“Are you sure we should? They made it here with only four.” A rogue asked the duel wielding warrior leading them.

“Probably lost people on the way. You saw the essences they have, this is our only chance.” Their warrior shot back. “Just keep your eyes sharp, we need to hit as soon as we see-”

An arrow sunk through the eye of the warrior. The rogue had naught but an instant to comprehend what had just happened before a firebolt sent him and half the party to the same oblivion.

“Get behind me!” A huge warrior dug his tower shield into the ground as the surviving members rushed to shelter.

The warrior only caught the blur of black and red as Donny rammed into him, sending him crashing off the walls and ground on the tunnel, his shield and chestpiece crumpled in. The terrified woman beside him raised her bow on reflex and an arrow struck her head from the side. Donny burst forward beheaded their priest and swatted a desperate mana bolt away with his shield, darting as it fractured the tunnel and buried his axe in the mage woman’s head.

“That’s all.” Shin informed them and Donny relaxed, joining Shin in looting the bodies.

“Idiots…” Yen muttered at the dead party.

“Greedy people make stupid choices.” Donny held up a dense orb of essence and stored it.

“Are you trying to jinx us? Shin, you’re checking both sides, right?”

“Yeah.”

“7 and some rares. Mostly junk.” Donny walked over to Shin, throwing over the essence.

“19.”

“Fucking minnows. A whale isn’t going to take the bait if a bunch of scrubs swarm in and don’t come back out.”

“It’s the opposite. The rich ones are gonna wait for us to wear out.”

“Two.” Shin drew his bow and loosed, razor sharp aura cutting through the wind increasing its speed, and one of the enemies slashed the arrow clean out of the air. “Strong.” A buckler and estoc replaced his bow as he readied himself for battle.

They enemies came upon them in an instant, one a stern faced heavily armored cleric and the other a dual wielding swordsman in rogue’s leather with an excited grin, both tan skinned with striking blue eyes. The cleric let out a roar and the lure of provocation struck the party, pulling on their minds for violence. Kamala resisted it the best while Donny charged in a maddened state.

Mara appeared above Shin in an instant and unleashed a concussive scream spanning the width of the wide tunnel, knocking back the swordsman a bit and stopping the cleric in his tracks. Shin burst forward and slammed a rippling palm into the paladin’s shield, sending him crashing away and followed after.

The duel wielding swordsman glanced back then charged ahead to the three. He blurred towards Donny faster than Shin and slashed down, his sword deflecting off a shield raise just in time, the swirl of Quicken naturally forming around the knight.

The blue eyed swordsman rained down blows on Donny with a laugh, forcing the knight to focus on nothing but defense. He flourished his swords back in stance, and froze in place, struggling against an invisible force. Donny cleaved his sharp obsidian axe on his neck, and it stopped on the man’s skin, not even drawing a drop of blood to Donny’s controlled shock.

The man broke out of Yen’s clutches with brute force and Donny bashed him back. The swordsman looked up just in time to see an aura surged charge send him crashing back across the tunnel, cracking and fracturing the ground and walls. A firebolt shot forth and exploded dead center as he ricocheted away. The trio waited on guard and to their shock, the man walked out of the flames, his armor burnt and badly damaged but his body completely unscathed.

“You have a chance now.” The samurai sneered after glanced at his leather chestpiece, but neither his tone nor the malicious expression on his face lent credence to his words. He let out a high pitched warcry meant to signal slaughter and Donny roared in response, bringing his stats back down a bit. His shield met the man’s sword and a flurry rained down on him once again, each blow snaking and probing, ready to take the slightest opening.

Roots shot up from the ground and shackled him in place. Donny swung his axe down with all his might on the man’s head and jumped back. A tiny flame appeared in front of his face as he looked up and burst into a great blaze. The trio waited once again, only for a blur within the raging flames to sliced through the roots and the man walk out unharmed once more, his mocking smile even more biting.

“Just like that. Keep fighting back.” The man raised his hand. “I wanna see your faces when you realize you can’t win.”

His arm stretched out like a snake in an instant, breaking the invisible shield Yen put up just in time and piercing through her stomach, the veil of mystic protection shattering like glass. Pain and shock gripped her thoughts for only a moment before her instincts took over and her body turned to flames. She propelled away from the blade and shot a flamebolt at the swordsman in a rage, dissipating harmlessly on his sword as he sliced it in two.

“Calm down!” Donny yelled as he engaged the enemy again. Yen snapped out of and after some hesitation, dropped down next to Kamala, cancelling the fire mimicry rapidly draining her mana.

The swordsman laughed as he all but toyed with Donny. “You haven’t figured it out yet, princess?! Let me give you a hint.” The man’s blue eyes turned gold as the simple illusion subsided.

Kamala’s stoic face tensed at the sight and the man’s laughter increased at her expense. “Don’t worry, we won’t touch you. There’s plenty of buyers out there who’d pay anything for a pure lotus girl. Just give up and we won’t kill your friends.”

