The next day started early after a brief discussion with his master about the caravan’s destination.
“So you knew where they were going….”
“Do you think this meeting happened by chance? I made sure we made it quite a bit North of the city before we were found. The only place along the way is the place where we are headed.”
“How did you get all this information?”
“It was a request posted in the mercenary union. I made sure to take a look at it after we arrived. Why do you think we had to leave in 2 days?”
Kyrion began to question everything done by his master over the year. “I feel like I’ve been a puppet on your strings. Is your name really Master Gan?”
“No it isn’t though I would like to keep that a secret for a bit longer. My name is a dangerous one to know.”
“Uh huh…” Kyrion looked at his master questioningly. “They did mention taking me there but leavinging you behind if you were a serious danger to me. Would that work?”
“Hmmmm… I could die on command and meet you in the city in my real form. Well the one you know as my real form.” Master Gan told him. “Gives me time to do a few things over there anyway.”
“Then I’d be left to fend for myself….”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head, the captain here is strong. Also this experience should do you some good.”
“What do you even mean by die on command?” Kyrion asked the old-looking teacher.
“You’ll only be mortified, don’t worry.” Master Gan went towards his carriage.
Kyrion waited a minute before returning to his carriage with Tiffany and her dad.
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The next half of the trip was quick and peaceful, at least until they found a marauder on horseback. He carried a long halberd in one hand, his steed equally intimidating. Upon making contact with the group, he fled instantly.
The captain opened the door, “Looks like they’re planning an ambush. I’ll have everyone get ready, that man was at least practitioner level, if there are any more like them then it may be a troublesome battle. We may need your master to assist, kid.”
“I see.” Kyrion felt the vibrations in the ground as they traveled. “Feels like a stampede is coming. As though someone is leading a large number of heavy creatures. To the right, though it may be a while before we make contact.”
“How do you know this?”
“Cattle drives happen every now and then though normally the cattle come from our village. I know the feeling in the ground enough to know when one’s nearby.”
“Right…” The captain closed the door, and the carriages continued forward.
“Are we going to be alright?” Tiffany asked.
“I hope so.” Kyrion muttered to himself
The guards prepared for an ambush as they continued forward, spreading out to defend the front of the caravans while a few guarded the sides. As they waded forward, the first volley of arrows came. Oddly all of them missed the mark as the groups made contact.
These bandits didn’t talk like the first ones he saw, but they were by far a much larger force, albeit their strength seemed to be more number-based than power-based.
The guards quickly cut swaths into the bandit force. As they advanced past the enemy lines, blood and corpses fell everywhere. That was when the actual battle began. The man on horseback passed through a group of guards, his weapon slaying three on impact. He left the group and began to gather momentum as he was engaged by the guard captain, wielding a sword and shield.
The captain killed the horse with a thrust forcing the rider down, and the rider fell down. The captain stabbed down at the prone rider, but he rolled out of the way, quickly getting to his feet. The two exchanged many blows, and the two seemed to be on equal grounds when the rider threw sand into the captain’s eyes and sent a thrust aimed at the man’s stomach.
There was a dripping sound as a stomach was pierced, albeit it was Master Gan’s. The old man took the blow meant for the captain and stabbed a curved knife into the rider’s throat. Blood flowed from them in pools as they both seemed to die.
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As the guards began to clean up the remaining bandits, a pack of six rhinos led by a mounted archer was headed into the group of caravans. A few guards ran to intercept, but three more died getting there, and the rest could barely slow the charge, killing one of the six rhinos and wounding another. Unfortunately, the captain was too far to help, and most of the carriages were overturned.”
Kyrion and the others in his carriage flew as the carriage rolled down a slope, and the vehicle was smashed to smithereens.
Adrian Belfour lay crushed by some debris but still alive, while Tiffany lay unconscious nearby.
“Take my daughter and run. You have so much left to live for. Go!” Adrian told the boy.
Kyrion didn’t listen and began moving the crushing debris with practiced ease. Removing Adrian from the mess while revealing that his leg had been broken in the crash.
“Damn it!” If Kyrion had his powers, then fixing that could have been easy.
He picked up the older man, put him on one shoulder, and then put Tiffany on the other.
Adrian watched as the much smaller boy lifted them with practiced ease. “Can you even move like this?”
“Would ya’ll believe me if I told you that you’re light?” Kyrion sprinted at high speeds away from the battlefield and into the woods.
The fighting continued for a while, but Kyrion knew he would have to begin work on the man’s leg to avoid infection along with setting it. He did so with a surgeon’s precision and had the man’s leg prepped and wrapped in a manner of seconds.
Kyrion checked on Tiffany again and saw a bruise on her head. He disinfected it and had it wrapped quickly. He then held her head in one hand as he used some smelling salts to wake her up.
“What! Where!” She shot up.
