William didn’t hesitate as he used [Flash Stride], Sharpie already in hand to appear behind the two bandits. A simple [Vortex Slash] was all it took to dispatch the pair. Disappointment flashed in William’s emotions briefly. He didn’t understand why the bandits recently were all so...weak. It was good for protecting his people, but not for his now hampered EXP growth. He didn’t see exact numbers but could feel that the gain from his latest two kills was minimal. William sheathed the his sword and collected Sharpie.

He was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of roaring flames and crackling wood. The smell of burnt hay and charred wood permeated the air, carried by the growing smoke cloud. William suddenly heard loud footsteps on wood from inside the lodge, rushing towards the exit. William had to act quickly. He scanned the surroundings by the entrance and found a wooden pole leaning against the wall. William rushed over to grab it, then proceeded to bar the door by pushing the pole through the door handle.

The bandits inside were now trapped, left to burn. William wondered if him and John would gain any EXP from it. Did the game count environmental damage towards their kill reward? It was a future concern he knew, but every little bit would help him.

He didn’t have time to think of next steps or the like as a voice rang out from the road to the east, fury lacing every word, “Ya fuckin’ rats! I go for a walk with me guys, an’ come back to this shit!”

William and John both turned their attention to the newcomer, readying their weapons and spells. The man was in leather armor, studded with metal for extra protection that covered his full torso and extended down partially to cover the top of his legs. William had never seen a design like it, even in the various games he had played. The studded leather wasn’t new, but the extension and stitching was unique and new to William.

William couldn’t think about it at the moment, he had to address the new threat itself.

“How did you know we were coming?” William asked coolly, expecting, or at least hoping for confirmation of his suspicions.

He got neither as a confused look fell over the newcomer, someone looking to be in their mid-twenties with...pointy ears? An elf?! Luminous blue eyes shone, glowing in the light of the massive fire.

“I didn’t? Were ya expectin’ us to show up?” The Elf asked, eyeing the surroundings suspiciously.

The fire was now dimly lighting the area, now reaching the roof of the building as more beams took to burning. William was relieved at the response, if true. Bad luck was still a thing, he knew. Better bad luck than leaked info though. He would need to check with Wallace later to make sure that no one else knew. William mentally registered an important detail in the Elf’s previous question. He said us. As if reading his mind, maybe even fate itself, two groups of four bandits appeared from the treeline in the same direction that the Elf had came from.

This was bad. The Elf looked at his allies and smiled, before returning his gaze to William now bearing a face of malicious glee.

It didn’t take long for the Elf to indulge in their bravado again as they said, “I’ve gotta hand it to ya, most people wouldn’t burn our supply houses. You’re seemin’ to be men of brutality, like us.”

“What?! How the fuck is burning down equipment brutal?” William asked, before sound erupted from the behind the barred door.

The door repeatedly banged followed by the expected screams of those inside, the men of the bandit group they had trapped moments ago. The scream was harrowing and...feminine. The screams came from multiple similar voices. Lady bandits? Horror took hold less than a fraction of a second later as the sound of two screaming children joined the cacophony of torment that erupted from within.

The Elf seeming to catch the shift in emotion within William cocked his head and his eyes widened in amusement.

“Oh...Ya didn’t know. You gotta be from that new place we’re visitin’ very soon. This is fuckin’ funny,” the Elf said, breaking into laughter and adding mirthfully, “We always keep hostages in these places. Stops folks doin’ what ya just did, unless they’re as fucked as us. Four women and two children, dead by ya hands.”

William and John both looked at each other, emotionally rocked before they both ignored the newcomers and rushed to remove the pole. The pole was flung to the side and they opened the door. William had noticed the screams had stopped along with the banging as they were removing the pole. The sight inside was...hell.

A completely charred black woman stumbled grasping an equally burnt child or what used to be a child anyway.

The woman looked at William and John, her one remaining golden brown eye, weakly taking in her killers.

“Wh-Why?” Was all she could mutter, deathly quiet as the eye rolled up and she fell forward, dead child flung several feet from the impact of her landing.

John screamed a wailing, painful cry as he crumpled, crying into his hands. It was all William could do not to join John in his anguish. He looked down at the victim, then to her child, and finally back into the burning building seeing the charred remains of three more women and the second child. Tears poured from William as rage welled up in him. His aura suddenly exploded in fury and blood lust. A cold shift in emotions occurred as he calmly stalked down from the steps and approached the Elf.

“Join me in battle when you can,” William said to John as he passed the crying man.

