Lord of Charm

Jack's scream woke up Sol from her sleep, prompting her to quickly run to Jack's tent and see the tall pillar that wasn't supposed to be there. She recognized this pillar; she had seen it when she watched the battle between the fourth-stage wolves and the mage who accompanied Lionel.

Sol quickly used a spell called "Wisp of Fire" which created small wisps made of fire around her. Her affinity had the attributes of spreading and decaying, which would leave the environment around her barren if left unattended. Her wisps of fire would burn objects, and each object burnt would generate another wisp, spreading the fire further.

The moment Gale stepped out of Jack's tent he saw Sol in front of him, making him nod in appreciation. Sol was tall, 175 centimeters high. Her body was muscular yet lean, it made her look powerful but still on the feminine side. She wore nothing but shorts and a bra since she just got up from bed which revealed her toned abs and moderate cleavage.

"Done looking?"

She didn't engage in battle immediately. She preferred scaring him off and running away since she didn't know the full extent of his strength or how he killed Jack so quickly. She was still young and had a good chance to reach the fifth stage, which was the reason why Tara picked her and Jack as her helpers.

"Not just yet, would you spin for me?"

Gale decided to play too; he became quite petty after suffering Nina's and Lena's teasing those past few months. His eyes shone with green and Sol did a spin for him.

"Now I'm done, thank you for your patience."

Sol was confused for a few moments until she realized what had happened. She actually did a spin for him!

"I… I'm glad you enjoyed it. Now, why are you attacking us, and what is your purpose?"

She decided to pretend nothing unusual happened or else she might lose the initiative in this exchange.

"I wasn't attacking you, I simply passed by and asked for directions when your companions attacked me."

"Oh… I see."

Sol, affected by Gale's charm, thought it was pretty weird for someone who was part of a convoy to ask for directions but agreed that attacking him was an overreaction.

"I hope you don't want to attack me too, I wouldn't want to fight a beautiful lady when I can become friends with her instead."

Gale's smile almost made Sol's mind go blank, and she couldn't control her cheeks from burning at his compliment. Her wisps were slowly disintegrating in thin air as she was caught in Gale's charm.

"Thank you, I'd love to get to know you better too, handsome."

She was bold; she wouldn't agree to lose to someone in an exchange of words and act shy. No, she must take the initiative back. Sol had long forgotten he was her enemy and started seeing it as a flirting contest instead.

"Haha, how about we sit together and talk then?"

Her competitive spirit made Gale laugh as she tried to be the dominant one in the relationship that started taking shape between them. He decided it was time to leave this place.

"Oh, but look how messy it is. How about we go to my camp? It's only a few kilometers to the north from here. I'm sure you'd love it there, the people are nice and some of them can cook great food."

His charm did its magic again and Sol's curiosity was piqued, making her anticipate seeing Gale's camp as if she didn't watch it a few hours ago.

"Yes, you're right, we can talk at your camp."

She said with a composed tone, trying not to appear overexcited about it.

"Let's not waste your companion's belongings. Let's pack it up first and take it with us."

Gale and Sol quickly took everything the others had left behind and went to the camp where everyone was sleeping except for those who stood guard.

"Who is it?"

An Advanced Magician heard the steps and their voices incoming and quickly cast a water shield in front of himself.

"It's me, Gale."

Gale's figure gradually lightened as he got nearer to the fire that kept the guards warm.

"Oh, hello Lord Gale. Don't forget to have a good night's sleep, you worked hard today."

The guard nodded respectfully when he saw Gale but then noticed the other figure following him.

"Lord Gale, may I ask who this woman is?"

"Don't worry about her, I know her and fully trust her."

Gale's words flattered Sol, she was ashamed for inciting the wolves to attack a man like Gale and even planning to kill him while he had complete trust in her. She should've been more careful and made sure not to bring any harm to him when attacking Lionel.

Gale's hand embraced her waist and pulled her close to him as he started heading towards his tent.

"Come, we can go to sleep now and chat tomorrow during the journey."

He had a stressful day and a long night right after, he was quite tired. Although he could nourish himself with mana and skip a few nights of sleep, it wasn't worth doing without a good reason since it became harmful if used regularly.

"All right. But where do I sleep?"

She nodded with a slight disappointment in her heart. She wanted to enjoy his company for longer.

"With me, are you against it?"

Gale smiled at her and Sol quickly felt encouraged by the fact she didn't have to separate from him so quickly; she had never bonded with someone so fast.

They lay down in bed, and Sol's heart started racing as Gale embraced her from behind, letting his hand roam a little on her body before settling around her waist. She could hear his steady breath behind her, his body heat wrapping around her, his smell filling her nostrils, and… his member poking her.

In the morning Sol woke up as she felt Gale's touch missing and saw him get up. His training schedule with Elizabeth habituated him to get up after the minimum hours of sleep he needed, so Sol woke up after him although she slept for longer.

"Show me what we got from all the guards."

He instructed Sol as soon as she woke up.

"Mm. When is the convoy leaving?"

"I don't know. They probably planned to leave a while ago, but nobody would dare to hasten me."

"Okay."

She showed him the spoils from his battle, completely unperturbed by the fact that the previous owners were supposed to be her allies. She didn't know them before this mission, so she didn't really care whether they died or lived anyway.

There was money stored in four golden cards used to store money by the kingdom which worked like credit cards. Gale simply took them; they had a magical defense against being used by people other than the real owner, but it could only prevent magicians from using them.

Other than money there were a few potions that previously belonged to the magicians and a small bag.

"Is that all? I expected more from a mage."

Gale said disappointedly. Those potions were nice to have, but it wasn't much.

"Lord Gale, could it be you don't know what this bag is?"