The journey to the Lycan settlement was thankfully uneventful, as the Lycan settlement was still within the area protected by the gods, we never had to step out of it. We timed our march to allow us some time to rest and prepare for battle before reaching the settlement, so it took just over a day to get to our destination.

We sent a scout mage ahead to survey the area while we made camp, and with the information brought back by the mage, we added final details to our plans.

“How many enemy combatants did you count?” Vestergaard asked the mage.

We were sitting around a fire we lit to keep warm, there were me, Aurel, Vestergaard, Minerva, and Vestergaard’s second in command. The others were instructed to rest up after checking their weapons to make sure they were in optimal condition for the upcoming battle.

“I counted about 50 Lycans,” the mage answered.

That’s a lot less than I counted the time Aurel and I were here I thought to myself. I looked to Aurel to see what he thought of this, but he didn’t react at all. Perhaps he didn’t find the situation as strange as I did.

“We have 50 warriors and 15 mages on our side, so the numerical advantage I was worried about is no longer an issue, still, we need to be careful, that number is less than I counted the time I was here, to prevent us being blindsided we need to plan for the Lycans getting reinforcements as we battle,” I said, still feeling uneasy about the number of Lycans being reported back.

“As we discussed before we left, I and a few mages will cast presence canceling magic to get us as close to the Lycans as possible without them noticing us, that way we can sneak up on them and start a surprise attack. The other mages will cast buffing magic, but as you know the effect doesn’t last too long, so you warriors must strike while the iron is still hot,” Minerva said.

“As we discussed, we’ll be splitting into five units of ten men and attacking the Lycan settlement from various angles; we should discuss the assignment of men now,” Aurel said.

“My unit has 30 men, ideally I would want them separated into 3 units, but your unit has no men that use enchanted weapons, so how about mixing them?” I asked Vestergaard. He looked to his second in command who nodded his head in agreement before looking back at me and nodding.

We assigned men to all five units, four of the five units would attack the Lycan settlement from all four cardinal points simultaneously, while the fifth unit would stay behind to protect the mages who would be assisting the other four with magic. Me, Aurel, Vestergaard, and his second in command were to command the four attacking units and Minerva had command of the fifth unit. Each unit was composed of three archers, two close to medium range fighters to protect the archers while in battle, and five close-range fighters. With the final details of our plan settled we all went to sleep, the other warriors shared the night watch duty amongst themselves.

The Lycan settlement was just as I remembered, the putrid stench in the air that made my nose hurt, the fog that blocked out the sun, making the whole place grey and gloomy, the rotten bodies of various races hung on spikes surrounding the fencing of the settlement that disturbed one’s heart. It hadn’t changed at all, and why would it, it hadn’t been too long ago that I was here, and the Lycans being a race of individuals that had a long lifespan was one that was very resistant to change.

The unit I commanded was to attack from the east, while Aurel’s unit was attacking from the west—which was the front—Vestergaard and his second in command were to attack from the north and south. My unit was already in position, we were simply waiting for the signal from Minerva whose unit was hiding in the mountains to the northwest. She had cast [mind link], a more advanced version of [mind talk] before we started our advancement, [mind link] was magic that tied the minds of multiple targets together, allowing all the linked parties to communicate with one another, unlike [mind talk] that only linked two minds together.

“Western unit is in place,” Aurel had said earlier, then came Vestergaard's and his second in command’s words to let us know they had also arrived at their target destination. As my unit had the most ground to cover, we arrived at our target destination last.

“Eastern unit in place,” I said, letting the others know my unit had also arrived.

“OK, everyone is in place now, there is no noticeable movement amongst the Lycans, so they haven’t noticed us. Are your final preparations done?” Minerva asked.

“Yes,” we all answered at once.

“Buffing magic will be cast now, once that is done the attack will commence,” Minerva said, her voice maintaining a calmness that inspired confidence in me, though I myself was surprisingly calm.

Within moments of her speaking, I felt the disturbance in the ambient mana around, and not too long after I felt the effects of buffing magic. Some of the recruits in my unit were feeling the effect of buffing magic for the first time, and they had an incredulous look on their faces that soon was replaced with excitement.

It’s good that they are excited, but I hope they don’t do anything rash I thought to myself looking at their faces. Of course, the veterans being no strangers to fighting the Lycans weren’t as excited, they maintained a stoic face as they prepared themselves for the battle that would commence soon.

“The magic has been cast, begin the attack,” Minerva said, her voice possessing a sternness I was hearing for the first time.

