CHAPTER 6 Surprise Attack (1)

Even though Khazar had forgotten most of his childhood, he remembered clearly what happened tonight.

That night, Shakim’s army attacked the village in an instant. They brutally killed all the men who could fight. The young women were abused, tied up with the children, and thrown onto carts.

Right after that, Khazar had to run across the open fields like crazy, with the Cornu tribe chasing him.

“Shakim’s army was behind me, and in front of me, someone was hiding in the dark, waiting with a trap.”

That person was Kashion, the Mercenary King.

Just thinking about Kashion’s name made Khazar grind his teeth.

Kashion had used young Khazar as bait to lure the Cornu tribe into a trap. Even though people thought he was a fair and noble man who followed knightly honor, in truth, Kashion was a low and dirty man.

When Khazar had been shot with arrows, trampled by horses, and lay bloody on the ground, Kashion came over and said:

“I thought you were going to die, but you’re pretty tough. I can use you one more time.”

Khazar still remembered that voice clearly.

“Then where’s the safe place you were talking about?”
“Up there—on top of the cliff.”

There was a place at the edge of the wide field, surrounded by cliffs on three sides. Long ago, Kashion’s mercenaries had hidden there in ambush. Khazar had once run there for his life while being chased by the Cornu tribe.

Back then, Shakim had escaped from Kashion with one of his arms cut off, and Kashion took the artifact ring he was wearing.

“I’ll make them fight again—and this time, I’ll take the ring.”

Only three days after escaping the mine, Khazar now had a chance to take revenge on his two enemies—and get the artifact too. He felt excited.

It wasn’t a top-class artifact, but it was good enough to help with the weak stamina of his current body.

Khazar placed Ernolph in a hollow spot at the top of the cliff and stretched his back. He looked ready for action.

“You look like you’re about to do something crazy. Where are you going?” Ernolph asked suspiciously.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“So you’re staying?”

“Do you want me to go?”

The conversation got weird.

“…Forget it.”

Ernolph sighed and sat down on the ground. When he leaned against a rock, exhaustion hit him like a wave.

“This body is so weak. How am I going to survive in a place like this?”

It felt like they were in a time between the ancient and medieval ages—a chaotic period of constant war.

Now, inside this body of a runaway slave, Khazar had fallen from being a noble to the lowest status. His clothes were rags not even fit for cleaning, and his stamina was terrible.

If he hadn’t awakened his aura heart, he would be nothing but a beggar.

“To find out what’s happening, I first need a safe place. No… before that, I need power.”

With power, he could survive, earn money, buy land, and find time to investigate. There was a mountain of things to do.

While thinking about all this, Ernolph soon fell asleep.

Once Ernolph was sleeping, Khazar gathered branches and stones and blocked the entrance to keep out the wind.

“This should be good enough.”

He looked toward the faraway fields. On one side of the darkness, a big fire had started and was growing larger.

It was the village they were planning to visit.

“Let’s begin.”

Khazar stepped down the rocky cliff like it was a staircase and ran like the wind toward the burning village.

“Ahhh!”

“Please spare me!”

“Mom!”

Nine warriors from the Cornu tribe stormed into the village at night. The village had no way to fight back.

Children screamed for their parents, and the parents—covered in blood—searched desperately for them. Wherever the blades went, blood splashed and flesh was torn. Those lucky enough to avoid the swords were crushed under horse hooves.

It took less than an hour for the Cornu warriors to destroy the entire village.

Just like crushing an ant with your finger, Shakim trampled a resisting man with his warhorse. Then he grabbed a woman by her hair and pulled hard.

He set the woman’s house on fire, and the raiding group, waiting in the distance, began to move into the village.

While the raiders collected food and slaves, Shakim’s warriors chased the women like wild animals.

Just as Shakim was twisting a woman’s arm, a raider who was pushing children into a cage suddenly screamed.

Shakim turned his head sharply.

“What’s that?”

Someone was riding away on a horse pulling one of the raiders’ supply carts.

“Catch him!”

Shakim shouted and pulled back his bowstring. An arrow filled with aura flew like a shooting star into the dark sky.

“Did I miss?”

The sound of horse hooves kept getting farther away.

Aura arrows almost never miss. So if it missed, that meant either the rider disrupted the aura—or was skilled enough to dodge arrows even while riding.

“In this backwater place, there’s someone who uses aura?!”

The Cornu tribe always killed aura or mana users first—so they wouldn’t be a threat later.

