Three weeks have passed since we left Starcrest. During this time, we learned a bit more about our companions. Oh, we could also get much better sleep, since we had two additional people. This allowed all of us to get more sleep, instead of having to keep watch for half a night, every night.

  Draven was an intermediate mage, and he had a hard time believing I was the same rank. He was nice and spoke often about his times as an adventurer. It turns out that when he was younger, his parents had been kidnapped when he was in his early twenties, and it’d taken him five years to rescue them. He’d found it difficult to get help and when he was approached about this job, he was eager to accept.

  Olivier was different. He was the quiet type. He was like a rock. It was hard to get him to talk and when he did, it was short answers. The only thing I could get out of him was that he was an intermediate sword user. This made me wonder if all the mercenaries were intermediate, to which Draven told me they were.

  This was when I learned that intermediate was the most common rank for adventurers. Though not all intermediates were equal. Some were barely intermediate while others were much higher. It made me wonder why there wasn’t a rank above intermediate but before Mystic or Sentinel.

  Now I knew intermediate had fluctuations. Damon was intermediate, yet he had to be close to Sentinel with how strong he was. Renna was intermediate but Damon would beat her easily, at least from what I had seen thus far.

  That was all I learned over these past three weeks. Now we were walking through a swamp. Draven used magic to create a smooth walkway with earth. That was nice, I hated walking in swamps, though I guess everyone would say that.

  “Thorian, one of these days I would like to see your skills,” Draven said. We walked side by side, behind Arsted, Renna and Olivier.

  “You’ll see them. I’m sure we’ll walk into some monsters any time now,” I replied, looking over the fog, wishing I had a spell that would let me see through it. Surely there were monsters lurking in this swamp, right?

  “Bah, monsters won’t let me see how strong you are. I have a hard time believing you are an intermediate and yes, I believe you when you say you are.”

  “Well, you should see me in action when we liberate the prisoners. If that isn’t enough to show you, what would you like to see?”

  “Perhaps we can have a match. Maybe when we return to Starcrest.”

  “Sure, I could use more practice against mages. Most of the people I fight are monsters or melee fighters.”

  “That’s normal. It’s difficult to make it as a magic user, not unless you can afford to go to school.”

  The mention of school made me think of my original goal of going to the Arcaneum University. I still did. I doubted I would go within the next couple of years. Once my family was safe, I would want to spend time with them, especially my little sister. She had a lot to learn, and I wanted to help her learn magic, especially with Elias gone.

  A loud screech in the distance caused us all to stop. Olivier and Renna took out their swords. This fog made it impossible to tell if a monster was coming, but that noise was up ahead, and it didn’t sound like it was coming toward us.

  “Arsted, can you tell what monster that is?” I asked.

  “No. We should proceed with caution, there are a few monsters that can see through fog.”

  Good to know. I thought and looked over at Draven, who was gripping his staff tightly. The staff Draven carried enhanced his magic, albeit not by much. He let me hold it once, and I felt my mana increase and that was it. Better than nothing, though I hoped to find a magic staff that enhanced the strength of my spells or something.

  “Lead the way, we’ll be ready to fight once a monster reveals itself,” I said.

  As we walked, our formation changed a little. Renna stepped back to get closer to me and Olivier walked forward to match Arsted’s pace. The fog was starting to thicken more than it was a moment ago. I was ready to create a stone bullet the moment a monster showed itself.

  Splashing noises surrounded us. I looked to the right and saw a scaly, gray creature that was at least five feet tall come jumping toward me, its sharp claws aiming for my throat! I ducked aside and something splashed onto my face. The monster had a stump where its left arm had been, and half its face was missing. Renna’s blade had blue blood on it.

  “Incoming Mirevars!” Draven yelled.

  Our surroundings were filled with creatures running across the swamp. They started jumping onto the platform, surrounding us. I noticed they were trying to separate the three of us from Arsted and Olivier, who were cutting down Mirevars who got too close.

  I launched three stone bullets and of the three, only one connected with a Mirevar’s chest. The other two were quick enough to dodge the attack and rushed us. The Mirevar’s jumped into the air and were hit by a large fireball. Draven had his staff pointed at the two he hit and launched another fireball to the right, where more Mirevar’s were coming.

  The Mirevar were screeching so loudly that I began covering my ears by instinct. It didn’t take me long to realize that was why they were screeching and placed my hand on the ground. Earth spikes rose from the ground, impaling a couple of Mirevar, their blue blood splashed all over the ground.

  Renna was on point. Any Mirevar that looked like it was going to get close to me was cut down. She cut a Mirevar in half and then took off its head. She dodged a claw, then thrust her blade deep into the Mirevar’s chest. She quickly yanked the blade out and split a Mirevar’s skull open.

