CHAPTER 08
Resonance
As the Kashion mercenary corps passed through the village, people gathered along the road, murmuring with curiosity.
On their wagons loaded with loot, they had stuck the severed heads of Cornu tribe members onto spikes.
They deliberately turned the barbarian faces outward so everyone could see them, and the villagers watched in awe as the mercenaries marched by with ease.
“Isn’t that a barbarian?”
“They must’ve caught the savages!”
“Who did it? Who managed something that incredible?”
One of the mercenaries, overhearing the chatter, shouted loudly.
“It was Lord Kashion! Our brave captain personally beheaded the barbarian leader!”
Hearing that, the villagers began to chant Kashion’s name and cheer. The more people heard that the mercenary corps had wiped out the Cornu raiders, the bigger the crowd became.
The welcome was so enthusiastic that one might think a king was visiting. Kashion rode his horse slowly, basking in the cheers.
Just before reaching the castle, two mercenaries at the rear galloped forward through the dust and approached Kashion at the front.
“Toby was killed by a sword. The other three suffocated along with their horses.”
Kashion’s eyes sharpened. Even among the mercenaries, those who could use aura were rare. Losing Toby, even if he wasn’t the strongest, was a significant loss.
They said it was a sword wound, so the culprit was likely the boy who led the Cornu tribe. But the ones who killed the other mercenaries weren’t him.
“They all suffocated in the forest…”
Kashion muttered slowly, his eyes fixed ahead.
“There may be a mage with them.”
The messenger quickly added.
Kashion glared at him without a word. It wasn’t as if he had spoken to hear that obvious guess.
When the boy had stormed the campsite, Kashion had thought it was an accident.
But after hearing about the ambush that wiped out the pursuers, he began to believe the boy had deliberately brought the barbarians there.
‘Was this really the plan of a kid? Or is someone else behind him?’
The boy was a weak aura user. Beginners usually train with their guide who helps them open their aura heart. These pairs often form close, lifelong bonds, like mentor and disciple, parent and child, or master and servant.
Kashion suspected the boy’s guide was the mastermind.
“If he’s traveling with a mage, he’s not an ordinary brat.”
“Exactly. Anyone who dared use me as a pawn must have a bigger goal. What we need to know is what that goal was.”
All the loot and barbarian heads had gone to Kashion’s crew. The boy had taken only one thing—the lives of the Kashion mercenaries.
“Were we the target?”
Just as he nodded in response to his subordinate’s question, Kashion spotted Shaquim’s head mounted on the tallest spike.
He remembered the boy had interfered during the fight with Shaquim.
‘Jumping into a melee like that is asking to die.’
But the boy had taken that risk to slash Shaquim’s leg. If his goal wasn’t the mercenaries but Shaquim…
‘Did he have a grudge against him?’
Kashion glanced at Shaquim’s swaying head on the pole.
How many villages had the Cornu destroyed, how many people trampled? There were probably many with grudges.
Still, whether the boy targeted the mercenaries or just the tribe, it didn’t sit right.
‘He used me for free?’
Mercenaries are paid to fight. Kashion couldn’t overlook the fact that someone caused serious losses without paying a coin.
“Form a pursuit team with skilled trackers. I want their heads on those remaining spikes.”
“Yes, sir.”
The subordinate turned his horse and disappeared toward the rear.
‘Even if I count that loot as payment, I still need compensation for my men’s lives. For my pride, at least.’
Ten men dead, including Toby the aura warrior. Not even cutting the boy into ten pieces would be enough.
As Kashion approached the castle gate, he considered how he would take his revenge. Waiting to welcome him was the lord of the castle and his retinue.
“Welcome, Kashion!”
Baron Buzoni, the lord of the castle, opened his arms wide and hugged Kashion dramatically, as if showing off to the townsfolk.
To an outsider, it might look like Kashion had been ordered by the baron to defeat the raiders.
While embracing the baron, Kashion glanced and nodded at the baron’s daughter, who stood behind him.
Ernolf groaned in pain as he recalled the events of the previous night.
He had fallen asleep while hiding under a cliff. He’d been in a deep, dreamless sleep when a sharp pain suddenly pierced through his back.
His vision blurred, the pain so intense he couldn’t breathe, and a terrifying sense of dread swept over him.
At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind—Khazar was in danger. He didn’t know why.
Ernolf immediately cast a speed-enhancing spell on himself and ran in the direction he guessed Khazar would be. And somehow, Khazar really was there.
‘What kind of trick is this…?’
He had no idea how he knew. It wasn’t like he’d heard a divine message. It felt more like he was summoned, as if drawn by something beyond reason. More baffling than magical.
‘Damn it. My back feels like it’s splitting.’
The pain was so bad he couldn’t lie still.
He tried to get up, grumbling, but collapsed again, lacking strength. Then Khazar’s voice spoke.
“Sleep more. It’s not sunrise yet.”
