First Fight
Vincent frowned after hearing what the man just said.
It's not even enough to kill the woman, he also wanted her to be humiliated and be sold as a slave.
It was just too much.
He saw the terror in the woman's eyes as soon as she heard it. As she realized that it must've been better to die than to be sold, she quickly held her sword as she thought of just killing herself to end her misery.
Vincent commends such determination…
He immediately used his Shrouded Steps to arrive beside her faster than the three men who were about to capture her.
He grabbed the sword in her hands and gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don't kill yourself."
"Y-you are---"
Yvette was surprised as she looked at the young man who had just appeared beside her.
She also noticed that Vincent is wearing unique clothes different from her enemies. Furthermore, he's emitting a different aura than them so she easily recognized that he's the one who has been observing them up until now.
That's right, she can actually feel that they are being observed since a while ago. At first, she thought that it was only from a Savage Beast waiting for an opportune time. However, it appears that she's wrong.
"I'm just a traveler…" Vincent said cutting off Yvette's words.
"Hmph! Then don't interrupt us here. Just go on your way!" One of the guys who wanted to capture Yvette said.
"No! We can't let this man leave now that he had seen us. Kill him as well." The leader ordered.
Yvette could only sigh seeing how young Vincent was. He's just a teenager and most likely living around her. She knows that there should be a village around here after all.
As for him being a real traveler, that's definitely a lie considering his young age and the way he dressed. His footwear and clothes seem to be quite new and he's also not carrying any weapon aside from a brand new dagger on her waist and his walking stick.
"Since you showed up, they won't let you go. So be careful… But since you appeared now, I'm sure you have a plan to defeat them and not just to argue with them, right?" Yvette asked as she allowed Vincent to hold her sword.
Even if she wanted him to flee already, these people will not allow that to happen.
Since her mana was almost drained already, she's basically quite useless now in combat. It's better to give the sword to the young man and he might even create a miracle.
"I can't just watch this after all. I wanted to be just an observer and mind my own business to get to the nearest city. But my conscience wouldn't allow me. Perhaps I wouldn't be able to sleep well at night if I still ignore this."
Vincent said as he carefully look at the three adult men approaching him. They barely have mana around them but they can still be deliberately hiding it to mess with his mana sensitivity.
'Even if I made a mistake and helped a vicious woman instead, it should still be fine and it will just serve as a lesson in the future.'
As soon as he thought of this, he looked at the three men like they were his prey.
'Just think of them as vicious bears or Savage Beasts… I can do this…' Vincent had never killed a person before but he might be committing it now.
Apparently, he felt that his aura was unstable because of the realization that he will kill a human. This is why he controlled his thoughts immediately and viewed these men as Savage Beasts he wanted to hunt.
As soon as he changed his view on them, it somehow alarmed the group of men including Yvette who wasn't targeted by his bloodlust.
During the past few years, he may not have experienced dueling against fellow humans, he had at least fought against numerous Savage Beasts within the forest!
Shrouded Steps!
This movement technique was known by everyone here, however, his Shrouded Steps look mystical as he easily maneuvered between the three men!
Vincent used Yvette's sword as he easily stabbed one of them!
"Aack!" He was unable to react at all and when he realized that Vincent had gotten near, it was too late!
He can only hold the sword that stabbed his stomach.
His companions were also surprised but they did not have enough time to recover. Vincent did not pull the sword in the man's stomach as he decided to use his cane!
Bang!
It was such a powerful strike filled with Vincent's sharp Aura! His strike was also accompanied by the Cane's Crush Attribute!
The second man was extremely unlucky as his right arm was crushed including his ribs as Vincent just gave a horizontal slash. There was no fancy technique at all!
He just used his speed and the power of his cane!
"Y-you're an Aura Knight!"
Yvette realized that Vincent was just barely using any Mana in his movements. At first, she thought that he was really gifted with physical strength.
However, as soon as he used the cane to smash the protective mana of the second guy, she immediately recognized the unusual energy that came with it! Only extremely few people are capable of manifesting this kind of energy!
"What?! Aura Knight?! Why would an Aura Knight be here?!"
As soon as the leader heard Yvette's words, the leader and the other surviving person paled. They seem to be afraid of the Aura Knights.
Nevertheless, it was still followed by determination as they held their weapons tightly.
The two briefly looked at each other and decided to pounce on him!
Perhaps, they realized that they won't be able to escape, so they took their chance and attacked together as their final attempt!
'They're slower than I expected. Those bronze bears are definitely stronger than these two.'
Vincent thought as he decided to use his other Tier 1 Mana Art to see how it would fare against the two men.
Tier 1 Surging Palm Strike!
It was just a technique that covers his palm with layers of Mana and was normally used to disrupt or destabilized that opponent's Mana Flow.
However, this same palm strike can down a Bronze Bear!