The Runic Alchemist

"No, my lord, we don't have as much in our granary as we would have liked. The winter came early this year, just like this unprompted war. Most of our serfs have already journeyed to Pyron. We didn't have much time or many men, so it's barely enough to keep us alive if the winter continues as it started."

This was the third large village where they had asked for extra rations, but the answers were the same everywhere: early winter, a lack of manpower, and the war no one asked for. Even bringing only 25 people instead of a full platoon had made it difficult to find food for them. Their rations would only last one more day, and this was just the third day of their journey.

Yesterday, most of the day was wasted navigating through the constant snowfall, trying to find the right path without getting lost in the limited visibility while staying alert for roaming monsters and beasts.

"Are you sure you can't spare any at all?" Valoris asked, his tone more informal, almost pleading.

"Eldoris Army's orders are the Elven will, my lord. I would give my life if you asked, but I can't let the women and children in my care starve," the village knight in charge replied, his plea more convincing with one hand missing from the middle-aged knight.

They wouldn't have to beg for food if they could find some game in their tedious journey, but it was as if the whole world had somehow known about the war—small animals were nowhere to be found. It wasn't just that they couldn't find them in this snow-covered land; Damian couldn't even sense the mana of the usually abundant creatures and unranked monsters.

In fact, all the monsters they had encountered in starting of their journey had stopped appearing for more than 28 hours now. As they headed deeper into the forest, leading to the dreaded lands, monster sightings should have been more frequent, not less.

"One more thing, my lord, before you continue your journey," the soldier added. "Some of our people haven't returned from the forest. I don't know if they just chose to ran away or if something happened, but I thought it best to caution you."

"Thank you," Valoris replied, and they all left the village where they had stayed for a few hours to rest.

The enchantment on the wagon, which made it light enough to slide on the snow, was wearing off. They might have to leave it behind in a few hours. Damian was still inside, sheltered from the wind and snow, along with their tents and supplies. But Valoris and the soldier assigned to watch over him had chosen to walk to lighten the burden on the horses pulling the increasingly heavy carriage.

Alone in the carriage, Damian practiced his runic drawings in peace with his fingers while resting on the warm furs and clothes. Though he seemed to be playing around, his mana sense was fully alert, monitoring any changes in their immediate surroundings. That's why he sensed it. With a sudden 'thump,' Damian immediately sat up, focusing on the mana signature he had detected.

There it was again—a dense, terrifying mana. A terror. And not just any terror, a high-level one, with much more mana than a normal terror-ranked monster.

Damian immediately jumped out of the carriage, startling the nearby soldiers and their horses. With another leap, he climbed onto the wagon roof and focused his gaze in the direction of the monster.

"Maximus, what's going on? What's the meaning of this?" Valoris shouted, thinking Damian might be trying to escape.

Damian strained to see through the white, snowy forest and the constant wind, but visibility was barely 200 meters. Giving up, he looked down at the captain and soldiers, who were slowly reaching for their weapons.

"A Terror-ranked monster," Damian revealed, seeing everyone's faces turn even paler.

"How do you know?" asked one of the soldiers.

"How far?" asked another.

"Are you certain?" Valoris questioned, silencing the others.

"Yes, it has an unnatural amount of mana. It might be a spellcaster," Damian explained, which didn't ease their fears at all.

"Where?" Valoris pressed.

"Straight ahead, about twice the distance from camp to the city gate," Damian guessed.

"That's..." Valoris trailed off, but another soldier finished his thought.

"How can you sense something so far away?"

"This is no time for that. What's our plan?" Damian dismissed the question and looked at Valoris.

"Can we avoid it?" Valoris asked.

"It's not moving. It's most likely waiting for us. It knows we're here," Damian revealed all he could interpret.

Just as he finished speaking, the silence of the snowy forest was shattered by a low, rumbling growl that seemed to vibrate through the very ground beneath their feet. The horses neighed nervously, their breath visible in the frigid air. The soldiers around Damian immediately drew their weapons, eyes scanning the horizon for the source of the sound.

"Stay close," Valoris ordered, his voice tense as he motioned for the group to form a defensive circle. "This is no ordinary monster."

Damian could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The air was thick with tension, and he knew that whatever was out there was more dangerous than anything they had encountered so far. The growl came again, louder this time, echoing through the dead, silent forest.

Suddenly, a massive shape emerged in the fast-blowing wind, as if summoned by the frozen white gusts themselves. It was a creature of nightmarish proportions, easily twice the size of a horse, with fur as black as midnight and eyes that glowed an eerie blue. Its maw was filled with jagged, yellowed teeth, and its breath came out in puffs of mist that froze the very air around it.

"A Frostfang!" one of the soldiers shouted, his voice tinged with fear. "We're in its territory!"

Without hesitation, the creature charged towards them, moving with surprising speed for something so large.

The Frostfang let out another menacing growl, baring its fangs—each as long as a man's forearm—and began to circle the group from a distance, sizing up its prey.

"Hold your ground!" Valoris ordered, his voice steady despite the obvious danger. "Don't let it separate us!"

The soldiers clambered around Valoris, forming a close formation. The mages in the back began chanting, their mage-sticks held high. Suddenly, the white snow was bathed in a deep ethereal blue light as a massive dark blue runic circle started to form near the creature's fangs. Damian was intrigued, even though this was no time for distraction.

He threw caution to the wind, and immediately creating a runic circle for a modified earth wall and jumped down, landing just inches from Valoris, who was the tip of the formation, mumbling random foreign song lyrics.

Before the captain could ask what was happening, a giant pillar of freezing snow breath burst from the Frostfang's mouth, seemingly coming from the runic circle itself. Damian's wall constructed just in time, taking the brunt of the attack, but the walls crumbled as fast as Damian could build them. The Frostfang had abundant mana, while Damian was just a first-ranker.

Damian concentrated fully, busily creating more and more walls to match the speed of the destruction until the wall was thick enough to give them a second or two.

"Scatter!" Damian screamed, and finally, getting their senses back, Valoris also yelled for everyone to scatter. The soldiers ran in all directions, not giving the giant monster a single target.

Once everyone left, Damian let go of the wall, pulled out his extra spear from his storage, and leaped above the thick walls and dense frozen breath. The monster noticed him and followed its breath in an arc as Damian landed near the monster and ran behind its massive body.

At last, the attack ended. Seeing the Frostfang distracted, Valoris led a charge and attacked it from behind with a coordinated counterattack, their swords and spears glinting in the pale light of the overcast sky.

With a speed that belied its size, the Frostfang lunged at them, forgetting Damian, aiming for the weakest point in their formation. The soldiers met its charge head-on, their swords and spears flashing in the pale light as they struck at the monster. But the Frostfang was quick, its massive claws swiping at them with deadly precision.

One soldier was sent flying through the air, landing with a sickening thud in the snow. Another barely managed to dodge a swipe that would have taken his head clean off. The creature was relentless, attacking with a ferocity that left little room for counterattack.

Damian watched the battle unfold, his mind racing. The soldiers were holding their ground, but it was clear they were outmatched. The Frostfang's thick fur seemed to deflect their weapons, and its speed made it difficult to land a solid blow. Only Valoris with his huge sword was making any significant cuts to the thick fur on the monster.

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