21 The mage and the adventurer [part-1]

From atop the wall, Sheila observed the dispersing crowd, impressed by Cristian's forceful intervention that quelled the chaos. His demeanor, devoid of its usual smile, caught her attention.

"They're here," a soldier alerted her.

Cristian resheathed his blade, shooting a harsh glare at the Chief, ensuring the old man understood their strained relationship.

The Chief, lacking the essence of a true leader, irked Cristian, who grimaced. "Let's move."

"I need my staff," Anna objected. Her gaze directed Cristian's attention toward a church adorned with a roughly crafted statue of an angel.

Acknowledging her request with a nod, Cristian swiftly dashed forward, his boots creating resonant thuds that echoed in the empty street. The creaking of the lamps in the wind added an eerie undertone to the deserted scene.

The chilling breeze seemed prophetic of an impending grim night. Cristian pondered in confusion. The Dark Lord hadn't initiated an attack on the town but had instead threatened their borders. So, why now? What emboldened him to potentially sweep through the town while maintaining enough forces to repel opportunistic attacks?

"Hi," Cristian's voice startled Sheila from behind. "Why are you here when there are other spots?" she asked in a distant tone, the faint blush on her cheeks betraying her remembrance of their previous encounter.

"Hehe, you forgot we were supposed to be together. I recall someone mentioning we'd be together... alone," Cristian teased, noting Sheila's discomfort.

Meeting his mischievous gaze with flickering eyes, Sheila fought the urge to wipe the smug smirk off his face.

"This is serious. We're here to protect this town, not to flirt," she reminded firmly, her gaze fixed on the distant forest.

"So you agree that we're flirting?" Cristian's breath grazed her neck as he edged closer, drawing curious looks from the nearby soldiers.

Some soldiers felt incensed. How could an adventurer hired to protect their mage be so forward? Others were eager to act but hesitated, recalling Cristian's earlier display of power.

"We? Don't flatter yourself," Sheila scoffed, maintaining her composure despite the mix of irritation and attraction.

"Hmm," Cristian hummed, stepping back with a playful smile, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!

The wolf's haunting howls reverberated, sending shivers through everyone atop the walls.

"They're here," Sheila murmured, a peculiar diagram shimmering in her eyes and the tattoos on her arms and thighs glowing beneath her clothes, unseen by others.

Cristian turned, anticipating a line of archers with their bows drawn, but there was a glaring absence. In fact, many soldiers were without proper armor or weapons. Leather was the highest-quality armor they could afford, and even that was a luxury in this small town. Iron or bronze armor was simply beyond their means.

Discarding decorum, Cristian cast an inspection spell on a soldier stationed at the gate.

[Name: Rodney Stone]

[Level: 13]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Warrior]

[Title: Patrol Guard]

[Affinity: Earth]

>Status<

[Health: 150 {10} Vitality: 10]

[Strength: 25 {10}]

[Agility: 16 {10}]

[Dexterity: 12 {10}]

[Intelligence: 4 {10}]

[Stamina: 13]

[Mana pool: 20]

Cristian's brows furrowed. "No skills or equipment, that's a relief," he remarked inwardly. Revealing both equipment and skills would expose everything, eliminating any element of surprise during an attack and alerting the enemy.

Scrutinizing the soldier's status, Cristian noted something intriguing. "Vitality? What's that stat?" he pondered, unable to find a similar stat in his own status. He knew he was much stronger than this soldier.

A realization dawned upon him. "Level ten," he murmured inwardly. The soldier surpassed him in level, which likely accounted for the disparity in stats.

Interrupting his thoughts, Sheila's voice broke in. "What's your name? It's important we know each other's names for communication," she stated gracefully.

A small diagram hovered at Sheila's chest level, her eyes adorned with runes that enhanced her beauty, elevating her appearance to an ethereal level.

"I'm Sheila Banning, daughter of Luke Banning and Anna's elder step-sister," she introduced herself fluently.

"Cristian," he responded softly.

"Just Cristian? Weren't you the Lord banished from his estate?" Sheila's raised eyebrows made the bluish runes in her eyes more prominent, mirroring those outside the wall.

"I never said that," Cristian countered, perplexed. When had he mentioned being banished?

"If not, then why is a Lord here? I didn't take you for a liar, Cristian, but it seems you're more devious than I thought," Sheila's cold judgment left an unsettling atmosphere among the nearby soldiers.

She took a step closer and leaned in. "It's cute though," she remarked. Cristian's eyes widened, feeling an urge to stroke her silky blue hair, but refrained, realizing it might be a wrong move.

Voom! The diagram glowed brighter, emitting a light beam that illuminated the forest, revealing a pack of huge, gray dire wolves. Their sheer numbers left some soldiers frozen in fear.

"Don't underestimate me," she whispered triumphantly, leaving Cristian momentarily speechless.

"I won't engage with men like you who only seek the pleasures of a woman," her enticing whisper left a smile on Cristian's face.

Unbeknownst to the blue-haired beauty, her words were inadvertently flirting with him, a fact not lost on the soldiers. Some had begun to wish that Cristian would disgrace himself in bed, as their mage was gone.

"I know," Cristian replied before walking away. Sheila suddenly felt an odd sensation, but it faded as the wolves surged towards the walls.

[Copy clones: create several copies of a particular skill and they will act according to the original. Does not function in all skills]

[Mortal tier skill {primary level}]

Activating her skill, Sheila's diagram split into three, launching fireballs at the wolves. Boom! Boom! Explosions echoed, injuring a few wolves but not significantly deterring them.

Sheila frowned, realizing that at the primary level, she could only create two copies of the original skill. If she could summon more, these wolves would have faced significant losses.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" a stout man with an axe shouted, preparing for the impending attack.

The wolves approached like mindless puppets, enduring the fireballs and the scarce number of arrows. Some fell to critical hits, but more surged forward, scaling the walls with frightening agility.

Cristian peered down and locked eyes with a snarling wolf, saliva dripping from its mouth. Another wolf vaulted over the first, the spine-crushing impact audible to Cristian.

He leaned back, the wolf's gleaming claws narrowly missing his face. Unprepared due to his inexperience, he had forgotten to draw his sword.

The wolf clawed at the wooden structure and began ascending, its towering height and menacing appearance sending both excitement and chills down Cristian's spine.

"What are you doing!" a soldier yelled, swinging his sword, but the nimble wolf evaded and bit the soldier's arm.

"Argh! My arm!" the soldier screamed in agony.

Suddenly, the air warmed as a flaming blade was unsheathed.

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