Our new friend, I suppose...

"NOOO! HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP! MOMMY! DADDY! NOOO! I'M SCARED!" a young girl screamed in despair, causing my blood to churn. No, that was the wrong word. My blood boiled.

"Someone shut her up! She's going to attract attention!" After what I assume was the leaders order, a resounding thud was heard across the little clearing they were in. In only a heartbeat, her desperate cries were reduced to silence. They had struck her with enough force to knock her out cold, and that, that made me p**sed off.

"Quick. Put her in the back of the carriage. We're only a few days from the mountain range. We'll be safer then. Don't relax and keep moving."

"Hey, Boss? How much do you reckon she'll sell for? Elf girls go for a lot, don't they? Hehe, she's a child too, so a virgin at that! I bet she'll fetch us a lot of money, huh?!"

Slave trading, freedom taking, scum of the earth!

I seethed in silent rage, clenching my teeth tightly and containing my lust for blood to the best of my ability. Art quickly climbed up to my position and jabbed me in the gut, the pain quickly clearing up my anger.

"Thanks for that." I said in a hushed whisper, as he nodded in response.

Their carriage was just large enough to carry up to 5 or 6 adults, take away the space needed for supplies and to put a child in I say they have enough room for 4 people, maximum. This meant we had a few options that I quickly discussed with my about-to-be partner in crime.

"Hey Art, we have a few options here, and from what I've gathered the maximum number of people they can have in that carriage is four people." I stated flatly.

"I guessed that too, they put the captured girl in the same carriage, and with their only being one they need supplies in there too, reducing the space." Art responded, echoing my same logic.

"With two of us, we can likely take them out, but it is risky. For now the fog is making it difficult to gather if there are mages within that group. The possibility is high considering our location, which makes killing them even more tricky." I continued, waiting for his response.

"Meaning other than killing them we have three options, steal some of their forest hounds to guide us out of here, wait for them to sleep and kidnap the girl, and have her guide us out, or one of us distracts them. That last option is void considering at that point it would be easier for the two of us to just eliminate the four of them."

The conversation couldn't get more mechanical. If others heard our conversation, given our bodies, they would have a mental breakdown trying to guess what kind of environment we were raised in.

We soon came to a consensus, it was far more logical to just take the hounds and avoid the unnecessary danger. However. Leaving that defenceless girl in the slave traders care left a bitter taste in both of our mouths. As such, we decided to do both her and the world a favour, and remove the stain they bring upon our land. Our opinions were heavily swayed by the apparent flaws, the elf could deny us guidance, and when the traders found her missing would likely hunt her down. So, killing them meant the highest chances of success.

We sighed in unison, letting out the pent up stress. This was about to be this bodies first kill after all.

Hours later, the sky had been painted black, a few specs of light seeping through the foliage from the stars. Annoyingly enough, the traders were vigilant, making it difficult to get close. Even after four years in this body, I still had difficulty with precise control.

Arthur positioned himself above the hounds, rousing them from their sleep with a well placed rock. There were two traders on guard, meaning one left to quieten the howling beasts. The other remained in front of the small fire, nicely placed directly underneath me. When the other guard was out of range, I launched myself downwards, holding my throwing knife in a reverse grip, ready to plunge it into the space at the base of his neck.

The knife sunk in satisfyingly, as I rolled to disperse the impact. Before the trader could scream in pain, I came out of the role and jumped up, reinforcing my legs and arms, bringing the wooden dagger into the mans chin, rendering him unconscious.

Quickly, I withdrew the throwing knife from his neck and ran it quickly across his throat. His death was far more swift then he deserved. Arthur emerged from the tree cover, with an actual dagger in his hand.

"I'll trade you?" I asked jokingly as I held up the splintered dagger I received on my third birthday, eliciting a slight chuckle.

Unfortunately, our soon to be rescued elf threw a wrench into our plans.

"HELLLP! MOMMY! SOMEONE! ANYONE! PLEASEE!!" As much as I wanted to blame her, I would probably cry out in help as a child in her situation. Well that is if it happened before the incident.

On cue, the remaining two traders were roused from their slumber, making their way out of the tents.

"Pinky! Duece! The kid is awake! What the hell are you guys..." He roared still half asleep before seeing me.

I smirked slightly at the idiocy of those nicknames. There was no possible way they were their actual names. Right?

Arthur had hidden himself in the tree line, as per our previous agreement. When we heard them rustling within their tents, we quickly decided Arthur would head to the tent and kill the remaining captor, who was still getting out of the tent. This meant my opponent would not gain any reinforcements. It was my job to stall this opponent, either that or eliminate him quickly. Arthur as the stronger augmenter would break the prisoners cage if he couldn't locate the key, so this agreement worked in our favour.

The first opponent witnessed his companions being eaten by their own hounds, with me standing in front of them, a small smirk plastered to my face.

Enraged, he charged forward just like I hoped, as I lead him away from his companion. This one wielded a short sword, which he brandished as he pursued me. Without warning, I whipped back to face, my throwing knife at the ready, streaming it through the air to where it sunk into the space just above his knee. I had more or less disabled his right leg, not allowing him to fully lock his leg without extreme pain, causing him to stumble and fall.

I dashed forth, reinforcing myself with mana. As I got within one metre of the man trying to get back to his feet, I jumped into the air and threw my shoulder down, rotating my body. Extending my right arm, I reinforced my wooden dagger and brought it crashing down onto the captors head, shattering the dagger in the process. I landed off balance on one leg, causing me to slam my side into the ground.

"That was dumb." I whispered to myself, noticing that my opponent lay face first in the ground.

What a pity, I was expecting more from someone who managed to secure forest hounds.

I approached the tent to find Arthur still battling with his opponent. Judging by his movements, they were a mage. Soon my brother was raised by the neck. Desperately gripping onto his oppressors wrist.

At this, I formed a spiral of mana, sharpening it and twisting it rapidly, forming a spike of wind. I allowed to spike to release itself from my hold, spinning at high velocity towards the traders skull. As it was approaching, a burst of flame escaped from under my brothers grasp, burning the wrist he was holding. He recoiled, about to strike my brother again before the spiral of wind penetrated his skull.

"How long have you been there?" My brother asked.

"About two minutes." I responded dryly.

"And you did nothing to help?" My brother asked in an accusatory manner.

"I was on standby, also I thought I shouldn't interfere unless I needed to. After all, I like a good fight and would be left unsatisfied if someone stole my opponent from me unnecessarily." I responded again, earning myself a somewhat odd look from my twin.

"Oh well, thanks for the help there." He continued, even though I knew that after that burst of fire, he could have most definitely won that fight.

As such, I hummed in response.

"Oh right, I brought my opponents short sword, thought it would be a better fit for you." I stated handing off the sword as we approached the tent. In exchange he handed me the dagger, and if I could see myself, I'm sure I would be sending off sparks of joy. It felt like I had an old friend with me.

The eerie quietness of the tent indicated the girl knew what kind of situation had happened. We entered the tent, a girl in rags, just barely covering her, sat shivering in the corner of the tent. She soon raised a quizzical brow at us, almost doubting we were her saviours. Not that I can blame her.

I looked around the tent, gathering any supplies we can salvage as Art began untying her. Starting a conversation along the way. I on the other hand, wasn't good at talking to new people.

She broke down into tears as my brother finally freed her, and I felt a pang of pity before it died down just as quickly as it came.