Rito and Durkson ran back to the location of the class, rapidly leaping through the foliage of the forest, ignoring the paved path in hopes of returning even a second faster. Rito furrowed his brows, there was no evidence that the students would be attacked but his instincts told him that there was a high chance they would be ambushed. He kept his eyes in the direction of the hunting ground, not wanting to look back to Galan. He felt guilty for abandoning Turk, a small part of him even desired that someone attack the students, if only to justify his choice.
But there was no use regretting his decision, he committed to protecting his class, and he could only go back after ensuring they were safe.
As they drew near, he saw that his suspicions were confirmed, a group of 10 bandits were approaching the class. They each had the same aura as the few he faced before, he was sure they were in the Storage Stage.
He motioned for Durkson to stop and hide before jumping in the middle of the group.
"Stop." He looked at the group with cold eyes, his hand placed on top of his sabre.
The group looked at him in surprise, wondering where Rito had come from. They didn't have any residents of Galan with them so they weren't aware of who he was just from his appearance.
"The f*ck did you come from?" One of them said. While the group was stunned at his sudden appearance they didn't believe there was any danger, each of them was an experienced fighter at the Storage Stage and this R*tard just jumped in the middle of them. They all thought he had a death wish.
"And 'Stop'? Why the f*ck would we listen to you." They spat venom from their mouths, readying their weapons to slaughter the idiot who just ran into the middle of them.
Though they were confident, they knew a man who would dare face 10 of them at once wasn't simple, they quickly formed a circle around Rito and poured their mana into their weapons, the barbarians taking a martial stance and the mages preparing their spells.
Rito stayed calm, his eyes moving slowing through the group. 'All at the 2nd Stage, 4 knights, 2 barbarians, mages and augmenters. No beast tamers or elementalists...'
Much like his student, Rito had no bias. He poured mana into his mind and eyes as analysed all facets of their paths and bearing, a small amount of mana left in his toes ready to react to any attack.
'Like I thought, they're all experienced. It's impossible that they'd be any random group of marauders. The fact they have barbarians adds to that.'
Barbarians were rare in Belmond, they were rare in Saltera overall. The path originated outside of the continent, coming from the eastern continent of Bai'zai. Belmond was a far cry from Bai'zai and many chose to become a knight here instead of choosing the discriminated against path of a barbarian.
The only place in Saltera where one could find many barbarians was Alphonse. The path was still looked down upon there, but Alphonse was a meritocracy, so some chose the path if it fit them. They may get some glares here and there but it wouldn't stop them from getting work, unlike in Belmond.
"Where are you from?" Rito broke the silence. "And why are you targeting a place like Galan."
One of the men spread out his hand while pressing on his ring finger, it was a gesture of Altera that meant 'F*ck off'. "We came from you're mother's vag d*ckhead. And Galan? The place is an eyesore, thought we could help Belmond get his of it."
The group of men laughed at his provocation, they had no intention of humouring Rito in any way.
Rito huffed and rolled his eyes. 'You'll talk eventually...'
*BANG*
In an instant, Rito burst off the ground, jumping directly into the air. He stretched out his hand, uncurled two fingers and aimed toward one of the mages.
[Mana Art: Finger Peircer!]
Mana shot out his fingers towards the mage, embedded with the essence of a rapier. An extremely long and thin blade was created between him and Rito.
Seeing he was being targeted the mage unleashed a Loaded Spell, Blitz Ward. A luminescent red shield surrounded him without delay and took the impact of Rito's Mana Art before shattering, the brunt of the blow being too much for the warding spell.
"Shit! Get him!" The bandits all started to attack, two of the knights unleashed arrows embued with mana at Rito while the other mage cast a Loaded Spell with his staff.
[[Weapon Art: Mana Arrow!!]]
[Loaded Spell: Fire Ball!]
All three attacks were only rudimentary arts and spells.
Mana Arrow increased the speed and piercing strength of an arrow while Fire Ball was the most basic spell a mage could cast, everyone and their mother knew of it.
Rito only scoffed at their attacks.
[Mana Art: Boost!]
A short burst of mana exploded out of Rito's feet, propelling him out of the path of their attacks. Rito spun in the air, his eyes absorbing all the information on the battlefield.
He released another Boost, this time shooting him down into the ground. Flipping, he landed right behind the mage he previously attacked.
