The Summit Lies Ahead
The taunt had landed perfectly.
His skills seemed impressive, but his mental discipline? Not so much.
He fell for such a basic provocation without hesitation.
"You wouldn't be pinning your hopes on that freakish horse, would you? Don't make a fool of yourself."
"Fool? I was just stating facts."
"This is why you can't talk to you workshop-dwelling spell-slinging bastards. In a forest like this, which is faster—that sorry excuse for a horse, or me?"
"Obviously the horse. Don't knights learn basic common sense these days?"
"Heh heh, yeah? Let's see about that, then... you little shit!"
No need to listen to his nonsense any longer.
I kicked the black horse into motion right then.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
The black horse surged forward without warning.
It wasn't at full speed yet.
I started at about the pace of an ordinary horse.
An Aura Practitioner—my first encounter.
I wanted to gauge his capabilities.
Crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch!
He's giving chase.
Keeping up with the black horse's speed.
No— the distance between us was closing fast.
"Think you can escape? Don't hold back—just die! I'll put that girl to good use myself! Kahahat!"
Swisel grinned, his face smug and confident.
Even while running, he had the leisure to shout.
But I was the same.
I nudged the black horse a bit faster.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
"See? The horse is faster."
"You cocky bastard, I'll rip your mouth off!"
"If you can, go ahead."
This time, I taunted him back.
But inwardly, I was shocked.
'An Aura Practitioner is faster than a normal horse?'
In a forested path full of obstacles, and in terms of endurance, it wouldn't compare.
But in raw burst speed, he outpaced an ordinary mount.
That alone showed how cheat-like an Aura Practitioner was.
Not to mention the stages above—Expert or Master. We'd be done for.
Of course, the horse I was riding wasn't ordinary.
The black horse.
'A straight fight right now... no chance of winning.'
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Going up against him relying only on a Sunogi would have been disastrous.
"You filthy rats! I'll just cut off your limbs—stop right there!"
For a knight, he sure had a foul mouth.
Worlds apart from Baron Sellevan's knight, Sir Phrayle, in terms of dignity.
Personality didn't scale with power, apparently.
But Swisel's expression was darkening.
As I ramped up the black horse's speed, his chatter dwindled.
He must have realized he might lose us.
"Trying to run? Don't think this is over—I memorized your faces!"
Run?
Why would I?
I had no intention of fleeing like this.
He'd seen my face—and Lena's.
'Nobles might get away with it after the war... but me?'
Neither Lena nor I were nobles.
No one to pay our ransom, no powerful backers.
My current status was just a hired mage under Baron Sellevan.
If someone like that attacked a supply line on their own whim and caused damage...
And bought a grudge from an Aura Practitioner knight, no less.
Win or lose the war, Viscount Haft would have my head if he found out.
Day or night.
So sorry, young knight—but I couldn't let you live.
"Lena, Sunogi."
"Yes! It's ready!"
"Fire."
Thud-thud-thung—
The Sunogi unleashed a barrage of arrows.
Unlike the ones at Baron Sellevan's castle, this was firing at full potential.
They traced eerie trajectories, homing in on his vitals.
But.
Ting-ting-ting-ting—
Swisel deflected every incoming arrow.
Thud-thud-thud-thung—
I fired relentlessly, just like against those thief Aura Users.
Same result.
Even while sprinting, Swisel's swordsmanship blocked the Sunogi flawlessly.
'Definitely a different league.'
Knights and mages might differ by one class on paper, but the gap in prowess was vast.
No wonder Swisel was so arrogant.
Even he was foaming at the mouth now, spitting curses.
"You sneaky bastards! Fight fair—get off that horse! What kind of crap is this?!"
"Didn't you say you were faster?"
"Shut up! Without that freak horse, a punk like you wouldn't last a second... grk!"
He tried to retort, but couldn't finish.
Lena's Sunogi barrage sealed his mouth.
Ting-ting-ting—
The arrows still didn't land.
But Swisel was showing signs of fatigue now.
Time for his final gift.
Time wasn't on my side.
'How about this?'
I reached into the new backpack.
The item I wanted was in my hand instantly.
