I ran out of town and the brutally stopped before turning back and running in. I made my way to the dorm, tossed the map somewhere, Nour will find it anyway. I put on a sturdy leather belt and attached my blade on it.
Abd then i ran out of town, and set on the route that the carriage was supposed to take... Since it's been over a month that i started hunting everyday i knew fairly well the land around the Academy, henceforth i didn't need any map.
I ran as fast as my body could handle while mulling over what could've happened.
Bandits are unlikely, since it's the demon territory other races tend to stay away. And demon-bandits within our territory is even more unlikely since by decree of the first demon king a demon isn't allowed to take another one down before listening to his story. That law is so deeply engraved inside our species that even I who can act how the fuck I want without minding the demon king feel a bit of discomfort whenever I want to kill a demon.
How do I know this? I tried. I asked father to protect his guards with a strong shield made of wind magic. And sometime later I attacked a random Guard. The blow was meant to kill but father's magic deflected it, and trying to kill the guard was uncomfortable. This order is way more complex than only what I said but I didn't give a shit about the text when he was read to us. Just know that there are no obvious loopholes such as gravely injuring your foe and letting him die, etc...
Back to the main topic, demon bandits can't kill other demons, and since even them are loyal to the king they can't afford to be found out by other demons, which means they do bandit things out of the demon kingdom.
The next possibility is a magic beast attack, a young one or a very old and very mighty one... I would prefer the weak one. I'm not keen on dying, even though the fight would be awesome.
All of that to say that I don't know what happened to the carriage but if there's a foe then I'll definitely enjoy my trip.
It's been a long run but i finally reached the carriage, or at least it's burned remains. There were lots of ashes and a charred wheel.
Most likely bandits. If it was a magic beast the materials and my order should still be here. Except if it was a dragon, but I shouldn't put too much thought on that, I might end up disappointed.
I looked around the vast plain that i was in, that looked very empty. How am I supposed to find tracks around here. I'm a warrior not a scout. I think they talked about that in one of the few Swiftfighter class that i attended: i didn't listen shit during that one.
Sooooo I went southward cuz I felt like it... It's a great method of investigation isn't it?
I walked for a long time... A LONG time and found, nothing much. Seriously the sun will set soon, and I don't really believe that I can make it back to the Academy before the gates close. Anyway, I'll head northward now.
I passed the charred remnants and continued forward until I saw smoke rising from a small hill. My dear thieves! Or at least someone that can give me a hint, maybe even survivors.
I went straight for the smoke's source, which turned out to be a cluster of rocks. Upon closer inspection I found a deep gash in the rock from where the smoke came from, along a warm yellowish light.
Volcanic activity is less than likely considering that we're in a flatland with some little hills here and there. So I bet on a cave.
I circled around the hill until I found the entrance, hidden behind a dead tree trunk. At least it's not the cliché bush...it's still pretty cliché.
I made my way in, not bothering to be sneaky. I can go against a teacher of the Academy, the most prestigious school in the whole continent. So how could i be afraid of some thugs? I still repositioned Bloo correctly on my skeleton, I'm reckless okay, but not suicidal.
Inside was a Large tunnel, a line lantern provided light, barely enough to walk properly. But the light that I could see at the end stopped me from using night vision. It would blind me since it increases the brightness of whatever I see.
When I entered the room the first thing that i noticed were the twelve rough looking men around the central campfire. And I didn't nothing much apart from them since I charged them before taking a better look around. The bonus that a surprise attacks give is a must have when your opponent is going to be at best slightly troublesome.
I first slashed horizontally and beheaded two of the enemies… well maybe they weren't but now they are, and their friends are too. So, before they could stand up properly, I continued and slashed another one's lower spine. If he can get up after that well, that will be with magic.
I still got nine of them to deal with and now they're on guard. Let's go then, I went to the closest one and crushed him under the heaviest overhead swing that I could do. He blocked, and still got crushed.
I let go of my blade to avoid the incoming strikes, I can only move so much while carrying a weapon as heavy as me. I dived to the ground and kicked some knees while gliding on the smooth rock. Smooth my ass, I got some ugly scratches there, why did I even do that ?! I still broke two knees and tripped two other thugs.
4 down, two disabled, two on the ground and four lunging at me. Time for some anime moves! I jumped to avoid their attacks while at the same time delivering a splendid kung fu-like kick into the nearest head. I used the body linked to the head as a cushion for my landing. The two that I made fall are back in the fight now, I should be careful. I might be stronger than them, but I still got a ten-year-old girl's body. There's no way that I can take even one hit.
I slowly made my way toward my sword while evading their strikes the trick to make their numbers useless is to doge a blade by diving under another, so the two will restrain one another. No I just had to apply that idea against 5 people. I think some of the move that I did aren't humanly possible and I'm pretty sure that I fucked some of my muscles. Strangely enough while I can feel the pain, it doesn't affect me. It' like I was reading it I think, well I actually feel it with my sense but I'm sort of detached from it. it's kinda weird but it let me keep a clear mind while in pain so whatever caused that is welcomed.
I finally managed to get my sword back! Now's time to spin! I felt like I'm a video game protagonist with a green hat sometimes. I still spun, it took them by surprise since it's not a move that's supposed possible. I can do it but only since the sword is as heavy as me. I managed to wound three of them quite badly. They shouldn't be a problem anymore during this fight.
I nearly didn't saw that one coming, I drifted too far off from the fire, the shadows are starting to play tricks on my perception of distances. My consolation is that they've got the same problem.
I still parried using my blade and threw a strong punch on the wrist that held the sword. The sound of the bones being crushed sounded like music in my hears. I grabbed his now crushed wrist, probably hurting him even more and pulled as hard as I could, throwing him off balance and meeting his fall with a kick to his gut. All of that while maintaining him between me and the last guy, blocking him from attacking me.
In the end it was me who closed the distance with a thrust from my great sword. It seems that since he uses a longsword, he'll reach me just before I reach him. Seems is the important word here, before his attack could connect, I extended my arms forward, impaling him cleanly through the torso.
A deep silence fell on the cavern after he fell on the ground making a loud metallic sound due to my weapon still piercing him. I went around and drained each of the dead ones of their blood. Then killed the two disabled, the three wounded and the knocked out, and drained them too.
I'm not a cat but I felt a sudden urge to scream "Ethical" while the adrenaline's effect slowly washed out, leaving me exhausted but strangely enough I felt extremely relaxed, very much like after a good workout. So that's how my first kill feels like? A good workout… I was at least expecting a hint of sadness, but nope. Well, it works out just right for me. I don't really want to bother with their deaths, even if I know that I'm supposed to how some empathy.
A sudden noise by the entry of the cave made me stop my digressions and get back into a battle stance.
"Hey guys, I'm back!"