Chapter 8

Patreon just got 4 chapters so its finally 10 ahead. If you want to read ahead or are just interested in helping me write full-time check it out. Link in my account info and at the bottom of the chapter.

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[Name:???]

[Race: Nord]

[Level: 11]

"Stop right there!" A man, positioned at the center of the road with his arms crossed, ordered. Fur thrown together to form his armor. A rusted axe at his waist. Dirt on his face.

The textbook definition of a bandit.

As if in response to that thought, the information above the man's head changed.

[Bandit]

[Race: Nord]

[Level:11]

「Health: 110/110 Stamina: 120/120 Magicka: 25/25」

Was that the system's way of preparing him for a fight? Another interesting detail to add to the mystery of these windows.

"And who are you?" Athias questioned, he and Auri slowing their mounts to a stop.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is that I work for the Jarl, and this here is a toll road-"

Athias didn't pay much attention to whatever nonsense the man was sprouting, gaze focused further down the trail of dirt and stone. A tree -thicker than most in the area- had fallen over to block the road. Before that tree was a partially burnt carriage surrounded by a group similar to the man who had stopped them. He could see charred corpses, brandished weapons, the carriage driver waving a torch about. Combined that with angry shouts and it didn't take genius to understand what was going on here.

More importantly, they were being watched. Likely from the trees and bushes that ran alongside the road. The way the hairs on his neck stood up, told Athias whoever was hiding didn't hold any good intentions.

"And the person ahead? What's going on there?" Athias cut the bandit's rabble off with a question.

"Fools who thought they could get by without paying the toll." The man practically growled out, hand inching towards his axe, message clear. "Pay up and turn around, otherwise the same might happen to you. Leave the horse too."

Athias shook his head. This bandit didn't even bother to maintain pretenses.

Slipping off the saddle, Athias met Auri's eyes. She subtly glanced towards the forest-line. They were on the same page.

As he approached the man, Athias held a hand behind his back as if to reach for a pouch of gold when in reality, faint embers sparked across it.

A signal for Auri.

"That's close enough." The bandit stopped him once he was a few steps away. It seemed the man wasn't as stupid as his poor acting suggested. It didn't matter. He was already close enough. "Now toss over the gold and get moving before I change my mind."

An actual flame flickered to life over Athias' palm as he whipped it out towards the bandit who went wide eyed and made a grab for his axe. Athias curled his hand into a fist, flooding the condensed flame with an influx of hot magicka.

A blinding white light overtook the road.

Flash. It wasn't an over the top spell capable of causing untold amounts of destruction. No. That tome on novice level pyromancy contained no such spells. Flash, as it's name suggested, simply made use of the heat provided by flames and an overload of magicka to trigger a harmless explosion of light. Anyone caught in it would be blinded but their vision would return in seconds.

In battle, seconds decided who lived and died.

"What in-" Athias stepped forward, ducking beneath the cursing bandit's wild slash and in one wide arc, unsheathed his plain steel sword. The blinded bandit fell over, clutching at his neck, profuse amounts of blood slipping between fingers no matter how much pressure he applied.

At the same time, arrows came from the forest. Their aim was completely off, snapping when they hit the stone of the trail. He wasn't worried about the archers; Auri was already on her way to deal with them, leading Thistlefoot, who pranced about far more swiftly than any horse could've, into the forest line.

Athias focused on some of the bandits rushing over from the carriage. All sat at similar levels to the man at his feet. Strange, he didn't see any of them wielding spells. If not them, who was responsible for those charred corpses ahead?

Questions for later.

Another orange flame appeared over his left hand and he let loose a gout of fire, tracing the road from left to right. The bandits bravely leap over the flames.

Quite possibly the stupidest the decision they could've made.

Those weren't simple flames that he tossed out for the fun of it, very much still connected to his magicka, and therefore under his control. The dancing lines of flames blazed upwards into a wall of flames, catching those above it in its fiery embrace.

More experienced mages could use the spell, Flame Wall, all on its own and create -as the name suggested- walls of flames from thin air in an instant. He either had to make use of existing flames or use a spell of his own so that he could manipulate them to form a wall. It was inconvenient and inefficient.

But far from useless for someone with as much magicka as him.

The bandits struggled to rid themselves of the hungry flames, their choice in fur armor proving far more detrimental than helpful. It was easy enough to cut them down though some tried to fight through it, swinging at him with pained war cries. Expected; even with a certain perk to aid him, his pyromancy wasn't so far along that spells like flame wall proved fatal without prolonged exposure.

Athias didn't try to match them, backing off and making use of the most basics of basics offered by Pyromancy, the Flames spell. He had used the same spell to supply the fuel Firewall needed. Agonizing screams tore free of the bandits faced with the unending torrent of indiscriminate fire. They lasted far longer than he would've liked, his magicka beginning to drop below its halfway point.

