That was the first big event that happened this past year. The other one that happened after we heard about the Band of the Hawk, was how our little group came to be more well known.

~~

Just like we had been doing the past few months prior, we were traveling while taking up jobs. On the way to a town, we happened to stumble across a scene straight out of an isekai novel.

"Protect the lord and lady! Don't let the bandits get through!" yelled what I can only assume is the knight captain.

Yes, that is correct. We happened to stumble across a lord and lady being robbed by bandits while their knightly entourage was fighting to protect them. Like I said, straight out of an isekai.

"Whoa. A lord and lady being robbed? That's straight out of a novel." I said.

"Should we help them?" asked Guts.

"I don't see why not. Besides, if they decide to turn on us after we help them it's not like we'll be in any real danger." said Amelia.

"Agreed. And they might offer high-paying employment if we do save them. Or help us find some employers." added Ciri.

"Okay, then it's settled. We'll help them." I said about to unclip my axe from my back before Guts stopped me.

"I want to do it alone." he said.

"Okay. Can I ask why though?" I said letting go of my axe.

"I've been practicing to create my own breathing form and I want to try some things out with live targets." he said before pulling out his sword.

The sword that Guts was currently wielding was similar to the sword he used in the duel with Griffith. The only difference was that he would add the gravity weights to the sword both for training and for extra power. He didn't want to spend points on getting a sword because he said he was going to wait to meet Godot and get/buy the Dragon Slayer from him.

Speaking of points, we all figured we wouldn't get any during the trip, but we were wrong. It's been 515 days since we arrived and during that time I've managed to get a total of 36,050 points, which is a lot, all things considered, but compared to Ciri, it's sad. Ciri has managed to rack up 46,350 points. On average I get 70, while she gets 90. And I thought I was supposed to be the admin. Not that it really matters since we're pretty much cheating the daily sign-in points.

Anyways, back to Guts. In the time we've been here, he had been training in both the breathing technique and his nen. For the breathing technique, he had gotten pretty close to being able to utilize the Constant version, just a little more training and he'd be good. And he had been attempting to create his own breathing style but was having a slightly tough time. On the Nen front, however, he was able to master the advanced techniques to a basic level.

Once he did, he started to focus on creating his own technique according to the aura type he was which, to no one's surprise, was enhancement. Considering Guts is a very straightforward melee user, none of us were surprised. He hadn't yet decided on a specific direction for his technique so he currently uses it in a very rudimentary way, just increasing his attack and defense.

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But we have given him some ideas. I suggested he do something similar to Naruto's Kyuubi-mode, where he coats himself in Nen in the form of a beast while also training in emission to possibly create sword aura slashes. Very effective overall and gives him some range. Uzui, Ciri, and Yoruichi all suggested he focus on mostly enhancing his speed seeing as he could train his power on his own. Amelia suggested he focus on training his emission more to give him more attack options.

Meanwhile, Guts himself seems to be leaning more towards my suggestion. He wanted to continue to be an up-close and personal fighter with his giant sword, but he knew that having some ranged attack options was always a good idea. But, I digress.

"Okay, go for it." I said.

Guts started walking towards the fight before the knights spotted him.

"You there! Are you a mercenary? We'll hire you on the spot!" said the knight captain blocking a sword strike before killing the bandit.

"Hey kid, mind your business before you get killed. Actually, that sword looks like it's worth something, why don't you leave it here and we'll let you live?" said the man, whom I can only assume, was the bandit leader.

Guts not responding to either of them stopped and took a deep breath in before he got in a stance.

"Looks like he's got some idea at least." said Uzui, seeing his stance.

"Can he even make his own breathing style without being able to use the constant version?" asked Amelia.

"It's definitely not impossible but it's also not easy by any means. But Guts is a different monster altogether." said Uzui.

"Have you seen him practice his style or has he told you anything about it?" I asked.

"He told me the name he was thinking of using for it."

"What is it?" asked Yoruichi, before we overheard Guts.

"Berserk Breathing: First Form - Eviscerate." said Guts before he disappeared from his initial spot and reappeared behind the furthest bandit in his way. In his wake was a trail of bodies either disemboweled or completely cut in half.

Guts turned around to see his handiwork.

"Tch, too much force. I accidentally cut some of them in half. Oh well, that was a good test." he said before looking around noticing that the bandits and the knights had all been staring at him.

"What?"

"A-are you really a m-mercenary?" asked the knight captain, a little frightened at what he had just witnessed Guts do.

"Yeah, I am. I'll help you clean up these bandits. Tell your men to stay out of my way." he said before rushing at the rest of the bandits.

"R-rush him! He's only one boy and he must be tired after what he just did!" yelled the bandit leader pulling out a short bow to try to take potshots at Guts.

"Tch, bandits and their dirty tricks." he said with a smile as he swung his sword in front of him taking out the three bandits rushing him and causing an incoming arrow to miss.

Seeing this the bandit leader was now sure that Guts was a monster in human skin.

"R-retreat! Run away!" he said to no one, seeing as all his companions were dead, before turning to run.

Guts seeing the man about to retreat picked up one of the dead bandit's swords and threw it at the leader, hitting him square in the back.

"Bullseye. Nice work Guts." I said coming up behind him and patting him on the shoulder.

I forgot to mention it but at this point, Guts was around 12 and he was almost my height. I also forgot to mention that in the past year and a half or so, I had grown another 5 inches, making me taller than my dad. I had also grown out a beard that would put any Viking to shame. But again, I digress.

"Thanks. What did you guys think about my breathing style?" he asked before putting his sword behind his back.

"I like the name. A little homage." I said with a wink.

"Yes. Even though that may not be my future, I wanted to pay respect to it for showing me what I'm stopping."

"Yeah, yeah. Destiny and whatnot. That first move of yours was something though." said Uzui putting his arms around Guts' shoulder before pulling him to the side to talk about his style.

"Excuse me?" said a voice.

Turning around we saw the lord and lady that we had just saved.

And looking at the lord, we all knew who it was.

The Count.