Swords, magic, and martial arts

Weber continued his story, "After being robbed, I took the dagger to another city. I wanted to use it to cut open the pockets of the drunkards in the taverns, but I was afraid of getting caught again. In the end, I decided to turn over a new leaf. Every day, I sat in the tavern and helped catch pickpockets like myself. Because of my experience as a pickpocket, no one who wanted to steal could escape my eyes, and most of the drunken adventurers would thank me and give me a few copper coins. In the end, I was beaten up by those pickpockets..."

He continued, "Later, I embarked on the path of an adventurer. At first, no team was willing to accept me, so I had to go it alone. Perhaps because I had done some good deeds, I was lucky enough to find a treasure chest buried in the wild. I sold the contents of the chest. After obtaining this wealth, I decided to go to the mage academy to become a mage. Although I am not as physically strong as others, it does not mean that I do not have the potential to become a mage."

After spending all my money studying for two years, the academy said I wasn't talented enough. However, I did learn alchemy, especially poison making. Later, when other adventurers were attacked by wild beasts, I went to help. When we were almost killed, I coated our daggers with poison, which saved our lives. In the end, I earned the nickname "Viper." But if it weren't for me, they would have all died there…”

"My luck only started to improve a few years ago. I let a kid who tried to steal my wallet go in a tavern, and then I found this short sword I have now in the wild. With this sword, my life started to get better. I started doing good deeds, only killing the most heinous criminals and forgiving petty thieves… Since then, my life has gotten better. Now, I have some savings, enough for me to go back to my hometown and live a comfortable old age…"

Rod listened intently as Weber told his story; everyone wants an audience to listen to their story.

"Alright, it's getting late, I'll go back and get something to eat." Webber stood up and walked towards the tavern.

Rod looked up and realized that the sun was almost setting; time really flies.

He picked up his sword and used the White Rainbow Sword Technique twice more, then headed towards the tavern.

The atmosphere in the tavern was still strange today. It was the only tavern in town, and all the mercenaries were gathered there. The main hall was only occupied by the Blood Ravens' mercenaries, Baron and his group, and a few other mercenaries, unlike yesterday when it was packed with people.

"What's going on? Why are you all down there?" Rod asked.

"The leader of the Blood Raven Gang died yesterday, and they are electing a new leader today. They almost came to blows earlier, and the other mercenaries were afraid of getting involved, so they quickly went back to their rooms after finishing their food," Baron explained.

"Let's all go upstairs after we finish eating. We'll leave here tomorrow. There might be a big uproar here," Webber said.

Everyone agreed with his suggestion, not wanting to get involved in unnecessary disputes...

That night, while Rhodes was practicing the Divine Illumination Technique in his room, he was awakened by the sounds of fighting outside.

Could it be that the new leader of the Blood Raven Gang is also dead?

He felt he shouldn't concern himself with this and should continue cultivating the Divine Illumination Technique. Not long after, there was a knock at the door.

"Wake up, grab your weapons and get up quickly." That was Baron's voice.

Rhodes immediately donned his dragonscale armor, grabbed his two-handed sword, opened the door, and asked, "What's going on?"

"It's hard to explain in a short time, let's go downstairs first," Baron said. There was blood on Baron's body, so he must have just been in a fight.

Rod followed Baron downstairs. The tavern reeked of blood, and the ground was littered with corpses and wounded soldiers. Firelight blazed outside. Hammer and Weber, covered in blood, stood solemnly in the hall, surrounded by ordinary mercenaries.

"Has the Roman Empire's army arrived?" Rhodes asked.

"Pretty much. They're from the Knights of Dawn. They're working with the Blood Ravens from the inside. There's fighting everywhere outside now," Webber explained quickly.

"Those scum from the Blood Raven Gang tried to break into our rooms and slit our throats last night. Now it's time to make them pay the price and let them know we're not to be trifled with," said a mercenary standing nearby, his sword still dripping blood.

Rhodes was still unclear about what had happened. Apparently, the Blood Ravens had pretended to be employed by Earl White of White Hart Castle, but when the Knights of Dawn launched a night raid on White Hart Castle with their high mobility, the Blood Ravens suddenly turned against them and ambushed the mercenaries who were still asleep.

What puzzled Rhodes was, hadn't White Deer Castle sent out scouts? How could it have been attacked so suddenly at night?

"They killed my brothers, and I will make these traitors pay with their blood," another mercenary said through gritted teeth. He took his weapon and left the tavern, disappearing into the dark night.

Why didn't the lord send a commander to lead these unaffiliated mercenaries? Mercenaries without a commander are no match for an army.

"Let's go out too, get on our horses, and leave if things get complicated," Hammer said, turning and walking toward the stable.

Rhodes mounted his horse, feeling a little nervous. He had no experience fighting on horseback, but he had played a game called Mount & Blade before he transmigrated, so he felt he should know what to do.

"Let's go to the town gate and see what's going on there." Baron spurred his horse toward the town gate.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the town gate, Rhodes saw more than twenty cavalrymen in red armor slaughtering dozens of rout Nord infantrymen.

"What should we do?" Rod asked. The town had two gates, one to the north and one to the south, and they were currently at the north gate.

"Damn it, why isn't anyone in charge of those infantrymen? If we could get them to stop panicking, we might be able to defeat those cavalry," Hammer said, looking at the gate.

Baron glanced at Hammer and said, "Stop with the nonsense, let's turn around and head south."

"The south should be more dangerous. Their main force is definitely in the south, and they have only sent a small force to block our retreat. If we want to get out, we still have to go from here," Hammer judged.

He charged toward the gate on his horse and shouted, "I am Hammer Smith, son of Marquis Smith of Forge City! Soldiers, obey my orders now!"

As he rode his horse, shouting orders, he smashed the head of a cavalryman with his warhammer, the blood splattering on his face, adding to his intimidating presence.

Hammer smashed the heads of several more cavalrymen along the way, and the Nord infantrymen, seeing Hammer emerge from the darkness, began to fight with more discipline.

"All soldiers, move closer to me now! Form a circle!" Hammer shouted the order.

The soldiers, who had been in a panic, were now much calmer, raising their shields to protect their chests and slowly approaching Hammer.

After killing several infantrymen who hadn't yet gotten close, the cavalrymen began circling the infantry's formation, trying to find an opening.

Rhodes roughly counted them: there were a dozen or so cavalrymen and more than thirty infantrymen around Hammer; their chances of winning should still be quite high.

After looking around, Hammer roared again, "All soldiers, grip your shields tightly!"

Upon hearing Hammer's command, the soldiers raised their shields, looking extremely tense. Hammer then shouted loudly...

"Baron, charge!"

……