At Shakim’s command, the warriors charged like wild beasts.

“One, two, three… nine. Nice. They’re all following me.”

Khazar, while running, counted the warriors chasing him. Arrows kept flying toward him.

He deflected an arrow aimed at his neck with his fingers and smiled. Among the nine warriors, he could feel Shakim’s presence.

“Good. Keep following me, Shakim.”

At the edge of the field, there was a forest full of red rocks and broad trees. Khazar glanced at the cliff where Ernolph was hiding, then smoothly turned his path toward the forest.

As soon as he entered, a group of arrows came flying from the front. But they weren’t from the Cornu tribe—they came from Kashion’s mercenaries, who were camping in the forest.

Khazar blocked them with his aura shield. The arrows bounced off and scattered.

Crack!

One arrow shattered a tree trunk.

“Who’s there?!”

“Stop right now!”

The mercenaries shouted from inside the forest.

Khazar smirked and pushed his horse faster—straight toward their camp.

In front of the camp, a man with a long sword stepped forward. It was Kashion.

Khazar glared at him coldly.

“It’s been a long time… Father.”

Memories from his past life hit him like a wave.

“Hmm, not bad. This one has good potential.”
“Captain, does he really have an aura heart?”
“Yeah. He looks like a beggar, but he has one. Hey kid, join me. If you listen to me, I’ll awaken your aura heart.”
“Does a beggar even know what an aura heart is?”
“He’ll learn—if he wants to change his fate.”

Back then, Khazar had looked up at Kashion while eating the bread a mercenary gave him. Kashion had looked like a kind angel.

But Khazar later realized—it was the face of a beast looking at prey.

“If you can use aura, even a beggar can become a king.”

That promise tricked Khazar into doing all kinds of dirty and dangerous work for Kashion. In the end, all the rewards and honor went to Kashion alone.

Mercenary King Kashion.
The so-called king of mercenaries.
And…

“My second father.”

Khazar pulled the reins tightly and lowered his body.

Kashion raised his sword and swung it down hard—aiming to cut Khazar and his horse in one strike.

Swoosh!

A white aura blade slashed the horse’s neck like a crescent moon.

“Yeah, that’s the Kashion I remember.”

Khazar let go of the reins and jumped into the air, just like he planned.

Crash!

The aura blade cut the horse’s neck, passed through the empty saddle, and shot toward one of the Cornu warriors chasing Khazar.

“Hah!”

The warrior cut the blade, but it split and sliced nearby trees.

At that moment, Kashion shot forward and stabbed his sword toward the warrior’s chest. The warrior raised his axe to block it.

“You filthy barbarian!”

The metal clashed, turning red hot.

Shing!

Kashion slid his sword and slashed the warrior’s forearm. The metal guard on the arm was cut like paper.

The Cornu warrior shouted and swung his huge axe, making the air shake.

Just like Khazar planned, Shakim’s warriors and Kashion’s mercenaries began to fight.

The Cornu warriors were outnumbered and soon surrounded.

“Hyaaaah!”

Shakim crushed a mercenary’s head and used aura to enhance his vision, looking through the darkness.

“Where did that brat hide?”

He was searching for the boy who led them into this trap.

“He completely erased his presence…”

The one who had made a lot of noise earlier was now completely silent. It was definitely a trap.

“He dodged my aura arrow… and even avoided Kashion’s aura blade. He knows how to hide too. He’s not normal.”

This didn’t seem like a trick planned by Kashion’s army. It had to be the work of that rat-like boy.

“What is he planning?”

A hidden enemy is always scarier than a loud one. Shakim was more worried about the quiet one watching from the shadows than the loud mercenaries fighting in front of him.

“We’ll strip their bodies and sell them for bounty! Kill them all!”

Kashion roared in fury after seeing his soldier die to a barbarian.

He struck the Cornu warrior again and again, his aura sword hitting like a giant hammer.

Even though the warrior had aura too, the difference in skill was huge.

Kashion cut his helmet in half and shouted:

“Where is your leader?! Show yourself!”

Shakim saw Kashion’s furious eyes and decided to retreat.

“Send a warning to the men back at the village. We’ll escape when we get the chance.”

The Cornu tribe came to loot, not to die in some foreign land.

Just as one of his men was about to whistle a signal, a dagger flew and cut off his finger.

“You think calling for help will save you from me?”

Kashion smiled mockingly.