Abe the Wizard

The Kingdom of Larvid was located in the northeast part of the Kingdom of St. Ellis. It was right next to the Kingdom of St. Ellis. Due to its location, it’s always been a great tourist attraction for many noblemen.

Bahu Valley was one of the most aesthetically-pleasing locations in the duchy of Larvid. The Kingdom of St. Ellis’s royalties spent their time there during vacation, and it was where they built their own castle to spend their holidays.

Prince Horace was King Ambrose’s favorite son. He wasn’t as healthy as his brother Derek, but his weakness made the other princes like him. As someone who was guaranteed to not inherit the throne, the others didn’t think of him as a threat or someone to become enemies with. Of course, it was especially true for Derek. He was the eldest prince, and he had a lot of affection for his sickly little brother.

Right now, Prince Horace was inside the castle at Bahu Valley. Winter was coming. As expected, he had to lie on a bed due to his frail body. Even the wizards couldn’t do much about it. Potions were all that expensive for a prince, but the side effects were simply too strong to take.

Most of the potions that were brewed on the Holy Continent were brewed by knights and wizards. Potions were usually for sale, but there were plenty of times when they were used for self-protection. Wizards that didn’t have a strong physical build would use potions that would make their power of the Will many times stronger than most normal people.

Anyways, Prince Horace was sent to this place to heal his sickness. It was quiet. The view was great. All the medical facilities were available. There was also a head knight commander that was always watching out for his safety. His name was Dunmore, a powerful head knight commander that used the element of ice.

Only the most beloved princes would have head knight commanders as their personal guards in all three of the existing Kingdoms. Usually, only two kinds would fit such criteria. There would be the princes that would inherit the throne or those who proved themselves to be capable of becoming wizards. Prince Horace was a special case. He was someone that had been loved by the people around him, and Head Commander Dunmore had been with him for years.

Head Commander Dunmore spoke, “Pardon me, you Highness, but the temperature here is too low. It’s much warmer in your room.”

Prince Horace pleaded, “Please, Dunmore, I’m not going to be sick! The worst I can get is a little more hungry.”

Head Commander Dunmore couldn’t help but shake his head at that remark. Prince Horace was just starting to become better. He had been shut in his room for too long before, so he was really desperate for the outside.

Head Commander Dunmore tried to be gentle, “Ok, your Highness. A little longer, then. Just a little longer.”

Prince Horace responded with a warm smile. He liked the air that was coming from outside. It was warm inside the castle, but it was the kind of warmth that felt dead to him. He liked the cold. He couldn’t survive if he was out in the cold for too long, but the cold made him feel alive.

“So is it him?”

The voice came from high in the sky. It was an intermediate orc priest. He was speaking to another intermediate orc priests, and they were both riding on their own sky sparrow.

Actually, it wasn’t just them. There were also four bearmen that had double axes in their hands. They were riding on top of giant bears, which was enough to classify them as a small army. Their skills were not yet the same as that of top-level warriors. However, If the people who sent them decided to send someone better, that would draw too much attention into the scene.

Put it this way. If a top-level orc warrior was to appear within a human territory, it was obviously going to cause a huge panic. That’s when the head knight commanders must interfere. It’d be very easy for them to detect the presence of any incoming orc warriors, so for the orcs, they just wouldn’t cross the borders the vast majority of the time.

It was different for bear-men, however. They did not have the ability to produce combat qi, but their bodies would become extremely durable and extremely powerful once they reached adulthood. This way, they had the potential to become top-level warriors that could not produce any combat qi. For invading into the human world, such a trait has proven to be very convenient.

For the intermediate wizards that were in the sky, it also wouldn’t be an easy job to detect their presence. It was one thing to be a powerful wizard, but it was another thing to be within the intermediate rank. That being said, the advanced wizards that the humans prepared would not be able to detect those who were not matched in terms of their power level.

The intermediate priest said coldly, “Ready for action.”

“Yes,” the four bearmen replied.

“Good. Remember what our objective is. If any of your can’t control your bloodlust once we’re there, then our master will be very angry.”

“Understood,” the bearmen replied again.

The intermediate priest raised his command sign, “Sky sparrow! I want you to lower our altitude.”

With that command, the sky sparrow did a barrel roll in the sky and rushed towards the castle below.

“Enemy strike!”

The shouting came from Head Commander Dunmore. He wanted to tell Prince Horace to go back to his room, and when he looked towards the sky, his reflex told him to call his men.

Within an instant, Head Commander Dunmore activated the combat qi around him. It was like thunder that had struck the entire castle. Everyone nearby was shocked by this phenomenon. Then, with one hand, he grabbed onto Prince Horace’s body. He carried Prince Horace with as much speed as he could.

Head Commander Dunmore darted backward, but a “bone wall” blocked him from going too far. He couldn’t get to his weapons. He couldn’t get to his warhorse, either. With Prince Horace in one of his arms, he could only fight with one hand.

As a white combat qi flashed across the knight’s big sword in his hand, he slashed hard at the bone wall that was blocking in his way. At the same time, a cloud of curses appeared right on top of his head. Red rain of curse started pouring on top of him, which made light of curse appear on both his and Prince Horace’s heads.

Head Commander Dunmore squinted his eyes in pain, “Those damn priests and their curses!”

He was an experienced fighter. He had fought orc priests many times. He understood how curses worked, and since he was a defensive knight, he would always make sure that there was time for him to make a counterattack. It was the reason that he wasn’t completely affected by the curses that were cast on him. Yet, if he couldn’t attack the “bone wall,” that meant he couldn’t go inside the fort and gain any sort of geographic advantage.

Head Commander Dunmore pushed Prince Horace to his back, “Your Highness! Please, stand behind me. This way, as long as I don’t die, you won’t take any sort of damage.”

After saying that, he took down the shield that he placed on his back. He and Prince Horace now had their backs against the fort wall. It was at this time that the giant sky sparrows appeared.

The first to jump down were the bearmen. They all rode their giant bears down, and as soon as they landed, they started charging straight at Head Commander Dunmore. To guard against this, Head Commander Dunmore generated ice on the shield that he was holding at his front. The further he extended, the more he and Prince Horace were hidden behind a wall of ice.

Unlike normal bearmen, the bearmen with double axes were extremely strong strengths. Instead of relying on fighting techniques, they used brute force to break through whatever defense that their enemies had set up.

This time, they were using the axes to cut at the ice walls. It was not very effective, however. Every time they chipped a bit away, Head Commander Dunmore would just spawn more ice at the exact same spot.