Wild Dragon of Rome 5

“Goodbye, you crazy old man,” I muttered as I looked at the funeral pyre under the light of dawn, ignoring the wetness of my face as I turned my back. The funeral was complete. All that remained was for the wind to spread his ashes. “I hope you will be comfortable in Pluto’s halls.” 

I walked away, exhausted. Inevitable, as I had spent all night traveling, first on a cart, then on horseback, and the multiple attacks from the wild beasts didn’t make the journey any easier. Then, I reacted to one of the attacks late, ending the life of my poor mount. 

The rest of the way, I walked until I arrived at a hidden valley I had discovered during one of my hunting trips, and worked hard to cut a few trees and create a funeral pyre. It was a beautiful valley. A good resting spot for the old man. 

I walked away, ignoring the desire to rest. It looked like my trick to avoid search parties had worked well enough, but I didn’t want to push my luck too much. Scipio family might be an exiled patrician family, but it was still strong enough to conduct a detailed search of the surrounding area. 

Then, there was the mysterious sorcerer I angered. 

The funeral had already taken the time I needed to get away. I might have managed to mislead the search efforts until now, but that didn’t mean I was safe. Even if the guard didn’t blab about my method of departure, sooner or later, they would discover the cart, giving them a direction to search. 

I didn’t have the luxury of sleeping. 

However, before leaving, I needed to replenish my mana. The overnight trip had resulted in my reserves draining completely. Just a day ago, it would have been an insurmountable problem under my current constraints, requiring weeks to properly solve. 

Instead, I pressed several spots on the box in my hand, and once again looked at the dragon heart. This time, I removed it. I was so far away from the civilization that I dared to use it without getting caught. There was still some risk of being detected, of course, but it was better than camping here for weeks, hoping to recover. 

The dragon heart was on my palm, its crystalline structure glistening under the light of dawn with a confusing set of colors that would have revealed its extraordinary nature even without its magical presence, intense even before awakening it. 

A caress of my blade, and a drop of my blood landed on the dragon heart. Its colors turned ethereal, mana flaring thick. 

I closed my eyes and tightened my grip as I absorbed the mana; for the first time in my life, without limit. I felt the mana gather and settle around the four elemental cores. Rather than clamping around them to control their growth, I let them absorb the excess mana. 

I drank until my reserves were complete, and my elemental cores started to grow rapidly. I focused on the mana in my body, channeling the excess toward the cores, letting them grow bigger and bigger, with no outlet. It was the nature of an apprentice mage. The elemental cores could devour mana, but they were unable to let it out unless indirectly. 

For that reason, apprentice mages were unable to use external spells. 

When the dragon heart finally stopped spitting out mana, I was already feeling bloated. Even with years of training and preparation and infinite mana, breaking to the next order was not something that could be done easily. 

After one last bow, I departed from the valley. My plan was to walk the whole day, maybe even risk another night's travel, until I could put some distance. The farther I was away from my uncle’s influence, the better. 

However, that plan died a quick death when I saw a search party at a distance, going through the forest. They were hunters, probably locals considering the way they dressed, with no mage among them. Technically, I had no reason to believe that they had been looking for me. I didn’t leave any track, and even if I did, they wouldn’t have just sent a team of ordinary hunters to search for me. 

Yet, it was too much of a coincidence to have a search party in the middle of nowhere just when I was returning. 

Curious, I approached them even as I used Fire to enhance my gaze, reading their lips from a distance. It was not perfect, but it was enough to catch some key phrases they had been repeating. Phrases like patricide, Scipio, murder, and ten thousand denarii reward.

Putting the pieces together was not too hard. It was obvious that my uncle had decided to frame me for the death of my grandfather. I would have called it smart, but it was an obvious strategy. What surprised me was the process. 

First, the prize. Ten thousand denarii was a shocking reward. For most plebs, enlisting in the army represented enough money to change their fate, enough for them to dedicate fifteen years of their lives. Yet, A legionnaire only received two hundred and fifty denarii salary for a year. Even adding the retirement reward and the occasional loot from the victorious battles, it would be impossible for them to get ten thousand. 

Ten thousand denarii was not a reward my uncle could afford, not unless he borrowed even more money. And, even if he did, he lacked the connections to spread the news of the reward with such speed. Then, I continued to read their lips, learning a little more. 

It looked like that reward was not for catching me, but for reporting my location to the military. Even more troubling. Not only did it mean they were willing to spend shocking amounts of money, but also they were connected with the military. 

It looked like his mysterious guest was even more connected than I expected. 

Troubling. 

I had been initially planning to disappear into the wilderness and use the dragon heart to reach the third order before finding a way. But, if the scraps of conversation I managed to extract were correct, that would be tricky. 

Since the sorcerer was putting so much effort into catching me, I must have angered him seriously. I wondered if it was just a grudge for killing his men, or somehow, he got an inkling that I had the dragon heart with me. 

Considering the way they had been searching the house, they were clearly looking for something. They either knew about the crystal, or looking for something else that had been destroyed in the fire. 

Either way, one thing was certain. I made an enemy out of a sorcerer, one that was connected enough to trigger a wide-area manhunt. It meant, my aim to find a remote village and train slowly was out. I had to stay in the wilderness for a long while … 

“What would have you recommended, old man?” I said as I looked toward the distant valley. Living in the wilderness felt like a good idea at first … but I was afraid of the methods of a sorcerer. Worse, I erased my tracks, but no such method was perfect. Through a combination of hunting dogs and esoteric spells, eventually, they would detect my location. 

No one could hide forever. 

“Being predictable is the biggest sin in a fight,” I answered my own question, feeling the echoes of his gruff tone. It had been one of his favorite sayings, though often delivered when I was on the ground, panting after another painful blow. 

He had been a sadistic trainer, but it was hard to argue with the result. I had no doubt that, without the torture that he claimed to be training, I would have been overwhelmed by the idea of the hunt that was led by an unknown sorcerer and contributed by the local garrison. 

Instead, I went through the options calmly. My biggest chance to get away before they could establish a blockade. I could either go North, and disappear behind the Hadrian wall. Even a sorcerer wouldn’t be able to find me easily, especially since legions couldn’t help him without triggering a war with the highland tribes. The tribes might be barbarians, but they had their own strong points. 

Otherwise, the Republic wouldn’t have halted the invasion halfway and built a wall instead. 

However, I didn’t choose that. I was afraid that, it would be the predictable path. Instead, I decided to go south, to Londinium. My target was the port. 

There was no harm in traveling for a while. Sooner or later, the sorcerer would return to his organization, and the search would die off. 

But, my uncle would be still in the compound so I could ask some questions…

And more…