The issue I was facing currently was that there were two groups of bandits, one on each side of this small valley. If I didn’t manage to break their morale right at the start, they could still outright kill the slaves or the elves, as I couldn’t be everywhere at once.

Deciding to not waste any time, I jumped straight forward, in the direction of the bandits before me.

As expected, when a spider the size of several people jumped in your direction, it was bound to shock your morale. Several men dropped their weapons and decided running was better than fighting.

I was sure that the group was already smaller than what I’d faced before. A quick estimation said there were about twenty bandits before me. More than a few were shaking in their boots, which was exactly what I was after.

Using their fear against them, I launched a flurry of magic spells and cast imbue elements on myself. I would use everything I have at my disposal to get rid of them quickly, so I could turn my attention to the other side of the trail.

I would show them such a wide array of destructive spells that they would have no choice but to flee. A cyclone of fire engulfed a bandit, causing him to scream as the fiery winds tore away at his flesh. A spike of ice materialized in the air to my side, which then flew and impaled a bandit who’d chosen to run after witnessing the first spell.

You have killed a Human Bandit: EXP+426

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 6!

You have been awarded 75 EP.

I then jumped in the middle of five of them and brought two of them down to the ground, where they were skewered by my powerful legs. Another scoundrel that stood right in front of me had an earthen spike pierce him from below. He didn’t even get the chance to scream. He died in a matter of seconds. Another rogue human before me got to experience what it was like to be hit twice by a single attack of my legs as the wind blessing triggered. He didn’t live to tell the tale.

You have killed a Human Bandit: EXP+399

You have killed a Human Bandit: EXP+421

A large boulder was flung at me from afar. I was estimating it to be about three feet in diameter. To block it, I summoned an earthen wall. There was no way it was going to break that.

The rock impacted the wall, and I could feel some of my mana being sapped to maintain the wall’s integrity. I quickly made the wall vanish to focus on what was before me again. I did take notice of where the spell was fired from and saw the older caster standing at a safe distance. He was alone, as the other spellcasters had already fled.

I then unleashed a beam of flames that sprayed over three or four bandits. I channeled the beam and changed its direction, causing it to burn several others alive. In the meantime, the struggling under my legs died down.

You have killed a Human Bandit: EXP+425

Level Up!

Kealyna has reached level 7!

You have been awarded 75 EP.

You have killed a Human Bandit: EXP+401

Elysa, could you not show me these messages now, please?

I normally didn’t mind seeing them when I killed something, but when I was in the middle of a battle I had to focus on, it was slightly irritating.

My spells had the desired effect. The remainder of the bandits ran off with their tails between their legs. I summoned several ice lances and struck them down from afar as they retreated.

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Another spell was thrown at me. This time, it was a beam of purple light. It impacted me and drained the strength of my magical barrier. An explosion of holy light occurred around me indicating that half the barrier’s strength had been depleted.

This guy was as experienced as he looked. Both spells that he’d fired at me were quite powerful. I saw him prepare for another spell, but I was swift to summon a fire wall that appeared before me. I then jumped at the old man while the barrier remained where it was relative to me.

I pinned him down to the ground with my two legs and summoned an earthen spike that impaled him in the back, killing him within seconds.

With the biggest threat eliminated, I had no time to lose. I made my way back to the wagons as fast as my legs could carry me. I jumped when I could, to get to my destination even faster.

I arrived just in time. When I reached the top of the hill, I could see the bandits charging at the guards, who’d by now formed a single line on the other side of the wagon to face the only remaining group of bandits head-on. I jumped down and cast my multi-barrier spell again.

As far as I could tell, the guards had moved the bound slaves to the wagons, where they lay bound against the wood. The elves seemed to be working with us. I silently thanked Cellestra and Tavion for getting them to relative safety.

I joined the battle, which was already turning in the elves’ favor. There were about twenty to thirty bandits remaining, but due to the lack of equipment and training, their strength would, in my estimation, be about equal to that of the eight well-equipped and disciplined guardsmen.

With my presence here, this would be over in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.

The elves clashed with the forest bandits. It seemed the humans had either forgotten or misjudged my presence. Either way, it was foolish of them to attack with half of their forces missing.

When I ran up towards the front line of battle from the side, I noticed that one human had already chosen to run. As he was running away from battle, however, a crossbow bolt flew and struck him in the back. He fell to the ground, where I saw him stir momentarily before going still.

The wielder of the crossbow was a man with broader shoulders and, quite honestly, an intimidating visage. Scars adorned his battle-hardened face, which was easy to make out as he was not wearing a helmet. His armor was of equal or even greater quality than that of the guards. The sun was reflected off his polished chest plate, and additional decorations such as golden stars near the shoulders gave it a signature look of quality.

It was most likely stolen.

This had to be their leader. I believe Ingo was his name?

It appeared he was as ruthless as had been described to me earlier. He showed no hesitation in striking down his own. He was in the middle of reloading his crossbow when he laid eyes on me. I could see a certain bloodlust in his eyes, even from afar, but I also noticed the slight shaking that was in his legs. It seemed even the most powerful, or foolish, were not safe from the intimidation factor that I brought forth.

One of the elven guards was struck down by an arrow from afar, as it hit clean in the stomach. Another guard raised his shield for the first soldier who was now on his knees, just in time to block another arrow that would have hit his head.

It did, however, leave an opening in his defense. One of the bandits charged forward with a spear, but missed what he was aiming for. The best he could do in the end was stab the second elven guard in his shoulder before a third guard cut his arms off.

His cries traveled across the battlefield, but were soon silenced as he was decapitated. It was at that moment that my presence became all too clear.

I started casting several spells that had proven to have a huge impact on morale. I first aimed a fireball into a group of bandits near the front line. I missed partially, but still managed to set fire to the ground in front of the guards, effectively creating a dead zone.

Following the fireball, I hit one of the bandits with an elemental blast to the leg. It tore off one leg as the projectile straight up pierced through it, before settling in his other leg, where it exploded, cutting off his other leg and ending his life.

That seemed to be the signal for the bandits to retreat. Ingo fired another bolt at one of the retreating scoundrels but missed miserably. He yelled some commands, but was unable to stop the flood of retreating bandits. In the end, he decided to run as well, dropping his weapon in the process.

I turned my attention to the two injured guardsmen together with Cellestra. Without uttering a word, the elf pulled out the arrow that was in the first guard’s stomach as I pulled out the spear from the second guard. They yelled in pain and started cursing, but quickly fell silent when I cast healing light twice on each of them, mending their wounds.

I turned around to see the bandits running for their lives.

This battle was over.

But I wasn’t quite done yet.