December in the province of Rapforth was rather warm relative to the rest of the Aeterra continent. Being so close to the southern coast and the planet's equator meant that winters in Rapforth often amounted to little more than a biting cold. Because of this, snow was an uncommon occurrence, though not unheard of. It was a stark contrast to the harsh winters we had endured on the Isle of Mist, but I for one was grateful for the change.
Trudging through a forest in the snow was not what I would consider fun, and so I was glad it hadn't been the case. It must have been at least an hour since I had entered the forest, yet I had not found an ideal spot for an ambush. The roads were too wide, and the turns too gradual. I had almost considered doubling back to make sure I hadn't missed anything when my eyes caught a glimpse of hope.
There was a turn up ahead, and with any luck, it was as sharp as it looked. I had reasoned that any good ambush spot would need to have at least one of two features. A narrow road would restrict the target's movement and ensure that any spells would hit their mark. However, the most ideal feature would be a sharp turn. It would force any carriages to slow down considerably and conceal what was around the corner.
When I had moved close enough to examine it, it didn't take long to realize that I had found my spot. The turn was almost 90 degrees sharp to the left, flanked by a cliffside on the right and dense forest on the left. And the cherry on the top was that the road was much narrower at the junction than it was elsewhere. After taking some measurements and adjusting my spellform, I was feeling hopeful for the first time since I had landed in Rapforth. As I waited, the sun began to set and I could feel the fatigue in my mana channels easing. They probably wouldn't be fully healed till the next morning, but in a bind I felt I could muster at least one 4th grade spell.
It had only been a day since the end of the auction, and I was confident that Amata would not be in a rush to leave the city. He still had to oversee the distribution of his many goods, and traveling at night was ill advised for merchants. Forests were especially dangerous since many of their predators did their best work when the sun was down. Normally this would be troublesome for a lone individual like myself, but avoiding detection was kind of my specialty. I had reached the point that suppressing my mana had almost become second nature. The only thing I couldn't suppress was my smell, but that was easily solved with some mud from the road.
Soon the sun had abandoned the sky, and moonlight was all that remained. As I waited on a tree branch by the road, I chewed on what little rations I had left. It was tough and salty like beef jerky, but I was pretty sure it was not beef. Either way, it beat hunting, and a campfire would have attracted too much attention anyway. When I had finished my pathetic excuse for a meal, I shifted on my tree branch looking for some comfort. It was hardly a good bed, but at least it provided more safety than the ground.
As my yawns slowly became more numerous and frequent, I eventually ended up nodding off to sleep. Or at least, I almost did, until a distant but growing sound began to pester me. I tried to ignore it, but as it grew louder, I realized it was also growing closer. It was a terrible rattling accompanied by what I had only now recognized was a thunderous horde of hooves. I shook awake at the sudden realization. I still didn't believe it was him, but I had to at least check. If I missed this opportunity, there was no telling if I would be able to track him down again.
I peered through the dimly lit forest at the approaching carriage, But since it was approaching head on, I was unable to discern any crest upon its side. I racked my mind for any other clues, but the carriage did not wait for my thoughts to finish. In desperation, I began forming my spell. It was a 4th grade spell, but my activation time with it was still pretty slow. I had only recently created the spell, so if I had waited any longer, I wouldn't have had enough time to complete it. When the carriage passed in front of me, I would be able to confirm its origin. Best case scenario, if it belonged to someone other than Amata, I could simply release the spell form. Sure it would be a waste of mana, but at this hour, it wouldn't really matter.
If it was Amata on the other hand, I would be in trouble. I could feel that I had not yet fully recovered from my mana fatigue. I had about one tier 4 spell in me if I reduced its area of effect. It would be enough for what I had planned, but would leave me without infusion magic for the cleanup.
As the caravan neared me, I was able to see the target more clearly. The carriage was drawn by 2 horses with an additional 4 mounted guards, 2 in front and 2 behind it. Then, finally, my worst fears came true. There it was, the iconic golden scale that marked the carriage as the property of Amata. I cursed my bad luck as many questions began to fill my mind. What could have prompted his early departure? Was my intel bad? Perhaps my incident at the auction house spooked him? There were so many questions I had, but no time to process them.
The carriage approached the turn and slowed. With its reduced area of effect, my spell which I had originally intended to cover the entire width of the road, would now only barely cover the carriage. Soon, the target found his way into the center of my spell, and through the window of the carriage, I saw his face clearly once again. One of the guards must have noticed something was wrong and approached the carriage to inform his boss, but it was too late.
Before the opportunity was lost, I activated my spell: 'grave digger'. Grave digger was a 4th tier spell of my own design, although it drew inspiration from many other spells I had seen over the years. It was a dual elemental spell composed of the earth and darkness elements which resided on a 2 dimensional matrix. While the shape and area of effect could be modified, there were 3 main steps integral to its function. First the earth below its target would fall, or more accurately, it would be pulled to the sides of the spell to form walls that would entrap. The victim would then fall into a pit filled with earth spikes infused with the darkness element to further drain their life. When the pit was fully formed, the walls would finally cave on top of the victim, ensuring their burial and leaving little trace on the surface.
It was a brutal, yet efficient spell. Its only downside was its speed, but since the target was not on foot, he would likely be unable to escape.
