Just like that, 13 and a half days passed, and today was the last day of the battle. Naturally, it was also bound to be the day with the fiercest fighting.
"Alright everyone, prepare your equipment and calm your minds. Although this fight will be bloody, we must always maintain calmness and think rationally before committing do something."
The surviving group of 8 people slowly walked out of the cave they had been staying in for the past 2 weeks, and randomly walked in a certain direction. For reasons unknown, Sirious could no longer tell direction, and in this incredibly thick fog, nor could Daron or the other children present.
Although Daron had tried to explore, alone and with others, for some reason, Sirious was unable to tell any direction apart, which forced him to remain close to their cave and use his own instincts to help him find the way back.
Now that they no longer needed to return, Daron simply picked a random direction and began walking. Based on what he saw before their ship had entered the fog, the region it covered was not too large, and he could easily travel from one side to the other in about 4 hours if he ran at full speed.
Naturally, since there were mages in the group, and the fact that he wanted to keep his Intermediate knight level a secret from the people not only in his group but also in the other groups, as well as any staff who were responsible for the fog.
Of course, he was not naive enough to assume that just because the rules would state that no mages could enter or seek revenge, that no one was looking. Certainly, someone had to be present to ensure that no organisation within the mage's land, or third party had purposefully sent advanced knights to kill of everyone.
Furthermore, from what he had experiences of mages, they had countless ways of doing what they wished to do. If there was a law, they were bound to find a way to break it; similar to how the cockroach was possessed by the mage protecting Daron's group.
However, they travelled fully equipped and prepared for an ambush, while also being as silent as possible.
[There are people nearby] Sirious sent this message to Daron whole pointing out the freshly made footprints in the ground. Although they were on a mountain, the constant existence of mist had naturally caused a lot of the rock to whether quickly, forming pebbles and clay-like substances. Without rain or intense wind that should otherwise be present on a mountain, this soil just collected here, forming a layer of soul on top of the rock, which was also kept incredibly moist. However, most likely due to the mana, basically nothing grey here, leaving the black and fertile soil completely barren.
Raising his fist, to stop everyone, Daron bent down and inspected the footprints while Sirious also did the same.
[5 people, mostly kids.]
'But one of them looks like an adult?'
[That is mostly a knight, or a knight in training wearing some heavy armour.]
'I see.'
Since Rudolf was already an example, it was clearly possible to have kids as knights in other groups.
[Maybe, you do not need to fight them]
'But leaving them be would only cause more variables and trouble in the future.'
[You could get them to join you. You guys are 8 people, they are 5, and 20 people can enter a ship together.]
'But that also reduces the chances of us hitching a ride with someone who is already on the ship and has 8 extra spots.'
[…]
'Yeah, who am I kidding. Alright, well get them to join us, but first, we need to subdue them. No need to act all friendly, since first impressions do not matter. We just need some more useful people'
"Alright. There will be people ahead somewhere. Around 5 people. Do not kill them or injure them too much. Just knock them out or something. The mages just need to restrict their movement. And try not to use too much fire magic, it exposes our location." Daron whispered before turning back to the direction the footprints were leading towards and began walking.
Everyone followed him, and soon, they could hear talking just 30 meters in front of them.
Daron pointed at Rudolf and made him go around them to stop them from running away from Daron, while he made everyone else excluding Doug, who would stay with him, to make sure no one he missed escaped from his direction.
With that, the group of 8, split into 2, 2, 3, and 1 approached the group of 5. Mission abduct and enslave was a go!