The Kingdom of Scavia #2

Clip-Clop. Clip-Clop. Clip-Clop–

“This should be a good place to stop for lunch,” Kaiser hummed, raising a closed fist.

He was the leader of a long caravan trail, which was made up of three different groups. Listing by size, the first group were immigrants, who sought safe-haven in the Kingdom of Scavia and escape from the Desert’s merciless climate; the second, adventurers seeking more opportunities and jobs in the other kingdom; and third were the Hero Caravan, providing leadership and the bulk of the protection.

At the signal, the coachmen driving the carriage horses all halted properly, careful not to crash against each other and other humans within the line. Kaiser’s judgment was immediately accepted without complaint or resistance, as he stopped the group in between both biomes and away from both local monster populations; while also settling comfortably in the less dry weather and under the protection of the forest.

However the sudden stop sent the carriage, where Akiro and Ayama were peacefully sleeping, to lurch from side to side because of the large amount of luggage tied to the top and sides.

Thud!

“Ack!” Ayama yelped, falling hard on the floor of the air conditioned carriage. Akiro on the other hand was shaken awake, as he was sleeping upright instead of lying down.

“W-What?” He asked, surprised and confused, both from the stop and the falling object. “What happened?” Akiro clarified, reaching for his sword.

Ayama scampered up from the floor, caressing his head with his off-hand. He reached for the sheathed longsword beside the greatsword from his side of the carriage and drew the first few inches of steel, ready to strike.

The right side door slowly creaked, the outer handle twisting slowly. The two turned to the door, but as the door swung open, their concern was washed away by their teacher.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, noticing the swords and their awake state, “You’re all awake, I checked earlier.” Kaiser chuckled, his blonde hair swaying from the cold air inside the carriage.

“Good afternoon, Kaiser-sensei.” Ayama groaned, stretching his tense shoulders. “D-Did we make it to the kingdom? Already?”

“Oh no, we haven’t yet,” Kaiser clarified, “We’re taking a stop here, venturing any further into the forest would endanger our caravan’s members. I just came to check on you.”

“Well we’re alright, thank you for asking.” Akiro smiled, stopping in his tracks as a nice scent was picked up, “Is it lunch time already?”

“Exactly, we’re about to eat. Care to join us?”

The two boys smiled, sharing a smile with the older man and agreed without hesitation, jumping out to stretch their sore limbs with excitement. The meal was an improvised one, with the thick soup made of rich ingredients sourced from their surroundings. The meat was freshly hunted boar, the vegetables wild and rich with flavor, the fresh water from springs, and the spices fresh from the immigrant’s story boxes.

“Thank you again, for escorting us, Chief Knight sir.” The cook said, smiling as she tucked her black hair behind her ears. “You’re too kind.”

Kaiser wiped the sauce off his lips, almost in a show of his charm, and smiled at her. “It’s nothing, Ms. Ming.” He reassured her, “And if you still feel indebted, this is the most tender boar-soup I’ve ever had.”

The reply made the lady’s heart flutter, her cheeks slowly tinting in pink. Her fidgeting slowly grew as she mumbled, “N-not fair…”

Akiro and Ayama exchanged glances before looking at Olivia, who was chewing with strength in annoyance. It worried Ayama that she might bite her tongue, and she did eventually, almost on purpose.

“Owie…” The woman wailed, making her fiance turn sharply back to her in worry.

Kaiser caressed her jaw with gentleness, the callused pads of his sword-worn hands brushing against her fair, smooth skin. He looked at her with such gentleless, that Akrio fought the urge to laugh at the aghast chef’s face.

“Dinner and a show– I’d rate these five-stars.” He smirked, amused and satisfied with the hot meal he had just finished. “Uh– Sir, are we going to set up camp here?”

Kaiser returned from his task of consoling Olivia, who threw a triumphant smirk at the woman behind his back, and nodded at the two boys. “Of course,” He said, turning around, “We are currently a day– at most– away from Scavia’s capital. I’m glad we only made the trip in two days instead of three.”

“I really was knocked out for a whole day,” Akiro thought, humming in response to kaiser. “I see. That is good, I suppose.”

