A group of twenty people on horseback was moving along the road, accompanying a closed carriage. Despite the fact that at first glance the carriage did not stand out too much for its appearance, looking closely, one could conclude that this was far from an easy job. However, it lacked any identifying marks.

The carriage was spacious with a rather luxurious interior. Sitting on one side of the carriage was a middle-aged man in battle garb. Despite external relaxation, he remained on the alert and looked at local sights in order to react in time in case of a threat.

Knight Delric was one of two Knight's Apprentices under the Earl Lawrence, but the Earl sent him anyway to escort the goods to ensure his safety. Although Delric was a little annoyed by this situation, he treated it with understanding.

Lawrence sent the son of his official wife to the talent test, but it turned out that his talent was negligible. Realizing his insignificance, his son returned home in disgrace, unwilling to waste his life given his meager chances of achieving anything as a Magician.

But Lawrence was furious. He spent a fortune to send this bastard to a talent test, but in the end, he did not even dare to try to use the chance given to him.

Earl Lawrence considered himself a man of noble blood and looked accordingly, so he could not believe that the strength of his bloodline was not enough. He convinced himself that his official wife was to blame for everything. Whether it was true or not didn't matter.

He got excited about the idea of ​​finding a concubine of noble blood in the hope that she would give birth to a real Mage, then his name would rise on the continent and all his dreams would become a reality.

In fact, such a phenomenon was quite common, and in this regard, many nobles shared his views. However, it was impossible to verify the purity of the bloodline, in a way the purity of the bloodline and talent of the Mage were synonymous.

Few people in their right mind, being a man in years, would spend 10 magic crystals to test their talent. In addition, the very request for such a thing can offend the Mages and there will be no trace of the petitioner.

It only remained to judge the purity of the bloodline solely by appearance. Various bizarre hair and eye colors were one of the factors by which one could judge that a person had a noble bloodline, although this was not always the case, and it is still difficult to judge the strength of the bloodline.

Delric turned and looked at his companion again. She was only 15 years old, but she looked like a beautiful fairy. Beautiful azure hair and color of the sea eyes, combined with her beautiful face, could captivate any man.

It is not surprising that Lawrence considered her a valuable cargo. Seeing her in person, Delric fully agreed with such a definition. Even he himself felt tempted. Who knows maybe with someone like her even his children would have magical talent.

While he was admiring this beauty, wandering in his thoughts, the crew was attacked. There were screams outside. Lawrence got up and covered his fellow traveler to make sure she was not hurt by the arrows. As soon as the first wave of arrows ended, the attackers rushed into close combat. Delric drew his sword and left the carriage to help his men.

As soon as my men and I made a volley of arrows, I gave the command to go into close combat. It makes no sense to delay waiting until some other unknown factors appear.

The carriage guards were obviously experienced fighters, so despite our numerical advantage, the fight was not going to be easy.
However, I was confident in myself and was going to personally kill the enemies one by one while my fighters held them back.

I managed to kill only three when I realized that my people suddenly began to suffer heavy losses.

- Knight's Apprentice! - shouted one of my men in horror.

And indeed. The real Knight Apprentice came out of the wagon and began crushing my people one by one, moving at inhuman speed and showing overwhelming strength. He was wearing armor similar to my own.

About half a year ago my many years of training finally paid off and I felt the so-called barrier. It was difficult to describe, but I was sure that this was the very last step that separated me from the Knight's Apprentice. However, my current strength and speed were clearly inferior to that person.

The remaining defenders of the carriage grinned ominously and rushed to counterattack. My people, on the contrary, lost the desire to fight, some began to run away.

My eyes turned red with rage and without thinking twice, I yelled.

- STAND YOUR GROUND BASTARDS! I'M ALSO A KNIGHT'S APPRENTICE!

The battle seemed to stop and everyone gave me puzzled looks.

- I take this Knight on myself, the rest on you. Anyone who dares to run away will be killed by me personally.

Of course I lied, but in this situation I had no choice. I could have tried to just run away, but I didn't want to do that. I started to lose my patience a long time ago, sooner or later I would still have to take the risk.

