The Runic Alchemist

"Okay, fall in line!"

All recruits quickly formed ranks and stood up straight.

"As you all know, the army does not care about your status. The special training for mages and spellswords will start today, while pugilists will receive advanced lessons from Captain Mira. But since this information is provided by you, we will announce a list of those selected for mage and spellsword classes.

If your name is not called, you can request a personalized test for that class from the commanding officer. Only the worthy will be taught the arts of war specific to their class."

The mage captain announced the names of those eligible for the mage class, followed by the spellsword captain, who did the same for his class. Those whose names were not called were deemed pugilist material. For them, more and more hard work awaited. It wasn't pointless, though; hand-to-hand combat and real training with specific exercises were what beginner pugilists needed most.

All this happened right after they completed their morning running quota. After that, they were let go.

Damian and Sam, along with the others, got refreshed, changed clothes, and gathered around once again for breakfast. The last to arrive was Einar. The guy was too shy for his own good. He never bathed with them, always going further down or upwards, wherever there were fewer people.

Even though the water was ice cold, Damian always had to cast warming spells on him whenever he came shivering for breakfast, always late.

"So, what are you going to choose?" Yovan asked, devouring his breakfast greedily.

The question was directed at Damian, who knew what it implied. None of them had to make a choice—Yovan and Damian were selected for mage classes, and Einar for spellsword. Of course, there were no questions about the pugilists. However, Sam wasn't selected for any class and would either have to continue in pugilist training or take the test. Damian knew what the little punk would do.

Damian was also selected for the spellsword class, as he had written that down as his main class during the trial.

"Spellsword," Damian replied.

"You'll miss out on all the new spells they're going to teach us," Yovan said.

"You can show me later what you learn," Damian smiled as he responded.

"And you?" Jorven asked, facing the blonde-haired boy, who was busy eavesdropping on nearby soldiers.

"Huh? Oh, the test… Spellsword test," Sam said, then hurriedly looked beside him. Damian was just about to take his first bite when Sam grabbed his shoulder and shook him.

"Maximus! They said Ashenvale has refused to negotiate, not even giving their demands, and just attacked the border villages in huge numbers a few days ago..."

Damian had also overheard the gossip and noticed the growing tension among the soldiers who usually spoke enthusiastically before this news hit the camp two days ago. Pyron was the nearest big city to the place Ashenvale had chosen to attack. The other two large Eldoris cities were quite far away, and they would likely be called upon to reinforce the defenses if the situation worsened.

For now, they had enough soldiers, but who knew what the future held?

"They'll be called upon?" Geldric asked, noticing the change in the atmosphere.

"Most likely… Let's just hope they're enough, or we'll be next," Yovan added.

Not even a simple meeting or demands from Ashenvale was troubling news. If they were so dead set on fighting, it meant they had confidence in their victory—an advantage of some sort that the rest of the kingdoms were unaware of.

"It's not mandatory," Damian tried to ease their minds.

"What if they make it so?" Yovan said grimly.

"What do you mean? No one can do that..." Sam looked at him, puzzled.

"You underestimate the Lord of Pyron, my friend... For his benefit, he would sell his own mother..." Whenever Yovan spoke of this supposed lord, his voice was full of worry.

Damian could understand though. He was already tired of their commander's constant annoyances after just a few weeks. A lifetime with him as a lord? Who knew what unspeakable acts he must have committed?

"We could always run away," Sam suggested another option.

"Deserters are hunted down and hanged... They make an example out of them," Einar added, his face serious despite shivering just moments ago.

"There's always a way," Damian said, resuming his breakfast nonchalantly, breaking the tense atmosphere.

Sam smiled and nodded. The rest just looked at the two and relaxed in their own ways.

"Yes, just like those mysterious spells of yours... And don't say it's the Dawnstar language. I've met people from Dawnstar..." Yovan pointed at Damian with his spoon.

He had been grilling Damian since that day, asking him to teach the spell or at least reveal the chanting. But how could Damian share something that didn't exist? He himself didn't know how chanting and the runic circles were related. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't translate it.

"I'm from further south of Dawnstar... People from there don't go out much," Damian lied. He couldn't keep track of how many lies he had told. Some he even forgot after saying them.

"Strength like a pugilist, better spells than mages, and from that little move, I guess you also know swordsmanship," Geldric summarized.

"Leave him be… He won't say anything. I've been trying for months now," Sam said, forcefully changing the topic.

Well, it was kind of Sam's fault that he had to reveal his abilities. But he couldn't blame him. He had a feeling that sooner or later, the arrogant ones would have come after one of them, and the outcome would be the same. At least they understood that he wasn't willing to reveal things, and they weren't asking either.

The group had a silent agreement to let things be; no one questioned why Einar didn't bathe with them, why Yovan was so angry with his lord, or why Sam never used any spells.

"Come on… I need to show Captain Valoris how capable I am," Sam said, hurrying them along while eating his food at a rapid pace.

There was no weapons training today because of the voluntary tests. So, as support for Sam or just as entertainment, everyone went with him to the place where the Spellsword captain was taking challenges from those who thought they were worthy. Just as they arrived, a boy from Damian's spear lessons was thrown out of the ring with a single hit from the Spellsword captain.

A soldier tended to the kid as the captain looked at the others as if asking, 'Who's next?'.

The challenge was simple: demonstrate enough spells to be considered gifted with mana or defeat the captain in pure sword skills, which was nearly impossible for any of these people. In other words, unless you had mana and knew how to use it, you couldn't become a Spellsword. The captain wasn't even using any spells.

"Ah, Maximus… Here to tell me your choice, are you?" the captain said, in a cheery mood after decimating two more challengers and noticing Damian.

"Yes, I will be in your class… But my friend here also wishes to do so," Damian replied, pushing Sam forward.

Sam snorted proudly and entered the ring. Obviously, he had no power to defeat the captain, so his only choice was to use spells. Damian and Yovan had taught him some simple spell-chanting techniques. Sam couldn't use them because of his Esper nature, but he didn't have to.

Standing opposite the armored captain, Sam began chanting and moving his hands in proper formations as Yovan had taught him. Damian drew the runic circle for the spell and sent it near Sam's hand, extending his mana thread. It was an extremely mana-wasting and slow process, but there was no other option to fake it. A fireball emerged from the red runic circle.

The captain, along with everyone else, was shocked, gasping in unison.

However, that was because they didn't expect Sam to finally use magic. The spell itself was nothing impressive; many who could perform it had also failed the challenge. But it didn't end there. There was still time. Sam ran towards the captain, showing off his recently learned swordsmanship moves.

The captain wasn't heartless enough to attack him and throw him out of the ring; he gave Sam ample opportunities to demonstrate his skills.

Whenever Sam chanted, Damian made the magic work for him. They performed another fireball, air blades, and a unique modified fire rune spell that Damian had taught him, with the chanting of random Spanish and Japanese words. The captain was intrigued by the rare spell's origin and, as expected, they succeeded. The Spellsword captain was impressed and accepted Sam as his student.

The look in the captain's eyes, as his amused face gazed at their group, especially at Damian, was rather questionable and showed his doubts. But since they couldn't understand it, there was no issue. It could be problematic for Damian, but what was life without taking some risks for friends here and there? No one here could sense mana like those third-ranker freaks, so he was kind of okay with it.

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