6 Side Chapter: Raiding bandits?

<Mary's POV>

After putting the girls to bed, I felt that getting a friend for my daughter after she was lost in the forest was the best option, and I can see how the other girl suffered too, I feel both of them will help each other grow, even if they end up enemies at the end.

Now on to serious maters I have found out that Elina's Daughters whereabouts seems the tracking team that followed the bandits that ran away, well slave traders, but the base has over there at their base there is over three hundred humans, not counting their hunting animals.

I wonder if anyone there... is at the Transcendent stage... as long as no one is past or on that stage I should be able to handle it since I am at the Monarch stage, which is the last of the mortal stages before you transcend into the immortal ranks, and like body cultivation is the start of the mortal stages it's the start of building your godly body.

There is a point in which in my life where I could have had four tails... but I am suppressing myself to Lady Elina has her child back since the fourth tail isn't that strong... and is stronger for mage classes then melee, which would weaken me for a while too I got used to it.

I am glad I have gotten my child back... though she's pretty emotionless now... but probably just trying to stay strong.

While gathering my armor and men for the raid... I only prey they aren't stronger then the intel states.

Going by the intel they only have one Monarch staged fighter... though having an advantage being a three-tailed fox I have three times the combat ability of a normal Monarch at my stage, though I am only stage four, and I can feel the fifths stage coming.... again, it's best to suppress it for now. Which is getting to be painful.

Though most of my men have their second tail, they rarely get past that without some traumatic event in their life, that's how the third tail is gained, mine was gained when I lost my child... thought she was dead.

The fourth tail is gained by influx of mana, though all fox-kin has a lot of mana in them even if they are not mages per say, my flaw is I have tons of mana, but I can't use the mana outside of my body do to an accident when I was younger. Thus, I can only use it to strengthen myself to save my qi.

We should be there and back by tonight, thus me and my men decide to move out and try to stealthily save the hostages while the bandits are asleep this is the best way to keep less casualties.

I just hope the people kidnapped aren't harmed... I been to a lot of places around the world... and humans so far are the ones that are mostly ran by greed, second only to demon kind. The war between these two seem to be a game between them, while the demons love to fight and cull their weaker ones out, the humans love the greed as in taking the magic crystals within the demons' hearts.

Though, not all demons or humans are like this, there are some kingdoms of both that treat the other races with respect and care. As long as elf, dwarf, beast-kin, and dragon-kin shows up in these kingdoms there is almost no racism. If one of the kingdoms that want to hunt them down, these kingdoms will protect even refuges into their kingdom.

Though they just follow the few Gods/Goddesses that believe in equal rights and free will to all. Even no slaves are allowed there, aside from criminal slaves, there is no slavery in that area.

As it looked as my men were completely ready to go I decided to walk to the front of them.

"I know all of you have lost people to these savages. I know all of you wish for revenge. I know all of you have sorrow in your hearts when I allowed you into my rescue squad....." Pausing for a moment to look at my men as some of them even started to cry, "But tonight isn't the time for our personal affairs... there are children and children that are probably wounded or bound so they can't fight back...." I paused again to see a few making fists to the point their palms are bleeding, "I know you wish to kill these savages... but I have to tell you, they have Lady Elina's Daughter!! We can't make mistakes! We are tasked by our kingdom and by Lady Elina that has gave out a helping hand to us that have lost loved ones to these savages! Can we allow her to go through the same loss we have?!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Was shouted by all of them at the same time. I smiled wickedly, "after we save our people, we will cause a blood bath! We will let them know that messing with the Beast kingdom of Almeria's people means death!"

There was a shout of them being all hyped up, but this won't be easy, they all know this, since they have been on more raids with me then most of the knight core....

"Let's march out!"

Turning around to take the lead with a few scouts running ahead to make sure there is no traps along the way, I know for a fact my task would be to draw the Monarch there to fight me one on one, since my men barely are past King stage...

"Ma'am, the forest is strangely silent tonight..."

Looking to my left to find my best mage Christian looking around worried, and his instincts have rarely been wrong at this point, I would believe any danger would come the moment he noticed anything strange.

"Everyone be on Alert!"

Every one of my men drew their weapons and formed ranks around the mages making sure that there isn't a single direction unguarded, while my mages watched the sky or ground. It was good to have earth mages in this group they could tell if anything was moving under us, though it does take some of their stamina to do so.

It took us two hours to get to where we need to be, it only took us this long cause of the bandits and mutated monsters that... was strangely silent that tried to attack us, though none of them were a threat to us... I didn't even need to draw my blade. My men were capable of doing it by themselves.

But I don't like how it slowed us down, nor do I like how this camp looks... just a few hours ago there was over three hundred men, now.... I see mangled corpses all over the place, and a man that I take as the monarch of the group screaming madly swinging around at any sound.

Raising my hand to hold my men from advancing, "be on guard I am going to see what happened"

They all nodded and stayed where they were as I moved out towards the scared bandit slowly since he seems to have seen something that scared him out of his wits to the point of paranoia.

"What happened here!"

He jumped and looked at me to notice my stage was one higher than his and seemed to calmed down a small bit since I was fully armored it is hard to tell my tails or ears from decoration.... it's to deceive stupid people but not all humans fall for it.

"Ah! A mutated dragon has been biting monsters and my men, but the strangest thing is they rise from the dead! They go and bite and eat others, but they dun rise anymore..."

Was all I heard before he started screaming again and pointing in the air, which made me draw my sword, to see nothing at all, which made me look back at him seriously and he was cutting himself up with his own weapon with some sort of black energy floating around him... must be a necromancer...

