Everyone on that hill wore a somber expression as they watched 300 men milling out of the fortress. As much as they had been psyched up about fighting, looking at the grand construction, they were no longer so sure.
Moreover, the entire village consisted of a little over a thousand. This was inclusive of the women, the children, and the elderly. The men gathered were less than the 300 men coming to clear out their village.
"What now?" Pius asked Barda. They had done their part of the deal, they had shown him the fortress. Time for him to deliver.
Barda felt the eyes of the men on him. What he said or did at this moment would make or break their morale. Barda was not one to give speeches, most times he would end up frozen and lacking words. He had always been a solo act, dabbling in command once in a while. He, therefore, decided that he would not give any speeches, just let his actions speak.
Choosing not to be rash, Barda opted to tail the group before doing anything. Doing anything this close to the fortress was suicide since reinforcement was too close.
After tailing the group for a few kilometers, Barda determined they were a good distance away from the fortress. He had his men stay behind, and he approached the group alone.
"Courageous bugger, ain't he?" Carl said under his breath, watching one man going to confront 300.
Lord Bronson had ordered the men to take a break from the march. He had also sent some scouts ahead. Moreover, he knew of the group tailing him. He had been told they were all farmers following the foreigner.
He was marching them to a trap. At that moment, he was buying time for the men who had been sent from the fortress to encircle the group. Once the signal was given, they would attack.
To his shock, the idiot was coming to him of his own volition.
"I did not think you were suicidal?" When Barda came out from the treeline, Lord Bronson could not help but grin. This man had fled from his 20 men, but was now coming to meet 300?
"I am not, I came to accept your surrender," Barda said.
"Do you have that much faith in those villagers you've been following me with? Ah, you thought I didn't know? So, a group of ragtag villagers is what you wish to scare me with?" Lord Bronson was indignant, even to the point of sneering.
"I take it you will not be surrendering then?" Barda's statement caused a laugh among the men.
"Boys, take him down!" Lord Bronson exclaimed. At the command, the soldiers girded themselves and approached Barda, who stood rooted to the spot.
"Well, you can't say I didn't warn you," Barda said, only serving to antagonize the men further.
Suddenly, they heard a sound like a gale approaching from behind. Turning back, they saw what looked to be a flying lizard on fire.
"Dragon!"
Someone shouted. Everyone was in an uproar, but Barda's wyvern Fire Elemental was too fast. With a powerful blast of its dragon breath, the camp was reduced to cinders. Even Barda felt the scorching heat blasting at him.
He had summoned a wyvern powered at 70%, and the breath was 30%. Talk about overkill. No one survived and even a crater was formed.
Barda wanted to test the full power of his Magical Energy, and seeing that blast, he was content. He should look for more Essences to consume. Barda remembered he had a phoenix essence he did not give back.
"Y-you are a w-wizard?" Pius asked as Barda approached them. They all had wary looks on their faces.
"I am a mage, there's a difference," Barda said as he walked past them. At first, his instinct had been to conceal who he was and remain under wraps. However, this was the mentality of a spy, and he had to break free of that.
By proclaiming that he was a mage, he was calling out loudly whatever danger that was lurking to come at him. It was a way to hurry this along, whatever this was. Somewhere in this dimension, Barda was to find a key.
His interface had picked up on the second group that was coming for them. They were part of the reason he had acted so quickly to eliminate the first group.
It was ironic how Lord Bronson, in trying to buy time for his allies, had only quickened his death. Nevertheless, he was a marked man after sentencing Barda to amputation for the crime of being deceived.
***
"Who are you?" Lord Kian demanded. He had just witnessed this man summon a dragon and consume Lord Bronson's men. Then the man had casually walked past the enemies they were busy circling and gone over to where he was, not bothering to hide.
Now that Barda had their full attention, he walked over to the commanding officer and asked:
"Are you Lord Crewe's men?"
"I asked, Who are you!" Although Lord Kian was shaken by what he saw, he couldn't be cowed down so easily.
"Run back to your Lord and tell him this: I will be visiting his fort this time tomorrow. If I am received with hostility, I shall retaliate with hostility!"
"You will be coming with us now!" The Lord shouted, wondering how crazy this man was. Yes, he may have been a mage, but they had the numbers. He commanded his men to move forward and surround the captive.
When Lord Bronson had discovered that he was being tailed, he sent one of the scouts to go around the followers and head to the fort. There, the scout requested back up, a force of 500 men, almost double Lord Bronson's men. Even though the man was a mage, he couldn't very well hope to confront 500 men all by himself.
"You had your chance," Barda sighed as he lifted his hands, an action that frightened many men that were moving to surround him. However, by now, it was too late.
Barda did not need to lift his hand to conjure a wyvern. This time, he conjured 2, each bearing 30% of his power. The other 20% was saved for the blast, and when it came, it was magnificent.
Moreover, it covered the entire area. Since Barda had been surrounded, he too was also engulfed by the flames.
Pius was wide-eyed as he looked at where the men had once stood. It had been a battlefield, now it looked more like a furnace, or hell. 2 massive dragons were spraying fire like giant flamethrowers, consuming everything.
For a moment, he wondered whether the mage had been suicidal, meaning to kill himself in the process. However, much to this shock, after the flames died down, 2 people were left standing. One was the mage, while the other was the Lord that had been talking to the mage.
Barda approached Lord Kian who had a quizzical look about him. It seemed as though having come out through the ordeal had left him overwhelmed. He had been surrounded by fire such that the horse had been on was consumed and burned to ash, yet he remained, and not even a clothing item had been singed.
"Do you feel like delivering the message now?" Upon Barda's questioning, Lord Kian was coming back to reality. The shock was replaced by a deep-seated fear of the man. It felt as though his life was no longer his own. What he had seen and experienced was unreal.
"Y-yes L-lord," he stammered as he took off. He needed to get away from that field of soot and ash.
Through the journey through the tower, Barda had not only mastered the use of Conjuration, but he had also learned to control the Fire Element better. With that, he could manipulate the particles to avoid burning his captive and himself, especially since it was from his conjuration.
After sending the frightened Lord away, Barda led the others to form a camp. Not that they were less frightened, but at least he was on their side. They didn't go back to their families for fear of exposing their location.
That night, Barda had an unlikely visitor. A pigeon flew into his tent as he was settling in for the night. To his shock, it started transforming. Slowly, it morphed from a pigeon to a handsome young man, barely a day over 18.
"Before you react, please let me explain!" The youth exclaimed.