With our plan in place, Jack and I made our way back to the entrance room. We knew taking out the three guards there wouldn’t be the challenge. The real obstacle was the guard stationed on the small overlook, a perfect vantage point from which he could both survey the exterior, communicate with the guards inside the barracks, and operate the door. If he spotted us attacking the others, he would sound the alarm, and our entire operation would be blown. We had to deal with him first, and for that, I had concocted a rather ludicrous plan.
As we stepped into the entrance room, our conversation seamlessly switched to Elos. It was unlikely the guards would understand, but we maintained our disguises to eliminate any chance of suspicion. As we moved toward the center of the room, we noticed the guards looking at us uncertainly. We were not escorted, but they did see the head guard bringing us in earlier and treated us like guests. They weren’t supposed to let us roam free, and they didn’t know if they should let us out. More than that, we were talking to each other, and they were unsure whether to interrupt someone above their station.
Just as one of them opened his mouth to question us, Jack stumbled forward, the bag of gold slipping from his grip. Coins were scattered across the room, glinting under the dim light. With Jack’s fall, I took a step back, feigning surprise. I shot him a glance and then directed my gaze upward as per our plan. I must admit, I was quite pleased with my acting talent at that moment. Pretending to disregard Jack’s fall, I continued my path, striding toward the staircase leading upward.
The guards were momentarily paralyzed, their eyes flitting between the gold strewn across the room, Jack struggling to his feet, and me making my way toward the stairs. As they moved to assist Jack, one of them called out to me, “You aren’t supposed to be going up there.” His words echoed in the large room, but I didn’t miss a beat, continuing my confident ascent.
The other guard at the top of the stairs on the balcony stepped inside to see what was happening. He tensed up when he saw me walking straight toward him. Jack spoke up, “Whoa. He doesn’t speak our language. Let me tell him to hold on.”
The guard at the top relaxed while Jack spoke another language. I got closer and closer to the guard at the top, and when Jack stopped talking, I was a couple of feet from him. He had his hand on his sword and was ready to take a swipe at me. I looked at him calmly and turned around to go back down the stairs. Everyone relaxed at me turning around, and even the guard at the top let go of his sword pommel and breathed out. They weren’t sure what was going on, but they didn’t want an incident for killing someone who was of a higher birth than them, even if that person was being an idiot. That could be a quick way to the chopping block for yourself and your family.
At that moment of calm, I used my teleportation skill on a coin I kept in my hand, letting it drop behind the guard at the top. Since coins had spilled just moments earlier, the sound wasn’t surprising to anyone. However, the sound of a coin falling behind someone almost always prompted a glance. As he turned, I quickly drew my sword and drove it into his skull in one smooth motion.
Instantly, chaos erupted.
This time, while discussing strategy, I decided to tell Jack about all my spells before we moved on to this location. I felt guilty that I didn’t tell him how I was healing so fast from all of my combat injuries, so I decided to be honest. He thought my Time Magic was a huge letdown and believed that the teleportation might also be garbage, except it would make a great distraction. He said that while he didn’t think it would help in combat, using it to generate confusion might be the way to go since no one would expect it. He also said he had never heard of such spells, but everyone knew rarer magics were basically useless to everyone since no one could level them. I wanted to ask him more about the subject, but we didn’t have enough time.
Jack tripping and I going up the stairs obliviously were all things we planned out. The purpose was to kill the guard who could scream outside and raise the alarm. To ensure success, Jack and I agreed that he would not draw his weapon until the only one who could call for reinforcements was killed. This left Jack in a dangerous spot. He was alone with two fighters closing in and no element of surprise on his side.
While surprised, they were still on guard after my walk up the stairs, and both took a swing at him right away. Jack couldn’t launch a surprise attack on either one of them because it might have ruined the timing for killing the guard up top. Lucky for us, the soldiers set to open the doors were most likely the least useful, and thus, the easiest to kill. I grabbed my sword directly out of the top guard’s skull by putting my foot on his back and pulling it. This time, it came out quickly, and instead of walking down the stairs, I chose to jump. As I launched off the staircase, the excess weight in my bag threw me off my trajectory, propelling me into a clumsy tumble that ended with me on the ground.
I got back up, but not quickly enough for one of the guards not to notice and hurry toward me. As he got close, I swung my sword and actually connected with him. I was surprised, as I thought it was an easy dodge. The guard was too eager to take advantage of me falling to the floor, but didn’t realize that the distance was too far for it to be a real advantage. My sword struck his arm, causing him to stagger. Rather than flow with his momentum, he foolishly attempted to use his full strength to retaliate. This left him open for a swift stab to his back, but as I was still inexperienced, I hesitated to take it. His aggressive swing overshot, leaving him off-balanced. Seizing the opportunity, I moved in and plunged my sword into his side.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I was pretty sure I hit at least some vital organs in the attack. Contrary to popular movies, fatally wounded individuals didn’t drop dead instantly. Unless they bled out or suffered an irreparable head injury, they would continue to fight for their fleeting lives. This guard was no different. He stumbled back, clearly not wanting to fight, but he had no choice. Jack’s fight was over, and he was advancing on the injured guard as well. The guard started swinging his sword randomly without any skill to try to defend himself against both of us. It was a feeble attempt, even for someone as unskilled as I was.
