The Soldier Mage 26 Chapter 26

Slow but heavy footsteps announced the approach of the bandit leader. The adventurers readied themselves, a.s.suming battle positions and stances. They were weakened from their fights already but were still set on accomplis.h.i.+ng their contract. Wilfred stayed in the back, observing the figure emerging from the darkness of the tunnel. At first, only a black silhouette but then a metallic hue was more apparent the closer the bandit leader got.

Halam spoke to Wilfred, the tension in his voice noticeable.

"We'll need your help with this one."

Wilfred nodded positively, acknowledging Halam.

He had quite a few useful things from his preparations that he made in the city before they left but ideally wanted to try and keep most of them secret if he could. It would have been helpful if he could use a healing spell or such to a.s.sist the adventurers but he did not have the strong affinity that he did for Wind and Alteration. He did have one alteration spell however, one that he recently acquired [Lesser Enhance Const.i.tution]. He had only tried it out on himself and not using it on others but it should also work.

Not much thought was needed in order to a cast a spell on oneself and the academy had not gone over how to use your spells on another person yet.

Well no time like the present to try, Wilfred thought. Looking at Fig, Wilfred aimed his hands towards him and cast his spell.

"[Lesser Enhance Const.i.tution]!"

However, it did not work and only served to cast the spell on himself. Wilfred then tried another way, focusing on the presence of Fig and casting the spell once more.

The soft orange glow enveloped Fig who visibly saw it and panicked, thinking it was the bandit's leader doing. Wilfred quickly stepped up to him in order to calm him down.

"Wait, no! It's me, I'm using defensive spells on all of us."

Resuming where he left off, he used [Lesser Enhance Const.i.tution] on all 4 of them and prayed the battle would soon be over. At a rate of 6 Mana per, minus 1 for his own regeneration, keeping this up was costing him 23 Mana every second. Having used a few spells earlier, Wilfred figured he could last for maybe 200 seconds like this.

a.n.a.lyzing his companions he was able to see that just like on him, the spell increased their const.i.tution by 15 points and that their health had also increased by 75 points.

What really spoke volumes about their opponent was Halam discarding his spear and drawing his sword, the weapon he has the most proficiency with. Wilfred wasn't sure why he hadn't used it up till now, perhaps he was training his spear skills or preferred the longer reach of the weapon but he knew that everyone was being serious now.

"Halam, I won't be able to hold this up very long on all four of you. We need to end this soon."

"Wilfred, keep it up only on yourself and Alcot. Me and Fig have other ways of evading damage and this will likely be a long battle."

Although reluctant, Wilfred cancelled the spells from Fig and Halam, trusting Halam's judgement. Alcot discarded his war hammer and instead took the s.h.i.+eld that was on his back along with an axe that was on his belt.

Finally, the bandit leader was visible to all, exiting the darkness of the tunnel. Clad in a black heavy armor, he was a very imposing sight to behold.

Wasting no time, Wilfred used a.n.a.lyze to gleam what he could from him.

"[a.n.a.lyze]!"

Blackjack Landen [Lv. 27]

t.i.tles: Leader of Sondano Bandits

Health: 225/225

Str: 37(44)

Con: 43

Agi: 23(28)

Dex: 21(25)

Int: 15

Wil: 14

Wis: 11

Lck: 12(16)

Skills & Spells: [Sword Mastery Lv.6], [Leaders.h.i.+p Lv.1], [Swift Strike], [Whirlwind Spin Lv.2]

Something was definitely increasing his attributes, perhaps some sort of magic item but still, he was very strong without even taking magical items in consideration.

"Hey, so here's what can I see from this guy…"

Wilfred then conveyed his abilities to the adventurers, they especially showing concern at his level and attributes but Halam was worried about his sword mastery.

"That's a truly high level of mastery...even the best swordsman in the guild only has [Sword Mastery Lv.7]."

Only 60 feet separate them now and time for talk was over. They still had numbers over their opponent but things didn't work like back on earth here. There was no telling what kind of effect their attacks would have if at all.

The bandit leader stopped, unsheathing his sword, a large two handed blade that was strapped to his back. It reminded Wilfred of a claymore.

"How brave and polite of you all to stay and fight. It would have been terribly boring to chase you down. Have you made your peace yet? Too late!"

The bandit leader rushed the group, his claymore held back and ready to strike.

Alcot intercepted him and stood in his way, leaving time for Halam and Fig to position themselves better. It would be hard for Fig to fire shots in this battle as his two companions would be in the thick of it. His shots would need to be carefully placed and would likely not have great effect on his armor at any rate.

The claymore struck the s.h.i.+eld with a loud band, Alcot's arm bending under the force of the blow but he still held while Halam circled around and attempted to strike at Blackjack's knee from behind.