Walking up to him and cutting his head off swiftly since I can't have a mad undead monarch roaming around. Turning around and making my way back to my men, luckily, we have anti-curse stones on us and told them what has happened.

We all serious now making our way with haste to where the children should be located inside the cave only to find a robed person standing beside the cage. Which doesn't seem to have done anything to the children in the cage.

"Ah... you're here..."

"Who are you?"

"Just someone that doesn't like humans...."

"…."

"You have no need to worry Fox-kin, I am not against the beast race. I am only after the humans that stole my daughter."

The person neither sounded male nor female it is hard to tell which it is but do to my years of experience it doesn't seem to be hostile at least. Raising my hand to make my men lower their weapons.

"Then I must thank you that nothing happened to these beast-kin"

"Ah no need, my daughter isn't here..."

The robed figure put its hand inside it's pocket and took out a picture, which seemed to be a copy, since it has a mana boarder around it and threw it to me. Catching it and giving it one quick glance to find a pretty little elven girl smiling happily in the picture.

"If I see this girl I will rescue her myself as thanks for your deeds necromancer."

Handing the picture to my men to look at, it's always good to not be on a necromancer's bad side since they can have an army of the dead fight you, yes even ghost, but having one as an ally or neutral party is never a bad thing.

The man nodded and left quickly as I signaled my men to get the children and women out so we can make our way home...

Looking at the dirtied torn looks I couldn't stay inside the cave longer and walked out leaving my men to deal with it...

Looking up at the stars in the sky. 'I should probably find a way to progress to the next stage.... if the necromancers are making their move, soon there will be worse coming out of the wood works... today we got lucky, because even I couldn't save everyone here...'

The march back was un-eventful to the point once we seen the gate I decided to tell them I need to go break through to the next stage and to have them hold out in this town to I get back protecting my child and Lady Elina and her child.

Making my way deeper into the forest to find a spot that seems untouched by mortal affairs... only a sleeping dragon seems to be here... great a fight...

No longer restricting my fourth tail from growing and gritting my teeth from the pain it causes in my body as it is forming itself, waking the dragon cause of the mana influx. It watched as it finished forming with an amused smile on its face

"Interesting little one, you seem to be young yet your already almost to your fifth tail.... if you can beat me or at least scratch me, I'll give you protection from six of the lightning tribunals of heaven allowing you to forge your body with its power with no harm... but sadly I can't protect you from the last three because it is the last step in which one must face alone...

No worries little one, I will heal you before you take this test of fate."

The dragon seeming to understand my worries as I got ready with my sword and nodding at the dragon as it roared at me charging forward which seemed easy to dodge, but seemingly too fast to dodge its' tail flashed past me knocking me through three different trees as they tipped over it was already on me.

I am capable of fighting dragons, but this one seems to be a step past me. I ended up pointing my sword at it only to barely do anything to the scales which means nothing to a dragon, if I can't break at least one scale it won't consider it a scratch... this time I was swatted away like a fly...

Barely able to stand I decided to use all my mana in my body to enforce my strength, as my body is screaming and burning at me to stop... do to the wound I gained in the past the use of mana does strengthen me but it also harms me in the same breath.... when I use it to strengthen myself... not only can I not cast the simple healing spell, I can barely use it for self-enchantments.

Forcing my way forward as if the world around me stopped other than my skin feeling like it's being boiled with me alive, and the steam coming off my body from the intense heat of my fire, I stepped forth breaking three or four scales and stabbing straight into the dragon's long shoulder.

It swatted me away again as it screamed angrily before stopping itself and pulling out my sword from its shoulder and throwing it at me.

"Interesting... your magic circuit is broken.... yet your capable of using your raw mana like that... and still live...."

Then it spoke some weird draconic language and my body felt like it was in heaven, all my wounds have been healed.... and I can even feel my magic circuit slowly healing....

"I can start the healing process of your circuit, but it'll take one hundred years before you can actively use magic again... I do recommend not doing what you did today again too it's healed. And as promised I will give you a protection shard that can help you through the first six."

It threw me what looks like it's scales only they seem to be moving on its own around my head all six of them. Before the dragon left without even saying anything else.

Starting my cultivation to break through hoping that the last three aren't a pain....

I will pass this for my lovely cute daughter Fu Fu Fu~

The lightning starts as I am trying my best to cultivate my Qi to its highest point and in the shape of the lightning, in order to best channel, it through my body as the first one stroke one of the scales, and it shatters as the energy goes through me tempering my body to become more divine, which was painful in its own right....

Being broken down and re built over and over again on the smaller scales to the sixth one came and it felt like half my body at once was broken down and re forged.... time for the first the Seventh strike. The first of this stage... if I can get all three today I can become peak 5th stage.... but heaven may only strike me once, and I have to wait two more times, or it will strike me all at once... it is mean like that...

But this time I seemed to have angered heavens itself all three bolts came out at once. Striking my body and breaking it down completely and rebuilding it... I can't even describe the pain in which I am feeling right now, and it is easier... cause the first six was not damaging to me.... as the energy seemed to form its own core in my body after the reforming which felt like enternity, but it was only a few hours... the moon is just starting to set, while the sun is just starting to come up...

So, I am peak 5th stage, now in order to break through to the Transcendent stage I must dissolve this core of the heavenly lightning and make it my own....

Making my way back to the village feeling like my body had been hit by the dragon a few hundred times before I got home and collapsed at the front door... all I could see was a gray shadow and hearing Elina's voice as I blacked out.