Chapter 49: Chapter 49: A Strange Ambush for Draven.
"So you are Draven Dunvyr."
The stranger spoke his name as he advanced calmly through the trees, so Draven kept his hand close to his storage bracelet, ready to draw his weapons if necessary.
At first he had thought it was another student taking part in the test, but after observing him more carefully, he realized he was mistaken.
The man was considerably taller than a normal person, with a robust build, broad shoulders, and muscular arms that stood out from his dark clothing.
But what ultimately caught Draven’s attention were two rather particular features.
A pair of thick horns jutted out from the sides of his head, and behind his body a long tail covered in dark scales swayed.
’A dragon?’
Draven frowned slightly, since it was not exactly common to encounter members of that race in the kingdom of Aster.
Dragons ruled Konia and, although they could take semi-human forms, many retained physical characteristics of their true nature.
They were also known for their combat abilities, their extraordinary endurance, and their tendency to resolve conflicts through force.
’Great, precisely the race I’m least interested in fighting.’
Draven observed the other two individuals who had begun to approach; they were dragons as well.
One had black horns that swept backward and a tail covered in reddish scales, while the other was slightly shorter, with gray horns and green scales on his tail.
All three wore light armor, although the bulky man used considerably heavier protection over his chest and shoulders.
In addition, they were armed: the man who seemed to lead them carried an enormous sword resting on his right shoulder.
His two companions used shorter weapons: one held a pair of curved swords, while the other had a short sword and a dagger.
Draven observed their positions.
’They’re blocking the paths I could use to escape.’
That definitely did not seem like a coincidence.
"Excuse me..."
Draven began, trying to keep a calm tone.
"Do we know each other?"
The bulky dragon smiled.
"Not personally."
"Then I suppose someone told you about me."
"Something like that."
"May I ask who?"
"No."
’What a productive conversation.’
Draven sighed.
"Well, if you’re looking for the magical objects from the test, I think there are still a few around..."
"Draven Dunvyr..."
The man interrupted him.
"A human from a rural family in the kingdom of Aster..."
The smile vanished from Draven’s face.
"Fiancé of Zenash Varzometh, heiress to the throne of Fernus, and someone who maintains a close relationship with Taliah Valdegrim..."
’...’
"And who recently took part in the death of a legendary creature in the fields of Nerathis..."
The man slowly lowered his enormous sword.
"Am I wrong?"
Draven remained silent for several seconds.
"No, although I have to admit it’s a little uncomfortable to hear a stranger recite my personal information."
"Then we confirm that you are our target."
’Target?’
He did not like that word at all.
"Hold on a second, I think we’re having a misunderstanding."
"There is no misunderstanding."
The dragon slightly flexed his legs, and Draven immediately recognized that stance.
’Damn it!’
The enormous sword came down toward him, but he managed to draw the Shadows of the Forgotten from his bracelet and cross them in front of his body.
The impact forced him back several meters.
’What strength!’
Even though he had used mana to reinforce his arms, he had barely managed to stop the attack.
The dragon wasted no time and advanced again, executing a horizontal slash, so Draven ducked to dodge it.
The sword passed over his head and cut through the trunk of a nearby tree, which began to fall.
Draven used the movement to retreat, but then he sensed a presence to his left.
"Not so fast!"
One of the dragons appeared beside him, and his curved swords aimed for Draven’s neck, but he used one of his daggers to deflect the first attack while twisting his body to avoid the second before counterattacking.
The blade of one of the Shadows of the Forgotten managed to pierce the mercenary’s light armor and wound his arm.
"Bastard!"
The dragon stepped back, and Draven smiled slightly.
’Good, at least I can hurt them.’
However, his expression changed when the third enemy appeared behind him, and although he managed to block a thrust aimed at his back, he took a kick to the side.
The blow made him lose his balance, and before he could recover, the leader’s enormous sword came down again.
’I can’t block that again!’
Draven activated the ability of his daggers, so his body vanished into a shadow and an instant later reappeared several meters farther away, next to a tree.
The dragon’s sword struck the ground, causing the earth to rise from the force of the blow, and Draven observed the small crater that remained.
’They definitely want to kill me.’
Until that moment he had considered the possibility that this was a test prepared by Ari.
After all, that woman seemed to enjoy subjecting her students to absurd situations, but that no longer made sense.
