Chapter 7

After two days, they departed from town, continuing their journey West. Before they departed, they went to the guild. A group of merchants was heading the same way, and asked them for an escort. Neila was eager to accept it. They agreed to accompany them to a town near the edges of the forest.

“Eighty percent of escort quests are easy money. Just being here discourages bandits from attacking,” Syorin said, sitting in the back of the carriage. Despite leaning back on the carriage's walls, she still kept an eye ready, scanning the horizon for any possible threats. She looked through the gaps in the carriage’s front, which provided them a view of the road ahead.

“You'll need to prepare for the twenty percent chance of monsters and bandits too brave for their own good, though.”

“Have you ever been attacked before?”

“We made sure they'll never attack anyone again,” Astill said. Her tone made Kakashi shudder.

“... You killed them?” He asked frightfully.

“Don’t worry, Astill won't go that far unless forced,” Neila said.

“Don't underestimate me.”

“I- I won't.”

“Astill isn't that scary-”

“Shut up.”

The carriage fell silent. Astill took a breather, her eyes looking around. “It's an ambush.”

Using magic, Neila contacted the rest of the group, pulling the entire convoy to a halt. Everyone except Neila jumped off the carriage. Astill pointed toward a dense cover of trees in front of them.

“They’ve gathered a lot of men over there.”

The trees hid them well, and not a single one was visible, but Astill’s strong magic prowess allowed her to sense them before the convoy reached the strike zone.

Kakashi stepped forward, Syorin walking beside him. The two exchanged glances. Astill remained behind them, staff at the ready. They slowly inched forward, Kakashi’s finger above the E button. He looked for shadows, darker areas between the trees.

Something moved in the distance, and he activated his ability. A twenty-by-twenty meter barrier was formed around him. The barrier hadn’t taken anyone in yet, meaning they were still a distance away from the ambush point. He stepped forward and upward, taking in the terrain from a higher vantage point. He still needed to be aware of his surroundings, as the trees weren’t objects he could fly through.

He reached the twenty-meter end. Not even a meter away from the end of the barrier was a thin, barely visible tripwire. It wouldn’t be visible from Neila’s point of view.

“Syorin, Astill, forward.”

The two heeded his command, moving forward and stopping right behind him. He disabled the barrier and reenabled it. That action moved the barrier forward, causing the rope to be within the barrier.

“Syorin, Defense Boost Group.”

“Roger.”

Syorin began her chant. Both she and Astill received a temporary boost to their defense lasting three turns.

“Look away.”

“Alright…?” Syorin averted her gaze.

“Keep your head down as well, Astill.”

“You don’t tell me what to do.” Despite her complaints, she looked down regardless.

He changed the battle mode to ‘battle’, keeping the result on ‘faint’. He kneeled in front of the tripwire, observing it. Both sides of the wire connected to something, something that he was sure would break if he pulled it away. He took a deep breath, disabled his ability, then pulled the wire with all his might.

“Astill, flash!” he shouted. Immediately, a loud sound spread through the forest. Kakashi covered his eyes.

A large amount of energy converged on Astill’s staff, followed by a blinding light, which momentarily blinded everyone who looked at it. Kakashi reactivated his barrier. The sight of the battlefield had changed. Four men covered in black from top to bottom were looking away, their hands covering their faces. Astill’s flash had blinded them and hit them with a paralysis status effect.

“Syorin, Double Punch, two forward one! Astill, Area Burn, behind!”

Syorin shot forward, clenching her fist and punching the two unfortunate bandits in the face, sending them stumbling into the barrier walls. It knocked down their HPs by a quarter and strengthened the paralysis on top of them, causing their turns to be skipped. The second she finished her attack, Astill followed up with a fire attack. The attack flew right beside Syorin. The enemies couldn't dodge in time and were burned, losing half their HP.

The sudden attacks caused both the rear bandits to suffer from paralysis. For the first round, none of the bandits moved.

“Syorin, Double Punch, front! Astill, Ice Hold, all!”

Syorin punched the two bandits who were previously standing in the rear. Syorin’s punch sent them straight into the wall, joining their friends. Astill’s diamond turned from red to blue, and ice shot through the ground, holding their legs.

“Syorin, fall back! Astill, end them with Flamethrower!”

Syorin jumped, landing behind Astill, while the diamond on Astill’s staff turned back to red, and magic circles appeared in front of it. An intense amount of flames traveled through the circles, each circle amplifying its effect. Fire spewed forth, consuming the four people. They yelled, more of shock than pain, and collapsed.

Kakashi disabled and re-enabled the barrier; five people fell into the battlefield, two from the left and three from the right. They had been attacking the barrier from the sides, but weren’t expecting the barrier to disappear and reappear so suddenly. Their distance was too far from each other for a combined attack, so Kakashi split his forces.

“Syorin, Double Punch, left! Astill, Flamethrower, right!”

Since the attackers had fallen and lost their balance, they got hit with paralysis, and their turns got moved to the end, which gave Syorin and Astill a great opportunity. Syorin punched the two coming from the left, sending them into the wall, while Astill’s Flamethrower burned her targets. Flamethrower took them out immediately, while Syorin still had her targets to deal with.

Kakashi noticed shadows moving around the barrier, so he deactivated it and moved back, then reactivated it, capturing two more targets. These ones had superior speed, and they headed straight for Astill.

Astill gritted her teeth, ready to endure their strike when,

“Syorin, Speed Tackle!”

Speed tackle moved Syorin’s turn by one, allowing her to stop one of them. The second bandit managed to slip through and attacked Astill. For a moment, Astill was released and was allowed to defend herself. The two traded blows for a few seconds. While not as great as Syorin's, Astill’s physical abilities weren't anything to laugh at. She held her own against the bandit.

Overwhelmed, the bandit jumped back to put some distance and take a breather, but he soon realized he could no longer move. “Wh- What!?”

“Astill, flamethrower, left! Syorin, Deep Punch, right!”

Astill switched targets, finishing off the two bandits that Syorin had hurt. Syorin moved fast. She ran straight at the other bandit, who stood still helplessly. Like a truck, Syorin smashed right through his defense and took him to the ground, taking out half his HP and inflicting him with paralysis.

“Astill, Dirt Spike, that bandit!” Kakashi directed Astill’s attack toward the bandit who was being held down. Her diamond glowed brown, and spikes stabbed through the bandit’s back.

“Akh…?”

Since he set the pain level to minimal and the battle mode to faint, only the bandit’s HP got reduced, and he wasn’t actually stabbed. It did go to zero, though, and he fainted. Kakashi disabled and reactivated the barrier, allowing two more bandits to come in. They must have thought Syorin was the weaker opponent, as they aimed their attacks at her.

Syorin was freed and allowed to defend herself. Right before the bandit’s fist, which held a dagger, could graze her, Syorin reached out and grabbed his arm. She swung the bandit straight to the ground and kicked him on his head. The move knocked out two-thirds of the bandit’s HP.

The second bandit was startled, but in a brave effort, he tried to attack her as well. Unfortunately for him, he soon found his face on the ground right next to his friend.

“Syorin, Double Punch! Astill, Dirt Spike!”

Syorin punched the hell out of the two bandits, then spikes stabbed them, taking out the remainder of their HP.

Shouts came from behind them. Kakashi immediately turned off his ability, thinking the group had been attacked and intending to help them, but what appeared from behind them wasn’t merchantmen, but instead, three panicking bandits dressed the same way as their allies, but with burns on their clothes.

Kakashi pressed the E button again and allowed Astill and Syorin to finish off the last three.