3
Evylin exclaimed in confusion and tried to touch the blade, but Athos didn't give her time to think and twisted the blade before pulling out the sword, shattering the heart and killing her instantly.
"Fuck! Enemy attack!" The second archer cursed loudly as he jumped back and walked away from the unknown enemy quickly, fitting an arrow to his bow and preparing to shoot while still in the air.
Athos hurled his shield at the fleeing archer, trying to stop the enemy from fleeing and reuniting with his companions. The archer crossed his arms still in the air in front of his body, to try to defend themselves. The shield would have crushed his wrists, but at least he would have come out alive.
And that might have worked if Athos hadn't created a blade of wind in the shield, turning it into a circular saw.
The shield spun quickly and sliced off both of his hands, before continuing and decapitate him. The shield slammed against the tree and Athos turned the blade of wind into a small blast of wind, throwing the shield back at him.
Athos caught the shield in midair, locking it into the armguard. "Two less mana users, two to go." Athos jumped from the tree Evylin was on and charged towards the remaining bandits.
Meanwhile, Dave was shouting orders in the middle of the clearing to his subordinates to stay alert, after they heard the Ranger's warning. The archer's screams were suddenly cut off, indicating that the archer had likely been killed.
"Stay away from the trees! Use the carriages for cover!" Dave ordered and his subordinates retreated to the carriages.
Suddenly, leather bags were flung over the forest canopy and fell between them. The bags split open as they fell to the ground, releasing dust that quickly turned to black smoke, darkening the clearing.
"Careful with that smoke, it could be poison! cover your faces with cloths!" Dave tore off a piece of his shirt and used it to cover his face, his subordinates quickly copied him.
Thick smoke burned the eyes, forcing the bandits to keep them closed. Panic and unease began to spread among the bandits as soon as they heard the first scream.
"Ackk! my leg-" The scream was suddenly cut off and only the sound of flesh being cut was heard.
Athos had entered the smoke and was moving hidden among the bandits. He attacked the farthest bandit in the group and slashed his ankles, before jumping on top of him and impaling him.
He kept sneaking around, while slashing at the thugs' knees or heels. He was not immune to smoke and also kept his eyes closed, but he was able to locate himself even without his eyesight.
Athos created a sensory-type ability for situations like this, called a sensory field. Mana flowed to the extremes of the body, such as the skin and hair all over the body, enhancing touch to a superhuman level, allowing him to feel the approach of anything around him, whether magical or physical in nature.
Suddenly, Athos felt something approaching quickly from behind him, as he aimed at his skull, trying to crush it like a watermelon. Athos turned with superhuman reaction time and raised his shield.
The impact was absurdly heavy and made the joints in his left arm crack, but Athos used his weight to his advantage. He stepped to the side, sliding the mace across the shield, and made a follow-up attack almost instantly, trying to slash Dave's throat, aiming at the helmet slit.
Dave bent his head back to dodge it, but Athos' attack wasn't over yet. He used the mana blade skill, causing a blade of pure energy to come out of the sword and increase the attack's range, slashing the right side of Dave's helmet.
Dave backed away a few feet, surprised that his surprise attack was immediately countered. He had used mana vision to find Athos in the smoke and his eyesight was now impaired and he found it difficult to keep his eyes open.
Athos threw the broken shield to the ground and turned, still with his eyes closed, in the direction he felt the enemy and steadied his stance. He ignored the people around him, focused only on the mana user in front of him and the one he felt sneak up behind him. He had used the smoke not only to cover his movements, but also to separate the mana users from the rest of the bandits.
He knew that once the mana users died, the rest would be easy. Athos focused all his attention on the enemies in front of him and behind him, noticing even the smallest movements. He focused beyond what should be humanly possible, but his second cold-minded ability made it possible.
Mana flowed throughout his brain and sped up his thoughts, his mind became focused and the veins in his head bulged, his brain-frying from the overworked.
Athos felt the world around him slow down, but the skill came at a high price. The mana cost was incredibly expensive and the skill couldn't be used for long, or it risked frying its own brain and becoming a vegetable.
along with the sensory field, these abilities were his trump cards and had incredible synergy. After two years of training, Athos was able to divide his focus and maintain three skills at the same time without compromising his performance.
