It had been a whole week since they started traveling. Ivis and the other two younger boys had started off strong, their horses were mostly behaved, except for Shig's horse, but he was just playful.

Ivis had tried talking to the other boy as well during the time when they took breaks from traveling. Haleth Santyr... it was definitely a strange name. He asked him about it and apparently, he was a half-elf. He had never met an elf before so it was interesting to meet him.

The three boys talked about their homes and what their families were like. Shig was from a noble family a town over, while Haleth was left behind by his parents while they were traveling. Shig was hoping to become stronger and create a home like his parents had, apparently it was a family tradition to run away at 18.

Haleth was just doing this for the money for now. He hoped to meet up with his parents eventually but he knew that was a longshot after 25 years of abandonment. The two thought that 25 was super old for someone, but he explained that it was normal for elves to be considered teenagers until around 40.

The three were learning what it meant to be guardsmen. Waking up early, killing a couple animals nearby for breakfast, and making sure nothing could touch the caravan that didn't need to touch it.

Ivis had also started learning his co-workers' names, Taul was the head guard, he had a fire affinity like his father but he used a mace and shield instead of a spear.

There was also Kanah, one of Pallius's traders. She was kind and talked a lot, but Taul warned him that she was greedier than anyone else he'd ever met.

At the beginning of the week, the three boys were doing great, but after seven days there were clear signs that they were exhausted. Their eyes drooped and their attitudes were less enthusiastic. They were three days away from the next city though, heading towards the royal capital rather than away from it.

They were months away from the capital though, there was no way they would get to see it soon.

The first of the three final days were uneventful, but everyone seemed to be on guard more than the rest of the trip.

"Hey Taul, what's wrong?"

Ivis wanted to know what to expect. He didn't like surprises anymore.

"We've entered bandit land. Specifically the Rat King's territory. He is idiotic but has a huge amount of control through these woods. It's better to be on guard prepared for an attack."

"The Rat King? What type of name is that?"

The guard captain slowed his horse to a trot beside Ivis and Ghoul. Ghoul wasn't tired but she didn't have the same amount of energy she did before the trip.

"In total, there are five bandit kings. The weakest is the Rat King. As you move further towards the capital and the wealthier towns you will find other bandit kings and their minions. Right now the Rat King is the smallest but things were different in the past. We're just taking a precaution going as safe as we can through here."

The two started speeding back up to their posts, they couldn't let a gap in the caravan invite someone to attack them.

"So who are the other-"

"BANDITS! Southwest!"

Someone shouted, startling everyone awake. They were surrounded.

The caravans stopped and immediately chaos broke out. There were close to 15 men... no 20 now.

They were coming through the trees and bushes. The magicians and the close combat fighters engaged while holding the perimeter. Ivis took out his axe and dismounted Ghoul, he didn't want her to get hurt.

He focused on what he could handle, two men were charging him. He held his ground.

The first one, an ugly berserker, swung a larger axe at his head. He moved to the side and swung his own axe at his stomach. Soon enough the man was split into two.

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The second one took the chance to slash down a sword on his shoulder.

'Shit!'

He was going to get injured, maybe he should have stayed home...

"Neeigh!" A giant white figure appeared and struck the swordsman before he could hit him. Kicking him away.

"Thanks, Ghoul,"

Ivis looked around again, his hands shaking. He had killed a person.

'Not now, I can think about that later.'

He saw Shig holding his own, he had a sword in hand cutting at a bandit. Most of the other guards were handling themselves alright. Pallius was using some type of gun to shoot enemies that got too lucky in their attacks. But out of the corner of his eye he saw Haleth struggling against two bandits. His horse was being attacked by another one.

Ivis charged at the closest bandit attacking Haleth. He had a scar across his bare chest, he was about to have another one as well.

The bandit didn't hear Ivis charging at him, and suffered the consequences. He swung his axe at the mans right shoulder. He missed and made a large wound on the guys back.

"Shit!"

The bandit looked at Ivis, terror in his eyes. Why was he afraid? Did he expect to not be wounded in a fight that they started?

But that look of terror was enough to cause Ivis to hesitate. Why should he deserve who lives and who dies?

