Aksel and Theo continued to immerse themselves in conversation. Despite the initial awkwardness that followed their revised introductions, they soon found themselves getting more comfortable in each other’s company. After a while, the roles of bandit and victim simply faded away.

“So, why are you travelling to Treda-Ton anyways?” Theo asked curiously.

“Oh, well, I’m hoping to train to become a knight of the Faith,” Aksel answered honestly.

Theo raised an eyebrow. “You want to become one of those holy warrior things?”

“Well, to tell you the truth, my ultimate goal is to become a fully-fledged hero. The knights provide the best path toward realizing that dream. Their branch was founded by the first divine hero, and they are given a high degree of autonomy. Being able to travel like they do, helping all those in need is what I think I’m meant for. So, that’s what I’m aiming to do.” Aksel explained openly.

Theo, however, burst out laughing at his honest answer, causing Aksel to wrinkle his brow in annoyance.

“Hero? You want to be a hero? Oh, that’s rich! Ha ha ha!” Theo started another laughing fit before continuing. “Fat chance of that ever happening. Do they even have heroes anymore? Don’t the angels take care of everything these days?

“I know,” Aksel begrudgingly agreed. She wasn’t telling him anything he hadn’t already considered, but his heart was still set on becoming a hero all the same.

“I mean, come on, even becoming a knight is out of your reach. You’ll probably get stuck as an initiate scrubbing the toilets. Ha ha ha!”

“Shut up!” Aksel barked, regretting ever speaking about this topic to her.

Note to self: don’t reveal your childhood dreams to strange, half-naked women in caves. Aksel mentally filed that thought away as he decided to ask his own questions.

“Okay, miss ‘I’ve been a bandit for four hours’, it’s your turn then. How does a moron like you end up living in a dump like this? And why are you dressed like… that?” Aksel waved his hands toward her to emphasize his point.

Any laughter Theo had left inside her quickly died as she was reminded of her own recent history. “I haven’t had the best time,” she mumbled, her face becoming weary as she refused to make eye contact again. Aksel stretched out his thumb and pointed it towards the entrance of the cave behind him, where the rain was still coming down as heavy as before.

“Trust me, you have my undivided attention.”

Theo looked at him, as if contemplating her options, before repositioning her sitting posture to a more comfortable one. “So, I was sorta, kinda… kidnapped.”

“Kidnapped?” was all Aksel could say in response. Out of all the reasons he imagined, kidnapping was not one of them.

“I was in Treda-Dale at the time, just doing a bit of shopping. Then, before I knew it, I was jumped by a group of armed men. They blindfolded me and shoved me onto a barge heading east down the Treda.”

“I’m... sorry to hear that.” Aksel felt a little bad about bringing it up, not knowing what she might have had to endure. “Are you okay?”

“Ha! Am I okay? Of course I am,” she confidently declared. “It was only a kidnapping, it’s not like they did anything to me. They even used some quality rope to tie up my hands this time,” she added, appearing oddly happy about that.

“This time?” Aksel repeated those last words.

“Oh yeah, this isn’t exactly new for me, really. You see, my mom’s got a crazy debt to pay off, so they try and use me as leverage from time to time.”

“Your mom’s debt? How much are we talking here?” Aksel asked, curious about what amount could trigger several kidnapping attempts.

“Well, she sort of owes a lot of really sketchy people like ten thousand Gold Halos or something ridiculous like that.”

If Aksel had been drinking at that moment, he would have produced a most remarkable spit-take. His rural mind couldn’t wrap itself around the mind-boggling amount of money her mother owed. A normal loaf of bread in Diton, his home region, was only around three to four Copper Saturns each. A hundred Saturns made a Silver Crown, and a hundred Crowns got you a Gold Halo. If it wasn’t connected to his head, his jaw would have flopped off.

“How?!” he almost shouted, unable to hide his surprise.

“I have no idea,” Theo shrugged. “Bar tabs maybe?”

Did she drink the whole continent under the table?! Aksel thought, knowing that couldn’t possibly be the reason. Yet, Theo acted like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Aksel visibly deflated at her disappointing answer but couldn’t help but wonder.