“I can’t sleep because of you.”
Ernolf grunted and forced himself to sit up. Khazar tried to help, but Ernolf waved him off. After all, it was Khazar’s fault he was half-dead and in agony.
“Why’re you blaming me? I even gave you an expensive ring.”
Khazar pouted. He’d been quietly training his inner energy, not making a sound, yet Ernolf was blaming him.
“Expensive what?”
Khazar gestured with his chin. Ernolf looked down at his hand and noticed a ring he didn’t recognize.
Coming from a family of artifact excavators, Ernolf was knowledgeable about magical artifacts. A quick glance was all it took to read the circuits inside the ring and understand its function.
‘A low-grade artifact that enhances stamina and aura heart.’
A ring tailored for aura users, yet a mage like him was wearing it. What a waste.
He wasn’t specialized in this, but he had studied basic magitech in university and could craft low-level artifacts if he had the materials. But right now, he was flat broke.
“Take it back. You use it.”
“You think being older makes you the boss? Just wear it.”
“No thanks. You use it.”
“There are many ways to ignore someone’s sincerity.”
When Ernolf tried to return the ring, Khazar suddenly snapped. Ernolf sighed and sat up straighter.
He couldn’t understand why Khazar was getting upset over this. Maybe he was going through puberty.
‘Sigh… I’ll just let it go. I’m the adult here.’
Ernolf sighed again and patted the ground in front of him.
“Come sit here.”
“Why?”
“I need to test something. Come on, sit.”
“So annoying…”
Grumbling, Khazar sat in front of him. Ernolf turned him around to face away.
“Don’t tense up. Just sit still.”
“What are you doing?”
When Khazar tried to turn around, Ernolf grabbed his shoulders and straightened him, gathering mana in his hands.
“Because of you, my back hurts too much to sleep.”
At those words, Khazar quietly sat still. It seemed like he understood something.
Skipping explanations, Ernolf cast a healing spell.
“I’m no healer, but it should feel much better. Get proper treatment later.”
Khazar didn’t respond and just pouted.
Ernolf looked at him and asked,
“Tell me… Whenever you get hurt or are in danger, do I feel it too?”
Khazar pressed his lips shut, then slowly nodded.
Ernolf smacked him on the head.
“You knew and still went around getting stabbed?!”
“Why are you hitting me?!”
“You get hurt, and I feel it! You idiot, why’d you go to the village?!”
Ernolf kept hitting him every time he yelled.
“You reckless brat! What did I tell you? If the Cornu catch you, you’ll be lucky if they leave you bones!”
“Enough already!”
“Enough? Enough what?!”
“Didn’t you just say it yourself? You feel it when I’m hurt!”
“You little—”
Even yelling was exhausting. Ernolf eventually slumped onto the ground.
“Is this some kind of curse? Is that why I’m falling apart like this?”
“It’s not a curse. I was born this way. And you’re not the only one, so don’t feel too special.”
Khazar rubbed his head, not because it hurt but because he was annoyed.
“You too?”
“Yeah.”
“You feel it too when I get hurt or in danger?”
“That’s why I came to save you.”
“When?”
The moment he asked, Ernolf remembered Khazar running to rescue him from the mine.
‘It’s real…’
Ernolf stared in shock, mouth hanging open. There’s a psychic ability called “Resonance.”
‘I thought it was just theory… but it’s real.’
He’d read about it, but seeing it in person was a first.
“Wait… are we twins or something? No way!”
Suddenly, Ernolf snatched Khazar’s dagger and looked at his reflection in the blade.
“Why is your face in here?!”
Seeing a face identical to Khazar’s staring back at him, Ernolf panicked.
“We’re twins?! Really?!”
“You’re just now figuring that out?”
“But why?!”
He kept checking his reflection, comparing every matching feature and screaming with each confirmation.
“Why this face of all faces?! Why do I look like Khazar?! Why?!”
“Is this guy crazy…”
Ignoring Ernolf’s meltdown, Khazar checked what they had gathered.
The supplies from the horse included a mercenary’s cloak used as a blanket, a heap of jerky, a hunting bow and arrows, a bit of oil, and flint. That was it. The best loot was Shaquim’s ring and a mercenary’s coin pouch.
‘I’ll ride the horse until Tiri recovers.’
In a wild land filled with beasts and monsters, it was better to sell the horse than risk its death. But carrying Ernolf was worse.
After checking the items, Khazar untied the leather pouch at his waist and poured all the coins onto the dirt.
Immediately, Tirad swooped in like the wind and snatched them.
“Copper coins of Valdif! Ooh, Pelias gold and even Saraphian silver!”
Ernolf scrubbed the coins against his ragged clothes, held them up to the sunlight, inspected every side, then sighed deeply.
‘What is wrong with him?’
Khazar was speechless as he watched Tirad go from crazed greed to pathetic disappointment over some loose change.
