Chapter 10: Battle Cries and Butterflies
POV: Adam/Pavel
The attack came at dawn, when the supply convoy was strung out along the forest road like beads on a thread. Adam was riding in the third wagon, still technically under medical observation but deemed well enough to assist with the supply run to a forward outpost.
The first crossbow bolt punched through the canvas cover six inches from his head.
"Bandits!" someone screamed, and the world exploded into chaos.
Adam rolled out of the wagon just as a second bolt shattered the wooden frame where he'd been sitting. Around him, soldiers scrambled for weapons while drivers tried to control panicking horses.
"This isn't supposed to happen. This is a random encounter that wasn't in the show."
But random or not, the bandits were very real and very committed to separating the convoy from its cargo. They poured out of the trees with the desperate efficiency of hungry men, armed with a mixture of weapons that suggested they'd been raiding for quite some time.
"Form defensive positions!" Sergeant Yure bellowed, his voice cutting through the chaos. "Protect the wagons!"
Adam fumbled for the sword he'd been issued—a simple infantry blade that felt alien in his hands. Pavel's training was there, muscle memory waiting to be accessed, but the fear was all his own.
A bandit charged toward him, wielding a rusty axe with murderous intent. Time seemed to slow as Adam watched the weapon rise, sunlight glinting off its chipped edge.
"I'm going to die. I'm actually going to die in a random bandit attack."
But as the axe began its descent, something primal and desperate erupted from Adam's throat.
"ECLAIRS BRING JUSTICE!"
The battle cry was so completely unexpected that the bandit actually paused mid-swing, confusion replacing bloodlust on his scarred face.
"CROISSANTS OF DOOM!"
Adam swung his sword in a wild arc that had nothing to do with proper technique and everything to do with absolute panic. The blade caught the bandit across the ribs, sending him stumbling backward.
"What the hell did he just say?" Mikhael called out from somewhere to Adam's left.
"PASTRIES OF RIGHTEOUS FURY!"
This time, Adam's swing was more controlled, driven by Pavel's training and the adrenaline flooding his system. The bandit tried to block, but Adam's unexpected ferocity caught him off guard.
[COMBAT ENGAGED]
[ADRENALINE SURGE DETECTED]
[TEMPORARY STAT BOOST: +2 ALL PHYSICAL STATS]
[EMOTIONAL INTENSITY: TERROR x2.1]
[EXP MULTIPLIER ACTIVE]
The notification flashed across Adam's vision just as he noticed something else—a Grisha among the bandits. The man wore a torn blue kefta and was gesturing toward the convoy's defenders with the particular focus of someone using the Small Science.
Wind began to swirl around the soldiers, but as it reached Adam's position, the carefully controlled currents dissolved into random gusts.
"My [Nullify] field. It's disrupting whatever he's trying to do."
The bandit Grisha looked confused, then angry. He intensified his efforts, but every burst of wind power that entered Adam's range simply scattered harmlessly.
"MAGNIFICENT MUFFINS OF VENGEANCE!"
Adam pressed his attack, emboldened by the knowledge that at least one enemy had been neutralized. His sword work was still clumsy, but it was improving with each exchange.
The battle raged around them—a confused melee of soldiers, bandits, horses, and overturned wagons. But Adam found himself in a pocket of relative calm, his [Nullify] field creating a dead zone where the enemy Grisha's powers simply failed to function.
"Fall back!" one of the bandits shouted. "The Squaller's powers aren't working!"
"DONUTS OF DIVINE RETRIBUTION!"
Adam advanced, his ridiculous battle cries seeming to unnerve the remaining attackers as much as his sword. Behind him, he could hear other soldiers rallying to his position, using the null zone as a staging area for their own counterattack.
The bandit leader—a scarred woman with the lean build of someone who lived by violence—assessed the changing tactical situation and made the smart choice.
"Retreat! Leave the wagons!"
The surviving bandits melted back into the forest as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving behind their dead and wounded along with several stolen artifacts that had clearly been looted from previous attacks.
Adam stood in the sudden silence, his sword dripping with blood and his throat raw from shouting about pastries. Around him, soldiers were checking for injuries and securing the battlefield.
"Pavel!" Sergeant Yure approached with an expression of bemused respect. "That was... unique."
"Dancing bears love moonlight," Adam panted, still coming down from his adrenaline high.
"Right. Well, whatever you did, it worked. That Squaller couldn't touch you, and the others broke when they saw their magic failing."
[COMBAT VICTORY]
[PARTICIPATION BONUS: +150 EXP]
[TACTICAL ADVANTAGE BONUS: +100 EXP]
[ENEMY GRISHA NULLIFIED: +50 EXP]
[TOTAL COMBAT EXP: +300]
[CURRENT EXP: 607/100]
[MULTIPLE LEVEL UPS AVAILABLE]
[SKILL DISCOVERY: [NULLIFY] COMBAT APPLICATIONS]
[NEW SKILL AVAILABLE: [ADRENALINE SURGE]]
But before Adam could process the system notifications, something strange happened. The victory message that appeared wasn't in the usual stark text. Instead, it flickered with elaborate script that looked distinctly archaic:
[Тhe void-touched grows stronger. Ancient paths awaken.]
