Sorrowful Journey

(To be honest, I really don't want to do this chapter as Alex have little to do anything in this chapter but can't really skip it)

A couple of days passed as we finally managed to make it to the foot of the Grand Mountains, which, by the way, sure lived up to their name.

Jasmine learned well from me, so I decided to teach her how to do one of my old footwork from my former life. Even though I'm not the best teacher, I have the experience of teaching since I was a captain in my former life, so my explanation is not incomprehensible.

My footwork name is Flash Step. As the name implies, you need to be fast, and it's to avoid close-range attacks. In my past life, I created Flash Step when I was still 20. I always used it when I fought enemies in close combat.

But since this is a magic world, I think my Flash Step can be further advanced to a new level with the help of mana.

Art teaches others his Feint Step.

In the carriage, I observe the outside until... Helen's alarmed voice rang in my ears.

"BANDITS! PREPARE TO ENGAGE!" she shouted, as a rumble of footsteps came from our right and rear.

I realized I forget that before Arthur met Sylvie, the Bandits attacked.

"Submit, O' wind and follow my will. I command and gather you around in protection. Wind Barrier!" Instantly I feel a gust of wind forming a tornado around Mum, Angela, Art and me. Then the gust bent into a sphere around us.

Angela was holding out her wand, concentrating on keeping the barrier active while arrows constantly bombarded the barrier, only to get redirected to a different direction.

Mum pulled me and Art in close, trying to shield us using her body from whatever might get through. Thankfully, her efforts didn't seem to be necessary as the barrier held strong.

In a matter of seconds, the tarp covering the carriage was torn to shreds and I get a better view of the situation at hand.

We were completely surrounded, shit.

Just from what I could see, there were at least thirty bandits. Our current situation was unfavorable at best, as both our path forward and our retreat back were blocked off by bandits wielding swords, spears, and other close-range weapons. On the mountainside to our right, there were archers positioned atop a cliff, their bows aimed at us, while only the steep edge of the mountain with the looming fog beckoned to our left.

Jasmine, Durden, and dad seemed to be fine, with no visible injuries, but Helen had an unhealthy pale complexion that seemed to be a result of the arrow jutting from her right calf.

A bald man with multiple scars deforming his face and a body of a bear carrying a giant battle-ax spoke out. "Look what we have here. Pretty good catch boys. Leave only the girls and the kid alive. Try not to scar them too much. Damaged goods will only sell for less," he snorted with a smirk that revealed a nearly toothless mouth.

I see that Art's getting enraged by the man's words but stop as dad yelled out, "There are only 4 mages and none of them seem to be conjurers! The rest are normal warriors!"

Faint mana fluctuations around a person's body made mages distinguishable compared to normal humans, only apparent if studied closely. As for whether they were an augmenter or conjurer, making an inference based on physical structure and the weapon they were holding gave me a pretty solid idea.

I could visible see how quickly dad reverted back to his former adventurer days when he had once led the Twin Horns as his expression held the wisdom that could only come from experience. He donned his gauntlets, shouting, "Safeguard Formation!"

Adam quickly arrived behind us as he faced the back of the road, spear pointed, while Jasmine and Helen came to our left with both of their weapons unsheathed, facing ahead. My father and Durden faced the mountainside, positioning themselves to protect us from the archers overhead. Meanwhile, Angela maintained her position, preparing another spell as she kept her wind barrier active.

"Gather and guard my allies O' benevolent Earth; do not let them be harmed!"

[Earth Wall]

The ground rumbled as a four-meter earthen wall transmutated up from the ground curving up in front of Durden.

Using that moment, Dad burst forward, raising his gauntlets in a guard position against the arrows towards the enemy archers.

Moments later, Angela finished her spell and unleashed a torrent of wind blades, aimed at the front and back of the path. That was apparently the cue as Adam and Jasmine shadowed behind the wind spell, arriving in front of our distraught enemies that were covering their vitals against the flurry of blades. Helen remained, her arrow nocked and bow drawn, imbuing the tip with mana that shined in a faint blue light.

