Chapter 115 Return to the Fortress

Both Shaoke and Mage Roman understood that when the Third Tier Mage spoke of the only Second Tier Mage he'd encountered, he was referring to Shaoke, which cast a pall of melancholy over them both.

After conversing a bit longer, the Third Tier Mage announced his departure. "You're very lucky. Today, many mage teams approaching the fortress were heavily ambushed by enemies massed nearby, and only a few managed to escape. I believe you'll continue to be fortunate in the future."

Mage Roman politely thanked him, "May we all be fortunate in the future."

Due to a lack of tents, Shaoke and Mage Roman once again shared a tent to rest. They washed themselves as thoroughly as they could. Only when Mage Roman's long hair returned to its snowy white did she finally set down the damp cloth with satisfaction, leaning by the fire to quietly watch Shaoke at his tasks.

When Mage Roman saw Shaoke take out a pen and paper to record something, she softly interrupted him, "Mage Xueye, I think it's best to rest early. You can slowly catch up on your records tomorrow after returning to the fortress." She knew that since the escape began, Shaoke had hardly rested through sleep, relying entirely on meditation instead. If this continued long-term, it would quickly harm his body, especially since the physical toll of the escape had been immense.

"It's fine. You sleep first. I'll rest once my hair dries a bit." Shaoke warmed his hands over the fire, feeling some life return to his stiff fingers. He then lit a smokeless candle and began writing in his "spell record." "I want to finish the work I delayed over the past few days as soon as possible. For all we know, we might be even busier after returning to the fortress. Besides, this headache won't let me sleep peacefully anyway."

Mage Roman was quite helpless in the face of Shaoke's occasional stubbornness. She could only shrug, drape her long hair over a small stool, and lie down beside Shaoke, gradually falling asleep.

Seeing the weariness and exhaustion on the female mage's face, Shaoke felt a pang of sadness. He now felt somewhat lost about his future and had grown somewhat weary of the war. He didn't want to end up like Mage Roman and the others, still fighting enemy mages of equivalent rank here even after becoming a Third Tier Mage.

As he pondered, he recalled his original reason for joining the army. He truly hadn't expected becoming a Battle Mage to be this difficult. Shaking his head to dispel these unsettling thoughts, Shaoke settled his mind and focused on recording the events of the past few days and his insights after spellcasting.

Beautiful block characters appeared one after another on the pristine parchment. Traces of mental energy slowly seeped into the ink forming the characters as he wrote, making the already elegant script appear even more exquisite. The faint mental energy stirred the energy within this specially crafted ink, causing it to flow gently through the characters. Only in this way could these writings remain unfaded even after thousands of years.

Finally, after inscribing a few simple Ancient Magic Script characters around the edges to conserve the scroll, Shaoke's recording work came to a close for the time being.

"Mage Xueye. I never expected your writing to be so beautiful. I've never heard of or seen this kind of script before." The female mage, who had been sound asleep, was now somehow sitting beside Shaoke. She stared intently at the characters on his scroll, showing no embarrassment at having peeked at his writing. Instead, she asked Shaoke with great curiosity.

"I just scribbled this when I was bored. Later, to record spells, I developed this set of characters." Shaoke blushed and turned his head, avoiding direct eye contact with Mage Roman.

"Hehe!" Mage Roman chuckled softly. She didn't believe this was a recording system Shaoke had created himself. The personally invented recording symbols she knew weren't like what Shaoke described—merely conveying meaning. Most such marks couldn't have mental energy or mana infused into them to preserve the ink.

Yet Shaoke had written so many characters, each infused with mental energy. This made Mage Roman immediately think this might be another obscure, rarely circulated form of magic script.

Mage Roman didn't expose Shaoke's lie. Instead, she teased, "If I offered you an ancient command-type spell in exchange for a small portion of these characters, would you agree?"

Looking at the female mage's teasing expression, Shaoke felt a headache coming on. He quickly took a pill and replied, "I'm sorry, but I've already used this script when copying my 'spellbook,' so..."

Mage Roman nodded, "Then forget it. Actually, few people bother deciphering the 'spellbooks' of mages below the Seventh Rank. Any script will do." Her tone suddenly grew somber. "Perhaps only the 'spellbooks' of those Wandering Mages are extensively deciphered by their peers."

