The misadventures of Trucy Leigh

Going back a few days, a cart pulled by 2 tier two land drakes made their way towards Pritwood. A red-robbed young woman was inside looking through the window with a bored expression. She had amber eyes, her black hair was shorter than her shoulders, and her figure could get considered "plain," as her breasts and butt weren't very prominent. A sheathed saber rested in her lap and a bag of holding by her side.

A group of 6 women in similar red robes surrounded her. However, they wore solemn expressions, and their hands were always grasping their weapons. The young woman looked at them with the corner of her eye and loudly sighed.

"Is anything bothering you, young master?" One of them spoke up in a worried tone. "Is anything not of your liking?"

"It's not that. I'm just very bored..." She sighed again and closed her eyes. "How much until we get home?"

"At least a couple hours more, young master."

"I want to see little Isaac already. It's been years since i last saw him..." She puffed her cheeks and began playing with a strand of spiritual energy.

She was Trucy Leigh, daughter of Ian Leigh, and Isaac's eldest cousin. After getting an urgent summons from her family, she had to drop everything to return to pritwood. Sadly, she didn't specialize in combat animals like her older cousin Duarte, so her way there was much slower. At least after days of traveling, she was getting closer to reunite with her dad and little cousin Isaac.

The last time she saw him was several years ago when Dixon performed his first talent test. She remembered his cute face, his innocence, and his cheery smile. How he puffed his cheek every time she teased him and how he'll run towards her excited when she offered him some candies from Meka. Those sweets were expensive enough to cost spirit stones instead of gold but seeing him enjoy them was enough.

Thinking about this, she gently smiled and put her hand inside her bag of holding. She scanned with her spiritual power a small box of Mekan chocolates that she bought. It cost her a kidney and a half, but it was worth it, in her opinion. With a small sigh, she returned to gaze into the horizon... when suddenly an arrow flew through the window straight for her right eye.

A bright milky-white shield appeared and deflected the projectile, dimming a bit. All of the women inside reached for their weapons and took out several slips of yellow paper from their pockets. Trucy wasn't any slower. She unsheathed her saber and readied her stance.

"ENEMIES! GO FASTER!" One of the women screamed.

More arrows flew in their direction, depleting the shield's energy with every impact. The land drakes roared as they increased their speed, while the nervous driver did her best to evade obstacles. A couple of seconds later, the onslaught finished. The shield still held on, and the chariot was still intact. However, its occupants didn't relax one bit because of this.

Smoke and ash appeared out of nowhere and trapped the carriage inside. The driver tried to use her spiritual sense to pierce through it to no avail. In the end, she had to stop, fearing a crash that would happen if she continued blindly. The women kept the smoke at bay with their spiritual power, but they knew that would last long. Seeing the predicament they were in, they decided to talk using Leigh's secret sign language.

"Activate the emergency talisman," Trucy commanded. "We don't know how many enemies are out there, be careful."

"Understood." One of the women nodded and waved the paper in her hand. It flared up in a milky white light before turning into ash. "It is done."

"Defensive formation, we want to hold on until reinforcements arrive." After seeing the rest nodding, Trucy continued. "Let's go to the front. The driver and the drakes are alone."

In less than a second, they arrived at the front of the carriage. The driver had a bow in hand and water covering all of her arms. The drakes pulled closer to the carriage, snarling towards the smoke. However, the trembling of their tail gave away their fear. Trucy narrowed her eyes after seeing this and gripped her saber tighter.

"Turtle formation." She whispered, taking out a tower shield from her bag of holding. It was big enough to cover almost all of her body standing up.

The rest did the same and huddled together, forming a circular barrier surrounding the only archer in their group. Then, all of the shields flared up in multicolored light. But nothing happened. Seconds passed in tense silence as the women held their guard up, looking out for any attack, but no movement came from the enemy.

Minutes went by, but the smoke was the only thing that came in their direction. It was harmless, as it only blocked their vision, they still had to use a small part of their spiritual power to divert it, though, and it took a toll on their bodies. Sweat slowly formed in their foreheads and drenched their pristine robes. The archer finally released their bow for a moment and whispered.

"Minor healing art: Invigorating mist."

A small symbol appeared in front of her before a soothing watery-blue mist covered her companions. It alleviated their stress and helped them regain focus in their surroundings. However...that took a toll too. A pitch-black sword dropped from the sky and pierced the archer's head, killing her instantly.

