Leo, the Mercenary (4)

A/n: Sorry about the messed up release schedule this week. I have some job interviews going on and I wrote the past few chapters on phone so it kinda takes time since I am out of town.

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As the convoy entered the forest and as the shadows of its long trees covered the carts, the mercenaries all became ready and some of them even descended on the ground and walked beside the carriages.

Titus and Cenric were the ones who jumped down first as Edrick was the one driving the carriage. Meanwhile, Huxley alerted Leon to stand up with him and get ready.

"For what?"

"Just take a point and focus on watching for anything. The monsters won't usually come out of their way to attack a band of hunters but some are cunning and desperate enough to run for a bite or lay ambushes."

"Is that so?"

"Also, if some rival mercenaries are present, they will drive the monsters against our convoy to harm us or do some trick. It's all possible."

"I understand."

Leon took position above the cart and despite how shack the road felt, he could easily lean against the supplies loaded on it and notch an arrow in his short bow.

Archery was't his forte but still, both archery and spearmanship are the skills he is going to display during this mission. The reason is obviously to perfect the act that he is a novice fighter and he will gain experience during this mission by training those weapons during the hunt until a skill manifests.

His actual skills include but are not limited to Artillery Technique Lv.9, Blade Technique Lv.6, Unarmed Technique Lv.5, Martial Technique Lv.5, and Stealth Technique Lv.8.

While he was a sharpshooter in the EAF (Egyptian Armed Forces), his skill revolved around complex machinery such as firearms which sadly do not exist in this world as far as he is aware. Luckily, a crossbow is the only other option available besides a gun. The reason for that is that both Guns and Crossbows fall under the criteria of Artillery in the system since they are more developed weapons compared to the Bows and Slings that fall under Archery.

Still, Leon was excited to shoot with a bow, to say the least. He tried it a few times but he was a bit shaky and all over the place. On the way, however, he asked Huxley to give him instruction once they reached the camp.

And after an hour, they did.

The Society Encampment is the place where the Mercenaries stay in the Forest. Even though it was called an encampment, it felt like a small village from the outside as it was surrounded by these large palisade walls.

As the carts stopped in front of the wooden gate, the mercenaries jumped down and started and secured the entrance of the camp as the people inside welcomed them from above the tower and opened the large wooden gate.

As the camp felt like a village from the outside, it was exactly a village from the inside. The strong clean wind carrying out the smell of nature and that of campfires mixed with aromas of grilled meat and intensifying even further with the fat that was dripping on the charcoal and burning on it. The voices of people as numbers of mercenaries walked out to help to offload and the shouts of people in one of the pit fights that mercenaries all love.

Leon helped carry a few supply barrels off the cart before getting down himself and walking into the camp. There, he saw a central building in what seemed to be an outpost of the Mercenary Hall as well as a large number of tents in every corner of the place. That is to say, where mercenaries go, services follow and thus there were artisans who fix armors, brews solutions, and cook food as well as those who provided more intimate services such as prostitutes and bards.

Between the many faces, Leon saw was that of a brownish red-bearded Dwarf standing silently and watching who comes and goes before meeting his eyes with Leon.

That was Hall Master Vadim, the man who took a particular liking to Leon. For his part, Leon wanted to thank the man for assistance but he was in a tough situation where he can't afford to accept even goodwill from those who are suspicious.

Why does he think Vadim to be suspicious?

It is because Vadim was there when that Elf woman Erielle put a spell on him.

On the other hand, Vadim saw Leon and in a mindless reaction, his expressions changed to that of anticipation which was captured right away by Leon.

Leon didn't even spare Vadim a second glance as he turned to Titus and carried off with one arm the barrel Titus was carrying with two and took another one in his free hand.

"Damn, boy! What did you do before this?" Titus reacted funnily.

"Just some dirty jobs. Nothing dishonorable so I am proud of my past career." Leon said.

"Well as long as you're proud." Titus said as he hated to fall short to Leon and carried two barrels as well.

As they left the supplies in the camp's depot, they received camping equipment and a permit to camp inside the perimeter in an empty plot.

"So, you said you were in the grave-digging business?" Edrick said.

"Gravedigging, keeping, and maintaining." Leon said so in words that were all mostly metaphors to killing, retrieving artifacts, and keeping them safe.

"Is that how you learned about Earth Magic?"

"Yes. I was introduced to it by digging. I can't use it in a city or a settlement so I kept myself from practicing it, sadly."

"I get you." Edrick nodded, "What do you think of this?"

As Edrick pointed out, Leon followed with his eyes to see the small plot which they were to occupy with nothing interesting to it.

