’That charge was exhausting...’

After all that, Colin found his legs were trembling.

He simply stood his ground, calmly chanting a Spell.

He fired off one Flaming Arrow after another, smashing them into the enemies right before him. Any Skeleton Spearman that tried to advance on him was taken down in just a few shots.

The Square Shield Skeletons were busy dealing with the Barbarians’ assault and couldn’t spare the attention for the Mage casting Magic from a distance.

Meanwhile, the Skeletons within the range of his Burning Hand were cleared out.

The Barbarian Leader let out a furious roar and led the remaining Warriors through the newly opened gap.

Without stopping, they split into two groups like a Wolf Pack, trampling through the muddy, melting snow to slam into the enemy’s rear flanks from both sides.

In the distance, the drumming and singing of the Barbarians grew even more fervent.

The nearby Barbarians’ spirits lifted, as if they had just taken a short rest.

’This must be a special kind of Magic from those Barbarian Wandering Poets,’ Colin thought as he launched another Flaming Arrow. He’d never read about an ability like this.

Attacked from both front and rear, the Skeletons fell into disarray.

With no one to command them and their own intelligence limited, they had no idea how to react.

The Barbarian Warriors carved through the Skeleton Spearmen on the outer lines like a blade.

Skeletons that tried to stop them were smashed to pieces, sending shards of bone flying.

The Skeletons caught in the Grease spell kept slipping in the crowded formation, creating even more chaos. They could only be picked off one by one by Scared Flame and Flaming Arrow.

Axes swung again and again.

One Skeleton after another was crushed.

With a WHOOSH, Colin launched a final Flaming Arrow, and the last Skeleton’s skull was shattered by the Flame.

The Barbarians’ war song slowly died down. The battle cries and the sound of cracking bone ceased, leaving only the whistling of the cold wind across the snowy plains and the ragged breathing of the wounded.

His gaze swept across the battlefield.

Almost none of the Barbarian Warriors were unscathed. They were busy rubbing snow into their bleeding wounds to stanch the flow. It made no sense in principle, but the bleeding did seem to be visibly slowing.

Colin looked at the ground.

Several Barbarians lay still, fallen forever in the cold snow.

Such casualties were unavoidable.

After all, if they hadn’t come to provide Magic support, this group of Barbarians would never have been able to defeat such a large horde of Skeletons.

The legion tactics of the Ancient Empire of Ora Kaim were originally designed to counter the Barbarian Race, and they remained remarkably effective even after a thousand years.

Colin panted, his breath ragged.

He realized the Chain Armor Plates near his mouth had frosted over. ’Fighting in this frozen wasteland is exhausting. And every time I gasp for breath, the dry air fills my throat with the taste of blood. It’s awful.’

Colin turned his head and shouted to Kase, "Is that all of them?"

"They don’t know either," Kase said, spitting out a few shards of bone. "They lost a few Scouts, so they didn’t dare get too close."

"Are we still keeping score?"

"Huh? I lost count partway through." Knowing he had no chance of winning, Kase just laughed. "Colin, my friend, there’s no need for us to get caught up in things like that."

Like the Barbarians, he scooped up two handfuls of snow and pressed them against his wounds. After rubbing them in for a moment, the bleeding stopped.

Colin gestured with his chin toward the camp behind them. "Let’s check and see what’s in there. By the way, how are we splitting the loot?"

"Don’t you worry about that. We’ll make sure we get our fair share."

"Orelia, wait until we’re secure before you use your Divine Arts!" Colin shouted to the Tiefling, who was preparing to help the Barbarians.

Kase, meanwhile, had two Barbarian Scouts stand guard to watch for any more enemies.

Once everything was in order, the two of them walked into the Skeletons’ camp.

Aside from a half-finished wooden wall, the camp contained several small tents fashioned from branches and scraps of cloth. Inside were small, tattered-looking bedrolls.

"They really made themselves at home, didn’t they?" Kase remarked sarcastically.

"Maybe they even brought their money with them. I wonder if there are any antique shops in Thousand Masts City. I never thought to ask."

As he spoke, Colin and Kase started rummaging through the tents.

Their search turned up some junk like bone dice, worthless for all they knew.

They searched until they reached the last tent.

He went inside, tossed out a ragged bedroll, and upon closer inspection, spotted a strange iron box about the size of a human head.

He stepped forward to examine it.

The lock was rusted through; he was able to flip it open easily.

Inside was a large pile of blackened, verdigris-coated metal coins. Many of them were rusted together into clumps, making it hard to even know where to begin picking them up.

"Colin! We found something weird!"

Kase’s shout came from outside. Colin turned to see him holding a small, tattered piece of cloth that looked like a banner. It depicted a deep-purple triple crown on a background of tarnished gold.

’Isn’t that the sigil of the Ancient Empire of Ora Kaim?’

Colin frowned. He had seen it in a book just before they set out.

"This part isn’t rotted at all, even though the rest of it fell apart. Is it worth anything?" Kase asked.

Ale, who had walked over, said, "The Magic Power signature on the banner is very weak. It seems to be just an Enchantment to keep the sigil from decaying. In other words, it’s not worth much."

Colin frowned and asked, "Do you recognize this sigil? It’s..."

"The sigil of the Ancient Empire of Ora Kaim," Ale confirmed.

"So, where did these Skeletons come from?"

"Lady Rime resurrects Skeletons like these to serve her during times of winter disaster. The most famous are the skeletons of Frost Giants," Kase explained. "Even some ancient Frost Giant chieftains are reawakened to serve as her champions. It’s no secret."

"Is that so."

Since a local had said so, Colin didn’t dwell on it any longer.

"So are these things valuable?" he asked, looking at Ale.

’She seems to know a lot. I should probably ask her more questions in the future; I might learn something useful.’

"The sigil is nothing special. As for the coins... maybe worth a little over a hundred Gold Coins? I apologize, I’m not familiar with the current market for antiques," Ale said with a slight nod.

"That’s not bad. A nice little bonus," Colin said.

In any case, they had the Dimension Bag and the sled now, so carrying it all wouldn’t be a problem.

The coins and the weapons and Armor from the Skeleton soldiers should all fetch a decent price back in town.

’Looks like we’ll turn a profit after all.’

It was just a little disappointing that they hadn’t found any Magic Equipment from the ancient era.