Chapter 294 The Next Level

Aion left for the next big city, which was on the southern side of the country. If some people try to leave the place, they probably will use the maritime routes, but it was hard to imagine that they would have time for that. The Eastern side of that country was surrounded by mountains as well, and the desert was on the Western side.

That was a pain. Aion could only think that those guys kept themselves separated like that to make him work more… Regardless, the sun had risen two hours before Aion could reach his next destination. Since one of the enemies had been waiting for him in the dread of the night, he imagined that the others would be the same.

When Aion approached the city, he could see three armies on three sides of the place… it was walled, and it seemed that they were always ready for war. While the four armies weren't that big, they would work well to surround him if Aion entered the city by flying. The enemies were trying a number of things to get him.

Even from afar, Aion could tell that all of them had tower shields and long spears. It didn't seem like they had that material of that armor in abundance… their phalanx formation would work better if they had it. However, the second tubby said that they found that material on the ruins of the fallen capital and only managed to forge a few things with it… enough for four people.

"I guess I will humor those guys," Aion said and then flew toward the first army that was on the western side of the city.

They didn't see Aion's approaching, but the soldiers saw Aion landing since he made sure to be as noisy as possible. The enemy soldiers readied themselves to face him by raising their shields and completely hiding behind them. Their phalanx formation was perfect… and they began to march toward Aion.

As for Aion, he was just two hundred meters away and then raised his right arm and then summoned an ice sphere that kept growing and growing… When he used all of his mana, the sphere was bigger than a mansion, but it wasn't enough to crush all of those guys, so he was forced to use Force Release and spend half of his reserves. It wasn't the most efficient way to deal with the enemies, but he needed to make a point. He needed to make the people there fear him…

Despite seeing a sphere that was the size of their entire battalion, the enemy soldiers didn't hesitate and kept marching at him. That was suspicious… for not a single one of them to fear for their lives was… weird, to say the least.

"Are they being controlled like the ghosts?" Aion thought. "I suspect it would be more efficient to use it on humans."

Not that it matters. Aion could see the other armies moving to attack him, so he didn't have time to waste, and he quickly dropped the massive ice sphere on the army. Perhaps it was more accurate to call it an ice meteor since it crushed all of them completely.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

…

Priest Lv 89

Health: 20/20

Mana: 1803/1803

Stamina: 140/140

Strength: 05

Dexterity: 11 + 85

Magic: 312 + 505

Endurance: 05

Resistance: 12 +03

Speed: 16

Status: 00

Wand Refinement Lv 85

Bonuses: + 170 Magic, + 85 dexterity

Skills: Heal Lv 01, Mana Shield Lv 01, Strength Support Lv 01, Dexterity Support Lv 01, Magic Support Lv 15,

Passive: Mana UP Lv 50, Holy Reinforcement Lv 01, Improved Resistance Lv 01, Wand Mastery Lv 10, Undead's Bane Lv 01

Improvement Points:267

Accumulated Experience: 0

Coins: 115.000

Inventory:

Absorption: 0/1000

Processing: 0/1000

Reset

Improved Resistance: passively increases your Resistance by three points per level.

Dexterity Support: temporarily increases your dexterity by three points per level for one minute at the cost of thirty mana points.

Wand Mastery: passively increases the effects of spells by one percent per level.

Magic Support: temporarily increases your magic by three points per level for one minute at the cost of thirty mana points.

Undead's Bane: causes one percent more damage to undead per level.

"... For a band of brainwashed soldiers, they sure gave me a lot of experience," Aion thought while frowning.

Aion couldn't help but wait for the enemies to approach. He needed to recover some mana, but he also needed to understand the situation… did they seriously think that he was that weak, or the information that they got was that inaccurate? He couldn't tell if he had gotten that stronger over a year, even if he trained hard whenever he could.

Even if he had, the people in the future should know of his strength or at least have a good estimation of it. In any case, the gates of the city opened, and more soldiers came from it. The city was pretty large, so it would make sense that it could have five thousand soldiers… Still, the country was a country where most of its power came from bandits. For them to have such an organized army… something was really off.

"I don't like this… this is way too convenient for me," Aion thought.

Instead of waiting for the enemies, Aion decided to fly toward the city and question the lord of the place himself. That would make him realize things faster.

Once he crossed the walls, Aion saw a lot of soldiers heading toward that gate, and soon, he confirmed that they had way more soldiers than expected. A lot more, in fact. Did they hire mercenaries and brainwash them to wear full armor? That wouldn't make any sense.

Aion looked for a place in the city with a large number of soldiers protecting it, but he didn't find it. The houses were all closed, and considering that it was in the middle of the day, it would be the only place they could hide… as if that wasn't troublesome enough, there were plenty of mansions in the place. For all that he could care, Aion knew that the target might be in one of those, but he also could have run away already.

"That guy didn't know how the illusion magic worked or who cast… their conspirator said that they would do that for them, but it was unlikely that someone from the future could interfere that much," Aion thought. "So, one of those four guys used their minions to do that… this is getting more complicated."

It was already clear that the enemies didn't want, nor could they, kill Aion, so they were aiming for something else. The question was, what? So far, he didn't face enemies that could try to mess with him indirectly or even were crazy enough thousands of people to get in his way in one way or the other. Still, it seemed that was the case now.

"Since it has come to this… I need to play my cards wisely and avoid any traps that the enemies might have laid," Aion thought. "This game has reached the next level, and I can't fall for their schemes."