He had used a superior physical booster potion to conserve mana and focus, keeping an ability free for when he needed it.
Dave and the assassin moved at the same time to attack him. Both were using mana vision to locate Athos. He responded by throwing three bottles of viscous acid at Dave and turned to the assassin, confident the acid would do enough damage to kill him.
"AAAHHH!" Dave screamed in pain, feeling the metal sizzle and melt against his skin.
The assassin attacked using the multiple cut skill. Mana flowed from one dagger to another as he attacked, increasing the amount of mana spent and attack speed with each strike.
Athos only defended, the multiple slashes pressing him defensively as he backed away waiting for an opening. Small scratches continued to accumulate on his armor until Athos created an opportunity.
Athos pretended to stumble to attract the assassin and the enemy took the bait. The assassin aimed the dagger at his liver, but Athos grabbed his wrist and cut the assassin's arm at the elbow. The assassin used his remaining arm to try to cut his throat, but Athos took a step back, escaping the dagger's reach and slashing his remaining arm in one fluid motion.
Athos swung around so as not to lose momentum and decapitated the assassin in a circular cut. He focused his will around him and realized that more than half of the bandits had fled while he was busy fighting. The other half had gathered in a group, standing with their backs to each other and covering their blind spots.
Dave was thrashing around on the floor. The acid had corroded his helmet and chest, sticking the metal to the flesh. It was only a matter of time before the corrosion killed him.
'The professor must deal with anyone who runs away, so I just have to focus on killing the bandits that are left here.' That's what Athos thought before he started the killing.
He shot wind blade after wind blade through his sword cutting the bandits' bodies to pieces. arms, heads and torsos flew sporadically within the smokescreen. When he finished, only shredded corpses remained around him.
Athos emerged from the smoke and found Khali waiting for him outside.
"It's over?" Khali had a huge smile on his face, seeing Athos' brilliant performance.
'He has grown at an absurd rate in these two years. He could end up reaching a layer of life in another 4 years of training at this rate.' It was Khali's honest assessment.
"It was easy, I could have done it with my eyes closed..." Athos teased him as exhaustion hit him. A terrible headache hit, him making him lose consciousness. blood trickled from his nose, showing that he had overstepped his bounds.
Khali caught him before he could fall to the ground and laid him down gently. "You did very well, Athos. Sleep well, you deserve it."
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Suddenly, the world darkened, the shadows began to tremble and slowly move towards Athos' body.
Khali activated the light sealing ring and the world returned to normal. "It's getting more and more frequent. Soon that ring won't hold you anymore." Khali said with a weary sigh.
******
After Athos passed out, Khali gathered the resource of the three carriages and spent the rest of the day returning the stolen resources to the villages. He kept his identity hidden and identified himself only as an anonymous helper refusing to answer any questions asked by residents.
The village chief was extremely grateful for the unexpected help and stopped the villagers from asking any questions once he realized that his savior preferred to remain anonymous.
The chief was already desperate with lack of food and with winter approaching, they would have starved to death if the cold hadn't killed them first. Khali made an agreement with the chief of each village to keep a description of the funds received, and the chief readily agreed.
None of the chiefs were stupid and they knew that if they turned out to still have resources, the baron would demand that it be handed over. The chiefs and villagers reached an agreement and decided to hide the funds received, as well as part of the harvest for the next few years. The baron had never demanded more than they could give, so they were not in the habit of hiding their harvest.
Compared to the villages, the situation in the city was worse than ever. The Baron noticed the delay in the caravan and ordered them to investigate, discovering the corpses of the guards and the bodies of the bandits. Khali had left all the evidence for the baron to find, leaving very little to the investigators' imaginations.
The Baron ground his teeth in anger when he received the news, but there was not much he could do. The gangs have grown too big to be controlled.
"You really can't destroy them?" The Baron spoke in his office, without lifting his head from the report.
"It's not my job to solve your Dravus problems, just keep you alive." Ricley said sitting on the sofa in the office with his feet on the table. He was eating candy without worrying about appearances. Just like Khali and Athos, Ricley and Dravus' relationship also developed. Ricley watched closely as the Baron made failure after failure and lost what little respect he had for him.
He's lost his respectful tone, but Dravus can't do anything about it. The only reason the baron was still alive was because of him.
