Swords, magic, and martial arts

A purplish-black orb of light rose from Rhodes's palm, its light flickering before extinguishing completely with a hissing sound.

Rhodes sighed. This was the 10th or 10th time he had failed to use this spell. The spell was called "Otto's Creation and Annihilation Spell" by its creator, the necromancer. After understanding its effects, Rhodes renamed it "Gravity Spell".

This magic involves gathering magical power in the hand to form a purplish-black orb of light, through which the caster can attract or repel objects.

After seeing this, Rhodes began to try it out. He discovered that his total magical power was quite large, seemingly even more than that of Otto, who had studied necromancy for many years.

After using the Gravity spell more than ten times, he felt as if he could use it dozens more times. Although the Gravity spell consumes relatively little magic, the total amount of magic power in his body seemed too exaggerated, unlike what an ordinary person who has not trained magic power could possess.

Perhaps I'm more suited to be a mage than a warrior, or a warrior who excels in both magic and martial arts.

Rhodes was very curious about magic, but he had no opportunity to learn it systematically. The necromancer Otto's diary only recorded this one kind of magic, and he didn't know where the other magic he had mastered was recorded.

Baron can use some relatively simple fire magic, and can even maintain the fire cloak, which is only used by senior fire mages, on his entire body and fight for more than ten minutes. Even expert-level fire mages probably can't last that long.

But Baron didn't know how he did it; it was as if he was born with the ability, using fire magic as casually as a normal person breathing. Therefore, he didn't know how to teach Rhodes.

Perhaps Baron and my body both possess powerful magical bloodlines; maybe we are actually descendants of some ancient and powerful family, Rhodes thought to himself.

Rhodes tried using the spell again, carefully considering the reasons for his previous failures. He concluded that the uneven distribution of magical energy had prevented the formation of a perfect sphere.

He felt that the magic's training in mana control was more valuable than its practical effects. He estimated that this magic could only open doors like Otto's, and could be completely replaced by the Transmutation-based telekinesis.

Just as Rod was preparing to make another attempt, his carriage suddenly stopped, and he heard a commotion outside, with the neighing of horses mixed with the roars of people.

"What happened?" Hammer, who was next to Rod, stood up from the car, lifted the roof, and got out.

Rhodes was also curious, so he placed his hand on the hilt of the longsword at his waist and went out as well.

After getting off the carriage, Rod followed Hammer toward the front of the caravan. After passing a carriage, he saw five Nords he had never seen before, wearing iron armor, holding weapons, and with fierce expressions, standing nearby.

Rod silently observed the situation on the field; they must have encountered highway robbers.

There were five bandits in front of him and Hammer alone, and even more bandits on the other side of Baron ahead of the caravan, bringing the total to well over twenty.

Although they had a large number of people, more than thirty, most of them were just laborers working for caravans, and their fighting strength was definitely no match for that of bandits who lived a life of constant danger.

In such a cold winter, and not far from the city, we've encountered so many robbers. This world is truly chaotic.

"How much toll do you want?" Rod heard Daniel's voice.

"How much is the toll? Leave your goods here and I'll let you go." A hoarse voice came from ahead.

"Impossible. Stealing our goods is no different from killing us. It's impossible for us to hand over the goods and run away without doing anything," Daniel said angrily.

"Fine, I could have guaranteed you could go home unharmed if you left the goods behind. But since you're unwilling to cooperate, you're definitely going to have to shed some blood today."

The hoarse voice had barely faded when the surrounding bandits began to move. Five bandits in front of Rhodes, armed with weapons, slowly approached them.

Hammer reached behind him to retrieve his warhammer, his eyes fixed on the bandits before him, wary of a sudden attack.

"You should know how to escape, right? Hurry up and meet up with Baron and the others!" he whispered to Rod.

One of the bandits, a man with a scar on his face, gave a wink to his accomplices, then turned and smiled slightly at Hammer before charging at him.