  I was launching stone bullets in all directions. A stone bullet tore off the shoulder of a Mirevar, who went flying off the platform. More came rushing up and I summoned earth spikes, trying to keep any Mirevar from getting close to us.

  Power flowed through me as I blasted a group of Mirevars with five stone bullets. Their bodies were unrecognizable as they were blasted apart. Draven was launching fireballs and icicles, though he was missing a lot as the Mirevar were quick to react to those spells.

  Draven gripped his staff with both hands and slammed the tip into the earth. A fire spread around the three of us and expanded quickly, catching some of the Mirevar off guard. They screamed as their bodies burned.

  Then it was over. There were dozens of dead Mirevars on the ground and the unruly screeching was gone, along with the sound of dying creatures. I looked over at Arsted and Olivier, whose blades were covered in blue blood. The bodies near them were about the same as around Renna, Draven and myself.

  “Hm, that isn’t a good sign,” Draven said, his voice wary.

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  “What isn’t a good sign?” Renna asked.

  “That means there are dead bodies nearby,” Arsted answered. He was looking into the fog, and I was pretty sure he could see through it as he examined the area more closely. “Mirevar are attracted to rotting flesh. There must have been a battle or something near here.”

  “Great, just what I wanted to hear,” I said.

  “Keep a lookout, there may be more of them,” Arsted said.

  The five of us resumed walking. The odd thing about Mirevar was I couldn’t smell them. It was like there was nothing there, despite a dead Mirevar lying near my feet. I sniffed some of the blue blood on my robe, and there was no smell either.

  It was nice. At least I didn’t have to think about a bad smell while we walked. Renna still had her sword out. She was wiping some of the blood off with a cloth, though she was keeping an eye on the sides of our pathway. Her awareness had improved a lot since this journey. I doubted any monster would get us without her noticing them.

  “There must be a lot of dead bodies. I’ve never seen that many Mirevar before,” Olivier said.

  “You would be right,” Arsted said.

  I was surprised Olivier broke his silence to say that. A large battle must have taken place then, great. I hoped there weren’t many other monsters waiting to ambush us. We walked past a large tree and through a patch of fog. The fog was gone once we went through, and we all stopped.

  Thousands of bodies were littered on the ground, spread across what must have been a hell of a battle. There were dead men hanging from some trees, and then I noticed the stench. I heard a “aaaagh,” and looked over to see Renna throwing up.

  If I hadn’t seen a similar thing in my old life, I would be right there with her. This was not a sight I wanted to see, let alone someone like Renna. Visions of the piles of bodies I saw in Vietnam flashed through my mind.

  The bodies after a battle could be terrifying. I fought in the Battle of Ia Drang, one of the bloodiest battles in the Vietnam War. The constant fighting and the number of dead bodies. I could see it as if I was back there.

  “Thorian, are you all right?” Arsted asked.

  “Huh?” I realized my hand was covering my right eye and I was leaning forward a bit. “Yeah, I’m fine. I wasn’t expecting there to be so many bodies.”

  Why did they ask me if I was all right and not Renna? I looked over at her and she was wiping her chin, her face pale as she stared at the bodies. “Renna, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” Renna’s voice was firmer than I expected. “How are you not sick to your stomach? I’ve never seen something so… vile.”

  “Because I-” I had to stop myself as I realized I was about to tell her I’d seen something like this before. Wow, maybe the sight of these bodies was affecting me more than I thought. “I’m not sure.”

  “Focus up, we’ve got griffins above us!” Arsted said.

  I looked up to see a dozen griffins in the sky. They were circling us like prey. They were too high for me to launch a stone bullet. Arsted, Olivier and Renna had their swords still drawn and waited for the griffins to make their move.

  “That’s a lot…” Olivier said, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

  Griffins must be strong if a dozen is considered a lot.

  “Whatever happens, stay together. Griffins can sense weakness, and they will prey upon you if you are separated,” Arsted said.

  The griffins circled us for another ten seconds before making their move. Six of them dove toward us, their sharp talons seeking our flesh. I was the first to react by launching five stone bullets. Before the stone bullets could connect, the six griffins dodged and spread out.

  The other six griffins remained at their vantage point, untouchable by us. Were they waiting to see how the other six did or did they have a plan? I realized I couldn’t worry about that as the six griffins attacked at the same time.

  Draven shot a fireball at one of the griffins and I launched a stone bullet. The griffin let out a roar, causing the fireball to burn out and my stone bullet to turn around! I quickly destroyed the stone bullet with a blast of air. Thankfully, the redirection had significantly slowed the bullet, or I would have been seriously injured.

  “Don’t cast anymore magic until you see an opening!” Arsted ordered.

