I Tricked a God

The wagon's wheels creaked rhythmically as they rolled along the stone road.

Ahead of them, a large black lizard plodded along at an unhurried pace, pulling the entire load with seemingly effortless ease. Its long tail swayed lazily from side to side, while its clawed feet gripped the road with confidence, leaving faint scratches across the stone.

Kael sat at the front beside Lipa, calmly watching the road ahead.

The road wound its way between gigantic trees, while the familiar violet forest stretched endlessly on both sides. Towering trunks rose high overhead, where their crowns intertwined to form a dense canopy, and colorful fireflies continually flickered among the leaves.

From time to time, they encountered other wagons traveling in the opposite direction.

And occasionally, entire columns came the other way.

Several times, Kael saw dozens of wagons stretched out along the road like a long chain. Some carried food supplies, others construction materials, while still others were covered by heavy tarps that concealed their cargo.

“Looks like the supply system here never stops... The heaviest and most valuable items are transported in spatial rings, while everything else is simply loaded onto wagons,” Kael noted to himself.

And the farther they traveled from the town, the more frequently they encountered such columns.

Turning his head slightly, Kael glanced into the wagon itself.

The four young men sitting in the back were still checking the supplies they had purchased.

One after another, they took items out of their spatial rings, checked them against their lists, marked something down on paper, and then returned the goods to storage.

“Two sacks of dried mushrooms.”

“Got it.”

“Five crates of concentrated rations.”

“Got it.”

“Fifty bottles of healing elixir base.”

“Confirmed.”

The lean young man made quick notes before immediately moving on to the next line.

Smiling, Kael glanced back at the activity inside the wagon once more and asked, “You've already gone through all the supplies once, haven't you?”

Lipa followed his gaze before answering calmly, “They're documenting everything now, so there'll be less work once we arrive.”

Kael nodded in understanding.

After watching them for a few more seconds, he asked another question.

“Does every squad handle its own procurement separately?”

Lipa thought for a few moments, clearly choosing her words.

“Not exactly...” she murmured, watching the road ahead.

She turned to Kael before continuing, “The army already supplies its forces quite well, especially on the important sections of the front. But every commander still tries to make their squad stronger, more stable, and more self-sufficient.”

Kael immediately understood what she meant.

“So there are additional sources of supply?”

Lipa nodded.

“In many squads, there's an unwritten tradition. The members voluntarily contribute part of the military merit points they've earned to their commander.”

Hearing that, Kael's interest was immediately piqued.

“And then the commander decides how to use those points?”

“Yes,” Lipa replied. “The commander purchases better equipment, additional consumables, pays for access to training zones, commissions artisans, or builds up reserves for difficult times.”

Kael raised an eyebrow slightly and murmured, “That's a rather dangerous tradition... I'm sure there are people who would exploit a system like that for their own benefit.”

Lipa merely gave a contemptuous snort.

“There are squads like that,” she admitted. “But they're all at the very bottom of the hierarchy and command no respect whatsoever.”

An expression of genuine disdain crossed the young woman's face.

“Squads that truly want to grow stronger don't do things like that. It's a disgrace.”

At those words, Kael nodded in agreement.

“The Scarlet Serpent Army is earning more and more of my respect...” Kael noted inwardly.

They rode in silence for a while, watching the road and the wagons passing by, until Kael seemed to remember something else and turned to Lipa again.

“By the way, I saw soldiers drinking in town... Is that normal?”

As though seeing nothing wrong with it, Lipa nodded and replied, “You can spend MMP to buy leave. Commanders periodically allow their soldiers to relax in frontline towns when the situation permits it, especially after difficult operations or extended periods of duty.”

She fell silent for a moment before adding calmly, “Though you don't necessarily have to leave your unit to rest. If a soldier has completed all of their duties for the day, they're free to have a drink and relax right in camp. It usually depends on the rules of the particular squad and the commander's decision.”

“MMP?” Kael repeated, tilting his head slightly.

Lipa smiled awkwardly, as though only now realizing she had used a familiar military abbreviation.

“My apologies. That's how we shorten the term 'military merit points' in the army.”

Kael let out a quiet laugh.

“I should've figured that out myself.”

Lipa smiled faintly in return before continuing, “You'll get used to it. People here like shortening everything.”

