( From Donnel Drumm's perspective)
The attack on Deepwood Motte should have begun today. Even if I had arrived by then, I would have been nothing more than a reserve force for those damned House Tawney, which was unacceptable to both my father and me. We burned, killed, and looted the towns and villages around Flint Cliffs, but that wasn't glorious enough for our family. I would not be subservient. Therefore, I decided to raid Bear Island, while the Tawney would plunder Deepwood Motte.
We landed safely and were heading towards the House Mormont's Citadel when suddenly, everything went awry. Boulders rained down from the mountaintop, killing our men. For a moment, I thought an army had ambushed us, but as the battle progressed, I realized our opponent was only one person.
I could hardly believe that this old man riding a wolf possessed divine power. Seeing this, some of my men tried to flee, but I executed them and regained control. At first, I thought he was a puppet, but before our eyes, huge stones appeared in front of his hands, and he wasn't the only one with magic. A Crow larger than an eagle swooped down from the sky and attacked us.
I barely dodged a Crow's attack, only to find a rock hurtling towards me. There was no time to run. I could only hold my shield in front of me, hoping that would be enough. Time seemed to fly by. I saw the boulder hurtle towards me from the corner of my shield, crushing me to pieces.
I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact. But the violent collision I anticipated didn't happen. I only felt as if a very small person was pushing against my shield, and then a second later, dust flew everywhere.
I couldn't understand it at all. The corpses around me proved that this person wasn't a puppet, so why didn't this attack affect me? I didn't understand what was happening, so I retreated to calm down. Just then, the giant raven swooped down again and cast a spell. The people around me turned into mincemeat, but I was completely unharmed among them. It was as if the spell had broken free from my grasp.
Was the Drowned God protecting me? The old spellcaster's magic had no effect on me. At that very moment, the mage's hands began to burn, and now my men were slowly crumbling. Even our elite warriors could no longer keep the soldiers in formation. I mustered all my courage and plunged into the flames, and like other spells, the flames shattered before me. With all my might, I slammed my shield into the side of the giant wolf, knocking it down.
(Male protagonist's perspective)
I immediately stood up as soon as I fell, but I didn't understand how this person had passed through my fire magic. Seeing me on the ground, the soldiers regained their courage. They rushed towards Lika, stopping her from saving me.
I threw an Earth Shards spell at the person closest to me. But the spell turned to dust the moment it touched the man's shield. I couldn't believe my eyes and immediately used my " Appraisal " skill. Nothing, absolutely nothing. I started to panic because I couldn't sense a single drop of magic from that person.
This could mean two things: either he's a mage more powerful than me, or he possesses a divine artifact for protection. My gaze suddenly fell on the blood-red longsword in the man's hand. It must be it. I could sense subtle magical fluctuations emanating from this sword. The magic I felt from it was ancient, truly ancient.
I blocked the man's sword with my own, but each time our swords clashed, deep cracks appeared on mine. His sword had begun to damage my steel sword, making it feel like it was made of bronze. The Ironborn soldiers surrounded me second by second, and I could barely escape.
With each clash of swords, the man forced me back. He was far faster and stronger than me. His superior swordsmanship and physical strength caused me to lose in the exchanges. In this situation, the difference in our swordsmanship was meaningless.
I used Fog Cloud to break free from the man's control, but the Fog dissipated instantly when I was about two meters away, so he could still see me clearly. Our swords clashed a few more times, and then he kicked me to the ground.
I wanted to use the power of this strike to Meld with Earth (Melada Tegon), but just as I was about to unleash it, his sword came slashing at me. I didn't have enough time, so I chose to roll off the ground.
Luckily, I rolled over, because his sword was deeply embedded in the ground, as easily as a hot knife through butter. If I had gone into the ground, I would be dead by now. The man effortlessly pulled his sword out of the ground and was about to attack me when I used my strongest magic, forcing me to create distance between us. I screamed in panic.
" Summon Lightning "
The cloud instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning, which struck the man with a deafening "boom!" The man screamed in panic. I thought the spell had worked, but I wasn't going to wait and see. The instant the lightning struck, I activated the Melada Tegon ( to Meld with Earth ) spell, but this spell wasn't instantaneous; it was like jumping into water. The first immersion in the earth was a little slow.
The man lunged at me nonchalantly, trying to decapitate me, but thankfully I was on the ground and reacted quickly. I managed to dodge, but as soon as I did, he began to swoop down with his sword. I could feel the icy water pouring down my back. I was already knee-deep in the ground, my speed halved. I had no way to dodge the next blow. I stretched out my almost broken sword; there was nothing I could do but hope that was enough.