The spell went off without a hitch just like I had planned. The earth beneath the carriage faltered, and the horses reared up in a panic. Soon both the carriage and the guard warning Amata, who was now too close to the epicenter of the spell, were buried alive in a brutal coffin. The sound of the wooden carriage shattering was accompanied by the muffled screams of humans and horses alike. The remaining 3 guards were bucked off their horses which had become spooked by the confusion.
I couldn't help but feel a little relieved that it had gone so well. Before I could celebrate though, I had some loose ends to clean up. With the carriage and its lantern's light buried, the three men were left to fend for themselves in the dark. I wasn't sure how well they could see, but I was certain it wouldn't be as well as I could.
Before they could recover from the shock of it all and form a proper defense, I moved to thin their numbers. The three men were modestly armored with an assortment of different equipment ranging from leather to plated metals. They were still scrambling to identify where the attack had come from, when I released a volley of knives at the nearest guard. The first knife struck the back of his knee. The second had struck his upper torso, embedding itself in the back of his leather chestplate. The final knife had been aimed for his head, but had not even managed a nick on the man.
It wasn't the result I was looking for, but at the very least, the shot to the knee had essentially crippled the poor man. His comrades moved to cover him, but before they could make it, I leapt from the tree. Drawing my spatix with a reverse grip and two hands, I landed on top of the debilitated guard while plunging my sword between his shoulder and neck. A torrent of blood shot out of his wound, staining me in the process. He screamed in agony for a second before I released the body which fell to the ground lifeless.
At the terrible sight in front of them, one of the men dropped his sword and bolted. However the last one had not been so easily deterred. Before he could get too far, I released my final 2 throwing knives at the back of the fleeing man's leg. They hit home to be sure and the man soon found himself crawling to escape. I genuinely felt bad for the man, after all, he had not tried to kill me and only wished to escape with his life. The problem was that I also wished to escape with my life, and so letting him live was a liability that I could not afford.
The remaining mercenary waited no longer, lunging at me with a horizontal strike. I deflected the blow with my left hand on the flat side of my spatix. At that moment, the deja vu was not lost on me. Only this time I was much better prepared than I had been at the auction house. Both in weaponry and environment, I was in my element. Even without magic, I could see the path to victory.
He followed his slash up with a thrust which I promptly sidestepped. He continued to press his attack as I continuously gave ground. As he pushed me back and back, closer to the forest, his speed grew with his confidence. Before he realized it, he was right where I wanted him to be. In the forest, he was now at a severe disadvantage. The many trees would serve to obstruct his longer sword and provide me with cover at the same time. He must have realized his mistake, because his attacks soon slowed until he had resorted to only stabs and short strikes. While his guard became tighter because of it, I simply had to circle the man until he made a mistake. One wrong slash or stab when dodged, would soon find his sword stuck in a tree.
Circled like a rat, he slowly began to realize he had become the prey. My short sword, nimble build, and enhanced reflexes, made for an impenetrable defence in such an environment. Without the space to overpower my guard with a wide swing, he soon found himself on the defensive. Whenever he would thrust too hard, I would parry the blow and attempt to move inside of his guard. Because of this he would have to retreat again and again to restore his guard and keep my blade out of reach.
It was as if he was stuck in a dance of death. He couldn't flee either since turning his back to me would be the last mistake he ever made. Despite the tides of the battle turning overwhelmingly in my favor, I still remained cautious of my opponent. A rat was most dangerous when it was cornered, and to say that he had been cornered would have been an understatement. I was far younger and had a genetically enhanced constitution; in a battle of attrition, he stood no chance. Our dance continued for some time as his breath grew ragged, but with fatigue came mistakes, and he soon found this out the hard way.
Once again he found himself backing up, only this time he had tripped on a root in the dark. At first I considered it a lucky break, but really it was a miracle he had even lasted this long. He had been fighting in essentially a minefield the whole time and with impaired vision to boot. Either way, I was not going to let this opportunity pass me up. As he stumbled backward trying to regain his balance, I closed the gap with a lunge. He saw me coming and attempted to cut off my path with a vertical slash, but with poor footing, it wasn't enough. I parried the strike with a strong upward slash, parting his blade from his grip. Without hesitation, I reversed my slash, bringing the sword back down on the same path. Only this time, I wasn't aiming for his sword.
My blade found the gap between his pauldrons and helmet. The deep slash had been accompanied by a squelch as my blade tore through the side of his neck, painting the forest red. He howled in pain, but a follow-up strike soon put him out of his misery. Before I could relax though, I still had one more thing to do. I returned to the main road, retrieved my throwing knives, and followed the trail of blood until I stumbled upon the poor bastard once again. I raised my bloody spatix to finish the fleeing man off, but I hesitated. It was a weakness not tolerated by my profession, but I had never wanted to become an assassin.
"Please, spare me. I..I won't tell a soul. I..I swear" The man begged for his life. Contrary to what I expected it was not emotion that stopped me, that had long been suppressed by the compound altering my perception. Rather it came from a place of reason, or at least what was left of it from earth. I knew it was wrong to kill a defenseless man, but it didn't feel wrong like it should have. The man continued to cry as I just stood over him, frozen in the moment. It was then that my internal struggle was broken by a series of howls. We were no longer in the domain of humans, and the inhabitants of the forest smelled blood.