It didn't take a genius to realize that this arrangement was ideal for protecting valuable goods or people. With two layers of protection from the conjurers and an archer mage ready to snipe anyone who managed to cross the assaults of Adam, Jasmine, and Dad into the defense line, it was a standard, yet, well thought out formation.

"Warrior coming your way, Helen!" Adam shouted as he dodged the swing of a mace, delivering a precise swipe to the jugular of the unfortunate bandit. His eyes widened as he dropped his weapon, desperately trying to seal the fatal wound with his trembling hands as blood spurted out through the gaps between his fingers.

Mum was holding me firmly in her bosom as she tried to shield my eyes from the scenes of gore happening around us. Art and I could see clearly what's happening, this reminds me of the battlefield but without the guns.

Meanwhile, a scruff, middle-aged man wielding a machete lunged towards Angela, hoping to disrupt the spell. Although the wind blade spell didn't seem all too powerful, it provided a painful distraction that was keeping us on equal footing, despite our lack of numbers.

The fierce sound of the show came only after the arrow had done its job. Helen's shot had carried a force powerful enough to pierce through the armored chest of the machete-wielding bandit and lift him up and back a half-dozen meters, nailing him into the ground.

Damn, that's so cool.

Helen's eyes narrowed as she nocked and drew another arrow. Focusing, I could faintly see the mana gathering into her right eye as she shut her left. Soon, another reinforced arrow streaked through, followed by a sharp hiss, ignoring all opposing air resistance as it closed in on another enemy fighter.

This man vaguely resembled a smaller Durden, except more muscular and more angular of a face. His brows furrowing in concentration, his giant sword, which was his height, had somehow reached the arrow in time, generating a sound of a bullet hitting metal. The enemy fighter slid back but wasn't harmed as he anchored his greatsword into the ground, using it to balance himself. However, before even having the chance to smirk in content, a second arrow pierced through his forehead. It was a grim sight, seeing the light drain from his eyes.

Jasmine was engaged in an intense duel against an augmenter, whose weapon was a long chain whip. It looked like Jasmine was at a disadvantage since the range of her two daggers was lacking. She was doing all she could to dodge the erratic movements of the whip.

By now, it was evident the enemy had realized how much she was struggling as he jeered while licking his lips. "I'll make sure to treat you real well before we sell you off as a slave, little missy. Don't worry, by the time I'm done training you, you'll be begging to stay with me," he hissed, followed by another lick of his lips.

Surveying the battle, I saw that the earth wall was holding strong, none of the arrows being able to penetrate through. Focusing on Durden, I watched his left hand that was directed towards the earth wall as he maintained a constant flow of mana to keep it from collapsing. He formed a narrow slit in the middle of the wall to gain vision on dad and the archers scattering, trying to run away.

"Take heed, Mother Earth, and answer my call. Pierce my enemies. Let none of them live."

[Rupture Spike]

After a brief delay, a dozen spikes began shooting up from the ground at the bandit archers. While a few managed to dodge, many of the bandits were impaled, their screams only lasting a couple of moments before dying.

Durden looked recognizably drained from that spell; his jaw clenched as beads of sweat ran down his pale face.

It was at this moment that I noticed my mother had taken out a wand. Her trembling fingers were fumbling with it before she shook her head and stuffed it back into her robe. In the wand's stead, she held onto us tighter

There was no one from our side injured besides Helen, who had bound the wound on her calf. Fortunately the arrow wasn't lodged in too deep, thanks to Helen's mana reinforcement; by the time she wound it, the bleeding had stopped, but throughout this whole time, my mother had a constant look of paranoia, her face pale with worry. I couldn't help but notice that her hand kept reaching for the wand in her robe until she decided to draw it back at, last minute. Her eyes never stayed fixed to one place, always turning left and right, trying to look out for anything that could harm us.

The battle was coming to its peak. The bandit group had not suspected that every one of our group members would be a capable mage. Because of that calculation error, all of the melee fighters were dead, the only ones alive being the four mages and a couple of scattered archers on the run.

