Lilee crawls out from between the bushes that hide the small cave entrance. "I'm willing to help but what's your theory?"
"I might've gotten an ability that boosts my strength. In the fight earlier, I was able to escape by kicking the leader in the chest. It's what sent me flying right out of the clearing." Dimas stretches his sore legs. "This ability seems to put a strain on my body."
"Really? What kind of Arts causes damage to the user?" Lilee begins to pull stray leaves from her hair.
Dimas takes a moment to think on how to answer her.
[What do I say? Make up an Arts ability? Or should I tell her the truth?]
Dimas quickly glances at Lilee. She stands there waiting patiently for an answer.
[I'm pretty sure she won't be willing to help in destroying her own world. Still, having to constantly lie and come up with excuses is annoying.]
He turns to face Lilee. "It's not an Arts because I wasn't born with any Brío."
Lilee tilts her head. "That's impossible… Everyone is born with Brío."
"I'll explain that later. Right after I kick the leader's ass."
"What about my dad?"
"We can save him afterwards."
Lilee shakes her head. "Why does it feel like your priorities changed? How do you want me to help?"
"You're going to take care of the runts while I go for the big guy."
"I've never been in a fight before." Lilee says.
"Just copy what you've seen from the tournaments. Their Arts aren't worth much in a fight and they break easy. You'll be fine."
"Break?"
"Yeah. Aim for weak spots like their nose."
"I don't want to hurt anyone!"
[And here I was starting to think you weren't completely annoying.]
"They kidnapped your dad and were willing to standby while their leader killed me. A broken nose is nothing."
Lilee nods slowly. "They tried to kill you? Alright… I'll help but I won't try to 'break' them. Unless I absolutely need to."
"Good. Show me the camp. We'll try to catch them off guard." Dimas steps to the side and lets Lilee lead.
Dimas and Lilee reach the bandit's camp behind the clearing. They hide behind a bush while scoping out the area.
In the center of the camp is a pitiful campfire surrounded by 5 small piles of cloth and leaves. A little farther away is a decent-looking tent where the five lackeys stand guard.
"That tent in the back is probably the leader's tent. Your father's probably in there along with their leader." Dimas gestures towards the campfire. "That's gotta be where the runts sleep. Go set some of the beds on fire. That'll get their attention."
"Are you sure about this?" Lilee asks, a worried look on her face.
Dimas rolls his eyes. "Like I said, you'll be fine."
"I'm talking about you."
The question takes Dimas back. He wasn't used to having someone showing concern for him.
"Y-Yeah… I'm ready for him this time."
Lilee smiles and gives two thumbs up. "Okay. Here we go!"
She stands up and makes her way to the campfire. Dimas gets closer to the tent and waits.
"Hey!" Thug C yells as Lilee begins to burn their beds.
Thugs A through D run towards Lilee. Smart thug stays back. Dimas can see Smart thug contemplating whether or not to inform the boss. If the five of them couldn't take down this one girl, the boss would be furious.
As Smart thug weighs his options, Dimas sneaks up behind him and decides to go with a suplex. Smart thug is only able to let out a gasp before being disposed of.
Dimas turns to look at Lilee and sees as three thugs surround her. One of the thugs is on the floor bleeding from his nose.
[She'll be alright.]
He opens the flap to the tent and enters. At the center of the tent is a stake driven into the ground where a man sits bound. Upon closer inspection, Dimas sees that the man is blindfolded and gagged but otherwise unharmed. The left side of the tent was stacked with food and water. Dumbbells and weights were stationed at the back. On the right, the leader was sleeping on a comfy cot. Underneath the cot were bags of various sizes. Some of them spilled their contents on to the ground, Crild.
[I've said it before but this time it could actually be easy.]
Dimas moves slowly and quietly to the bound man. When Dimas grabs him by the shoulder, the bound man flinches.
"I'm not one of them. Are you Lilee's father?" Dimas whispers to the man.
