"Is this really a must?" Asked Isabel as Loren stood behind her trying to buckle a piece of leather armour they took off from a bandit.

"Yes..." Said Loren, but despite all her affords there was still a good inch between the two ends. "Are you even shucking it in?"

"I do." Isabel said embarrassed and blushed a little, for the first time in her life she felt like she outgrown something in the waistline.

"It’s no use... Grab the belt from this one and go back to the oak." Loren picked up the other guy with two intact knees and hauled him towards the tree.

"Are we going to try it again?" Isabel asked while she extended the belt with an another one and put on the armour piece. She felt relieved and made her smile for some reason when she managed to buckle it.

"Yeah, but this time he will be the bait." Loren put down the body and leaned it to the tree.

"And what will I do? I can't climb that tree." There was some doubt in her voice, but Loren seemed like she knew what she was doing for once.

"Hid among the bushes and what till I attack." And with that, Loren climbed back up to the tree while Isabel found herself a large enough bush to hid her alongside with a mace and a shield.

The bandits took their sweet time and Loren was about to give up on them when between the greenery she saw a group of 8 figure approaching the first corpse. They didn't show any feelings towards their fellow member's death, one of them looted the body while the others patrolled their surroundings. Judged by their equipment 6 of them seemed like some kind of fighter and one was obliviously ranger, but the last one was a mystery. He wore robes but he had no weapon or wand at hand or within his reach.

For the first time, Loren didn't feel the comfort of the motionlessness, but rather it annoyed her as she fought against the meditative state the usually followed it. The two minutes seemed like an eternity before one of them dared to approach the second body.

Loren was keen to act but she had to wait a little more just to be sure that at least one more of them will be in her reach after the jump. But the opportunity didn't come. The robed one gave a clear order, that he wanted the bunch to return back to the camp. It was now or never, let them regroup back at their camp was a sure dead end for their adventure.

She couldn't wait any longer, as the bandit under her stood up, she let off the branches and as a dead weight, she fell. It was for the better that Isabel did not saw it. Approximately she fell 26 feet before she landed directly on her target's shoulders with her clawed feet. The force she gathered had a devastating effect. In the moment of the impact, both of his shoulders snapped and it didn't seem to stop there. Loren was an unstoppable force and the bandit's body worked like a gel. She ground him down to his waist where her feet slipped under the bloody goo. Only the head and the spine remained intact as the mutilated body fell forward.

The sound of sploshing meat and breaking bones turned everyone's head. Only to saw a bloodied grey monster with a longsword on the spot where their fellow mate once stood. The momentary silence was broken by the robed one as he shouted his new orders, ‘kill the monster’.

The bandits outnumbered Loren, so without fear in their hearth, they charged toward her, not knowing there was one other person in the bushes not far away from them.

Loren parried the first sword attack which let the second bandit hit her. She couldn't pull back her sword in time, she had to use her arm to block the attack. The sword clanked on her stone skin and left a cut on the leather. With her free hand, that she used to deflect the attack, she grabbed the bandit by his throat, pulled him closer to herself to make him serve as a shield while she clenched her hand with all her might. The third bandit cut toward her only to hit her new shield on the shoulder, while the first got behind her back and landed a powerful attack on Loren's waist. The sound of cracking stone was audible but her part did not fall out as her armour kept them inside.

They were about to surround her when Isabel finally arrived, and run over the last two bandits who still ran toward Loren. She didn't hesitate to stomp on one of the bandits as he tried to get up, but in the heat of the battle, she only hit him on his chest which caused him to cough up blood continuously as his lungs ruptured.

The other one was on her feet and did not give Isabel a chance to stomp his mate again. He used his momentum and trusted toward her side. She couldn't defend against it as her shield was in her other hand, so she raised her arm high and let him hit. The sword went deep into her since she didn't wear armour on her side.

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Her weapon was ready and before he could have done anything else she smashed his head with a powerful blow. His skull cracked open and the mace worked the bone pieces into his brain. The other one tried to crawl away but Isabel smote him before he got too far.

