Chapter 7: Bandits

We crossed a long distance, It took us some time that we even celebrated our fourth anniversary while traveling. Now we are officialy 4 years old. Time for sure flies huh.

Our mother made us a cake and even the cold Jasmine gave us a knife each saying that it was a present. Me and my brother were having fun sparing from time to time which most of the time ended in a draw because I didn't go all out or it would've definetly been my victory.

I was talking to Arthur about how he should focus more about training his body when suddenly, 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.

"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 Mother, Arthur, and I. 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.

My mother pulled us 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 got a better view of the situation at hand.

We were completely surrounded.

Just from what I could see, there were at least thirty bandits. Our current situation was unfavorable at best. 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.

A bald man with multiple scars deforming his face and a body of a bear carrying a giant battle axe spoke out. "Look what we have here. Pretty good catch boys. Leave only the girls and the kids 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 could visible see how quickly my father 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 transmuted up from the ground curving up in front of Durden.

Using that moment, my father 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.

"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.

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.

The enemy fighter slid back, but wasn't harmed as he anchored his greatsword into ground, using it to balance himself. However, before even had 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.

I could see and feel that Arthur felt frustrated and sad because he couldn't help in this fight, but there is nothing we can do, they are a professional team with decades of experience while we are just kids, no matter how much talented we are, we will still be childrenafter all.

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 my father 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.

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 looked like 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. My father 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.

"Honey!" Mom cried.

TO BE CONTINUED --->

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