What Dravus didn't know is that Ricley secretly rooted for the bandits' victory, praying that they would destroy the city enough for the baron to lose his title and his mission to end.
The situation wasn't just bad for the baron. The complete destruction of the strike team destroyed the trusting relationship that formed between the gangs and the criminal organization fell apart before it was formed. They all knew that the baron's forces didn't have the ability to destroy his strike force, so it had to be an inside job.
Mistrust spread among them and each gang returned to their own territory within the city, blocking the streets and dividing the city into 4 parts.
The area where the baron and the rich merchants lived and built their shops, became the "noble" area of the city. The guards' barracks were also located in this area, providing security and stability to the "noble" area.
The former favelas became the territory of the Dedo Podre gang, responsible for drug trafficking in the city. Athos robbed them constantly, causing them great loss of money.
The commercial district where the workshops and shops of the smaller merchants were located became the territory of the red gold gang. They were responsible for the city's smuggling and traded with the black market from other cities.
The residential area has become the territory of the most violent of gangs, the yellow dagger. They were ex-mercenaries who worked in the strongholds beyond the city, on the front lines against the demihuman empire. After a violent battle, most of the members were killed and the gang almost annihilated, so they decided to move to the city 3 years ago.
It was the gang that Evylin worked for, as well as those responsible for the city blockade and the proposed alliance. They planned to unite all the gangs in an alliance and then take control from the inside, but now, all their plans have been ruined.
The church and its surroundings were the only places that remained neutral in this situation. The baron tried countless times to bring the priest to his side, but the priest refused each time. The gangs could not allow the only form of healing in the entire city to be in the hands of the baron and every time the baron went to church to negotiate, the priest would wake up the next morning with the head of one of the nuns at the head of his bed.
1
******
Athos woke up 16 hours later, on the same hill as before. He was having an absurd headache. Athos tried to get up, but a sudden dizziness hit him, causing him to fall to the ground vomiting.
"Blerghh! This is worse than a hangover." Athos said. He'd stolen booze once just to try it out, discovering he had absolutely no resistance to alcohol.
"Good morning, Athos. You're not the first face I'd like to see when I wake up either, but don't you think it's a little too much?" Khali asked irritably, his shirt stained with vomit.
1
"I was just happy to see you." Athos smiled weakly before sitting in a lotus position and taking a deep breath, regenerating his mana quickly and circulating it through his body, increasing his recovery speed.
After 5 minutes, the headache was gone and Athos returned to peak state.
"Have you improved yet? I'll never stop envying that skill." Khali had gone out to clean up the vomit, but returned before Athos opened his eyes. Despite his words, there was no trace of envy in his voice, just pride.
"How did I do on my first mission?" Athos asked puffing out his chest, expecting praise.
"You did well, Athos. You let some of them get away, but this mission was way above your level and minor mistakes were to be expected." Khali patted him on the head, congratulating him.
"I appreciate it professor, but I'd rather you pay your bet than get patted on the head, if you don't mind." Athos reached for the sword he saw leaning against a nearby rock with a greedy grin.
"Haah, take it." Khali snorted at Athos and gave permission. Athos jumped on the sword and drew it from its scabbard, admiring the weapon.
It was a 1 meter long, double-edged sword with a silver blade. Yellow and black runes gleamed on the blade as Athos flowed mana through it. The guard had silver details and the handle was padded with leather.
"She's amazing. What does she do?" That was all Athos said.
"Sure it is, it was meant to be MINE after all." Khali complained before explaining. "The sword has wind and darkness enchantments. The first makes the sword vibrate at high speed, enhancing the sword's edge, and the second shoots an aura of darkness when you swing it. The aura of darkness causes a random curse on the enemy."
"It's really amazing." Athos started testing immediately, shooting wave after wave of darkness across the clearing. He was so happy with the new weapon that he only stopped firing when he ran out of mana and everything around him was dead.
He turned and saw Khali's reproachful gaze and shrugged. "The spirits will fix it, so no problem."
Anyway, I have news for you. I originally wanted to wait for you to be 14 before doing this, but your performance has convinced me that you're ready." Khali began his speech in a serious voice.
Sensing the seriousness in his voice, Athos stopped playing and concentrated on him.
"I believe it's about time you had your own familiar."