His sword snaked around Donny’s shield, and blood splattered from the side of his neck. The red haired knight grit his teeth and planted his feet, bursting forward into a ramming shield charge. The golden eyed swordsman sidestepped it with a smile. His other arm blurred and a second slash broke through the protection of Bulwark, drawing a great splash off blood as he kicked the knight away.

“Well…” He lunged towards the two casters. “We’re gonna kill them anyway.”

---

Shin flourished the cobalt shortsword in his hand as he slashed his saber with the other. He darted around the cleric without rest, striking from all angles but all fell on the holy warrior’s shield. His saber carved through the air and stopped short, spinning into a thrust of his estoc without the slightest delay yet the long needle scrapped harmlessly off the shield.

Shin forced his thoughts to become a chaotic jumbled mess and then focused on a single desire to stab his estoc through the paladin’s neck but still he failed to find purchase, the white shield crested with gold blocked his every move. Shin thrust his estoc at the man’s neck, spinning again into a slash with his saber, and stopped that short, motioning to return to the thrust of his estoc. And suddenly darted around leaning unnaturally low as he chopped an axe at at the back of his knee, striking a shield yet again as the cleric shifted in place.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Shin’s eyes focused on the man’s face, looking for even the slightest hint in his eyes. He darted away as the cleric’s flanged mace shattered the ground where he stood, deep in thought. His opponent wasn’t reading his mind, nor was he simply too perceptive or skilled to follow Shin’s attacks. He was reacting as if he knew exactly what Shin intended.

Shin darted back around him, this time not striking at all. The two danced across the tunnel in a battle to gain control of the superior position, the heavily armored paladin matching his Quicken boosted speed. Shin switch his estoc back to his shortsword and started cutting and slashing towards the paladin, stopping nearly every blow short, watching the paladin closely. He was sure of it now. The man couldn’t predict movements where he didn’t attack nor the ones he held no intention of following through. A limited precognition.

Shin darted around the man again barehanded, slapping and thrusting at his armor and shield in a blur, threatening a rippling palm in spurts. Suddenly Shin formed a hand sign as the cleric’s eyes widened, lightning enveloping his body from the dozen talismans stuck around him. Shin blurred behind the stunned man, estoc drawn back, and thrust at the gap between his helm and armor. And the estoc stopped on his skin, as though it were unbreakable stone.

He darted back as the man swung his mace around and took charge in the offense for the first time, his expression one of subdued rage. Shin dodged and darted back as the cleric swung away with abandon. The man raised his mace and his feet anchored to the rocky ground by two talismans Shin left as traps. His expression panicked and a thundering force shattered the ground with his restraints and he burst away as grayish blue flames grasped at his head.

Shin shifted around in front of Inari before she could enter a melee and rushed into another exchange. The cleric’s eyes subtly glanced at the summon spitting another ball of trickfire aimed at his head and slammed his mace down on Shin, the transparent image of a golden hammer forming around it, shattered the ground with emanating mana, forcing Shin to dodge to the side.

The paladin burst from his crouched towards the kitsune guardian and flinched as he met her eyes. A handful of talismans stuck onto his back and triggered, shocking him in place as trickfire wrapped around his head, burning away any air that could reach his lungs. Golden aura burst off the man with a roar and the trickfire him tore apart, along with the illusion masking his golden eyes.

Shin drew two round maces, wrapped in talismans save for his wooden handle, the goal of the fight realized in his mind. Suddenly he glanced up. Mara and Kong appeared and rushed down the tunnel towards the others. Shin held his position, his intentions changed to stalling for time. The cleric showed no concern for the reinforcements sent towards his partner, focusing solely on Shin and Inari.

“They’ll die before you do.”

---

The swordsman laughed as he dodged the roots spearing from the ground and cut the vines reaching towards him. A clutch held him in place long enough for a lash of vines to knock him back a moment. Kamala’s expression strained as more of the barren tunnel grew into a lush grove and those plants into weapons to fend off the relentless warrior as she bought time to heal the still unconscious Donny before he bled out from his wounds. Yen put pressure of his neck with simple cloth dyed red in his blood already, keeping focus on the swordsman but there was little she could do besides catch him in place when he lingered a bit too long.

A sword stabbed towards them via stretched arm from the dark and Kamala’s vines knocked it off course, but the man followed, giving them no time to rest. Their mana was draining fast and he needed only use his raw physical stats to force them to use it. Time was not on their side.

The warrior flung his sword again and vines bloomed in response, only for him to snap his arm back with a twist, whipping the other at them. Magic missiles shot out from Yen, slamming thrice into the side of the blade to stifle its momentum. The swordsman darted around spikes sprouting one at a time, drawing ever near. He raised his arm again with a smile, and a rock smashed into his head.