The bandit leader however was still very agile even with such a heavy armor and moved his left leg out of the way, spinning around and bringing his claymore to bear on Halam, striking from overhead.

"[Evasive Strike]!"

Halam raised his sword horizontally but at an angle, deflecting the blow to the side making the claymore slide to his right and stepped in closer to Blackjack striking him in the chest with the pommel of his sword.

The bandit leader was slightly staggered and pushed backwards but he swiftly regained his footing and followed up with an ability.

"[Swift Strike]!"

The claymore was suddenly thrust forward like a spear, slicing Halam's right side but narrowly missing any vital organs. Halam pulled back, clutching his side which was bleeding with his right hand.

At that moment, Alcot sidestepped and Fig fired in quick succession on Blackjack, many arrows glancing off harmlessly but one found its mark, in his armpit where the armor was less reinforced.

Blackjack changed his focus to the archer, sprinting at fast speeds with his claymore ready to strike. Alcot tried to catch up but could not due to his leg injury.

Wilfred watched in horror as Fig used his bow to block the strike, the claymore then continuing onwards and leaving a trail of blood on his chest. Blackjack lifted the claymore up high, intended to do a finis.h.i.+ng blow but Wilfred intervened.

"[Barrier]!"

It was a last minute effort and Wilfred wasn't even sure that it would work but it did to everyone's surprise. Wilfred was surprised it had worked because he'd never seen it done before, Fig was surprised because the Claymore that was heading for his head bounced off of an invisible wall and Blackjack was especially surprised because he did not know there was a mage with the adventurers.

The barrier did not last long though. As soon as it came to life, the claymore destroyed it but it had done its part and Fig still lived. Using the precious seconds that Wilfred bought for him, Fig took a potion off of his belt and drank it in one gulp. As Blackjack prepared to swing again, Alcot charged him from behind, knocking both of them down.

Halam still struggled from his wound but made his way towards the pair of them, sword in one hand and the other putting pressure on his wound.

"Enough!"

The bandit leader screamed, using all his strength to throw Alcot away. Alcot landed roughly, tumbling on the hard rock floor and very painfully got back up again.

Sensing an opportunity since the bandit leader stood all alone and away from everyone, Wilfred took out a small round object from his bag and pulled a metal pin, throwing it at Blackjack's feet while yelling to his teammates.

"Everyone, get down and away from him!"

Even though the warning also served to help Blackjack brace for it, the explosion did catch him solidly and propelled him into the northern wall with a loud thud. His adventurer companions also headed his warning, especially those that had been blinded by the flashbang the other day. Alcot almost comically launched himself to the ground, his hands over his head while Halam and Fig simply distanced themselves as fast as they could.

Remembering that there's no such thing as overkill, Wilfred reached into his bag for his MP5 and changed the ammo clip for another, AP rounds this time just in case he would need it. Army training also ingrained soldiers to make sure that enemy combatants are actually down and cannot cause further harm and Wilfred was no exception to that.

Looking at the crumpled figure of Blackjack, it seemed that the fragmentation grenade had done some damage to his armor but evidently not enough as he soon got up once more. The armor was likely a magic item, which is what made it much more st.u.r.dy and lightweight than it seemed at first glance. While Blackjack struggled a bit to rise, he was still a very dangerous opponent even while injured.

With the adventurers in the state they were, Wilfred doubted they could finish him off without any casualties on their side. In a perfect scenario, Wilfred would have liked for his items to remain a closely guarded secret but at the same time it was bound to be known at some point and he did not want their deaths on his conscience.

Seeing Blackjack rise, Halam and Alcot advanced on him slowly and warily with their weapons ready. Fig seemed in rough shape but the potion he took seemed to be helping as he was no longer bleeding out.

A large crack was visible on the bandit's leader helmet and he took it off, revealing his face. His hair was brown and short, likely cut by himself as it looked like a botched up job. His left cheek was bleeding slightly and there was also some blood at the edge of his mouth. Spitting the blood, he bent down and picked up his sword once more.

"A f.u.c.king mage...if it weren't for you this would have been over a long time ago. Can't believe I underestimated him, looks like just a kid."

Halam and Alcot got within range of him and struck simultaneously , each on one side of Blackjack. However, he was ready for them and ducked under Alcot's swing which was slower before parrying Halam's weaker strike with his claymore. Smirking, he activated his ability.

"[Whirlwind Spin]!"

Moving with almost unnatural speed and strength, Blackjack spun around with his claymore at astonis.h.i.+ng speeds, striking both Alcot and Halam with such force that they were sent flying away a solid 20 feet. His opponents no longer in his way, Blackjack used what remaining power he had left to sprint towards Wilfred with his claymore extended, intended to impale him.