Hammer swung his warhammer forcefully at the scarred man charging at him, but the scarred man, anticipating this, nimbly rolled away to dodge Hammer's attack, and taunted, "My grandmother could use a hammer better than you!"

Scarface's accomplices seized the opportunity to continue advancing, resulting in a situation where three men surrounded Hammer and two men surrounded Rhodes.

Rhodes was a little nervous. This was the first time he had fought against living people, not the mindless monsters like ghouls or the low-intelligence insects like frost-eating spiders that he had encountered before.

He parried an axe blow from a bandit using "The Wise Man's Calamity," while another bandit beside him brandished a longsword and attacked him.

Rod had no time to defend against the sword strike; if he had turned back, he would have had his head chopped off by the axe-wielding bandit.

Left with no other choice, he could only adjust his posture and use the part of his body protected by the rusty iron plate to actively meet the incoming longsword.

Contrary to expectations, he was not cut in half at the waist, nor did it cause serious injury. The longsword sliced ​​through the rusty iron armor on Rhodes' body, making a cut in the iron plates and the thick animal skin coat underneath, but was ultimately stopped by his tough skin without harming him.

Luckily, I'm wearing thick clothes today.

Rod suddenly roared and used his sword to force the axe-wielding bandit back. Taking advantage of the moment when the bandit wielding the longsword was exhausted from his attack and had not yet generated new strength, he kicked him hard in the stomach.

Although Rod wasn't as burly and powerful as Baron, he was still over 1.8 meters tall and weighed over 100 kilograms, so his kick was quite powerful.

The bandit wielding the longsword clutched his stomach and staggered back a few steps, his face contorted in pain as he gasped for breath. He was unlikely to have the strength to continue fighting anytime soon.

This is a blunt force injury; even if you're wearing thicker clothes than me, it won't make much difference.

Rod breathed a sigh of relief.

Now that he only has one enemy in front of him, he's not so nervous in a one-on-one situation.

Whether it was the fighting spirit left behind by the original owner of this body, or Rhodes' own talent for combat, he was able to subtly suppress the axe-wielding bandit in front of him.

Rhodes noticed that while fighting him, the bandit was also luring him toward the caravan, since there were many of the bandit's companions ahead of the caravan.

The robber who had been kicked in the stomach recovered from the pain and charged at him.

"Can't you have some principles? If you're so tough, let's have a one-on-one fight!" Rod shouted as he was surrounded by two bandits.

"You're dreaming!" The bandit wielding the longsword angrily thrust it at Rhodes.

Rhodes rolled to the ground to dodge the fatal sword strike. He no longer lingered in the fight, retreating while fighting, quickly moving towards the front of the caravan.

With crimson Baron flames burning around him, he moved through the crowd like a demon unleashed, sending someone flying with every swing of his axe.

He was clearly holding back, always attacking with the flat side of the axe instead of the sharp blade; otherwise, those people wouldn't have been sent flying but would have been chopped in two.

Flames enveloped Baron's body and weapons, and no one could withstand the scorching heat to attack him. Those bandits who dared to approach him were all sent flying.

Before long, almost all the bandits were unable to stand up. Those who could move got up and ran away, leaving only a few groaning on the ground.

After witnessing this scene, the two bandits who had been fighting with Rod exchanged a glance and then fled separately into the surrounding woods.

Rhodes stood there panting, holding "The Wise Man's Calamity." The battle had taken a toll on his stamina.

He noticed that most of the rest of the caravan were warily surrounding the most luxurious carriage he had noticed last time, seemingly protecting someone or something inside.

After seeing that there were no enemies left who could stand, Baron extinguished the flames on his body and put his axe back on his back.

The grooms and servants around Baron looked at him with admiration. Daniel went over and gave Baron a hug, saying some words of thanks and praise.

boom!

Webber dragged the bandit leader out of the woods and pointed to the fallen bandit leader and the bandits who were too weak to run away, asking, "What should we do with them?"