Thankfully, they soon hit the ground, forever silenced

Athias took a breath, his gaze jumping between charred and bleeding corpses, some still moving but unable to do anything besides groan in pain.

He should've felt some form of guilt.

In his previous life gruesome scenes like this were reserved for games and the like or those unfortunate enough to end up dragged into a war over something they probably didn't even care about.

Athias grinned slightly as he watched his magicka rapidly regenerate, his stamina doing so at a slower pace, while his health was still in perfect condition.

He was strong and only getting stronger.

Now wasn't the time for thinking though.

Athias turned his attention past his once wall of flames, now embers smoking atop scorched stone and dirt, and focused on the final bandit.

[Bandit Chief]

[Race: Nord]

[Level: 12]

「Health: 160/160 Stamina: 130/130 Magicka: 50/50」

All but his head protected by old Iron armor and face contorted into one of the pure fury, the biggest nord and apparently their leader, turned his back on the carriage driver he'd been threatening, ready to cleave Athias in two with the greatsword in his hands.

Athias prepared himself, the flame in his left hand swapped out for a faint blue glow. The beginnings of a ward. Something told him that one, so caught up in his fury, wasn't going to be deterred by fire no matter how hot. He'd use his magicka and stamina to weather the assault then strike when the chance presented itself.

Two blades entered the chief's neck from opposite ends.

The driver had jumped from the carriage, the torch he'd been waving around to ward the bandits off abandoned in favor of two silver scimitars. With a twist and pull, he decapitated the nord.

The head hit the ground, tumbling to a stop between Athias and the driver, expression still moving between rage and shock before the light in it's eyes finally died.

Well, that just happened.

「Alert: Numerous skills advanced」

「Destruction: 24 -> 26 One-handed: 29 -> 30」

「Alert: Experience threshold met 」

「Advice: Rest as possible to advance your level」

"Perfect timing, my friend! You got me out of a tough spot!" The man greeted in a jolly tone as he hid the pair of scimitars beneath the thin flowing cloak he wore.

[Name: ???]

[Race: Redguard]

[Level: 35]

His information was tinted green and there was no skull so Athias sheathed his blade as he approached. While there weren't exact numbers, he could see Auri's stamina bar beginning to regenerate with no damage done to her health bar. She'd be joining them soon enough.

Dressed in relatively light colored clothing held together by an old buckled belt, the redguard stood around the same height as Athias. He was clearly much older however. His beard, braided at its center, was graying and there were some wrinkles along his brownish-red skin. No one would mistake the older man for a native of Skyrim.

"I'm sure you could've handled it." Athias said.

"Come now, no need for flattery after saving our lives. I've dealt with my fair share of bandits, but I've no skill for magic like you."

"Our?" Athias repeated.

The redguard knocked on the side of his carriage. "You still alive back there, noble girl?"

There was shuffling about and some curses before a woman popped out.

[Name: ???]

[Race: Breton]

[Level: 13]

"I'm not a noble." She grumbled eyes narrowed. When they fell on Athias, she became visibly more nervous. "I saw what you did back there. You're, uh, really good with magic…..you're not going to threaten us too or anything right?"

Athias raised a brow while the redguard shook his head. "You're a noble, so show some nobility. I doubt that's how they teach you to thank someone up in High Rock."

"I'm not a-"

Auri, finally joined them, Thistlefoot jumping free of the forest line, and landing beside Athias with loud clicks against stone.

"Not another one." The Breton woman groaned ducking back into the carriage.

"Another one?" Auri asked curiously, looking to Athias for an answer.

"She probably thinks you're a bandit." 

"Look at them. Their weapons and armor are held together by dead plant parts. I'm nothing like them."

"You're wearing fur. You kind of do look like them."

"So you're not a bandit?" The breton woman questioned, taking a tentative peak over the carriage's edge after the fighting she expected never came to pass.

"While I do so enjoy bringing young souls together, perhaps we should move elsewhere?" The redguard suggested while looking at the corpses the littered the trail. "Perhaps share a camp tonight? Introductions are far more enjoyable over a hot meal."

Athias looked to Auri. She shrugged, leaving the decision in his as hands like usual.

He didn't mind the idea. Plus-

Athias took a glance back where he came. That steed he'd stolen was nowhere to be found, having taken off at some point during the battle, and he had no way to call it back to them. It wouldn't hurt to camp somewhere nearby to see if it turned up.

Good thing he hadn't trusted the defiant thing with any gear.

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Hope you enjoyed this fiery chapter. For those worried about not knowing the MCs perks, you'll see them in the next few chapters.

As I said at the beginning, Patreon is ahead by ten chapters so if you want to read ahead check it out. I'd also appreciate people who throw some in the tip jar and one day help me write stuff like this full time. Been thinking Star Wars in the clone wars era or the old republic mmo era for a side project. May or may not post that depending on how well I flesh it out and can balance my time. This is definitely the main thing though.

patreon .com/TheExpGarden