Seizing an opportunity, I lunged and delivered another stab to the already-injured guard. Almost simultaneously, Jack moved in and lodged his ax into the man’s shoulder. Severely wounded and with no chance of survival without substantial assistance, the soldier could no longer lift his sword. Jack drew close and spoke, “Tell me the way to the roof, and I’ll let you decide: do you want us to end your pain now, or leave you to fight for your life?”
The guard met Jack’s gaze with a mix of pain, delirium, and bewilderment. Death was steadily creeping upon him, but at an agonizingly slow pace. Given his dire situation, he must have concluded that death was inevitable. His lungs were gradually filling with blood, and every word he uttered was a painful effort. It felt as if he were drowning slowly, yet he clung to the glimmer of hope that help could still arrive. Fighting through the pain, he rasped out his most crucial request, “Live…” He coughed before managing to utter, “That way…”
Jack gave a nod of acknowledgment, declaring, “I’m about to knock you out.” Without waiting for any rebuttal, Jack swiftly struck the guard with the hilt of his ax. The guard slumped, unconscious, but his chest still heaved as he clung to life.
I found myself rooted to the spot, observing the entire encounter in silent shock. Once it was over, I remained stationary, still processing the scene, when Jack prompted, “Grab your gear and let’s move.” He gestured in the direction opposite to where the guard had indicated earlier.
“But the guard said the other way,” I challenged his statement.
“Yeah. And if he said he wanted to die, I would have trusted him to tell the truth. But he said he wanted to live. If his comrades found out he helped us, they’d kill him anyway. Why risk that? Better to send us the wrong way and hope we get caught,” Jack replied.
“Then why didn’t you kill him?” I asked.
“He’s already beyond saving,” Jack replied. “Even if we were attacked this very moment, no one could reach him in time to alleviate his suffering. At least I managed to spare him his final agony while offering him the hope he desperately sought.”
I found myself appreciating Jack’s kindness. The thought was strangely comforting. Even though we were his killers, we had managed to fulfil the warrior’s last wish without causing him undue pain. I approached the warrior Jack had been fighting, finishing him off before absorbing his soul. Since I emerged unscathed from this battle, the absorption provided no healing benefits. This encounter had been less challenging than anticipated. Ascending to the top of the stairs, I repeated the Soul Absorption process on the first guard we had eliminated.
I then started to collect the scattered coins from the dropped pouch. Jack sighed. “Not this again.”
“This gold is the reason why this was so easy. It’s a good distracter. You said it yourself. The corruption of this place has made the guards greedy. This fight was so easy because we distracted them with the gold you don’t care for.”
“No, this battle was so easy because these two didn’t know how to fight. They were assigned door duty in the dead of night and hardly qualified as guards in my eyes. But the distraction was necessary for the guard up top, though,” Jack replied, but instead of arguing further, he bent down and grabbed some gold.
Once we had gathered most of the scattered gold, Jack strolled over to the door’s counterweight and severed the rope holding it with a swift strike of his ax. “That will stop any guards from rushing out all at once.”
The counterweight mechanism, designed with a rope instead of a chain, was intended to be cut during a siege. This mechanism allowed the door to be easily opened by just two individuals. Once severed, it would require at least a dozen people to hold the door open. Moving it aside would be a challenging task, making it an effective barrier against enemy forces attempting to force their way in. This action effectively trapped us within the fort, along with any remaining guards. It also ensured that, whether we perished or triumphed, the enemy couldn’t exit in an organized manner to challenge our allies. Instead, they’d likely have to resort to descending the walls one or two at a time.
“Hey, good job on the fight, but you need to release your spell, Fast Time,” Rabbit jumped in on my thoughts.
“Wait, is that spell still active?” I queried Rabbit, surprised. I had initiated it when I first arrived in this world, assuming it would wear off or cease when I slept. The spell could accelerate time for me by 1 percent, but the drawback was that it consumed 99 percent of my mana regeneration, which, for me, essentially depleted all of it. I had no compelling spells at my disposal, so I hadn’t been using mana very frequently.
Glancing at my mana bar, I noticed it wasn’t visibly refilling. To Rabbit, though, the progress might be perceptible. I once asked him how long it would take to replenish my mana while the spell was active. He had estimated about 16 hours, far longer than the mere 10 minutes it would take without the spell. After a moment of concentration, I successfully deactivated the spell, and my mana bar started to refill gradually.
“I realize you don’t utilize much magic. I’ll inform you when your mana is fully restored so you can recast the spell,” Rabbit assured. I wasn’t too concerned about reactivating it. I was skeptical that a mere 1 percent could make a significant difference, but since Rabbit had initially recommended it, I decided to humor him, unless it became too bothersome.
