If roads were used as a system of measurement, Cyanne tripled the size of Tom's Pond. There were three roads leading into town: the road I followed connecting Tom's Pond, a road to the port city of Landfall, and then the main road that headed north to the capital.

Though the roads weren't heavily traveled, they were well maintained. I didn't come across a single crack in my travel across hills and around mountains. Not even a stray boulder dirtied the street. Wildflowers and shrubs grew near it, but their roots stayed as far from the path as possible. The Emperor, as much as I hated him, had good infrastructure. Or rather, he maintained the infrastructure very well. By that, I meant he used the full force of runes and his military might to keep his empire neatly paved.

Only a few understood his intent, and I couldn't say I was one of the few that did. Portals were the preferred path of transport. For one, there was a lot less work involved. There was also the luxury of knowing that bandits insisting on a toll fee wouldn't beat you up and take your money. Although portal fees were basically socially accepted robbery. If bandits were less insistent on the brutality aspect, their fees might be considered reasonable.

Bandits, though, were a silly bunch. They held fast to the belief that power meant right. If you could take it, it was yours. Bandits, bullies, and opportunists were all the same. Give them an inkling of an advantage, and they'd run with it.

The group of ten I stumbled upon late at night was no different. I sensed them before they knew I was around. It helped that I wasn't the target they were looking for. Their target was the small cart rolling down the hill towards us. William Shanks, the merchant from Tom's Pond, his two daughters, and a farmer whose name I couldn't recall accompanied the onyx-led cart. They most likely completed their trip trading crafts from the Pond for supplies they needed to live.

The bandits were looking for a quick score, and I was guessing it wasn't the supplies they wanted. We'd heard rumors of a growing problem plaguing Cyanne. The adventurer's guild believed a gang had taken up residence in the town and was looking to take over.

Judging by the party's equipment lying in wait, these were some initiates led by a veteran.

Equipment used to be a rudimentary way of assessing the power cultivators. Most of the time, it was a reliable way to pick out wealth, which was essentially tied to power. However, stronger cultivators dressed below their power level to avoid the public eye, and weaker lancers dressed up, if they could afford it, to intimidate others for more gains.

That all changed; clothes and gear could still be used to hide true rank, but a particular piece of equipment had turned the trend upside down.

Pauldrons, the shoulder guards of honor, had taken the Agorian continent by storm. Ten years ago, a famous princess in the elven kingdom of Lumin was seen wearing an extravagant shoulder piece, and everyone lost their minds. It started as a status symbol for the rich and powerful. Competition for market shares diversified from the rich, and suddenly, everyone wore shoulder guards.

Now, pauldrons represented rank, status, combat skill, and wealth. Small pauldrons were worn by the weak and powerful. Medium-sized pauldrons were usually worn by knights. Templars and sages usually wore the biggest pauldrons. They had the power to back up the exquisite look and would not shy away from it. One princess and thousands of rumors had upturned society completely. Cultivators still dressed below or above their means, but as much as they tried to veil their true strength, their shoulder guards gave them away.

The trend had turned into a polite way of showing your power instead of forcing auras on others. The old way of living was now viewed as tacky and gross. Nobody liked feeling someone else's presence uninvited.

I, for one, greatly appreciated the new trend and had to admit the flashy shoulder pieces more than enticed me. If it wasn't for a greater tragedy I'd mourn the loss of the ebony shoulder guard Flint had gifted me.

The squad of ten was well organized. The two earth lancers had created dugouts on the side of the road where the team hid. Off to the distance, an air lancer created cloud cover, and the light lancer had already scratched runes in the road that would be hard to spot as an unexpecting traveler. The dark caster stood close to the commander and the two life lancers. The trio of body cultivators held melee weapons and hid in the bunker closest to me.

It looked like the standard Alderi ambush drill. Limit visibility by covering the road with fog. Light runes stopped the target from moving. The sleepers silenced the target's mana. Bloomers provided heals and support while range attackers and melee fighters engaged.

The ambushers knew what they were doing. Still, it was a bit overkill for their intended target. Judging by their shoulders, these bandits were a mix of rooks and squires. It was a reasonably high-ranking squad. Which made me question what they were doing out here. There was easier money to make at their ranks, requiring far less bloodshed.

As the residents of Tom's Pond got closer, my plan to intervene solidified.

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Clouds formed and dispersed ahead of the bandits' schedule. Seeing the change of weather, the travelers halted in their tracks. They were on the alert. That would make intervening all the easier. The cloud moved forward. The air mage wrestled for control. When that didn't work, she tried to blow it away. Her focus on my cloud left her exposed to my arrow that pierced through her chest.

Unaware of their downed comrade, the sleeper began casting his silencing spell. I needed to take him out immediately. I aimed my bow and fired. The arrow soared through the sleeper's helm, passing through the back of his head. The force of the arrow knocked the sleeper off his feet, flinging him into the side of the commander.