I gave the signal to attack my unit as we breached the fence in front of us. Our first victims were two Lycans loitering about the place, they were seated in front of what seemed to be their sleeping hut, completely enthralled with eating the raw meat on a plate in the table in front of them. The archers fired arrows at them, aiming for the most vulnerable part—their eyes. Normally in battle, this was a feat many couldn’t achieve, with most of the arrows fired by archers bouncing off the skin of these monsters, but the magic to hide our presence was still in effect, so they could take their time to aim at the Lycans who hadn’t noticed us.

The arrows pierced their eyes, causing the Lycans to unleash a blood-curdling scream of pain, almost simultaneously other screams were heard all over the settlement. I was the first in my unit to get to the injured Lycans who had begun to transform, with my enchanted sword in hand, and my increased strength, I was able to take their heads clean off with two swings.

Conscious of the difference in speed between me and the members of my unit, I waited for them to catch up.

“The magic hiding our presence has come undone, so, be very vigilant. Stick to our formation,” I said to my unit, as we began to advance.

Four transformed Lycans charged at us at speed, I was fast enough even without the buffing magic, but with the buffing magic, they looked a little slow. Unfortunately, they were still mighty fast for members of my unit, but thankfully the veterans knew how to handle them, though the new recruits were caught unaware they escaped unscathed.

I was able to occupy two Lycans, while the other two were surrounded by the other members of my unit, and the hit and run tactic was used, though it was hard, they had little success. The new recruits with their enchanted weapons were able to do some damage, but the archers were just a nuisance to the Lycans, though they were still useful as distractions. The veterans who didn’t have enchanted weapons knew from their years of experience to target the tendons of the Lycans, so every time they attacked they aimed for the joints. Even though they weren’t doing as much damage, their actions served as an example the new recruits could emulate, and emulate they did.

My fight with the two Lycans wasn’t an easy one, but it was still easier than it should’ve been. After exchanging a few blows, the only reason my opponents were still standing was due to their quick healing, a fact that caused me to curse under my breath. I needed to finish them as quickly as possible and I resolved myself to do that, so, for the next few exchanges I focused my efforts on decapitating one.

I dodged their attacks, bidding my time while controlling my mana to boost my strength, putting even more strain on my muscles. Squeezing the hilt of my sword, I swung as fast and as hard as I could at the Lycan in front of me. He tried to block my swing by putting up his hands to stop my swing, but my sword sliced right through, taking his hands and his head clean off.

The other Lycan turned tail and tried to escape, unfortunately for him I could keep up, I took off one of his legs before taking off his head. I took in my surroundings after defeating my opponents; there were howls of pain everywhere from both the Lycans and my people, the offensive magic flying around made the ambient mana present chaotic, causing the atmosphere to become hot. Looking back, the members of my unit had successfully defeated one of the Lycans that attacked them and were concentrating their efforts on defeating the second, there were two injured members that had been sidelined, thankfully none had any serious injuries.

Joining back up with them we made quick work of the last standing Lycan, with my sword slicing clean through his torso and bisecting him.

“Status report,” I said using the link between me and the commanders of the other units.

“As we suspected, most of them flocked towards the west, we are barely holding our own with the assistance of the mages,” Aurel reported.

“We had a run-in with three Lycans, we managed to subdue them, but I have one injured,” Vestergaard reported.

“We are still in battle, we had four Lycans attack us, but we’ve managed to subdue two, although five of my men have suffered serious injuries,” his second in command reported.

“The injured should withdraw back to the designated healing spot, the rest of you follow me, we’re joining the unit to the north,” I said to my men. “Minerva, I’m sending two of my men your way.”

I would’ve healed the injured myself, but as I learned during the hunting trip when I’d secretly tried to heal my injured party member, I couldn’t cast healing magic on another. It was the oddest thing, I knew the principles of the magic, but perhaps because I had no contract with a god, I couldn’t affect another with my magic directly. I could heal myself, strengthen myself with mana and cast simple runic magic, but my magic couldn’t directly affect another, something all mages could do.

The fight against the Lycans had only just begun, but we were off to a good start. I worried for Aurel’s unit that was taking on most of the Lycans, but the mages were also mostly focused on assisting his unit, so I hoped he could hold on for a while longer; I needed to rescue the unit to the north as they seemed to be having the most difficult battle.

“Vestergaard, you join up with the unit in the west, I will head north to finish off the Lycans there and meet up,” I said, setting off, my heart beating fast with excitement.