The mage panicked, raising his hand to unleash a spell from his wand but it was too late. Too little time had passed since he cast Blitz Ward and he couldn't cast another spell, even one he Loaded.
Rito sliced off the man's head with his sabre, killing him instantly. With mana in his legs, he then kicked his headless body into a nearby augmenter, catching them off guard.
'That's one.'
"Fuck, he got Raymond!"
The augmenter caught the body of his fallen friend, and his blood boiled as he activated his Beastial Aspect gained from the beast he implanted in his body, ready to tear his claws into Ritos's throat...
"Sad, isn't it?" But in his rage, he hadn't noticed Rito's approach.
[Weapon Art: Sword Aura!]
Coating his sabre in mana, Rito stabbed through the body of the deceased mage, his blade exited the corpse and tore directly into the augmenter's chest, cutting through his armour like butter. The two bandits were skewed on his sword.
"Argh!" The man coughed out blood, the light leaving his eyes.
'Two.'
By now, the two barbarians had reached Rito's flank, the archers already drawing another set of arrows.
"Make him stand still!" The archers shouted at the barbarians as they released two more Mana Arrows.
Both barbarians unleashed a devastating punch towards Rito, a gust of wind in their wake. Realising he couldn't avoid their blows in time, Rito had let go of his sabre!
[Mana Art: Stalwart!]
Locking his body into place, he caught both fists into his own. Rito grimaced as pain reverberated through his arms, but he didn't have time to focus on the barbarians as two arrows were travelling towards his head.
He tilted his head, causing one to narrowly graze his cheek, but the other was coming directly for his face. Opening his mouth, he clamped down on the mana-enchanted arrow with his teeth, stopping the arrow mere millimetres away from creating a hole in his throat, the taste of iron on his tongue.
The archer was stunned upon seeing that he had stopped their arrow with only his teeth but smirked when he saw Rito become surrounded by the other two knights and the remaining augmenter.
"We got you f*cking now!" The barbarian laughed, he pulled his arm to ready another blow but realised it was still being gripped by Rito.
Both barbarians felt the pressure on their arms increase, they furiously attempted to pull away from Rito.
Forcing mana into his hands, Rito smirked, crushing the arms of the barbarians. Their flesh twisted and burst, fragmented bone jutting out of their skin.
"AH! F*CK!"
Rito threw the screaming men towards their companions, using their bodies as cover as he crossed his arms and pointed his fingers towards their backs.
[Mana Art: Finger Piecer!]]X2
Another thin blade of mana shot out, immediately entering the heads of the two barbarians before arriving next to the knights behind them.
'Four.'
Rito uncrossed his arms, the two blades swinging in an arc as the heads of the knights were diced apart, their brain matter dropping on the floor.
'Six.'
Turning around, Rito saw the remaining augmenter behind him, his expression was ghastly and pale, terrified of the man before him.
"Sh*t! Sh*t! What the f*ck are you?!" Rito didn't respond as he walked towards him.
*Swoosh* *Swoosh*
Another two arrows were fired but Rito simply dodged one and caught the other, redirecting it into the augmenter's throat.
'Seven'
The remaining three bandits looked on with terror, not believing for a moment what just happened before their eyes. The archers screamed at the living mage.
"Tull! We need spells! NOW!"
"I know! I know!" The mage was casting his strongest Loaded Spell, Fireball obviously didn't work so he decided to try using one that took a longer amount of time to cast, he didn't expect his companions to be slaughtered like dogs.
"Alright! I'm almost do-"
*Flop* *Flop*
The mage turned to see the archers dead on the floor, a floating sabre above their bodies.
"That's nine." The sabre flew back to its wielder, Rito held it as he stared at the last remaining bandit.
"...Bond Stage. Ahaha... So you're that Rito guy..." He remembered that the losers that their leader recruited from Galan said a Bond Stage knight had come, he should have realised who Rito was earlier. He fell to the ground, surrendering completely.
'But even if he's in the Bond Stage... I'm not even sure if Braken can do what he just did...'
The mage looked up at Rito, his eyes pleading. Piss leaked from his pants, he started to sob and beg for his life.
"Please... Don't kill me."
Rito stared at the bandit unmoved by his display, he let out in an even and reserved voice. "Don't worry, I need information. You're not dying. Yet."