Kaiser smiled, standing up and dusting his trousers after he had set the bowl to the ground. “Which is fortunate for us because the Sandworm-fiasco delayed us much longer that I would have preferred—

Whiiiiiisshhhh—----Clang!

The steel tip of an arrow fractured into small pieces as it met Kaiser’s blade, which he had drawn at incredible speed. “ —because We’ve also been tasked to deal with the local bandit situation. Luckily, the resurgence of a once-extinct species is an understandable excuse to give to the Scavian Monarchy.”

“What the–?!” Akiro jumped up from his seat, an arrow landing where his head was. “I couldn’t sense it!”

Whiiiiiisshhhh—----

The sharp whistling of an arrow stopped in Kaiser's hand. in between his digits was a high-quality arrow. "We're under attack! battle stations!" he yelled loudly, broadcasting the ambush.

Olivia called, emerging from the air-condition carriage with his shield and greatsword “Ayama! Retreat to the back of the caravan! Muster up the soldiers!” She commanded, pointing as she passed him the heavy equipment.

Using his foot to fling it upward from the ground, Kaiser raised his shield to block the incoming arrows to protect the lady. “Retreat to the inside of the defensive perimeter! Akiro, escort her! Now!”

Without a verbal response, Akiro jumped to the lady, grabbing her by the shoulder. “Please forgive my rudeness!” He apologized with a small bow, using his strength to haul the woman instead of leading. “Please keep your head down!”

Whiiiishhh! Whiiiish! Whi-whi-whiissshhh!

Arrows fell relentlessly like hail, but not in quantities more than two dozen. Kaiser flexed his wrist, dexterously twirling his sword in fast, wide arcs to form shields for Akiro to retreat safely behind.

The Chief Knight huffed. “I see, I’m assuming that there’s at least twenty-four—-”

Whiiiishhhh—Pang!

“S-Strong–” Kaiser huffed, an arrow nearly coming through his defenses. “H-He was aiming for Olivia! There’s someone strong with them!” He thought, “How much longer Olivia!?”

Kaiser peeked his head over his shoulder, Olivia hiding behind him with two swirling masses of visible air slowly forming around her hands. “A-A little bit more!”

“Alright! Stay behind me until the spell is ready!—-”

“Aaaaahhhhhh!”

Kaiser turned his head to the scream, a group of armed men charging at him with spears and single-bladed swords. “They’re switching to infantrymen?--- Whatever, that means they can’t carelessly fire-off arrows now– That works for me!”

Kaiser squinted slightly, calming his breath for more air and concentration. He numbered the group approaching him, noting their equipment and builds. There were ten men, five armed with swords and the other five, with hooked spears.

The men charging at him were all about the same height, their builds burly, large and strong; while their equipment were basic. For armor they had wooden boards strapped to their non-dominant shoulders and thick leather armor around their bodies.

The foremost runners finally reached within striking distance of him, and with a front step, the center bandit drew back on his arm to throw a downward strike– aiming for Kaiser’s head. The other two want to either of the fore runner’s sides, thrusting their weapons forward.

“Their armors are basic, but light, so that means that they’re fast—-” Kaiser lunged forward, raising his hilt upwards, his longsword colliding with the downward strike.

Clang—Kksshhhkk—

But his wrist was not flexed, so the force of the blade made his sword angle downwards and away from him, in a flawless deflection. “You underestimate me too much–” Kaiser grinned, catching the left-flanking bandit by his right arm and blocking the other by pushing his comrade into him.

“H-Hey! let go of me!”

The knight wasted no time, and in one swift movement, he pulled the captured enemy as he brought up his sword, decapitating him with the first swing.

Shiiiinnnnggggg!

The bandit he pushed finally recovered with the help of his comrade, and lunged again with his sword. “Haaaaghhh!” he roared, but Kaiser ducked beneath the sword path, tensing his right arm for the follow-up slash.

Shiiiinnnnggggg!

The quick dispatching of his enemies made the remaining seven men slowly come to a halt, all apprehensive to step forward.

Kaiser grinned menacingly, flicking his sword, the blood removed. “It is not wise to give distance to your enemies, especially if they have a mage.” He sneered, crouching down low for Olivia

“[ Wind Magic: Cloud Splitter ]!”

