XXXVII

  Kaz couldn’t help the jittery feeling coursing through his body. Even from this slight distance, the Bandit still caused him to feel fear, as if this suffocating pressure pushed deep into his body and mind. The Bandit before them was draped in a dark brown leather, with black metal armor plates, which were the same color as his daggers.

  All he could hear was slight murmurs coming from their discussion, the distance too great as they spoke in their normal voices, with the gravelly voice of Broff cutting through. Broff was gripping his battle axe tightly, in a defensive sort of way, angling the handle and weapon across his body.

  Slightly bouncing on the balls of his feet, Treyre was ready to spring into action, as he noticed the Bandit crouch slightly, as if he was getting ready to pounce on the group. More words were exchanged between the group and the Bandit leader. Kaz assumed he was the leader of this group of bandits, purely based on the physical appearance and the presence he exuded.

  Tired of the discussion, the Bandit reached into his chest piece, and he seemed to pull out some kind of necklace. Then he crushed the smoky black sphere attached to the necklace, and black smoke burst out from the sphere, veiling the Bandit from head to toe in smoke. Kaz felt chills prickling across his whole body, as he saw the Bandits look like an apparition, his body just a shape in the smoke.

  Unable to help himself, Kaz felt himself being drawn closer to the battle, as Broff let out a rough roar, swinging his massive battleaxe in an arc at the smoky rogue.

  To his dismay, his axe only cut through the smoke, not causing any damage to the body of the Bandit. And in the blink of his eye, the smoky Bandit drifted near Mera, the Elven Healer. Kaz saw two glints of light among the shadowy smoke as they crossed each other, the sound of fabric tearing up following. With a cry, the Healer went down on her knees, two lacerations across her chest area.

  In retaliation, Treyre darted forwards, disappearing from thin air as he had seen him do earlier, and he sunk his daggers into the back of the enemy, but both of his daggers simply fell through the shadow of the Bandit. With a frustrated growl of his own, he rushed towards the retreating smoky figure, but before he could reach it, an arc of wind mana collided into the Bandit, blowing away the excess smoke, revealing the main body behind the shadowy smoke.

  While the main body was exposed, both Treyre and Broff sprang into action, causing Kaz to clench his hands in anticipation, hoping for them to connect. Broff brought his axe above his head, arcing it downwards in a devastating slash, his axe a blur to Kaz’s eyes. Kaz saw a white glow emit from Broff’s axe during the impressive cleave, the soft white glow leaving a trial in the air as the axe descended.

  A bright red burst of blood erupted from the Bandit, a stark contrast to the shadowy smoke, as he cried out in pain. Capitalizing from the momentary stun, Treyre seized the opportunity, flipping his daggers into a reverse grip and driving them into the exposed back of the Bandit. As his knives made contact with the Bandit, Treyre dragged them downwards hoping to cause more tearing damage, but his knives wouldn’t budge.

  Broff ripped out his battleaxe from the Bandit, which one end of it was embedded in the side of the foe, and swung around, using momentum behind his swing to deliver an overwhelming slash into the Bandit. A loud clang range across, as his battleaxe collided with the daggers of Treyre, who mere seconds ago had his daggers rooted into the back of the Bandit.

  Surprise was etched into both of their faces, as well as Kaz, who wondered where the enemy vanished. Again, Elmdiara casted an ability at a critical time to remove the shadowy smoke, this time looking like a ring of wind, whiteish mana erupting from her and spreading out in a wide circle around here, blowing anything within 10 yards of her out of the way.

  This ability revealed the Bandit, who was now several yards away from the main group, but unlike previously, the intensity of his smoke was diminishing, and the group, along with Kaz, was able to notice the blood pouring out of him, forming a pool underneath him. The group regained their senses, focusing on the Bandit as everything went into a standstill. Mera was able to heal a little of herself during the fight, at least being able to stop the bleeding, and weakly stood to the side of Elmdiara, heavily leaning into her staff.

  “Y’all are a tough bunch to crack, although unfortunately for you, high and mighty Adventurers, I am just getting started,” the Bandit managed to rasp out, his voice very airy, as if it was coming from the smoke itself.

