Lord Tillich fell on his ass from the

  shock.

  Valet Rowse desperately tried to get the lord to get a grip and

  to rush back into the carriage. The panic made it a struggle.

  Sebastian crushed the arrow in his hand as three more came raining down on him from awkward angles.

  One weaved through the carriages, an other swerved around, and the third came down from above like a heat-seeking missile.

  With his guard up and spiritual sense in full form, he

  deflected all three in quick succession. “Lord Tillich, in the carriage.

  Now!” he shouted.

  The lord was a hot mess. He barely reacted to Sebastian’s

  words. His valet was hunched down in front of him, begging him to move.

  “My lord, please, we must retreat to safety. Please, sir, hurry!” He was

  limited in what he could actually, physically do to his lord, even in

  such extreme circumstances, but he eventually got through to the man.

  They crouched and crawled up to the carriage door.

  Sebastian wasn’t as concerned about proper decorum, he practically

  shoved the two in as soon as they were close enough to the door.

  Within seconds of the door closing, a large group of darkly clad men stormed their way toward the camp.

  Marion had responded quickly at Sebastian’s call of the

  ambush. She and the other six veterans all moved into position around

  the formation of carriages. It was ingrained into their very bones. They

  didn’t need to think about it, they acted.

  The same wasn’t true for the rookies. It took them a few moments to orient themselves. To remember what to do, and to act on it.

  That small opening was enough for the attackers to reach them.

  “Spikes!” Marion called out as the group was about to enter the camp.

  The two mages of the Valyan Claw cast their spells and

  several stone spikes erupted from the earth, pointed outward. Some of

  the attackers were caught but most managed to avoid them.

  Some pounced on the mercenaries who had taken positions

  atop the carriages and the rest swarmed through every gap they could

  find into the camp.

  It instantly devolved into chaos.

  Sebastian jumped onto the lord’s carriage, in part to

  protect their client from anyone who tried to get in but also to get a

  better view. His [Mind’s Eye] could already see through the entire camp

  but the chaos made it difficult to focus, a better angle helped his mind

  process the sensory information.

  His second-in-command, Marion, fought like a women

  possessed. Her broad short sword sliced through several men as she moved

  through the camp. Although her face remained stern and unmoving,

  Sebastian could sense a rage in her movements. It piqued his curiosity,

  but he remembered what his friends in Luxendorf had taught him, everyone

  has their own circumstances. This wasn’t the time to pry into hers.

  He turned his attention to his two students, naturally

  concerned. Safi was doing alright. She fought a single attacker and held

  her own, but her fear caused her to make several mistakes. It was clear

  that she would win in the end, but it wouldn’t be an easy victory.

  Gawen had rushed into a two-vs-one. Although he was

  higher level than them both and his Skills were better, they were more

  experienced. He fought valiantly but soon found himself overwhelmed.

  Wounds accumulated throughout his body. It didn’t slow him down, though.

  Through his [Mind’s Eye], Sebastian realized that Gawen

  was about to take a hit, a true hit. One attacker’s sword came down

  toward his shoulder as he was defending against the other.

  Sebastian swung his sword from atop the lord’s carriage. A

  small dark crescent of essence manifested along his sword path and shot

  out toward the attacker. Just as the sword was about to cut into Gawen,

  Sebastian’s essence attack cut the attacker clean in half.

  It was the first Technique that Sebastian could truly

  call his own, the [Crescent Cloud Slash]. After he had mastered all five

  Techniques from the manual, including the [Cloud Shadow Slash], he had

  worked on his own modifications. The result was a Technique which

  finally dealt with his lack of ranged attacks.

  The manual’s [Cloud Shadow Slash] materialized a copy of

  his attack that moved in sync the original as if its shadow. It was

  effective against a single opponent who would be struck by the shadow

  attack after blocking, parrying, or dodging the original. Sebastian saw

  the potential for more.

  During his time with the hunters in Lumeria, he had seen a

  few Skills that materialized essence. Dolan’s arrows, for example, were

  made of pure essence.

  Inspired by them, this Technique did the same.

  It was only the year before he left Celder that he

  succeeded in his experiments. He formed the essence blade not in the

  original attack’s shadow but in its path. Having it hold in place and

  launch was the hardest part, but he did it.

  He had his first original Technique and his first long range attack.

  The Valyan Claw whittled their attackers down and soon killed the last one, at least the last one who didn’t succeed in fleeing.

  They had taken some damage during the attack but there

  were no casualties. Their level advantage and technical superiority

  ensured that they won, despite being outnumbered three to one.

  After things settled down, and they had a chance to check the surrounding area, Marion returned to the camp.

  “Is everyone good?” Sebastian asked his second-in-command. He could tell that there had been no deaths

  but his spiritual sense didn’t inform him of how the members of his unit

  were actually doing after the attack.

  Marion stepped up and said, “All accounted for. No major

  injuries, but Víctor and Aric are gonna do a sweep of healing spells.

