Dad didn’t say anything to me as he stomped into the clearing to face down the bandits. I had little doubts about his combat abilities after seeing him fight the drakes, but I was definitely worried If I could even help back him up in such a situation. My best bet would be to stay hidden and fling spells whenever an opening presents itself. Damn! Why didn’t I take a stealth Skill?

Dad must have silently activated a few skills to prepare for a fight because I didn’t even see him when he finally moved. I felt a rush of wind and he blurred into the clearing, Skewering the first man through the throat before they even noticed his approach. The bandit corpse dropping into the dust definitely alerted them though, and as they drew their weapons it was clear they counted on a numbers advantage to fight dad. Daniel wrenched his spear free and I heard the first man’s neck crack around the weapon. The wet pop didn’t seem to effect anyone else, but my stomach lurched.

Each man activated skills as they hefted swords and axes into their hands, some flashes of red and purple lights clearly visible, other skills more passive and nuanced. Dad didn’t give them much time to organize though, and rushed forward again, clashing his spear against the nearest bandit’s ax with a low metallic screech. I hadn’t even seen him move, in the blink of a moment he was atop the man, baring down with all his force and fury. His speed suggests a level of air affinity, but I’ve never been too clear on how elements interplay with physical classes.

Sensing an opening, I fired the [Life Tap] spell I’d been holding and watched as a deep blue bolt of mana soared through the air toward Daniel’s opponent. It flew true and smacked the man clear in the chest as he blocked dad’s attacks. I watched him stumble backward from the impact and felt the vitality surge into me from the spell's draining effect. The impact of the spell alone wasn’t much, but with his focus on defending from Dad it tipped the scales slightly.

I didn’t want to stick around and draw attention to my position, so I took off at a full sprint. I was circling the small clearing and sticking to the undergrowth as well as I could manage, listening to the clangs and clatterings of combat as the bandits fought back against dad five to one. When I finally stopped, breathing shallow in my chest, I looked back into the fray to see the man I’d struck lying on the ground, a deep red spear wound in his neck, slowly seeping the ground around him with crimson mud. Part of me hoped I’d given dad that opening, but part of me doubted I could. I began instantly weaving together a life tap, gasping to catch my breath while I watched dad and the remaining four bandits kicking up sprays of mud in the center of the upturned wagons.

Right as my attention turned back to them dad was locked in a brace with one of the bandits. Another rushed behind him and arced his sword in a viscous uppercut, activating some [Skill] and sending a wave of light shooting right at Daniel’s back.

He dodged out of the way with a graceful sidestep, but to my eyes it appeared almost as if he teleported. The bandit he’d been grappling took the skill head-on with his blade and it bounced, hurling back the way it came. They clearly had some kind of team interplay skills, and even though dad was dodging just fine, it looked like they’d pushed him on the back foot and seized the tempo of the fight.

I couldn’t let that happen, so right before the original caster could bounce the skill again, I finished the [Life Tap] spell and hurled it into his back. He didn’t see the abbysal spell hurling through his blind spot, and it struck true. I waited just long enough to watch his own skill take his left arm off at the shoulder before I started sprinting for a new hiding place. The smell of blood was getting fresher and thicker as I ran, burning the back of my throat with every breath. The freshly disarmed bandit was screaming in shock, though his voice quickly grew quiet. He must have bled out.

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I prayed to any god that would listen for earlier system access, for a way to help my dad without dragging him down. No one answered.

I was being too naive. The crunch of leaves and twigs under my feet faded into a dull throb of my heartbeat. I’d assumed dad wasn’t in any danger, I’d assumed I could protect him. I’d let years of training make me overconfident again. I knew how useless I’d felt without system access the first time, but I’d let myself believe I could change it this time.

I felt lightheaded, my chest tightened and panic was setting in. There were only three bandits left now, and as I slid into cover behind a fallen tree I saw one of the remaining three cut and run in the opposite direction from where I hid. Fleeing from dad and leaving his comrades behind.

My hands shook as I tried to weave another spell, nearly doubling my casting time. Damn it all! I need to get my nerves back under control. Frustration mounting, I glanced back up at the remaining two fighters.

Daniel was facing down two men of almost identical build. They seemed like brothers even from this distance. Each one carried a heavy one-handed ax and a small buckler shield. Clearly not heavy fighters, they danced back and forth to deflect dad’s spear thrusts rather than block them completely.

Each brother covered the other’s openings, but even still, Daniel’s spear left heavy gouges on the steel plating of their shields. Likewise, though they kept landing shallow cuts on his arms whenever he attacked, slicing his clothes and leathers but never quite drawing blood. the fight had become a war of attrition entirely thanks to their numerical advantage and tight coordination.

Hopefully, I could tip the scales in our favor.

I wove together a [Life Tap] in both hands, feeling my normal rush of mana regeneration slow to a trickle as I kept two spellforms primed. I held my breath and steadied myself as much as I could, a nervous shake still permeating my bones. Waiting for a perfect moment to strike, or a faulty step where I could create an opening.

Dad swung his spear in a wide arc in front of him, trying to create some spacing between the fighters. Even at this distance I felt the force of wind it created. One of the bandits jumped over the attack, ax raised high for a downward swing, his speed pausing mid air for a tense moment.

Sensing my chance, I hurled the left spell into the midair marauder while the spell in my right aimed for the feet of his brother on the ground. This would either win us the fight or we’d need a new plan anyway, so I whistled out as sharply as I could, both fingers in my mouth. The signal me and dad used. Thankfully, Daniel could have heard me a mile away with his senses, and he knew exactly what was coming.

The brother in the air tumbled forward as my spell knocked him off balance, rotating dramatically and falling directly onto Dad’s waiting attack. The spear pierced through him effortlessly, letting out a wet snapping sound as it severed his spine. Daniel didn’t wait for our foe to die though, and charged forward anyway, lifting the man with his stat-boosted strength and charging his brother. My second spell hit home just before dad charged, knocking the last fighter off his stride barely enough to create an opening for both brothers to be skewered side by side.

The sound of them choking and sputtering as my dad just stood there catching his breath rattled me more than I expected it to. Their lungs sounded full, and their breathing was wet. I mainly fought monsters in my last life, killing humans was messy.

Dad wrenched his spear loose from their bodies and motioned me over. With a quick check to make sure I was okay, he issued me a new set of orders.

“Let’s get all their bodies piled up here. We’ll search for anything they looted, take what we can carry, and burn the rest. I want to bury these poor folk’s ashes though” Daniel explained, motioning to the pyre of merchants. I turned to leave, and winced as two fast crunching sounds told me Dad finished the fight properly.

For a moment I debated asking to keep some of the bandit’s bones to raise as my first humanoid undead, but with our visit to Alberack still looming I’d have nowhere to hide them, most of them were probably broken now anyway. It would have to wait.

The pressure in my stomach had been building the entire time, and once our enemies were dead some stopper had been released. I curled forward and wretched into the mud. After a moment dad came over and knelt silently next to me, his hand reassuringly placed on my shoulder. He didn’t say a word.