  With a sadistic glee on his face, he brought his knives up to his chest, and crossed the blades, and with that, he mumbled something, and shortly after, he started glowing green, his shadowy smoke now denser and changing to a deep green haze.

  Everyone in the group sprang into action, noticing something was coming. With a heavy grunt, Broff charged at the location where the Bandit was standing mere seconds ago, while Treyre phased again, electing to appear behind and to the left of the Bandit.

  Both battleaxe and pair of daggers only cut through the thick green haze, and with a cry, Treyre fell down to one knee, as he lost his stability due to the cut to the back of his knee. Broff wildly swung his axe, hoping to connect with the attacker, but as he was swinging, a dagger appeared out of the green haze, striking him on the chest, embedding deep with a dull thud.

  Broff roared in pain as he ripped out the dagger, yelling out to Mera, “Mera, light heal to stop the bleeding!”

  Mera, nodding frantically, obviously stressed from the way the battle of going. She cast her healing spell, targeting Broff, her hands shaking from the nerves. To buy them some time, Elmdiara summoned another wave of wind, but he saw her stumble to the side, obviously fighting off the low mana as her Skill Ability drained the little she had left.

  Kaz realized how much of an advantage the enemy had over the group of Adventurers. They were already low on their Ability source, even with them replenishing what they could with mana potions. It was also difficult for the combatants, as they had to rely on using their Skill Abilities, as normal attacks wouldn’t come close to affecting the enemy.

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  How powerful was this Bandit leader? Were this group of Adventurers going to succumb to this strong foe? Should he run now, hoping to spare his own life?

  With a shake of his head, he subconsciously reached into his bag and brought out a mana potion. His last one. Kaz opened it, and brought the potion to his lips, immediately downing the small vial. The cold rush filled his body, filling him with energy, as if he just took a dip into a freezing lake. He automatically moved forward, to get within range for his Skill Ability.

  Casting his own [ Mana Burst ], he had slight worry in not being able to strike the Bandit, therefore he opted for the enhanced speed modifier, hoping that the enemy wouldn’t able to dodge it. Kaz felt the mental confirmation as he managed to see a glimpse of target, as Elmdiara’s Skill Ability revealed his form.

  Mana flowed out of him, and he saw the flicker of his [ Mana Burst ], the silver construct blinking in and out of existence, connecting with the enemy through the green haze.

  What followed next was a chain of events. His Skill Ability entered the green haze, instantly finding the Bandit leader, who became stunned slightly from the attack. Kaz watched as Broff took advantage of the stunned foe, charging his battleaxe again with the white glow, no doubt a Skill Ability, and slashed it with all his might, causing him to spin in a circle.

  Treyre on the other hand, unable to put weight on his injured leg, decided to throw both of his knives, both of them embedding themselves to the Bandit’s legs. Just as his knives found their target, Broff’s attack cut deep into the midsection of the foe, causing the Bandit to cry out in pain as he was attacked multiple times successfully.

  Piquing his curiosity, Kaz saw Elmdiara down another mana potion, and he wondered if that was safe to do, or if there would be a backlash to drinking multiple potions within a short span of time. That was something he would have to ask, after they hopefully succeeded in defeating this Bandit.

  With a wave of her staff, she sent a thin slice of wind mana, one that looked like a crescent blade, and with fascination, he saw the construct strike the Bandit, causing a bleeding wound on him, the bright red of his now free flowing blood contrasting with the green haze around him. The Bandit Leader fell to his knees, overloaded by the sudden stacking damage, and his green haze that surrounded him grew fainter, allowing the group to see a vague outline of him.

  Everyone was panting from the exhaustion, the battle lasting longer than every side thought. The Bandit smiled, chuckling weakly as he was losing blood quickly from his multiple wounds. He rasped out, “A mere little grunt of a Mage managed to shift the tides of this battle. One that hasn’t even gone through a single Revelation if I were to bet. Fair enough, I think this is where it should end.”

  As he rasped out his final word, he disappeared, his green haze slightly dispersing. Everyone looked around, and to the group’s horror, the green haze started enveloping Kaz, who stood roughly thirty yards from the rest of the group.

