"Maybe we should even the numbers a bit."
Both the group of bandits and the defending group turned to see a very young black-haired man with a handsome face smiling. The leader of the group of bandits didn't know why, but he felt cold chills when he looked at the man's eyes that were full of fighting intent. Those red eyes coupled with his natural smile while standing beside a headless corpse definitely made the young guy look like a crazy person.
"A battle junkie..."
The leader muttered and surveyed the situation. They were four people against three of them, and two of those three people were badly wounded. Especially the man called Paul who was struggling just to lift his sword already.
But something inside the leader was telling him to run, that this was not a fight they could win. This was a feeling you get after many fights and life and death situations. This feeling had saved the leader's life many times, and he had always trusted it. But this time, just this time, he couldn't put himself to trust it.
They were at an advantage, they were four against three. Two of them were badly wounded and the other one was a young man who seemed barely past his teenage years. Also, he couldn't retreat, this mission had to be a success or he wouldn't be able to face the consequences of failure.
Eloi and Paul also looked at the young man that appeared out of nowhere, they were thankful he was trying to help them, but this was a fight already lost.
"Thank you young man for trying to help us, but I'm afraid this won't change the outcome. You should have just ignored us and not meddled on our fight." Eloi looked apologetic towards Jack. He blamed himself thinking that a strong young man would die today by his side just because he tried to help them.
To be honest, Jack didn't know why he stepped into this fight. But when he saw the two groups clashing, he started to feel his blood boiling once again and he unconsciously stepped in.
Jack was never a good Samaritan, of course he would help those dear to him when they needed such help. But he was not a hero, and he was not the kind of person that would meddle into another person's problems just for justice, not mentioning that the odds were against him in this case.
"The world is not fair, the world is cruel. I am not a hero, and I can't help everyone. Why fight for a lost cause? Because of justice? Because of love? Or maybe because it's just the right thing to do? Who dictates what is right and what is wrong? If a killer came to your doorstep starving asking for food would you feed him? Would you help him? Maybe you would help more people calling the cops. But, would that be the right thing to do? Not helping someone when they are desperate? Who dictates?"
Jack heard this a long time ago, but even with his prodigious memory, he couldn't remember when was the time or where he heard this. But it stayed with him.
"I'm not doing this to help you. I was feeling a bit rusty and I thought I wouldn't mind fighting these guys as a warm up. Come on old man, the battle is not over until you take your last breath."
Both Eloi and Paul didn't know why, but when they saw the grinning young man full of confidence they felt invigorated. The young man radiated an aura of untouchable, of superiority. Like an emperor fighting in the front line along with his soldiers.
"Hey Paul. If this is the end, we should make this an end to remember." Eloi smiled while looking at Paul.
"For Chris." Paul also smiled towards Eloi while nodding.
"For Chris." Eloi answered.
"Stupid ants. Having one more person won't change anything. You should just accept your fate and go join your friend. Number two and number three yo go against Eloi. Paul is yours number four. I will take care of our new guest. End your fights as fast as possible and then join me to kill this punk. Then we will take the person inside the carriage" The leader gave his instructions, and their group split in three.
The leader was not an idiot. He sent only one person against Paul knowing that with how badly wounded he was, number four should be able to handle him even though he was the weakest of them. He sent number two and number three against Eloi knowing how tricky and powerful Eloi was. He was sure Eloi could take one of them to the grave alongside him, so sending number two and number three against him was the best option. Maybe one of them would die, but as long as Eloi died everything would be easier.
And that left him alone against the young man who was the big unknown. He had decided to fight him on his own trying to make time for the other members on his group to join him.
"Ok, I see what your intentions are. But I'm sorry, I won't let you succeed."
Jack dashed towards the bandit leader at a speed almost too fast for the human eye to catch while swinging his sword.
The bandit was caught off guard, but he managed to block thanks to his fast reflexes. But the moment he blocked he regretted instantly trying to block instead of dodging.
*ugh*
The leader was pushed back, his organs shook, and he felt like puking blood for a second.
"How can such a young man have so much strength?" The leader was very surprised. He didn't understand how could a random young man that seemed to be just passing by have so much strength.
"Never get your target out of sight or it could mean the end of your life."
The leader heard a low whisper on the back of his head and spun around trying to block once again. But he only managed to see a shadow with two red pearls shining before he was sent to the circle of reincarnation.
"Never take a fight you are gonna lose."
Those were the last words the leader of the bandits heard before his head fell to the ground.
When the sound of a head falling to the ground was heard, all fighting stopped and everyone turned to see once again the same picture. The same young man was once again standing beside a headless corpse with his rusty sword.
Everyone was surprised by the quick outcome of the fight. And while everyone was surprised Jack turned around and without losing his handsome smile he asked. "Who's next?"
The bandits started fearing for their lives. And while they were distracted thinking about how to escape, Eloi managed to cut one of them in half.
When the two remaining bandits saw this, they run for a escape faster than they ever did. But they didn't manage to get far before once again, the shadow managed to hunt them down.
Jack came back next to the carriage and saw Eloi applying some medicine to his friend Paul. Even though he was also badly injured, he ignored his wounds and started treating his friend first. He had already lost one of his life-long friends today. He didn't want to lose the second one.
Jack ignored them and sat down not too far nor too near to them and started meditating.
After some minutes, he saw both of them approaching covered in bandages.
"Thanks for helping us, we owe you big one for what you did today." Eloi was the one talking.
"There's no need to thank me, they were already wounded and if they had been stronger than me I would have just ignored you and let you die." Jack didn't like people thanking him for things he did without the intention to help.
"That doesn't change the fact that you saved us, does it?" Paul smiled lightly next to Eloi.
"Whatever. Since you say you owe me, how about you tell me in which direction is the nearest city? You can just point me where to go, and we can call it even." Jack didn't want anyone to owe him, and the sooner he got rid of that the better.
"Oh, you don't know? The nearest city is the city of Luminens. We are also going there, it's 500 miles to the north, so it would take you some time to get there on foot." Eloi answered Jack sincerely.
"He could ride with us." An angelical voice came suddenly from inside the carriage.