“And these kidnappers never do anything to you? Most of the time, when you hear about a young girl getting kidnapped, it usually ends with them being sold off as a slave in the far west.”

“Pffft,” Theo waved off that concern. “When I was younger, some kidnappers thought it would be a good idea to cut some of my hair off and send it to my mom as a warning. I don’t think they ever found their bodies.”

“They... They didn’t what?”

“Oh, my mom always comes to rescue me after. She has, like, a sixth sense for this stuff most of the time and usually beats up the kidnappers and takes me back. I bet she’s looking for me right now, in fact.”

Who is this girl’s mom who can casually rescue her daughter from her captors? Aksel wondered. Before he had a chance to inquire further, Theo continued her tale.

“Enough about her; back to my story. Now where was I?” Theo took a moment to collect herself before continuing, “Oh yeah. So, there I was, on a barge somewhere on the river, when a crew called the ‘Gold Waters’ showed up, who I think were pirates or something. Anyway, they had this big boat of their own, boarded us, and started fighting the kidnappers. One of them stormed into my private cell and said, ‘Come with me if you want to live!’ or something like that, and he took me onto the deck of the ship where all his friends were cheering over the tied-up kidnappers. They told me we were all going to have a lot of fun back on their ship, but when they took me over there, the kidnappers’ ship exploded!”

“Exploded?” Aksel questioned, the pace of Theo’s storytelling really leaving a lot to be desired.

“Yeah, I think I heard one of them say it was a ‘failsafe’ or something. Anyway, I was flung into the water and had to swim to the shore. Then I got lost in the forest for a long time, found the road, decided to hide out for a few more days, lost my clothes, and finally, I found this cave.”

“No, sorry.” Aksel interrupted, waving his hand dismissively, “You can’t skip the part where you lost your clothes.”

“Oh, um…” Theo stuttered, her face turning a familiar shade of red as she quickly avoided all eye contact with Aksel yet again, her index fingers touching and untouching repeatedly in front of her.

“I was taking a bath in a nearby stream… and… well, something made off with them.” She admitted, embarrassed.

“Something?” Aksel inquired.

“I don’t know what it was! I was bathing at the time! It doesn’t matter anyway because I found this cave, and there were some clothes in here.”

“There were clothes. In a cave. In the forest?”

“Well, they were in a small chest that was lying around. I think this place belonged to another bandit at some point.”

“But you’re using a hole in the ground to hide your money,” Aksel pointed out.

“That’s because I burnt the chest last night for warmth when I couldn’t get the wood from the forest to light,” she explained.

Aksel looked at the burnt-out firepit and managed to spot a few charred bits of metal poking out of the blackened mess.

I’m honestly just surprised she knew how to start a fire, he thought to himself, before answering with a far more polite, “I see.”

“Then I woke up this morning and decided I was going to get away from my mother’s debt and start my new life as a bandit.”

“And why is that?” Aksel queried the leap in logic.

“Huh?”

“Why a bandit?” he repeated his question.

“Because! They live free lives! No debts! No responsibilities! Where the weak die and the strong prosper! Bandits live the easy life, and I want a piece of it,” Theo said, her eyes shining with admiration for the otherwise reviled profession. Aksel, however, couldn’t understand how she came to such a bizarre conclusion.

“You really shouldn’t be a bandit; you’ll get yourself killed,” he told her, a moderate amount of concern showing in his voice.

“Ha! Like anyone can hope to match Faithless Theo of the Black Surcoats in combat!” she boasted.

“What about me?” Aksel asked, waiting for her reaction.

“Oh please, I was only trying to rob you, not actually fight you. I’d have totally kicked your butt otherwise,” Theo explained with an undeserved level of confidence. “Besides, we already agreed that none of that happened, remember?”

Where do you get off thinking you’re some great fighter all of a sudden?

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“You’re still going to get yourself killed,” Aksel told her, totally unconvinced of her skill.

“Oh yeah? Well, I think a wannabe hero like yourself is going to die much faster than me!” Theo retorted.

