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  Two more arrows struck the tree he was hiding behind. Kaz wondered if he should show himself, possibly it was someone just defending themselves thinking he was some kind of monster. With some hesitation, he stepped out from the tree, making sure to activate his [ Mana Shield ], to provide some protection against any other arrows that were going to be fired at him.

  He walked into the open area, scanning the whole place, wondering where those arrows were being shot from. [ Evasive Step ] pulsed into action, barely dodging an arrow that would have lodged itself straight into his chest. Instead, it grazed his upper arm, cutting into the sleeve of his robe, but not causing any damage to his actual body.

  “Halt right der, who are ya?”

  Kaz panned over to the source of the voice, and what he saw made the blood drain from his face. It was a Dwarf with black hair, with a scruffy and unkept beard. Fear and rage took over, causing him to shake in place. He knew him.

  Bandits.

  It all clicked in his brain. Run down and abandoned buildings, no monsters in the area, off the main path. Of course it would be bandits. He kicked himself mentally for not listening to his previous instincts of not venturing off the main path.

  The Dwarf approached him and stopped a few yards away from him. The Dwarven Bandit froze, analyzing Kaz, and a wide wicked grin slowly appeared behind his unruly beard.

  “By tha Originators, is that who I tink it is?”

  Kaz remained quiet, his mana pulsing erratically within him. He closed his eyes, trying to get his emotions together, trying to get rid of the fear, the despair from his previous encounter, and the anger in losing all of his hard earned crystals. Kaz heard laughing and his [ Evasive Step ] pulsed, causing him to take a step back, avoiding the Dwarf’s punch with the help of his forearm, the force of the blow causing him to take a few steps backward.

  Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the Dwarf’s grin slowly disappearing, as his eyes grew wide. Unable to contain his emotions anymore, Kaz cast [ Mana Burst ], his eyes glowing bright silver. With the silver mana construct forming, it bolted towards the Dwarf, leaving behind a static current.

  The Ability plowed into the Dwarf, and immediately the Dwarf seized up, temporarily stunned by the attack. Kaz, with a deadpan stare, his eyes flickering silver brightly, looking like a storm of lightning, cast his [ Mana Burst ] again.

  An arrow flew straight into his arm from the side, but Kaz ignored it, the pain getting stuffed to the bottom of his current state of hyperfocus. With a grunt, the Dwarf snapped back, immediately beginning to rush at Kaz. Kaz sent his mana construct towards the Dwarf, hitting him square in the chest, but this time it had no extra effect.

  The Dwarf pulled an axe from his back, the metal looking dull but still sported a very sharp edge, obviously being maintained by the Bandit. The Dwarf roared, and his charging speed increased, raising his axe above his head, going for a power move that Kaz cannot block.

  Kaz simply lowered his glaive to his side, gripping it with one hand as he side stepped another arrow that flew towards him, getting slightly annoyed from the pest firing the arrows at him.

  Indecision clouded his mind, as he wasn’t able to form a complete thought. He was too locked into the battle, ignoring everything around him, rage taking over his body. He felt his mana flowing through him wildly, his mana core pulsing uncomfortably. With another roar, the Dwarf swung his axe downwards towards Kaz’s head.

  Bracing his glaive, he raised it to parry the axe, as he knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge it without taking some damage and he didn’t want to risk his [ Mana Shield ] because he didn’t know the full strength of the Dwarf. A loud scrapping noise was heard as the axe collided with the blade of his glaive.

  Kaz was pushed down on his knees, the power behind the arcing blow too overwhelming for his weak frame. He was also clipped by the tip of the axe, slightly cutting into his forearm, causing blood to freely stream down his arm. With an instinctive snarl coming from Kaz, he swung his own glaive, catching the Dwarf in his exposed midsection as he was preparing another power hit on the overwhelmed Gnome.

  Red blood spurt out from the Dwarf’s midsection as Kaz’s (Refined) glaive managed to tear into the Dwarf’s flimsy, simple leather armor. The surge of rage ebbed as Kaz lowered his glaive into the ground, feeling stunned in realization.