  “Understood,” I said.

  Two griffins came at Arsted at that moment and moved out of the way the moment Arsted raised his sword. The other four let out loud screeches. I created an earthen fortress that absorbed the air attack they launched.

  When the griffins realized the attack wouldn’t work, they resumed diving at us but pulling away before anyone could hit them. “I’ve got an idea, when the next one gets close, be prepared to kill it,” I said.

  To my surprise, Arsted nodded, instead of asking what I was planning. That worked for me. It took a little over ten seconds before the griffins tried another dive. Once they got close, I unleashed a powerful gust of wind from above, catching two of the three griffins by complete surprise. They couldn’t dodge in time and slammed into the ground.

  One landed next to Renna, who quickly dove forward and thrust her blade toward its chest. The griffin was able to twist its body, saving itself from instant death but unable to protect its right wing, which Renna tore through. A large chunk of the wing was split apart and blood pooled where her blade struck.

  The griffin looked pissed when it looked at Renna. It raised its talons and jumped forward. Renna was too fast, she quickly ducked the attack and cut off its foot. The griffin tried to hit her with its beak, but again, Renna was too fast. She side stepped the attack and sliced open its throat. The beast thrashed on the ground, forcing us to step away until it finally went still.

  The second griffin was also lying on the ground, dead where Olivier stabbed its chest. I looked up to see the other four griffins flew up to meet with the other six. We waited for a couple of minutes and the griffins didn’t make a move, they just kept circling us.

  “What are they doing?” Renna asked.

  “Studying us,” Olivier said. He lowered his blade arm. “They won’t attack us, not unless we lower our guard. They won’t want to risk being forced to the ground, where they lose their major advantage.”

  “Smart move, Thorian,” Draven said. He clapped me on the back as he spoke. “I can see why you’re an intermediate mage.”

  “All I did was create wind,” I said.

  “You were able to create wind strong enough to force a griffin on the ground. That isn’t easy to do,” Olivier said. “Renna, you did excellent. I was going to help you until Arsted held me back, I can see why he did.”

  Ah, Arsted must have wanted us to show off our skills. Or he wanted Renna to see what it was like to fight a griffin up close. If there had been any danger, he would have acted. I wished I could have killed one of the griffins, but I would take the assist. If any of them tried to attack us again, I would do the same move to ground them.

  “We should see if there are any survivors from the battle,” I suggested.

  “There’s no point. This battle took place at least four days ago,” Arsted said.

  “How do you know?” Renna asked.

  “Griffins don’t come to a battlefield until at least four days have passed. If there were any survivors, the griffins would have killed and eaten them already,” Arsted said.

  “Even if that weren’t the case, I don’t want to stay under their watchful eyes. We should get out of here,” Draven said.

  “Agreed,” Olivier said.

  The problem was, we had to walk through the battlefield. One thing was clear for me at this point; I would never escape the stench of death. In my old life, I saw more dead bodies than I had ever hoped to. In this life, I had already taken the lives of many men and now saw the results of a battle.

  I hoped when I was done with this life, that I did not retain my memories. Perhaps if I was reincarnated without memories, I would be able to avoid fighting. It was a silly thought, it’s not like I participated in this battle.

  “Thorian, are you okay?” Renna said quietly so the others didn’t hear.

  “I’m fine, just lost in my thoughts,” I whispered back.

  Renna looked at me doubtfully. I wasn’t doing a good job hiding my feelings about this place. “I promise, I’m fine,” I said, which did little to reassure her.

  “Okay. If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here for you.”

  “I know.”

  I should be the one consoling her. I thought. Now that the fighting was done, she was looking a bit pale. She kept glancing at the dead.

  The walk was a bit slow as we didn’t want to create a new platform and disrupt the dead. So, we slowly made our way through the swamp. The griffins above kept a close eye on us, and we did the same watching them.

  The griffins did follow us for a bit, before eventually turning away. I could feel the relief from the others when we saw them leave. Being stalked from the sky wasn’t fun and it was something I never expected to experience.

  Day turned to night, and we created a fire. The dead bodies were far away. That should lessen the chances of another monster attack. I was dead tired; it was an effort not to pass out sitting idly by the fire.

  “Thorian, Renna, you both get some rest. We’ll take watch tonight,” Arsted said.

  “But it’s our turn to swap out tonight,” Renna protested.

  “Nonsense,” Draven said. “After today, you both earned a full night’s sleep. Rest up, you’ll be back in the rotation tomorrow night.”

  Normally, I would argue as I hated being treated like a child. Since I was so tired, I didn’t bother saying anything. I created a tent with the earth, big enough for Renna and myself and before I knew it, I passed out.

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