I looked at the bandit's den in front of me with a little frown on my face. I could smell the unwashed bodies inside, together with all sorts of things. Blood, sweat...sex! No, rape! Strangely, the victims were both males and females, not quite shocking compared to the things I've seen since coming to this world, but still disturbing. I could also smell the scent of Magicka in the air, so they had a sorcerer with them.
The scent carried with it a scent of a female, making me nod mentally. The more information I had on these animals the least effort I had to beat them. The sorceress had put muffling spells around the den, making my supernatural hearing useless. But my sense of smell was just as strong, something they didn't account on.
"Do we attack yet, My Lady?" my squire asked. I looked at him, a young man in his late teens, tall, sandy brown hair, grey eyes, tanned, wearing battle armor and handling a sword like most knights and squires. He was tall, a whooping 1.9m, but only reaching my shoulders. I have to thank my supernatural physique for that.
I picked him up when he was just a boy, caught my fancy when he would spar with other aspiring squires at the Academy. I took him under my wing and taught all he should know about fighting out here in this dangerous world. He has made me proud enough, this was among his final tests to receive his Knighthood and become an envy of his peers.
"Alright, Serchov, you will take the lead on this. You will act on your own and kill every last bandit in there. I am only here to observe, only intervening when you are in mortal danger, understood?" I asked him. My squire nods enthusiastically. I just hope that sorceress is good enough to teach him something or two about being prideful.
"Attack when you're ready," I told him.
Serchov nods before he crept towards the entrance. I could see his left hand glowing purple, a colour that signified he was about to use a Destruction class spell. Magic was one thing I was completely hopeless on. For all my strengths, I guess I was born with a negative aptitude for magic. I could use every single weapon I could get my hands on, my attacks could split islands into fragments, my speed could take me to beat FTL, my durability can withstand an onslaught of World Bringers Dragons, but I could not even cast the simplest of spells, spells that any child that hasn't been taught magic can! But, I was still comfortable with the tradeoff, making me quite impossible to be harmed by magic users. Not bad, if I say so myself.
Anyway, Serchov cast his spell, a raging ball of pure Magicka and hurled it to the entrance. Once the ball touched the wooden double gate, a volatile explosion shocked all the bandits inside. As soon as the smoke cleared, I saw the broken down gates and parts of the wall scattered all over the den with the flickering of runes the sorceress had placed dying out.
Serchov pounced into the fray, augmenting his speed with Magicka via runes. His sword left trails in the waning light as he hacked down a bandit, cutting through his armor and the sword he wanted to block with. Serchov's sword was made of Black Steel ore, an ore ten times stronger than steel and a good conductor of Magicka, enhancing the weapon's sharpness and durability.
I watched with satisfaction as my squire made short work of these jokers with nothing but swordsmanship skills and precision, barely out of breath when none of the mobs were all dead. Incomplete bodies dorned the ground as Serchov turned to look at the remaining survivors, two in fact. The bandit chief and the sorceress.
Serchov became even more serious seeing her blood red eyes, blue hair and pointed ears, a member of the Blood Moon Elf race. They are feared for their talent in dark magic, runes and illusions as well as their limitless hatred for humans.
'He can't deal with her alone, let alone her thrall,' I concluded as I looked at the two. The bandit chief was already in her clutches, a brute that will only do what she says. 'Serchov can take care of him, no problem, but I need to end my battle with the sorceress as fast as possible. The least impact to the environment the better.'
I could see Serchov's eyes widen in surprise as I basically just materialized in front of him. That was just how fast I am, could even see the shock of the elf from here. Serchov's eyes then turned to confusion.
"You can't handle her on your own. Take care of the thrall, I'll end the elf," I told him crassly. Elves, no matter the kind, don't like it when they are belittled by a human, no matter how powerful the human was. But, this elf was different; instead of the self righteous anger I expected to see, I saw only caution.
"Apollyon, the Death stalker," the elf spoke with an accent. I frowned a little bit. "I did not expect it would be you to come after this upstart of a group. I thought you always aimed higher."
"I do, let's just say I always land right on the mark," I said, as my senses worked into overdrive. I could smell her Magicka going into work. "Just like how I landed on a Blood Moon Elf that is powerful enough to kill most knights I know."
"A coincidence," the elf prattled on. "One that won't happen agaaaa..."
I was on her before she could finish her last word, my halberd already swinging towards her neck. I could see her necklace light up before a ward shield appeared around her thrall and herself, protecting them. But, not this time. My Halberd was a Nurtured Weapon, forged from my blood and bones into a weapon that is as powerful as me. As soon as the blade hit the ward, an explosion of power erupted, sending me flying a couple of metres away, while also breaking apart the shield and sending the two kilometres apart. Serchov had already put on a ward, protecting him from the shockwave of apocalyptic in nature, watching in away as everything for miles just disappeared.
"Serchov, the thrall was sent East, I'll go after the elf. If she teleports to your location, teleport me over instantly. When you clear your battle, meet me at their den, is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said, quickly bringing his head to the swivel before he teleported away. I sometimes envy magic users, but for now, I have an elf to kill.
I blasted off towards the elf, everything around me turning into blur as I caught up in two seconds. The elf was still flying but I could already smell she was cooking up a new spell. One way to take down pure magic users was overwhelm then, never let them concentrate. I swung my halberd towards her, watched as her eyes widened in horror as a blade made of pressurized air sped towards her, more specifically, her neck.
I smelled her Magicka churning, making me stop as she disappeared. I knew it was a short term teleportation spell, meant to get her out of harm's way, just what I wanted her to do. My mind worked in tandem with my senses, basically I could react just as fast as my brain and I saw as she appeared a few hundred metres away from me.
Thanks to my sensorimotor synchrony, I was already moving before she fully appeared, watching as her eyes widened in terror in seeing me already in front of her, my halberd just inches from her neck. There was simply nothing she could do! I could see her eyes widening and knew her brain was working overtime. It was trying to come up with a way to save her, but it could not come up with anything fast enough, as my blade sliced through her neck, breaking any rune she had protecting her and it was game over. Fast and no time wasted!
I watched the battered body tetter around weakly as her head sprawled a few metres away, her face still having that disbelieving look on her face. I have seen many such features on most of my targets; they just couldn't believe just how easily they fell to my blade. Most would argue they were weak, but I knew it was because of my training and experience. I was fifty years old even while looking like a twenty year old. This was thanks to my supernatural healing, keeping me young and healthy every single time.
"I guess Serchov is earning himself plenty of merits for chosing this mission," I chuckled as I heard the battle coming to an end miles away. Serchov was hurt a little but it was the best outcome. I was a little fond of him, it would be quite a shame if he got badly injured here.
I ran back to the destroyed den where I could see the aftermath of my attack. Everything in a thirty miles radius was wiped out, but I could still smell the hostages. They were alive, underground, which was the reason why I went hard in the first attack. Sure, it was strong, but I made sure not to use my whole attack or seismic level earthquakes would have been the least outcome, killing everyone here, including Serchov and the hostages.
Tearing off the barely holding on door, I walked down the stairs holding to torch to see a dungeon where all the hostages the bandits had were been kept. But, something was strange. I could smell the foul air of dark magic surrounding all of them, especially the women in one cell who were all pregnant. They had a dead look on their faces as they just stared at her, blankly. I heard Serchov come downstairs before stopping, looking pale at the sight in front of him.
"This, squire, is the evil in the world. If you are not ready to face it, I suggest you quit right here and now," I told him just as he looked like he wanted to puke.