The old man is still waiting for me. The Mage World is still waiting for me. All or nothing, life or death. No more step back.

My people stopped panicking, but were confused. They knew that I was extremely strong, so rumors that I was a Knight have been going around since I killed the last leader. However, the rumors remained rumors.

Delric looked at me skeptically, and soon the corners of his lips twitched.

- I am Knight's Apprentice Delric. How about not wasting the lives of our subordinates for nothing? Let's fight one on one like two Knights and the winner takes everything. What do you say? - Delric asked loudly.

I immediately knew from his face that he had somehow determined the fact that I was not a Knight's Apprentice, so he decided not to risk the lives of the rest of his people and kill me first. He was clearly extremely confident.

Although I understood that I had little chance, such a condescending attitude could not but hurt me. Strength and speed alone did not guarantee victory.

My teacher Gray may not have had the talent of a Knight, but in martial arts and swordsmanship he was second to none. At least I was sincerely convinced of this.

- I agree. Stay close and don't get in the way. - I said aloud, drilling Delric with a hard look.

Soon we moved away from the carriage, and the fighters of both sides were located nearby and looked after each other in tense expectation.

The sky was illuminated by a bright sun partially peeking through the foliage. The shadow from the trees covered the carriage and shimmered on the ground along with the light swaying of the branches. I heard birds singing and leaves rustling. A light breeze penetrated the visor of my helmet, reminding me that I was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, I pulled out the sword that I got from the last robbery.

The sword shimmered in beige and looked attractive overall. It was made to order for someone of the noble, but the only advantage of the sword, besides the appearance, was its durability. Obviously, unusual materials were used to create it.

Two knights stood opposite each other in a fighting stance.

We attacked at the same time and our swords clashed with each other. I felt the overwhelming force of the enemy on me and, unable to keep my balance, leaned back.

I tried to keep up with the pace of the enemy as much as possible using little tricks to deflect the opponent's sword, buying myself a little more time before the next attack. Blocking and dodging attacks, it became more and more difficult for me, but Delric quickly picked up the pace and began to leave wounds on my body.

Although my armor was top notch, Delric's sword was clearly out of the ordinary. His powerful blows managed to leave solid holes in my armor. If it were not for my years of training and vast experience, and most importantly a great teacher, I would not have lasted long.

Over the past years, I have repeatedly tried to find something useful to increase my own strength. On the black market I managed to get a cure for the Knights' training, thanks to which I was able to speed up my progress a little. However, all my attempts to obtain magical materials or anything related to them have failed. All I had to do was create a set of daggers and coat them with the best poison I could get my hands on.

Delric was about to take advantage and step forward to attack me again, but the moment he stepped forward, I reached for my belt and threw a small dagger in his direction. The dagger missed its mark and was blocked, but at least that visibly cooled Delric's fuse. He looked at the dagger with furrowed brows, clearly noticing signs of poison on it.

Although he was also wearing knightly armor, but like me, he had a couple of vulnerable areas. I hoped this would make him more careful and give me some time.

Delric continued to attack, and I barely fended off his attacks, retreating again and again, any moment of carelessness could cost me my life. The skin on my palm under the gloves cracked and covered with blood, but this did not affect my concentration at all.

Our swords collided again and again, sometimes I had no choice but to dodge attacks at the last moment and gradually I received more and more wounds all over my body.

So many years of daily training with the old man. He didn't give me a break, no matter how I felt as he kept beating me and hammering new fighting techniques into my head. In turn, I continued to train again and again with perseverance.

I didn't need high-flown reasons to motivate me. Life! That's the motivation. If you don't want to die, then raise your sword and fight until your enemy falls.

My concentration only grew, the whole world around ceased to exist. My own wounds ceased to exist. Only the enemy and a hard fight using all skills

Gradually, my body began to heat up more and more, my heart was beating wildly, at first I had the feeling that I was again performing the Knight technique. However, this time it was different. It seemed to me that from the temperature of the body, even the air around me began to distort.

Gradually, a pleasant warmth appeared in the chest and spread throughout the body with each blow. It became easier for me to move, every cell in the body was gradually filled with strength that I had never felt before.

Is this the so called life force?