Family

After inviting me to join one of the raiding parties, a couple of bandits disagreed with Raven's suggestion saying things like "What can a pretty boy like him do?" and "Him? He'll probably shit himself the moment shit goes down."

So to prove my worth Raven had the entire clan challenge me to a fight.

I thought that they would have understood how strong I was considering that Raven told all of them to come at me. But it looks like I thought to highly of their intelligence.

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(3 minutes Later) (Raven POV)

*Cough* *Cough*

Spitting out a mouthful of blood I looked at my fallen subordinates. I expected this much from him as I'd witnessed his power before, but right now I was completely in awe of his skill.

Without summoning his bow or hurling an army of swords at us, he stood proudly among my fallen comrades with nothing but a black katana in his hand and a smile on his face.

At first he seemed to be any easy target for the long ranged fighters, but he quickly proved them wrong by deflecting their bullets onto the bandits around him. Then he started hacking and slashing those around him like they were chickens. Even I was surprised by his style of swordsmanship.

Compared to when I fought him a couple of months ago in the Emerald Forest, I could tell that this time he had actually knew how to wield his sword as I had trouble dealing with his technique.

And to make matters even worse, I'm not sure whether he used his reinforcements against the bandits or just took them out with skill alone.

When I clashed against his sword, it felt like it was getting heavier with every swing and eventually forced me to retreat. Now I stand as the last member of the Branwen tribe able to fight.

I could have used my maiden power to match him but then I was sure that he'd use his reinforcements and we'd end up destroying the camp and surrounding area by accident.

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(Emiya POV)

Seeing Raven still able to stand, I was honestly surprised that she hadn't used any of that spring maiden power bullshit. I was really hoping that she would so I could completely crush her and prove that I was stronger. Unfortunately it didn't seem like she planned on using it.

I was also impressed with my use of the Evolved Gravity Blade and my proficiency of using Touta's technique against human opponents. Though everyone besides Raven were weak. I also made sure that I punched the fuck out of the bastard who hit on Yang in vol 5.

'Dude was creepy AF'

Seeing that everyone except Raven had moved to the sidelines I decided that I might as well end it now.

'I wonder where Vernal is?'

Summoning 50 swords behind me I looked at Raven with a smile.

"Do you yield? Or would you prefer we kick it up a notch?"

Understanding what I meant by "Kick it up a notch" she nodded her head and sheathed her sword.

"I yield."

Her answered garnered her a bunch of "Ooooh's" from the bandits.

Seeing her surrender, I dismissed my swords and look at the bandits.

"Am I good enough to raid with you guys?" I ask with a gentle smile.

Seeing the smile I had on my face, they remembered the smile I had when I crushed them.

Quickly nodding their heads, I looked away in satisfaction.

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Raven stood watching the interaction between Emiya and her bandits and couldn't help but smile.

"Hey boss, are… you… okay?"

Looking at the person who had just called her, Raven recognised her short brown hair and brown vest.

"Done already Vernal?" She asked.

"Are you kidding me? I could have done it with my eyes closed."

"Heh, I guess your right." Raven smiled.

"So what's got everyone in such a fuss?" Vernal asked looking at all the excited bandits.

"Him." Pointing her finger, Raven showed the reason for everyone's attitude.

Looking in the direction she was pointing at, Vernal saw a tan skinned boy with slicked back white hair, standing amongst a few bandits.

"Who's he?" She asked puzzled by everyone's excitement.

"A new addition to the family." Raven smiled gently.

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Having asserted my dominance over the bandits, Raven called me over to meet Vernal. At first she seemed very skeptical about me defeating Raven and the others, but after a short spar she started treating me like everyone else.

"So what'd you call me for?" I asked Raven inside her tent.

"In two days, a shipment of dust will be passing through this forest and I want you and Vernal to take it." She said while sipping on a cup of tea.

"Just the two of us?"

"Will that be a problem?" She looked at me.

"Well… Don't you need more than 2 people to raid a traveling shipment? Especially if it's guarded by Atlas." I explained.

"What makes you think Atlas will be guarding it?"

"Because the Schnee Dust Company wouldn't trust anyone but the military to guard their wares." I said while sipping my own tea. "You really like tea don't you?"

"Hmm… It helps me unwind." She clarified.

Nodding my head in understanding, I return to the topic at hand. "Anyway, what's with only sending me and Vernal?" I asked wanting to hear her reasons.

"Why wouldn't I send the two of you? Vernal's done this a hundred times and could probably do it with her eyes closed, while your basically a one man army."

"I guess that makes sense, but how are we going to bring back all that dust once we've secured it?" I questioned.

"Once you've got it, I'll teleport over with a group of bandits and we'll take it back."

"Oh?"

…

…

…

"What?" She asked.

"Well… I was wondering why you attacked me in the Emerald Forest. From what I know, I shouldn't have offended you in any way."

Instead of answering, she closed her eyes and sipped her tea.

(Too much tea)

"5 years ago, I was injured during a fight with a huntsman. To escape his grasp I was forced to run into a Grimm infested forest with a low probability of survival. I thought I was dead for sure, but the weird thing was no Grimm showed up for days. After my wounds managed to stabilize I started looking for the cause of the anomaly thinking that I could use it to keep the Grimm away from my tribe. But imagine my surprise when I found a young white haired boy slaughtering all the Grimm that entered his territory. His sheer savageness and brutality left me speechless. And when I saw his semblance, I knew for certain that he would make a name for himself in the future. So for the next couple of weeks I observed the boy and found that he was not only strong but intelligent as well. He made a campfire to keep himself warm during the night, set up various traps around his base to alert him if anything got to close and stored food with long expiration dates so he wouldn't run out to quickly."

Listening to Raven's story, I already knew who she was talking about.

"Unfortunately, I had to return back to my camp as I had been away for to long. But by the time I got back, Atlas had already found out where we were and started raiding the camp. I got as much people out of there as I could, but for the next couple of years we were constantly on the run, so I didn't have enough time to return and take the child."

Taking another sip of her tea, she placed the cup down and looked at Emiya straight in his eyes.

Her stare was quite unnerving, and Emiya didn't know what she was thinking, but even so he didn't break eye contact.

Taking a sip from his tea he met Raven's eyes with the same kind of intensity.

"Did you peep on me when I was changing?"