The bound man nods.
"Good. I'm going to untie you and get you out of here. Don't make any noise, got it?"
The bound man, Lilee's father, nods once more.
Dimas frees Lilee's father and guides him towards the exit. Before reaching the exit, Dimas stops. Lilee's father looks at him confused. Dimas glances at the leader. Lilee's father nods and steps out of the tent.
[Payback time.]
It would've been easy to escape and call it a day. However, this was a personal matter for Dimas. It wasn't the loss that bothered him much, he's lost before but always came back stronger. No, this was for nearly killing him.
Yet, Dimas didn't want to get his revenge while his opponent was asleep. Call it what you will honor, pride, arrogance, stupidity, etc. It made no difference to Dimas.
He walks over to the food stash and grabs two apples. Taking a bite of one while tossing the other at the leader's head.
The leader wakes up and sees Dimas.
"Ready for round 2… what's your name?" Dimas asks.
The leader sneers. "Stone."
"Of course it is." Dimas takes another bite of the apple. Then tosses it right at Stone's face.
Without a second to waste, Dimas kicks him in the stomach. Stone falls back onto the cot. An angry look on his face. Dimas goes in for another kick but Stone has already activated his Arts. Dimas bounces back from the blocked kick.
[Alright. Now to see if this new ability actually works.]
As Stone picks himself from the cot, Dimas sends a flurry of punches and kicks his way. Much to Dimas's dismay, Stone brushes them off.
[I'll be pissed if it was a one time thing.]
Stone attempts to grab Dimas but Dimas is ready and jumps away towards the back of the tent. Dimas continues to throw a couple more punches all the while dodging Stone's grabs. A few cuts begin to appear on Dimas's knuckles.
"Give it up. There's nothing you can do to me." Stone begins to laugh.
"Yeah, there is. Like letting him go." Dimas points at the empty spot where Lilee's father was.
While Stone turns around, Dimas grabs one of the weights and swings it at Stone's head. The hit connects but it seems to do little damage. Dimas swing it a couple more times, each time connecting and pushing them closer to the front of the tent. Stone goes in for another grab but Dimas ducks and brings the weight down on Stone's foot. Stone screams in pain. Dimas brings the weight back up and lands an uppercut. Stone falls flat on his back.
[How the hell do I activate the ability?]
Dimas looks down at Stone. "Stone… What a stupid name." Dimas tosses the dumbbell and heads towards the entrance.
When suddenly a large hand grabs his shirt collar and tosses him onto the food table. Stone brings his club arms down on Dimas but Dimas is able to roll out of the way. The attack hits bags filled with spices. Resulting in Stone being blanketed with a spicy cloud that burns his lungs and eyes.
Dimas takes the opportunity to continue punching Stone. Soon blood begins to spill from Dimas's knuckles.
[Goddamnit! How does it work!?]
Stone finally recovers. Mucus and tears stream down his face as he glares at Dimas.
[What's different!?]
Dimas backs up slowly, while Stone marches towards him.
[Think… Think…]
The memory takes Dimas back to the moment when he was at Stone's mercy. He recalls a voice calling him to action followed by an odd sensation around his legs.
[Is that it?]
Dimas reaches deep within him and summons that sensation forward once more. Directing towards his fists. It feels like small flecks are swimming in his veins.
[Got it!]
Stone is winding up a punch when Dimas throws one of his own. Believing it to be a futile effort, Stone allows it to connect.
It was one of the biggest mistakes he made that day, the first was kidnapping Lilee's father. Something he'll realize when he regains consciousness.
Dimas steps out of the tent and sees the rest of the gang tied up near the center of the camp. Lilee waves at him, her father next to her. When he reaches them, Lilee notices that Dimas is out of breath.
"What happened?" Lilee asks, reaching to help him.
Dimas waves her away. "We can talk later. Let's get out of here."
The three of them leave the camp without a second glance back.