The first thing I did was create a large mass of water and dump it on Wilharrow.
"Ack! That's cold!" [Wilharrow]
Luckily, all the vomit on him washed away easily. It was kind of funny since Wilharrow was left soaked to the bone. I then turned to Holdren who was still trying to shake off Wilharrow's stomach contents.
"You want a turn?" [Solace]
Holdren nodded.
"Okie dokie." [Solace]
I casted a few |Liquid Cannons| and used |Convergence| to turn it into a body of water about the same size as Holdren. Considering this man was fat and around 8 feet tall, I think it was pretty big. After adjusting the ball and trying to maintain it, I approached Holdren.
"Alright. I'll be dropping it on you now-" [Solace]
Before I could finish speaking, Holdren lunged at me. Turns out, he still wanted me dead.
("He baited me!") [Solace]
I panicked and did the most natural thing to me. I chucked the massive ball of water at Holdren.
"Argh!" [Holdren]
Even with his soft body, the force behind the ball of water hit him pretty damn hard.
"You have acquired |Liquid Blast|." [Spirit Guide]
Holdren stumbled back and collapsed as the water overwhelmed him. Even after it all washed away, Holdren remained down.
"You have gained |Experience|. |Experience| limit reached. You have gained a level." [Spirit Guide]
("Eh…") [Solace]
So that killed Holdren. I was so surprised by that I had to check how he died with |Analyze|.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Name: Holdren Cold
Status: Deceased
Cause of death: Blood loss
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
("Ah…") [Solace]
That made so much sense. I had forgotten he's been bleeding out for a while. Maybe the |Liquid Blast| pushed out a bit more blood and made it fatal.
"...Did you kill him?" [Wilharrow]
He gave me a concerned look.
"Accidentally. I mean, he had it coming." [Solace]
Wilharrow bit his lip in frustration.
"C'mon, it was self defense. It was either him or me." [Solace]
Wilharrow only nodded in silence.
"...What about the other bandits? Did you spare them?" [Wilharrow]
"Oh… yeah. I tried to hold back, but I don't know how many survived." [Solace]
Wilharrow didn't even waste a second to check. He ran back into the bandit camp and started looking for survivors.
("He really cares about others, doesn't he?") [Solace]
I walked inside the camp to find Raon and Fina tending to Leon.
"Hey. How's she holding up?" [Solace]
They didn't even look at me to answer.
"Leon's a bit banged up, but a few potions will do the trick. Fina? Can you pass me some?" [Raon]
Fina reached into a little homemade fanny pack that she always carried and took out a red vial.
"Wait. Save the potion. I've got it." [Solace]
I knelt down to Leon, who still rested against her large sword. Probably because she just heard my voice, Leon lifted her head weakly to meet my eyes.
"Alt…?" [Leon]
"Yeppers. Tis' I. Now hold still." [Solace]
Raising a hand, I casted |Small Cure| on her. Her wounds began to close slowly, so I knew I was in it for the long run.
"Fina! Do we have any potions?! There's a survivor!" [Wilharrow]
We heard Wilharrow shout behind us, his voice mixed with anxiety and relief. I also wish he didn't say it like I was some sort of natural disaster.
"On my way!" [Fina]
As Fina left us, I chuckled.
"Hey, guess saving the potions was the right choice." [Solace]
It was also then I felt a tug on my sleeve.
"Hm?" [Solace]
I turned to see Elisse staring at me.
("Oh. I almost forgot about her.") [Solace]
I know, I know. I'm not supposed to forget the hostage or whatever. Leave me alone. You think I could focus on that when I've got some 8 foot tall behemoth of a dude barreling at me? Anyways, Elisse looked like she wanted to say something to me.
"...You really won!" [Elisse]
A smug grin started to creep up my face.
"I did, didn't I? See? The hero never loses." [Solace]
"Uh… What?" [Raon]
I hushed at Raon who looked a bit confused.
"Elisse, are you hurt anywhere? Do you need healing too?" [Solace]
She peered behind her and lifted her arms to check herself before shaking her head.
"Nope!" [Elisee]
Seeing Elisse's cheerful face gave me the urge to pat her head.
"That's good." [Solace]
I still ended up patting her head.
"Ehehe…" [Elisse]
Though I was having a good moment over here, I was pretty curious about something.
"By the way, Raon? Can I ask you something?" [Solace]
"What is it?" [Raon]
"What took you guys so long to help? I'm pretty sure you guys didn't fight that large of a group." [Solace]
"Ah… It was difficult keeping them all alive." [Raon]
He pointed a thumb to a group of people tied together. They were rough up a bit, though not by much.
"You guys really did it. No fatalities?" [Solace]
"None whatsoever." [Raon]
That was surprising. Maybe I had to step my game up in non-lethal skills.
"So you guys took your sweet time tying people up while I was getting jumped?" [Solace]
"What is… "getting jumped"?" [Raon]
"It means getting attacked by a group of people." [Solace]
"Oh." [Raon]
He then placed a hand on his hips as he thought about it.
"Well… you looked like you could handle it." [Raon]
"You do realize I almost died, right?" [Solace]
"...Did you now?" [Raon]
I think he just gave me the equivalent of "That's crazy".
"Let's talk about something else. I've recognized the armor on these bandits." [Raon]
"Oh? What did you learn?" [Solace]
"Turns out these people are deserters of the Ruitarian Empire. I questioned some of them about it." [Raon]
"So not only did you tie them up while I was fighting for my life, you also found the time to interrogate them. Thanks a lot." [Solace]
Raon gave me a strange look.
"Are you going to keep doing this or can we move on?" [Raon]
"We can move on." [Solace]
"Great. Anyway, they've been killing anyone that's seen them or anyone that interacts with them to keep people off their tail." [Raon]
"Unlucky for them that we came around." [Solace]
Raon nodded.
"This is a very touchy political subject since this could be seen as an invasion of our country. I'll have to talk to Wilharrow about what we should do." [Raon]
"Mhm. You do that." [Solace]
As Raon moved to where Wilharrow and Fina were, I was just sitting there healing Leon with a single thought in mind.
("...The hell is the Ruitarian Empire?") [Solace]