Fate: The Forged Arthur Pendragon

[Obtained E-rank Class: Experienced Quack Doctor.]

[Description: On the path of medicine, you have once again failed. You feel lost, helpless, cold, and a great sense of guilt envelops you. Yet, from the depths of your heart, an emotion named 'unwillingness' surges forth. You want to prove yourself, you tell yourself it was merely an accident. But—why are you smiling?]

[Obtained Class Specialty: Precision Malpractice.]

[Precision Malpractice: Agility bonus increased by one rank. You gain surgical-level operating experience. Your medical instruments will involuntarily gravitate towards the patient's vital areas. Damage caused when treating vital areas is doubled.]

[Path: Continue to accumulate experience in treating patients to death, and you will obtain a new D-rank Class: Heartless Attending (2/100), and a Class-specific Formal Craft.]

[You have taken another step on the path to legend!]

The battle ended.

The reinforced state attached to his body vanished.

An unbearable fatigue and soreness surged through his entire body.

Although he really wanted to complain about the newly acquired path,

Suya simply had no energy left.

His life force was drained, his stamina almost exhausted, and the magic circuits imprinted on his body seemed to be continuously devouring his remaining meager stamina.

He collapsed onto Shugus's corpse with a thud, feeling his eyelids fighting to stay open.

The pungent smell of blood jolted him awake again.

This was not the time to rest.

He pushed off the ground, barely standing up, and looked around.

On the plain,

Two warhorses, tangled together, lay motionless on the ground, no longer rideable.

The distant, ruined city, shrouded in smoke, stood like an ethereal illusion, visible but unreachable.

And his destination was even beyond that conquered city.

Suya stared vaguely in the direction beyond the ruined city, a little lost in thought.

Just then,

"Hey, are you alright?"

Merlin's voice came from behind him. Suya turned his head and saw her shakily standing up, supporting herself with her hands on her legs, walking towards him.

Despite having just gone through such an intense battle, her clothes were still so clean that Suya felt envious.

Suya instinctively wanted to retort, I'm not 'hey,' I'm... but thinking that, the whole scene would feel like an idol drama.

That would be too cringe-inducing.

He vowed to become a tough guy like Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger, or at least a protagonist like Kenshin Himura from Rurouni Kenshin.

So, although the various wounds on his body made him wince, Suya turned his back, crossed his arms, and grunted a muffled "Hmm,"

"I'm fine."

Merlin looked at Suya, who had suddenly adopted a tough demeanor at this moment, with a strange expression.

Seriously, there's no audience here.

Why is your posture so resolute, like you're about to mount a horse, draw a gun, and charge the Conqueror King's army again?

Merlin clutched her forehead: "What are you thinking about?"

Suya remained silent with his back turned for a moment, then spoke with anticipation:

"I'm thinking, do you have a magic conch or a magic broom? You know, like, a magic carpet would work too. We could ride a broomstick back to the capital, then I'd inherit the throne and make you the Chief Royal Mage of Britain!"

"Isn't that how the story goes?"

"How could there be such a thing!?"

Merlin said, "I'm a mage, not a sorceress, understand?"

"But if we don't have those, how do we escape!?"

Suya turned his head, his expression almost failing to hold. It was as if he was forcing out an ugly smile from extreme despair and pain.

He pulled out the silver Noble Phantasm rein.

"Should I ride you?"

"I'll bite you to death!"

Merlin decisively retorted:

"If you keep using the Noble Phantasm, you'll die. Besides, your current state doesn't support further combat."

"So?" Suya stared at her, asking blankly:

"The horses are gone, we can't run anymore. Do we just wait here to die?"

"Foolish!" Merlin snorted coldly.

"If the horses are gone, we'll just grab another one. If we can't run, we won't run."

"There are always more solutions than problems!"

"Alright, listen to me. Later, we'll head back."

"Head back again?" Suya raised his voice, looking at Merlin with a shocked expression, thinking, Is this idiot crazy?

Merlin took a deep breath, nodded seriously.

Her crimson pupils fixed on Suya, revealing an expression that said, I can't do anything with you.

"We'll stay right here, annihilate this entire Conqueror King's legion, then grab a horse and ride back to the capital."

Suya thought, Sure enough, this idiot is crazy.

Is this due to excessive magical energy consumption? Does excessive magical energy consumption also lower intelligence? Do you know how naturally naive you look right now?

Suya couldn't help but laugh: "You're really a genius at ideas!"

Merlin was startled for a moment, then asked: "Genius at ideas? What's that?"

"It's a compliment."

"Hmph."

Suya gazed at the undisguised proud little expression on Merlin's face, and was momentarily stunned.

Then, he laughed freely.

If this was a dream,

To still encounter such an interesting person after such a satisfying battle, right before the dream ended.

"Then, let's stop here."

Although he still wanted to continue, still wanted to have such a wonderful adventure in this world,

But,

If it ended just like this...

Suya clenched his fists, feeling the emotion rising from his heart.

Sure enough, there's still unwillingness, isn't there?

Just then,

The thunderous gallop of warhorses, like distant thunder, already sounded from afar.

At the highest point of his vision, at the western pass, a black speck suddenly appeared.

Then, more and more black specks emerged, gathering into a tide,

A cavalry regiment of over a thousand men, dancing the march of death, galloped rapidly closer!

Facing such a formation, Suya couldn't help but swallow hard, and beside him, Merlin's expression also grew serious.

"Do you play cards?"

Suya thought he was hallucinating, blinked, and turned his head sharply.

"What?"

Seriously, what are you talking about?

Why are you asking if I play cards at such a critical moment of life and death? And, cards... Britain, hypothetically, is a fictional kingdom in the Middle Ages corresponding to the 5th century AD. Logically, playing cards shouldn't have been invented yet in this era, right?

"I'll ask you again, do you play cards? Or rather, are you willing to learn to play cards?"

Merlin's expression was quite serious, as if this was a matter of utmost importance to her.

Suya was bewildered, but instinctively nodded.

He had a momentary hallucination of transmigrating into a weird film set where a magical girl was about to be tricked into signing a contract, then pulled out a magic wand and started transforming with a "balala" sound.

"If it's Landlord, I guess I can play that. As for poker..."

"Not Landlord. What's that? Never mind, what you need to learn is—"

Merlin said with a serious expression:

"Blackjack."

"Are you willing to learn?"

Suya thought for a moment. Blackjack was also a poker game,

Where the goal for players was to make the sum of their cards' points not exceed 21 but be as high as possible, using 208 cards from 4 decks, excluding jokers.

Suya, who rarely gambled, remembered this poker game because, in Dragon Raja 4 (a volume of a popular Chinese fantasy novel series, which has also been adapted into a Chinese animated series/donghua), Senior Brother Chu(a significant character from the Dragon Raja series, known for exceptional intelligence or unusual powers) had won big against the legendary gambling king Vincent (a character within the Dragon Raja universe, specifically a formidable opponent or renowned figure in gambling) by forcibly memorizing 12 decks of cards at the start.

But what did Blackjack have to do with the current situation?!

Could playing cards help them defeat this Macedonian cavalry?

"I can learn, but you can't expect me to be as awesome as Chu Zihang(the full name of Senior Brother Chu). I'm not good at memorizing cards..."

"Chu Zihang? Who's that?" Merlin frowned curiously, then nodded.

"That's enough."

"Don't worry, I won't let an important card buddy get into trouble—"

Merlin raised her arm with a serious expression, extending her index finger towards the Companion Cavalry army rapidly approaching them.

"Next, I will use a very powerful strike to force them back. Then, you find the right moment to grab a horse, understood?"