"What's with it?" Leon asked.

"This piece of Earth is basically too rough. Look at the weed growing out and the small rocks thrown around by the other people. Do you think this land is fit to make camp?"

"Well, it needs cleaning… with magic, right?"

"Yes. Show me what you can do."

Leon smiled with a nod and flexed his arms as he twisted his torso around.

He fixed his two feet strongly on the ground, put strength into his back, and spread his arms wide as he started gathering Mana.

"Good!" Edrick nodded.

Earth Magic poses a lot of pressure since Earth and Dirt in general pose a lot of strain on Magic. Earth is a magic-resistant material and the higher the density of Earth, the harder it is to control thus it is tough to completely force the Mana to weave through this material.

Even more, iron and denser metals are pretty resistant to magic and that's why metal armors are still popular despite the existence of armor spells.

With the movement Leon displayed, he started evoking the spell [Earth Control] and with brute magical force, he turned around the Earth in what can be estimated to be an area of six square meters making the stones and the weed disappear and the earth becomes a little bit more habitable. With each move of his arm, the amount of Earth he can control became slightly more refined as he got a grasp of it and bent it to his will.

"That's… strong magic." Edrick said, "You have strength in your skill."

"Thank you." Leon replied.

He was actually training with Earth Magic but not in an ideal situation. Before he leaves the Honey Saloon, he would spend a few hours in the morning training these weird Magical skills. Air Magic is seemingly invisible thus he managed to train it comfortably but the only Earth he could train in was the Earth under the river which was under a huge restraint from the water above making it very hard to control but still fairly invisible.

"Your technique is strong but it is not optimal." Said Edrick.

"How so?" Leon asked.

"Watch and hopefully learn."

It was then when Edrick took Leon's place but in a totally different stance, this meant that the technique itself is going to be different.

The Earth moved exactly as Leon expected but not in the way he did. Leon copied his first skill, Earth Control, from a City Hall Mage that was digging the road thus the spell was crude and meant for such heavy loads. On the other hand, the spell Edrick used just now was too refined compared to any of the Earth Magic Leon did.

"Read!"

This was downright the only thing Leon needed to do while observing the Spell and rather than waiting for a minute or two to observe, the reading finished itself really fast.

< You have learned [Earth Magic - Mold Earth] >

And a new concept appeared in his head.

"Wow!"

As if he was missing a whole lot in his basic techniques, Leon immediately started understanding many parts of the Arcane Theory book regarding Earth Magic which was left unclear in the back of his mind. Lightning-fast realization followed one after the other as Leon took grasp of the [Mold Earth] spell and understood the potential slowly as Edrick displayed it.

Here's how the spell went under Edrick's control. First, he made a thin layer of dirt move to the sides and slowly dug down the rocks and roots which Leon crudely buried. He then returned that thin layer of Earth from the sides and made the land into a perfectly smooth piece of land.

Comparing the Earth Control spell to the Mold Earth spell is like controlling strength to finesse. Earth Control can move earth in a violent way which may lead to some damage despite it not being a completely offensive spell but Earth Mold can do the trick light load. It can turn Earth into various shapes and forms or even change some of the textures. Imagine, whipping out footsteps after your walk, making roads smoother, making art with earth provided you have the right earthen materials, or anything you can imagine.

When Edrick wanted to flex, he created a seat made of earth and sat on it after he ended.

"Hahaha!" Leon laughed and shook his head.

"A fancy trick, eh?" Edrick asked.

"Yeah, for an old man." Leon nodded.

"Come on! You don't have to mention that." The rough mage threw a small patch of mud at Leon in a joking manner but Leon evoked his Earth Magic in an instant and caught it while flying.

"Woah!" Edrick couldn't believe Leon kept up with him, "Good reaction! You can learn fast."

"I do."

"Tell you what, you learn this spell before we finish this mission and I will tell you about the man who taught it to me. He's a Dwarf so his Earth Magic is the real deal."

"Yeah, keep me excited."

Leon tossed the mud on the ground and reverted his attention to the tents he and Edrick have to build. The other three went on different errands such as picking clean water for the group, taking an assignment from the Hall, and scouting the other teams for the sole purpose of rivalry. Still, when Leon was finally about to get going, Edrick spoke.

"Ah! Speak of the devil and he shows to revel." Edrich faced the other direction as he spoke.

"Aye! Been watchin ya, Edrick. That's yer new mate?"

Leon almost shuddered with bad vibes as the man whom he tried to avoid emerged. Stealing a glance back, he could see Vadim walking to him and Edrick.

"Lad, mind if we have a word?"