Skirmishes in the South 2

Mago and his brigade were on the move. They were a couple of miles away from the river moving stealthily trying to cover any tracks they might leave, which was difficult considering that there were three thousand men in total.

The plan that Mago had come up with his officers was simple. The first regiment, which was led by lieutenant Claude and consisted of 1000 troops, would block the river. Under them would be the first and second mage companies led by Ragan. They would chop down trees and throw in some stones, and the mages would help them in building up a barricade that would block the flow and force it to divert into the direction they would dig out. Meanwhile, the second and third regiments lead by lieutenant Azeth would set up an ambush further down the river in anticipation of the tribesmen that would come to see what was making the river branches dry up. With them would be the third and fourth mage company of the brigade, led by Bismark, who had recently broken through to the rank of Archmage.

Mages were ranked based on the size of their mana. A regular Mage had a mana well which would grow into a mana pool when they reached the rank of High Mage. When ranking up to an Archmage would the mana pool evolve into a mana pond, and upon reaching the rank of a Sage would it evolve to a mana lake. Finally, at the Saint rank, it would grow into a mana sea.

The mages under Mago's command didn't fit the regular idea of mages being just long-range combatants and healers. Although the training he had the mages go through was still in its infant stages, he had decided to implement his idea straight away. Their tasks were assigned based on their affinities. The water and earth mages were in charge of defense and the water mages were also responsible for healing and this didn't change their role by much, they just had to give up attacking. The few light mages that were under Mago's command were also responsible for healing, which they were used to. Fire mages handled long-distance attacks, so their role didn't change at all. But the role of wind mages changed entirely.

Usually, they would create large-scale attacks by working together, such as whirlwinds, or attempt to divert the enemy spells from hitting their comrades. But now they would be used in close-quarter combat. The wind mages could use the wind magic to boost their speed, making them more agile and faster than most Warriors under the rank of blue core, but since mages were not really trained in close combat, they were never used in such a way. But the moment Mago took charge of his brigade had he personally trained the wind mages with the begrudging help from Bismark and Ragan, who were both proficient in close combat since their affinities were well versed for it and they had been trained since a young age by their houses.

And now were the wind mages undergoing training that focused on their utilization of their superior speed, using wind blades and air bullets to attack from a short distance, muffling any sounds their movements made, and how to divert any incoming spells or arrows with minimum effort.

Although the training hadn't been going for long, were the wind mages able to control their speed by now as well as muffle their movements. They had also mastered the basics of close combat, although pitted against Warriors, they would be at a huge disadvantage. Luckily the tribes in the jungle didn't have any Warriors, their focus was on tribal magic, and considering how they were isolated within the jungle, they had never had the chance to even learn the basics of warrior training. The magic each tribe possessed differed greatly, and instead of waiting for the natural affinities to manifest, the tribes used symbols and rites to forcibly convert the affinity to one that matched the tribe's ancestral teachings and focuses of worship.

For example, the beast tribe had the mages, or as they called them, shamans, devour hearts of different beasts and using their blood to carve symbols into their bodies that upon activation would grant them the characteristic strengths of the said beast. For example, if the blood of a bear was used and its heart digested, they would gain the bear's massive physical strength. Although inferior to high-ranking Warriors, these shamans were quite proficient in close combat and had superior speed and strength compared to regular soldiers.

Besides the Beast tribe, were there two other major tribes. The Poison tribe and the Spirit tribe. As the name suggests, the Poison tribe was well versed with poisons, and their shamans could create poisonous mist and conjure poison in other forms. This had given the Imperial army a tremendous headache on how to deal with them, since a direct assault would end in a massacre once the poisonous spells were cast upon the army.

The Spirit tribe on the other hand made contracts with different spirits, granting them part of the spirit's power. But this had a serious drawback. If the shaman attempting to make a contract tried to take in more of the spirit's power than he could handle, would the spirit completely possess his body and take control over it. Even when they formed a contract, if the shaman's mental strength would greatly decrease due to shock, trauma, or just old age, the spirit could take over the body.

The tribe closest to the part of the river that Mago and his men were going to block was the Beast tribe.

Finally, Mago would lead a company of scouts from his brigade. They would scout the movements of the different tribes and relaying the information back to the army in order to help them plan their attack. The main focus of the first offense made by the imperial army would be the Beast tribe, which was closest to them.

"Alright, is everyone clear about their tasks? I don't want any mistakes and failure will not be tolerated.", demanded Mago while looking at his men stationed around him.

"We know what to do, Captain.", replied Bismark in a surprisingly proper tone. He had mostly been grumbling and whining by himself or to other members of the brigade ever since they had entered the jungle. But the thought of him finally having something or, well, someone, to went his frustration on, made him feel excited.

"Just as the lazy bu-, I mean Archmage Bismark, said we know what to do. Don't worry, Captain.", assured Ragan.

"We know what to do.", replied Azeth and Claude in unison.

"All right. Everyone, move out. Stay alive and bring me news of success.", commanded Mago while giving the troops the signal to move out.

Led by Claude and Azeth, the regiments dashed towards their destinations. Taking a deep breath, Mago closed his eyes. He could see the worried expression of Elise and her words 'please come back safely to me' echoed in his mind.

'Don't worry dear, I won't fall here.' promised Mago in his mind.

"Follow me", Mago ordered the remaining men and dashed towards the depths of the jungle.