14 Sheridan Estate Bandit Raid (2)

A few minutes flew by as the quartet galloped past the first watchtower, now a collapsed and smoldering ruin. A good two dozen or so bodies littered the ground, not including those within the wreckage. As they flew by, Luca cast a modified Guidelight, throwing the orb onto a pile of bodies. The orb, which took on a green color, pulsed above the pile, giving off a green glow.

Trevor saw this and inquired to the young mage, "Sir, what was that?"

"I sensed someone under the pile still alive. We have to hurry, so we can't stop, so I left that behind so Jeremy would find it when the caravan rolls through." Luca's eyes narrowed as they began to close in on the second watchtower, "Prepare for battle, we're near combat."

Not half a minute later, Gregor, a sword specializing Warrior, shouted, "Enemies sighted, sir."

Trevor had his steed slow a bit to allow for a distance between him and the lead pair, drawing his bow in anticipation. At this point, the second watchtower was ready to fall as well, and only a half-dozen Sheridan guards remained, huddled together with their backs to the flames, desperately defending against twice their number.

From the perspective of the remaining 6 watchmen, what happened next occurred within seconds. One moment he was attempting to fend off a hammer with his shield, then the next saw an arrow suddenly pierce through his attacker's left side up to the fletching, followed by something blowing a hole through another bandit's head.

BANG!!!

The sound of gunfire came seconds after the second bandit's brains were blown out, and everyone in combat instinctively turned towards the sound. Seeing three horses charging towards them, the leading pair preparing to crush them, and the furthest carrying an archer and a kid with a strange weapon, some of the bandits turned to face a new threat. With this new change relieving them of a fair amount of difficulty, the guards mustered their remaining energy and cut down three more bandits swiftly before one guard was stabbed in the leg. This brave man took his ax and chopped off the hand of the bandit that stabbed him before chucking it at one of the bandits facing the charging horses, catching the renegade in the back.

The one-handed bandit grabbed a spear from a fallen guard, thrusting it at the injured guard, only to take an arrow to his shoulder and drop it. One of the five impaired guards took the opportunity to stab the wounded bandit in the heart, while the other four moved to distract the last 5 bandits. At this moment, another bandit's head was shot through, followed by a much faster bang. In the last 20m, before the two leading horsemen collided with the bandits, two more heads were blown off in quick succession. The last pair were struck down by Gregor and Patton, the latter of which decapitated his target with a swift strike.

As the trio galloped past, Luca shouted, "Reinforcements are coming, stay here and catch your breath!" He cast a second green guidelight onto the ground by the six men, signifying survivors. The guardsmen fell onto their rears, completely exhausted, watching their timely rescuers charge off towards the castle, all while waiting for the supposed reinforcements.

Luca recalled something as they barrelled onward, "System, I forgot to ask, how do I devour souls?"

"We did forget about that, it seems. After killing something, the soul will remain attached to the body for 5 minutes before returning to Samsara. Before then, you must use this technique here to devour them." A pop-up then appeared for Luca:

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Devour

Skill Rank: A- (Class Specific)

Skill Description: Within 300m, any souls from beings killed by the user will be drawn to and absorbed by the user. 1min cooldown

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After thanking the System, Luca reloaded his weapon, ready to use it as they got closer to the third watchtower. Somehow still intact, the last watchtower was under siege with its last surviving guards having barricaded themselves in, with archers using vantage points and gaps in the blockaded windows to keep the bandits from setting it ablaze. Seeing such, Luca replaced the first bullet in the cartridge with a Fire PMB. Oil was extremely rare in the wilds, so how these bandits had enough to burn two towers and more for a third was unfathomable.

"Trevor, fire at will but save some arrows for the main force ahead," Luca said as he shot the small barrel of oil that the bandits were trying to bring to the tower base. Burning liquid burst out, dousing several bandits and burning them alive. Trevor shot down three more, followed by Luca discharging his six remaining bullets, only killing half of his intended number. The last shot was blocked by a tilted shield. The boy clicked his tongue, reloading with Non-Elemental PMBs and repeatedly emptied the entire clip, only to repeat the process.

Between the watchmen archers and the horse-riding long-range duo, more than half of the besieging attackers were defeated. Taking this chance, the defending sentries went on the offensive, one shield Warrior leading by slamming his wooden shield into anything in his way, all while more of his compatriots followed in his wake. As the guards struck out, Patton and Gregor smashed with the clustered bandits, crushing several under-hoof and cutting down many more. Within the brief seconds of chaotic melee combat, very few bandits remained, none of which was capable of stopping the horsemen as they stormed through.

Luca extinguished most of the fire he'd caused with three Water PMBs, then shot down two bandits as Trevor and he galloped by. As they flew on ahead, he shouted back to the guards the same thing he'd said to the previous tower's watchmen, along with leaving another green Guidelight. The trio of horses did not slow at all, leaving the guards to kill off the remaining bandits. Luca cast the Devour skill, and he watched as several white-ish wisps flew towards him from the dead bodies before being absorbed into his body. As he noted the lack of acknowledgment from Trevor or the guards at the oddity, he heard the System proclaim, "User has devoured 33 pure souls."

"What can I use them for?"

"In the Pure Path, which the user has already awakened upon becoming a Spirit Eater, souls can be exchanged for attribute points, skill proficiency, new skills and spells, and improving known ones. During crafting, it can also be used to raise or lower item results, or add special properties to the item. Numerous other things are possible."