She thought for a moment before returning to their previous topic.

“Some people actually save up a lot of MMP so they can buy an extended leave and visit their families. Especially those who've been serving at the front for several years.”

Hearing that, Kael narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

“Excellent...” he thought. “So if I want to, I'll always be able to visit the others back in the Capital...”

The thought unexpectedly lifted his spirits.

Of course, making plans like that now was premature, but simply knowing the option existed was enough to please him.

Not dwelling on the idea for long, Kael immediately asked another question.

“And how much does that kind of leave cost?”

Lipa answered almost at once, as though she had worked out the numbers herself many times before.

“Quite a lot...”

She paused briefly, watching as the road ahead became steeper. It felt as though they were climbing a massive hill, though the dense forest concealed it well.

Dreamily brushing a hand through her short white hair, she continued, “Mages like me usually earn somewhere between thirty and fifty MMP a week.”

Kael listened attentively, calculating the figures in his head.

“A regular day off costs ten MMP,” Lipa added. “So most people use them rather sparingly.”

Then she turned toward him and explained more specifically, “If we're talking about a trip home, you'd need at least a month of leave once you account for the travel time. That's already three hundred MMP. Then there's another fifty MMP charged for an extended absence from the front.”

Hearing the final figure, Kael fell silent in thought for a moment.

“Well, that's not so bad...” he said. “If you really wanted to, you could save that much in two or three months.”

At those words, Lipa merely gave him a faintly wistful smile, as though his conclusion struck her as rather naive.

“It's much harder in practice.”

She gave a slight shrug and explained, “You need MMP for practically everything. Elixirs, pills, training zones, consumables, artisans' services... If you save every point you earn without spending any of them, advancing through the ranks becomes very difficult.”

Kael immediately realized he had overlooked something obvious.

“Every MMP spent on leave means giving up resources that could have made me stronger... It's the same logic as in business. Income without expenses is an illusion of prosperity.”

Noticing his thoughtful expression, Lipa looked at him sympathetically and added, “What's more, the higher your rank and the more influential your squad is, the more expensive days off and leave become.”

That piece of news made Kael raise an eyebrow.

“So it'll cost me even more? You mean...”

He didn't even finish the sentence before Lipa let out a quiet laugh, clearly finding his reaction rather amusing.

“Don't worry, Kael. You'll also be earning far more than we do.”

She lightly patted the wagon beneath them and continued calmly, “I doubt you'll be assigned to ordinary patrols, guard duty, or escort missions.”

A slightly dreamy smile crossed Lipa's face as she added, “The Doomgrin Squad's missions are much more dangerous, but they also offer far greater rewards. Even as a recruit serving in a supporting role, you'll earn dozens of MMP from a single operation.”

Lipa was about to add something else when her eyes drifted over Kael's uniform.

“I just noticed something incredible...” she began cautiously. “Are you really a member of three Imperial Guilds?”

Kael seemed to emerge from his thoughts and nodded.

“I am. I was planning to earn some extra money through my crafts. But considering my future squad's reputation...”

He merely gave a crooked smile, and Lipa immediately understood what he meant.

An awkward smile appeared on her face as well.

“Yes... that'll make things a little more difficult for you...”

She paused briefly, choosing her words before continuing, “But if you prove yourself and your prices are reasonable, no one will pass up the opportunity. The front isn't a place where people can afford to be too picky.”

The moment she said that, Kael felt his mood brighten.

“She's right...”

For the past several hours, his future reputation had been weighing heavily on his mind. But the front was still the front.

“If my elixirs work and my talismans prove useful, most soldiers will quickly stop caring about my squad's mixed reputation...”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Smiling sincerely, Kael said, “Thank you, Lipa.”

That made the young woman blush ever so slightly. She hurriedly turned her face toward the road, as though she had suddenly found something there to be extraordinarily interesting.

Kael laughed and added jokingly, “Maybe I'll be the first member of the Doomgrin Squad who isn't known as a weirdo.”

At those words, the four young men in the back burst into laughter.

“I'm afraid that's impossible, Kael,” the lean young man said cheerfully. “Once you've been assigned to the Doomgrin Squad, there's no turning back.”

“Too late,” the tall young man chimed in. “Now you'll have to live up to its reputation.”

