Reincarnated One Last Time

Chapter 54: Save or Not to Save.

 

Inside the cages, there are many men and women slaves. But nothing caught Levi's eyes; after a while, he sensed something and walked in a certain direction. Mages are more sensitive to an element compared to warriors.

 

In front of Levi is a sleeping, malnourished boy with dark hair. He can sense dark elements surrounding the boy.

 

"Who is this boy? Do you have any information?"

 

"Wait a minute." The dealer ran and soon returned with a book. "No. 283, Jason, comes from Grosea Kingdom and has the talent to become a mage, but he only has a dark elemental affinity. Because of that, his parents took out a loan to find a good teacher to teach him to sense other elements, but they failed. In the end, the boy is being sold."

 

Dark elements are despised because they are related to necromancy and other dark magic. If the boy had other elements of affinity or a rich family, his life would be different.

 

"How much for the boy?" Levi asked. He finally has a scapegoat if, in the future, his necromancy is exposed. But he will only sacrifice the boy if there is no hope of escape. In the end, his life was more important.

 

According to Clara and Otis, although people hate necromancy, some kingdoms secretly had an undead army. They are cheaper than hiring mercenaries or recruiting people for the army.

 

"1 gold coin."

 

"Don’t you think you are asking too much?" Levi gazed at the slave dealer. "The boy is not even a mage." One gold coin can feed a peasant family for more than a year.

 

"Fine, fifty percent discount, 50 silver; this is the lowest that I can give." The dealer hesitates. Jason, although he had the talent to become a mage but only had a dark elemental affinity, is hard to sell. Especially now during a monster tide.

 

After negotiating, the final price was 43 silver coins. Levi continues to look around the warehouse and only stops when he finds nothing interesting.

 

He thought there was an elf slave, but according to the dealer, it's rare, and they might get assassinated by a dark elf. In this world, all elves are united and create their own kingdom. Although the reward is good, what is the point if you are dead?

 

Levi wonders how many death points he can get from long-lived races like the elf.

 

-

 

Jason, to pay his family's debt, had no choice but to be sold to a slave trader. At least his family is safe from moneylenders. One day the slave trader wakes him up, saying that someone has bought him. After cleaning up, he follows the slave trader.

 

At the door, he sees a brunette-haired man, a masked woman, a bald man, and a horned bear.

 

"Today he is your master."

 

His new master, Levi, introduces himself and his friend. After that, they leave the warehouse.

 

Jason followed them from behind; he had already accepted his fate and had no intention to run away. Soon they arrive at the clothes shop and enter.

 

"Sir, how can I help you?" The shopkeeper asked.

 

"Bring suitable clothes for this boy." Master Levi pointed at him.

 

"Yes, I understand. Please follow me."

 

Jason is confused but still follows the shopkeeper. After a while, he comes out and wears decent, clean clothes.

 

"Good, give me seven clothes, including the pants." Master Levi's order.

 

After that, Jason follows them around, and they don’t stay in the town but enter the woods. What happens next makes his eyes widen. Master Levi takes out various cocking utensils and food in the air.

 

Jason finally knows that his new master is a mage. Next, Master Levi began cooking while the rest waited eagerly for food. He is a puzzle; from his observation, Master Levi is the leader of this group, and he is cooking. A few hours later, a delicious smell came out of the large pot.

 

"Here is your portion; you need to eat fast or the other will eat yours." Master Levi hands him a bowl of soup full of meat.

 

When he eats it, his eyes become moist, because when was the last time he ate something this good?

 

After dinner, Jason prostrated in front of Master Levi. "Please take me as your student." Jason knows he is a slave, but his dream is to become a mage. Maybe if he works hard, he can buy his freedom and see his family again.

 

There was a long silence, and Levi finally spoke. "I will teach you magic if you pass a test. For becoming my student, we will talk about it once you become an apprentice mage."