Suddenly there was a sharp pain in his shoulder. It burned, it hurt, and he dropped his axe from his right hand. There behind him was the man who was attacking Haleth's horse. He must have had a fire affinity or something.

'Right, it doesn't matter who lives or who dies right now... I just need to live!'

The pain woke Ivis up. He grabbed the axe from the ground with his left hand and swung at the man who attacked him.

The man parried it and backed off. Immediate, with all of the fury in his body, Ivis threw his axe at the man. He wouldn't live to see tomorrow.

The axe made a thunking noise as it cut through the man's flesh. Ivis walked to the body that flopped down and tore the axe free from it's chest.

The battle wasn't over yet.

He charged another bandit, ready to live.

...

The battle lasted 15 minutes. Everyone on the caravan survived the battle, though a few were hurt pretty bad. Ivis was harmed the worst, the wound that the man with the fire affinity just wouldn't heal.

The caravan leader, no, here he was just Pallius. Pallius walked up to him with a bottle of a red liquid.

"Damn, that was some first battle. Have you killed before?"

Ivis shook his head no. He had only hunted wild animals before, never humans.

"Well, you did a hell of a job out there. Take this potion, it will heal the harm that the mana has caused you."

He downed the bottle and immediately felt a nausiating feeling come up from his stomach.

"Woah woah, just sit down and relax for a little while. You saved your friend kid, thats all that matters. If you are worrying about killing them don't think about it. If you let them live then they would have done more unspeakable things to people."

Ivis nodded but he couldn't hear him. His mind was far off thinking about other things, unimportant things.

He focused on his shoulder, it would be annoying waiting for this to heal.

"Hey, earth to Ivis? Are you there?"

Pallius was getting tired of him not answering, so he slapped him on the back of the head.

"Oww, damn what was that for?"

"For not talking back. Now, how do you feel?"

He looked himself over, it was probably the worst pain that he has ever felt before. His shoulder was on fire, well it felt like it.

"I feel like shit,"

"Well you look like shit too. Can you feel everything move? If you cant feel it even after that potion then we have a problem."

"Yeah, everything feels like it's on fire. What did you call that drink again? A potion?"

Pallius looked confused for a second before a hint of realization came on his face.

"Right, you've never drank a potion before. Some people who have access to mana are able to create whats known as a potion. This particular one is known for healing, your shoulder should be all healed up in a couple of hours."

"Are you serious? Thats insane. Wouldn't that cost a huge amount of money? You can't take that out of my wages, I didn't ask for it."

The caravan leader laughed and wiped a tear away.

"Don't worry boy, there is a whole religion whose main goal is healing the world. These are expensive sure but not so much that I can't spare one or five."

Ivis nodded, he had moved with his parents and had never lived in a large city before so he didn't understand the costs of a couple things.

Something took his focus away from the conversation, a small chill ran through the back of his mind. It felt... unnatural, but not at the same time. He looked at Ghoul who was sitting nearby, was she playing a trick on him?

Ivis stood up and got back onto Ghoul, her cold fur becoming comfortable.

"I'm going to ride around for a bit, calm Ghoul down and relax. I'll make sure to stay within sight of the caravan."

"Sounds good. Next time just tell Taul or one of the other guards. I may be your boss but I don't want to know every time you have to piss behind a tree."

Ivis nodded and led Ghoul to walk around the caravan. He was the only one who had gotten a serious injury it seems.

He saw Haleth and Shig talking to Taul. He wandered over there to join them.

"Holy shit, he lives. How are you feeling Ivis?"

Taul was the first to notice him. His friends nodded.

"Not good not bad. I could totally be worse though."

Shig started off questioning him, "How many did you kill? Where did you learn to fight like that man? You need to teach me some moves. Did you say any cool lines like 'this is your end, scum.'?"

"I don't know exactly. I think it was around five people. My father trained me somewhat how to fight." Ivis said in reply.

"Thank you for the assist, Ivis. I don't think I could have handled two of them." Haleth said. His bow wasn't any good up close fighting.

The four started talking about the fight, not thinking about when they would have to move out again. The next city was only two days away now.