A Testament Of The Dark Magician

"Achoo!" 

"For crying out loud, keep it down, ya idiot ." 

"It wasn't my fault; it's those ash flower petals. They won't stay out of my nostrils." 

"Can you both shut your mouths? We're in the heart of their den." 

Aeomon raised his fists to halt their convoy. His shifty dark eyes moved from left to right, scanning the crowded forest with his usual suspicious look. Judging by the weary looks on the faces of the other company, they were probably very close to their target. 

Roland, on the other hand, was feeling quite good. This outing was far from the usual look of the previous days, and it gave him a chance to soak beneath the rich air and large warm sun.

On the other end of his enjoyment scale, Roland had begun testing a theory. He wanted to know just how wide Omega's sensory net was. The AI chip could send invisible waves through his body to sense a heartbeat, but Roland wanted to see how far that reach went. 

After an hour or so of countless attempts, he finally arrived at a median. 

40 meters

"At the ready, men! We've spotted one of them!" heralded a booming voice, steering everyone's attention towards him. Roland already caught wind of something ahead. He narrowed his gaze, peering between two slender trees nearby. The short shrubbery shuffled as blazing red fur moved between the shadows. Roland's eyes shot wide. He twisted towards Aeomon, but the knight had already moved before his mouth could move. 

Aeomon unsheathed the iron sword glued to his hip and pointed it ahead. 

"There, attack" 

The men on foot moved first. They raced forward with spears and swords in hand. A red blur sprung out from the shadows. Roland double-blinked upon seeing the hulking-sized creature squaring up to them.

True to its name. A four-hoofed boar with blazing red fur, two ivory tusks and a wagging tail with a tiny ember appeared. It was certainly bigger than a normal boar, but of course, Roland had never seen any kind of pig with spitting fire on the ends of its tail. Heck, there wasn't any animal breathing back in his old world that could do that. 

The surrounding knights didn't share the same sentiments. A single blink later, four guardsmen rushed forward with two spears aimed directly at the head of the Boar. The two swords flanked the creature. The Boar opened its large mouth, and an ear-splintering roar erupted forth. The charging knights found themselves rushing against an immovable force suddenly. 

The red-furred Boar moved. With its long ivory horns, it dove towards the nearest knight. The knight with the spear secured its footing before dashing backwards. Roland frowned. For some reason, he could tell the Boar was quicker. 

The Boar seemed to gain a second wind in the middle of the air and kicked forward at an alarming speed. Its ivory horn bore straight for the knight's stomach. Just then, a flash of white surged forward. Right before the ivory tusks found its mark, a tall iron shield appeared in its way.

The Boar slammed right into the immovable iron. 

*DING* 

The creature remained boisterously charged, merely skidding back a few paces. It snorted tuffs of air out of frustration, then snapped its eyes to the side. A few of the knights had already moved upon it. Iron swiftly moved and slashed the robust skin. The Boar cried out in pain before it bucked up and sent its dangerous hind hoofs against the knights. The knight crouched and held its sword flat. The iron hoof met the base of the iron sword, and Roland heard the sound of a shotgun. 

Knocking the knight off his feet. 

But then a spear shot forward like a python and punctured the Boar right through its fat. 

The Boar didn't slow down and only grew more violent, charging and roaring at the onslaught of iron assaulting its stern body from all angles. 

Roland watched all this happen with a broad and curious stare. By now, the crunchy forest bed was covered in splashes of red. Roland scanned the company of knights, none of which had sustained any serious injuries. But the same couldn't be said for the red-furred Boar. Blood poured out of countless wounds, and it noticeably started breathing heavier. 

A few more quick and timed attacks struck it, and very soon, the red-furred Boar stumbled on its hoofs before toppling over to one side, never to rise again. 

Roland felt his chest heaving up and down quickly. 

Euphoria, fear, excitement...eagerness? 

A flurry of emotions welled up in his chest. 

Roland was more impressed with how quick and brutal the knights' attacks were. His only worry was how long it took the 8 knights to overwhelm the red Boar. 

'It's matured or either at a higher level.' 

While in deep thought, Roland reflected on his previous idea.

'Omega, how long would it take you to gather and create an index filled with information about the different creatures within this world?' 

{Due to the host's lack of experience, a full index covering every creature within this world would not be possible at this time. But if the host gives Omega enough time. Omega can produce a list which speaks for the regional creatures} 

Roland was expecting that response; he had already understood somewhat how this system operated regarding information giving. 

Omega was a complex system that needed its own help to acquire the data for its index. 

Somehow, what Roland saw during his day-to-day life would help feed information back to his AI system and help it with index building. That, along with Omega's overall experience, played a huge part. Omega was practically less than a year old at this point, and its overall makeup presumably behaved the same way as a newborn (to an extent) 

So, Roland was left to train the system by continuing to feed it tasks and questions. Over time, natural evolution would occur, which was how he understood Omega's evolution. Roland would delve deeper into these matters later. 

A cool wind swept past him, and suddenly, Roland picked up some disturbance within the bushes. His eyes grew vigilant, and his suspicious gaze slowly made out the robust creatures slowly entering the fray. 

He heard their groans and grunts before he saw them all. 

