Rescue

Hearing Diego's reassurance River wiped his tears. River told them they could stay at his house to prepare their equipment. To wait for the bandits to return and pillage their Village again.

4 days passed…

The ground starts to rumble, tremoring the forest. Clop, clop, clop, a group of bandits giddy up towards the village with their ponies. A haughty bandit with lavished equipment jumped off his pony. He was presumed to be the leader of the group. His droopy eyes and ugly beard made women stray away from him. His short black hair was laid to the side like he was some British lad. "Gour check thee houses to see if any villagers are hiding!" He commanded his fellow bandits. They all fell from their horses in groups of two as they proceeded to search for the villagers.

-Flashback-

During these past 4 days, Ira was teaching Fae and Jaimie how to handle mana. Although Fae already knew how to since the forest guided him slightly, he was still a beginner. Ira made Jaimie and Fae sit crisscross apple sauce, slowly circulating the mana inside their body. Closing their eyes, navigating with their senses. Ira told them they'd feel their element in the air the more they concentrated on it. Jaimie's nose started to twitch, smelling feces out of nowhere. 'Am I doing this right?' She felt reinvigorated when she focused on the smell more. After doing the technique a few more times, she started to get familiar with it.

"Ira, is it normal to smell your element? Mine smells like poop." Jaimie asked.

Momentarily confused by her question about poop, Ira started to recite his knowledge. "I think this may not be related to your element. In previous records, smelling the mana isn't an odd experience. But whatever you're experiencing is disgusting." He looked at her oddly.

Jaimie suddenly had a Eureka moment. Back when she got her affinity tested, flames came out of her ass. "WHAT IF IM A POOP MASTER?" Blurting her thoughts out loud, everyone else looked at her as if she went senile.

Meanwhile for Fae, a small gust of wind started to circulate around him. As if it the elements were attracted towards him. Inside, he could feel the river running by a creek, small children's laughter, sounds of animals, and overall peace. When he opened his eyes, he saw everything saturated. Like a filter being placed on his eyes, seeing sparkles everywhere.

"Ira…" Fae mumbled, as he was baffled by what he was experiencing.

"Did you tap into the mana?" Ira excitedly said.

"No.. well I don't know.. I think so, I see sparkles all around,"

"wow.. I'm jealous. I can't believe you have a higher proficiency when it comes to mana sensing," Ira sobbed, wiping his little tear, with his pinky finger.

During this, pota was trying to prove their worth to the group. They snatched random patches of grass and twigs, analyzing it with their magnifying glass.

They boiled the ingredients resulting to an inedible substance. The color of their potion was purple and green, clashing with eachother. If looks can kill, this potion definitely can.

Pota didn't know if they succeeded or not, but by their nature. It is what it is, their favorite motto.

-Back to present time-

Diego ran out of the house, holding his iron sword. Like a main character, he recites these lines, "You fools! You dare to step on the territory of thy future great lord!" They posed flashy, staring at the bunch.

The bandits stared at the fool, thinking he was easy prey. One of the bandits nudged at each other, cackling, pointing at the dude. They made a bet on who can kill him first. One ran towards Diego with their dagger, slashing towards his throat.

Little did they know Jaimie was hiding behind a trash can. Trying to cast a spell

Meanwhile, near the bandit camp…

Fae, Pota, and River were stealthy navigating the land. Not to make a sound, but Pota's potions kept clanking against each other. Making Fae irritated.

"Can you do something about that? This is really going to give us away," Fae said, irritated, pointing at the potions on Pota's side.

The color inside the potions swirled foggy shades of purple and green, looking ominous. Pota looked at Fae and grinned. "These are my game changers. A little noise won't hurt. The forest is loud anyways."

The forest went dead silent; all you could hear was rustling leaves and clanking. Fae rolled his eyes.

"What should we do with the women?" A distant voice cheerily gestured.

Pota, Fae, and River crouched down fast. Pota struggled taking one of their potions out and peered through the leaves to see their target. 5 bandits stood there, chattering while the villagers tied up shook in fear. 1…. 2… 3… Pota threw the potions with all their strength toward the bandits. As it hit contact on the ground, purple fog erupted. Loud meat-slapping sounds were heard.

"What was that?" Fae asked, very confused.

"You'll see," Pota giggled. But they didn't know either.

As the fog cleared, the bandits started to twerk aggressively. The villagers tied up started to shake, trying to escape their restrictions to shake their mighty butts. They looked like constipated, drugged chickens rolling around the ground.

"Is this safe? They look like they're having seizures," River questioned, concerned about the villager's actions.

River and Fae looked at Pota, expecting an answer.

"Well, I'm not Google. I don't know the side effects of the potions I made," Pota pondered as they scratched their little Chiny chin chin by his little chin hairs. Scrapping their dead skin off.

Fae rolled his eyes and sighed. He looked at River and Pota, "Well, we might as well carry out our plan."

One of his arrows pierced a bandit's eye, causing them to scream in pain. The bandits and tied-up villagers started to stop twerking as his second arrow went flying. The bandits hastily swatted the arrow like it was a little fly. They looked at their dead comrades, enraged at what had happened. They ran towards the group, screaming angrily at the top of their lungs.

Panicked, Pota ran away from the chase. Mainly because he wasn't equipped with any weapon.

The bandits moving towards him made it easier for Fae to shoot. It's like a target getting closer. Of course, the difficulty is easier.

FWIP!

FWIP!

FWIP!

He plucked three arrows as fast as he could, putting immense strength in both. His arm muscles ached since he wasn't in shape.

One of the arrows hit the bandit's chest, while the others hit their face or neck.

The one stuck with an arrow on his chest slashed down onto Fae. Making a light gash on Fae's chest.

"AHHGH.." He grunted in pain as he took a step back. Fear started to swell within him, but his adrenaline suppressed it.

River kicked the bandit, knocking him over. Stomping on his head repeatedly, Pota looked at the scene reminded him of people from New York.

Fae pulled another arrow, piercing the bandit's head. The bandit went limp, finally.

"Ahh.." Fae sighed and slumped down against a tree. He touches his owie, wincing at the pain, "I'm so beat, gosh that was scary."

Pota huffed and puffed back to the others, ashamed that he was the only one who scurried away. 'What can I do, though?! I'm only an alchemist, not a fighter.. I feel so bad.' Pota thought as he stared at Fae with tears welling up.

"We'll. I'm going to untie the villagers while you guys can rest here," River announced, smirking.

"Fae.. I have some bandages.. I don't know why it came with the alchemist kit," Pota said lowly. He bent down towards Fae taking the bandages out. He clumsily starts wrapping it around Fae, tightening it.

"Ah!" Fae yelped.

"Is it too tight? Sorry," Pota apologized, loosening it up a bit.

The rescued villagers cried after being untied. They all hugged each other, finding comfort. River hugged his younger brother, checking his wounds as his brother was quite beaten up. Fae and Pota smiled at the wholesome scene, feeling accomplished.

"Thank you.. Thank you so much for saving us," An elderly woman cried as she held River's hand, looking back to Fae and Pota.