Ater Arbor lay tied beneath an oak tree. The branches were wide, casting a pleasant shade over the small camp full of Mundie bandits. The criminals had stripped him of his coat and cloak. He lay face down, hands bound behind his back. Arbor recognized the tattoos some of the gang members had: a skull with lightning bolts shooting from its temples. 'Fucking Merciless Phantom Clan of Feral Savage Thunder Skulls Gang,' Ater thought to himself.

Just a few hours after leaving Baraka, he had an urgent need for the toilet. He dismounted his quilin and headed into the bushes by the road. What he didn't expect was that four bandits would jump out of those bushes, tie him up, and take him back to their camp. Ater's clothing was expensive, and based on the contents of his coat, they guessed he was a doctor. Doctors were valuable; people were willing to pay a good ransom for a good doctor.

With great effort, Arbor managed to roll onto his back. Now he was lying on his own hands. Very uncomfortable… But now they couldn't see what he was doing with his fingers. No one was paying much attention to him anyway, but Arbor didn't want to take any chances. He started scratching his left finger with the nail of his right hand. He just needed to draw a little blood.

On a hilly rise overlooking the bandit camp, Captain Edward sat behind a crescent-shaped rock. With his telescope, he observed the camp, counting the enemies.

"Three there, two more standing guard over there… Five sitting around that fire… That makes 22 of them. Then behind that tree, there are probably three or four… Five at worst…" Captain mumbled. Gaga and Marik weren't with him; Edward had left them a bit further away with instructions to wait for his signal. He hadn't told them what the signal would be…

Edward put away the telescope and started devising a plan. 'If I can just free Ater… I believe that I, the Great Captain Edward, and he, some doctor, can at least escape from these idiots, if not defeat them…,' the Captain mused.

He observed the sparse bushes scattered around. Nowhere near enough cover to get close, they would spot him before he even got halfway. The Mundie gang was experienced; they had chosen an excellent spot for a camp. Edward exhaled in frustration. He pulled out the telescope again and focused it on the camp. 'What is that lunatic doing?' Edward commented when he saw Ater writhing around like a fish out of water. One of the Mundie bandits noticed his struggle. He pointed and started laughing. Edward kept his eyes on Arbor.

In one swift motion, Ater was on his feet, hands and feet free. He made a chopping motion with his hand as if cutting through the air with a karate strike, and a wave of red liquid passed through the neck of the Mundie who was laughing. His head didn't even hit the ground before Ater had already beheaded the next one. The camp erupted in chaos. Bandits jumped up and engaged in combat with the Prince's Doctor.

"WHAT A FUCKING LEGEND!" Edward shouted, leaping over the rock he was hiding behind. He rolled as he hit the ground to soften his fall. He drew a curved saber from its sheath. The blade was well-maintained and shiny, with a golden hilt engraved with diamonds on each side. It looked very Eastern.

Ater was struggling to dodge the enemies' attacks. He did a backflip to avoid incoming ice shards. He dropped to the ground to dodge a lightning arrow. Fireballs continuously flew in his direction. He didn't have a chance to retaliate against the numerous attacks and would surely lose if he fought them all alone… But he wasn't alone.

Edward jumped onto the nearest Mundie. They were so focused on Arbor that they didn't even notice Edward's peculiar figure approaching.

Edward thrust his sword into the neck of the Mundie he had jumped on. The man let out a guttural sound and collapsed to the ground with Edward on his back. Edward pulled out his sword and stood up. One of the Mundies surrounding Ater turned to the Captain. "TONITRU!" he shouted, and lightning shot from his fingers, rolling towards Edward. At the last moment, Captain Edward ducked, and the lightning flew over him. He charged at the Mundie, dodging to the side to avoid another bolt of lightning. He sprang from the ground with his right foot and beheaded the master of lightning.

Arbor started laughing out loud. Edward glanced at him momentarily. With part of the Mundie bandits now engaged with Edward, Ater had room to breathe. And to attack. He still used the same spell: blood hovered in the air, following his hand movements and cutting down any enemy in its path. Arbor couldn't stop giggling. One bandit charged and jumped at Ater. Mid-air, he formed a large icicle in his hands and drove it into the doctor's foot. Ater's blood colored the icicle red, and the next moment it shattered. A spike made from Ater's blood shot out from his wound, piercing the Mundie through the chin and exiting the other side of his head. 'Fight junkie,' thought Edward.

Ater fell to his knees. "I've exhausted my magical energy," Ater said loudly. The blood that had been hovering around him collapsed, soaking into the dry ground. Edward was too busy with his own fight to help.

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Ater sat on his knees, his head bowed. Around him lay ten sliced bodies. The four remaining Mundies who had fought him approached very, very cautiously. "Can't we just kill him?" asked one bandit. "The boss said no. If we disobey, he'll kill us anyway! He's out of magical energy! He's no threat! And his friend will fall soon too. Now grab him."

