Bait and Trap

Like most people who grew up in Visa City, Swaine grew up in a normal family but his mother died early in his youth and his father died on a mission outside of the city for the city guards.

He had picked up a little from his father to help him train his body better than the average human and he quickly gained experience when he was forced to become a mercenary in his teens.

Due to have naive and trusting nature, he often got swindled and had to jump between mercenary groups for various reasons until he found his previous one which had lasted longer than usual.

His groups team effectiveness and cooperation along with a couple of elements of luck had allowed them to grow confident in their abilities.

Luck would often run out if humans kept experiencing it often enough, they would then start to believe they could take on more difficult challenges with their current abilities but their luck would not be enough to help them overcome the dangers they had walked into.

Swaine thought back to the day of the final task of the group and sighed. "We were going well for a while and got too overconfident then suddenly a kid appears to warn me of our incoming disaster. If this is not luck or divine intervention then I do not know what it is. Luckily I was able to convince you to come back with me Franco."

Franco's parents were thieves so he had picked up a couple of things from them so that he could increase his own abilities before his parents were eventually caught and tortured to death by the noble they chose to steal from.

While his parents were quite skilled as a thief duo, they had gotten too confident in their abilities so they took on a task which was far too difficult for them which kead to their death so Franco learned from their mistakes and developed a survival mentality which had helped him survive as a mercenary.

Franco had no other option but to become a mercenary with his abilities to play the role as a scout, he had quite good abilities to make quick decisions which allowed him to know when it was best to leave a group or give up on a quest.

Usually he would stick with logic and follow along if something like prophecies or warnings of death were mentioned so he would have chosen to follow the group that day unless Swaine had not provided a reasonable explanation which could make him wish to give up on the task too.

When weighing his options, he believed it was in his own best interests to give up rather than face potential dangers which could lead to his death.

Although the group he was with did recently have some good achievements, they had grown a little overconfident which was dangerous for a mercenary.

When he found out about Mallory, he was a little sceptical at first but was quickly convinced by everything which was happening around him but he was not as serious as a believer as Swaine.

It was more beneficial for him to stick with Swaine and follow Mallory because there would be many opportunities while a lot of dangers could be solved with the talismans.

When he heard Swaine praising Mallory like a loyal follower, Franco rolled his eyes. "It is enough for me to survive. What has the kid tasked us with this time?"

Swaine replied quickly in a happy tone of voice. "We have been tasked to walk around the slum area this time and then return to Mallory."

Franco sighed. "It seems that she hopes to use us to catch some people. They will probably not give up after failing to kill us so we will probably need to draw them out."

Swaine waved around a couple of talismans smugly. "We should be able to handle this with ease! I needed to do something to try out the new status effects so this is perfect!"

Although there was not any major changes so their status since they had gotten it, there would be chances to gain upgrades through gaining experience so even a simple task of drawing attention to themselves and surviving was enough to help their growth.

When they later entered the slums, many eyes were locked onto them right away and there was movement as there were some which went to report to their bosses.

The pressure on the bodies of Swaine and Franco became heavier as they both sensed that it was time to leave so they made their way out of the slums.

There were many tailing them to observe their actions while some looked more threatening and were waiting for Swaine and Franco to drop their guards.

Just as they were about to reach the exit, their exit had been sealed off and there were people behind them.

A small skinny child was holding a sharpened and wooden pole while others had been armed with poor equipment like a small knife with a wooden handle while there were some mercenaries or criminals among them which had their own lower grade weapon.

Some more skilled assassins were waiting in the darkness for their strike when Swaine and Franco had presented an opening or run out of talismans.

It had been reported that they possessed strange protective items but they could be broke if there was enough damage to the shields.

Many weak people combined or enough with enough physical power could break through the barriers if enough time was given and with Swaine and Franco being trapped, they had nowhere to escape to and would eventually run out of their talismans.

There would be a time limit to how long the barriers would be maintained so they were both at risk once the barriers disappeared.

Franco looked at the surroundings and let out a sigh. 'They really got us this time.'

Swaine looked around and chose to put his trust in Mallory and the talismans provided. "Get ready!"

The next moment, he threw out a couple of talismans around him and towards the ground and above him which surrounded him and Franco.

After chanting the activation words, the barriers were created around them and blocked the attacks.

Arrows and crossbow bolts came from different directions while everyone else in a closer range started to attack the barriers.

Franco observed the damage done to each barrier than quickly placed a new talisman over it before it had broken. "Barrier!"

He then turned to Swaine and scolded. "Do not just stand there! Do not let the barriers collapse!"

Swaine quickly snapped out of his panic and started to observe the barriers for any cracks or signs of dispersing. "Got it!"

Time was passing by and their supplies of talismans were becoming much less which lead them to panic. 'Why are the guards not coming?!'

It was a very strange situation that such a commotion had not been reported to the city guards and that their response had been so slow.

Swaine and Franco were slowly getting closer to their own deaths and they became more anxious but there was a strange movement in the slums which they did not detect.

A figure leapt quickly and quietly among the slum buildings roofs then jumped through a window onto a person holding a crossbow which was aimed at Swaine.

The light in the room which was very little had revealed a young girl with golden hair, emerald green eyes, golden spotted cat ears and tail who was dressed in some lower quality light armour over her clothing and a dark robe which covered most of her upper and lower body.

The person on the ground had been knocked out with one hit and she quickly moved to subdue the other before leaping out and climbing to another vantage point.

Several archers and crossbowmen were subdued and removed from the battle one after another which had been waiting for the barrier to fall.

In a dark alleyway, a figure fell down and started to run towards a small group of people which had been waiting silently with knives in their hands.

A chop to the back of one neck followed with speedy movements as Mallory took one down and moved to subdue another before they could make a noise to attract attention to themselves and away from Swaine and Franco.

Before leaving the narrow space, she placed down a kunai into the ground with a talisman attached at the place where the space could be exited to get to Swaine and Franco.

She left and entered another narrow space to continue the same task until every minor route had a been dealt with.

To finish her preparations, she threw out a couple of kunai towards the ground at the back of those which had chased Swaine and Franco then activated them. "Barrier!"

Mallory leapt up and over the barrier then entered the battlefield where she wished to test the progress of her growth up against many others. "This should be interesting."

Two kunai appeared in her hands which did not have any talismans attached after she threw a couple of talismans forward and placed a pair of sunglasses on her face. "This light should be a good signal so… flash!"

"Aaah!"

"My eyes!"

The talismans were carried by the direction of the wind so when they reached the people inside the barrier which was behind them and were activated, there were many which had been close to the release of light which blinded them.

Meanwhile inside of the barrier, Swaine and Franco had already noticed the strangeness of the lack of ranged attacks on their barriers so they opened an envelope which had been prepared for them to open when Mallory had specified.

After reading, they both took a pair of sunglasses out of their bags then placed them on their faces which protected them as the flash of light came.

Swaine let out a sigh of relief. "Phew.. I was panicking there!"

Franco rolled his eyes. "She took her time!"

Footsteps were getting closer to where they had been blocked off from exiting the slums so there were finally people coming to offer them aid the moment that the flash of light happened.