Chapter 8: Ambush
"Who can hope to be safe? Who is sufficiently cautious? Guard himself as he may. Every moment's an ambush."
- Horace
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Dozens of warriors came charging into the clearing, bearing swords and going for the kill before I could even stand.
Fortunately, both of my companions were more than fast enough to make up for my lack of speed. They jumped to their feet and circled around me, watching our assailants with trepidation. I began to lose count of them, but I assumed there were 2 dozen by the sheer quantity of men bearing down on us. I saw that their attire was mismatched and didn't highlight any kind of insignia. They were a complete mystery even to my newly levelled [Observe] skill, though some of them looked little older than teenagers, which implied force, coercion, or desperation. If the former was the case, who had made them come here and try to kill us? We had few enemies, and even fewer knew exactly where we'd be.
I wasn't going to be much use in the coming fight. My stamina was running dangerously low and I'd only just started learning how to actually defend myself. I couldn't be expected to win against teenagers much older than me, let alone fully grown adults. I was still only 10 and I very much looked it. Duncan seemed to consider the same thing as me, so he cast a new spell I'd never heard of before - [Rejuvenate]. As he cast his magic, I felt an almost buzzing energy filling every inch of my body, empowering me and reminding me a lot of the feeling when my system was unlocked, though without the pain. This spell had managed to fully recover my stamina and was said to restore mana too, though I couldn't test that last part yet.
I mentally thanked Duncan for his quick thinking. He'd considered all of this in half a second and allowed me the opportunity to properly defend myself. Drawing my weapons, I made sure to stay near Mordecai, and we responded to the attackers - fighting violence with violence.
I released a flurry of attacks as I tried to replicate what Mordecai had taught me earlier in the evening. As I relentlessly struck one young man with a lumberjack's axe, he had no time to counterattack and it was only a matter of time before he was felled. Though a one-on-one fight was easy, life was never that fair. The sheer quantity of people in our clearing meant that there were always at least 3 around me. I just had to keep my distance and bide my time, Mordecai was swinging his sword through enemies that were moving too slowly for him like they were butter. He was certain to win the battle of attrition as long as there weren't any nasty surprises.
As I plunged my knife into the side of the young man's throat, hot, wet blood came spurting out of the wound. It was one of the most gory scenes I'd ever seen. He was the first person I'd ever killed and although I knew that it had to be done, it didn't make it any less horrifying - to see a human life fade away at your fingertips was deeply disturbing. I'd struggled with the thought of farmers butchering livestock when I was a child. This took it to a whole other level.
That moment of shock and consternation had almost cost me my life. A burly old man had rushed at me from the side and nicked my shoulder with his rusty sword before I was able to regain my distance. It caused a minor health drop, but nothing I couldn't push through with my [Pain Tolerance].
I slid in low beside the man and hamstrung him, making him fall to the ground. He tried to thrust his sword down on me and only hit the dirt as I slid out of the way, jumping up and plunging one of my knives straight into his temple. One trail of his crimson life essence made its way down his face as the life left his already dead eyes. I felt decidedly less sickened at killing this man - his eyes had been dead long before I'd killed him.
[Daggers] has levelled up - Lv9 (+2)
[Calm] has levelled up - Lv4 (+1)
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The tides were gradually turning against the bandits. Duncan was using his daggers, much like me, and fired bolts and beams of light when the distance was too great to stab or slash. Meanwhile, Mordecai didn't look like he'd exerted himself in any way. In fact, he looked like he was loving the thrill of a true fight to the death. The Paladin really was a menace on the battlefield.
All was going well until the wizard arrived.
They were hidden in the shadows of the trees in the woods adjacent to our camp. We couldn't see their identity, but we felt their power. This was the only indication that they were present, I'd have never known otherwise. They emitted waves of mana like a beacon, shaping it into tendrils of ethereal light, visible only to those with the capability for [Magic]. You could visibly see the complexity of the skill, requiring the splitting of the mind into multiple to properly manage each strand. I would've found them beautiful if they weren't rushing towards me at the speed of a racehorse. I did not want to see what they'd do to a squishy human if hit or squeezed by one.
They had reached me. I flipped over one, relying purely on agility and my natural instincts to dodge the attacks of this stranger. The second was easy to sidestep, but the third pierced my leg as I was in the air, sending white-hot agony coursing through me. It was an unavoidable injury, in this case, but it hurt regardless.
Duncan's voice boomed "[Reflective Shield]," as a golden dome was conjured around the three companions and any assailants who'd gotten too close, severing the tendril that had entered me in the process. The part that wasn't connected to my assailant anymore fizzled into the air, disappearing in a sparkle. I knelt on the ground, exhausted. The attack had seemed to drain and burn away my health, which I had no idea was possible. My companions swiftly dispatched of the remaining men in our bubble, before gathering around me.
"The wizard is using his [Mana Tendrils] to try and penetrate my shield. It won't last long," Duncan said, hurriedly. "I'm also running dangerously low on mana. We have to get Daniel out of here."
"Agreed. You're also heavily injured, Daniel. That means you'll be more likely to hinder us when we try and kill the wizard. No offence though or anything," Mordecai added.
"None taken," I whispered, gritting my teeth through the searing pain. "Just please do something quickly. My health is almost critical and the pain is getting worse."
"I can cast a [Gateway] spell that can teleport you the rest of the way to the cathedral, but it'll only take one."
I groaned at that.
"But I don't want to leave you guys. What if this wizard's too powerful for you?" I asked, tears welling in my eyes. I hadn't known them for very long, but I was beginning to feel a connection with both - the stoic presence of Duncan, and the powerful yet childish energy of Mordecai - the Archbishop and the Paladin. I knew I couldn't help them, but I didn't want to potentially leave them to their deaths.
"You are the hope of our church, Daniel. We cannot let you get hurt. Furthermore, there's a chance that the wizard is here for you. If you leave then he might lose interest and stop fighting us," Mordecai said emphatically.
I knew that it wasn't likely. The wizard certainly seemed strong enough to kill them, but I didn't know if they were trying to get rid of me because they were still holding back, or because they knew they wouldn't win - I dearly hoped for the former. My status was displayed before me:
Name: Daniel Lightbringer
Age: 10
Class: Saint
Health: 29/100 | Mana: ?/? | Stamina: 76/135
Free Points: 26
Skills: [Calm] Lv4, [Pain Tolerance] Lv5, [Observe] Lv6, [Memory] Lv13, [True Sight] Lv2, [Deceive] Lv1, [Translate] Lv1, [Daggers] Lv9
Spells: ?
Strength: 15
Agility: 15
Dexterity: 13
Intelligence: 25
Charisma: 12
Wisdom: 12
Everything I brought to the table was absolutely useless against a wizard of the hidden one's calibre. This reinforced to me that my presence was pointless and I was still technically dying.
I was about to give in to them and agree to go through the tunnel when Duncan left no room for discussion, conjuring the [Gateway] without any kind of input from me. It seemed to be made entirely of light (I sensed a recurring theme here) and was the perfect size for someone of my small stature to walk through. Any regular adult would've had to crouch. It irked me a little that I hadn't had a choice in the matter, but my choices would always be decided for me whilst I was weak. This was all the more reason to unlock my magic, level my skills, and soar to places nobody had seen before.
"Fine," I harrumphed with finality. "Promise me I'll see you both at the cathedral, then. Okay?"
"You have my word." they chorused.
I couldn't believe I was abandoning them both. Taking a look back, I saw that the barrier was a few seconds away from collapsing. I sorrowfully waved back at my companions and took a step towards my new life as a true Saint.
My journey was just beginning.