  Neither of them are healing mages, but Aric has gained a number of spells

  for dealing with smaller wounds.”

  Sebastian nodded. “How did we miss this? We scouted the area before we began setting up camp.”

  “A stealth shield. It was found over by the trees. It

  blocked our Detection Skills, creating a blind spot. Those are

  expensive. Usually not worth the money because they can only be used

  once and can be seen through if you’re high enough level. Our scouts

  aren’t at that level, though.”

  Sebastian sent Marion to finish securing the perimeter while he ensured that the client, Lord Tillich, was alright.

  He had been shocked but was mostly fine. Although he

  tried to apologize and explain why they were attacked and who might be

  behind it, Sebastian shut him down. Small town politics was not

  something he wanted to get involved in. His Valyan Claw had a mission,

  get the lord to Catresan safely, and that was the extent of their

  business.

  They healed up and cleaned out the bodies. Before they

  turned in for the night, they did an extra check to make sure that there

  would be no more surprises.

  The night was quiet.

  Tensions ran high the next day as everyone had their

  guards up. With the exception of a handful of minor monster encounters,

  though, there were no other issues.

  Everyone was especially careful the next night, nobody wanted to repeat the mistakes that allowed the attack.

  Fortunately, the rest of the contract went smoothly.

  They reached Catresan before lunch on the third day.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Sebastian and his unit rested up for the day and then moved on to Torrun where they would meet up with the rest of the division.

  It turned out that Celder had been an

  outlier. Both towns of Dondresan and Torrun only saw a total of 6 new

  recruits between the two of them. One of whom were placed in the Valyan

  Claw, bringing them up to 17 members, Sebastian included.

  With that, the recruitment tour of the White Fang

  Division was done. The units were all assigned contracts, which had

  accumulated within the division during their break for the tour.

  Contracts in hand, they all separated.

  Each unit moved independently of the division but kept in

  touch through the officer’s badges. Vice Captain Sellar moved with

  Lieutenant Lluch’s unit as they had the most dangerous contracts.

  The Valyan Claw’s next contract was simpler—clear out a den of kobolds harassing a village in the region.

  It took them longer to travel there than to eradicate the pests.

  It’s like they’re moving in slow motion,

  Sebastian thought as he killed a stray kobold. Last time he dealt with

  kobolds had been a struggle, to say the least. Now, it was just a chore.

  It makes for good training for the other rookies, though. It’s even getting Safi riled up.

  Ten mercenaries, each of whom had proven themselves in

  the trials to join the company, were engaged in battle against a horde

  of kobolds far exceeding what Sebastian had dealt with in his past.

  They had found the den in a forest close to the village.

  Cisquell, the unit’s beast tamer, had a supply of female kobold

  pheromones which they placed in the center of a clearing in the forest

  to lure them all out.

  Sebastian sat to the side and laughed. Watching the rookies chase after the infuriating rodents

  made for excellent entertainment while he ate. The other veterans sat by

  his side, also laughing and calling out less than helpful tips as they

  enjoyed their food.

  He had made a simple rule when they arrived, kill

  three kobolds, and you’re done. It was easy for those with experience,

  but as he knew personally, it made for good training.

  One by one, the rookies figured out the kobolds’ tricks.

  Sebastian had managed to deal with a dozen and a half when he was about

  the same level as his students, and they had a far better foundation

  than he had at the time. Though to be fair, his physical cultivation

  might have been something of an advantage.

  Some of the rookies had higher levels, none over 30 but a few who were getting close. They finished first.

  Safi surprised everyone by being the fourth of the

  rookies to cut down three kobolds. Gawen took longer, he was the second to

  last to finally get his three. It taught him a good lesson.

  The next contract also dealt with a monster. A rank 3

  Worg. While Sebastian could deal with it himself without much

  difficulty, as a unit they had to handle it with a bit more care. A rank

  3 monster was strong enough to quickly kill many of the unit’s members

  if they weren’t careful, after all.

  They traveled the region for the next few months, dealing with contract after contract.

  Although none of them were particularly difficult, it

  served to prove that the unit wouldn’t hold back the division, or the

  corps itself.

  The day after Sebastian turned in their latest completed

  contract, his lieutenant’s badge glowed blue, signaling yet another new contract.

  He stepped away from the camp, where the rest of the unit sat in small

  groups around the fire set up between the carriages. It was standard

  procedure to open messages in private.

  Priority 3 contract

  Designation: Bandits

  Location: Canlac Woods

  Estimated rank: 3–4

  A merchant group has coordinated with three local villages to hire the Wandering Wolves Corps to clear out a group of bandits in the area. The bandits have harassed merchants and farmers alike, essentially isolating the villages and costing the merchants a great deal of money.

  The bandits have set up a base in the Canlac Woods. Initial estimations put their numbers at about a dozen.

  Meet with the village leader of Rotherick Village for more details.

  Signed,

  Vice Captain Enric Sellar

  It took the unit almost a week to reach

  their destination, but Rotherick Village finally appeared behind a grove

  of trees. When they entered, the leader of the village was waiting for

  them on the road.