  Kaz felt his [ Evasive Step ] urging him to shift to the side, a mental command that overpowered any of his thoughts, a command that was never so urgent and loud in his thoughts. He closed his eyes and followed his instincts, knowing that the Passive Ability never let him down in the past.

  Searing pain filled his body, as a single dagger managed to nick the side of his neck, easily slicing through the usually protective cloak. With a cry, he instinctively raised his hand to his neck, warm blood running down his hand.

  [ Evasive Step ] flared up again, causing him to step back, this time the dagger grazing his upper chest. This strike was not as effective, but still stinged greatly, bringing tears to his eyes.

  All he heard was a frustrated growl, and he heard the Bandit’s whisper through the green haze, “Why can’t I finish you off? How are you doing this you little rat?”

  Kaz gripped his glaive, and held it to his chest, his grip slightly off as his right hand was still coated in his own blood. He knew he wouldn’t be able to connect with him, but better be ready if an opportunity presented itself.

  A warm gust of wind flew right through him, and he noticed the green haze disappear around him. Elmdiara’s Skill Ability again cleared out the area, and he saw Broff charging at the Bandit who was barely standing on his feet a few armlengths away.

  Although what even frightened Kaz, was that Broff was glowing white. Not just his battleaxe as he saw earlier, but his whole body. His eyes, which were brown before, now glowed a bright white light.

  Broff roared again, this time shaking Kaz to his core, causing him to lock up and stop breathing. He noticed something similar happening to the Bandit, with him freezing in place, his eyes widening, and his green haze dissipating into the air.

  With a leap into the air, he positioned his axe for an overheard swing, and Broff brought his battleaxe down with both hands, slicing deep into the shoulder of the Bandit, cutting extremely deep with a gruesome crunch.

  The Bandit simply paled and collapsed to his knees, already falling unconscious from the damage he suddenly sustained. Broff quickly extracted his battleaxe, and still glowing bright white, quickly barked a few orders.

  “Mera, quickly heal Treyre enough to allow him to walk. Treyre, once you are up, make sure to restrain the boss, and then once he is restrained, Mera heal him so that he doesn’t perish. We need to make sure he is alive for questioning. Elmdiara, restrain the rest of the Bandits that we didn’t have a chance to due to the fight.”

  After he barked out his commands, his white glow dimmed down, and he fell to his knees, panting heavily, not responsive to the world around him.

  Treyre was healed shortly after and applied a different type of restraint on the Bandit boss as they called him. This restraint was a dark black, and he felt the restrictive mana emanating from the restraint. He got the chills just looking at it, so he decided to check on Broff.

  “He’ll be fine after a few minutes. This is a backlash of one of his Abilities, which causes him to essentially be unresponsive for a few minutes as his body recovers from the strain of the Ability. Healing him wouldn’t help, if that was what you were thinking,” Mera softly said beside him.

  Kaz nodded, and suddenly he felt a warmth pass over him, and he realized his wounds were now closed up and disappearing. Mera just healed him, and it reminded him of the many times that Miss Astreta had to heal him after he injured himself.

  “Hey, are you okay, Kaz?” Mera asked, filled with concern.

  He wiped the tears that were streaming down his face, and nodded, not able to trust his voice at the moment.

  A few minutes later, Broff rose to his feet, exhaustion plaguing his face and his body, barely able to stand steadily. He looked directly at Kaz, and complimented him, “Good job, kid. You are truly someone special. Thank you for stepping in, even though I told you not to earlier. Your help is truly appreciated.”

  Kaz nodded again, this time finding the courage to speak, “Thank you, Broff. I am glad I was able to contribute slightly to the battle. But I really have to thank all of you, without you guys appearing behind me for your own Quest, I would’ve easily fallen victim to this group of Bandits.”

  “Don’t worry about it. We just did what we had to,” Treyre softly said as he approached the group.

  With a nod from everyone, they began to rally up all the restrained men and women, and Treyre left the group to summon the Town Guards to bring transports for them. Kaz decided he would rest a little and continue on his journey, as he was wanted to get back on the open road, and hopefully have a few days without fighting.

  He was getting tired from all these fights, and for the first time since beginning his adventure, he wanted to take it easy, to enjoy the landscape and avoid any fights for the time being.