Loren had to change tactic since the meat shield only seemed as a burden. It was good enough to keep one's attack at bay, but it made it impossible to fight with the other. She turned her body toward the one in front of her shield and ran towards him. The bandit jumped away from her and delivered a hit on her back as she passed by. Loren let the corpse go once she passed him and with a wide swing she turned back. Her longsword caught the bandit's arm and stuck in it. The attack was not strong enough to cut his arm off through his armour but what it did was enough for her. She changes hands on the weapon and pulled her next meat shield closer to herself. He tried to trust her but the stone body didn't give in. She grabbed his throat, tightened her grip and watched as his eyes slowly turned back into his head.

The robed figure said something to the ranger next to him. He nodded and ran towards their camp. The robed one turn back towards the battlefield raised his hands toward the sky and let out a war cry. His voice swept through the area like a shockwave and left Isabel's ears ringing. She watched him as a shield and a mace materialized in his hands. His orangish weapon and shield vibrated, and occasionally they let out a spark of lightning. Isabel raised her shield, and as fast as the sword in her side let her she backed away.

Loren had to end this quickly or the [War Priest] would kill Isabel. She tried to free her sword from his shield’s arm, but after the first pull she gave up. She let the lifeless body fall and charge the last one head on without weapons. The bandit had only one chance and he knew it, he prepared himself and waited. In his mind, he could see how Loren's head would fall off after his stroke, but she gave him something unexpected. Halfway towards him, Loren jumped.

She landed on his hip with even feet, swiped him away and once they reach the ground, the gargoyle weight tore him half as they slid a few feet.

There was no time to admire the beauty of what momentum and weight could cause. She grabbed the sword that he had and rushed to aid Isabel.

The priest grinned as he closed the distance with Isabel. In the least few feet, he jumped forward and smashed his mace against her shield. On impact, the mace busted out a small shockwave that cracked Isabel's shield and pushed her away. It was an unnatural force he displayed, it struck fear into Isabel's heart. He was way stronger than her. He was about to attack again when he noticed the charging gargoyle. He took a step back and stuck his own shield. The outburst halted Loren's charge and forced Isabel to kneel.

Loren lost her momentum and the distance was too short to charge again. Judging by the priest look, he couldn't be more than 10 in levels. Neither his war cry aided the others, nor his body radiated the holy power. That meant he only had three or four [Outbursts].

Isabel tried to get up but as the adrenaline cleared out of her system, the pain that the sword caused kept her in place. She supported herself with the mace, and watch the events unfold.

Loren had the upper hand when it came to weapon reach, but a clear hit from the priest could easily shatter her. She had to bait out his remaining charges to ensure her victory.

They started to slowly circle, as they waited for an opening in each other defence. Loren gave him a test with a quick trust towards the priest, but his shield blocked it. The nerve-racking waiting continued, and Loren gave him a few more blows to keep his attention on herself.

They almost made half a circle when Isabel grabbed the priest's ankles a pulled them out. The priest fell on the ground and quickly turn on his back before Loren first attack reached him. She kept hammering his shield, but it showed no progress. But Isabel had her ways, as Loren kept the priest busy, she gathered her strength and smote his groin with the mace.

The conjured weapons disintegrated, and Loren attacks finally hit the target.

Once the weapon wedged into his skull, Loren rush toward her bag, and return with a potion, she got from the first party she encountered. She laid Isabel on his side and place one foot on her torso close to the sword. She grabbed sword's handle while Isabel clench her teeth and with a quick pull she took out the sword from her side. Isabel shouted and grabbed her side where the sword was. But Loren didn't give her a chance to endure the pain, she made her drink the potion before it was too late. Once the bottle was empty she pressed on her side to limit her blood loss.

A few minutes passed before Isabel let Loren know that she felt as her pain faded, it warmed Loren's heart to hear that and in her relief, she smiled. Once Isabel was strong enough to stand, Loren spoke what was in her mind.

"We have to face them today, before dusk."

"Have you lost your mind? Minutes ago, a sword hanged out of my side."

"Listen, we have to leave this valley the sooner the better, and we can't camp anywhere nearby because of them."

"A sword, Loren... I was stabbed with a sword!" Isabel was rightly upset, but Loren had to push her toward their goal.

"If there are more than four of them then we ran, okay? You already saw me fight against four."

"Fine. But I'm doing it to revoke the curse and not because of your inspiring words."

"Thought so.”