  He was attacking another person, not a monster. Seeing red blood flow from another person, because of him, caused his bloodlust fueled haze to lift. With his [ Evasive Step ] pulsing, he ducked his head down, barely avoiding the arcing axe that was trying to take his head off. With unsteady motions, he scrambled onto his feet, trying to get over that initial realization.

  Another arrow rushed his way, but due to him scrambling to his feet, the arrow simply flew off to the side and buried itself into the ground. Kaz got into an offensive stance with his glaive, holding the broken handle near the bottom of the glaive, trying to increase his reach as much as he could. The Dwarf eyed him as well, both waiting for the other enemy to move first.

  With a growl, the Dwarf lunged forward, sloppy in his attack, obviously being affected by his wounded midsection. With a wide arcing swing, it was easy for Kaz to take a step back, and begin his own arcing slash, starting from his left shoulder down to the right, the move always being his most effective attack for him with the glaive.

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  Pain flared through his arm, causing him to slightly miss his mark, but still managing to cut deep into the Dwarf’s shoulder blade. Due to his sudden burst of pain, he jerked backwards, taking the glaive with him, causing the Dwarf to cry out in pain, cursing Kaz with words he hadn’t even heard before.

  Looking down at his arm, his body and mind just registered the arrow that was buried in his own arm, slightly above his elbow. He didn’t know what to do about it, but luck was on his side as the Bandit was trying to regain his own senses, fighting the pain and blood that was flowing out from his two wounds.

  After taking a few moments for the both of them to get themselves together, they resumed their duel. They exchanged blows, with Kaz managing to use his sharp glaive to make many smaller cuts, and with the weight of the axe and the Dwarf’s injuries, he was overexerting himself, leaving weak spots for Kaz to expose.

  Kaz nearly lost his arm when he overextended himself, and the Dwarf swung downwards towards his arm. He instinctively cast his [ Mana Shield ], causing the sharp edged axe to bounce off his silver mana coated arm, causing the Dwarf to yell out in frustration and surprise.

  After managing to slice the Dwarf many times, causing him to be covered in blood, and with Kaz himself sporting a few cuts, his arm going numb from the arrow embedded into his muscle, they eyed each other, panting. Gripping his axe, and leveraging himself with it, the Dwarf stood up, and to Kaz’s surprise, the Dwarf shouted way louder than he did before.

  “Intruder! We got a ‘truder!”

  The blood drained from Kaz’s face, and he felt his heart sink. Absent mindedly, he summoned his [ Mana Shield ] and blocked another arrow that was about to strike him again. With a bloody grin, the Dwarf started limping away, Kaz already hearing shouting coming from the bigger building.

  Rage bubbling again within him, he cast his [ Mana Burst ], throwing his every emotion into it, and sent the mana construct streaking towards the Dwarf. The Dwarf’s grin faded as the Skill Ability struck him, causing him to fall over in pain and exhaustion.

  From the distance, Kaz saw the three other Bandits rushing towards him. Before he could think about how to attack them, he looked to the side where the arrows were coming from and summoned his Skill Ability. His mana construct flew towards the Archer, and he was affirmed of his attack when he heard a high-pitched yelp in pain coming from the direction he sent it in.

  Poking above the branches, he saw a smaller Human, who was now falling out of the tree, as the mana construct threw him off the branches. With a sickening thud, the Bandit fell to the ground, not moving for now.

  Satisfied with that result, he faced the other three Bandits who were rushing him, drinking one of his health potions and one of his mana potions, the mana potion filling him with a chill that prevented him from falling asleep from the health potion. Unknown to him, a small group of Adventurers were gearing up to intervene in the battle.

  Broff Underhorn POV

  Broff Underhorn, a Dwarf Fighter who has undergone his Revelation recently, obtaining the Calling of the Sturdy Warrior, watched with interest as he witnessed a single Gnome attacking the encampment of Bandits. His group of four have been chosen from the Guild to investigate rumors of a Bandit camp near Sarus, as reports have been made of increased Bandit presence, and some seeing them going down an unused path to an old, abandoned farm. As they made it to the location, they were met by an ongoing duel between a Gnome with an arrow in his arm against a scruffy looking Dwarf.

