Chapter 14

Twenty minutes after the witches' arrival at the forest, they encountered a young man with a black cloak and a raven on his left shoulder. They knew his purpose of coming here and a man who came here alone to hunt down witches on his own, they knew he was not an ordinary person.

There was no reason to try and see if he was indeed a wielder and considering the hostility coming from him, he was confident. Any normal person, despite them being highly trained knights would not dare to even face a witch.

The young man smiled at them, they knew that he knew and he knew that they knew.

"Good afternoon, ladies." The man took a step forward, he considered himself to be a gentleman therefore it was important to greet people politely. "The forest is lovely, isn't it?"

The women became vigilant but at the same time, they underestimated the young man's power. They convinced themselves that he isn't as wise as them and although wielders possess the upper hand in fights against witches, the young man was on his own while they are in a group.

Still, if they were to fight, even if they defeat him, there will be unwanted casualties. The old lady at the front raised her hand as if to tell the man to stop walking forward. It was a warning.

She spoke in a low, raspy voice, "I'm going to give you a chance to run, boy. If you swear to walk away and forget this meeting, we will let you live." Before the young man could respond, she added, "Do you think you can defeat five of us alone? Think carefully-"

The young man let out a chuckle, "Alone?" He tilted his head, "I'm never alone."

The old lady shook her head, young people these days like to overestimate their capabilities, she thought. "Do you think such bluff could scare us? You are too ignorant."

He smiled, "This is why little Cass never liked to express his thoughts and emotions, people never listen to him." He took the Claymore out of its sheath using his left hand, "They don't ever believe... But that's alright."

He continued, "It doesn't matter if the world rejects him, we'll always be there for him."

The women felt strange, they didn't know what nonsense this young man was talking about. Perhaps he lost his mind when he gained his power, that was quite a normal occurrence after all. When the Claymore was fully out, their sharp eyes began to observe his every movement.

The man took a stance, he placed his left arm near his waist, leaned forward by a bit, and pointed the blade at the five. His right hand held the sheath and was on his back, his left foot was placed a few inches forward from his right foot. "It's a pity that you have to face me."

He added, "If it were little Cass, maybe you would have gotten away. He's too kind, after all."

Before he took a step forward, he felt two invaders in his mind. Unfortunately, the young man was unaffected as he was immune to such attacks. His focus fell onto the two middle-aged women at the back. They were visibly shaking and nervous. The attack also came from them.

A warm smile made its way to his face as his head turned to look at the two at the back. It appears that they were the weaker ones. The young man then made his move...

He ran forward, despite not looking masculine or physically active, he was fast and his movements were nimble as if his body was as light as a feather. The older women at the front seemed to realize his intentions and shouted at loud.

"You two! Dodge!"

The older woman at the front also moved to the side. The one on the left moved to her left while the one in the middle and the right naturally made their way towards the right side, opening the way towards the two at the back. However, contrary to their expectations, the young man stopped before he passed by them, he turned to the woman at the left and charged at her instead.

Despite their old age and intelligence, their reaction time was too slow probably because they were no longer young and it seems that their instincts aren't as useful anymore. The man swung his sword when the older woman was finally in his range. Since it had been repaired and sharpened, the blade easily cut through the woman's skin, slicing a part of her neck.

The young man was skilled and nimble however, he was not strong enough to cut her neck fully with one swing. Still, just a part of her neck was enough to kill her. She was not young and despite being a witch, she was still a human, and no human can survive that unless lady luck was on their side.

The old woman's body that will soon turn into a corpse fell to the ground. Blood was coming out of her mouth and her skin was slightly pale. She was struggling to breathe and not long after, she stopped her futile struggle. She couldn't even use her power, what a pity, the man thought as the woman's death brought a bright smile to his face.

The two middle-aged women were in shock, they had just witnessed their senior's murder. Although they preferred somebody else dying instead of them, the old woman was like a mother to them, and her death was too sudden.

The remaining witches heard the man sigh, he turned around, faced the two older women who stood on the right. The one who stood in the middle earlier had a calm expression while everyone else except the man was scared and uneasy.

The woman, who seemed to be the oldest spoke loudly, "Everyone, don't let her death be in vain! We must work together and avenge her but we can't do that if you don't have enough focus and courage!"

The remaining witches nodded, they took a step back and began to put a distance between them and the unknown man.

