Chapter 96 War Paused

Mage Roman could tell what Shaoke wanted to ask, which only made her already somewhat flushed face turn even redder. "Mage Xueye, if you were asked to leave the battlefield now, would you leave?" To change the subject, the female mage quickly came up with a new topic for the two of them to discuss.

"How could I do that!" Shaoke was somewhat annoyed by Mage Roman's question. "Since I've come this far, why would I give up? So I can carry the name of a deserter and be mocked by other mages forever?"

Mage Roman smiled. "I was just asking. Hmm! Are you tired of ambushing those warriors from the stone tower now?" The female mage gently patted Shaoke's arm, hoping he could calm his turbulent spirit.

"I originally just wanted to become a battle mage through combat on the battlefield." Feeling the coolness from Mage Roman's small hand, Shaoke slowly revealed the reason he had come to the battlefield. Then, turning his head to look at the female mage's red lips, he swallowed and said, "That idea has supported me all the way to now."

Mage Roman nodded lightly, then talked to Shaoke about her own reasons for becoming a military mage. And so, a relatively pleasant topic came up between the two mages and lasted until late at night.

After the last female mage in the tavern (other than Roman) was invited away by a male mage, the mages in the tavern drank the last drops of wine in their cups and gradually left. Although a few mages wanted to invite Mage Roman, they were discreetly stopped by the others, as they had some understanding of this rare white-haired female mage.

Mage Roman stretched lazily, the curves of her body, wrapped in the wide robe, suddenly displayed before Shaoke. Then, she extended her small hand toward Shaoke. "Mage Xueye, aren't you going to invite me somewhere else to talk?" She chuckled.

Shaoke awkwardly shook his head. "No need. I see you're still exhausted; you should rest as soon as possible." Although he felt somewhat tempted, remembering the decision he had already made, he gritted his teeth and refused, even though she was very beautiful and sometimes quite alluring.

Mage Roman nodded, leaned over, and kissed Shaoke on the forehead. "Good luck!" At the same time, she thought to herself, Moxier, oh Moxier, I hope you have good luck too.

Shaoke sat dumbfounded in the chair, only snapping back to reality after Mage Roman's form disappeared. He gently placed his hand on his forehead, feeling the lingering coolness, smiled bitterly, and then returned to his quarters.

The war did not stop because mages experienced spellcasting failures; instead, it grew even more intense. Their stone tower received a replacement mage, while the previously new mage never appeared again. Shaoke never saw that mage again, not even when he eventually left the Bloody Fortress.

A warrior from the Desasi Empire wielded his iron shield, blocking attacks from all directions. His spear, like a venomous snake, emerged from various angles to pierce the warriors surrounding him. After he pierced the head of the Blue Feather Empire warrior fighting him, he had not encountered any new enemy warriors to intercept him for a long time.

"If I keep fighting a little longer, I can retreat safely." The warrior blocked another desperate attack from a Blue Feather Empire soldier, took a heavy breath, and quickly glanced at the stone tower ahead. "Fortunately, the mages in that stone tower haven't cast spells for a long time. It seems I can return safely this time."

Even amidst the fighting, the warrior heard the special signal from below the city wall. A specially made device emitted a piercing wail—this was the signal for their group of warriors and soldiers to retreat! The warrior suddenly unleashed his remaining aura, wrapping it around his iron shield, and carefully retreated alongside his companions.

"Mage attack!" The warrior, who had just retreated to the city wall, saw a red light flying from the stone tower he had observed earlier. Without hesitation, he blocked with his large shield and shouted loudly, "Be careful, mages..." Although he wanted to warn his companions, with his aura nearly depleted, he failed to notice that the spell was locked onto him. The red light pierced through the aura-covered iron shield, took half his head, then pierced several retreating soldiers before dissipating and ending the slaughter.

Feeling that his locked target had been hit, Shaoke gently sighed in relief. Looking at the other two mages still in meditation, he smiled self-deprecatingly.

Although his conversation with Mage Roman last night had relaxed his spirit somewhat, today, while casting spells, his spells still failed sometimes. The mage who had also experienced spellcasting failure yesterday no longer had such issues today, which made Shaoke envious. He didn't know how that mage had relaxed his spirit, but he knew his own spirit remained tense, causing some trouble for his companions.

Throughout the entire day, Shaoke wavered between success and failure. Fortunately, the Silver Light on the Diamond Array in his meditation space repeatedly calmed the turbulence within; otherwise, with his spellcasting like this, he risked causing permanent damage to his meditation space, affecting his chances of future advancement.