Jasmine was still having trouble with the perverted chain user, but the arrogance on his face was wiped clean by this time, with a couple of nicks and cuts on his body dripping blood.

Adam was engaged with a dual-sworded augmenter. His fighting style reminded me of a snake, with his flexible maneuvers and sudden attacks.

He should be considered one of the rare elemental augmenters with a water-attribute style.

Reinforcing the shaft of his spear to be flexible, his attacks were a mirage of quick thrusts and fluid swipes. The battle looked to be in his favor; the dual wielder had wounds that were profusely bleeding as he desperately tried to parry the onslaught of attacks.

A thundering crash shifted my attention away from Adam's battle. Dad had been knocked down against the debris of what was now left of the [Earth Wall] spell and was struggling to pick himself up as blood dribbled down from the side of his lips.

""Dad!!"" "Honey!"

We rushed out of the wind barrier, kneeling in front of dad, mum following immediately behind. I could see the panic written on her face as she nervously contemplated what she could do.

"Cough! Alice, listen to me. Don't worry about me. If you use a healing spell right now, they'll realize what you are and try that much harder to capture you. They'll be willing to sacrifice a lot more if they know!" he stressed, his voice in a low whisper.

After a brief, trembling hesitation, mum took out her wand and began chanting. I would've assumed that she stammered chanting was caused by seeing her husband injured, but for some reason, it felt like she was almost… afraid of using her magic.

Dad turned to Art after giving up trying to persuade mum.

"Art, listen carefully. After the healing spell activates, they're going to try to capture your mother at all costs. After I'm healed enough, I'm going to engage the leader and try to buy more time. I think I can beat him, but not if I have to worry about protecting you guys. Take your mother back down the road and don't stop; Adam will open up a path for you."

"No dad! I'm staying with you. I can fight! You saw me! I can help!" Art really acts like 4-years-old now.

"LISTEN TO ME, ARTHUR LEYWIN!" Dad agonizingly roared. This was the first time hearing his voice like this; the kind of voice that one would only use for desperate measures.

"I know you can fight! That's why I'm entrusting your mother to you. Protect her and protect the baby inside her. I'll catch up to you after this is over."

Ahh... I finally remember... Mom is pregnant, how could I forget about that?

Dad turned to me and said, "Alex, you will stay close with me."

I nodded.

Art quickly composed himself after hearing Mom is pregnant.

"Okay, I'll protect Mom." Art said.

"Atta boy. That's my son." Dad said.

Mom finished her chant at this time and both she and dad glowed in bright golden-white light.

"Sonova- One of them's a healer! Don't let her get away!" the leader roared.

Art quickly grabbed Mom's arm with both hands and tugged at her to move while reinforcing himself with mana.

"Art, use this to protect yourself." Dad gives me a normal dagger.

I stare at my dagger... I see flashing images of my hands drenched in blood, my breath suddenly becomes rapid.

At this time, I realize I'm afraid of killing people. No way! am I afraid?! In my past life, I was a soldier.

It's do or die... DO OR DIE!

I scream in my heart as I swiftly stab the bandit's thigh.

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!" The bandit scream in pain.

I glance at dad who's fighting a mage, I can do anything I wanted to.

My cold eyes stare at the bandit who's in his butt, I took out the other dagger that Jasmine gave me and stab his left eye.

"Die, scumbag." I whispered to the bandit.

"Y-You monst-" Before he can finish, I slit his throat with my dagger.

That's right... I am a monster, I'll gladly be a monster if it's meant to protect my family.

I reinforce myself with mana to find my other target.

Two bandits were trying to capture me. I threw my dagger at the bandit's thigh; he fell to the ground. The other bandit who saw what had happened decided to kill me. I didn't let that happen.

He roared as he charge toward me, I see an opening and I meant that his mouth was opening like a stupid person.

I stab his open mouth with my wooden sword but that's not it, I punch the hilt of the dagger making my dagger go through his mouth. Sheesh, painful indeed from the look of it.

I saw my knuckle getting bruised, so I smiled. That's nothing.

Ah... I forget the other one, he's looked at me in fear.

