The Daylight Bandits
In the comfortable bed of his room at the inn, Eternus slept a sound and peaceful sleep with Neko at his side. However, the curse of his terrifying past did not leave him and another nightmare woke him up just before sunrise. Being used to the same routine for the past 2 years, the Boy shook his head and got off the bed to gear up!
As he strapped on his armor and stared at Inura's sword for a while and then shoved it in his belt, "I guess I don't have a place to train today…" He said to himself.
Neko woke up soon after that and stretched out after a nice and peaceful sleep on their soft bed. She hopped over to Eternus who sat at the table, staring at his new mask with a straight pondering face,
[Good Morning, Eternus! How are ya feelin today?!... Pretty excited ain't ya?] She greeted the gloomy boy with the energy of a bright and blooming flower… Only to receive a dry and empty response.
"I'm feeling okay..." Eternus replied after snapping out of his world of thought.
Neko, irritated by his continuously dry attitude spoke up,
[Hmph, I really dislike your dry attitude you know... You seem like an old man in the body of a teenager.]
Eternus replied again in a dry voice, correcting her assumption "I'm twelve years old..."
The little cat's cheeks swelled up with irritation as well as surprise at his correction which was again dry and empty. Before she could exceed this argument further, Eternus asked her while still looking at his mask,
"Neko... What do you think about this mask?"
All the anger dissipated from Neko as she heard a question from Eternus who rarely ever spoke, much less asked a question.
[I think it's a pretty cool and handy mask. I don't know why but I think it suits you quite a lot... Plus it contracts and expands however you want it to... we got it pretty cheap too haha…] She continued with a serious tone, [It might even keep your out-of-control power in check too.]
Eternus raised an eyebrow at her last sentence and thought to himself, 'I didn't lose control in front of Neko… I know there's something off about her. I should be careful.'
Eternus shook his head and continued out loud, "That's not what I meant… This mask, I feel as if it reflects my self and why did it react to me while so many others had failed trying to wear it."
[You really like questions, don't you?... First, you embark on a grand quest and now you're wondering about this mask…] She shook her head and sighed, [Let's concern ourselves with the matter at hand, don't you think that's a good idea?]
Eternus snapped out of it and wore the mask in its half-mask state covering his mouth and nose with an excited and ferocious look in his blue eyes.
"You're right... Daylight Bandits. I'm ready for you!" He exclaimed with a hidden fury in his voice.
Later at noon he met up with the shopkeeper when the sun was almost at its peak, it was the time for their plan to be initiated.
Waiting for their prey as the thermal winds raised from the grounds to rest the wings of the birds above, Eternus's eyes flickered when he caught sight of something far away.
As the sun began to descend from its peak, A group of Ten men dressed in full white clothes and covered faces emerged from a distance, all of them riding horses.
Armed with swords and machetes, leading them was a bulky man who wore the same white outfit as the rest but reinforced with more armor. That man was undoubtedly their leader, riding a black mare, while the rest of them rode white horses.
"Hey, Boss!... It's been a while since we came out for our 'collection'... I guess it's one of those days when we break into people's houses and weed some bounty out!" One of the lackeys in the Bandit crew said to the Leader, as they all rode through tight-shut houses.
The Leader gazed around for a moment and replied with a harsh sigh, Those damn lowlifes are finding ways to avoid us… even though they can't fight us!" He spat on the ground and continued, "I'll show them. I, Balta Crestfang, the leader of the Daylight Bandits who rob whole villages in broad daylight, won't be stopped just because they hide in their little huts!"
"We will invade their houses and this time we'll take in hostages as well... just to teach them a lesson!" He smiled like the scum he seemed to be.
"YEAH!! WE'LL SHOW THOSE INSIGNIFICANT PEOPLE!!" "FOLLOW THE LEADER, BALTA!!!" The crew cheered after hearing those 'motivational words', filling the air with sinister joy.
The captain felt pride in his crew's praise and puffed out his chest and made a proud pose. However, his large belly did not add so much magnificence to the scene.
