—--------

  ~Twenty minutes later

  —---------------------------

  I felt better about the situation now that I could access my magical will, thus my mind palace. There surely wasn't enough of it to repair the dart-wasp but it was enough to see and defend myself should the need arise. Though not nearly enough to truly win a drawn out fight.

  The lead embedded in the dart-wasp would be too costly in both will and time to separately remove in order to make air worthy.

  On the other hand, my right arm was still messed up but healing and my body was still covered in dirt, blood and sweat from exertion.

  I needed to deal with myself soon.

  But, before that, I needed to deal with Sampson. I took many of the parts of the enemy craft and moulded them into a casket of whatever alloy the enemies called it.

  I then brought the casket over to the dart-wasp and with the help of the spacial mage whose name is Cedric and Ridley. We lifted his body into the coffin, which I sealed shut.

  I then sat down, cleaning off the grime from my body with controlled, extremely weakened pulses of electricity that disintegrated the dirt and blood off of my face, eyes and body. I wouldn't chance it with my clothes, since it stood a good chance of going with the dirt and blood.

  “Marine Ridley, rouse me if anything happens, I will regain my energy.” I ordered him.

  He saluted and hoisted his magi-bluss to low ready as he faced away from me.

  I started to rotate my cogs in a bid to regain as much magical energy as I possibly could before anything more happened.

  —-------

  ~Thirty minutes later

  —----------------------

  ‘It was my fault’ I surmised. Sampson would have gotten immediate triage as soon as we arrived at Voloss airbase. He could have made it. My cores rotated faster and faster as I worked through everything.

  I killed a man I could have saved. All because I felt as though Voloss airbase wouldn't have been far enough from whatever mother is probably engaging right now.

  I was probably right.

  But if I stopped there and quickly stole a few via-

  My thoughts were cut off immediately by Ridley probing me with a weak magical will, most likely of one cog.

  I exited my mind palace instantly and stood up, reaching with my magical will to pick up metals, only to give up as I saw Cerys arriving with a veritable crowd of people. Some were curious, wide eyed civilians who were here for the excitement and spectacle.

  I moved a metal piece behind my back discreetly and shaped it into many needles in case I needed to use them.

  But many of them were squire class mobile cogs in the colors of house Dohiedron.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  In front of them was an officer of the commander rank and beside him stood a gruff looking field medic.

  The medic spoke first.

  “All injured, report to me.” His voice carried far and his face stayed impassive.

  The commander stated after “whoever is in charge of this mess, step forward!”

  I almost snickered. Then I remembered Sampson.

  “Gentlemen, that would be me.” I said with confidence.

  They both simultaneously looked at me. The gruff field medic stepped forward first, following procedure.

  “I will now invade your body with my magical will, do not resist, it is for your benefit I know what is going on in your body before I attempt to heal it.” He commanded.

  I let him do his thing.

  His eyes widened. He gasped. “Rust dammit, kid, what the hell did this to you!?” He questioned. “How are you even standing, kid?”

  “If you are talking about my arm, I did it to myself in a backlash of moving in a state of magically manipulated time.” I explained with an even tone.

  His eyes widened even further. “Forgive me, young master, but did you ever say what your name was?”

  Cerys scoffed but opted to stay silent.

  My eye brow twitched. Did they ignore her? “You are of no station to hear my name, now can you heal me or not?” His face paled.

  The commander stepped forward. “Please, young sir, forgive my intrusion into procedure, but if what Her Ladyship reported is true, you are to come with me.”

  My eye brow twitched again, rising anger threatened to make itself known. I calmed myself.

  “That would be unnecessary.” My eyes searched the crowd of people with suspicion. My magic will spread out, looking for anyone of higher power than the second cog. My eyes widened slightly.

  “Commander, order your men to set up a perimeter and draw their weapons.” More metal floated toward me, slowly as possible to hopefully not draw attention to it.

  Ridley entered a firing position next to me.

  Cerys walked next to me as well.

  The pilot backed away.

  Cedric took up a defensive position behind the air unworthy dart-wasp.

  The commander’s magical will spread, less concealed than I would have liked, given our situation.

  His eyes also widened. “Rusting cog.” He swore under his breath.

  The crowd erupted, drawing swords and crossbows from every conceivable hiding place a human could think of using. Many of them had magical wills that belied one through four cogs. Food sacks? A crossbow with ammo. A cane? A sword. Behind the back of an artificially arched woman whose body was malformed? Multiple crossbows all loaded. Every single person around had a non-uniform way of concealing weapons. Thankfully, every weapon was made out of metal.

  A flash erupted out.

  Their weapons exploded into themselves and all of them died instantly in red mists as cracks of electricity danced out of the palm of my left hand and shot through every single one of the people who had weapons on them. Which was every single one of them. Somehow, an entire force of a hundred or more enemies of the empire had not only gathered, but acted so openly.

  I massively lessened the power in a bid to not deafen everyone in a hundred meter radius.

  I knew some of them never got a chance to draw, but I killed them anyway.

  The city echoed with thunder even though it was clear skies.

  The commander wretched as he keeled over, his position likely more one from family connections than service.

  The only one who survived my execution was a man all the way in the back. He was a strong looking man. A simple looking face with wide eyes stared back at me. “Surrender or die, wretch” I threatened.

  He knelt down as the red mist flowed with the wind past him. Pieces of gristle now hitting the ground.

  He drew his dagger and tried to end it.

  The dagger flew out of his hand into my left hand.

  I then gripped the dagger and flew towards him, grabbing him by his hair with the same left hand and started dragging him, weeping and sobbing towards the ‘commander’. I was in no mood for charades, I already lost one good man today because of me, I needed to repent and find the people who attacked me and assisted in killing Sampson. I would make them pay.

  “Commander, get a hold of yourself, do you have a place where I can talk to this man about matters of war and the ultimate goal of peace?” I made it clear, this man would tell me something I needed to know, all I needed was a place to not get ambushed again.

  A wooden arrow, a meter from tip to fletching thwacked into the man at my feet.

  I created a metal dome around me and my entourage using the excess metal made from the enemy craft and the dart-wasp.

  Multiple clangs resounded along the north side of the dome.

  I looked down and a piece of metal started glowing. I shook my head and was about to call the field medic, but when I looked at the wound, it started festering and growing black.

  Necrotic poison? This is just getting worse.

  I let go of the man’s head and let him fall.

  I looked to the field medic. “Can you stop the poison?”

  He shook his head with a grim frown.

  I almost lost it to my rage there, but I remained cool headed.

  There is still a sniper somewhere out there. Judging from the fact that I heard absolutely nothing and the enormity of the arrow, this shooter was not only skilled but strong and likely has some kind of vision enhancement that can help the enemy see from afar. Was I facing the wood elves of the eastern continent? This was their tactic. Even though almost nothing was truly known about them, they were deadly enemies. Strike from afar, silently, unnoticed, run to fight another day. Something warfare. Cog it, the enemy is either already gone or repositioning as I think these thoughts.

  I looked at the terrified, trembling commander. “Can you call reinforcements?”

  “No, your lordship.” The annoyingly incompetent man responded.

  “Time to walk, then.” I looked back down at the man's rotting corpse. “Do not even step near these arrows, I don't know what poison exactly it is, but this is potent necrotic poison.” I then started walking as I picked up the coffin holding Sampson.

  “Feild medic, I don't care what you think, give me a healing flask, my body will do the rest.” He obliged as he handed me a few centimeter long square flask stopped by cork.

  I downed the entire potion. My right arm erupting into a pain I deemed important to not show, in case the enemy could see past my fortress of metal.

  “We are moving, people, NOW!”

  Everyone followed.