"What? Do you think I'm a demon?" I joked, I feel myself going insane... maybe that's because I haven't killed people for so long.

He didn't answer. I never expected him to answer anyway.

"Now, I'll be taking this back." I take out my dagger from his thigh and his thigh is bleeding profusely.

"Disgusting." I sneered.

I stab his other thigh.

I then take my dagger from the other bandit's mouth and leave both of them to suffer.

3rd POV:

"Damien! Forget the plan, don't let them live!" The leader barked out.

Arthur is confused about who the leader commanding but he still running anyways with his mother.

"… respond to my call and wash all to oblivion!" a faint voice finished chanting.

[Water Cannon]

From the mountainside, one of the scattered "archers" had his hands brought together, aimed at Arthur and his mother. They were tricked. He had camouflaged himself during the chaos. He wasn't an archer or even an augmenter. He was a conjurer!

Arthur didn't have much time to react as a huge sphere of pressurized water, at least three meters in diameter, shot towards them, increasing in size as it neared.

His mind raced to try to come up with options.

To Arthur's immediate right was his mother, and to his left were Adam and his opponent not far off; and behind him, of course, was the edge of the mountain. Even if Arthur could dodge this, his mother wouldn't be able to and she'd be forced off the ledge of the mountain.

"Dammit!" Arthur let out a roar unfit for a four-year-old!

Willing all of the remaining mana left in his child's body, he tackled his mother, propelling both of them out of the way.

Arthur quickly realized his forty-pound-body didn't carry enough momentum to push both out of range of the water cannon.

Left with no choice, he channeled mana to his arms and pushed his mother farther down, out of range. At that moment, everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as his mother's eyes slowly widened in panic and disbelief. She might get a pretty bad bruise from the push, but minor bodily injuries were the least of Arthur's problems at that moment. If she didn't want to get hit with another spell Arthur had to get rid of this conjurer.

Unsheathing the dagger Jasmine gave him from his waist, he imbued it with mana. What Arthur was trying to do Arthur had only done with ki in my old world, never with mana.

After willing mana into the dagger, he threw it like a boomerang, aiming it at the conjurer, who was still concentrating on the water cannon. Barely curving around the edge of the giant cannonball of water, Arthur heard the firm thud of the dagger meeting skin.

The mage let out a shrill howl of pain followed by a string of curses indicated that the mage wasn't dead.

Losing concentration, the mage's water cannon lost shape, but unfortunately, there was still a surge of water strong enough to push me off the cliff.

Time for plan B.

Plan B was just in case Arthur's initial throw couldn't kill him. He managed to succeed in the gamble of Plan B, and that was creating a thin string of mana attaching the knife, currently engorged somewhere in the conjurer's body, to his hand.

Arthur tugged back on the mana string just as the spell rammed against Arthur's body like a brick wall, knocking every ounce of air he had in his lungs and most likely breaking his ribs. Like a fish caught on the line, Arthur could hear the mage's scream over the gushing tide of water as he was helplessly dragged down with Arthur by the force of his own spell.

Even as Arthur's vision began darkening, Arthur was able to see the battle coming to an end. Reynolds and Helen had just managed to kill the leader. Angela, providing Jasmine with backup, allowed them to put the whip-user on his last stand. Arthur see his brother, Alexander stared at Arthur with an expressionless face but his eyes betray the expressionless face he had, he was crying. Meanwhile, Arthur spotted Durden as he was desperately conjuring a spell in order to save him, but Arthur knew it was too late; the spell had knocked him too far away.

Arthur's only regret is that he is unable to see his baby sibling.

At this moment, Arthur's destiny was locked.

-To Be Continued

Sorry for the late updates, I'm stuck at this chapter for a week and finally able to publish this.

Alex's motivation to be the greatest is not yet here.

Some information:

1) I'm on hiatus as I prepare for exams, so I'll be coming back on 8 or 10 December.

2) Since Christmas is closing in, I'll prepare Christmas Special Chapter (Not canon to the story)

(Notify me if I made a mistake)