“You’re literally going to get stabbed by the first traveller with a knife,” Aksel informed her, still banking on his twelve-hour bet.

“And you’re going to get eaten by sewer rats on your first quest—if you even make it that far!” Theo countered.

“Oh yeah?” Aksel, amused, stood up.

“Yeah.” Theo followed suit; a look of determination on her face that could only be driven by the need to prove someone wrong.

“Fine, why don’t we test your little theory then?” Aksel proposed, with a slight grin.

“Hey, if you’re planning to start throwing punches, I’m kicking you out of here.”

“Nothing like that. I’m thinking more along the lines of a friendly spar?

“A spar?

“Why not? The rain doesn’t look like it’s going to give up any time soon, so why don’t we see who’d really die first.”

“Heh, you’re on. I could take you with one arm tied behind my back,” Theo continued, boasting of her combat prowess.

“In that case, since you’re so confident, how about we make this more interesting?”

“Go on,” she urged him.

“How about, if I win, you give up on being a bandit? After all, if you can’t beat a simple wannabe hero, then surely the bandit life is not for you,” Aksel proposed.

She’s not a bad person, just horribly naïve. Maybe I can save her from herself, he thought to himself.

“You know what, sure. I accept.” Theo told the aspiring hero.

“Great—”

“If you also agree that if I win, you have to give up on being a hero,” Theo countered, with a prideful grin, leaving Aksel a little befuddled.

“Why would I—”

“Ha! Not so confident when it’s your future on the line, are you? Don’t worry though, play your cards right, and I might offer you a job as my personal butler when you lose,” she waved off his non-existent concerns. A vein almost popped on Aksel’s head as he returned an annoyed grin.

“Those terms are fine by me. In fact, I’ll even drag you along with me to become a knight if I win,” he added, taking his idea one step further.

“Ha! That’ll be the day when Faithless Theo joins the faith. You’re on!” Theo agreed, once again pointing at Aksel in an overly dramatic fashion.

After a quick discussion, and a short excursion into the rain, both combatants returned with battle ready branches.

Aksel’s weapon of choice was a long, thickish branch that he gripped like a longsword in both hands.

Theo meanwhile had selected a shorter, but thicker branch as her weapon of choice, closer to the length of a short sword, which she held in her right hand.

Looks like I have the range advantage, Aksel thought confidently, happy to have spent the extra minutes in the rain to find such a perfect weapon.

“Okay, ready? Remember, it’s to first blood or, well, the first to be hit by your weapon.”

“Heh, ready,” Theo replied, already looking as though she had won.

“Okay then, go!”

With that, the fight began.

Or did it?

“W-Well, are you going to attack or what?” Theo demanded, a slight nervousness in her voice as she remained in place.

“I could ask you the same thing. What happened to all that bravado from before?” Aksel countered, hiding his anxiety far better as he also refused to budge.

“S-shut up. I’m just powering up,” she stated with a straight face.

“Oh yeah, well same here,” he, for some reason, joined in.

Despite years of simulating epic battles in his head, in truth, Aksel had very little combat experience. In fact, it would be fair to say he didn’t have any. Growing up the son of a shopkeeper, he spent his adolescence fawning over the stories of great heroes and angels that passed through the store, but never received a chance to have a real battle. His village, despite being in the resettlement region, never saw a single dungeon-kin attack, or bandit raid, or anything. It was a simple, peaceful existence.

It was only when the dream of becoming a hero began to solidify in his mind that he took to training himself. He’d jog around the village as part of a morning routine, train with his curious younger brother and sister using the broken handle of the broom stick he was meant to have thrown away, and even felled a few trees under Mr Hacker’s supervision. His efforts hadn’t yielded much, but he was confident he could move quickly and swing fairly hard on command.

Apart from the obvious differences between men and women, Theo’s physique wasn’t that dissimilar, he supposed. There wasn’t much fat on her, but not much muscle either. She looked like an average girl from an average village who wasn’t subjected to backbreaking labour. In short, Aksel was confident he could take her… probably.

