Chapter 219: Fifth Tier and Conversation

"Some civilians who didn't get out of the way in time." A few skilled commanders and observers quickly figured out their goal from the bodies. "Get out of here and head back to the mainland."

"I think we should actually search the woods," a Fifth Tier Mage frowned, based on his past war experience, fugitives wouldn't hang around long on either side of the road. But if these mages went into the woods and ran into some unusual enemies, they'd be in serious danger.

"The military didn't give us that order," Shaoke frowned, refuting the mage's words. "If there are Infiltrators hiding in the woods, we're gonna take casualties." With that, Shaoke followed the other mages out of there.

The mages got back on the road. As they approached the main army's position, big groups of fugitives kept showing up on the road and in the thinning woods, mostly civilians. Even though a lot of mages didn't want to kill civilians, when they came across a bunch of them attacking a supply convoy, they stopped griping about the commander's orders. After all, letting this go on could easily cause unnecessary losses for the troops up front.

Luckily, a bunch of regular soldiers caught up from the rear. With their help, the mages avoided pointless slaughter. Big groups of civilians were marched off by these soldiers, headed for endless forced labor. Of course, Shaoke didn't really care about any of that; he was only focused on his own progress.

A series of orders came through to Shaoke and the others via magic items. Following those orders, the mage team, now inside the Esuoer Empire's borders, started long combat missions. They not only had to keep the roads safe and hunt down fugitives, but also, when the main army up front needed backup, join the fight against the Esuoer Empire up close.

The war dragged on and off for over ten years, and during that time Shaoke managed to advance to a Fifth Tier Mage. The long, brutal conflict got more and more intense. The Esuoer Empire, a medium-sized empire with several times the population of the Blue Feather Empire, saw its territory shrink by half under attacks from several smaller empires and supporting strikes from other nations.

Nearly out of their minds, the Esuoer royal family sent almost all their top-tier practitioners to fight those of the Blue Feather Empire and other empires, hoping to buy some time. But because of internal issues, these top-tier practitioners gave up defending the empire and left.

Even though losing some top-tier practitioners hurt the Esuoer Empire, with help from allied nations, they relied on lots of mages and warriors who could tap into the power of strange beings to fight fierce battles against the Blue Feather Empire and other nations' forces.

One day, a team of over a hundred mages rode horses fast across the plains. The riders quickly spotted and dodged large pits. Even though the blizzard was getting worse, it couldn't stop the mages until they reached a run-down village, where the team stopped.

The mages quickly dismounted, scrounged up some scarce fodder for their Mounts, and then pulled dried rations and simple cooking gear from their magic bags to fix dinner.

A seemingly frail mage shed his white cloak, shaking off the snow to reveal a black hooded cloak underneath. The cloak tightly covered his face, making him look mysterious. On his back, a strange five-fingered staff had a green flame burning at its tip; snow melting on it quickly evaporated. Occasionally, sparks fell, caught by the mage and tossed onto a large tree lying before a house, quickly igniting it. Some shorter mages gathered around the burning tree, drawing warmth from the flames. Though these mages weren't bothered by the cold, they couldn't avoid certain habits, as they couldn't always maintain the auxiliary arrays on their robes to regulate temperature.

After lighting the fire, the Black-robed Mages took out a transparent crystal ball and released their mental energy to probe the surroundings again. Powerful, violent, and unrestrained mental energy rapidly extended several kilometers, conducting a detailed scan. Other mages also took out various items to enhance their abilities for the same task. After meticulous and repeated probing, they stopped after the time it takes to drink a cup of wine.

By then, the mages who had been drawing Alert Wards around the village finished their work and joined the dinner preparations. Female Mages, having finished warming themselves, used silver knives to scrape small brick-sized food items into boiling water, where the powder quickly expanded, releasing a rich aroma. Others cut compressed, hard meat chunks and grilled them on small racks.

"Mage Xueye, when will your Blizzard Legion arrive here?" a Black-robed Mage asked, handing grilled meat slices to the waiting mages.

Shaoke, now a Fifth Tier Mage, checked the magic item in his pocket and replied in a hoarse voice, "Soon. If all goes well, they'll catch up to us in three days." He put away the disc-shaped magic item and took out his large, light-blue spellbook to study. Though he had been a Fifth Tier Mage for several years, frequent battles left him little time to copy more Spells.

The few Fifth Tier spells he knew, aside from those that could continuously advance, were copied for him by Mage Roman from Death Mages. Some spells, the female mage couldn't copy, but the Death Mages were happy to help a newly promoted Fifth Tier comrade copy internal spells. They hadn't forgotten any companion who left the Death Mage Corps, at least not until Seventh Rank.

Roman Mage and her companions, working in the rear on magic item crafting, prepared large quantities of disposable magic items for Shaoke and the surviving Blizzard Legion mages every time they returned, to protect their lives. Other mages didn't receive such treatment.

"Mage Xueye, can't you rest for a while?" The White-robed Cleric, looking tired from the long journey, tidied her slightly disheveled hair and moved closer to Shaoke, watching him quietly.

"Is there a problem in the rear that brought Roman Mage and the others here?"

The White-robed Cleric referred to the collective departure of some Female Practitioners from the Blizzard Legion's rear, following the legion to the front lines at a newly captured city. This worried the White-robed Cleric about her companions, especially another Golden-robed Mage.

Mage Yisier, quietly preparing dinner nearby, frowned and said softly, "Probably. They vaguely mentioned it in their letters, but the military department resolved that trouble. Still, Roman Mage and the others decided to come to the front with the Blizzard officers." She added a bit louder, "The rear supply line has moved forward again, probably to the city we just passed." The female mage suddenly blushed, realizing something, and continued her work.

The White-robed Cleric, hearing their conversation, understood her thoughts and gently hugged her arm, whispering in her ear. Soon, other female practitioners joined the discussion, much to the delight of the nearby Male Mages. After all, a beautiful woman's smile was worth appreciating.

Many mages envied Shaoke's luck, as he always had female practitioners around him, especially the Clerics. These Blizzard Legion Clerics, influenced by the White-robed Cleric, easily grew close to Shaoke. This was not only because he was young but also because of his strength. He could now easily defeat two fellow mages of the same rank in joint attacks. As for the Esuoer Empire's Ritualists and mages, none escaped Shaoke's near-frenzied assaults.

A mage wrapped in gray mist chuckled lowly, "Mage Xueye, I think if you switched to being a Death Mage, these beautiful Clerics definitely wouldn't cling to you like this anymore." He slowly stroked his staff, made from hundreds of mage skulls, looking quite sinister.

With the aid of numerous high-grade potions, Shaoke had regained his former appearance—fuller cheeks, normal hands. Though still ordinary-looking, the faint purple pentagram array in his eyes added some charm, allowing the female practitioners to barely accept this strongest Fifth Tier Mage as their leader in battle.