Mercenary System: I can increase innate potential !

Chapter 108 Back to the academy

If Viviana hadn't intervened, all his elite men would have died and he himself would have lost 3 years of his life.

The thought disturbed Maxime to the core, already thinking of the many men he had lost at Plouta.

Would his future consist of earning a lot of gold at the cost of his men's lives, or even his own?

But he was determined to shoulder the weight of this responsibility.

It was in this kind of internal conflict that Maxime kept his thoughts to himself as the rest of the journey passed calmly.

Maxime and his men finally arrived at the academy, the weight of the ordeal behind them mingling with overwhelming fatigue.

After several hours of walking, punctuated by the creaking of the cart and the heavy footsteps of his mercenaries, the familiar walls of the academy appeared in the distance, imposing and reassuring.

Reaching the academy's great stone gate, Maxime signaled to his men to slow down.

Two guards met them for a routine inspection, though they immediately recognized Maxime and his men.

And seeing their deplorable state, they wondered what they had been through.

2 days earlier, they seemed to be full of powerful men with a leader of unfathomable power.

And now, here they were again, their faces dirty and exhausted.

Their clothes and armor were completely torn.

As they approached, they were even more astonished to see that in the cart were many mercenaries but also many familiar faces.

"Shit, Alden, Tomas, Theo, Lila and Caleb are all unconscious!"

"What kind of adventure could they have been on to end up in such a state?"

Maxime began to frown at the guards' lack of reaction.

"We've got wounded people here, please open the door as quickly as possible so we can give them treatment!"

Maxime's cold, dry voice surprised the two young guards.

Had this been the leader of a simple mercenary group, the two young guards would have scoffed at such threats.

They were themselves apprentice knights at the stage of minor success.

But faced with Maxime, they obeyed immediately, without the slightest thought of refusing.

The two guards quickly returned to the door and immediately ordered it opened.

The door opened slowly, with a thud.

As Maximus, his men and the cart passed through the door, they looked very small by comparison.

Slowly, they entered the academy grounds.

As they moved through the courtyard, students stopped training, some rushing to offer assistance to the wounded.

Once inside, he gave clear instructions for the wounded to be taken to the infirmary.

"Charles, watch over them until the academy healers take over. We can't lose sight of any of these men."

Charles nodded, grateful for Maxime's trust, and guided the cart to the treatment rooms.

The other mercenaries went to help Charles, or began chatting with the apprentice knights they'd gotten to know the day before.

Maxime, for his part, headed for the dormitories, accompanied by Laura who walked silently beside him.

"You've been a good leader, Maxime," she said suddenly.

"Without you, we wouldn't have come back."

Maxime turned his head towards her, a little surprised by her words.

Simultaneously, a familiar face arrived to meet them.

Alaric, the Academy's chief instructor, gave them an empathetic look.

"You seem to have returned in one piece. The Count has informed me of your success."

"So the Count has already returned?"

"Yes, much sooner than you, so it's about time you thought about investing in horses."

"You're wasting a lot of time on the road, and time is money."

Maxime nodded, agreeing with Alaric despite the fact that his head wasn't really in it at the moment.

Alaric lowered his voice slightly, his tone becoming more serious.

"The Count also told me about the peculiarity of your mission."

Maxime nodded. He wasn't surprised that the Count had slipped Alaric some information.

"The mission was more complex than expected, but we fulfilled our part of the contract," Maxime replied, folding his arms.

"The orcs are eliminated, and the villagers are safe."

Alaric squinted, a gleam of respect mixed with curiosity in his eyes.

From what the Count had said, the young man before him had killed more orcs in a few hours than he himself had in 3 years.

Even though he hadn't been out on the battlefield much since he'd been in charge of apprentice knight training, the few times he'd been out so as not to rust, his performance had been exceptional.

He really wondered what kind of card this young man was hiding to obtain such performances, but the Count had reserved a mission for him that had nothing to do with that.

"Follow me, the Count has reserved accommodation for you in the quarters reserved for special guests. You will also be granted a private audience with him tomorrow morning."

Maxime was rather curious, given that their treatment had gone from sleeping in the sixth-grade dormitory to sleeping in guest quarters.

Strength determined status, and nothing was truer than that phrase.

They followed him through the Academy's corridors, once again admiring the simple yet robust luxury that characterized the premises.

The stone walls were strewn with gleaming armor, shields engraved with ancient insignia, and paintings depicting epic battles.

Several cadets in formation turned to observe the mercenaries, muttering to each other about what they might have faced.

Once they reached the apartments, Alaric stopped in front of Maxime, staring at him with calculated intensity.

"The Count seems to think you have... special potential, Maxime. What exactly has happened?"

"It would seem that this knight is the curious, calculating type," Maxime thought silently.

But since the Count hadn't told him everything, Maxime had no reason to reveal his cards.

No one could know whether today's friend could become tomorrow's enemy.

"We encountered more orc than expected, but we held our swords firmly and held our positions until the Count and his riders arrived."

Obviously, Maxime couldn't simply refuse to give the minimum of information.

Not to mention the fact that this information was of little value, it was preferable to maintain good relations with Alaric for the duration of their stay.

Alaric smirked.

"I'm glad the Count was able to get here in time before anything bad happened."

"I'll leave you here, feel free to rest well."

With that, Alaric took his leave, leaving Maxime and Laura to discover their new quarters.

Seeing that he and Laura were the only ones left, Maxime let himself fall against the stone wall behind him, sliding slowly until his buttocks touched the ground.

He was tired, too tired.

Too much had happened in too short a time, and his heart could hardly take it, despite all he could say and think.

The brain has its limits, where the heart begins to reveal itself.

Instinctively, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the divine power stone Edrick had entrusted to him.

The jewel radiated a gentle warmth, calm and reassuring, but its bright, rippling glow seemed to remind him of the extent of all he'd just been through.

Gradually, however, his hands tightened around the stone of divine power, and he stared at it with an empty, frozen, almost desperate gaze.

The glow of the stone seemed to beat in unison with the frenetic pulsations of his heart, each shard a reminder of an injury, a near-death experience, the absolute chaos that had marked the last few days.

Suddenly, an icy wave washed over him, a black tide of pure terror.

His chest tightened, painfully, as if caught in an iron vise.

He tried to breathe, but his throat was closing up, each inhalation turning into a muffled rattle.

The air seemed to have suddenly disappeared as he began to suffocate.

He brought his hand to his chest, fingers trembling, nails digging into the fabric of his torn armor, desperately searching for something to hold onto.

But at the same time, the ground beneath him seemed to disappear, as if he were falling, interminably.

His vision blurred and black dots danced before his eyes.

The cries of his men, Nox's frightening voice, the endless army of orcs before him.

He was alone.

Everything blended together in an unbearable maelstrom.

His mind was racing with panic.

"They're going to die, they're going to die... and it'll be my fault."

He was literally going mad.

He dropped the stone, which fell to the ground with a dull clink, and his hands closed around his head, pressing against his temples in a frenzied gesture, as if to chase away the storm of thoughts pounding at his skull.

Laura, still close by, rushed towards him, her eyes filled with fear and concern at seeing Maxime in such a state.

She put her hands on his shoulders, but he didn't react.

She shook him slightly, calling his name repeatedly, her voice laced with panic, but Maxime was too far away, as if engulfed in an abyss from which he could no longer extricate himself.

"Maxime!"

"Maxime!"

"Maxime, come back! Breathe!"

She tried to catch his gaze, but her eyes were lost, fixed on something invisible, deep in the darkness of her mind.