I need to find a rhythm. I need to focus my mana at the right moment. Both men have to be preoccupied with Cruel when I do it or they might notice me and throw a rock again. I’ll most likely get killed by that.

They once again do the move they started the fight with. This time Cruel’s prepared and blocks as many of them as possible with her weapon. That’ll work.

I shape my mana as close as possible to sticks. I think long and hard about horsetails. I need them to stop the bleeding. I have no idea if this’ll work as well as I think, but I have to try.

I manage to get it right on my first try. Maybe it’s just the adrenaline kicking in, but I did it.

I try my best to crush the horsetails and apply them on my head.

I then try to imagine hot water coming out of my hand during the next opening. Like the horsetails, it works the first time.

It hurts. It hurts so much, but I have to endure. This will at least keep me from passing out.

I sit up a moment later. I still feel a little light-headed, but I can manage. I look towards the three people fighting. Cruel looks like she took a couple more hits from her opponents. The other two are still unscathed. It just goes to show how well they work together.

I see Cruel launch an attack on one of them. Her target touches the ground with both hands.It looks as if he morphs the ground to make a pillar to block the halberd and another to trap it in place. Cruel abandons her weapon, pulls out the doctor’s dagger, and tries to go for the man’s back, but his partner’s just in time to meet her there. The man fires a rock with one hand and what seems to be the same technique the other man used with the other. A small lump of dirt forms directly in front of his hand which then starts growing longer towards Cruel’s direction. She jumps away just before it catches her, but the rock that was thrown grazes her arm.

Cruel looks tired now. It doesn’t seem like she has a lot of fight left in her. I have to help her somehow.

I have a good idea of what to do after watching them, however. I don’t know if it’ll work, but it’s worth a shot.

I wait for the right moment. Cruel has to be on her way to attack one of them in the back while the other’s getting ready to intercept her. I charge my attack the moment it happens.

They notice the projectile coming but it was too late. The man takes a direct hit from my attack. It’s actually effective. This gives Cruel the opportunity to strike the other man in the back. She stabs him with the dagger..

It was surprising for me and the other man. Cruel’s attack was strong enough to pierce all the way through the man’s chest. He falls down as she dislodges her weapon from his back.

Upon witnessing the horror, the other man dispels the rocks on his hand and attempts to run. It’s futile to run away from Cruel with how fast she moves. I fire another ball at him while she gives chase.

He takes the hit without blocking and gets pressed onto a tree. This is the first time I’ve actually seen someone do that tonight. I see that my attack actually did deal some damage to him. He doesn’t stand up and just sits by the tree he hit.

“Do it! Kill me!”

All of his mana dissipates. He’s completely given up.

“Done already? What a let down.”

She says that while heavily panting.

“We shouldn’t have taken this job! If only we weren’t fighting under the damn symbol. You could’ve seen what we were truly capable of!”

“Excuses, excuses.”

Cruel picks up her halberd that dropped as soon as the pillars disappeared. It’s being raised. She’s just about ready to end this. The weapon drops down, only for it to miss its target.

“You’re very lucky. We’ll let you live if you’re willing to do one simple thing for us.”

“Alright, are we all calm?”

“Do I look like I can calm down?! We just got utterly humiliated by that trash!”

Rod’s still unhinged. His pride’s been ripped to shreds. He’s faced his fair share of fighters and monsters in the past. None of them, however, were like the woman we fought tonight.

“I don’t know about that. Those guys looked awfully competent. The woman especially.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Dammit all!”

He’s stomping the ground with his bleeding foot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this. He’s as bitter as ale.

“If it’s all the same to you lot, I’ll be pursuing them now. You can come if you want.”

Elva’s oddly calm about this. Not only that, but he still has enough energy for another round with those two.

“You think you can beat them by yourself? You think you’re better than me?!”

Rod gets provoked by Elva.

“We mustn't lose ourselves right now.”

“What gives you the right to say that, you warmonger?!”

Elva reacts with a look of sympathy towards Rod.

“I pity you. Is this the first time you’ve ever met your match?”

“SHUT UP! THAT BROAD WAS HARDLY A MATCH FOR ME! THEY USED PETTY TRICKS ON US! THEY—”

Looks like Elva’s finally had it. He blindsides Rod with a punch while he wasn’t looking.

“I knew it. Your face tells me everything I need to know. Being spoiled by victory has made you a coward.”

He comes closer to Rod. Rod tries to punch him, but Elva blocks it with his hand. He grips Rod’s fist.

“You’re afraid of losing. You choose only battles that favor you. Battles against people weaker than you.”

Rod’s still showing signs of pain as Elva’s grip tightens.

“Heed my words, young man. Battles aren’t won: they’re fought.”

“Piss off!”

As Rod gestures for Elva to go away, we hear someone shouting further off into the woods.

“HELP!”

Elva and I move towards the voice while Rod stays behind.

“It could be a trap, you idiots!”

I hear Rod yell from a distance.

“He has a point.”

“I’ll go first. Stay hidden until I call for you.”

We see a man resting under a tree. Near him are two other people lying lifeless on the ground. One’s missing his legs while the other has a gaping wound on his back.

Elva goes closer to the man while I stay out of sight. He shushes the man.

“Where are they?”

The man points back to where we came from. To the place where the apprentice was fighting. Why would they go there?

“Alright, do you want me to carry you out of here?”

Elva offers his hand to the man.

“Why are you helping him? He knew what he signed up for.”

I spring out of the bushes to say that. I don’t really know why he’s doing it. I always saw him as the rash and arrogant type: kinda like Rod.

“With all due respect, I don’t think any of us expected all of this.”

He exudes the aura of some noble knight. It feels so out of place with his burly and rough appearance.

“What happened to all that talk about facing them again, then?”

“We’ll be headed in their direction anyway. Two birds with one stone.”

It’s still odd to me, though. Why would they go back there? Did the apprentice lose? Are they reconvening with the spiky-haired man?

We go back to Rod and catch him up to speed. He looks like he’s had enough and just wants to get out of this place.

We all head back and see the body count left by our targets. Their corpses all look like cut paper.

As we get nearer to the exit, I start hearing my own heartbeats. Were we about to get into another fight?

From the clearance, we see the apprentice just standing there looking off into the distance. There was nobody else there. He notices us and comes closer.

“Didn’t get them, I assume.”

That’s a puzzling thing for him to say.

“This guy told us they were coming here.”

“Nobody came.”

We turn to the man Elva’s carrying.

“I’m sorry. They told me to say that. They’re long gone.”

He cries while talking. He’s lost any and all dignity he had.

“I see. Well, I’m cancelling the bounty on them anyway.”

“What?! Why?”

“A far greater threat requires my attention. You’re free to consult with the other apprentices should they need your assistance with the matter.”

Could he be talking about the guy he just fought? Seriously, who are these people?

“And what of our efforts? What about those who died for this? Were they all for nothing? Answer me, apprentice!”

Elva’s words sound like they came directly from his mind. He seems pretty pissed by all of this.

The apprentice tosses a sack of gold coins towards us.

“Your compensation. Divide it how you see fit.”

I know we’re mercenaries and dying is a risk we’re all aware of, but Ran just comes off as completely heartless as he says that.

Elva doesn’t say another word, puts down the man he was carrying, and heads back to town. Rod and I just sit there for a while.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m glad they weren’t here.”

“Just shut up.”