  Due to their high Resonance, which all of them were above the tier of 50, as most of them already have gone through their first Revelation, and their stellar reputation among the Guild as newly Staged Stone Ranks, they were offered this Quest by the Guild themselves, and there was a high reward, as the various Guilds of the town also pitched in. The Bandits were a massive thorn to every resident of the town, as well as traveling merchants, with nobody being able to put an end to them.

  Their Human Mage, or Wind Apprentice, Elmdiara Grayes, a Mage who specialized with the affinity for Wind, softly spoke up as they stood there, watching the fight unfold, “I believe I know of that Mage who is attacking the camp.”

  All eyes turned to her, waiting for her to explain herself, not surprised as most Mages knew each other in their small town.

  With a furrowed brow, she tried to recollect the information she has heard, “Supposedly there was a new Mage in town, as told by my younger sister who just Awakened and joined the Mage Academy, and he gained the interest of Elder Aelon himself. After he was invited to the Mage Academy, he was then confronted by Nahan Faedusk and his group,” everyone winced at that, knowing the family, especially Nahan. She then continued, “The rumor is that he managed to fend off the whole group and only cast one [ Mana Burst ] during that whole encounter.”

  Broff rubbed his ginger beard, trying to piece together the information presented to him and what he was seeing from the Gnome “Mage”. Echoing his own thoughts, their Elven Healing Cleric, Meraethea Aelara, nicknamed Mera, spoke up, “That is no ordinary Mage though, as he is using a weapon as a legitimate Fighter would, as someone who recently Awakened that is. I am not sure if that is a spear or something similar, but from this distance it looks odd.”

  Their Assassin, an Elf named Treyre, who was abandoned by his House due to his Calling of the Rogue, simply nodded and hummed in agreement. With a sigh, Broff decided what to do. He saw the Gnome winning in his battle against the Dwarf Bandit, which was surprising in itself. The Gnome glowed a deep gray when Broff analyzed him, and the Dwarf glowed a very pale green, meaning he was at a higher Resonance than the Gnome, but not by much.

  From what he saw, he was impressed with the Gnome’s fighting ability with his spear like weapon. As a Fighter himself, he obviously saw the major flaws and lack of a proper foundation, but there was something about the way he handled that weapon that piqued his curiosity. He heard a gasp come from Mera, and he narrowed his eyes, instantly tensing up as he saw the Dwarf going in for a killing blow on the Gnome. But somehow, the Gnome managed to evade the attack, surprising them all.

  “Do you want me to intervene, Broff?” The Rogue asked unemotionally.

  Broff shook his head, instantly replying, “Nay, this is his fight, and if he is truly unmatched against the Bandit, then we intervene.”

  Everyone nodded, although their Healer looked distressed. Broff knew that she was sensitive to seeing others in pain, and it made sense, as the fight was getting bloody, with both of the combatants going all out, trading blows.

  As the Bandit Dwarf fought, he couldn’t help himself by noticing that the Bandit was using Ability after Ability, but he couldn’t connect on the slippery Gnome, who seemed to be dancing around the Dwarf. If this is how he fought with a weapon, how was his skill with his actual Calling of the Mage?

  After seeing the Mage somehow deflect a [ Powered Strike ] from the Dwarf, an Ability he used himself, he was slightly flabbergasted. Who was this Mage?

  When he heard the Dwarf yell out for reinforcements, he then decided to motion to his group, allowing them to join the battle, as he saw three Bandits running towards Kaz from the barn, and he saw other movement from the house, knowing that they were all gearing up now.

  A static shiver of mana rolled through the air from the Gnome, bristling the hair on his arms. Everyone in their group faltered in their step, looking at the Gnome mage as a brilliant silver mana construct, forked like a bolt of lightning, shot out and struck the Dwarf in a blink of an eye.

  What in the Realm was that?