Loss or a win?

"So you planned all this? I will punish you all for it! What do you think? That I can't defeat five kids alone? Haven't you seen how I dought in your villages let alone five kids I can take on five adults alone!"

"Don't listen to him! I don't know how he did it in your villages but in mine, I clearly remember that he was able to do so many horrible things only thanks to keeping himself away from others. Today, we have him cornered! We finally can avenge our families and punish him for what he has done!"

'This kid called John is too smart I need to take him out first or he will bring me more trouble. Either this or I should try to break out of this encirclement and then beat them until they surrender or until they are all unconscious. Wait! Where are others? It can't be that they missed such a big commotion? I know that they will go and have fun but one always stay behind. Don't tell me he was hit by them so hard that he fell unconscious? As useless as always! After I will deal with these kids I will show them how ends making me clear all this mess after them. I will think about It later, I need to break out from their enforcement first.'

After deciding what to do enemy leader turned around and quickly moved in direction of five boys who blocked his way.

'Now is the perfect time to try this move out'

John bent down, touched the ground with his hands and created a small block before bandit that was just enough for him to trip over it. While John was rejoicing waiting for the moment when the bandit fall this block suddenly disappeared.

"So you're a mage now! Your price will surely go up on auction now that you are a true mage and not only a person who had a chance to become a mage maybe we will even get a gold coin for you! You alleviated my mood a little and now that I know we will make so much I can allow myself to kill one or two of you. You should thank your friend for it!"

When they heard how serious it is everyone started to finally understand what they were doing. They were fighting to the death now.

Seeing their enemy getting closer and closer they all started to position themselves at best places to attack and defend. Thomas decided to stay at the centre and closest to their opponent since he had a dagger and was the strongest from them all, Leo stood on the left side while Luke stood behind him shaking, Finn stood to the right of Luke and behind Arthur, since Arthur wouldn't be able to see anything if it was the other way around because of the difference in their height. Soon Thomas needed to dodge the first hit that was incoming in the meantime, Finn Arthur and Leo attacked but their attacks were countered by just one step back. It was easy to understand now that they needed a little luck if they wanted to win this. What cane as a surprise to the bandit was that John was already waiting behind him and he made a wound around half an inch on the side of his back.

"Ahh"

Bandit steamed partially because of pain and partially because he was outplayed by a child two times in a row. He threw himself at the direction where Leo was standing and immediately Finn also got there but then bandit touched the ground with his finger and created a pole that was bent in Leo's direction pushing him to the side. His target this whole time was Luke! Just when Luke tought that he will welcome death and started to take a few steps back with a horrified expression Finn rammed into his target throwing both of them on the wall beside them. What he didn't think about was what will he do after throwing himself at the enemy.

"Luke, quickly, help him!"

John started shouting at the closest person to Finn but Like wasn't reacting he was still taking slow steps back and muttering something only he could hear. Both bandit and Finn we're trying to land the first hit on each other. Finn moved his hand and just as he was about to pierce through the chest of his enemy, bandit used his free hand to block this attack and while bearing with the pain of having his hand pierced through, he stabbed his dagger into Finn's head. Time seemed to stop everyone here. John was watching every memory he had with Finn since the moment he knew him. He didn't notice it until now, in this hard times he started to treat everyone here like his family. The same happened in the heads of everyone else. Leo, who just stood up a few seconds ago was kneeling on the ground now. The first to react was Thomas he started running in the direction of his enemy while shouting and everyone except Luke did the same. Bandit seized the few seconds that he had, and placed his hands on the ground and blocked Luke's escape route building a wall that was around 0,8m tall.

'Fuck, I'm already at my limit. If not these wounds I suffered I would have been able to use my power more. The one below my knee and the newest on my hand are especially bothersome since they restrict my movement.'

While moving in Luke's direction bandit was complaining to himself.

'Now I should focus on killing them, this situation is too dangerous! If I'll still be trying to keep them alive I will die here! What's the use of all this money after my death? If I'm lucky maybe one or two will survive and surrender after massacring all their friends.'

"Brother! Wake up! He's slowly going in your direction! Start defending yourself! Your life depends on it!"

Leo was shouting to his brother while trying to block their enemy from going in his direction. Even though their enemy suffered many wounds they were all really tired since they were only kids and lasting until now was still great achievement since they were keeping their mind focused and using their full strength for almost ten minutes now. Of course, the bandit was tired too but fights were his everyday life, he was experienced and he trained a lot, he was faring much better than them.

Luke finally started to understand what is happening but still was the same coward as before and when he was attacked he hid his face behind his arm easily getting stabbed. He screamed and looked at the blood flowing out of his hand while others were trying to finally take down their enemy. Soon, bandit got too greasy and he attacked Luke killing him but then Thomas stabbed him in the back. The fight was over but no one was cheering. Everyone was in a heavy mood. And a sudden thought surfaced in John's mind.

'In fact, was it a win or have we lost?'