“Yer valuables, or yer life!” the bandit cried, pointing his sword at Azrael and James.
The two of them had left the village as soon as they could, taking only the bare traveling essentials. Alena had wanted to come along, as had a few villagers, but Azrael had refused. They were now probably still fixing the aftermaths of the fire.
As for the two for them, he and James had been making good time along the route he and Sophie had taken seemingly a lifetime ago. They had avoided the scorched plains, travelling through the forest. Occasionally they would have to either make a detour, or charge through flame covered forest. This happened often enough that Azrael gained another two levels in one of his newest Skills – [Heat Resistance] He had earnt one skill and two resistances to be exact, during the fight against the wildfire.
His [Heat Resistance] was currently at level 13, its level having skyrocketed after a night fighting the forest fire. It was still nowhere near the 21 levels in [Heat Resistance] that James had shown on his Status. How he had gotten his that high was a mystery to Azrael. Azrael’s [Fire Resistance], however, had passed James’, sitting at level 7. Both of James’ resistance had probably grown during the fire though, so he was probably still behind.
That being said, his most important gain was neither of those two. Amidst the chaos of the night, with barely any mana, Azrael had been forced to stretch the limits of what he thought possible with magic, uniting his own mana pool with the mana around him.
[Mana Mastery]
Many learn magic, few master it.
You are able to use all forms of mana.
[Mana Mastery] had replaced both [Mana Manipulation] and [Mana Control] in his [Status], uniting the two of them into something greater. The levels from both skills had been subsumed into [Mana Mastery], but [Mana Mastery]’s level only reached 5. The Skill’s low level, as well as its lackluster description might have disappointed some, but Azrael could feel the Skill’s potential.
“I SAID YER VALUABLES, OR YER LIFE!!”
The shouting voice broke Azrael out of his musings. He’d sort of dismissed the bandit, expecting James to take care of it. Two more bandits stood behind their leader uncertain. Azrael turned to James, finding the big man deep in consideration.
“You not going to take care of it?”
“I’m trying to decided.”
“Pardon?”
“Does my sword count as a valuable?”
“I don’t know? Probably?”
Azrael watched the big man, unsure why he wasn’t just swinging his sword at them. That’s how he’d dealt with the last “bandit” that they had come across. One menacing swing of the sword and the lone highway robber had scampered back into the forest.
Azrael looked behind them, the long trail of dirt road carving through the trees – back the way they had come. Obviously, the countless caravans of travelling users that he and James had seen crossing the plains had passed this way – if the deep ruts in the ground were anything to go by. Azrael wasn’t sure why they were all heading this way, but he thought he had a suspicion. At least the road made it easier to travel.
Azrael looked up, finding the bandit leader practically pulling his hair out in frustration, as James continued his musings. He was however, too afraid to actually attack the big man. To be fair, James did make a pretty imposing sight.
In the end James figured out how to resolve his dilemma.
“Do you want the sword?” he asked the bandit.
“Yes. YES. Yes!”
At this point the bandit leader was almost at a breaking point. Azrael doubted that anyone had humiliated this man as badly as James. Not only was James not cowering, he was barely even paying attention to the man, or the sword pointed at his face.
James nodded, lifting his sword, as if to give it to the man. Then, after a brief moment of reconsideration he casually threw it. The sword travelled a casual arc in the air, belying its enormous weight. The bandit leader realised far too late and didn’t even have enough time to turn to flee, before the mass of metal smashed into him. Sword and man both went down and Azrael heard a sickening crunch.
The remaining two bandits drew their weapon, pointing them at James.
James shrugged, the very picture of innocence.
“He asked for it.”
A moment later his coin pouch went sailing through the air, striking one of the remaining bandits. The man went down without a sound, the pouch letting out a muffled jingle when it landed.
Realising that he was completely outmatched, the remaining bandit began to run. James checked his body, trying to find something else valuable. When he didn’t he turned to Azrael with a big grin and a twinkle in his eye. Azrael learnt just how quickly the big man could move, again, when he was picked up and thrown at the final bandit.
“Yeet!” James yelled, with a maniacal laugh.
Azrael flailed in mid air, briefly managing an awkward flip, which allowed him to springboard off the final bandit’s face. The man went down, Azrael landing softly beside him. Azrael turned and glared at James.
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“What was that for?”
“He asked for my valuables!”
“I’m not some object you can just throw around!”
“But you’re valuable to me.”
“Never again.” Azrael stated, turning away, “Or I might just aim for your valuables next time.”
Leaving James to pick up his sword and coin pouch Azrael briefly pulsed [Search]. There were no more bandits around, but he did score a few coins hidden in the closest bandit’s clothes. James had already rifled through and looted the other two with a professional ease. A pickpocketing warrior and a magic casting rogue. Quite the duo.
- ) 0 ( -
“Halt! Leave your valuables, if you value your life!” the bandit cried, his axe levelled at the two. Behind him stood a further three bandits.
Azrael refrained from pinching the bridge of his nose. This was the third? Fourth? bandit group they’d encountered on their trip and the line was getting old. Was there a book on bandit lines somewhere, or were they all so unoriginal for a reason?
Azrael had to give this bandit credit though, as he cast [Search]. Unlike the previous louts, this guy and his crew actually had the [Bandit] class, meaning the system rated them as successful enough to qualify for the class. They had also managed to secure a good spot – namely the ravine, where Sophie had fallen.
The little goat track had been reinforced and expanded by passing players, becoming wide enough for a wagon to comfortably pass along. On one side was the steep cliff and on the other the deep ravine with the torrent of snow melt. Unless a player could fly, they were practically trapped. Escape back down wasn’t an option either. [Search] alerted him to four archers hidden in the cliff above them. It seemed Azrael found the reason why the system had given them the [Bandit] class. They were well prepared. It seemed this wasn’t their first rodeo.