"Halt!" Their leader yelled when something at a distance caught his eye. "What's that over there?" He inquired.
One of the Bandits blocked the sun with his hands and peered far ahead where his leader was pointing at.
"I think it's our first prey of the day, Boss... Let's go and take everything from him" The lackey rubbed his hands and showed off his missing teeth.
"If it's something pretty, we might as well take her in as our plaything servant! Eh Boss?" A Bald one suggested.
All of them galloped their horses toward the distant object that now seemed like a person. Soon they finally reached and surrounded the figure wearing a cloak that covered his entire body… It was a boy with the hood of his cloak lowered, covering his upper half of the face and the lower half was covered by a black mask.
"What the heck!?! it's just a kid... what will we rob him of, Candy?! Tsk" One exclaimed and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"We can sell him at a good price in the market!" A tattooed lackey gave out another suggestion, followed by that many others threw out opinions and ideas on what other unruly things they could do with the boy.
Little did they know, that this boy who heard it all, was the one person who would bring about their demise
Suddenly a strong and angry voice came from the cloaked boy that silenced everyone.
"I see, you find pleasure in hurting others... Nobility is far from the likes of you." He continued as he lifted his hood,"I will become your undoing!"
It was Eternus who used himself as bait to lure them in, standing there with anger booming in his eyes, his face half covered by the mask and armed with the Crimson blade.
The group ignored his words as their mouths drooled at the sight of Eternus's armor and valuable sword.
"Seems like we can get more out of this little boy, he might be a young adventurer or just some noble brat playing hero." The Bald one spoke again.
The leader spoke up, wondering as he rubbed his hairy chin. "Boy! Do you really believe you can take the ten of us… all by yourself with your flashy toys?" He placed his hand on his lap and raised his chin back into the ungraceful pose he made earlier. "We are the Daylight Bandits who fear nothing! And you, you are merely a Boy that is pathetic and... WEAK!" He said with a proud tone.
As soon as the leader uttered 'that' word, three heads of his men fell on the ground. And Eternus stood in the same spot only wiping off the blood from his sword, a small cloud of dust surrounding him.
With eyes directed towards their leader, Eternus warned him in a ferocious voice,
"Don't... call me... that word.. again!"
The atmosphere started to slowly get heavier and heavier as Eternus's eyes showed a mild glow.
Neko who was hiding far behind a rock along with the shopkeeper noticed this and said to herself, 'I see, so this is thanks to the mask that he hasn't gone nuts yet.'
At the battlefield, the group of Bandits was stunned at the thought of how a child could slash off three of their companions' heads without even breaking a sweat and acting so nonchalant about it. They could not believe the thought and looked here and there, mumbling to each other in disbelief… It was nothing but denial.
Among the Ten of them, their leader was the only one who fathomed that it was the Boy that slashed three heads, 'So fast… I need him in my group!' He thought inwardly, impressed by Eternus's demonstration.
The Captain changed his tone and requested the Warrior in front of him who was just a mere boy a moment ago.
"I apologize for my words back then, you are in no way weak, young man. I have a proposal for you…" Balta narrowed his gaze in caution, "Join me in my group of Daylight Bandits, we will overlook the fact that you just killed three of our men and even compensate you for your achievements with us!"
The Leader's words that were supposed to intrigue Eternus only provoked him further,
"JOIN YOU?! You scum who feed on the hard-earned crumbs of innocent citizens… You dare ask me to join you arrogant good for nothing weaklings?!?" He spat down in disgust and pointed at Balta with his sword, "I can tell you are the only one of them who was awakened and can use his Mana a little bit… the rest of them are just fodder who can't even use Mana"
Eternus threw the Crimson Blade at the Bald one's head, penetrating his little brain and with lightning speed appeared right in front of him. With the sword gripped, Eternus jumped into the air, performing a front flip and landed on the two horses behind; with one foot on each horse. Without wasting a moment, Eternus struck their necks with a slash from the Crimson Blade.
The Blade made a rough cut through the first victim's neck and struck bluntly on the second one's throat, breaking it. Both bodies fell and their horses galloped away as a result.
