Death all around

Esdras was feeling very hungry and thirsty, he was bathed in his own sweat to the point where one would think that he just took a dip in the river.

He looked around and it seems like a lot of time passed since he passed out. It was nightfall. He examined his body and noticed that he felt completely comfortable in it.

Unlike when he first awoke he felt like he was wearing clothes that didn't fit him but that was all gone now. Not just that he may have grown a bit taller.

The smell of the air was so refreshing, so captivating. He couldn't get enough of it. That was weird, it was such a strange feeling—

Esdras was suddenly dumbstruck, it was not the air that was refreshing, it was the mana!

The mana itself was attracted to him and moved closer to him of its own accord. How would it feel if he absorbed it right now?

It has to be known that mages can't absorb external mana without being in meditation.

It was so tempting. He felt like he didn't even need to meditate, with just a thought he could absorb mana. Of course, he couldn't in truth, but even if he chose to meditate it was of no use to him right now.

That was because the previous owner of the body did not construct a single elemental sigil, so if he did absorb mana in this state he would destroy his own mind.

In any case, he had to get a change of clothes and eat something before he died of hunger.

Esdras picked a random shirt and trousers and walked out, the camp was much quieter than it was during the daytime. Only a few people were going on and about.

He looked for the food storage and luckily he saw a cook, a fat woman in her fifties closing it and was about to lock it up.

"Hey, hey, lady wait up." He called to her as quickly as he could, she heard the call, took a look at him, and proceeded to lock it up.

"Sorry dinner time's long over." She said with a sneer.

"I know, I was badly injured and had to rest up, can I just get a loaf of bread and some chee—"

"I said!" she interrupted him and barked, "dinner time's over! Try to get up in time for breakfast! Anything else to say?!"

Esdras narrowed his eyes and didn't say anything he just gave her one last look and left, heading back to his tent.

She probably didn't know that he was a mage apprentice and that's why she thought it was fine to act like a bitch to him.

But there was also another possibility, that she recognized who he was, precisely, and that's why she acted that way.

It was likely since the spar he had with Robert was witnessed by many people.

So she thought she could disrespect him because he was the runt of the litter?

He remembered how she acted around other apprentices like she was willing to lick the ground they walked on.

Heh heh, so, this is the world. Actually, it was no different than Earth, just replace magic with money. Esdras looked at the crescent moon and from this angle, it truly felt no different than Earth.

"Pss,"

Esdras heard something so he looked around.

"Pss, here, here."

He looked and saw David hiding behind a carriage. He was crouched down and looking very suspicious, which was probably the opposite of what he wanted.

"Here, take this. I saved it for you." David handed him a plate covered by a small cloth. His yellow eyes looked around in fear like he was buying weed for the first time.

Esdras gratefully accepted, "thanks I thought I was going too fast tonight."

"Yeah, I noticed you didn't come out for so long. Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I think so. I will probably be back to normal soon."

"Good, honestly it looked like you were a goner. The seniors and commander refused to slow down the march. Don't tell anyone that we're friends!"

David was Esdras's only friend and Esdras understood what was going on, since he was the bullied kid, David didn't want anyone to know lest he falls in his place.

"By the way, don't I have a fat friend?" Esdras asked expectantly.

"A fat friend?" David asked dumbfounded.

"Yeah, like a fat comedic guy, you know. Fatty Xiao, Fatty Zhou? No? Forget it."

"What… was that about? You really need to get your head checked."

"It's just a joke, forget about it." Esdras laughed as he thought of the web novels he used to read.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, I told you it's not worth getting angry over your fiancé."

Esdras was a timid guy, he was suffering from an inferiority complex and wouldn't stand up for himself normally.

But just before the march began he received a letter that his fiancé has broken the engagement and his uncle agreed in his stead.

He was already riled up when Robert provoked him.

"You should think more about how you're going to survive the test in three months." David reminded.

In the Octarine tower of magic, all apprentices must go through a test of life and death five years after joining and it had a casualty rate of 90%.

Only those apprentices who are at level 4 could have the confidence to survive. As for level 3 apprentices? One or two might survive if they were lucky.

There is no need to mention the lower levels.

Esdras will be facing this test in three months along with his fellow apprentices.

But of course, they were also dispatched into an active war zone to participate in the war effort so he might not need to wait three months to get killed.

Obviously, Esdras had no intention of dying any time soon. He had a divine shard and he was going to make full use of it.