GRADUATION

"Hey, I need an early sleep before the boss returns. Wake me if you ever need anything."

Twig yawned as he turned on his back and further made himself comfortable on the soft grass.

"What the hell man! So I'm the only idiot around here?"

His companion immediately replied angrily.

'And what kind of lousy name is Twig by the way?'

Slime thought to himself as he shifted on his stomach so as to keep an eye on his companions on the road.

He found himself as the only member of the ambush party who currently remained awake. The others had long done the same as Twig and also ventured into dreamland. He looked to the group acting as enticement on the road.

"At least I would have good company in that loud group."

He muttered.

Slime reminisced on his newfound bandit lifestyle thus far.

He joined the core bandit group as they recruited slum hopefuls such as himself on the journey northwards. They had arrived and made camp in a forest near here, while the leader and his cloaked companion went into this village to gather some more recruits.

Unfortunately this place did not yield much new blood. Because of some incident he could not be bothered with, the slums of this village became devoid of bandit hopefuls. It did not even possess suitable girls ripe for kidnapping.

Something happened in the village that piqued the interest of the cloaked man during that trip. After their return he made the boss round-up a bunch of them and scurry across the grasslands to their first raid on a farm.

That venture did not pan out as he expected.

Instead of the quick ambush killing and kidnapping of womenfolks, the raid seemed to have degenerated into something akin to mindless slaughter. If he did not know better he might have thought they participated in some feud.

The men they butchered ruthlessly, even worse than livestock. The women --taken and abused roughly. As if not satisfied, the order then came to slit their throats. Slime did not pity the humiliated women, but he just presumed that they would have been left alive to service the group.

The cloaked man had returned to their temporary camp along with the stolen loot. The boss had gallantly ridden off to some place. The plan would be to rendezvous with them on the road after meeting up some new recruits.

Since they never expected the incident at the farm to be reported early, they decided to trap any travelers and small merchant group on the road. The lively group hanging around the fire did what most caught out in the road would do.

They had a large pot simmering on the fire, cooking some of their recently stolen food. Amidst the chopping of vegetables and chatting they remained alert constantly monitoring the road.

None of them noticed when three children and a wolf flitted across the road in the far darkness.

Slime was busy thinking how he could be enjoying the company of a woman. He was relishing the thought of breaking another young girl into submission when he finally heard a sound. Unexpectedly it came not from the road, but from the grassland behind him.

Thinking it was one of those idiots who decided to wake up for a piss. He turned to berate them after which he also planned to take advantage of some well-earned shut-eye.

What greeted him was the sight of an angel silhouetted in the moonlight. He had time to blink once before his future plans all ended.

A crossbolt invaded his chest at near point-blank range.

His mind was in turmoil--as reflected in his confused dead eyes. In shock he did not even get the opportunity to scream.

Undoubtedly it was an angel, the angel of death.

Lucy remained standing over the dead man with her head uncovered. Because of the previous speed she exerted to quickly arrive at the location her hood on her cloak fell back. Seeing her head hallowed by the moon, strands of her blond hair lifting in the gentle wind, it was no wonder Slime took her for an angel.

It was here Chu showed his inexperience. His naivety in still believing in the goodness of people. Or maybe he refused to kill a person in cold blood while they slept. By the time Lucy dispatched the watch, Chu and Ming arrived as quickly and stealthily on the scene.

He removed the cheap swords and bows lying close to the men before gently shaking one of them awake.

Twig woke up ready to complain about his short nap. He didn't even have time to enter dreamland. When his eyes adjusted themselves to the moonlight, he sincerely hoped he had entered the dream-world unconsciously.

A hooded figure had one hand over his mouth, and another at his neck. The feeling of cold sharp, iron immediately cleared his thoughts. Another figure on the other side, indicated for him to remain silent. The universal placement of a finger by the lips and the knowledge of imminent death turned him compliant.

Chu placed his mouth close to the guy's ears and whispered softly.

"If you want to live, keep quiet. Shout and you die."

Getting the nod of affirmation from the bandit, Lucy set about securing the man by stripping his own clothes for rope. The noise woke the person sleeping nearby who promptly received the same treatment. He also complied with them on fear of death. This plan seemed to be foolproof until they woke third bandit. This man had a different response.

"Kill me? You don't have the guts."

The man actually laughed causing Ming to jerk back the blade unconsciously for fear of cutting the throat. The bandit turned his head and soaked in his surroundings before continuing.

"Three of you, and brats to boot. You really think this is a game? First you are going to move that knife from my neck. Then you will bow down and lick my foo..."

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He did not live to finish the sentence.

The hand clapped down on his mouth while at the same time the crossbolt buried itself in his chest. The horror-stricken eyes gazed back at Chu in disbelief. Ming removed his hand only when the body became limp.

Since the first sentence, Chu reached for the loaded crossbow beside him. He might be far from a cold-blooded killer but he definitely did not take well to threats. His first plan was utter annihilation in any case. The only reason these men received the chance to live was because they made an easy target.

'What the heck! Here I am giving you a chance to live and you use it to threaten me.'

The memory of the massacre remained fresh in his mind. Like hell these guys could milk his conscious. If and when he had to throw up in disgust, he would at least do so with pride knowing he killed for a just cause.

Chu woke up the last man while making sure he saw the fate of their two unfortunate and resisting comrades. Under such a revelation the bandit showed no hesitation in complying with the obviously savage teens.

Now he only had to take care of the acting men cooking by the fire.

He reset the crossbows and gave Lucy two for the initial attack. He kept one while Ming would make his debut as a fighter. Ming grabbed one of the cheap swords while keeping his good sword sheathed. Chu led them, as they sneaked forward.