Why is she so confident she can win though? Aksel couldn’t help but wonder. Perhaps she was more skilled than she was letting on after years of being kidnapped. But then again, she is still being kidnapped. Regardless, given the rules, she didn’t even have to be good; she just had to be better than Aksel for a second or two.

Suddenly, Aksel was snapped back to reality as Theo committed to a blind charge straight toward him, giving her best battle cry that echoed throughout the cave. Aksel panicked, readying himself the best he could for the incoming attack. His mind felt like it was working overtime to calculate a route to victory before she reached him. All his worries amounted to nothing, however, as Theo suddenly found herself attending an emergency meeting with the ground, with gravity providing her first-class transportation. Barely saving her face from smacking against the cold stone floor, Theo looked up, and—

*Bonk*

She was lightly tapped on the head by a stick.

“You doing okay there?” Aksel asked jovially, reaching out a helping hand.

“Stop looking so damn happy! You cheated!” Theo shouted, refusing the hand and quickly getting to her feet.

“Cheated? Last I checked, that raggedy old blanket was yours,” he pointed to the cause of Theo’s literal downfall. “It’s not my fault you didn’t look where you were going. Maybe this is a sign. That means you lost the bet, so no more banditry for you. We’ll have to get you measured for your initiation robes too,” it was his turn to act smug.

“Huh? That doesn’t count! I demand a rematch!” Theo exclaimed, looking as though she might start stamping her feet in frustration.

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t get to say that to the guy who just opened up your skull,” Aksel quipped. “Come on, you agreed, so that means you can give up on this stupid idea of yours.”

“Oh that’s rich coming from a guy who wants to be a hero. Now, come on!” Theo retook her combat stance, ignoring the conditions of the bet. Aksel shrugged and decided to play along.

I guess I’ll just have to win so many times that she’ll never want to be a bandit again. Who knows, if I hit her hard enough, I might get Faithful Theo instead. Aksel almost laughed at his own joke.

After kicking the obstacle out of the way, Aksel prepared himself for the next round. He felt far more confident after seeing Theo’s feeble attempt last time. When the signal was given, Aksel took the initiative and surged forward. Gripping his branch, he went for an over the shoulder swing, hoping to bop her on the head and achieve a quick victory. It was only too late that he noticed something: Theo was smiling.

Before he could close the distance, she drew something from behind her back, wound it up—

“Throwing knife!”

—and threw it at Aksel’s chest. The object stung slightly as it impacted against him, before it bounced off and fell to the ground when it failed to penetrate his skin. He looked down to see what she had thrown at him, only to discover it was another stick—a very thin, barely longer than his hand sized stick. He must have missed it when she fell over before, though he can’t say he was looking in that area for other weapons when it happened. Utterly confused, he turned his gaze to Theo, who stood there triumphantly. Her chest was puffed out with such an overwhelming aura of smugness that you’d think she somehow outsmarted The First himself.

“Excuse me?” Aksel finally questioned what was going on.

“Throwing knife. You’re dead now,” Theo replied matter-of-factly.

“What do you mean, throwing knife? There are no throwing knives,” Aksel argued. At no point had they suggested throwing knives were an option, so this was clearly something she made up herself.

“Well, there are, because one is sticking out of your chest right now.”

“It’s literally on the floor,” he pointed at the damp twig by his feet.

“Throwing knife!” Theo shouted as she threw another similarly sized stick at Aksel. Once again, he was hit in the chest before he could react, and it joined its brethren on the ground. “Now you’re double dead.”

“There are no throwing knives!” Aksel reiterated his argument.

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t get the chance to say that to the person who just stuck two throwing knives in your chest,” Theo’s imitation of Aksel was both insulting and inaccurate as she grinned from ear to ear. “Just so you know, I like eggs with my morning breakfast.”

There was little point in arguing, so Aksel reluctantly accepted this new addition to the sparring match. “Fine, you got me. Let’s do it again already,” Aksel said, preparing for another round.