 

"Yes, I understand." Jason is happy that he has finally found a great mage to teach him magic. The reason his parents are in debt is because they hired a quack mage. After saying several words, the swindler takes the money and runs away.

 

Levi smiles, while Clara and Otis encourage Jason to work hard. Jason doesn’t realize that everything is according to Levi's plan.

 

-

 

The next morning, Ethan's caravan leaves the town. According to the information that they got, there are only a few small groups of monsters sighted around the border. After they pass the border, they can finally relax. Different from Cirean Kingdom, Leston Kingdom manages to prevent the monster tide from entering their border.

 

However, they still need to be careful; as time goes on, the monster tide will get worse because of the lack of food in the Pondover forest. Even worse, if there is a monster at the grand master rank suddenly appearing because it has happened in the past, at that time, most towns and cities near the border were destroyed.

 

What happens next is that the humans and other races send their grand masters to the Pondover forest. The result of the battle is unknown, but since then there has been no grand master monster coming out of the Pondover forest again. According to rumors, both sides suffered in that battle.

 

Ethan gazes at the scenery outside. After a long time, the carriage stops. "Have we arrived?" He looks outside, but this is not a border.

 

Soon the mercenary leader arrives near the carriage. "Mr. Ethan, the scout finds something strange, and we need to wait for a while."

 

"What strange?"

 

"No soldiers are guarding the path to enter the Leston Kingdom border."

 

"There should be an army camp nearby."

 

"Yes, that’s why the scout is heading there to ask."

 

While they are waiting, the mercenary scout already arrives at the army camp, but what he sees is alarming. The army camp had been destroyed, and there are frozen and mutilated corpses everywhere.

 

"I need to tell the boss." He quickly makes the horse turn around and is ready to return. However, several arrows came out of the destroyed tents. One of the arrows manages to hit his shoulder, and blood comes out of the wound. Without wasting time, the scout, in pain, moves his horse to flee. He needs to hurry and warn the others.

 

Coming out of the tents are gnolls, a monster with a hyena head who can stand on two legs. One of the gnolls took out a horn and blew it. A loud sound can be heard throughout the area.

 

Ethan and others can hear the horn sound, but they thought it was coming from the kingdom army.

 

Only when they see the injured scout does their face change. The caravan begins to turn around and return to the town. They can’t stay here, and there are many questions about why the monster can destroy the army here. But their lives are more important.

 

After they return to the town, they report it to the town guard. Once the news spread, the town began to prepare for battle. They also send the news to the nearest town and city to ask for help.

 

-

 

Jason sits cross-legged and tries to gather mana.

 

Levi gives him the mage breathing technique that Clara extorts from an unlucky mage.

 

He had two mage breathing techniques, from the basic magic element manual and the advanced magic element manual. The former is too slow and the latter is rare; that is why he gives the boy something that Clara gives him. Even if Jason betrays him, he will not feel much pain.

 

While Levi was waiting, a bird flew by and landed on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and could see the image like a video from a bird's eye view. Numerous monsters are heading to the town. If they don’t move now, they might bump into the monster tide.

 

How does the monster tide arrive here? Levi raises his hand and takes out several undead birds from spatial storage to scout the area. Although living things can’t live in spatial space, the undead are different. Since he learned the spatial storage spell, he keeps some useful undead inside.

 

Necromancers in this world can’t create a spatial space to store their undead. Because of that, they need to move on land or on flying ships to transport the undead army. Conquering a kingdom only using undead has happened in the past; at that time, the continent was in chaos and war was everywhere. But in the end, the necromancer lost to the combined attack of various kingdoms.

 

"What happens?" Clara asked.

 

"Monster tide is heading to the town."

 

"Are we going to town?"

 

"No, we should hide and come back later." Levi stands up and says, "Jason, let’s go."

 

"Yes, master." Jason opens his eyes and feels calm, thanks to the mage's breathing technique. He is confident that in one or two weeks he will become an apprentice mage.