Quin and Deni traded blows left and right. Each one either dodging or parrying the other. Whatever spell was cast on this bandit leader it was definitely something Kaz wanted to learn. It had just dawned on Kaz. If a spell was being used on the Bandit leader that means there is a mage in their group but he did not see any of the bandits casting spells. That means there's still one hiding somewhere.
Looking around Kaz could not see anyone suspicious. All of the bandits were taken care of and about a half dozen mercenaries still stood. They could only watch the fight unfold before them none of them went in to aid Quin.
Perish was assisting Windson with removing the sticky trap on him and Sarah and Peter were staying back in a defensive position. It looked like only Kaz caught on to what was going on. If he was going to find this caster he would need to use his ring and sneak up on him. No doubt he was hiding in the forest somewhere.
Rubbing the ring on his finger Kaz quickly disappeared from everyone's view. He scanned the forest for a good place to start looking and noticed something really odd. There was a small frail young man standing about 10 feet away from Deni concentrating on his book. Rubbing his eyes Kaz looked around and noticed that no one else was paying attention to him. Had he been there the entire time?
Kaz took note that he only saw the man once he turned invisible. What did that mean? Can anyone invisible see each other? If so he would need to keep that in mind for the future. Sneaking around to get out of the mages view Kaz began sneaking up on the man using all the skill he could to not make it obvious he could see the man.
"ARGH!" Kaz looked over and noticed Quin had been beaten back by Deni and was looking like he was about to collapse. Thinking fast Kaz rushed towards the mage and stabbed the man through the back. Gurgling blood the mage turned his head to see the kobold for a split second before the invisibility wore off. People jumped when they saw the man appear before them falling to the ground.
Deni was smiling now raising his sword to point at Quin who was now on the ground panting a little but showing no sign of fear. He was a strong man who had never begged for his life before and was not about to start. Deni raised his sword to swing one last time at the formidable opponent and noticed that when he raised his arm it was a bit slower than before. He wondered if the spell had worn off and decided that he would need to kill this man quickly before he could get a chance to recover.
Using all his strength he began to slash down at the helpless man when suddenly he lost all strength in his swing. A sword plunged into his gut as he looks down and notices blood trickling from what appeared to be a wound out of nowhere. Kaz had made it in time to save Quin and knew this would be very important to let them all see who it was that saved them. Turning off the invisibility Kaz appeared before them all grinning menacingly at Deni who was wide-eyed the bandit leader coughed up blood. "When did...?" Was all he said before he fell to the ground. Kaz turned to face Quin who looked at him with a stern look and nodded.
The Caravan Leader claps his hands and laughs. "Well look at that. The monster came in handy after all! What's your name?"
"Kaz." Was all he said as he cleaned his blade off before sheathing it.
"Kaz is it? Well, you have definitely earned my praise for saving my best man from that bandit."
"I was only doing my job, sir," responded Kaz trying to play it cool. But hoping he had earned some browny points. He was not fond of these people but he knew if he stayed on their good side he could at least make it through this trip with less difficulty. His friends were still alive and that is all that mattered. But that did not calm his mind. The mission did not finish so that meant there was something coming in the future that would be tougher than this.
"Well let's get what we can and continue heading out. No point in staying around here." Yelled the Caravan Leader as he began to walk into his Wagon. That did not settle well with Kaz. What about all the people who just died. Normally humans would bury their dead but he seems content with just leaving them here. Not thinking too hard about it Kaz and the rest walked back to their wagon. On the way there Kaz stopped by the mage and checked him for anything that could lead him to learn the spells he holds. Luckily in this world, it looks like it's common for mages to keep spellbooks. He found what he was looking for and made his way to the wagon to read what he found.
The rest of the day was calm but everyone kept their guard up just in case anyone else came after them. They had lost quite a few adventurers in that attack and nobody was sure if they could handle another assault like that in their current condition.
Thumbing through the book Kaz found a few spells he already knew and wondered if they were spells taught to beginning mages learning the craft. He came across the one spell he did not have which looked to endow the target with speed and grace the only downside is in its current state it requires the caster to stay still during the casting and duration. He definitely wanted to learn that in case he needed it for future fights.