“Heh heh, alright,” she agreed, her ego boosted to the moons. This time, however, Aksel knew what he had to do. Before the match started, he strategically placed himself within one stride of his opponent. Of course, Theo noticed this and complained, but was swiftly rebuffed by Aksel, who reasoned that fights can start at any distance. Theo wasn’t pleased, and likely would have kicked up more of a fuss if she wasn’t riding the high of her previous victory. Instead, she adjusted her position to give herself plenty of room to retreat.

When the metaphorical bell rang, the two opponents clashed their discarded branches together with a questionable level of epicness. Aksel wasn’t a sword master, or even a competent fighter, but he knew one strategy that always worked on his younger siblings.

Maximum attack speed! Aksel mentally activated his secret technique. Suddenly, his arms were like a blur of movement, striking Theo from multiple directions at once—probably. The onslaught forced the bandit on the backfoot.

“Wha— Hey, slow down!” Theo called out, barely able to fend off his relentless assault. In reality, Aksel’s ultimate ability wasn’t anything special. He had simply learned he could beat his siblings easily by moving so fast they eventually let one of his strikes through their guard—an experience he employed here.

“Sure, just say you’ll give up being a bandit.”

“Never!” Theo roared back, though the situation was growing dire. Now unable to draw her throwing sticks, she was quickly running out of cave to retreat into. With the back wall quickly approaching, she prepared one final ditch effort to turn this duel around.

With a parry, she bought herself enough time between Aksel’s next strike to leap backwards, attempting to create the distance she needed to reach for her “throwing knives.” The mini stalagmite protruding from the ground had other plans, however. Catching her foot on the protrusion, she lost her balance and fell hard on her back into a bed of moss, trapping the arm that was reaching for her extra weapons behind her.

Unfortunately for her, the moss she landed on was no ordinary plant.

Reacting to the stimulus of being touched, the once docile moss began sprouting its small stems and tendrils, wrapping around its victim’s body.

“W-W-What the hell is this!?” Theo panicked, struggling to free herself but was unable to find the leverage to get up off her back. “Aksel, help! This thing is trying to eat me!”

“You’re kidding me, is that dungeon-kin moss?” Aksel questioned, a curiosity overtaking him where concern for his opponent was absent. “I think it might actually be a bed of grasping moss, or was it holding moss?”

“I don’t care! Help me already, I don’t want to be eaten!” Theo panicked more as the moss continued to try and wrap itself around her. Though it only had short, thin stems at its disposal that couldn’t possibly wrap around her completely, they still had enough power behind them to keep her in place.

“Don’t worry, the only thing these types of plants were designed to do is to slow adventurers down when they go through their dungeons—or hold them long enough for a more dangerous creature to come by and take care of them. Fun fact, since they only live on water now, they usually take it from their victims’ bodies. It’s actually a great way to get dry,” Aksel said, spouting his trivia worthy knowledge of the dungeon monster for Theo to hear. Just as he explained, the moss was drying off the rain and sweat present on her body, but it turned out she wasn’t interested in the plant’s benefits.

“I don’t care about that, just get me out of here already!” She demanded.

With a final chuckle at her predicament, Aksel extended his hand to help her escape. This time, Theo readily accepted his help, and he soon pulled her free from her captor. The moss attempted to keep her, but yielded when it realized the battle was lost.

“You took your time! What, were you enjoying the show or something!?” Theo accused.

“It was pretty funny actually,” Aksel admitted, a smug look on his face. “Besides, it’s not like it would have held you forever, they do let go eventually.”

Theo gritted her teeth and stomped on the moss out of frustration—and to get a bit of revenge. The moss however, sensing contact once more, wrapped around her boot and refused to let go.

“Wha— Not again!” Theo exclaimed, somehow shocked this had happened to her twice.

“By the way, they were also known for stealing adventurer’s boots, so be careful,” Aksel warned in an amused tone, pointing to the stems wrapping themselves around her boot with every passing second.

Theo pulled against it with more of her strength, almost beating out the moss, when her foot came loose from the boot instead, and she flew back into Aksel.

“I told you,” he remarked, as they watched the moss slowly move its tendrils inside the boot, steadily positioning it further out of reach.

“Damn it, give me back my boot!” Theo shouted, as the clash between man and moss entered its second round.