The text was in what looked like Old Ravkan, but somehow Adam could read it perfectly. And the message itself suggested that his system had just accessed knowledge or protocols that were much older than anything else he'd seen.
"Ancient paths. What does that mean?"
"Kozlov!" Sergeant Yure's voice cut through his confusion. "Good work out there. I'm recommending you for recognition."
"Magnificent cheese sculptures are plotting world domination!"
"Right. Well, whatever you're plotting, keep it up. The way you handled that Squaller was textbook anti-Grisha tactics."
"Anti-Grisha tactics. He thinks I did it on purpose."
As the convoy reorganized and continued toward its destination, Adam found himself riding with the other soldiers who'd distinguished themselves in the fight. Their casual acceptance of his "tactics" was both gratifying and terrifying.
He'd just proven that his abilities could be weaponized in combat. That he could neutralize enemy Grisha while supporting friendly forces.
The question was whether that made him more valuable to his superiors, or more dangerous.
[COMBAT PERFORMANCE RECOGNIZED]
[REPUTATION GAIN: ANTI-GRISHA SPECIALIST]
[WARNING: INCREASED SCRUTINY LIKELY]
[RECOMMENDATION: PREPARE FOR ADVANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES]
As the wagons rolled toward their destination, Adam stared at the ancient text still flickering in his peripheral vision. The system was evolving, accessing deeper protocols, connecting to something much older than a simple game interface.
And somewhere in the forest behind them, word was spreading about the soldier who could make Grisha magic simply stop working.
The countdown to the Fold crossing continued, but Adam was no longer just a passive observer of events.
He was becoming a factor that both sides would have to account for.
POV: Alina Starkov
Alina was organizing supply manifests when the wounded convoy limped into camp, and she knew immediately that something significant had happened. The soldiers carried themselves differently—not with the defeated slouch of a failed mission, but with the tight-wound energy of people who'd survived something unexpected.
"Pavel's back," Mal said, appearing beside her with that tracker's awareness of everything happening in camp. "Heard there was trouble on the road."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Bandit attack. But apparently Pavel distinguished himself in the fighting."
Alina looked up sharply. "Pavel? Fighting?"
"Word is he neutralized an enemy Squaller somehow. Sergeant Yure's calling it textbook anti-Grisha tactics."
"Anti-Grisha tactics. Pavel, who can barely form a coherent sentence, successfully countered a trained Squaller in combat."
Alina set down her papers and made her way toward the medical tent, where the wounded were being treated. She found Pavel sitting on a supply crate, looking slightly dazed but uninjured.
"Are you alright?" she asked, settling beside him.
"Rainbow fish are learning to tap dance!"
"I'm glad you're safe." She studied his face, noting the way his eyes seemed more alert than usual, as if the combat had sharpened something in him. "I heard you fought well."
Pavel nodded, then made a gesture toward the forest—the direction the attack had come from.
"He's trying to tell me something about the attack. Something beyond what everyone else saw."
"Was there something unusual about it? Something the others missed?"
Pavel's expression grew serious. He pointed to himself, then made a pushing motion with his hands.
"You pushed something away. Grisha powers."
The realization hit her like a physical blow. Pavel hadn't just gotten lucky in combat—he'd deliberately used whatever strange ability he possessed to neutralize the enemy Squaller.
"You did it on purpose," she whispered. "You knew you could stop their magic."
Pavel nodded, and for the first time since she'd known him, his expression was completely clear and unguarded. No confusion, no vacant stare—just perfect, intelligent understanding.
"He's been acting this whole time. The head injury, the confusion—it's all been an act."
"Who are you?" she asked quietly.
"Dancing bears love moonlight," Pavel replied, but his tone was almost apologetic.
"He can't tell me. Whatever's wrong with his speech, it's not something he can just overcome."
Alina looked around to make sure they weren't being overheard, then leaned closer. "Pavel, tomorrow the crossing orders are going to come. I can feel it. And I think... I think something is going to happen to me when we cross the Fold."
Pavel's eyes widened with what looked like recognition—and fear.
"You know, don't you? You know what's going to happen."
He nodded slowly, his expression heavy with knowledge he couldn't share.
"Will I survive it?"
Another nod, but this one was accompanied by a gesture toward light—his hands moving upward, fingers spread like rays of sun.
"Light. He's telling me something about light."
"Thank you," she said finally. "For whatever you're doing, whatever you're trying to protect me from... thank you."
As she walked away, Alina couldn't shake the feeling that she'd just had the most important conversation of her life with someone who couldn't speak a word of it aloud.
Tomorrow would bring answers, she was certain.
She just hoped she would be strong enough to handle the truth.
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