James levelled his sword at the bandit.
“Counteroffer. Your valuables or your life.”
Azrael actually had to stifle a laugh at the bandit’s momentarily confused face. So far James had found a different way to mess with each bandit group, right before their imminent defeat.
Azrael figured that James had this group of bandits well in hand and turned his effort to spreading his mana up the cliff walls, towards the hidden archers.
In the meantime, the bandit leader somehow managed to regain his confidence. He swung his axe casually, letting everyone hear it whistle as it cleanly cleaved through the air.
“Now now. That’s not how things work around here.” He smirked.
Azrael guessed that his confidence probably stemmed from the fact that if James were to make a move, then the archers would back him up instantly – riddling the big man with arrows. None of the bandit were aware that James could probably squash them flatter than a pancake, before any of them could react – that and the fact that Azrael’s tendrils of mana had already reached the archers, sealing their defeat.
James lowered his sword, seemingly resigned, resting the sword’s tip against the ground.
“I see. It seems you will not hand over your valuables to me.”
“Smart lad. Now, I’m a man of my word, so if you hope to make it out of here alive, I’d advise handing over your valuables.”
James looked at the man solemnly.
“There is no hope, no light, no life. The end has come.”
Azrael took his que, turning the stone beneath the archers into quicksand, before resolidifying it. As one the archer gave cries of alarm, drawing the bandit’s gazes upwards. They never noticed the tendrils of frost spiderwebbing their way between the two parties. Within a moment the bandits and the hidden archers found themselves trapped within ice and stone, respectively.
Azrael looked at James with a critical eye.
“Wouldn’t it be faster to just sweep them off the cliff? Why play games? You’re strong enough to beat them all in a flash any ways.”
James, in true James fashion looked suitably horrified at the though.
“No, no, no. You don’t understand. It’s exactly because I can that I don’t. Where is the fun in that? That’s like gambling and always knowing the winning numbers, or going to fight this dragon knowing that we’re going to win. There’s no fun, no… suspense.”
“Yeah, well you’re wasting time we could be using to go kill this dragon.”
James just looked at Azrael blankly, before sullenly trudging forward and sweeping his sword one handed across the path. Hit with the flat of the blade, all four bandits were smashed out of their frozen coccons. They fell into the ravine, to the sound of screaming and tinkling ice.
Azrael leant over the edge, the bandits having vanished into the torrent of rushing water. It brought back a memory, of almost this exact view. For the first time in a while, he thought of Sophie again. He wondered what she was doing now.
“Happy?” James asked, not turning around.
“I thought you wanted their valuables?” Azrael asked.
“I said ‘their valuables or their life’. They kept their valuables and if they’re lucky their life. I’m a man of my word. Besides, you’ve taken all the fun out of it anyway.”
Azrael followed behind the sulking warrior, feeling a little bad. He was just frustrated, and a little nervous, about the dragon. The constant attempts at banditry really wore on his nerves as well. He looked up, the mountains looming larger than he had them in memory. They were close, and so was the dragon.
Behind the travelling duo, the cries of trapped archers were soon drowned out by the thundering torrent of water.
*****
Sophie walked through the End Forest, followed by forty knights in service of Purity and the Holy Empire. They marched in two columns, their trained, even strides carried them at a brisk pace. Sophie and Orlando – Justicar and Commander of the Holy Knights – lead the columns.
It had been a while since she’d been here and she had hoped to visit the hidden village again, though in her own time. Firstly, she had hoped to check her growth, with the [Status] plate, and secondly she had to know whether Sam from the village and the person who looked exactly like him and had humiliated her and thrown Nova Lux into absolute chaos were the same person. The city still hadn’t recovered from the chaos when she had left on this new mission.
Purity had even deemed him such a threat that she had marked him, allowing Sophie to feel his presence if he was within a certain radius. How large that radius was, she wasn’t sure.
As it was, the entire group had been forced to escape the burning plains by hiding within the outpost of the Free Sheep – a vassal guild to Holy Empire. The fire had delayed them far longer then she would have liked, but it also took her close to the village. Unfortunately, she didn’t receive any reaction from Purity’s mark and she didn’t dare sneak out for a night time reconnaissance. Justicar Orlando was a stern man and a stickler for rules and order.
Sophie swore that someone had teemed him up with her, just to take all the fun out of everything. That and to keep an eye on her for this mission, due to her currently less than stellar performance record. How hard could it be! All they had to do was retrieve a dragon’s corpse or kill a greatly weakened dragon, after it wiped out all the players.
Sometimes she wondered if they purposely set her up to fail. The Heavenly Archer had failed to properly take part in the World raid on the Giant of the south, only barely managing to claim the corpse and she’d had at least twice her number of Holy Knights to support her.
As for the failed Expedition on the North Serpent, The Alchemist, along with two other rankers and an entire flotilla of player ships had been completely wiped out. Sure, they got chewed out, but she’d probably get it worse.
Why not send the Sun of Virtue? She’d heard rumors of the Blade King heading west, after the giant raid. Why couldn’t golden boy take her place and fight him. He’d done enough tearing up Nova Lux’s main square. All he was doing now was building up some good publicity by taking down rebellious guilds, as if that would make up for his unwarranted destruction.
The Lightning Witch was apparently also taking part, though fortunately the Bloody Baron was staying back to protect the city of vampires they ruled co-jointly. Alec – The Tinkerer – had also fled west in the aftermath of Nova Lux’s chaos and there were more rumours of other rankers and troublesome individuals floating around.
She reapplied the speed buff to the entire group, with a sigh. Why could things never be easy?