Every morning, Louis went out in the middle of an infested forest, challenging himself to take on numerous monsters. The first day, he only practiced unarmed combat. He got a wound across his back and killed 43 monsters.
The second day, Louis. practiced armed combat with a blade, killing 75 monsters.
The third day, Louis practiced a mix of melee and magic combat, killing 89 monsters.
The fourth day, Louis used only one hand to fight, killing only 34 monsters.
The fifth and final day, he slaughtered 105 monsters. This was it, he felt back in shape. Though, that was thanks to one of his special abilities.
(Day 6)
“Are you ready, sir?” The knight asked.
The carriage, along with an escort, was here to take Louis to the town of Hilidor, where he would start his mission.
He had taken the liberty of buying some clothes for a good first appearance for when he made it to the Vangray Mansion.
Dressed in a nice, black suit, Louis replied “Yeah. Let’s get going.”
They had been on the road now for over three hours. Currently, they were traveling across the grassy plains.
Louis sat as the inside of the carriage was pretty much silent. He was actually surprised the knights next to him hadn’t tried to start a conversation out of sheer boredom.
‘I wish they would say something. I would hate sitting in silence for the next 10 hours.’
Louis pulled a golden coin from his pocket and held it tightly.
He was getting ready to flip it, but he was hoping it would land on heads.
This was one of his special abilities. If it lands on heads, his luck will be increased for the rest of the day. If it lands on tails, his luck will be utterly horrible for the rest of the day. But, this was something he liked to do when he was feeling lucky.
Flick!
His fingertips flicked the coin into the air.
Catch. Flip.
So he caught it, flipped it, and placed it on the back of his hand.
Louis smiled as he thought, ‘I knew I was feeling lucky.’
It landed on heads.
One of the knights broke the silence.
“So, I didn’t want to bother you, but I’m really curious. You’re well known for your accomplishments. I also hear you have a lot of abilities.”
“I do. I was born with around 54 abilities.” Louis nodded.
The other knights nearly dropped their jaws.
Most people are born with 0 abilities, but some get at least 1 or 2.
However, it’s rare to have more than 4.
Depending on how many you have, you will be given a level.
[Example:
0 abilities= Level 1
1-2 abilities= Level 2
3-5 Abilities = Level 3
6-10 Abilities = Level 4
11-20 Abilities = Level 5
21+ Abilities =Level 6 ]
Louis was at the highest level.
“Is it true your abilities are useful in almost any situation?” one of the knight’s asked.
“Mainly depends on how I use them. I’ve had situations where I went against a canceler and my abilities became useless.”
‘Canceller’ is a type of person capable of canceling out all nearby non-passive abilities.
“Yeah, speaking of that. There’s been one of them causing trouble in the capital lately. A man named Jack. He’s killed over 90 civilians and 170 guards so far.”
“Jack? First time in a while I’ve heard of someone that dangerous.” Louis replied.
“He says he’s skilled enough to rival a Royal Knight. And there’s witnesses to back this up as well. Jack is a troublesome man. I hope to never cross paths with him.”
To rival a ‘Royal Knight’ This was among the highest claims a person could make.
“Well, if you are in this line of work, it sounds like one day you’ll be likely to come across him.”
“True.”
Boom!
A large explosion hit the ground in front of the carriage, flipping it over.
Smash!
Upside down, Louis laid in confusion as he could hear the knights from the carriage behind.
“We’re under attack!”
“Bandits!”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
By the time Louis got back to being upright, his adrenaline was throbbing across his body.
This is it, the feeling he had no idea how much he missed. Louis crawled his way out of the upside down carriage as the sound of clashing blades made his eardrums quake.
His gaze shifted around as he saw the scenery of a battle. Some knights were lying motionless, while they were holding their own against the countless bandits wearing leather armor.
‘Okay. Time to take out the weak-minded ones first.’
Louis touched his chest, over his heart as he chanted.
“Greater spirits, here my call and cast: Slumber.”
The air abruptly shook and multiple bandits fell over, unconscious.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
A spell such as this would keep them out-cold for about an hour. As for the ones still awake, brute-force was needed to handle them.
A furious voice shouted.
“You damn mage!”
Louis moves aside just in time, evading a bandit’s slash.
Slash!
“Hey! Are you trying to kill me?!” Louis shouted.
“That's the point!” The bandit swung his sword again.
Slash! Clap. Clink!
Louis caught the blade between both of his palms.
“Enhance.”
Snap!
The weapon shattered into metal scraps as a fatal kick busted into the bandit's skull.
Smash!
‘That’s one down.’
Louis turned his head and checked on the fates of everyone else. It was apparent that the knights were being overwhelmed by the bandits, but it was possible to still win as long as he acted fast enough.