Wilfred knelt on one knee and aimed his MP5 straight ahead, firing in short bursts in order to remain on target. The firing rate of the gun could be very fast but Wilfred wanted to make sure that every single bullet counted since he would not get the chance to reload before this maniac made it to him.

The first five AP bullets struck the chest armor and did not penetrate, forcing Wilfred to adjust his aiming towards Blackjack's head. It was a harder target to accurately hit but at least the damage would be devastating. The next volley missed as Blackjack rolled and dodged to the right with superhuman reflexes. Although the armor blocked the bullets he likely felt the impact and knew it would be fatal if he were to get hit.

Wilfred took a deep breath and fired once more another volley but this time, adjusted his shooting so that he was aiming where Blackjack was going. One of the bullets managed to clip his ear, causing enough pain to make him wince and stop for a brief moment which Wilfred utilized to shoot the remaining 10 bullets in full burst at his head. Although not ideal ammunition for this, the AP rounds that hit their target devastated Blackjack's face until it was no longer recognizable. Wilfred never enjoyed killing people but he did not find it distasteful neither. There were some that could simply not be negotiated with and brute force was the only answer, Blackjack was one of these.

A mere 10 feet from him, Blackjack's body collapsed to the ground and bled out. Not wanting any nasty surprises, Wilfred reached the claymore, picked it up and took it far away from the body. Not sure how brutal Blackjack's last attack had been, Wilfred called out to his companions.

"Are you guys okay?"

Fig was the only one that replied.

"I've been better, I'll go check on the others, I have a bit of medicine."

After going through his bag and giving potions or applying bandages, Fig let Wilfred know that they would be alright but would need some rest before being able to leave. Relieved Wilfred sat down against one of the cavern walls and sighed, relaxing for the first time since they had entered this cave.

After taking a small break, he remembered the bandit archers that had fled and got up after reloading his gun with normal bullets this time around instead of AP or Mana rounds. He opened his bag, fetching another thing that he had prepared before leaving and added the flashlight attachment to the MP5 before heading down the tunnel that Blackjack had come in from.

It was only a short walk but Wilfred was on edge the whole time, unsure if he would be getting ambushed and used a [Barrier] just in case. He found Blackjack's room and opened the door from the side carefully before throwing a flashbang inside. Once he entered and made sure no one was present, he looked around the room for a secret escape path.

There has to be somewhere these guys went, Wilfred thought.

And indeed, there was somewhere they had went. They had gone to Blackjack after fleeing from battle and he had not taken kindly to it. Their bodies were sprawled on the floor with ma.s.sive cuts from the claymore likely.

Inside the room, much of the loot that the bandits had stolen from merchants was laying around in crates and chests. Wilfred peaked around a bit, his curiosity getting the best of him and found a small chest that was glowing with the feel of magic.

"Huh. This is interesting, I wonder what's in it?"

Try as he might, he simply could not get it open. It must have been magically sealed he thought. But recalling the pedestal where he had infused Mana in the object to make it work, he decided to also give it a try here.

The small chest, more akin to a jewelry box than a chest at this size, hummed and glowed even more brightly as Wilfred poured Mana into it until it reached the apex and a soft audible click was heard.

The lid easily opened as Wilfred tried it again and inside was a scroll like the one he had bought and that Primus had made for him but this one seemed much more regal and foreign, as if it was made an alien species. Unrolling the scroll, Wilfred looked at it to see if he could learn a skill from it. It took some time, much longer than with the other scrolls but he saw the pattern and soon came knowledge.

Wilfred willed his status screen open to look at what he had learned.

Wilfred Lamarche [Lvl 10]

Health: 150/150

Mana: 3052/6112

Str: 14

Con: 13(26)

Agi: 11

Dex: 10

Int: 55

Wil: 47

Wis: 56

Lck:???

Skills & Spells: [a.n.a.lyze], [Wind Aura], [Construct Artifact], [Barrier], [Wind Blade], [Deconstruction], [Lesser Enhance Const.i.tution], [Information]

Intrigued by how it worked, Wilfred tried it immediately.

"[Information]!"

At first he did not notice any change, everything seemed normal until he looked at the magic chest.

[Ancient Magical Chest]

Effect: Can only be opened with magic, impervious to damage. Item stored inside does not decay or change state.

"Whhhat!? Wow, it's kind of like [Inspect]? But how is it different I wonder.."

Still, Wilfred was quite happy with his find and put the chest in his bag before going back to the group to see how they were doing and what should they do with all the stuff that's here. Just from a rough estimate, the bandits had ama.s.sed a fortune likely in the 100 to 200 gold coin range.