Kong prowled across the other side of the tunnel, staring down the enemy his chainholder’s emotions told him fight. The enemy glanced quickly down the tunnel and slipped his head as a second rock shattered against the wall.

“Really… You having trouble up there, Cheis?!” Taza called out with an amused smile, no part of his tone showing any trace of worry.

He darted away from sprouting roots again, turning his attention back to his initial targets plus the interloper. A ear grating screech from behind struck his mind, changing his expression for the first time in the fight. He shifted back to the siren elite sailing towards him and another screech frayed his mind again to his deepening frustration. He raised his arm, and a gray furred first slammed into his face, sending him crashing into the wall.

He burst off as vines reached over him and slashed down at air as Kong blinked away, shock and caution evident on his face. Another screech struck the swordsman again. This time he flung his arm with no care for the others. Kong blinked above siren, and teleported them both away just in time.

“No help!” Mara screamed at him, to his annoyance. He hadn’t saved her out of kindness but because of the threat before him. The more they had, the better the chance at killing their enemies, before their weapons reach their master and their roots he held.

Kong assessed the situation as the swordsman dodged vines and roots. “Scream, when I hit him.”

“No!”

“...the master, he will like it.” Seeing the siren’s attitude change, he turned his focus back towards the enemy human, waiting like a predator lying among the brush, and his chance came.

Kong blinked and slammed a fist into the unbreakable human once again, crashing him into the wall. A sonic scream struck the moment he blinked away, nearly too close, pressing the human against the wall in concussive waves. Roots bloomed from the wall and ground, wrapping around the samurai.

The swordsman's limbs started to move but a grasping force held his body in place as a vine wrapped around his throat like a snake, constricting tighter and tighter. Taza struggled with rage as his body started to stretch beyond the invisible force constraining it. Mana and aura drained from him into the vines as they hardened and grew stronger.

“Screech.”

Mara took to the sky and unleashed a hail of screeches. The swordsman’s limbs shuddered and his body lost some of its vigor, allowing the vines choking his neck to squeeze greater. Blood rushed to his face and eyes as he tried to trash about desperately now. His focus started to wane and his eyes glossed over as his skills failed to hold under the rain of screeches and strength began to leave his body.

Mara let out another screech and vanished into light, her mana used up. As his senses partially returned to him, the swordsman mustered everything he had left to break the grasp, throwing his sword down the tunnel with a whipping stretch.

The sword landed just within range of the cleric’s senses, and he turned back, bursting off at the sight of the sword. His face flinched and he turned to block an electric mace. Shin darted around the cleric in that brief moment, reaching just slightly past him. The cleric thrashed his mace to fend Shin back but the boy pivoted under and struck the cleric back with a ripple palm into the wall. The cleric burst once again in the direction of the others as Shin harassed and stalled him every step off the way.

But Shin could not hold him off completely. Soon they came into view of the others and the cleric saw his the life draining from the swordsman’s eyes shackled against the wall.

“Taza!” The cleric roared as he charged, stumbling, breaking and forcing his way through Shin and Inari’s opposition. He let a ripple palm crash him to the side, and burst towards his brother, mace raised high. And a red armored blur slammed into him, sending him crashing away. Donny stood with heavy limbs as he breathed deeply, but a unwavering fierceness held his eyes.

“Noooo!” Talismans he couldn’t avoid peppered his body shocking more precious moments away.

The cleric charged back through Shin’s relentless harassment, fighting every step off the way, only to see his brother’s body slump to the ground as the roots and vines around him slackened. The expanded status exposing only the dead revealing the bitter truth.

“I’ll kill you all!”

A vicious shockwave knocked the charging Shin and Donny away as he burst towards the casters. A firebolt shattered on his shield and stomping force tore away the roots that snaked around his legs. Shin blinked next to him, enveloped by the specter of Kong and thrust with a ripple palm. The cleric turned to counter and Shin blinked away, as a firebolt exploded into the paladin, the force knocking him off his feet.

Roots and vines enveloped him as Kamala flew over on white feathered wings and trickfire grasped towards his face. Golden aura exploded off him once again, shredding away the magic opposing him as he sprang to his feet as another shield charge from the knight slammed into him, but the cleric didn’t budge, a force locking him to the ground.

A rippling palm swung towards his face as Shin flipped over Donny, timed too well for the cleric’s body to keep up with his premonitions. It crashed him away, and the cleric rose to his feet as the party of four bore down on him. He looked at his brother one last time and fled, swatting away lightning wrapped arrows until he made it through the tunnel into the Bazaar. Shin waited on the edge and the party stopped with him.

“What now?” Donny asked.

“Cant kill him here.”

“We shouldn’t stay.” Kamala spoke up.

“Probably a good idea, yeah. Come on. We need to loot and disappear before he smarts up and brings more than one.”

The three headed back off into the tunnel, Shin taking a glance around the Bazaar before following after.