Serah and Nickie stayed in Sapphire City for a while, waiting for a caravan to go to Redriver City. As they waited, Serah took a few low-risk adventuring jobs, to get Nickie into the swing of things. As Nickie, slowly leveled up, Serah asked her to save her skill points and wait until they could enter the College of Mages. Serah wasn't quite sure as the best way to use those skill points, but Nickie would have a better idea when she entered the college.

Serah and Nickie had met the young man from the bar, a few more times during their stay, but he always made sure to stay a fair distance away, occasionally blushing when Serah glanced his way and smiled. Serah didn’t want to focus on it but Nickie could see it from a mile away; the little boy was enamored with Serah. As for why, the reason was the same for any man.

Serah simply wished to ignore it; she would be off to Redriver City soon, so she didn’t mind if her memory lived on in the boy’s mind. But she very much didn’t want anything to do with opening the boy’s eyes to a new and magical world; that job was better left to people with more ill-intent. Unfortunately, it seems the young man could sense Serah’s good will, and like a moth drawn to a flame, he was gathering the courage to approach. Also unfortunate, is the fact that Serah had no intention of standing on that pedestal, and would sooner ruthlessly strike down at the young man’s hopes then pretend to be a fictional person from a boy’s wet dreams.

But, it had not yet gotten to that point, so for the moment, Serah was content to keep things peaceful.

…

…

It wasn’t long before Serah and Nickie were on the road once again, but as Serah looks on at the adventurers guarding the caravan, her brows couldn’t help but furrow. This isn’t good… These guys kind of seem like trash… She thought as she observes the nearby adventurer’s gear and their gait.

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Serah nudges Nickie’s shoulder. “Hey, if anything happens, just run, and keep your tracking bracelet on; if we get separated, I’ll find you.” She says with a serious face.

Nickie’s eyes widen. “Why? What’s wrong?” She asks, not sure what the problem was.

“It’s nothing. Come on, let’s get to the center of the caravan.” Serah says as she grabs Nickie’s hand and leads the way forward.

…

…

The caravan traveled most of the way without much issue. Other then a few monsters, their journey had been fairly safe, and Serah’s worries seemed unfounded.

But while they were on the finish line, they were ruthlessly attacked by some experienced bandits. They cut into the inexperienced adventurers like butter, unhindered by their low level fighting ability.

Nickie immediately ran for it, followed by Shadow, while Serah jumped into the fray. If she could salvage the situation and repel the bandits, she would consider it an achievement.

Amongst the frail guards, Serah stood out as she slaughtered her way through the bandits, drawing attention from more bandits. Eventually, everyone on the battlefield noticed her. The inexperienced adventurers rallied to her location and the bandits focused a group effort on taking her down.

“Just defend! Hold on and focus on keeping your life!” Serah calls out to the other guards. The longer the other adventurers could defend, the easier it would be for Serah. If more of them continued to fall, Serah would have no choice but to abandon the caravan.

“Defend!” A voice calls out, echoing Serah’s command.

“Defend!” Another voice calls out.

As the other guards continued to hold on, Serah slowly but surely processed the other bandits.

But the bandits, seeing such a juicy piece of meat, with such frail guards, just couldn’t let go. They continued to press forward, hoping that this bitter defence would eventually falter.

Serah simply smiles as she sees their intention. Fine. If that’s how you want to play it, I’m more than willing to see who the last person standing will be. She thinks as she puts two skill points into Mana Container and begins to continuously gather mana in between bouts of fighting.

…

…

Serah cuts her blade into the last bandit’s neck as she lets out breath after heavy breath. She was tired and bleeding all over, but as she looks at her work, at all the carnage and the bandit corpses that littered the ground, she smiles.

Serah looks to the remaining guards, impressed. Quite a few of them survived.

“Good job you bunch of green turds! You survived!” Serah yells, offering an edged praise.

Unfortunately, the young adventurers were in no mood to celebrate. They lost several friends through the struggle, and when they looked around at all the bodies on the ground, their stomachs grew queasy and a few of them threw up.

Serah waves a hand dismissively, not caring too much, before walking away. She had to find Nickie. She was sorely in need of some love after that fight.