Wild Dragon of Rome 9 (Patreon)

“… Any volunteers for the scouting duty, maggots,” Publius shouted, loud enough that I was able to hear from the lower decks. 

It was time to check, I decided as I once again suppressed my magic and climbed the stairs. I needed to see the location of the deal in order to decide on an escape plan. Publius’ shout was already promising. Since they asked for scouts, it meant we weren’t going to a city or a large town. 

A small village was an option, but the likelier option was that they wanted to land in the wilderness, preparing in case things devolved into a fight. They had been running drills for the last few hours, preparing for that exact probability. 

I stayed holed in lower decks, afraid of getting caught. Captain stayed in his cabin to my knowledge, but the constant drills meant the other two mages were constantly moving around, entering the crew area repeatedly. 

I couldn’t suppress my magic for half a day, not unless I wanted to turn into a wreck ruined by pain, so I silently took the pump duty. No one bothered to reassign the duty to someone else, and I was happy with that negligence. 

I didn’t dare to use the dragon heart during the mess. I had enough mana, and the benefits of the little extra power it would generate were not worth the risk. 

Even now, I thought about staying down while the others scouted, but decided against it. I needed to see exactly where we had reached. I hoped we were at the shores of Gaul. Germania shores would be a nice alternative as well. It would mean I was free of Roman authority completely. 

Of course, that would mean I had to deal with the tribes, which wasn’t exactly simple. A lot of Romans had dismissed the tribes of Germania as savages, but considering they had resisted the combined might of the Roman Republic of West and Roman Empire of East for several centuries despite several dedicated invasion attempts meant that they weren’t as simple. 

Elemental magic was not common among them, but considering their beast tamers and priestesses were able to push Roman legions led by sorcerers, treating them as weaklings was an easy way for a quick death … or not so quick, if they decided to turn that said idiot into a sacrifice.

It was a dangerous place, but I much rather go there than return to Britannia, where I was the subject of a province-wide manhunt. 

When I arrived at the upper deck, a smile bloomed on my face. We were not at Britannia. Instead, we were just a mile away from one of the small islands that lay between Gaul and Britannia. 

Which one, I didn’t know yet since I was holed with the pump, but, I had studied the region aggressively for my eventual escape to make an educated guess. 

There were only a few viable options, and, every one of those islands was closer to the shores of Gaul than Britannia, making them good places to hide. I could find a cave and hide, wait until they left, complete my breakthrough safely before I constructed a small but serviceable boat, and replicate the Captain’s trick for a quick trip to Gaul. 

I wouldn’t have his power and control after the breakthrough, but the dragon heart was an excellent tool to solve such problems. 

I just needed to get away from them without getting noticed by a second-order beast that was without a doubt occupied the island. People didn’t live on those small islands because of the constant threats from sea beasts, but the island would still have several dangerous land beasts. 

Hopefully, they would be deeper into the island, trying to avoid their sea brethren. 

I wanted to volunteer as a scout, but once again, I held myself back. Volunteering for such a mission would be too flashy for a new recruit, particularly one that built a reputation for cowardice. Instead, I picked a nice spot to stand. Not directly in front of Publius, but close enough that he didn’t miss the presence of a strong-looking recruit. 

“No volunteers. Pathetic,” he grunted as he pointed at several people. I hid my smile when he pointed at me, and instead walked to the weapon rack to pick a spear. “Your mission is to scout the area around the cove. Walk around with the teams of four, and alert the other teams if you come across any magical beast, even if they are only first order. Understood,” he said. 

“Yes,” I said, while other people also mumbled confused replies. It was a pirate ship of dubious discipline, after all. 

Five teams, and a total of twenty people left the ship and used a boat to go to the shore, though it took three trips to bring all of us out. “Look, rookie. Listen to us and go where we order. The last thing we need is for you to panic and anger the beasts,” he warned me. 

I nodded, looking fearful, but my attention was on the island. It was a beautiful little island, about eight miles from shore to shore, with a large hill at the center. It wasn’t exactly a lush forest, but there was enough vegetation to suggest the existence of a freshwater source. 

Food was even less of a concern. I could see birds flying above the island, and fish was always an option once the deal with the mysterious party was done and they departed. 

The only problem was the size. The island was too small to hide from them if they searched for me. But, it was not a serious problem, I was confident that they would not. I had already seen that they didn’t particularly care about their new recruits. 

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I stepped on the land, a big smile on my lips. I didn’t try to hide it, because the other new recruits had a similar expression. 

Even discounting the mortal danger, spending a week in a cramped and smelly pirate ship hadn’t been fun. Just because I could handle that — and more — didn’t make it any less annoying. 

The group leader quickly distributed assignments for each team. It was still noon, so there was no need for torches and other equipment. Once again, I positioned myself in a way I had been chosen for the most dangerous and least rewarding mission. 

First group. 

My wilderness knowledge revealed just how much a horrible job it was. Any beast that felt strong enough to attack a group of humans was also strong enough to kill a novice fighter with a spear before reinforcements could arrive. 

Luckily, I preferred it, as I was more concerned about my human ‘allies’ than the beasts. 

Luckily, there was no image in the group. They were too precious to risk in a potentially dangerous situation where the disposable troops would work just as well. Of course, one of the mages could have waited at the shore to respond to emergencies, but I could understand why they did not. 

Fighting against the beasts would cost them valuable mana, and they didn’t want to waste it before their trade. 

It meant I didn’t need to keep suppressing my magic. I stopped pressing it and even used a touch to enhance my senses. Technically, it was a risk, as our group had three more apprentice mages. I took that risk, because not many apprentice mages learned how to detect other magic users. It was a difficult trick that required a lot of hard work, for a skill with limited utility compared to hitting harder and moving faster. 

It turned out to be a reasonable assumption, as none paid me a second glance even as I examined the island as much as possible, trying to detect a beast that would give me an excuse to die. 

Only when my group moved deeper into the island, they paid attention to me. “Just hold onto your spear tight, and watch your surroundings carefully,” the leader of my group said. “We’ll support you immediately if a beast attacks.” 

I nodded, acting like I didn’t notice him slowly lengthening the distance between us as we went deeper into the forest. I had already picked an ideal target. A small rocky outcropping, with some large bushes surrounding it. Together, it was imposing enough to create a nice concealment as I escaped. 

More importantly, I could see the distinct presence of a first-order beast there. Not exactly a beast I wanted to fight. There was no guarantee that I could run away from it if I was alone. 

Luckily, I didn’t need to run faster than the beast. I just needed to run faster than my teammates. “A beast,” I shouted as loud as possible without warning, and threw my spear to the presence I felt, ignoring the shouts to stop. 

I started running even before a boar appeared. “Excellent,” I muttered as I made a show of panicking while I ran deeper into the island. A boar was dangerous enough to threaten a group of novice warriors without magic. 

A first-order boar … I would be surprised if any from my group survived, not that I cared. I had more important things. I ran deeper, happy that another step in my mission for freedom was complete. Now, I just needed to survive on a wild island filled with monsters while avoiding a ship full of pirates…

And a mysterious group that was strong enough to make those pirates threatened.