Since he knew these guys attacked the farm, he had no reason to feel any ounce of regret. Even if some of these men did not participate in the slaughter, they were certainly guilty by association.

As for how they would approach the group, Chu decided to do it in a retro fashion.

"Did you see how the boss handled that woman? But I wish he didn't follow that guy's words and kill her."

"I know right, he could have given her to us for tonight. By tomorrow I am sure she would either be a willing slave or a broken one."

"What the heck?"

One of the bandits cried out as he noticed three shadows make their way towards them from the grassland. This group even came out right where they hid the weapon stash under some shrubs.

"Stick-em up!"

"Drop to the ground."

"Hey man, what the heck you cooking? Smells nice!"

Came three clear shouts one after the next.

The response after the surprise did not exceed his expectations. Three kids trying to engage in a heist against bandits. After the initial shock hence came the expected plethora of curses and threats.

"Kid if you don't kowtow to me by the next breath, I am going to string you up alive!"

"Brats you just became new slaves for the Mong bandits. Prepare for a living hell."

"I know right? I used some special seasoning, ground from herbs in the grassland, the taste makes it even more so to die for!"

'Seems there is also an idiot in this group.'

Thought Chu.

He shouted out his commands, since words in a night battle were better than a thousand hand gestures.

The first bandit who spoke was also the closest. Hence he became the first casualty. A hooded figure appeared like a new shadow cast by the fire. By the time his brain processed the information on the shadow Lucy aimed her crossbow point-blank at his heart and fired.

"Whaaa!"

The man screamed as the power behind the shot sent him flying backwards. When he collapsed in the middle of the group, his soul had departed this world.

The others stopped in their tracks as they now watched the group with noted shock and apprehension. Seeing and observing have always been two different things. As Lucy stepped into the light of the fire, they saw her deftly switch crossbows pulling a loaded one from her back.

One look at her and a glance at the weapons of the two others told them everything they needed to know.

"These brats are loaded! Kill them, ambush them!"

A man roared as he grabbed a burning log from the fire and rushed towards them. Knowing of the support group hidden in the shadows they became filled with greed.

Chu had escaped a Snow bear, faced the charge of a Great Horned deer and stared down the rush of a variant Red boar. In front of them, this clumsy head on charge by a slow human looked so pathetic he nearly cried.

A well-aimed shot to the head put the man out of his misery. The crossbolt cracked his skull near the mans left eye and produced a groan from its victim before the man dropped to the ground.

At the side another guy decided to take on Ming bare handed. He used the same rush tactic to shock the boy before planning to overwhelm him by brute force.

Unfortunately his opponent was someone who had enormous experience facing such a tactic. During the recent sparring, such tactics were frequently used by Doug and the others. Only after numerous beatings did they change their plan of attack. It was not effective then, so why should it work now?

Ming performed a quick side step as he delivered his signature strike to the man now charging past him.

"Heaven's Wrath!"

The teen screamed as he launched a piercing attack on the man with his sword.

The wails of the man echoed out into the night as he rolled on his stomach on the ground. The last two bandits looked on in abject horror at the sword protruding out of the man's ass.

"Dammit Ming, can't you at least call your strikes right? And put that poor bloke out of his misery!"

Chu complained while he reloaded his crossbow.

Lucy covered the last two men as Ming walked over and placed his foot on the man's behind. With a tug he pulled out the sword and then stabbed the man through the back between his ribs. It did not take long for the wails to come to an abrupt end.

The last two bandits halted in their tracks and decided to switch plans. The cook dropped to the ground sprawling out his hands and legs in surrender. The last bandit took one last look around hoping for reinforcements. Convinced they were not coming. He bolted into the darkness past this group of little devils.

'What the heck is that guy thinking?'

Chu wondered. If his buddies in the darkness did not join in the fight, logically didn't it mean something had happened to them?

Choice was good but the direction poor. Especially when out there lay something that was currently watching over the prisoners. The trembling cook had raised his head on seeing his companion flee. He was lamenting his own choice as to why he did not do the same when he witnessed the terror.

First was a pitiful scream, then came a sickening crunch like an egg being cracked open. After which, an eerie silence followed. A large shadow could be seen melding back into the darkness under the small rise. The horrifying sight alone promptly erased any thoughts of fleeing these little demons.

Chu tied up the cook who had apparently done a number on his pants. He rounded up all of them in the grassland and began some questioning.

After learning that the bandit boss would be heading on the road to meet up with the rest, he decided to wait on him personally. Since he could handle the expected five bandits it should not be a problem. They cleared the site by removing the dead bodies and moved the fireside further up the road to avoid suspicion.

Just like the previous bandits, they assumed the guise of wanderers on the road. Chu and Ming stirred a slow cooking pot of soup, while Lucy and the wolf remained hidden. The captured bandits remained tied and gagged.

Not even an hour passed them when Lucy's voice came from the shadows.

"They're coming."

It did not take long for a group of men on horseback to arrive. Chu finally understood the flaw in Lucy's ability.

Scents that bunched together in that twisted rainbow made it difficult to tell the amount. She mentioned it before and it proved itself again.

Chu heard the horses as they clipped clopped slowly on the moonlight lit road. The riders saw the fire and the two small figures hunched over a cooking pot. Conducting themselves as would befit genuine bandits, they rode to a stop so as to begin normal pillaging operations.

From the backs of six foaming horses jumped down some tired riders. Each horse bore a load of three people.

Eighteen bandits, seven of which were seriously armed and armored.

'Fuck me!'

Chu berated himself for such stupidity.

Ming on the other hand had a look of shock and stiffened up.

From the middle of the new crowd strode out a man better armored than the rest.

"Well, well, well if it isn't little Ming."

It was not the armor that made the man seem unforgettable, it was his face currently illuminated by the flickering fire.

The face of a perpetually sneering man.