The group had cleared all the bandit bodies off the road after taking what little valuables they had, roughly 80g and some potions. They bid the merchant farewell and good luck, with his trip now only a short ways to the next town and the local bandits cleared out he wasn't afraid of another attack.
They decided to make a small camp area on the other side of the road from where they dragged the bandit bodies, after the merchant left, they set up. First a campfire then tents and bedrolls, then finally Trevor started cooking some food they got from Erik before they left.
Siarra and Curt were recharging their auras with mana, while Trevor cooked and Lysandra finished setting things up, of course before anything they had first put out a bedroll and laid the unconscious Niss on it to rest.
....
Gathered around the warmth of the fire the group started talking over having to kill bandits, they have seen people kill bandits and that was just the way the world is. They were feeling a little shaken after having to have done it themselves, but they understand its kill or be killed and this world only respects the strong and powerful. It is definitely not a world for the faint of heart.
"At least knowing how scummy that leader was makes things a little easier." Siarra spoke up first.
"Yeah Siarra and I would have faced a fate worse than just death, thank you guys for fighting the way you did." Lys looked at Trevor and Curt thankfully.
"I'm just glad Niss made the first move, made it easier on me just having to follow up." Trevor was staring over at Niss's unconscious body.
The group talked quietly for awhile about the battle, before eating and resting. They need some time after this battle to recharge their auras before they head to the dungeon.
.....
Niss heard soft voices and a crackling of fire nearby, he felt he was laid down on something comfortable and took a moment to check his aura before he got up.
His aura was in a sort of a dormant state after he had gotten backlash from fully depleting it, he frowned deeply and tried to clear his headache. Eventually opening his eyes and sitting up when the smell of freshly grilled meet began to invade his nostrils.
'Yum, I feel like I could eat a whole pig right now.'
Niss now fully awake, notices their little camp.
"Oh, this is nice, sorry I passed out guys."
Everyone was quiet and just looked at Niss and then at Trevor and then back to Niss, like their was something he was supposed to say.
'Uh oh' Niss thought.
Finally the group couldn't hold back any longer.
Trevor looked directly at Niss.
"Niss... We uhhhhmm... We all saw you use every affinity... And that spell at the end was so powerful it took down the bandit leader after only a few seconds."
'Oh well, cats out the bag now. Let's just hope they consider me a close enough friend not to immediately report this.'
Siarra spoke up next.
"Niss we guessed by now that you are trying to keep this talent hidden, but all of us agree that we don't mind helping you keep your secret. We wouldn't want to lose our friend over something like this."
'Well this is good, I figured I might have to rush home and take my family into hiding. Seems like getting close with them has paid off.'
"Thank you Siarra, I have had to keep this secret my whole life and it became even harder once my aura fully formed. It's dangerous for me to be exposed, many people would want to control me or outright kill me in fear of the strength I could wield in the future. I really appreciate you guys being willing to keep this between us" Niss gave his classic charming smile towards the group before his stomach growled loudly.
"Here, take a plate, the rest of us already ate and are about done recharging our auras. Your gonna want some food in you since you suffered backlash." Trevor handed him a plate full of meat, potato, carrots, gravy and a biscuit.
"Thanks Trevor, I will try to recover quickly so we can head out to the dungeon."
Niss was worrying a little on the inside as he wasn't one-hundred percent sure his friends will be able to hold back about this.
'I guess its about time I started revealing myself a little, I've already begun to gain power and holding back now will only slow me down.'
"I will use my full potential with you guys when were in dungeons, or like today when there was no choice. I don't want to tell anyone else or show off yet, Its dangerous and people may even come after you thinking you helped shelter me. Until I can protect myself and everyone I care about, we can't let this slip to anyone." Niss looked at each one of his friends as he spoke.
"I think you hoped we wouldn't see your fight, but with the four of us the last three bandits didn't stand a chance. We talked while you were passed out, and we all agreed that you are our friend and a core part of our team, we couldn't possibly rat you out for petty gains." Lysandra spoke this time, keeping the warm tone she had recently put on.
"Thanks guys, you really are great friends." Niss was truly thankful for his companions, people in this world betrayed each other constantly for the smallest chance to increase their power, since power ruled above all else, most everyone acted this way. Niss's friends were showing him different and he was really happy in this moment.
...
Time passed as they all relaxed, now that everything was out in the open they were all recharging their auras after their exhausting battle, Curt and Siarra were already done and were just keeping watch over their little roadside camp.
"I can't believe we have someone so powerful with us." Curt looked over to Siarra beside him.
"Niss has always been really strong and smart, I don't even feel that surprised that he has some legendary talent, it seems fitting for him." Siarra smiled, revealing eyes full of admiration as she glanced over at Niss, sitting legs crossed by the fire, he was doing his best to recover quickly.
"Hmmm, I havn't known him as long as you and Trevor but I can definitely see what you mean. He's a good leader and friend even going all out to the point of backlash to fight off that bandit boss says a lot about him." Curt's shyness was slipping away bit by bit as he began to feel more a part of the group.
.....
Several hours have passed now and it is early afternoon, although the rest only took about an hour to recharge their auras, it took Niss a long time even with his all affinity making the process easier for him. He had suffered mana backlash when he cast that final spell causing him to pass out.
Their wasn't any permanent risk to backlash, but it made the first recovery afterwards a significantly more difficult process. The mana in his aura had been fully depleted leaving it in a sort of dormant state. In order to fix this, one would have to draw in a ton of mana into their body before purifying and using it all at once to reignite their aura. Since the time it took to gather enough mana to do so could be hours, then having to recharge your aura from empty right afterwards this caused the process to take much longer than normal.
....
"Alright guys, I'm much better now, thanks for waiting, lets go kill some orcs."
Niss had a big smile as he got the rest of the group excited for what was next.