William took in the opposing force. Two clusters of four bandits now stood between him and the Elf. Four spear wielder Fighters were in a group to the left, and what appeared to be two Archers and two Mages were grouped to the right. Ten feet now separated William from his prey.

He stuck Sharpie in the ground next to him and in the blink of an eye, had unleashed his Alpha Strike on the ranged group. Apparently, Aura use buffed damage to some extend as what had been intended as a bisecting cut turned into a cloud of bloody mulch as the top half of the four bandits exploded into a crimson viscera. The Elf’s eyes opened slightly wider at the scene, but he maintained his composure, waving his hand for the four spear wielders to advance. William knew that fighting them head on would be reckless with [Vortex Slash] on cool-down and would need to whittle them down. He saw that such a feat would be difficult as they widened their positions creating a crescent formation. [Flash Stride] would help him escape the maneuver, but if he wanted to retaliate, he would need to turn his back to the unnamed Elf. Combining [Flash Stride] with an attack would be most effective if executed in the center rear of the formation, as going for one flank would just make the enemy shift and adjust their formation with the ones that lived. By killing the two more central enemies first, he would divide their force, allowing him to take the remaining enemies out swiftly.

With his plan mentally mapped out, William used [Flash Stride] to appear behind the left-middle bandit, Sharpie thrusting upward, piercing vertebrae, muscle, and organs. William was about to pull Sharpie free when [Danger Sense] flared from behind. He let go, rolling to the right as he felt some tingling like static pass the spot he had just been in. The source was a bolt of lightning that hit the bandit impaled by Sharpie. Lightning zapped the last vestiges of life from the bandit as it arced between flesh and the steel of Sharpie.

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The bandit fell lifeless, his front hitting the dirt, pushing Sharpie out the man’s back, making the blade clatter on the floor. William had no time to rush in and retrieve Sharpie before the other central bandit thrust down at him, William still crouched from his roll. William managed to turn his body enough that the attack nicked his shoulder slightly instead of piercing his chest. With no time to retrieve his blade, William drew his side sword again, doing a backwards leap to make some space between himself and his attacker.

The Elf just stood and watched, seeming bored by the show. William knew then that he needed to hurry and eliminate the other foes before the man got truly involved...or truly bored. William suspected either would make for a long night if the odds weren’t evened out. He mentally kicked himself for not using [Identify] before, assuming they were more trash mobs. Then again, the majority still seemed to be, but the Elf was another matter, it appeared.

William saw his attacker dash forward, spear extended, perfectly horizontal, aiming for his chest. William was able to side step, activating the second charge of his sword, combined with the now off cool-down [Vortex Slash]. He had noticed one of the other spear wielders was nearing him, and wanted to get a two for one. It worked, this time merely bisecting the first bandit and tearing a large gash across ninety percent of the second bandit, as good as bisecting him. The first bandit split apart creating a shower of blood that coated William in deep crimson. The second bandit gurgled and shook, falling to the ground as the life left his body via the flood of red.

William caught the sight of what he could assume was a [Lightning-bolt] spell from the Elf, now cemented in William’s mind as a Mage. He was able to dodge again, but barely. Once again, the Elf just stood there, disinterested. It was clear that the man was just toying with him, probably trying to get a surprise attack off. William didn’t want to risk tanking one as the chance of uncontrolled spasms and loss of movement would set the last spear wielder up for a finisher. It was, however, a one versus two as the bandit cautiously approached, on guard in a defensive stance. William still had to wait for [Flash Stride] to come off cool-down if he wanted to guarantee a swift kill.

Or did he?

William knew that he would lose in reach against the bandit, but what if he used a ranged move. He considered his thigh daggers but skipped over them, being too low down that it would be an easily telegraphed attack. He might be faster using a Mythril dagger, but it would still take too much time to draw and throw it when his opponent was on the defensive. It hit him then, like a mental switch had been toggled. [Vortex Slash] may be on cool-down, but [Vortex Thrust] wasn’t.

William took a thrusting stance holding his sword perfectly horizontal towards his foe. He was about to activate his attack when another [Lightning-bolt] was launched at him. In the stance William was in, dodging would be tough. All he could do was block and pray that he could take the damage. The spell hit metal and a sharp zap forced William’s hands free of the blade as it clattered to the ground. Once again, he had no time to grab the weapon as the spear wielder was almost within their reach of William. He had a hunch that a leaping thrust attack or the like waited for him when the bandit got in range. William had no choice but to mentally summon Absolution.