"ANYA!" One of the women screamed, diverting her attention for just a split second. That moment was enough for a similar sword to shoot in her direction and similarly killing her.

"ENEMY ATTACK! REMAIN IN THE FORMATION!" Trucy screamed, trying not to divert her focus from the smoke. "WE'LL MAKE THEM PAY FOR ANYA AND EMBER!"

"UNDERSTOOD!" The rest of the women closed the gap made by Ember's death. They had an angry expression on their faces, but they knew that if their emotions got the better of them, they would die.

The waiting game resumed. However, their stamina began to drop once more as time flew by. Anya wasn't there to help them remain focused, and they didn't dare to distract themselves. Their breathing got harder, and their shields dimmed ever so slightly.

After ten long minutes, a barrage of black daggers flew in their direction. The first ones got blocked by the shields, but cries of pain began to sound soon after. Trucy tried her best to protect them, but she could only watch as they began to fell one by one. She bit her lip in frustration and took out her saber.

"Leigh saber art: Dusk!"

Trucy screamed as an orange fire engulfed her whole arm. She slashed towards the smoke with all of her might, clearing a path in front of her. Before she could say anything to her companions, several black-clothed figures appeared from the darkness and pounced at her.

"SHIELD ART! BULWARK!" But Trucy didn't give up. She slammed the tower shield on the ground, and a fire wall appeared in front of her.

The figures retreated when they saw this and disappeared once more into the darkness. Trucy mumbled a curse and dispersed the shield as she saw the path closing up once more.

"It's time to-" She looked back for a second but noticed that she was the only survivor from the group. Even the land drakes were fatally injured and slowly bleeding to death. Her lips quivered for a moment before she screamed in frustration.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" She released all of her energy instantly, pushing back the smoke several meters. "SHIELD ART! STAMPEDE!"

She slammed the shield down once more before running with all of her might, dragging it across the ground. As she picked up speed, she got engulfed in a layer of orange fire that protected her from several black daggers that rushed towards her unprotected back. Trucy didn't seem to notice as she charged ahead with an expression filled with rage.

"I'll kill you all...just wait..." She mumbled to herself, burning everything in her path.

"Sorry to break your dreams." A voice suddenly drifted in her ears, startling her. "But that's not gonna happen, little miss."

Her unstoppable race was suddenly cut short by a black dagger held by a black-robbed man. The anger inside Trucy was slowly replaced by fear as smoke began creeping up to her ankles. She was powerless in front of that power.

-Guess this is the end...I'm sorry, girls. I'm sorry, dad. I couldn't get home safely...- This was what she thought was her last thoughts, as she accepted that it was her moment to die.

"LEIGH SABER ART! DAWNBREAKER!"

A man's cry boomed as he fell from the sky towards them. A saber shining as bright as the sun was in his hand, and the image of a bright star followed behind him.

"Fuck... Wind art: Death's swiftness." A Black wind wrapped the man, engulfing his figure.

Both of them clashed a couple of seconds later. The explosion launched Trucy several meters into the air, blood spraying from several wounds that suddenly appeared in her body. After a moment, she felt gravity claiming her body, and she expected the impact. Still, it wasn't her moment to die. A giant blood-red hawk picked her up in the sky with its mighty claws and began to fly away from the battle.

"You're safe, young master Trucy!" Another man wearing red robes appeared, mounting a similar beast. "We'll take you to a safe place!"

She spent several days recovering inside a secret forward base made by the Leigh family for similar situations. Her spiritual energy got depleted, her dantian was filled with cracks, and she had several internal and external injuries that required extensive care. When she finally could exert 50% of her strength without pain, she embarked once more towards Pritwood. This time, the Astral gate cultivator that saved her, couple with several foundation establishment ones, closely guarded her.

When she finally arrived, she got greeted by Wilson. After exchanging pleasantries with him, she ran towards the backyard where Isaac was training with another kid. She didn't recognize Dustin, but she just assumed it was his friend.

"ISAAAAC! BIG SIS TRUCY IS HEEEERE!" She said with a bright smile on her face. The boys stopped with their training and looked at her confusedly.

"Oh! Hey..." Isaac thought for a moment before answering. "Cousin Trucy? Nice to meet you! Name's Isaac." He snapped his fingers and said with a smile on his face.

"Huh?" Her expression dropped for a moment. She didn't know what to say and how to react to that answer. So she just froze there. "What?"