"Sister is right! Don't let fear hinder you!"

The young man shook his head, look at the lovely and comfortable chat they were having right now, he thought before he moved from his spot without any warning. This time, his target was the two who seemed to be inexperienced.

He reached the two within three seconds and attempted to stab the one closest to him but to his surprise, she managed to block the blade with a small dagger she pulled from her scarf. The man was amused, he didn't think she would be able to do that.

However, though she had a weapon, she didn't have enough practice and experience to give him a good fight. The man raised his sword, aimed at her neck, and planned to do the same as he did with the previous one when all of a sudden, a wave of fire hit him, pushing him away from the women.

When he came to his senses, he immediately searched for the source and as expected, it came from the two older women. He couldn't help but feel disappointed... He should have dodged that. The fire was not very powerful but it did not mean the man didn't receive any damage.

He was a wielder, yes, but he was still human. No one could leave unhurt when they were literally hit by fire. These witches had fire powers which reminded him of the girl he met. Her name was Amelie and she was heading to Whitestone city, she was a wielder who could use fire. Perhaps she came from this city and It seems that these witches were able to use fire because of her.

The man didn't look hurt as his clothing was not burned or it did not show any damage but in truth, he was in pain. Yet despite being in pain, there was a smile on his face which confused the witches. Was their power ineffective? They couldn't help but ask. Even the oldest who was calm and composed revealed an unpleasant expression.

Seeing their expressions, the young man said, "It's not what you think, your attack was pretty okay, I was hurt."

"???"

"Come to think of it... Isn't this a perfect time to test little Cass' ability? He doesn't know how to use it properly yet but if I were to try and teach it to him later on, I'm sure he will do great!"

The old witch gritted her teeth in annoyance, "This little Cass you've been mentioning since earlier, is you, is it not?" She scoffed, "I didn't know someone other than toddlers would refer to themselves in third person, how childish!"

The young man didn't say anything for a while but when he did, "You're wrong, I'm not little Cass but since you're going to die anyway, I don't see any point to explain it to you."

"How arrogant! A mere young boy like you should learn to-" She couldn't finish her sentence... The wind seemed to be made out of blades as when it passed by, the heads of the remaining witches flew off and separated from their bodies.

"Haha!" The young man couldn't help but laugh. Little Cass' ability was powerful, very powerful. He only needed to think about it to make it happen... He was satisfied with what he had done.

But the memory of him getting hit by that wave of fire came to his mind again. Little Cass' ability was without a doubt, powerful but the young man didn't like to lose and he considered getting hit as losing. The man looked at the corpses that surrounded him, "I wished you guys cried, ran for your lives, and begged me to spare your lives. It would have been so much more amusing."

† Mundivagant †

The traveler walked into the guild while carrying a grey fabric in his right hand. He held it like a bag but the bottom of it was dyed red... Everyone who noticed him couldn't help but wonder what was in it.

The traveler approached Lila, the lady behind the counter with a smile on his face. He seemed happy and cheerful. When he walked in, he also caught sight of the same people he had met yesterday. They were seated in the same seats and Felix was there. He had his back facing the traveler, afraid to make eye contact.

The traveler wondered why he was still scared when his mouth was already back. Ignoring everyone else, he said to Lila, "I'm done with the mission."

Lila gulped, she seemed nervous. "W-What's in there?" She pointed at the grey fabric that the traveler was holding. There was blood dripping from its bottom.

He chuckled, "Proof."

The traveler placed it on the counter and said, "I wish to receive the rewards now and I can't wait for you people to confirm if I have done the mission so... This is proof. Would you like to see?"

Lila shook her head nervously, "N-No..." She cleared her throat and clarified, "I mean, It's okay, I don't need to see it!" She seemed to have realized what kind of things might be in there.

She laughed worriedly and took a green card out. She gave it to the traveler and said, "I forgot to give this to you yesterday so here it is. It's your guild member card and it is shown there your name, rank, success rate, missions done, and the number of guild points you have."

She continued, "The rewards for this mission are: Fifteen thousand guild points, a gold alvas, and ten guild rank points. Please check your card if the information there is correct."

The traveler looked down and observed his card.

Name: Cassius Tarquin

Rank: Fourth Level - (10/500)

Completed Missions: One (1)

Success Rate: One hundred percent (100%)

Guild Points: Fifteen thousand (15,000 GP)