But before our conversation can continue, a voice shouts: "GET 'EM, BOYS!"
And then, we hear some battle cries erupt from the sand dunes around us, and a moment later, we see bandits wielding multitudes of bladed weapons charging through the sand towards the three of us.
"Oh crap, bandits!" I cry.
"ROB THEM!"
"TAKE ALL THEIR FOOD AND MONEY!"
"AN OLD MAN, A SKINNY GUY, AND A GIRL? THIS'LL BE EASY!"
Old-Man F smirks as he spins in a small circle, observing the bandits charging towards us.
"Noah! Khione!" Old-Man F booms, causing the two of us to perk up, "I'll lead these bandits to you!"
Khione and I turn to each other and smirk, before turning back to Old-Man F.
"Yes, Master!".
As the bandits continue rushing us, Khione and I enter our charges' stances, as icy-blue and seafoam-green sparks of energy begin swirling around us, respectively.
"Water Charge, Level One: Bullet Rain!" I shout as I raise my hands to the sky, causing needle-sharp droplets of water to rain down upon the bandits, and causing the bandits to yelp in pain as they're pierced by my Bullet Rain.
"Ice Charge, Level One: Permafrost!" Khione shouts as she swipes both of her hands outwards, freezing a few of the bandits in place.
"Crap, these guys are E-Chargers?!" One of the bandits cries.
"We picked the weakest looking targets!" Sobs another bandit.
"Attack them while they're E-Charging!" Orders the strongest looking bandits.
"Yeah, that's a good point!" I say as I turn to face Old-Man F, while using my Bullet Rain to strike through a few more bandits, "What do you do if someone attacks you while you're E-Charging?"
"Khione, you answer," Old-Man F smirks.
"Usually, E-Chargers focus on ranged combat, so they can E-Charge and use Spells before their opponents can attack them," Khione explains as she freezes another bandit, "E-Chargers who focus on melee combat usually have impressively quick E-Charging times."
"Good answer, Khione," Old-Man F says.
"YES!" Khione gasps as she throws a fist into the air.
"HOWEVER, there IS one thing that you forget," Old-Man F continues as he holds up a finger.
"Huh?" Khione asks as she freezes another bandit, "What's that?"
"THIS!" Old-Man F answers as he enters his Charge Stance, and a burst of Golden-tan sparks swirl around his body.
"GET THE OLD MAN, HE'S AN EASY TARGET!" The bandits cry as a group charges him.
Old-Man F's body tenses up.
"Oh…they're screwed!" Khione laughs.
"What…DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"
"SAND CHARGE, LEVEL ONE: SAND CLONE!" Old-man F roars, and as the bandits swing their swords and spears and such into Old-Man F, he turns into sand and falls to the ground, before rising out of the sand behind the bandits, and resuming his Charge Stance.
"SAND CHARGE, LEVEL TWO: SAND SPEAR!" Old-man F roars as he launches a flurry of punches towards the bandits, which fires off a spear of sand towards the bandits with each punch.
The bandits yelp in pain as Old-man F's attack tears into them, before falling to the ground in a pool of blood.
Slowly…the three of us look up to face the rest of the bandits.
The rest of the bandits' eyes widened.
"Anyone else…?" I growl.
"R-retreat!" The strongest-looking bandit cries, and with that, the rest of the bandits throw their weapons into the air and run away like sissys.
The three of us watch the bandits go for a moment.
"ALRIGHT!" Khione and I cheer, "WE WON OUR FIRST BATTLE AS E-CHARGERS!"
"Very good, you two," Old-Man F claps.
"Aw man, crap!" I then cry.
"Hm?" Khione asks as she tilts her head at me, "What's wrong!"
"I forgot to tell the bandits our name!" I cry as I slap either side of my face in frustration, causing Khione to sigh.
And so, the three of us continue our quest again, but before the sun has set, another group of bandits attack us.
"ATTACK!" The head bandit roars.
"A-again…?" I ask.
"More action for us," Khione smirks.
"Alright, you two deal with this," Old-Man F sighs as he waves a hand towards us, "I'm tired."
And so, Khione and I kick the asses of the bandits just as easily as before, and the bandits retreat soon after, but not before burying the name 'Team Noah' into their brains.
"I'm glad that's over with…" I sigh as we continue on with our quest, but a little while later, yet ANOTHER group of bandits attacks us.
"Y-you gotta be kidding me, right?" I ask.
"More action for us…" Khione sighs.
"Which one of you is Noah?!" The head bandit booms, "The Water E-Charger?!"
"Th-that'd be me," I answer as I raise my hand.
"GET HIM!" The bandit roars, "IF WE CONTROL THE WATER, WE CONTROL THE WORLD!"
"It looks like you've got the reputation you wanted, Noah," Old-Man F chuckles.
"Now's not the time!" I snap.
And so…we drive the bandits off just as easily as before, but the three of us are attacked AGAIN AND AGAIN by bandit groups.
"GET THEM!"
"CAPTURE THE WATER E-CHARGER!"
"WE NEED HIS WATER!"
"WE CAN'T LET THEM SAVE THE WORLD!"
By the time the sun has set, I've forgotten how many bandit groups attacked us.
"Need help with that?" I grunt as I limp over to the blood-soaked Khione, who's struggling to put up her tent.
"Yeah, I can't use my left arm," Khione grunts.
"Is this going to keep happening…?" I sigh as I sit down, "Being constantly hunted by bandits?"
"I told you this would happen," Old-Man F answers, "Most bandit groups aren't going to like our goal of saving the world, and on top of that, must understand that your powers are VERY easy to monopolize, Noah."
"I didn't even get to enjoy my favorite part of journeying…" I sigh as I rub the dried-up shrubbery beside me, "Watering plants…"
"I mean…how many bandit groups ARE there?!" Khione cries, "We MUST have made a dent in them by now!"
"There are as many bandit groups out here in the abandoned wasteland as there are stars in the sky," Old-Man F sighs as he reaches a hand up to the moon, "Unfortunately, the world is essentially controlled by these bandit groups, as you've seen."
"Well…this is the life we've chosen," I sigh as I lay down on my tent, "So now…we have no choice but to suck it up and try to get as much rest as I can for the night…"
I've never fallen asleep so quickly before.