Kael was just about to reply in the same spirit when the wagon suddenly emerged from the forest.

The bright sunlight struck his face so abruptly that he had to squint.

Only a moment ago, dense violet trees had surrounded them on every side.

The next instant, the landscape ahead suddenly opened up.

An enormous valley spread out before Kael's eyes.

It was so vast that he simply froze for several seconds, trying to take it all in.

Only now did he realize the forest stood atop a high ridge. The road had led them to the very edge of a long slope, from where the endless lands stretched out before them.

Kael couldn't help parting his lips slightly, as though he were gazing not at a valley but at an entire sea of varied landscapes.

“Wow... That's impressive...” he murmured.

To the left, a colossal mountain range stretched all the way to the horizon.

The colossal peaks rose above the valley like a wall of stone, stretching far to the south before gradually fading into the haze. Even from here, it was impossible to make out where the mountains finally ended. It was as though someone had deliberately split the continent in two, raising this endless mountain range between its halves.

The valley itself was even more breathtaking.

It was neither flat nor monotonous. On the contrary, the entire landscape was an intricate weave of hills, ravines, rivers, and rocky ridges. Here and there, enormous chasms yawned in the earth, resembling the entrances to ancient dungeons or cave systems, while amid the greenery stood half-ruined ruins that had clearly been converted into fortified positions over the centuries.

Watchtowers, outposts, and small fortresses rose from different parts of the valley, connected by roads and signal towers. Some looked newly built, while others seemed so ancient they had almost become one with the surrounding landscape.

But what drew Kael's attention most were the military camps.

They were everywhere, though separated by considerable distances, as if each was responsible for a specific sector of the battlefield.

Dozens of fortified camps were scattered across the valley like islands in a vast sea. Some stood beside rivers, others occupied the tops of hills, while still others nestled among rocks and ruins. Yet every one of them was easy to spot thanks to its shimmering protective barrier.

Translucent domes of mana rose above the camps, glimmering faintly beneath the sunlight.

Some shone brightly, while others were almost imperceptible, but their sheer number hinted at the immense scale of what was unfolding.

And even that was not all.

Far in the distance, magical explosions flared from time to time.

Columns of fire occasionally rose above the horizon. Flashes of lightning flickered in one place, while elsewhere in the valley an enormous cloud of dust suddenly billowed upward, as though part of a cliff had just collapsed.

Everything was happening too far away to make out the details, but a single glance was enough to understand the obvious.

The war was close.

And it was happening right now.

At that moment, Kael truly understood what General Salazar had meant when he said that the front was not a line on a map, but a vast, living system stretching for many miles.

It was as though an entire country lay before him within another country.

An entire world that existed by its own laws.

Yet only a few seconds later, Kael noticed something else.

Despite the countless signs of war, the valley itself looked astonishingly alive.

Here and there, groves of trees with deep violet foliage grew among the hills. Broad ribbons of luminous flowers lined the rivers, bathing their banks in soft shades of blue, pink, and golden light. Some of the rocky cliffs were covered in strange turquoise crystals that glittered beneath the sun as brightly as though they held their own fire within.

Even the many chasms and caves descending deep underground did not appear gloomy.

A faint, multicolored glow rose from their depths, making it seem as though another world lay hidden beneath the entire valley.

And the longer Kael looked upon the landscape, the more keenly he felt its strange contradiction.

“Horror and beauty exist side by side...” he murmured under his breath.

At that moment, Lipa raised a hand and pointed down into the valley.

“And there's our camp.”

Kael immediately shifted his gaze in the indicated direction.

Because of the immense distance and their elevation, the camp did not seem particularly large at first. Against the backdrop of the endless valley, it looked like just one more fortified position among the many scattered across the front.

But as soon as he looked more closely, Kael realized his mistake.

The camp was enormous.

So enormous that it dwarfed the entire town they had left behind just a few hours earlier.

Beneath its translucent protective dome sprawled thousands of tents, long rows of warehouses and workshops, numerous stables for riding beasts, hospitals, and entire districts of barracks. Broad roads crisscrossed the camp in every direction, along which an endless stream of supply wagons, patrols, and squads of soldiers moved.

Even from this distance, Kael could see the constant movement.