‘I’ll just have to jump in and kill them one by one. If their leader realizes I’m a threat, it’s a given that he’ll announce his presence.’
Louis held his palm into the air and chanted.
“Summon: Come forth, electric blade.”
A blue circle curled around his hand and a blue light flickered.
In his palm, he now clenched the handle to a sturdy blue sword, engraved with the power of lightning.
Now, it was time to recklessly charge into battle.
Louis sprinted and took a powerful leap into the air, above the crowd of bandits.
He spun his body, driving his sword into the floor as he landed. Electricity surged through the ground, exploding nearby bandits into flames.
There was only a brief second of peace before more bandits came charging in.
Slash! Slash!
Louis jumped around, cutting down the enemies with ease as they came. Left, right, slash!
Even when being flooded by opponents, Louis remained collected. His blade continued to show-off its might. With each slash, pulses of lightning launched his enemies back.
ZZZzzzzz.
“What the hell is he?” A fearful yell came from the mouth of a bandit. The man before him was far from normal, his blue eyes shined, his body emitting an aura of death.
Louis thrusted his blade through the bandits chest.
Shank!
From the behind, more tried to sneak up on him, but they weren’t sneaky enough.
Louis wiped the blood from his blade then shot a glare at them.
“Spirit force…lift.” he chanted, a look of intimidation in his eyes.
The faces of the bandits filled with fear as an unseen force lifted them into the air.
“Spirit force, crus–”
“ –Stop!” A girl’s voice interjected.
A girl with long, black hair and yellow eyes stood boldy while a giant sword hung on her back.
She continued.
“Stop right there. Spare them and I’ll make your death painless.”
“So, you the leader?” Louis asked.
The invisible force holding the bandits then launched them into the air, letting them roughly fall.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
They fell a good distance, but should’ve been able to survive. Louis wasn’t the type to kill if there was a way around it.
The girl answered, “I am. And we got word about two carriages carrying goods. I assume that’s those carriages behind you.” she pointed over to the carriages that laid in ruins.
A blank face of disappointment was shown on Louis’s face.
“Sorry, but you got the wrong people. There’s nothing good in those carriages.”
“Hah! I’m going to stop your lies right there. If there wasn’t anything good in them, then why is someone as strong as you protecting them? I got my information from a trustworthy source. So, I know you’re lying.”
“Hey, I'm not one to sit here and convince you. You can believe what you want. But, I’ll go ahead and say that your trustworthy source isn’t so trustworthy. Have a look inside the carriages.”
The bandit leader drew her greatsword, almost stumbling forward.
“Don’t be dumb. I have to kill you and the knights first before I do that. I can't have any of you escaping as witnesses.”
Louis silently shook his head.
“I don’t know how I feel about fighting a woman. So, I’ll give you a handicap.”
He tossed his blade aside as it faded into thin-air, “While you have the option to use anything in your power, I’ll only use my hands and a single spell. If you want.”
“Are you stupid? I’ll tear you apart. Aren’t you scared or something?”
“Nope. I have a good hunch that this isn’t something that requires a whole lot of effort.”
“Suit yourself. Here I COME!!!”
The girl raced forward with haste, lifting her giant blade into the air, slashing it downward.
Louis smirked and spoke a simple phrase.
“Boom.”
He held out his hand, touching the blade as it came down at him. Instead of being cut apart, Louis stayed unharmed as the bandit’s weapon blasted into pieces.
The girl's pulse jumped while her pupils shrunk and shivered.
She didn’t have the time to attack agai, Louis’s a;ready had his finger-tip pressed against her forehead. This was a threat. A threat to end her very existence.
“I win. Now stay still or I’ll shock you. But I’d rather not.” said Louis.
Tmp..Tmp..Tmp..
One of the knights came running to Louis’s side, giving news.
“All the bandits are defeated! Though, only four of us knights survived.”
Louis replied, without moving his finger from the girl’s head.
“I see. Gather up the surviving bandits and tie them against a tree or something. I’ll deal with this one.”
“I’m on it.” said the Knight before running off.
The Leader Bandit was still in utter surprise. How did this stranger handle her so easily? Who was this man?
“...Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m just someone unfortunate enough to be attacked by bandits. More importantly, Who are you?”
“I….I am Cruz Crowder, the proud leader of these ban-”
Louis interrupted, “-Former leader. I mean, you can’t lead anyone if you’re locked up, which you will be once the knights figure out a way of transportation. Until then, I guess I should question you a bit.”
“I don’t care what you do to me. I won’t say anything.” Cruz said with certainty.
But, Louis had a hunch that he could easily get her to talk.
“Hmmm. Well, let’s see.”