No teacher would allow three adult fighters to attack a newly enrolled student in that manner, or at least, that was what he hoped.
"Wait a moment!"
Draven shouted.
"What the hell do you want from me!?"
The leader raised his sword.
"You should have already figured it out."
"No, I really haven’t!"
"You’re our contract."
’Did he say contract?’
Draven looked at their weapons again.
The leader’s enormous sword had several visible repairs on the hilt, and the blades of his companions also showed signs of prolonged use.
Moreover, none of them wore military insignias or symbols that would identify them with a noble family, and their armor did not belong to a matching set either.
’They’re mercenaries.’
That explained quite a bit, but it also raised a far more important question.
’Who the hell paid to have me killed?’
He had no time to think about it, as the dragon with the reddish scales advanced again, so Draven dodged his swords and took advantage of an opening to cut him across the thigh.
Then he tried to attack his back, but the mercenary quickly swung his tail and struck Draven’s arm.
"Tch!"
The force of the impact deflected his dagger, and the second dragon seized the opportunity to thrust.
Draven spun and managed to keep the blade from piercing his abdomen, though he ended up with a superficial cut on his side.
’These guys know how to fight.’
They were not attacking without coordination.
Every time Draven tried to exploit an opening, another of the mercenaries intervened to prevent it, and they also seemed to know the capabilities of his weapons.
When Draven tried to use the mana-draining effect of his daggers, he could barely extract any mana from his enemies, something they themselves appeared to know, and whenever he tried to shift into a shadow, they began watching the points where he might reappear, standing back to back.
’They prepared for fighting me.’
That was concerning, and the confrontation continued for several minutes.
Draven managed to inflict a few additional wounds, but none were deep enough to incapacitate his enemies.
The dragons, for their part, seemed to possess extraordinary physical endurance, since even after receiving cuts they continued fighting without too much difficulty.
’I can’t keep this up.’
Draven retreated while catching his breath, since maintaining bodily reinforcement while continuously using the abilities of his daggers was consuming too much energy.
’I need to escape.’
He had no intention of risking his life during a school test, and much less against unknown mercenaries.
Draven decided to use a shadow displacement to get away from the three dragons, but before doing so he sensed something strange: a concentration of mana coming from an elevated area of the forest.
’What...?’
Draven discreetly looked toward the trees, as there was a fourth individual remaining hidden among the branches.
He could not see him directly, but the structure of the mana he perceived was different from that of the three fighters.
’A mage?’
Draven paid attention to his surroundings, since until that moment he had been too busy defending himself to notice something important.
The ambient mana was being altered, and a wide-range technique seemed to be spreading around the area where they were fighting.
’Wait...’
Draven tried to identify how it worked and noticed that it was not a conventional defensive barrier, nor did it seem to prevent the fighters from using magic.
However, it interfered with the mana fluctuations that normally propagated after powerful spells were cast.
’It’s nullifying the magical signals.’
Draven immediately understood the purpose.
The academy had teachers supervising the forest, so a confrontation between several powerful fighters should generate mana disturbances large enough to draw their attention.
But that technique was preventing those signals from propagating outside the area.
’That’s why no one has come.’
The mercenaries had carefully prepared the ambush.
Not only did they know his abilities, but they had also chosen a place where they could fight without the supervisors discovering what was happening.
’This is much worse than I thought.’
Draven briefly glanced at the emergency mark on his wrist, which had become useless because of that nullification technique.
’First I have to get out of this zone.’
Draven decided to take the risk, so he activated his daggers and his body vanished.
An instant later he appeared behind a rocky formation, several meters away from the mercenaries.
’Yes!’
For the first time since the confrontation had begun, he managed to put enough distance between them, but then he heard a sound as something cut through the air at high speed.
Draven barely had time to react.
"AGH!"
A projectile struck his right shoulder, and the pain was immediate; Draven retreated until he was protected by a rock.
’What the hell?!’
He examined the wound.
A small metal bullet had pierced part of his shoulder, and around the wound a mark of reddish mana was beginning to spread.
’An enchanted bullet?’
Draven looked up; the shot had come from a considerably distant position.
’There’s a fifth enemy!’
He could not believe it.
Three close-combat fighters, a mage in charge of preventing the teachers from detecting the fight, and now a hidden marksman.
’How much money did they spend to kill me?’