It seemed as though thousands of people were working inside the camp at once, keeping this gigantic military machine running.

But what drew his attention most was the very heart of the camp.

There stood a large enclosed area that was noticeably different from the rest of the camp.

Inside were dozens of training grounds and stone arenas of various sizes, with towering obelisks covered in glowing runes rising between them.

But even that was not what stood out the most.

Right at the center of the training grounds stood a strange tower, as though it had been assembled from the gigantic bones of some unknown monster.

Its pale, curving structures intertwined with one another, forming an eerie silhouette that contrasted sharply with the camp's other buildings. Even from this distance, the tower appeared so immense that it easily rose above the surrounding barracks, warehouses, and training grounds.

“What's that?” Kael murmured under his breath.

Lipa followed his gaze and almost immediately understood what he was referring to.

A look of genuine admiration appeared on her face.

“That's one of the best training zones in the entire Scarlet Serpent Army.”

One of the young men behind them immediately spoke up, even looking up from his notes.

“I wish I could go there someday...”

The second young man merely laughed and shook his head.

“For people like us, that's impossible. One visit costs more than we earn in a month.”

Hearing that, the others simply nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Kael continued studying the unusual tower.

“So this must be what General Salazar was talking about...”

He immediately recalled the General's words about the training zone that the Scarlet Serpent Army had seized from the beastfolk many years ago.

Even from this far away, it looked both majestic and ominous.

Like a gigantic beacon, the tower loomed over the entire camp, and from time to time streams of red mana coursed across its surface, causing its pale, bone-like structure to flare with a dim crimson glow.

But the next moment, something happening at the foot of the tower caught Kael's attention.

Even from here, he could make out a crowd of about a hundred mages who appeared to be watching something intently—or waiting for something.

Kael shifted his gaze from the tower to Lipa and asked curiously, “If it's so expensive to enter, why are there so many people around it?”

Lipa adjusted the sleeve of her uniform slightly and did not answer right away, as though she already knew the explanation would not be a simple one.

“The Horde's Bone Tower is a rather unusual training zone...”

She looked back toward the towering structure.

“The higher you climb inside it, the stronger the pressure and mana concentration become. The pressure doesn't depend on your stage of development, but on a mage's talent and their ability to absorb and withstand mana. The tower adjusts itself to each mage, creating equal conditions for everyone.”

Kael frowned slightly, not entirely understanding the connection between Lipa's explanation and his question.

But the next moment, the lean young man behind them clicked his tongue loudly.

“You really do like beating around the bush, Lipa.”

She immediately shot him an irritated glance but did not interrupt.

The young man grinned and turned to Kael.

“The thing is, a lot of people like to bet.”

“Bet on what exactly?” Kael asked.

The lean young man perked up at once.

“On anything related to the tower. Usually they bet on how high a particular mage will be able to climb.”

He pointed toward the center of the military camp.

“If an unknown mage goes inside, people start guessing how far they'll get. And if someone famous shows up, then the bets are different—whether they'll beat their previous record or not.”

The tall young man burst into cheerful laughter.

“Earning MMP is hard enough. Who's going to pass up a chance to earn some easy MMP?”

“Especially when you're convinced you already know the outcome,” the third young man sitting beside him chimed in.

“Yeah. And then you lose half your savings and come crying to us,” Lipa added reproachfully, clearly not making the story up.

At that remark, the young men immediately pretended they hadn't said anything.

The tall one merely shrugged and continued anyway, “The command doesn't approve of gambling, but it doesn't forbid it either. It's one way to pass the time and blow off steam at the front.”

Lipa let out a quiet sigh, clearly unwilling to pursue the topic any further, and steered the conversation back to something more serious.

“The truth is, it isn't just about betting.”

She looked toward the Tower again.

“Many mages spend years trying to surpass their limits and climb higher than their own record.”

There was even a note of respect in her voice.

“For many soldiers, how high you've managed to climb inside the Bone Tower is considered a measure of your talent and potential.”

Kael looked back at the bone structure towering above the camp.

“A status symbol?” he asked.

“Exactly,” Lipa nodded. “Some officers take just as much pride in their Tower records as they do in their military decorations.”

A disgruntled snort immediately came from the lean young man behind them.

“Because it's the fairest way to compare talent. The Tower doesn't care who your parents are or how much money your family has.”