Six identical-looking red-furred boars slowly unearthed away from the crowded bushes, one large hoof at a time. Roland watched the six beasts align themselves into formation. Puffs of hot air escaped from their nostrils, their eyes were glazed with anger, and it wasn't difficult to feel their intent was to kill. 

Roland felt a little worried seeing them; after all, it had taken 7 of the dozen knights to bring the first red-furred Boar down. He turned expectantly towards the leading knight in charge again. Aeomon poised himself sturdily as a statue; he exhaled a deep breath, which seemed to ignite a sudden change in the atmosphere. 

Roland watched all of this unfold, and his youthful gaze began to widen slowly. A faint blueish-smoky substance appeared over the knight's sword. Aeomon hopped down from his horse and charged forward. Two of the red-furred boars stood imposingly in his way, ready to ram right through him. Roland saw visions of the tall knight being turned into meat paste and felt his heartbeat quicken with each step Aeomon took towards the danger. 

The first Boar lowered its large helm before tossing its sharp tusk forward. Aeomon was seconds away from being gored when suddenly he vanished. He appeared falling from above with his sword angled overhead. 

Before the Boar caught on to what was happening, Aeomon struck down. Hard. And cleaved anything in its way.

*SLASHH* 

A loud tremor ripped across the forest. Roland clutched desperately for the reins, feeling his horse stumbling beneath him. Once the brief quake had simmered away, he moved his eager gaze towards his front again. A short gasp escaped his lips, and a wild smile creased against it. 

The dust settled, and Aeomon the knight stood over the fallen creature with wet blood sliding off the stainless iron. The beast itself had been severed in half from its head down to its tail. 

One hit, one kill. The rest of the red-furred boars saw this and immediately began retreating slowly. Aeomon raised his iron sword again. 

"Finish them!" 

After Aeomon's involvement, the rest of the Red Boars were dealt with rather quickly. 

Roland never turned his eyes away from the skirmish, not for a single second. He kept feeding information back to Omega, who was also helpful with translating some of the strange things he saw during this one-sided fight. 

"So Aeomon's body constitution is likely at the Early Bronze body rank. That power he was using is the clear difference between lower and higher tier ranks." 

Omega sensed the level of Ki the knight melded through his sword before that final attack. Roland was beginning to better understand how Ki worked and the importance of having a strong bodily constitution. 

His iron body also displayed subtle signs of adapting to his new strength. Before his advancement, these ghostly auras and colours were almost non-existent to him. And with time, Roland concluded his body would undergo more changes.

The company was busy tending to the Red boat carcasses, binding them with thick ropes before hoisting slabs of meat onto their horses and cargo. The whole thing was messily bloody and smelly, too. 

Roland remained on top of his beige stead during all of this. His biggest take from today was his admiration for how these men fought. You only needed to watch them for a few minutes to understand who was the strongest, and they fought that way to reflect that. Everyone knew their role and attacked with efficiency. 

'Compared to my old world, where strategy was paramount in defeating your foes. The concept here isn't that far different. There's a chance someone with overwhelming strength can change the tide of a battle instantly. There'll always be a level of confidence in that.' 

Sounds of hearty laughter and chatter rang across the air. Roland enjoyed this atmosphere. It reminded him of the days he spent in the army during his teenage years. 

Aeomon approached him on foot. He looked him up and down before giving him a slight nod of approval. He handed him a satchel filled with what Roland presumed was water. 

Roland awkwardly laughed at that. He wasn't sure he had done anything to warrant a drink break, but he was grateful nonetheless. After he uncorked the lid, he poured the warm liquid down his throat. The warm liquid splashed against his tongue. Roland drank from it greedily. Maybe he was thirsty. But then his eyes shot open, bulging wide as an unexpected bitter agent burned his chest. 

"Blergh! Cough-cough…is that…gyak -alcohol?" 

Now that he had considered it, he looked at the satchel questionably. This odour was familiar. He noticed the faintest of smiles creep against Aeomon's chiselled expression. 

Time passed, and the company returned along the winding road towards the Patriarch's manor. All in all, Roland was glad he ventured out today. Seeing the knight Aeomon fighting up close was inspiring. 

'And it gave Omega more information.' 

Roland remembered that awkward dinner the other day. Without omegas to help detect that poison, there was no telling what his fate would've been. 

'I'm going to need to get stronger fast. I have a bad feeling that failed attempt was not the last.' 

The moment those thoughts surfaced, Roland heard that familiar sound coming through his mind. 

{Warning! High levels of radiation detected! Warning! The host is in great danger! High levels of radiation detected! Warning! Take cover!} 

Roland's eyes flashed open. He swiftly quelled the panic in his heart and steered into a more rational thinker.

'Omega, where's the attack coming from?'

{Above! warning! Take cover!} 

He twisted desperately towards Aeomon riding beside him. 

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" he desperately screamed. 

Roland obeyed the system's order and released the reins. He tossed himself away from his horse without a further thought. A series of loud whistles echoed from the skies. Four furious falling lights descended towards the company, and a series of loud booms quaked in unison.

The sounds of high-pitched screams from beast and man, muddled with the sound of flesh being pulverised. 

Roland's body slammed harshly against the ground, and the blast carried him further than he might've expected.

Darkness encroached on his vision from all corners. The bitter, stale taste of lead filled his mouth. The final thing he remembered was Omega's mechanical voice, whirring warnings until he faded away.