บท 17: Spell
In Black Bear City, there were a couple of buildings extremely reputed for mercenaries.
Naturally, the first one was the town's brothel, the [House Of Pleasures]. With dozens of young women willing to serve as prostitutes, mercenaries who went on long missions would be able to relieve their need for affection. It also helped with the guilt from killing another fellow human. After all, the act of murder was not something that anyone could escape. The nightmares, the cold sweat were symptoms of trauma that most people would find difficult to support.
The second attraction was the [Gambling Den], a building where sellswords would be able to bet part of their savings. Although the odds of the gambling den were in the house's favour, there were stories of some mercenaries making a fortune and retiring.
The [Golden Stag] Mercenary group was no exception to these human pleasures. The first provided comfort, and the second the thrill of success.
"Man...I can't wait to test this new girl. I heard she used to be a merchant, but went bankrupt and ended up working in the house of pleasure!", one of them said in a black alley
"Yeah...I lost four silver coins in the gambling den today...Hopefully, something good will happen to me today", the other mercenary said
The lives of sellswords were difficult. They never knew what tomorrow reserved them. They would live in the present, and literally sell their lives during missions. Although protection missions were quite easy, they sometimes included fighting against bandit groups twice the size of the escort, or worse still, monsters such as goblins.
Mercenaries would kill without hesitation, and the work they were comissioned by nobles sometimes included dirty work, such as plundering of foreign villages.
Some mercenary groups were powerful enough to go against nobles, especially when a knight arose among their ranks. However, when this happens, the knight would usually become a noble house's hedge knight, and become part of a territory's army. Even though it would be looked down upon at first, when military merit accumulates, even the most conservative advisors would eventually respect those mercenary groups.
Hence, strength was all that mattered in mercenary groups. Unlike bandits who only fought to steal and sustain their finances, mercenaries trained regularly and invested part of their savings into equipment. After decades of being mercenaries, they would be able to exchange blows with regular soldiers who went through rough fundamental training.
Yet...
*SPLASH*
"Jack? What was that sound?", the mercenary who just talked about the gambling den said in a frightened tone
Turning his head to look at his friend's facial expression, he discovered with horror that a knife had found its way into his peer's throat. Unsheathing his sword, several men started to come out of hiding.
"Who are you? Why are you all covered in black clothes?", the man shouted
The [Shadows] clothes were all made of medium-quality leather, and all fit the individuals perfectly to improve their flexibility and agility. A famed tailor, Neils, had accepted the order after Arthur made an offer he could not refuse. After all, Neils was known to be someone who loved his family.
These clothes were very useful in two ways.
Not only were they sturdy enough to reduce the damage made by close combat or arrows, they also prevented the bystanders from recognizing the faces of said shadows, meaning that nobody knew who they really were.
As a result, [Black Serpent] had suddenly earned 15 elite soldiers out of nowhere. The disappearance of a couple of unregistered rats could not be collerated to this appearance either, since the physical standards of those elite soldiers were impossible to reach in such a small period of time.
However, every single townsman knew that these unfathomable outfits and crest on their back meant. They were part of [Black Serpent].
The mercenary was now alone, faced with three [Shadows] in front of him, and two in his back, preventing him from retreating. The walls in the alley were also too high for him to climb without suffering deadly injuries in the meantime.
Before he could even attack, he subconsciously knelt.
He knew that surrendering would only result in his death, yet he knelt.
'I did not kneel on purpose!', he inwardly thought
But just as he tried to make sense of this situation he collapsed on the ground. Trying to fight the urge to sleep, he realized that strength was leaving his body at a rapid rate
A second later, he lost consciousness.
Five seconds later, he stopped breathing.
From a distance, Arthur smiled.
[Beep! You have successfully cast [Darkness Hand]. Range: 20 meters (scaling with magical power). Effect: A hand will be summoned according to spatial coordinates, and absorb the target's life force]
[Beep! Target died within 5.2 seconds. Estimated potency of the spell: 8 degrees of damage]
'So this is how acolytes measure potency of attacks...', Arthur analysed, 'I took 5 seconds to kill an above-average adult. I guess it will only weaken strong opponents like knights, but then again, I would be able to kill them in martial combat once they are weakened'
With practical experience at hand, Arthur realized that he had just become someone who could fare against Knight Robert.
'I will have to revise my plans, then...', he thought deeply, disregarding the flabbergasted looks of horror of his subordinates at the disheveled corpse lying in front of them.
"What are you waiting to loot these people?", Arthur shouted
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