The Mundie who had asked the question slowly reached out towards Ater. He aimed to grab him by the neck and pin him to the ground, then tie him up like a wild animal. His hand was ten centimeters from Ater when the doctor grabbed the Mundie by the wrist, twisted his arm, and pulled him to the ground with him. He wrapped his leg around the Mundie's neck and flipped him underneath himself, holding him in a steel grip. The Mundie tried to break free, but unsuccessfully. Three Mundies jumped to help. One, a bit more careless, threw an icicle at Arbor. Ater lifted his legs pressing the Mundie, and the icicle hit him in the head, killing him instantly. Arbor rolled towards Edward, not waiting for a response from the remaining three.

"Captain!" Ater shouted to get his attention. Edward had already killed six and was currently struggling with the last two. One invoker and one master of lightning. The invoker perfectly defended himself and his comrade, preventing the Captain from getting close enough to cut them down with his sword. Edward turned at Ater's shout. He nodded and drew a short dagger from his belt, holding it by the blade, and threw it towards Arbor. The knife stuck in the ground a step away from the crazy doctor.

Five Mundies against Ater and Edward, both without magic. "ISN'T THIS FUN, EDWARD?!" Ater shouted maniacally, not taking his eyes off his three opponents. "You're crazy! And a fool!" commented the Captain, dodging four arrows thrown by the invoker. He was getting tired; he didn't know how much longer he could keep dodging all this. So far, he hadn't had a single opportunity to attack the two. Whenever he tried to get close, the invoker would create walls and other obstacles, pushing the Captain away from them.

Ater's foot was bleeding. He shifted all his weight onto his left, healthy foot. His forearms, biceps, and face were full of small scratches and bruises from his psychotic thrashing and dodging. The hem of his pants was burned, probably from some fireball. His right shoulder hurt terribly, 'Probably fractured,' Ater thought. 'I shouldn't force it,' Arbor transferred the knife to his left hand. He let his right hand hang loosely by his side. The three Mundies didn't dare approach him. They stood ten steps away, waiting for his move.

Edward realized that this wasn't a battle he could win, not even with Ater. 'Bloody hell... Fuck everything.' He shouted, "SIGNALLLL!!!"

The fighting on both sides paused for a second, confused. Everyone looked at Edward, who stood frowning, frozen like a statue. One second passed. Three seconds passed. The invoker fighting Edward moved first, raising both hands in the air and summoning a large piece of rock above his head. BANG! A loud sound was heard, and the invoker fell to the ground, dead. BANG! Another bang was heard, and his companion, the master of lightning, fell in the same manner. About twenty meters away, Gaga and Marik waved at them both with a flintlock pistol in each hand.

"WHITE MEN HAVE MAGIC!? RUN FOR IT!" shouted the remaining three Mundies who had been distracting Ater. Each one started to run in a different direction. Gaga ran up and aimed at one of them, but Ater put his hand on the gun. "Don't. I'll do it."

Arbor grabbed the gun from his hand, aimed, and fired. The bullet didn't come anywhere close to the target.

"Why did you…?" began Gaga. "I've always wanted to try that," Arbor answered with a smile. The next moment he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. "You two carry him, we're taking him to the river," the Captain ordered briskly. "I carry myself," Edward responded coldly to their sideways glances.

For the next three days, Edward and his two friends took care of Ater. It looked as if Ater had been poisoned. The Captain had no idea how or when the bandits had poisoned him.

"You'd be a great help to me if you were awake, sleeping beauty." The Captain nudged Ater with his foot. Arbor had been lying in a fever all day. He often talked in his sleep, and Edward tried to interpret his words. But unfortunately, Ater spoke Mundian, and in his unconscious state, he couldn't channel magic into his speech, so the Captain could only scratch his head in confusion at his ramblings. However, he did understand one word. Ater said in German: "Fehler… der… Welt" and continued to sleep.

On the fourth day, Ater regained consciousness. The first thing he asked for when he opened his eyes was his journal. Edward returned to the bandit camp ruins and dug through the burned tents until he found the book Arbor had described.

Ater barely managed to stand. With his journal under his arm, he staggered into a grove, holding onto tree trunks despite the Captain's scolding: "You need to lie down! To rest!"

"Are you the fucking doctor, or am I the fucking doctor?" Ater retorted. Edward couldn't argue further against that.

After an hour, Ater triumphantly stepped out of the grove with a parade-like stride. He looked the same as the day he first set foot on the Continent. There were no traces of wounds, scars, bruises, or scabs. Ater stood tall, radiating energy.

"What…?" the sailors began, but Arbor interrupted them, raising his hand: "I don't have time to explain now. We need to hurry to the Great Chief. I assume the Prince sent you here."

Edward explained that the prince wanted Edward to act as his ambassador in Mundia. Arbor pondered. This did change his plan a little… "If the Great Chief asks questions, you are my friends who fled with me to the continent. I'm sure he will offer you hospitality. Just don't mention any of that 'Ambassador' stuff yet."

"Are you sure you want to mess with that guy? Isn't he like… The strongest wizard in the world? With a unique kind of magic that's insanely powerful and whose limits we don't know?" asked the cautious Gaga.

"I don't just plan to mess with him. I plan to kill him."