What Happened in the Far North

"Nomadic humans? Why are they here?"

"Well, who knows? They might be looking for a new habitat or just passing through."

"What a disgrace..." Seeing Damian mutter those words, another man in the group with part of his face bandaged gave him a disapproving look.

"It's quite inappropriate to use such vocabulary, especially in a delicate situation like this."

"It truly is a disgrace; having to live like this because of the demons is anything but pleasant."

"What did they face out there?"

When Damian approached the bandaged man, the latter hesitated and took a step back.

Reacting to this, Damian grabbed his shoulder firmly and demanded, "Tell me what you faced out there."

"You're too close; are you a mage from this tower?" Struggling against Damian's grip a few times, the man finally responded forcefully.

"Answer me!"

"Ah, well..."

As if Damian were releasing some pent-up pressure on the wounded man, he trembled a bit and said, "Green monsters..."

"What did you say?" Damian wasn't sure if they were goblins, dark creatures, or ogres that these people had faced, so he was curious. Many things in this world seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't confirm if his assumptions were correct.

But seeing that the man wasn't responding, blue electric sparks erupted from Damian's hand as he smiled in an intimidating manner.

The bandaged man didn't know what to believe anymore. "Are all the mages from this tower lunatics?"

"Calm down now. Why are you so interested in matters outside the tower when you've never ventured out?"

"Because I'll be going out to the battlefield in a few days!" Damian looked at Dom and shouted loudly in protest, which was a bit tense.

"Haha, you're a damn coward, I see. That's why I haven't defended you in front of those who are criticizing you. Damn it, you've ruined my day." Dom scolded Damian, who was now a bit annoyed.

"I don't care!" Damian turned to the man, who seemed to be a warrior, and asked, "So, where did they come from? Although this area may be rural, it's called the Etwas Mountains, and anyone fleeing from a more remote area must be due to a demon attack, right?"

While this place was protected by a barrier that had been impenetrable so far, everything beyond the barrier had to be known because, in a few days, a group of mages would have to depart to their respective locations where they would settle.

Knowing how these people were fleeing didn't inspire much confidence in Damian, who had been very cautious since awakening in this strange world of magic.

"They're very large green monsters. They've defeated most of the soldiers, and only the strongest mages have been able to defeat them so far." The bandaged man responded with sorrow; obviously, whatever he had experienced had traumatized him.

"Could they be orcs? Among all magical beasts and demons, there's nothing classified as an orc, so where did they come from?" Damian thought, looking at Dom, and asked, "How much do we know about these monsters?"

"We still don't know. We're also not sure about their numbers. It's more likely that only a few are passing through, but there's not much certainty. That's why everyone will wait here for a few days before making a decision about the fate of these people."

"Is that so?" Intrigued, Damian began adjusting the light armor on his arms.

Seeing him do that, the bandaged man furrowed his brows and asked, "Where are you rushing off to? You're just a kid who hasn't even been on a battlefield."

"On the battlefield, anyone can die at the hands of another. What makes you think I'm not prepared to slaughter powerful demons on a battlefield?"

"Even if you could, what good would it do if you end up dying like everyone else?"

"Haha, even though I'm human, I won't die without first killing powerful demons and exterminating them until they understand my name."

Damian walked towards the mage tower and headed straight to the evaluation area to receive his second-class badge, which Syndra had helped him obtain as soon as she ordered it.

"Even if you can get help here, you'll die once you're assigned tasks that a second-class mage can handle and you don't have the talent to fulfill them."

"That shouldn't concern you; just do your damn job and shut up." Damian responded coldly to the woman who attended to him.

...

Damian entered a room similar to a hall where mages were gathered, and one in the front rows asked, "Do we know where they're coming from and where they're headed?"

"Barely, they're probably moving from north to south."

"From north to south, hmm..."

That was an appropriate answer, but they were at war, and that information wouldn't suffice because they knew how cruel demons were to themselves.

Damian, who was in the back row of mages, remembered all the wounds on those men's bodies and said, "They're not civilians evacuating; they're defeated soldiers fleeing from what they saw on the battlefield."

"Why do you think that?" The first-class mage looked at Damian and then his badge on his chest before nodding in approval.

"There was an area in the far north where there was a protected region. Aren't these warriors from that place?"

"Yes, we have records that there was a region belonging to those people in the far north; that's true."

The mage tower was the most secluded place known in the north; they protected the passage to nearby cities and sent first-class mages to war whenever possible.

Being isolated from the others, this tower should be a very rarely frequented place and impossible to access unless someone has told them otherwise.

"Could they be fleeing from some new type of enemy?"

"Eh?"

This place was relatively safe, as it was nestled in a mountain that was impossible to access without magic.

The magical defenses around were also noteworthy, especially for those who came here with ill intentions, so everyone was prepared if an enemy approached the barrier's limits.

In fact, Damian had been traveling around the tower in his training to avoid attracting attention. Of course, accessing the magic tower was complicated but not an impossible task.

But those green beasts, which Damian was sure were orcs, were described as extremely aggressive and had a large number among their ranks.

"Well, it's obvious. They're fleeing in this seemingly calm manner to avoid being judged as deserters. It seems they're also traveling with their families, but remember, it's not courtesy but fear."

"Hoho. That makes sense." Dom, who had arrived with Damian, nodded in understanding.

"I see, so they're using us as an escape route rather than just passing through." Syndra, who was sitting at the front of everyone, thought there might be problems.

"Do we send a team to explore?"

"Now?" Damian was a bit puzzled by this decision, which seemed foolish and unintelligent.

"But we would need a guide from that group to show us the way; if scouts were attacked, explorers should have followed them here, and that's a real problem."

"So I recommend Damian lead this mission;

Could we send some other mages to support him?" Dom immediately sacrificed his student as soon as he had the opportunity.

Syndra nodded and said, "Then we'll do that."

"Damn old man..." Damian murmured as he smiled and waved at everyone looking at him.

Now that he would be sent to the slaughterhouse, at least he would have the opportunity to obtain a soul to complete his avatar and give life to his Divine General. The downside was that he didn't know where he was headed.

When Damian knew that a group was being formed at this moment, he went directly to where the man with the bandaged face was and handed him a healing potion. "Drink this; I'll need your help later."

"My help?"

"We're going to hunt down whatever is following them, but before continuing this conversation, I'd like to know your name." Damian extended his hand as he said his own name and waited for a response.

The bandaged man sighed and said, "My name is Brain Unglaus; I'm an adventurer who lost everything."

Damian didn't care about what this man had lost; what he wanted to know was if he was willing to go back to the battlefield again since he needed a good, experienced guide and wouldn't trust whoever would be assigned to him later on.