but I was not the right person to delve into that past.

We quickly packed up everything we had used and repaired the reins of the vocats who seemed excited to see me after five days without even seeing me. The flattened road was not so far from where we had camped and little by little the trees reduced in size until the only ones visible on the road were young or freshly cut trees.

I drove the rest of the way so that Uncle Miles could rest, but I could hear how inside the carriage he was handling what seemed to be the hide of some animal with a strong scent. The sound of the skin being cut and folded calmed my senses until a scream in front of me caught my attention.

"Stop, state your names and your purpose!"

We had reached a wall a little higher than an adult and at the bottom was a group of three knights soldiers with various weapons, two who were in front of the only entrance for carriages carried halberds and the one who had called us to stop was carrying a longbow and was in a tower stuck between two tall trees. I stopped the carriage and called out to Uncle Miles to escort me out.

"Good morning young knights, we are but a retired adventurer and his nephew visiting an old acquaintance."

With his accent changed again, Uncle Miles presented his silver-colored card and upon seeing them, the gentlemen at ground level cleared the way.

Before we were allowed to continue with the entrance an officer asked us several questions while verifying with a monocle that acted as a magic tool, the veracity of our statements, as Oldscar was a city that served as a trade center, we needed to verify our identities, while Uncle Miles passed with his guild card, I had to prick my finger and wait for the national magic to prove my identity which did not take long before we were allowed to continue along the main street. On either side were stores and buildings made of brick and clean looking.

"How's the view Oz?"

"It's not like anything I've ever seen before."

"Excellent, now it's time to go see the crazy that woman."

I followed the instructions given to me by Uncle Miles and walked through streets wide enough for three carriages to pass along, although the buildings had similar structures, each one had a different purpose and appearance. Eventually the landscape changed from commercial buildings to a place filled with workshops and blacksmith shops, the buildings shortened and had chimneys and forges lit, the sound of metal being pounded filled the street.

"Now it's straight ahead to the last shop on the street, Oz."

"Are you sure uncle?"

The workshop Uncle Miles had pointed out was the only one without something to make it stand out and it didn't have any forges lit either. The collocated paint was starting to fall off and it had a couple of broken windows. In the front was a single rusty sign that clearly stated despite the appearance.

[Alke Sisters' Refinery and Alchemy]