Effect of the Swift Draw function, probably.
In my grip: the Flame of Wrath potion.
Time to test the theory.
I lobbed it slyly between Lena's volley.
Swisel instinctively swatted the incoming potion with his sword.
Crash!
He had to deal with the consequences of his reflexes.
"Wha...?"
Whoosh!
Fwoosh!
The shattered Flame of Wrath potion drenched his upper body.
No explosion.
No dramatic bang.
The Wrath of Flames was silent.
Just flames that bloomed quietly along the liquid.
"Grk— you fucking bastards! Dare pull this cheap trick on me...!"
Swisel halted his pursuit, trying to pat out the flames on his torso.
An Aura Practitioner figured a little fire was no big deal—just brush it off.
Macho to the core.
But it didn't work as planned.
"Huh, wait—this... what?!"
The flames wouldn't shake off.
Swisel's face grew frantic, then twisted in horror.
He sensed something was wrong.
"Gaaah!"
The flames roared fiercely.
His knightly pride shattered—he rolled on the ground.
Desperate to extinguish the blaze.
They say knights would die before dropping their swords.
He'd tossed his aside already, writhing to douse the fire.
Guess that slave trader wisdom was bullshit.
The Flame of Wrath potion mocked his desperate efforts, pride be damned.
The inferno surged stronger.
"Gaaaah! Sp-spare me! Ple...!"
Thung—
Sunogi shot.
No more godlike deflections.
Splat!
The arrow buried in his brow.
Ended his suffering.
No need to drag it out.
Swisel crumpled.
"Theo-nim..."
Lena clutched my sleeve, eyeing the flames warily.
Swisel's pathetic end.
But the potion's fire still danced, consuming him.
Viscount Haft might spit blood seeing this.
An Aura Practitioner knight felled so anticlimactically.
"Lena, fall back."
The heat was intense.
Even at a safe distance, my skin prickled.
Watching the blaze, I understood why the Flame of Wrath overwhelmed even an Aura Practitioner.
'The flames regenerate? Insane. No wonder it sticks.'
Why it wouldn't go out.
Dying embers reignited, as if healing.
Like a wound mending from a recovery potion—the fire healed itself.
'It works like this? Too dangerous...'
Way too lethal.
One hit, and most foes were done.
'Gotta use this carefully. If a mid-grade potion does this... what about high-grade?'
Imagining the power sent chills down my spine.
By then, the potion had run its course—the flames died down.
Good thing it didn't spread to the forest.
Magical fire, so less prone to igniting surroundings.
"We... took down a knight? An Aura Practitioner?"
"Yeah. Pretty much."
"With a potion... just like that."
Lena looked dazed.
Beyond that, strangely hollow.
Her eyes held an odd glint.
"Barely... these guys..."
She muttered through gritted teeth.
Before misunderstandings brewed, I wanted to tell her "barely" didn't cover it.
We nearly lost.
The potion was just that strong.
But a new message interrupted.
Minion Loyalty +3 Reinforced (Lena)
The system had expanded.
Seemed like assigning Lena a class added the loyalty metric.
'Can I strengthen Lena further?'
That changed things.
Plus, room for one more minion.
That meant sharing new abilities.
'Might consider recruiting one. But loyalty's tricky...'
No such thing back in my Hunter days.
No info on it.
Why Lena's loyalty spiked now? No clue.
'From beating the Aura Practitioner? Last time it was at the tavern... Unpredictable.'
The elusive loyalty mechanic drew a sigh.
Expanding minions cost Hunter Points, too.
Curious, I checked the option.
Consume 1 Hunter Point to expand minion slot?
1 Hunter Point per slot.
'Not bad. One slot's open anyway...'
After the war, might visit a slave trader.
Could be useful talent worth recruiting.
Not just anyone, but worth testing.
Great terms—no points needed yet.
Couldn't waste points on a trial now.
I'd earmarked my points from the start.
Seemed impossible at first—a years-long grind.
Hunter Points were hard to farm back then.
Temptations everywhere: body boosts, skill upgrades, system expansions.
Instant power, endlessly appealing.
But I resisted.
And now, I'd gathered them.
The summit was in sight.