"Still can't get a clean cut with this thing… Something is wrong with this damn sword!" Eternus said in an exasperated tone as he yanked the blood off from the sword.
Watching their comrades laying before them, headless and lifeless, struck the morale of the remaining two lackeys. The dwindling cowards couldn't face the odds as sweat dripped down from their faces like an open faucet and did what cowards do best.
They tried to escape.
"Sorry Boss… We can't win this. You're on your own now… We're out of here!" They galloped their horses in an attempt to run away from the consequences of their own actions.
Alas, what has been sowed must also be reaped by the one who sowed…
"Do not run from your own mess, YOU COWARDSS!!" Eternus screamed in anger as he kicked against the ground, tossing himself toward the tattooed coward and struck him in the face with a brutal kick. Killing him.
As Eternus turned to his head to tend to the other Bandit who tried to escape, Balta had already buried his Axe into the other one's chest. "Treacherous Coward…" Balta exclaimed as he pulled out his Axe averting his gaze towards Eternus.
"YOU BRAT! Look what you've done! All my men lay in the dirt, we had plans to rob your filthy village!" He screamed with his grave voice, "I swear on my long line of Crestfang family, I'll end your life! Prepare to die by My Hand!"
Eternus was completely unaffected by Balta's threats. He stood still in his nonchalant stance, pointing the crimson blade toward his opponent.
"Prove it!" Eternus challenged Balta's threats like a fearless lion ready to prey.
When Balta looked at Eternus' careless eyes, It made him go wild with anger. He retrieved his mighty double-axe and galloped his black mare towards Eternus.
Just as the mare's feet were about to kick Eternus' comparatively small figure, He seemingly disappeared into thin air.
"Where did the little brat go?!" Balta exclaimed, rolling his eyes in all directions ahead.
"Right behind you... You slow bastard!" Said the voice of a familiar Boy from behind Balta's back...
The crewless Leader turned his head and realized that Eternus was sitting on the horse's rear, right behind him.
In the cold moment of that glance, Eternus cut off the belt of the horse saddle, causing Balta to crash down on his face.
Eternus slapped the mare's thigh, causing it to run off into the distance.
Balta struggled on the ground bearing a hint of despair in his eyes. He crawled in the effort to grasp his Axe that laid right in front of him at a distance… trying out his chance to fight back.
As Balta crawled, facing the dirt in an effort to grasp his weapon and when he looked up to see the distance, he found himself facing a pair of shoes, towering above which was the bringer of his death.
Balta fell into complete and utter despair when he saw Eternus picking up his Axe and staring into his reflection from its fine Blade.
"This will make a fine cut… Unlike that Bastard's sword" He says out loud, instilling fear in Balta's heart even more and cursing Inura at the same time.
"Please, Young warrior, forgive me... I will quit my foul ways, I promise! I promise!" Balta cried as he knew that Eternus did not play around, the bodies of his subordinates were evident of that truth.
Eternus replied with barren coldness in his eyes, "I am not one to forgive you, nor do I believe you will change your ways…" He lifted up the Double Axe and continued, "There is no way out. Your doom.. is here!"
"NOOO PLEAASEE?! I'll give you anything!!!" The Leader of the non-existent Daylight Bandits squealed in terror as the blade of his own Axe reflected the bright sun..
"What I want… You can't give me." Said Eternus, mildly tilting his head with sadness.
A thud sounded in the air and the field went silent of the deafening cries of Balta Crestfang, the Captain of Daylight bandits whose head rolls away from his body and the soil drinks up his foul blood.
"I've fulfilled my first quest... The town is safe now." Eternus threw the Axe aside. Hiis eyes showed discomfort as he stared down at his feet.
Neko ran out towards Eternus and the shopkeeper followed and found himself stunned with shock and understandably so... for how could this 12-year-old boy possess so much power as to take down a group of bandits all on his own.
On the other hand, Neko was not surprised in the slightest, she jumped right onto her throne which was Eternus' shoulder as he still gazed at the flowing blood below.