Boom!

Akiro flinched at the sound of the loud explosion, even as he was pushing the lady to the other gathered civilians. When he turned his head to the direction of Olivia and Kaiser, there was a mighty explosion of debri from the surrounding landscape. He does not doubt that they’re handling themselves well.

“Whoa… I knew Olivia was the top magician of the Kingdom, and at her age, I figured she’d be worth her weight in jewels— but I wasn’t expecting that.”

Clang! Pang!

“Are you going to keep blocking me!? Like a coward!”

Akiro turned his attention back to the moment at hand, at the middle-aged criminal trying to annoy him through petty provocation. Akiro and the bandit were locked in a stalemate, or so it appeared to outer spectators.

The hilts of their blades were against each other, blades of steel and mithril inches from either of their faces, so Akiro took the opportunity to scrutinize his opponent. He was wearing metal armor, with pieces all over his body resembling the armor of feudal japan.

“Samurai-like armor huh?” Akiro thought, pushing back with strength that surprised the man. “Surprisingly, it’s quite refreshing to see something resembling Japan.”

“Stop–” The bandit grit, stepping forward, gripping his sword tightly for a downward diagonal slash, “Underestimating me!!”

Shhhiiiinnngggg!

The blade soared through the air above Akiro's head, missing barely as he angled his body to the right, his sword pointed to the ground parallel to his legs. “Sorry you feel that way.” he said, bringing the sword up.

Shhhiiiinnngggg!

[ You have slain a human! ] [ You have leveled up! ] [ Lvl 73 -> Lvl 74 ]

“O-Oh— I did not expect that…” Akiro stammered, slowly getting back up as the corpse fell backwards, halved. “To think that I’d level up from that. Was he supposed to be strong? [Appraisal].”

[ Corpse of a deceased bandit ] [ Lvl 0 ]

“Level zero?!” Akiro huffed, puzzled. “Do your levels reset to zero after your death? Is that how that works? What happens to the experience?---”

“I-I’ll kill you!!”

Akiro snapped from his thoughts, stepping back twice to dodge the descending blade, narrowly escaping with the ends of his hair sliced off. “Now is not the time to day-dream– I need to concentrate.”

Akiro steadied his breathing, activating [Appraisal] once again; but instead of full windows of information, he only wanted to see the levels of his opponents.

[ Bandit - Level 35 ]

The bandit rushed forward, slashing horizontally with his blade towards Akiro’s neck, but he disappeared. “W-Where’d—” he questioned, only for his eyes to catch the figure running under his arm with incredible speed; but when he could react, his head was already lopped off. “F-Fast—”

[ Bandit - Level 0 ]

[ You have slain a human! ] [ +125,789 Exp ]

“I was right.” Akiro thought. “The experience our kill has accumulated will become our own— what exactly is ‘experience?’”

Akiro waved his word to the blood from the blade, before turning around to view the caravan camp, which erupted into complete chaos. The sounds of screams, battle-cries, and pleas for help were all merged into an incoherent mixture of bloodshed— with skills and spells used by either side, balls of flame or water being flung by either side.

With only a glance, Akiro summarized their current state, and it was not favorable. He looked at his classmates, most of which were fearful or scared, apprehensive to swing their swords or to cast their spells.

“This is not good— They’re afraid!.” Akiro frowned, cursing them in his mind as he watched them cower as the adventurers slowly were cut down in front of them. “Why aren’t they fighting back–”

But he remembered that from among them, he was the unnatural one. They came from Earth, a civilized, well-developed world. Before now, they never experienced bloodshed at this magnitude, or any form, because they never needed to experience it then. In reality, their former reality, he was the unnatural one.

“Dammit,” Akiro frowned, closing his hands tightly in a fist, “Why are you all still so naive! This is no longer earth!” He chastised them in his mind, but he was forced to quell his anger and focus on the matter at hand.

Akiro used his focused eyesight to scan the campsite-turned battlefield, and in the distance, in front of the cowering Heroes were a company of soldiers, with Ayama leading the forefront.