The squire rank flamer didn't budge. He motioned for the bloomers to begin healing. The order wasn't needed. The two life cultivators were already filling the air with their energy, directing it towards the downed sleeper and creating a barrier around them. It would take an extreme amount of healing to recover from the shot. I doubted the bloomers had enough skill or mana.

Seeing all the action unfold, the caravan tried to turn and flee. For all the maintenance the Alderi did for their roads, they didn't care about the importance of wide lanes. The travelers were stuck in a terrible moment where they couldn't turn entirely around because of the narrow path and the trees hemming them in. To make matters worse, the earth closed around them, and the bandit's long-range attacks were being unleashed. Fire and arrows filled the sky. The travelers managed a barrier of water. It wouldn't last the barrage.

I thought attacking the ambusher would put the target on me. Turns out my planning was shit. "Ao's bloody pit." I carried on a slew of more curses as I changed up my plan...

I sprinted and flung myself down the road. I couldn't make it to the caravan in time, but maybe I could cut down the oppressive fire. The commander was the first to spot me. He pointed his sword in my direction and yelled some obscenities. The trio of melee attackers turned their attention from the travelers and focused on me. They rushed out of the safety of a bloomer's barrier.

One of my arrows slammed into a shield, and another was blown aside by a powerful gust of wind from the second puffer among the bandits. My third arrow struck the shield warrior in the heart. His eyes still held disbelief that his shield was ripped from his hands. As he dropped to the ground, his comrades abandoned their charge and turned their attention to the fallen soldier. Foolish mistake. They both died with arrows in their backs.

I was upon the bunker of the nearest grounder in a flash. He tried to trap me in his hole. I'd already frozen the ground and the walls and he didn't have the strength to break through my ice. He swung his fist of stone at me. Before his fist reached midpoint, an ice spear from the wall skewered him.

Fire fell from above. I had to decide in an instant whether to bunker or run. I chose running. A pillar of ice launched me out of the hole. As I raced into the incoming storm of fire, I summoned a wave of water and drowned out the flames. At the apex of my jump, I turned the remaining water I could connect to into shards and launched them below. The shards forced a group of bandits to take cover.

Before I hit the ground, I summoned a ramp. My feet landed, and I slid down the steep decline. The momentum of my fall propelled me forward. My next targets were the commander and the healers. I batted fire and earth aside with walls of ice. Once my momentum ran out, an anchor was created, and I pulled myself toward my targets.

I countered the bandit's volley with my own. Ice whipped through the air, both shards and arrows. My technique could have been better; I missed more than I hit. Still, it kept the pressure on the gang, allowing me to close.

As the gap closed, one of the bloomers decided to retreat. She drew back several yards to the bunker across the road that housed the smoker. No more ranged attacks targeted the travelers; they all focused on me. During the chaos of the fight, I didn't get a chance to see if they had survived. My hopes were not high. I blocked another volley and returned fire.

Instead of waiting for me, the slender woman with an extravagant dark steel pauldron lunged toward me. I lost her when a bright light flashed in front of me. Before I could locate the creeper, a warning sensation prompted me to take cover. A dome of ice covers me as dozens of light spears hit my barrier from all directions. The squire-ranked creeper was still hidden.

My dome shattered. I lunged to the left and rolled back. Boulders crushed the area I was in. I pulled on another anchor, sliding myself to a safer spot and trying to get a good look at the bandits left. I'd taken out five already. That left me with the commander, two life lancers, the smoker, and one grounder. I had a bead on all of them except the commander.

I fortified my ice armor, increasing its protection. It should withstand any hits these five could throw at me unless their arsenal had much larger boulders. That didn't seem like an attack they could pull off often, though, or they'd been launching massive boulders at me. I set a new anchor and pulled toward the solo bloomer. I continued to block their attacks, but most of my focus was on speed.

I was next to the light-armored life lancer within a few blinks. The middle-aged man looked shocked that I was attacking him.

"Why are—" I cut his question short. His severed body dropped to the ground.

A wall of ice protected my flank from another volley as I skated to the duo, looking like they were about to bolt. I hit the smoker in the back with an arrow. A stone wall saved the running bloomer's life. I gave chase, leaving the grounder and creeper behind.

"Please stop!" The young life lancer begged.

"Soggy's Sow," I cursed in response. My arm froze; my sword was inches from slicing the bloomer in two. I left her trapped in a dome of ice and returned to face the last two. Well, the last one. The commander was nowhere in sight. Without companions, the earth rook had no chance. I blocked his weak attacks and speared him with the ice spike I formed at his back.

That battlefield loomed in silence. I took a deep breath, centering myself. The fight was fast and frantic. There were still two bandits left alive. I had one trapped, but I didn't know where the other was hiding. If my water sense was to be trusted, the creeper was gone.