  “Welcome to our humble village,” he said. His grey hair

  was slicked back and his clothes were more extravagant than Sebastian

  had expected from such a remote village. Although, even remote villages

  here had enough people to constitute a full town back on earth, so it

  made some sense. “We’re honored to have the mighty Wandering Wolves

  answer our plea for help.” He performed a simple bow.

  Sebastian stepped down from the carriage and shook his hand. “Thank you.”

  “I’m sure you must be tired and hungry after your journey. We’ve prepared a feast in our town hall to show our gratitude.”

  “An appreciated gesture. We’ll set up camp and head off

  to deal with the bandits in the morning.” Sebastian turned to face his

  units and pointed out a few of them. “You all, with me, we set up camp

  first. The rest of you, follow the village leader to the town hall.

  Enjoy yourselves.”

  He stayed with the two support mages, the beast tamer,

  and a few others to help set up camp and unpack. There weren’t exactly

  any stables in the area ready for the two cornuptreses so they had to

  install some sturdy poles to tie them down, much like they did most

  nights.

  Once they were done setting up the camp for the night, they joined the others for the feast.

  As a small village, Rotherick certainly wasn’t wealthy,

  but Sebastian confirmed yet again that food was rarely an issue in this

  world. At least not in terms of quantity. Quality was another matter.

  The town hall was a simple but well made building. The

  interior was a large open hall, clearly used for any and all matters in

  the village that required some space or legitimacy. For the feast they

  had placed a few rows of tables, each filled with food.

  In addition to the 17 members of the Valyan Claw,

  Sebastian included, there were also about a dozen of the more important

  people in the village. The village leader and his wife along with some

  businessmen and merchants who seemed to enjoy the opportunity to feel

  more impressive than they actually were.

  Sebastian walked over to an empty spot at one of the tables with his members.

  The village leader had set up a table ahead of the

  others. He left an empty spot next to himself, at the center of the head

  table, clearly in the hopes that Sebastian would join him.

  When he saw that Sebastian ignored them and sat amongst

  his fellow mercenaries, he quickly had a group of young men rush up and

  move the table to be more aligned with the others. He made an excuse

  about making room for activities, whatever that was supposed to mean.

  It was a small thing, but it brought a smile to Sebastian’s face.

  This was an opportunity for the elites of this small

  village to feel good about themselves, and they clearly thought that

  Sebastian, as a lieutenant of a famous mercenary company, would indulge

  them. They were wrong. And since they couldn’t risk offending their

  saviors, they had to do away the entire notion of a head table.

  The food itself was abundant and was by no means bad, but

  it did lack a certain… specialness that was found in more wealthy

  places. With the magic of this world, growing food or even hunting was

  rarely an issue. Even when people were poor they would seldom starve.

  Not only did their fields yield more crops than back on earth, there

  were countless animals to hunt with how large the world was.

  Hunters could also occasionally bring back some weak

  monsters to eat. Any monster that were of a high enough level to be

  actually useful in any magical sense were also basically poisonous. The

  same issues that applied to experience elixirs would also apply to food

  cooked with monster meat. If the monster was weak, however, if they had

  just a few levels, then its meat would be a delicacy.

  Both the food here

  and the buildings are all of a similar level to Blackoak back in

  Lumeria, if maybe a notch below. And that was a satellite town to the

  capital. Some of the villages we stopped at during the train ride were

  far worse than this. From what I can tell, there isn’t much of a

  difference in the currency between here and in Celder either, not that

  Celder was some big city but the prices and everything feels far more

  stable.

  Sebastian’s face darkened as he ate and thought back on Lumeria. I

  always knew that the system there was rigged against the lower class, but now that I see what life is like here, it’s obvious just how

  intentional it is. Not that Calindor is some perfect utopia, but the

  difference is like night and day.

  It had been years since he left Lumeria, but he still

  took any and all opportunities to keep his hatred alive. He would

  neither forgive nor forget.

  The feast went on late into the night.

  Sebastian sat at his table and looked around the dimly

  lit room. Víctor was singing loudly. Apparently singing was a Skill he

  picked up as he was learning some spell years ago, and he realized he

  quite enjoyed it. Gawen was urging some of the veteran mercenaries to

  spar with him, as usual. A few veterans were telling stories of old

  contracts they had done to the village leader and some merchant.

  There were loud conversations and rambunctious laughter.

  Back home, Sebastian wouldn’t have been able to stand

  sitting there in such a chaotic environment. Here, it wasn’t so bad. He

  still didn’t partake much, however, beyond a few conversations here and

  there. A growing tolerance didn’t mean that he had suddenly become some

  social butterfly.

  Safi interrupted his musings by tapping Sebastian on the

  shoulder to get his attention. “Uhm… Teacher.” She never got used to

  calling him boss, like the other members did.

  “Yeah?” Sebastian turned to face her.

  She pointed at Sebastian’s badge at his waist. “Your badge, it’s glowing red.”

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