Leaving for the dungeon, the group found a merchant carriage traveling south with enough space for them. They paid the man for passage and headed off south of the capital.
....
Niss was thinking to himself as they rode in the back of the carriage, he was stuck on the way Nyx sounded when she reached out to him, and couldn't stop thinking about the pain in her words. Niss couldn't tell if this was how he really felt or if worrying for her was somehow caused by their mental bond.
Niss and the other members of the group had stored all their belongings besides their weapons in Siarra's new artifact bag. It was a huge relief not to have their packs to lug around anymore, Niss was especially thrilled knowing how hard it was to come by these bags for normal people. Even Niss's father, a Baron of a small territory did not have one of these artifacts.
Niss had about an hour of travel ahead of him before this carriage would pass close by the Orcish Bladecave dungeon, so he spent some time cultivating while he thought about his family and wondered if Gerard had made it home safely.
'Since Gerard headed back home directly, he should be there very soon if not making it there already. I should really have the guild send someone to check up on the status of things back home for me. Of course I trust my mother and sister are managing well, I'm still worried how Gerard's family will take the news and I'd like my mother to help them anyway they need.'
As Niss was cultivating in the back of the carriage so were the rest of rest of the group, each thinking about their own things.
Trevor was cultivating but he had changed gears slightly, instead of focusing directly on his dragon lineage and the pathways for his aura to be infused into his body he was more focused on the earth mana around him and bringing it into his aura and purifying it.
Siarra was thinking how excited she was since she finally learned the other spell tome she had picked up before. Flame Shield, a defensive barrier of condensed flames that would block projectiles and most melee attacks. She liked the idea of leaning into supporting spells since Niss also had control over fire magic and Lys was a dependable ice mage with many offensive spells.
Curt was thinking about the upcoming dungeon, wondering if it would have a dungeon puzzle like before, although he considered the fact that the last dungeon was an anomaly and they should have not been faced with such a trial in a low rank dungeon. Either way Curt was excited to get this dungeon delve done so that he could get back to the capital and explore the library's collection of books on dungeon puzzles.
Lysandra was also lost in thought as she cultivated, focusing on the water mana in the air before drawing it in and purifying it into ice. She was mostly thinking about her father and how he had helped them so much, hoping that her friends would still stick by her when she someday took over the Dukedom.
Niss was shaken out of his focus when the carriage came to an abrupt stop.
'Huh? The roads here should be well maintained, being close to the capital, and the snow is barely more than an inch here. Why are we stopping suddenly?'
The rest of the group was also shaken by the sudden stoppage and looked around at each other in the covered back of the carriage.
"Oooh, we've found a good one boys! This silly merchant only has one guard with him! Such easy prey for the Red Hound Gang!"
"Please, there is no need for violence! If it's money you want I can pay for passage!" The merchant who had been driving their carriage sounded panicked looking back and forth from his singular escort guard to the large group of fifteen bandits that had occupied the road.
'These bandits are trouble, I think the party in the back are adventurers but will they protect me? Are they even strong enough to take on so many bandits? I should just surrender and get out of here with my life.' The merchant thought to himself as he reviewed his situation.
However as he was thinking it over, the group he was carrying in the back had made their way out and came to either side of his escort guard.
Niss was quick to speak. "Red Hound Gang? Never heard of them, you must be a bunch of weaklings." A smirk appearing on his face as he readied his Kama and flared up his obsidian aura.
"Hah! Looks like we at least get to have some fun now! Kill them all except those two girlies, they look pretty tasty hahaha!" The gross middle aged man who seemed to be the leader of this little group had a nasty smile with some teeth missing and looked like he hadn't bathed in weeks.
"You sick and worthless bandit trash, you will all die like dogs." Niss launched forward, unafraid to be the first to strike.
With the infusion of his aura giving him enhanced speed it only took a moment to reach the bandit leader. Just before coming into range to swing his blade, Niss pivoted hard. Two other bandits were quick to protect their leader, the swords crashing down in front of him where Niss would of been. Instead of killing Niss like they hoped, they were met with a piercing bolt of flame that tore through their chests.
"Emberflick!"
After his hard pivot, Niss launched his fire magic killing two of the bandits.
"DRAGONS, LEND ME THY STRENGTH!"
Trevor joined the fray coming up beside Niss and parrying a blade headed for his back. Now the battle was on and spells began to fly, a chunk of stone flying through the air with deadly force had been launched from one of the bandits, making its way to Trevor as he was locked in melee with another bandit.
"Flame Shield!"
An impressive kite shield of fire erupted next to Trevor as the stone rammed into it fully nullified by the magic flames.
"Icy Tomb!"
Three bandits that had rushed towards the back line were encased in solid ice, shocked expressions etched on their faces as the ice completely stopped them in their tracks.
Trevor had cut down the bandit he was engaged with, his broadsword coated in blood. The ground around him sprung up, as wedges of stone had formed beneath his feet propelling him towards another bandit.
Meanwhile, Niss was locked in on the leader, their blades met and sparks flew. Niss managed to leave a few nicks from his Kama but the bandit was clearly skilled as well. The bandit had a whitish aura that flared up in equal size to Niss's dark obsidian.
"Wind Blades!"
The bandit leader hoped back from Niss and swung his blade in the air, unleashing two powerful arcs of air compressed into lethal blades with mana.
"Ice Pillar!"
Niss threw his free hand up with an open palm, a large pillar of ice sprung up in front of him to block the wind blades. However these blades were no joke as they sliced through the pillar of ice, only loosing some of their power. Seeing his block ineffective Niss braced for the impact as he infused as much mana into his body as possible.
SHING! SHING!
Niss slid backwards from the force, a bloody X marked on his chest as his shirt was cut open.
"NISS!?" Siarra shouted in fear as she finished burning one of the bandits to a crisp and had time to notice the state Niss was in.
"I'M FINE! DONT LOSE FOCUS!" Niss shouted back.
"Heh, you don't look fine to me. You look like a deadman!" The leader jumped forward taking advantage of the pressure he put on.
"Emberflick!"
Niss launched his bolts of fire at the leader but they were thrown aside by his powerful wind affinity.
Niss was out of options.
"Earthen Bulwark!"
Trevor had just finished off another bandit when he saw Niss's situation. Erupting a wall of stone directly in front of Niss to block the leader.