When I awakened, I found myself inside a small and dirty carriage or some type of transport with a cloth draped over the top.

The sunlight was pouring through the tears and rips of the cloth that covered the carriage.

My entire body ached, and after I verified there were no broken bones, I started looking for things on the outside, anything that could help me to tell me where I’m at.

My hands were tied, this wasn't any trouble for me.

I needed to find an opportunity to escape and get back to my mother and father and let them know I’m alright.

From the landscape, I could guess we were somewhere in between the kingdom of Alylenore (Elf Kingdom) and the wastelands.

I couldn’t come up with anything to help my chances of escape, and I knew the longer I took, the farther away we got from home.

After 10 minutes of pondering what to do, the carriage came to a sudden stop. I could hear voices coming from the front from the sound of it. There were four guys. I could only catch pieces and bits of what they were saying.

“Did you get the kid?”

“Yeah, he’s in the back asleep?”

“And what about the mother, did you get her?”

“No. The kid pushed her out the way and sacrificed himself.”

“He’s four, couldn’t you just hit him in the back of the head and take the lady?”

“Maybe, but by the time we got to them, the dad had already taken care of the rest of the guys.”

“Ok. At least we got the kid, we'll still get paid either way.”

“By the way, who is the employer?”

“If I remember, his name was Jace… Jace thorn.”

“ If we get the kid, they will be paid extra, so let’s camp for tonight and leave at dawn.”

I heard of that name before, where have I heard it from. He was one of my father’s party members who helped with the house and were supposed to be on the journey with us. But why would he want to kidnap a mother and me? If I recall correctly, he was one of the people dad trusted enough to tell them about my awakening. Did he betray dad after finding out, and if he did, and if he was responsible for the events that had happened? I would be coming for him for revenge for what he did to my family.

I didn’t have much time to ponder on what I was going to do. This was my opportunity to escape.

I waited until nightfall to take my plan into action. Regardless of their appearance, the guys were surprisingly vigilant; they never built a fire to attract attention and there were always two people on guard at all times.

After surveying the area, I realized the carriage was being pulled by some hounds. I needed a distraction to separate the two guards, and I had an idea. I took a piece of broken wood, throwing the broken piece of wood, startling the hounds. Likewise, I decided to make my move once one of the two guards had separated from each other to the other side of the camp.

The guard that stayed sat on a broken tree branch, drawing something on the ground with a stick, while the other two were sleeping inside the tent. Carefully adjusting my body to not draw attention. I prepared for my attack.

My first target would be the guard that separated from the group to check on the hounds.

I quickly moved out of the carriage and behind one of the men. The man had an average build. He didn't seem to be strong and was only equipped with a knife. Startled by the sound of snapped branches, the man turned around and was expecting a rabbit or bunny. His face was a mix of surprise and amusement when he saw me as a four-year-old in ragged clothes.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Before he could react, I took a lunge towards his neck. I tried something similar to what I had seen my father do. I infused mana into the blade of my hand, turning it into a sharp edge. Not only that, but I called it mana sword, but it would be more accurate to call it a wind attribute technique.

He flinched back reflexively, his hands trying to reach where his face was to guard against the boy shooting towards him with the mana blade.

It was too late.

I took a quick slice at his neck, removing his vocal cords. A stream of blood sprayed from his neck immediately as I appeared behind him. Catching the lifeless body and placing him down to avoid making noise. As I expected, the hounds that had been called down awake from the smell of blood caused them to howl and bark.

“Huh, man! Can’t, you, do something about the hounds…the fuck?”

By that time, I had already picked up the man’s knife and was waiting for him at the back of the carriage.

While the other men were distracted by the corpse of one of their guys, who was being devoured by the hounds, I leaped out from behind and stabbed the side of his neck with the knife.

The hounds calmed down while devouring the two corpses. As I headed toward the tent to take care of the remaining tent in their sleep, a mere branch crushed under my foot ruined my plans.

“Shit.”

On cue, I heard the rustle of the tent as the two guys that were left came out. “Jack! Dom! You out here…” he barked, still half asleep.

I hid behind a tree next to the carriage while infusing mana into Jack’s knife.

Noticing something wrong, the remaining two men carefully stepped around to the other side of the carriage, where their eyes widened upon viewing their former companions being eaten by the hounds.

“Check on the kid.”

Using this chance, I attacked the one heading towards the carriage opening when his gaze whips back at me and instantly swings his dagger at my face.

Avoiding the slash, I dropped and dashed towards him, trying to get in the rage of the knife. I slashed, reinforcing more mana into the knife, landing a clean cut through his right leg’s ankle.

“Ahh,” he let out a pained howl as he dove desperately out of my range before I could do any more damage.

“Fuck, Ace be careful the brats, a mage.” the fighter, whose ankle I served, cried out.

I turned my attention towards Ace as he pulled out his sword from its sheath and got into a defensive stance.

“You see all kinds of things these days! Looks like a huge sack of gold appeared in front of us, Kevin, he might get us more if we just sell him instead.” he let out a giggle.

They didn’t even care that I killed their companions.

Ace’s body glowed as he reinforced his body with mana. As he came towards me, his lips curved into a confident smirk on his face.

Kevin was out of the fight with the crippled leg I gave him, but the Elementalist was going to be trouble.

Ace suddenly jumped above me, his right arm in the form of a punch. I could only guess that he didn’t use his sword to not damage the “product.”

I jumped back in time to avoid the blow strong enough to leave a small crater in the ground as I threw my knife at him.

Shit.

Furthermore, I was in a bad position right now. He wasn’t tall, but his reach was still a good amount larger than mine. He also had the sword, which now he deemed necessary to use, which increased his range.

Losing no time, Ace dashed towards me, throwing his sword. I easily dodged but not fast enough to react to the next move, he swiped my ankle with his sheath. I stumbled to gain my balance, he used the chance to grab my ankle and turn me upside down.

His confident look disappeared as I hit the hand that was holding me as I concentrated mana. I used a fire attribute skill, releasing all the mana I had at once, and aimed for the joint of his wrist.

A crack followed by a howl of cursed words indicating the attack worked.

He released my ankle with his broken wrist, and I landed awkwardly on my back. Jumping up to my feet, I picked up Jack's knife and used the one chance to charge towards the wounded Ace. While he was still occupied by the pain from his wrist, he angrily cursed, “Fuck the gold! I’m going to kill you myself!”

His wrist was wounded, so that left an opening in his defense. I willed mana into my feet and arrived in range, hoping to land a solid hit when he furiously came swinging with his sword.

He fell for it!

I quickly pivoted my left foot, spinning to my right. Avoiding the swing by a hairline, I enter into my knife range to his right, open for his last desperate swing.

He quickly tried to jump, but I placed my foot behind him, making him lose his balance. In one quick slash, I rammed my knife below his armpit, through the gap between his ribs and lungs.

He was easy to finish after his breath was collapsing from the wound.