3
Evylin exclaimed in confusion and tried to touch the blade, but Athos didn't give her time to think and twisted the blade before pulling out the sword, shattering the heart and killing her instantly.
"Fuck! Enemy attack!" The second archer cursed loudly as he jumped back and walked away from the unknown enemy quickly, fitting an arrow to his bow and preparing to shoot while still in the air.
Athos hurled his shield at the fleeing archer, trying to stop the enemy from fleeing and reuniting with his companions. The archer crossed his arms still in the air in front of his body, to try to defend themselves. The shield would have crushed his wrists, but at least he would have come out alive.
And that might have worked if Athos hadn't created a blade of wind in the shield, turning it into a circular saw.
The shield spun quickly and sliced off both of his hands, before continuing and decapitate him. The shield slammed against the tree and Athos turned the blade of wind into a small blast of wind, throwing the shield back at him.
Athos caught the shield in midair, locking it into the armguard. "Two less mana users, two to go." Athos jumped from the tree Evylin was on and charged towards the remaining bandits.
Meanwhile, Dave was shouting orders in the middle of the clearing to his subordinates to stay alert, after they heard the Ranger's warning. The archer's screams were suddenly cut off, indicating that the archer had likely been killed.
"Stay away from the trees! Use the carriages for cover!" Dave ordered and his subordinates retreated to the carriages.
Suddenly, leather bags were flung over the forest canopy and fell between them. The bags split open as they fell to the ground, releasing dust that quickly turned to black smoke, darkening the clearing.
"Careful with that smoke, it could be poison! cover your faces with cloths!" Dave tore off a piece of his shirt and used it to cover his face, his subordinates quickly copied him.
Thick smoke burned the eyes, forcing the bandits to keep them closed. Panic and unease began to spread among the bandits as soon as they heard the first scream.
"Ackk! my leg-" The scream was suddenly cut off and only the sound of flesh being cut was heard.
Athos had entered the smoke and was moving hidden among the bandits. He attacked the farthest bandit in the group and slashed his ankles, before jumping on top of him and impaling him.
He kept sneaking around, while slashing at the thugs' knees or heels. He was not immune to smoke and also kept his eyes closed, but he was able to locate himself even without his eyesight.
Athos created a sensory-type ability for situations like this, called a sensory field. Mana flowed to the extremes of the body, such as the skin and hair all over the body, enhancing touch to a superhuman level, allowing him to feel the approach of anything around him, whether magical or physical in nature.
Suddenly, Athos felt something approaching quickly from behind him, as he aimed at his skull, trying to crush it like a watermelon. Athos turned with superhuman reaction time and raised his shield.
The impact was absurdly heavy and made the joints in his left arm crack, but Athos used his weight to his advantage. He stepped to the side, sliding the mace across the shield, and made a follow-up attack almost instantly, trying to slash Dave's throat, aiming at the helmet slit.
Dave bent his head back to dodge it, but Athos' attack wasn't over yet. He used the mana blade skill, causing a blade of pure energy to come out of the sword and increase the attack's range, slashing the right side of Dave's helmet.
Dave backed away a few feet, surprised that his surprise attack was immediately countered. He had used mana vision to find Athos in the smoke and his eyesight was now impaired and he found it difficult to keep his eyes open.
Athos threw the broken shield to the ground and turned, still with his eyes closed, in the direction he felt the enemy and steadied his stance. He ignored the people around him, focused only on the mana user in front of him and the one he felt sneak up behind him. He had used the smoke not only to cover his movements, but also to separate the mana users from the rest of the bandits.
He knew that once the mana users died, the rest would be easy. Athos focused all his attention on the enemies in front of him and behind him, noticing even the smallest movements. He focused beyond what should be humanly possible, but his second cold-minded ability made it possible.
Mana flowed throughout his brain and sped up his thoughts, his mind became focused and the veins in his head bulged, his brain-frying from the overworked.
Athos felt the world around him slow down, but the skill came at a high price. The mana cost was incredibly expensive and the skill couldn't be used for long, or it risked frying its own brain and becoming a vegetable.
along with the sensory field, these abilities were his trump cards and had incredible synergy. After two years of training, Athos was able to divide his focus and maintain three skills at the same time without compromising his performance.