Seeing Mage Roman suddenly become despondent, Shaoke was momentarily at a loss, simply sitting there dumbly, watching her without moving.

Mage Roman, who had been lost in thought with her head down, looked up and noticed Shaoke's expression. She couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, get some sleep quickly! I think we'll have a lot to do tomorrow." She patted the fur mat beside her, signaling for Shaoke to lie down.

Urged by Mage Roman, Shaoke hastily packed away his writing tools, placing them in a pouch nearby. Amidst her somewhat hoarse laughter, he lay down somewhat awkwardly beside her.

"What's wrong? Weren't you holding me while sleeping the past two days? Why are you uncomfortable now?" Mage Roman turned on her side, pulled Shaoke's arm around her waist, and leaned back, nestling into his embrace.

"That was just for warmth, wasn't it? If we hadn't done that, we might have frozen to death in the heavy snow." Shaoke hesitated for a moment before finally relaxing his stiff arm, wrapping it tightly around the female mage's slender waist as he had done in previous days, silently feeling the coolness emanating from her body.

"I hope those mages who got separated from us won't lose their lives needlessly to this cold weather." Mage Roman murmured softly. Without waiting for Shaoke's response, she fell asleep again.

The two, sleeping in each other's arms, were awakened early by mages outside. The Third Tier Mage and the others had breakfast with them before both parties hurriedly parted ways. One group had missions to carry out, while the other was eager to return to the fortress. After exchanging blessings, they quickly dispersed, much like their encounter—both expected and unexpected.

On the way back to the fortress, Shaoke and Mage Roman encountered many mage teams heading deeper into the mountains. Upon learning that the two were mages who had carried out the mission in the canyon, the initial misunderstandings vanished. They greatly admired Shaoke and his companion for managing to escape under such circumstances and seemingly without sustaining major injuries.

After Shaoke and Mage Roman returned to the fortress through a city gate in the mountains, they found, just as the magic item had indicated, that the streets were almost entirely filled with mages, though most were Second Tier Mages. These Second Tier Mages closely followed a single Third Tier Mage, forming one small mage team after another, marching toward unknown battlefields.

"Have all the Empire's mages gathered in this fortress?" Shaoke asked the female mage, somewhat awestruck. He had never seen so many mages at once, not even in the Mage Guild in the capital, which boasted the largest number of mages. And this was despite most of these mages being only Second Tier.

"Impossible," the female mage shook her head, answering with certainty. "At the very least, those mages belonging to the Mage Guild will never go to the battlefield." After she and Shaoke paid a simple courtesy to a passing Fifth Tier Mage, she continued explaining to Shaoke, "These are all mages gathered by the military from various places, along with some guarding other fortresses. Remember, never trust the numbers the military gives regarding mages." She smiled at Shaoke. "Once you join the Blizzard Legion, you'll truly understand. Also, no matter the situation, always show courtesy to mages of higher rank than you, even if it's just the simplest gesture."

Shaoke nodded. He understood the meaning behind her words. After all, many High-rank Mages cared deeply about matters of etiquette.

They walked in the city for quite a while before finally hailing a recently available carriage, which sped up their return to the military camp.

"Are we going now?" As soon as Shaoke got off the carriage, he noticed Mage Roman heading toward the military headquarters and quickly caught up.

"Mhm." The expression on Mage Roman's face, which had just begun to relax, turned grave again. In truth, she wanted to know the reason for this breach of protocol even more than Shaoke did. After losing three companions—perhaps forever—so inexplicably, the anger she had suppressed all along could no longer be contained upon returning to the camp.

The mages in the military camp were equally busy, but the central military headquarters, holding a key position, seemed quite relaxed. At least, Shaoke didn't see large numbers of mages swarming the area on the way. Only the occasional soldier passed by, carrying scrolls as if delivering messages.

The female mage led Shaoke to the room where he and the others had been summoned before his departure. Mage Roman took a deep breath to calm her spirit, then released her mental imprint onto the heavy wooden door.

Not long after, the door slid open silently. Looking into the dimly lit room, Shaoke felt a complex mix of emotions. He truly wanted to shout inside to vent his anger.

Glancing at Mage Roman, who also seemed agitated, Shaoke gently squeezed her arm, hoping this gesture would help both of them calm down a little.