3 Ambush

Nate walked out of the school and moved along the wide stone road. The sun was at its highest and the market was lively as it could be. The war plaguing the border didn't seem to affect the daily lives of those in the capital. Once in a while a carriage or two would be pulled by majestic horses would gallop through the busy street alarming the citizens as they would run to the side to avoid being hit.

Nate could see fat officials holding beauties in both of them arms sitting comfortably in the carriage. Nate could only smile in defeat as people were dying in the borders while there were people enjoying the riches of life as there was nothing going on. Even in the digital age where everything was monitored there still many corrupt politicians and here in such medieval ages it wasn't weird to see it happen even more.

Nate walked around the market and asked a few for direction towards his new home and was pissed to find out that the building belongs to another village. Looking at the downcast experience the middle-aged man from the stall laughed. " Don't worry my boy. Just head to the Eastern main gate there will be few traveling merchants, they will take you along if you paid a few silver coins."

The old was friendly after Nate bought a bag of apples and even happily pointed out the direction. Nate thanked the old man and moved towards the Eastern gate while enjoying the apple. Reaching the gate he saw a carriage that was going to move out. Nate hurried to the carriage and asked if they could take him along and after forking out 5 silver coins they accepted him in the group.

Nate and the traveling merchant carriage moved after few minutes. There was 10 carriage belonging to the merchant and Nate was in the last one that held 6 other people similar to him who didn't belong to the group but paid to leave the capital city of the kingdom.

After leaving his school and taking to many stall owners he found out he was in the Lydia Kingdom named after the first Empress who is still worshiped till date as she was the first to become Archmage known to mankind. 300 years have passed since her era and there still hasn't been another one to take up the title.

Besides that, the level of mages was divided by their attribute and wore the robes to identify their identity as well as their attribute of magic. Red for flames, Green for wind, Blue for water, Yellow for the earth. These were the basic attributes and there were other attributes such as White for light, Black for Dark, Purple for lighting and Brown for summoning.

Nate failed to awaken the magic inside his body like many others and during the times of war mages even those at low level were assets to the kingdom and were looked after by the kingdom. Since Nate failed to be a mage he was worthless in the eyes of the officials of the kingdom. There were still many things he didn't get to know but the journey was just beginning. If he didn't die then there was a lifetime ahead of him to figure out the ways of this world.

The group of carriages moved along the bumpy road without much delay at a constant speed. Few hours of travel and the clear fields and human villages was lost behind with the carriages disappearing in the dark forest. The merchant group became silent as the sounds of wildlife hit the carriage. The guards in the carriages gripped their weapons harder as they became more alert than before.

Forest like these held many dangers like magic beast and bandits but the forest was close to capital there were very few magic beasts so the only real danger was bandits. The guards were all ordinary mercenaries with no magic powers so getting attacked by bandits was the last thing they hoped for. They traveled non-stop till the sun disappeared behind the hills as stars started to twinkle in the sky.

After approaching a clearing in beside the road the carriages stopped and started to set up tents. People started to get busy starting the fire and collecting firewood. Nate lent a hand as well he talked with the other passengers of the carriage that was like him not part of the merchant group. The merchant group also provided tents and meals but with additional cost but it didn't matter to Nate as he still had few more coins to spare in his pocket.

Despite being in the woods the environment was lively as the people from the merchant group sat around the campfire listening to tales from the old. After the hectic day, Nate finally got a peaceful moment. Chewing on the roasted meat Nate listened to the old tales of the Archmage Lydia and her contributions to mankind.

After the meal and stories, everyone moved towards their tent for rest. Nate had to share the tents with others from his carriage which he didn't mind as long as there was no kicker or snoring expert during sleep. The guards took time for patrol and moved around the perimeters of the tent.

Nate went to sleep wishing this peaceful night would continue this way until morning but unfortunately for him, there was no one to grant him his wish. Shadows moved in the woods swiftly with making little noise that didn't reach the ears of the guards. The people from the carriage slept without knowing they had been surrounded.

'Swish Swish....'

The shadows launched arrows that took out two guards as their lifeless bodies fell to the ground. The sound of bodies falling to the ground alerted the other guard as he took cried out his lungs to wake others.

"AMBUSSSHH..." One of the guards cried as he picked his weapon and shield. The people started to wake up with worrying expression, some managed to keep calm while others held their head and started to pray. Nate strangely had a calm expression as he had already suffered a lot in a single day. He got out the tent holding a stick to defend himself as he looked around.

The shadows from the forest jumped and started to attack the camp without holding back. The peaceful environment of a few moments ago was lost just like that as the bandits used their blades to cut down surprised people of the camp. The guards were in the much dire state as they were the main focus of the attack as few arrows would be launched at their direction once in a while.

There around 20 bandits although the number was smaller than the merchant group they attacked fiercely and took out 3 or 4 guards without giving the people from the group to notice what was going on. Before they knew it half of the people were killed and the pace of attack slowed down.

"Finish the guards and old people and capture the rest, the slaves are in high demand due to war we can get a good price" A domineering commanded as a man holding a huge blade in his back came towards the campsite. The campsite was now drenched in blood but the man acted as if it was his playground.

Nate had a panda eye as he was knocked out before he could do anything. He was just an average Joe with no fighting experience and was knocked out with a single punch. The last guard threw his weapon to surrender but the man with the huge blade didn't spare any guards. With just a nod from the man, the guard's life ended and the remaining people from the group watched in horror as they waited for their miserable fate.

"Check the carriage for any valuables and report to me and throw the dead bodies deeper in the forest. Also separate man and woman in two groups." The man with huge blade ordered out and proceeded to sit near the campfire.

"Yes, boss!!" The bandits replied in high spirit as they started to work. Some took the dead bodies towards the jungle and threw them while other entered the carriages to check for valuables. Soon the man and woman were separated into two groups and one of them head towards the campfire to report their loot.