The following morning everyone woke up at dawn, and a few minutes later they were on their way.
The warriors continued teaching the new recruits while they kept heading forward. The villagers were quick learners and started copying the soldiers in how they acted. Efficient and sharp without too much useless chatter.
Along the way, they annexed 2 more villages using a similar tactic he had used before. Scaring the hell out of the small villages, killing their Lords.
When the group headed up a particular hill a few hours later they were met with a particularly nice view. There was a large valley before them with hills, such as the ones they were standing on, surrounding it entirely. In the middle of the valley were 2 different villages barely a mile apart. Each of them had a 3-meter tall wall and a bunch of intermediate-grade houses.
These 2 villages were both large, he was sure these were silver or gold grade villages with capable lords.
Since the villages both had a marketplace it was clear these were top of the line bases, possible threats to Pangea. Jay was extremely happy, if they hadn't gone on this mission then a month or so from now it was very possible these bases would be used as a point to attack him.
After deliberating for a second Jay decided to just go in, the base closest to them had clear civilian district and military district. It was a base that would serve as the experimental grounds of one of his untested Rank 1 spells.
When the group of over 100 descended the hill they were obviously spotted. The people gathering stone outside of their villages immediately ran towards their respective bases and the gates closed.
A lot of noise was coming from inside the village, even after they had arrived at the gates. Furthermore, they didn't sound all that worried, a bit nervous at best. It really looked like they trusted their military. Jay prepared himself properly, standing next to the wall adjacent to the military district. This time when he put his hands forward he fell unconscious.
The moment his hands went forward a black fog appeared out of it and when he fell unconscious his entire body started emitting this fog. It crept over the wall heading for the nearest soldiers. Once it got spotted a mixed response occurred. Some of the soldiers thought this was some sort of poisonous fog and backed off while others, who believed it was some sort of teleportation spell, moved in, holding their breaths just in case.
But well, this wasn't the right move. Both the initial victims who hadn't spotted the fog in time as well as those that moved in quickly became victims to it. The black fog entered any opening it could find and quickly reached their brains. Those that entered froze for a few seconds before they started shaking, once this had passed they turned around and walked out of the fog.
But when the onlookers went to check on them they got promptly attacked. Each of the ones infected by the fog went crazy, attacking anyone that wasn't infected themselves.
It seemed that they had resorted to their primal instincts, slashing with the pointy edge of their weapons without any thought put into it. As the fog continued to spread it seemed that the guards would have to evacuate the area, that was until a certain someone arrived.
A young girl, no longer than 12 arrived. Her petite body and slim face made her stand out amidst the soldiers.
"Whaseng vo moscg"
She spoke some sort of ancient language that seemed to call upon magic. A white light appeared in her hand, promptly being thrown into the middle of the black fog. The fog contorted and twisted, trying to escape from the light, but it was in vain. All of the fog got violently sucked into the light disappearing completely. The fog that had entered the body from those that got infected also exited, allowing them to regain their senses.
Outside the wall, Jay woke up. He was rather lucky the light orb absorbed the fog over time instead of instantly, allowing him to avoid any damage to his consciousness. But this was at the cost of a bunch of his mana.
He was also intrigued. Ancient magic was a rare thing, and even if it was considered inferior to modern magic it still had some great advantages.
He really wanted to get that girl to join Pangea. Someone that could cast such a strong spell at such a young age was a true rarity. In the future, she would surely be able to become a Tier 3 mage.
Excited by the discovery of a new talent yet disappointed in his failure to truly test out his spell, Jay ordered his troops to break open the gate.
Since it was a sturdy gate, it managed to hold for over 10 minutes before breaking.
The guards on the other side of the bridge weren't scared in the slightest, numbering over 50 themselves.
Surprisingly their strength was close to Jay's soldiers, it was just their gear that was lacking, they only had F grade weapons and a couple of pieces of F grade armor with very few exceptions.
When Jay came forward intending to join the battle, a trio watching over the battle from a small distance away caught his eye.
On the left was a strong man with a rather mean face, reminding him of General Green.
On the right stood a noble figure that clearly emitted the air of a Lord and in the back was the girl he noticed earlier.
Once he spotted this trio the Lord also looked at him, frowning slightly.
"No need to have any of our men die, let's just both tell our men to step back and then we fight it out like this, three on one."
These words surprisingly came from Jay, surprising the defenders.
The other Lord and his companions walked forward and their troops made way. "How do we know that once you die, your troops won't try to avenge you?"
When the Lord said these words Jay simply smiled "You don't."
These words were followed by a silence that stretched for over 10 seconds before the other Lord spoke once more "Very well, men, make place!"
On his command, his troops backed off leaving space in between both sides, and a moment later the trio walked forward, ready to take on their enemy.
Jay smiled, he didn't have a lot of mana right now so if he were to win he would mostly have to rely on his skills with the sword, this was exciting!!
He stood straight, casually holding his scimitar while looking at his enemies. The biggest restriction of the ancient mages was that they had to cast their spells out loud. This often took a while and couldn't be done silently. Thus it was impossible for an ancient mage to succeed without a strong bodyguard.
The girl was holding a staff, it was made out of a glass-like material and had a misty orb at the top…
A MISTY ORB-
Jay's heart shook for a second when he noticed the orb on the girl's staff. It looked exactly like the misty orbs that had been causing him problems. The only difference seemed to be that the mist density was lower in this one.
Jay's eyes hardened as his killing intent surged. He had to win here no matter what, if he didn't he might get cucked by the misty orb again soon without being any the wiser.