The Master of Uradan

The sun shone on the horizon and lazily went up bit by bit. The dazzling light was bright, and with this beacon of hope, cries, and grievances descended onto the nomads.

The desert made of rocks, sand, and dust was now covered in red; a disgusting red. Dead bodies were laid all over the area, and the few survivors had no choice but to gather them all.

A little girl with blond hair was there, crouching in front of a couple of corpses. She stared at the void, while tears were flowing down. She was now all alone.

A strong-looking man, twice as big as everyone else, was watching with a solemn expression at the dead woman in front of him. Sadness inhabited his mind. His fists were clenched, a sign of his powerlessness.

A young man walked around aimlessly, looking at the bodies. He was searching for someone, but he couldn't find her. He had already seen his father die in front of him, and now his mother was nowhere to be seen.

A woman with a spear on her hands, and blood all over her body walked with a dead man on her back. She was bringing the corpses of her fellow members. She had been useless during this fight, watching her father fighting courageously while she couldn't do anything. She wasn't strong enough.

A frail man was sitting on the ground looking at the sky. He was exhausted, and he couldn't even move anymore. Sweat flowed from his face as he felt his inside breaking bit by bit. He had fought alongside everyone even with his particular state, as he couldn't simply watch.

An old man with a missing arm was also gathering the corpse, stopping here and there as he looked deeply at the face of these previous sisters and brothers.

A middle-aged man stood in the middle, overlooking the situation. His heart weighed on his chest. He couldn't believe his once-powerful clan was reduced to that. This day was the worst one for the Blackwolf, but as well for the Greybat clan.

Rohan headed toward the corpses of the beasts. He was only an outsider, and he didn't consider it normal if he was going to gather the dead bodies. He preferred to let them do it. It was maybe only a cold endeavor from him as he ignored the bodies and crouched in front of a beast cut in halves, but Rohan firmly believed it wasn't his role to make peace with the dead.

Instead, he concentrated on the task before him. He took out a dagger from his waist, one of those he had forged himself, and prepared to cut the meat in front of him. He directly aimed for the heart.

A dagger wasn't made to dissect, but it was one of the best weapons he had forged, and the blade was better than what the nomads owned. Coupled with his mighty strength, and the teaching he had received back in the forest, he had no difficulties extracting the bloody heart of the dracass.

In this situation, even with a loud atmosphere, he couldn't refute his emotions. He suppressed the joyful smile almost blooming. He felt excited as he cut in half the organs in his hand. He even almost let an exclamation leave his throat when he saw the small stone that shouldn't be found inside a normal heart.

The vital organ was the size of his whole hand, while this stone was talking only taking a small place inside. The stone covered in blood wasn't perfectly round and was uneven like a mana core, but Rohan could feel the mana inside. It only took a glance to know there was more mana inside that was inside his mana core.

Rohan had now a bit more than 50 points of pure mana without taking the mana stone into account, and this stone was containing more. Much more.

He wasn't able to deduct how many exactly, but at least he knew for sure that it was equal to more than 5 weak mana potions. Also, it couldn't be used in a fight since it would take too much time to absorb the mana, it was a perfect way for the sessions of meditation.

Taking back the role of a plunderer like he had done inside the wizard's place, Rohan scavenged the remnant of the battle and took away all the mana stones of the beasts. He would keep some for the clan, as well as for himself.

It was maybe egoistic from him, but it was with his strength that all the beasts were now dead. He had the full right over those stones. In any case, it was only useful for a mana user, and there was now only a couple of them left.

After this terrible night, a lot of people died, painting the ground with their dark red blood. From the thousand and more composing the two clans, not even two hundred of them were still alive. Among them, more than half were injured while tens of nomads were in between life and death at this moment.

The numbers of warriors had also somewhat decreased, and only a few of them were still alive. Garrold who was crippled; Darias, the young man from the Greybat clan hiding it; two other warriors, one rank 1 and the other rank 2 Beginner warriors; and Deidros, a false warrior.

It hadn't been hard for Rohan to feel it from the very first day he had seen the son of the clan chief. He was sure to have sensed an emanation of mana coming from his body, but the feeling was strange. It was only now that he understood why. His mana core inside his chest was on the verge of fully breaking.

His first meridian that he must have opened a few years ago was still there, but it was in a weak state. Rohan could even feel the flow of mana entering through it while passing through obstacles.

It was somewhat reminding Rohan of the mana combustion he had gone through against the wizard back then. The difference was that Deidros couldn't reverse his situation, and it was now far too late to try.

No one talked at all during the day. The nomads were all gloomy as they gathered the bodies of their families. Under such heat, the smell was simply atrocious, but no one fled from reality, and they bore with it.

Darias was checking the bodies, searching for someone with anger swelling inside his chest. He wouldn't be able to rest until he saw this man, but he couldn't find it.

Even at the end of the day, when virtually all corpses were gathered in a large area, this man couldn't be found. His family members were all dead, and such a knot was painful to watch. The clan chief could only assume the worst outcome. Among the 26 lost persons, who had probably fled in the desert in a random direction, there was a man with a scar on his face.

He could only expect from the Barren Lands to kill this man, as he had no way to search through the huge lands. He swore in his mind. He should have directly killed this bastard when he had the chance to do so.

Unable to vent his anger and kill this ex-member of his clan, Dairas forcefully put away Guros from his mind. The situation was now dire. It was his duty to protect his clan members, but also to talk to this warrior.

He knew what he had seen. Rohan wasn't a rank 3 Beginner Warrior, he was too strong for that. At least, far stronger than him. But most importantly, this young man was also a rank 1 Beginner Wizard.. Although he had never seen one personally, it was the sole explanation for the strange power he had made appear.