"Don't kill me!" The bandit leader quickly got up from the ground and knelt down to beg, no longer as arrogant as before.

"You're a disgrace to the Nords," Baron said disdainfully from the side.

"Let's hand them over to the guards of Glacier City."

Killing them directly wouldn't be good either. If we let them go, they'll definitely rob other caravans that come later. It's better to exchange them for some bounty.

"Since you two were the ones who subdued most of the bandits this time, the bounty for their capture is yours," Daniel said.

"I have no objection," Weber smiled.

Daniel made a gesture, and the servants next to him came up and tied up the bandits.

"Where is Hammer?" Weber asked Rhodes as he walked over.

"He was at the very back of the convoy. Three men just attacked him. I don't know how he is now," Rod replied.

He was so focused on the battle that he forgot about Hammer, who was being attacked by three people.

Upon hearing this, Weber drew his weapon and quickly ran to the back of the convoy.

Rhodes drew his weapon and ran after Webber. When he reached the back of the caravan, he saw Hammer, covered in blood, sitting on the ground. Beside him lay a blood-stained warhammer and the corpses of three bandits.

"Why didn't you stay and face the enemy with him? His leg injury hasn't fully healed yet," Webber said angrily to Rhodes.

Just as Rod was about to explain, Hammer spoke up weakly:

"I asked him to come find you. He helped me lure away two robbers, which relieved a lot of my pressure."

"I have a medicine that can help Hammer's wounds heal faster." Rhodes took out a high-grade wound medicine from his system space and handed it to Weber.

Weber took the medicine bottle, opened it, poured some into his hand, and asked, "Are you kidding me? There's no medicine in this."

Rod was somewhat surprised. He took the bottle back from Weber, tilted the bottle opening, and held his hand underneath to catch the contents, which poured out a lot of golden powder.

He then took out a small iron flask that Baron had prepared for collecting wine, filled it with powder, and handed it to Weber.

"Clean his wound first, then apply the medicine," Rod said.

Baron walked over and said with a smile, "You were so badly injured by just three petty thieves? Your skills are really getting worse. I was just slaughtering hundreds of bandits in front of you."

"If it weren't for the fact that my leg injury hasn't healed yet, which is seriously affecting my performance, even a thousand more wouldn't be a match for me," Hammer said loudly, his face flushed.

Seeing that Hammer was still making such a loud noise, Rod realized that he was probably not in any danger.

"Let's keep going!" Daniel shouted from his high vantage point.

Rhodes returned to his previous spot and picked up a piece of animal hide next to a dead bandit. It must have fallen from his body, and it had the following words written on it in crooked handwriting:

"My dear son"

We miss you so much!

The day before yesterday, your sister and I received the money you asked Harun to bring back. With this money, we should be able to get through this cold winter.

I wonder how you're doing out there?

Will I go hungry because I send so much money home?

If your father were still alive, you wouldn't have to worry about your sister and me.

Hopefully, the lord will allocate us a piece of land next year, so you can come home and live with us.

Be careful while you're out there, try to avoid fighting with others, and make sure you come back alive.

We miss you. Take care of yourself.

Love you,

your mother."

"What are you looking at?" Baron asked as he walked over.

"Nothing much?" Rhodes put the animal hide into his spatial ring, then asked, "What should we do with the corpses of these bandits?"

"These robbers deserved it. When you come out to do evil, you should be prepared to be killed. Just move their bodies to the side of the road so they don't block the way. Many of their accomplices have escaped. They should come back to bury these unfortunate dead," Baron replied.

After Baron left, Rod looked at the corpses around him and felt a pang of sadness.

So many people lost their lives so easily in such a short period of time for a little bit of profit.

He recalled the letter the robber's family had written to him, and felt a sense of unease.

Rhodes clenched his fist, stood still, and took a deep breath. The greedy and corrupt nobles, for their own benefit, had caused endless wars across the continent, turning this world into a hell for ordinary people.

One day, he will have the power to change all of this.

……