He had used a superior physical booster potion to conserve mana and focus, keeping an ability free for when he needed it.
Dave and the assassin moved at the same time to attack him. Both were using mana vision to locate Athos. He responded by throwing three bottles of viscous acid at Dave and turned to the assassin, confident the acid would do enough damage to kill him.
"AAAHHH!" Dave screamed in pain, feeling the metal sizzle and melt against his skin.
The assassin attacked using the multiple cut skill. Mana flowed from one dagger to another as he attacked, increasing the amount of mana spent and attack speed with each strike.
Athos only defended, the multiple slashes pressing him defensively as he backed away waiting for an opening. Small scratches continued to accumulate on his armor until Athos created an opportunity.
Athos pretended to stumble to attract the assassin and the enemy took the bait. The assassin aimed the dagger at his liver, but Athos grabbed his wrist and cut the assassin's arm at the elbow. The assassin used his remaining arm to try to cut his throat, but Athos took a step back, escaping the dagger's reach and slashing his remaining arm in one fluid motion.
Athos swung around so as not to lose momentum and decapitated the assassin in a circular cut. He focused his will around him and realized that more than half of the bandits had fled while he was busy fighting. The other half had gathered in a group, standing with their backs to each other and covering their blind spots.
Dave was thrashing around on the floor. The acid had corroded his helmet and chest, sticking the metal to the flesh. It was only a matter of time before the corrosion killed him.
'The professor must deal with anyone who runs away, so I just have to focus on killing the bandits that are left here.' That's what Athos thought before he started the killing.
He shot wind blade after wind blade through his sword cutting the bandits' bodies to pieces. arms, heads and torsos flew sporadically within the smokescreen. When he finished, only shredded corpses remained around him.
Athos emerged from the smoke and found Khali waiting for him outside.
"It's over?" Khali had a huge smile on his face, seeing Athos' brilliant performance.
'He has grown at an absurd rate in these two years. He could end up reaching a layer of life in another 4 years of training at this rate.' It was Khali's honest assessment.
"It was easy, I could have done it with my eyes closed..." Athos teased him as exhaustion hit him. A terrible headache hit, him making him lose consciousness. blood trickled from his nose, showing that he had overstepped his bounds.
Khali caught him before he could fall to the ground and laid him down gently. "You did very well, Athos. Sleep well, you deserve it."
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Suddenly, the world darkened, the shadows began to tremble and slowly move towards Athos' body.
Khali activated the light sealing ring and the world returned to normal. "It's getting more and more frequent. Soon that ring won't hold you anymore." Khali said with a weary sigh.
******
After Athos passed out, Khali gathered the resource of the three carriages and spent the rest of the day returning the stolen resources to the villages. He kept his identity hidden and identified himself only as an anonymous helper refusing to answer any questions asked by residents.
The village chief was extremely grateful for the unexpected help and stopped the villagers from asking any questions once he realized that his savior preferred to remain anonymous.
The chief was already desperate with lack of food and with winter approaching, they would have starved to death if the cold hadn't killed them first. Khali made an agreement with the chief of each village to keep a description of the funds received, and the chief readily agreed.
None of the chiefs were stupid and they knew that if they turned out to still have resources, the baron would demand that it be handed over. The chiefs and villagers reached an agreement and decided to hide the funds received, as well as part of the harvest for the next few years. The baron had never demanded more than they could give, so they were not in the habit of hiding their harvest.
Compared to the villages, the situation in the city was worse than ever. The Baron noticed the delay in the caravan and ordered them to investigate, discovering the corpses of the guards and the bodies of the bandits. Khali had left all the evidence for the baron to find, leaving very little to the investigators' imaginations.
The Baron ground his teeth in anger when he received the news, but there was not much he could do. The gangs have grown too big to be controlled.
"You really can't destroy them?" The Baron spoke in his office, without lifting his head from the report.
"It's not my job to solve your Dravus problems, just keep you alive." Ricley said sitting on the sofa in the office with his feet on the table. He was eating candy without worrying about appearances. Just like Khali and Athos, Ricley and Dravus' relationship also developed. Ricley watched closely as the Baron made failure after failure and lost what little respect he had for him.
He's lost his respectful tone, but Dravus can't do anything about it. The only reason the baron was still alive was because of him.
