Wild Dragon of Rome 10 (Patreon)

I ignored the alarmed shouts of the rest of the pirates as I moved deeper into the island … a move most would have been treated as madness. After all, once the ship sailed away, I would be deserted alone on an island teeming with magical monsters. 

It was truly teeming. Around me, I could see the territory markers of many different animals with hints of mana, some strong enough to make me suspect that there were second-order beasts in the mix. Meaning, a wrong move would end up very badly for me. 

Against one second-order beast, I would probably win, but it would be a long and painful battle. And, it certainly wouldn’t be silent. If that battle was close to the shore, it would be noticed by the pirates, ruining my attempts to avoid their notice and triggering a manhunt, particularly since they were tense for their upcoming deal. 

It was even worse if the same happened deeper into the island. With some exceptions, higher-order beasts avoided the shores so as not to leave themselves open to attack, which in turn, made the weaker ones migrate to the outskirts of the island. Any fight deeper into the island would bring other second-order beasts to spectate. 

Even with my most recent improvements, I was still an apprentice mage, and there were limits to what I could do. Taking multiple second-order beasts, particularly without proper weapons forged with mana. I doubted the spear could even pierce the skin of a second-order beast.

Worse, despite being relatively close to the shore, I was seeing the territory markers of the second-order beasts near the shore, making me suspect that there might be a third-order beast deeper into the island. If I awakened it from its slumber…

“Keep your mind on the game, Marcus,” I muttered as I carefully moved deeper into the island, carefully reading the territory markers of the various beasts to carefully skirt between the territory of the beasts. It was a slow, careful progress. After three hours, I was merely a mile deeper into the island, looking for a nice little cave. The progress was slower than I could crawl, but trying to dance between the territory of the different beasts hadn’t been easy. 

 “Looks like I have a new home,” I muttered as I looked at the empty cave in front of me. It was large enough to function as a room, with an entrance that was barely enough for me to walk in comfortably. However, its biggest feature was that it was empty, and every beast avoided it. The reason, it was safely nestled between the territory of three second-order beasts. A second-order beast couldn’t move in without triggering a territory battle, and any first-order beast would eventually become a meal. 

For me, they represented a shield, one that would allow me to lay low until the trade was conducted and they left. As long as I stayed inside, not searching for food and water, I would be safe. Food was not a problem. The trade would probably happen in a couple days. A week at most. It wouldn’t be the first time I stayed hungry for a long time. 

I couldn’t go without water for a week, but that didn’t seem to be too big of a problem. If there was one thing Britannia didn’t lack, it was rain, ready to turn any hunting trip into a muddy challenge. Even now, I could see the clouds gathering at the horizon, promising that fresh water wouldn’t be a problem. 

“It won’t be fun,” I muttered to myself as I settled against the empty cave wall. Just because I knew I could survive a week without food didn’t mean it was an enjoyable experience. It was worse than being stabbed … and I had experience to compare. The cave was uncomfortable as well, but I didn’t dare to cut a few branches from the nearby trees, not willing to leave any markings for something as useless as comfort. 

The bare ground was uncomfortable, but nowhere near as uncomfortable as the hunger, especially without anything to distract me. I settled against the wall, and closed my eyes, wishing Jupiter that pirates completed the hostage exchange sooner than later. Then I would be alone, free to reach the next order and finally become a mage. 

A mage of four elements. 

I only moved near midnight, when the cold winds and lightning turned into rain, which soon turned into a downpour, enough to block the view, which allowed me to go out safely and gather some leaves, making a primitive bowl, enough to allow me to drink the rain, its freshness making me feel like everything was going to be fine. Almost like a dream…

A dream that had been squished by a sudden column of flame, coming from the direction of the cove the pirate ship had docked, cutting through the darkness and the downpour to alight the night sky for a moment. 

“Please be a monster attack, please be a monster attack…” I begged even as I moved back to the entrance of the cave, ready to disappear at any moment. It wasn’t impossible, as while many beasts avoided such downpours, some of the water and air-natured beasts reacted differently. It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility for them to attack a ship despite the risk. 

But, I knew that wasn’t the case. Not with my luck. Somehow, even before seeing any evidence, I knew that the deal had fallen through. Nothing else was possible with my luck. 

However, I was still surprised when another thick column of fire covered the sky, stronger than what Publius had released. Far stronger… 

No wonder the pirate captain had been tense about the prospect of the trade. The defender was strong, easily a peak mage, or a group of mages cooperating. Either way, a dangerous situation … but the fire column died halfway. With the downpour, I couldn’t see, but it wasn’t hard to guess that the captain, an extremely skilled water mage, blocked the attack. 

I pitied their opponents. Fighting against a water mage would be troubling enough on the thick downpour of rain making the advantages of a water mage even more pronounced. I watched the horizon, unable to see anything but the occasional flashes of fire, wondering how the battle was going. 

I wasn’t afraid of one side’s victory unless it came in a Pyrrhic variant where the ship of the victorious party had been damaged to sail away. An even worse situation would be a stalemate, where one party is forced deeper into the island while the other party chased them. 

That would be a disaster even if they manage to kill the defending party. I was confident in surviving the island, but only under the condition that the beasts stayed calm. A battle between mages would inevitably kill some and displace others, which might trigger a cascade of movement, and my little cave disappeared. 

The worst thing, there was nothing I could do. I was powerless to do anything but wait, stretching my senses to the limit as I tried to notice any magical presence. It was a tradeoff, as it prevented me from suppressing my magical presence, leaving me open to detection. I could just hope that any being with the ability to detect me would be more interested in the magical battle that was going on the shore. 

It turned out to be the correct choice, as merely two minutes later, I felt a presence running toward my location. A water mage, which almost sent me panicking before I realized that he wasn’t as strong as the captain. His presence felt weaker as he rushed forward, casting some kind of spell to cut down the beasts. 

A deserter, I decided even as I pulled back into my cave and suppressed my mana once again, as tight as I could manage, and leaned against the cave wall, invisible from outside, hoping that the deserter would find another location to hide. 

With my magical presence suppressed, I was blind to his as well, but that didn’t make me deaf. The death throes of a beast were clear enough, and so was the sound of multiple water blades moving at a great speed, telling the story of a short yet intense battle. 

The mage was strong, but not particularly competent as most of the blades hit against the rocks and ground, the noise was distinct enough. 

Once the battle ended, silence followed, but I stayed tense, hoping to hear another battle far away. Instead, I heard footsteps, just several feet away from the entrance, but it was hard to be sure with the downpour covering. 

 I waited with my fingers tight around the inferior spear, hidden in the shadows, ready to take down the opponent before they could react. As for whether I would stay in the cave or leave, that was a question for the future. 

However, when the wayward mage appeared at the entrance, I froze. Long blonde hair, tattered and drenched remains of a silk dress, an exhausted gait. I think that I had just met with the unlucky hostage. It seemed that she had managed to use the chaos to free herself. 

I froze, trying to find a way to call her without receiving an attack, but she noticed me first. The face was vaguely familiar, but before I could remember why I recognized her, her eyes widened. “You!” she gasped, and waved her hand, a few raindrops from the entrance turning into a blade that I only dodged barely. 

And, only because the delay allowed me to release my magical presence once more. 

 I rolled on the ground as the water blade bit into the wall…