To avoid raising suspicion from the other two mages, Shaoke quickly took a pill each time he failed a spell, then waited a while before starting to cast again, giving the impression that he relied on rare medicine to calm the spatial fluctuations. Even so, the other two mages, upon seeing Shaoke cast spells with hand seals and continuously take rare medicine, still looked at him with strange eyes. Fortunately, the battle was intense, and they had no time to ask; otherwise, Shaoke would have had to spend a lot of energy fabricating lies to dispel their doubts.

That night, when he went to the tavern again, Shaoke waited all evening. Even after all the female mages in the tavern accepted invitations from other mages, Mage Roman still did not appear. Shaoke asked a mage he had spoken to before about Mage Roman's situation and learned that she had gone on a mission with some mages and would not return for a month. Feeling somewhat lost, Shaoke thanked the mage and never stayed in the tavern again after the busy war ended.

The war continued for another month amid mechanical spellcasting and meditation. After countless spellcasting failures, Shaoke finally freed himself from the incessant sounds of slaughter in his mind. The fallen soldiers now felt like pictures to him—pictures he could appreciate and practice spells with.

Shaoke did not know how many soldiers had died here during this time. He now felt that the entire fortress was filled with a thick smell of blood. Even in his own room, Shaoke could sense that strong bloody scent.

After the initial panic, the residents in the city returned to their daily lives, only occasionally being awakened at night by soldiers transporting corpses. Beyond that, there was no other impact.

Outside the fortress facing the empire's interior, there were endless military camps as far as the eye could see. Lines of soldiers continuously connected to the city wall where the war was happening. A large number of low-order warriors emerged from nowhere to maintain order in the city, preventing soldiers who had survived the battle from disturbing the residents. Otherwise, they would face slaughter from their own companions.

After a month of continuous war, a temporary ceasefire finally occurred. Upon hearing this news, Shaoke and the other two mages heaved a sigh of relief; their tense spirits could finally relax properly. The mage who had been with Shaoke from the beginning rubbed his much-thinner cheeks, looked at his two weary companions, and tugged at his dry, cracked lips. "Let's sleep well tonight. I've forgotten how long it's been since I had a good sleep. Hmm! Tomorrow, I'll treat you to the tavern. Let's see who can invite a female mage for a chat tonight, how about that?" He stood up, imitating Shaoke's efforts to straighten his robe and tidy his hair, trying to look more spirited.

Shaoke shook his head. "No, I think I need to eat some food to replenish my body. Don't you feel physically weak?" His body wasn't actually weak, but seeing the other two mages' somewhat shaky bodies, he was genuinely worried they might die between a woman's thighs. Of course, if they died on a female mage's belly, it would be better—at least they wouldn't have to worry about being overly mocked after death!

The two mages carefully moved their bodies around and agreed with Shaoke's suggestion. Smiling at each other, they packed their things and left the bloody city wall.

That night, Shaoke slept well. The next morning, although he felt sore all over, he forced himself to perform those physique-enhancing movements several times. Although he wasn't worried about his body weakening again, he hoped to improve his physique through this method to restore his body to its best condition as soon as possible.

After meditating, Shaoke once again found that his spiritual power and magic power had increased significantly, and their purity had not decreased much under the influence of the two mutated arrays. He now felt that his initial choice had not been wrong. He knew that without the stimulation of long-term combat, he would still need two or even three years to reach this point. However, this achievement was only possible with ample high-tier medicine assistance and his Silver Light that could quickly calm spatial turbulence.

After the war temporarily stopped, Mage Roland came to Shaoke again, bringing some news after this war. "Mage Xueye, this war was really tough." Under Shaoke's questioning gaze, Mage Roland explained in detail why he said this.

"Many second-tier mages left the military camp during this war! They didn't leave voluntarily; the military department directly transferred them away." As Mage Roland spoke, his complex expression changed rapidly several times.

"Why?" Shaoke didn't understand why the military department summoned some mages back right after the war temporarily paused. Was it because they were nobles or had connections?

"They couldn't successfully cast a single spell on the battlefield anymore." Mage Roland sighed lightly. "I really don't know if you're lucky or unlucky."

"I'm lucky, Mage Roland. Can you explain in detail?" Shaoke was slightly stunned and couldn't help but feel relieved. He had just tasted the benefits on such a battlefield and didn't want to leave for now.

---Thank you, Frigate. Thanks!