The tall young man immediately grinned and added, “More than that, it's the fastest way to earn yourself a red dragon on your chest.”

“The fastest way—if you have enough MMP and enough talent,” Lipa immediately countered. “Otherwise, it's no faster than advancing through the ranks the usual way. Many people spend years challenging the Tower but never manage to climb high enough.”

Kael gazed thoughtfully at the bone structure rising above the camp and murmured inwardly, “The Horde's Bone Tower... I'd really like to visit it someday...”

Meanwhile, the wagon continued its slow descent along the road, drawing ever closer to the camp, while Kael sank deeper and deeper into thought.

“Just a little longer, and I'll be meeting my new comrades...”

The stories Lipa and her companions had told immediately resurfaced in his mind.

“I hope those are just soldiers' tales...”

Then, almost at once, Kael tried to reassure himself.

“I'm sure they're not as bad as people make them out to be.”

✦ ✦ ✦

At that very moment, however, an entirely different scene was unfolding below, near the northern gate of the military camp.

Most soldiers passing by tried not to linger in the area, and those who did glance toward the gate were not looking at the caravans or the guards.

The object of everyone's attention was a slender young woman wearing a white cloak draped over a black military uniform.

The uniform itself was rather unusual.

Her legs were left completely bare, while straps ran along her thighs, each holding strangely shaped daggers. Their slender blades resembled needles more than knives, with glass hilts containing multicolored liquids.

Adjusting her long gray hair, black at the roots and at the very tips, the young woman enthusiastically told the two guards at the gate something.

Judging by the expressions on their faces, they expected nothing good to come from the conversation.

Both soldiers stood ramrod straight and desperately tried to look busy, yet the young woman kept closing the distance, forcing them to retreat almost imperceptibly.

One of the guards had already gone pale.

The other pretended to be thoroughly inspecting the papers of an incoming wagon.

Not far away stood a group of soldiers watching the scene from what they considered a safe distance.

One of them shuddered involuntarily and whispered to his companion, “I was supposed to be standing that post today...”

He looked at the two unfortunate guards by the gate and added with heartfelt relief, “Thank God I got assigned somewhere else.”

His companion nodded knowingly.

“No kidding.”

He glanced at the young woman in the white cloak and frowned slightly.

“What's Magpie even doing here? She usually doesn't even leave the Doomgrin Squad's territory.”

Just then, Magpie's gentle, remarkably pleasant voice drifted over from the distance.

“Why are you so tense, dear? Take a look at this fascinating little tool I came up with.”

The young woman enthusiastically raised one of the daggers strapped to her thigh and proudly showed it to the guards.

“It's a needle dagger. When it pierces flesh, it injects an elixir directly into the body. Very useful in battle. When an ally can't take a pill in the heat of combat, these little beauties come in very handy.”

Then she laughed sweetly and added in a confidential tone, “You're probably tired from standing watch... Would you like to try it on yourselves? This mixture will perk you right up and give you energy for the whole day!”

At that offer, both guards flinched so perfectly in unison that it was as though they had just heard a death sentence.

“N-No!” the first one blurted out.

“Th-Thank you for the offer!” the second immediately echoed.

Magpie instantly puffed out her cheeks.

“Oh, come on. Just one little poke.”

She twirled the dagger lightly between her fingers and added with complete sincerity,

“Besides, while I'm waiting, we're so bored here...”

“Absolutely not!” the second guard shouted at once. “I'm having a wonderful time, and I'm not bored in the slightest!”

“I second that!” the first guard nodded frantically. “Everything's going perfectly on duty! And I've got more than enough energy already—I don't need any extra!”

The soldiers watching from a distance could only shake their heads sadly.

“Poor guys,” someone murmured.

“They've been fending her off for ten minutes already.”

“They're holding up well.”

“So far.”

But then, quite unexpectedly, Magpie suddenly perked up. Rising onto her tiptoes, she began peering into the distance beyond the camp gates.

Her gray eyes gleamed faintly, her smile widened noticeably, and with unmistakable anticipation, she said, “I think he'll be here soon...”

At those words, the two guards exchanged glances.

And for some reason, the soldiers standing nearby all felt a strange premonition at the same time, though they couldn't tell what kind it was.