What Dravus didn't know is that Ricley secretly rooted for the bandits' victory, praying that they would destroy the city enough for the baron to lose his title and his mission to end.
The situation wasn't just bad for the baron. The complete destruction of the strike team destroyed the trusting relationship that formed between the gangs and the criminal organization fell apart before it was formed. They all knew that the baron's forces didn't have the ability to destroy his strike force, so it had to be an inside job.
Mistrust spread among them and each gang returned to their own territory within the city, blocking the streets and dividing the city into 4 parts.
The area where the baron and the rich merchants lived and built their shops, became the "noble" area of the city. The guards' barracks were also located in this area, providing security and stability to the "noble" area.
The former favelas became the territory of the Dedo Podre gang, responsible for drug trafficking in the city. Athos robbed them constantly, causing them great loss of money.
The commercial district where the workshops and shops of the smaller merchants were located became the territory of the red gold gang. They were responsible for the city's smuggling and traded with the black market from other cities.
The residential area has become the territory of the most violent of gangs, the yellow dagger. They were ex-mercenaries who worked in the strongholds beyond the city, on the front lines against the demihuman empire. After a violent battle, most of the members were killed and the gang almost annihilated, so they decided to move to the city 3 years ago.
It was the gang that Evylin worked for, as well as those responsible for the city blockade and the proposed alliance. They planned to unite all the gangs in an alliance and then take control from the inside, but now, all their plans have been ruined.
The church and its surroundings were the only places that remained neutral in this situation. The baron tried countless times to bring the priest to his side, but the priest refused each time. The gangs could not allow the only form of healing in the entire city to be in the hands of the baron and every time the baron went to church to negotiate, the priest would wake up the next morning with the head of one of the nuns at the head of his bed.
1
******
Athos woke up 16 hours later, on the same hill as before. He was having an absurd headache. Athos tried to get up, but a sudden dizziness hit him, causing him to fall to the ground vomiting.
"Blerghh! This is worse than a hangover." Athos said. He'd stolen booze once just to try it out, discovering he had absolutely no resistance to alcohol.
"Good morning, Athos. You're not the first face I'd like to see when I wake up either, but don't you think it's a little too much?" Khali asked irritably, his shirt stained with vomit.
1
"I was just happy to see you." Athos smiled weakly before sitting in a lotus position and taking a deep breath, regenerating his mana quickly and circulating it through his body, increasing his recovery speed.
After 5 minutes, the headache was gone and Athos returned to peak state.
"Have you improved yet? I'll never stop envying that skill." Khali had gone out to clean up the vomit, but returned before Athos opened his eyes. Despite his words, there was no trace of envy in his voice, just pride.
"How did I do on my first mission?" Athos asked puffing out his chest, expecting praise.
"You did well, Athos. You let some of them get away, but this mission was way above your level and minor mistakes were to be expected." Khali patted him on the head, congratulating him.
"I appreciate it professor, but I'd rather you pay your bet than get patted on the head, if you don't mind." Athos reached for the sword he saw leaning against a nearby rock with a greedy grin.
"Haah, take it." Khali snorted at Athos and gave permission. Athos jumped on the sword and drew it from its scabbard, admiring the weapon.
It was a 1 meter long, double-edged sword with a silver blade. Yellow and black runes gleamed on the blade as Athos flowed mana through it. The guard had silver details and the handle was padded with leather.
"She's amazing. What does she do?" That was all Athos said.
"Sure it is, it was meant to be MINE after all." Khali complained before explaining. "The sword has wind and darkness enchantments. The first makes the sword vibrate at high speed, enhancing the sword's edge, and the second shoots an aura of darkness when you swing it. The aura of darkness causes a random curse on the enemy."
"It's really amazing." Athos started testing immediately, shooting wave after wave of darkness across the clearing. He was so happy with the new weapon that he only stopped firing when he ran out of mana and everything around him was dead.
He turned and saw Khali's reproachful gaze and shrugged. "The spirits will fix it, so no problem."
Anyway, I have news for you. I originally wanted to wait for you to be 14 before doing this, but your performance has convinced me that you're ready." Khali began his speech in a serious voice.
Sensing the seriousness in his voice, Athos stopped playing and concentrated on him.
"I believe it's about time you had your own familiar."