William quickly took position, the tip of his foe’s spear less than a foot from him and combined a [Vortex Thrust] with [Mana Investment] to punch a hole through his foe. He watched, confused as he saw the wave pass through the bandit, yet the armor was undamaged. Had the guy resisted his attack? The question was answered quickly as the bandit swayed, spitting large globs of blood as even more blood seeped out from under the leather armor he wore. It had hit. William then remembered his sword’s ability to bypass arms and armor. He could kill foes and loot their gear without damaging said gear. William grinned savagely at the thought of loot. He almost went full loot goblin but was snapped from the thought as he saw the burning building collapse, reminding him of why he was there...and what he had done.

His eyes refocused on the now lifeless bandit sprawled out on the floor like his comrades. William turned to look at the Elf, flaring his Aura in the hope of scaring the guy off. He didn’t have the Mana to fight a strong Mage at that point.

“Well, ain’t ya interestin’” The Elf said, examining the carnage around them.

William levelled his sword at the man, anticipating some surprise attack. William didn’t speak, just guarded himself and watched the Elf’s movements.

A stare down happened between the two for a long moment, that felt like an eternity to William, before the Elf said, “Be happy. I ain’t killin’ ya. I think the boss is gonna be seeing ya real soon.”

He raised his hands then, statement made, the Elf summoned wind magic around himself and started to hover away, two feet from the ground. William flung a Mythril Dagger at the man leaving, and watched as the blade was brought to a complete stop by the wind, circling the man once, twice, before it flew out and embedded itself in the ground three feet in front of William. The Elf just laughed and continued on their way. William used some of the last dregs of MP he had to [Identify] the man:

{Ascension_Protocol}

Elf – Tempest Arcanist – Level 18

{End}

William let out a sigh of relief as he watched the living storm drift away. He was definitely lucky that the guy’s boss wanted to be the one to end him, otherwise, being so low on his Mana may have caused William's demise. A couple long moments passed as the roaring flames had now quietened down to a small pyre, cremating the departed. Minus the dead mother and child that had stumbled outside before falling dead. John was sat, catatonic, staring at the woman’s corpse as if entranced. William wiped his eyes, remembering his own tears, but his sleeves only came off with red stains. He couldn’t tell how much was tears and how much was his enemy’s blood. Some cathartic relief had come from killing those last groups of bandits, it kept him moving and alive. John couldn’t afford to shut down like he had done there. More shocking sights were in their futures, William knew this to be a certainty.

In a way, all the bodies William had made to this point had desensitized him somewhat. It wasn’t enough to be unfeeling towards what happened, but he could at least brush it aside until any threats were dead. William also knew that they couldn’t linger for ling as either the Elf would get reinforcements, or the flames and smoke would draw the attention of others nearby.

William collected up Sharpie and stored it with Absolution, then following up by sheathing his sword and the Mythril dagger. He approached his friend and kneeled beside John. He put an arm on the man’s shoulder, prompting John to look up at him bearing a face of pure grief. William felt bad for John, but staying there was a death sentence.

“We need to go. Other bandits will be coming and I’m nearly out of Mana. If that Elf comes back, we’re dead.”

“Elf?”

William then realized that John had probably missed his entire fight with the bandits. William had subconsciously looked over at the space the Elf had been stood at. John followed with his own eyes and saw the carnage. The man’s eyes widened then glanced back at William before the gaze returned to the dead woman.

“I get it. We...need to leave. We need to bury them first though,” John said, pointing to the dead mother and child.

William paused and looked at the remains. They didn’t have the time for a burial, but a cremation was still possible. William looked at the flames behind him and saw them still going strong. It would work.

He picked up the mother in a princess carry, walking to the fire. The charred skin felt warm to the touch, but rough and uneven, some remaining oils on the skin made William battle to keep his gorge down. He won that battle quickly and lightly chucked the body onto the fire, ignoring the look of shock on John’s face. He then proceeded to pick up the child. His emotions fought for control. Anger was winning, but horror was a close runner up. In the end, remorse won out. William reached the fire once more and after a long sigh, sent the child to join it’s mother.

William didn’t know of an afterlife, but on this occasion, he really wanted one to exist. They didn’t deserve the fate that William and John gave them. The same was true for the other innocents. Anger resurfaced as he reflected on the disgusting actions of the bandits. Of course no one would raid them if family was held captive. A group that used women and children as meat shields needed to die. Every member. Every collaborator.

John shivered at the scene and wrapped his arms around himself. William put an arm around John, giving him a shoulder as he gestured back in the direction of their home, the direction of Greenwell. John quietly nodded and the two made their way home.

They stopped once to turn around and pay their respects to the fire, the funeral pyre.