Shuri's First Real Fight

 By the time she defeated most of them, the leader trembled in fear as he watched with rage as his two underlings got killed.

."How dare you?!" he roared, charging at the young woman, who gave him a disinterested look. He swung his blade, which was blocked by the young woman. To his surprise, the young woman was able to block him and even pushed him back.

 'Is she in the same realm as me and the leader?!' the bandit's thoughts were in turmoil as he felt himself getting pushed by the young woman.

 A slight glance made him spot the young man who was watching the entire thing with interest, 'In that case, I have to just take the man with you!' he disengaged, heading towards the young man.

 When he came close to the young man, he felt a powerful pressure surrounding him immediately, 'What?!' he could barely think of anything else as he was forced to his knee by the powerful aura. 

 The young man merely shook his head, "Why do you have to try court death so much?" he asked, a sphere releasing tremendous power floating next to him.

 It didn't take the bandit long to realize what the cultivation of the young man, 'Genesis Core!' he thought in shock. He had only heard what a Genesis Core could do before when he was part of a much bigger bandit group before the group was destroyed.

 The group had two Genesis Core experts but both of them died when the guards finally cornered them. He had seen how the leader of the guards and the two leaders unleashed the same sphere before he quickly fled, knowing his chances of surviving if he got any closer were none.

 'Why did I have to meet a Genesis Core expert here?!' he thought to himself, not noticing the young woman moving closer towards her. The last thing he saw was a flash of silver before his vision went dark.

-x-

 "Do you think you can continue?" he asked Shuri. Even though she was dominating her opponent, she was still not used to fighting a real battle until now. Most of the fight she had was mostly training and sparring.

 With no prior experience, she had used more qi than necessary to take down a 4th Stage Genesis Condensing bandit. From the fight, she had tired herself considerably though she likely will sharpen her skill with more fights.

 Shuri gave him a slight nod. While she had used a lot of her qi, she wasn't at the point of exhaustion. However, she now knew she needed to control her qi more efficiently to not waste them fighting weaker opponents.

 Looking at her, Ryker nodded. Unless the other bandits are at the 5th Stage, she could handle them easily. Whether she could defeat them without exhausting herself is the real question. One he intends to find out.

-x-

 "Argh!" a bandit was sent flying to the nearest tree, uprooting it in the process. The reason the bandit learned how to fly despite not being at the Genesis Core looked at the man coldly.

 "Y-you whore, this daddy will beat you up," despite just being sent flying, the bandit still act arrogantly, though he could still stand at the very least. Not intending to let him live any longer, Shuri dashed towards the bandit before slashing at him.

 Unable to block the fast attack, the bandit's head was beheaded immediately, unable to do anything as Shuri claimed his life.

 "That's another one down," she said, looking at Ryker who nodded at her. Around them are the corpses of the bandit, all fallen to Shuri's hand though Ryker did create a barrier to prevent them from escaping.

 With the last bandit killed, they had completed the mission, though Shuri still felt soured by the fact Ryker had to help her to prevent them from running. Seeing her face, Ryker could tell what she was thinking.

 He put his hand on her shoulder, thinking for a while before speaking, "It's okay Shuri. You might need my help to make sure they didn't run away but you are still the one that killed them all. Take this as a lesson for the future.

 You will know what to do and how to prevent them from escaping. You can also handle and defeat people with the same realm or stronger than you if you constantly train yourself, similar to the others,"

 Hearing his words of encouragement, the young woman nodded. Seeing how his words affected her, Ryker smiled before putting his arm around her, "Let's get going, the other must be waiting for us," 

-x-

 Arriving at their inn, they were greeted by the rest of the group, who quickly clamored around Shuri. After all, it's not a secret that she had no experience in real-life battles. 

 As they surround her, Ryker decides to take a seat, watching them as they look over her, even Era, Lisha, and Miriam, who is much weaker than her. Only when she told them she was found did they let her escape their encirclement.

 He watched them with slight joy, after all, all of his lovers were taking good care of each other. Besides him, Rina served him some drinks, all the while Ariana took a place on his lap, eager to play with her oldest brother. 

 With nothing to do, Ryker decided to enjoy the temporary peace. Which will be done when they head towards the Kilrun Duchy. He had heard some things from his acquaintances, all of them not having anything positive to say about the Duchy.

 While things are peaceful and orderly near the bigger settlements, towns, and cities, the rest cannot be said to be the same about the rest of the Duch territory as bandits were plentiful, roaming the territory of the Duchy.

 In the first place, it was not the fault of the Duchy, as the Duke had done all he could to make his territory more orderly compared to what it was. Unfortunately, the legacy the stretch of land had as a bandit's haven didn't vanish when the Duke claimed it.

 While the bandits no longer do things openly, at least compared to the state before the Duchy was created, they are still plentiful, hiding in the lands of the Duchy, from the deep forests to the caverns in the mountains.

While the Duchy deployed countless excursions to end the bandits' threat once and for all, the bandits always managed to escape before recuperating their strength, returning when they had gathered their numbers and causing more headaches to the Duke.

 The Duke couldn't even send many troops after the bandits, as their neighboring nations often required help to protect themselves. Their barony neighbors, the vassal nation of Birak Kingdom, unfortunately, had the misfortune of sharing a border with a Duchy of a rival Kingdom.

 So the Duke often assists the two baronies, after all, if the rival Duchy conquers the territory of the two baronies, then Kilrun Duchy will be the one to have a bad time.