Adrian watched as his daughter was woken up. He turned his head towards Kyrion. “What are you?”
“I had some training in healing. You should be fine should we make it out of this alive.”
Tiffany seemed to calm down.” What happened?”
“We were hit by some beast with a horn on its nose. I have no idea what it’s called.”
“A rhino, looks like the archer was commanding them. This isn’t going like I expected, there shouldn’t be bandits out this far.”
After an hour of waiting, the battle seemed to end. As the carriages that could be seen were being reorganized. Kyrion carried Adrian back towards the caravan slowly so that if they saw something off along the way, they could flee. Luckily for them, the captain had managed to put down the remaining foes.
Kyrion went into his pack for supplies and helped pack up those who had sustained injuries. He, however, was unable to treat anything significant, and some guards were put down as an act of mercy.
Kyrion was disgusted by the amount of life lost over things he didn’t understand. “Is this what a battlefield looks like during a war?”
“No. This is similar but they can get worse. Good job getting the boss out of here. The others wouldn’t want to have died for nothing. I’m sorry about your master If I was strong enough then he wouldn’t have died saving me. He had a good heart.”
“I’m sure he did.” Kyrion grits his teeth. He knew his master was strong. If he wanted to, no one would have died here, and they wouldn’t have been injured. He thought to himself as the group managed to leave.
“This was on his body.” The man handed him a note that was on Master Gan’s corpse.
“To Kyrion, should I pass. Where to go next.” Kyrion recognized this magic and saw the world around him shift into another scene.
Kyrion saw his master standing over a cliff, looking down the edge of a cane stuck next to him. The man stood in place as the content of the message was given to him directly.
“Kyrion there were a few traitors among the guardsmen that we were traveling with. They made contact with the supposed Black Marauders, a rival mercenary group. I had them tailed and decided it would be best to get rid of them when we made contact with the enemy. Those who died today were either a traitor, bandit, or me. Well you know the truth, there is a lady in the sect who goes by Suzen, tell her the following secret code, forty-five, thirty two, forty-four. Memorize it, these numbers will be very important to you.”
The transmission and the only thing left in the letter were the three numbers. “Must be some sort of lock code….”
“I see… What else could three back to back numbers even mean.” Tiffany looked at the note as well.
“We’ll get you to the city free of charge, you lost someone as well and I don’t feel right taking your money after you saved our lives.” Adrian told Kyrion.
Kyrion examined the guards that died and looked for an identifier, and saw that each one of them had painted a black mark on their helmets, in a place you’d need to know about to notice.
The Carriages had their goods consolidated, and those who couldn’t walk took up a majority of the seats. While the rest were cycled for those, who needed to rest. Kyrion himself gave up his seat to walk a bit more. It was easier to keep an eye on the injured since he was already moving about.
The day ended with no complications as Kyrion watched the sunset. Two more days until they arrived.
Kyrion watched the twin moves rise in the sky as they prepared to camp. Kyrion decided to use some of his equipment today so that the carriage it was on would be somewhat lighter. Though most of the equipment was rations when he thought about it.
Tiffany approached Kyrion again. “You’re strong.” She told him.
“I trained to get this strong on a farm.”
“No, I mean in here.” She pointed towards her heart.
“What do you mean?”
“Your master died yet you haven’t cried once. When you could have left us and saved yourself, you made sure that we both got out alive.”
“Oh that. My body moved on its own. Wish I could say I thought it through. It’s just, I can’t leave people to die if it’s in my ability to try to help. Does that make sense?”
“So you’re strong for the sake of others.” Tiffany started to think.
“I want to get stronger so that I don’t lose anyone close to me. But, I think it’s selfish… This world is too bloody for that.” Kyrion looked down into his clenched fist.
“I made up my mind. I want to become strong like you. Will you help me with this?”
“I mean, I don’t think I’m fit to teach anyone. I’m younger than you remember?”
“Yet you were much more useful today than I was.” Tiffany looked at him with a resolute expression.
“There are many paths to power, the one you take must be the one you believe in,” Kyrion recalled some knowledge given to him by his father before gaining his spirits.
“What does that mean?” Tiffany asked.
Kyrion smiled. “Something my father said before I left home. Haven’t figured it out yet.”
“I see… So is that a yes or a no?”
“I’ll help you train but I don’t think I’ll be going to Gabon.”
“Where are you going then. I’m supposed to meet someone in Drisil after I get strong enough to attend.”
“Haven’t heard of Drisil ….”
“Drisil , and they are a bit selective about their students though only experts are considered graduates.”
“Sounds hard. Do you think they’d let someone like me in?”
“Maybe, you’ll have to get really strong.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Kyrion thought about things for a bit and decided that it would be for the best if he hid how strong he was after his powers returned. Also, it would be better if she got stronger without him as a goal since he was four ranks above her.