The Runic Alchemist

Early the next morning, Kazak and Damian decided to take their other option: leave the rest of the group behind while they scouted ahead to check the status of their enemies. The last stretch of the mountain was too steep to climb, so they didn\'t even attempt it. Since Damian would soon be leaving behind his mana bank, he decided to make the most of it.

Using up 75% of the old fox\'s mana, he created a wormhole that reached an incredible distance. They used the vines to latch onto the top of the mountain and scaled it from there.

The view from the summit was breathtaking, though the area was so narrow they barely had room to stand. After savoring the moment for a few minutes, Damian and Kazak pressed on. Going downhill was easier for Damian thanks to his vines. He tied them to secure points, descended to stable ground, and repeated the process. He could only imagine how difficult it would be for someone doing it by hand.

From the top, Damian had tried but failed to see what lay on the far side of the mountain. The scout had reported that their enemies were camped right at the mountain\'s base, building fences to contain the monsters. Little by little, Damian and Kazak descended, and by mid-afternoon, they reached a point where the large horde of monsters and men surrounding the camp was visible in its entirety.

"They are… too many…" Kazak muttered, overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and the powerful mana emanating from many high-level monsters. The men weren\'t ordinary either. Over fifteen second-rankers were among them, clearly they were gathering their forces for some time. Even after the scout had first spotted them, their numbers continued to grow, both soldiers and monsters alike.

Damian estimated there were over a thousand monsters, perhaps even a couple hundred on top.

But that wasn\'t the worst part. Damian sensed multiple king-ranked monsters among the horde. They were eerily still, with their eyes appearing unfocused from this distance.

None of the monsters seemed to be doing much, so Damian couldn\'t detect any new runic circles or active spells. However, the camp\'s layout, spread across both sides of the river without fear of attack, sparked an idea in Damian\'s mind. The enemies had built some kind of pulley system to lift monsters and send them into the middle of the river, where there was better chance for them to get across. Experience tales at m v|l e\'-NovelBin.net

As Damian and Kazak watched for over an hour, the pulley raised small monsters, sending them downstream into a large dark tunnel that was carved into the mountain by the river\'s flow over the years.

"What do you think?" Damian asked

"They\'re just testing it, but we\'ve had to keep a full team watching the river day and night. This many monsters… they\'ll destroy everything," Kazak replied, his face grim.

"That\'s assuming the monsters follow their commands," Damian said.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kazak asked, confused.

"I sense four people in that camp with enough mana to be called mages. It could be mages… or an esper," Damian revealed his thoughts. "What do you think?"

"You… You want to attack?" Kazak asked, surprised.

"Not a frontal assault. But we could sneak in. They\'re clearly not expecting anyone to come from this direction. We just need to find the one controlling the monsters. Though what the monsters will do once they regain consciousness is another concern…" Damian explained.

"It would throw everything into chaos, but… it does give us a chance," Kazak admitted. "Though, that\'s assuming we can deal with the esper. If they aren\'t using any runic tools."

"They\'re not," Damian said confidently.

"Are you sure?" Kazak asked, still uncertain.

"Yes."

"It\'s a high risk. Would you really do this for a bunch of strangers?" Kazak pressed.

"My job is to keep trouble away from her army\'s back. And I wouldn\'t suggest it if I wasn\'t confident. What about you, leader of the beastmen? Are you up for the challenge?" Damian teased, smirking slightly.

"You brat. You don\'t need to provoke me with such petty tricks. I\'m more than ready," Kazak replied, his muscular hand making a fist with a menacing grin.

After observing for a few more hours, they figured out the second-rankers\' movements. They also saw a few of their faces as Damian ID\'d them for Kazak. Damian and Kazak used the vines and quiet jumps to descend even further until they were close enough to the camp for them to reach in with a quick dash.

Damian had already given Kazak a detailed description of their two targets, ensuring there would be no mistakes.

With a nod, they separated. Damian ran silently towards a bush behind one of the tents. Entering cautiously, he had sensed that no one with mana was inside, and was relieved to find neither was any pugilist. Drawing the wormhole spell in preparation, Damian took out one of his remaining few runic scrolls.

He also prepared a modified air blade spell, with over a dozen blades hovering around him, unnoticeable to naked eyes unless one looked with focus, ready to strike his targets.

Damian could sense many soldiers coming and going outside the camp. He would have loved to do the old grab and uniform change but he was a kid, no matter what he wore he would stand out. But he did change back to his more normal clothes from the Eldoris army uniform. So instead of going that route Damian decided to create a distraction.

He saw a chance and used fire runes to burn the little things inside of the tent and then he went back to the bushes and let it burn behind him, heading for another tent nearby.

After burning some 4-5 tents, the chaotic situation of soldiers running everywhere was enough for Damian to make his way to the main decorated tent with one of the largest mana signatures in the camp.