" Come, let's begin shall we?"
Rumius swallowed nervously as he took up position in front of his master.
" Lesson one on fighting big groups." He heard his master's voice come from behind him. " Crush the alpha. For clumsy brigands like this, it tends to be the most ostensible one. Just look for the one that looks like an overdressed chicken."
Following his master's instructions, Rumius began looking around. But he couldn't find anyone that looked out of place.
' In the big tent, maybe?' Rumius seamlessly transitioned into his Mana world and easily spotted multiple masses of concentrated mana within the tent. Strangely, they seemed to be…entangled? In some places, the human shapes even seemed to be overlapping, separating and re-overlapping in an intimate, rhythmic, pulsating motion…'
The realisation of what they were doing took Rumius aback.
' Really? Here?'
Rumius shrugged. ' I guess we have our alpha.'
Master nodded in approval as he told her his findings.
" You remember what I've taught you." She noted. It should have sounded somewhat proud, but it still came out monotonously. There really was no helping it, Rumius thought wistfully.
" Lesson two." Funny enough, it was here that Master smiled. Unfortunately for the bandits, it wasn't a pleasant smile. " Wreck as much-" master's voice suddenly froze on the up-climb. " On second thought, what do you think is the best for us to do now?" She quizzed.
It was hard trying to ignore the word 'wreck' that master had used.
Pointing to the other tents and some crates which were pressed along the wooden wall. Rumius said carefully." I would destroy those first. To throw the enemy into a panic." Master smiled at his reply.
" Not bad. But I want you to leave that to me. Take two other bandits down. "
Rumius nodded.
" You can take your time. They don't know we're here."
Although she said that, Rumius didn't need much time. Expanding his aura to the air, Rumius opened three spots of concentrated mana around him. They hovered in space like a mirage, ready to launch their deadly payload.
" Good. Although it would be better if you took only a leg from their leader and not his life. We still have much to ask him." Master said. Rumius nodded and one of his mana spots quickly took on a vortex-like form with deeper colour as he compressed the spell inside. Then, he and Master both casted their spells in unison.
" BLAST!!"
" LIGHTING BELT."
A ball of electro materialised 50 metres above the camp and exploded. The sky and earth both blackened as a hellscape was painted of the ground below. Lighting fell like rain, and men dropped like flies. Meanwhile, three arrows of wind screamed through the air, weaving through the lightning tendrils and punched into their foes. Screams erupted from below as the wooden fences, meant to keep enemies out, turned against their masters, keeping them from leaving the death pit that had suddenly opened.
As quickly as it had all begun, Master reached out and closed her fist. The ball of lightning vanished to thin air. The surroundings instantly brightened. Black smoke could be seen rising from the scorched earth below.
It was like the world had been cut from a filter of dystopia into one of tragedy as only the screams and moans and smoke continued past this point. Surprisingly, the ones coming from the big tent were the worst. Rumius narrowed his eyes. Somehow. Somewhat. He had expected it to turn out this way.
" Let's go down to collect our prizes, shall we?" Master said gleefully. Rumius looked at her. ' Prizes?' He thought numbly.
" Yes master."
It was as if feeling the touch of her hand on his, the world before his eyes swam in response to show him a whole new reality. And this new reality truly was hellish.
The smell hit before the sights. It was a rotting, fumy smell. Like overcooked meat that was somehow still raw at the same time.
Nothing master had made before could have ever prepared him for this. The gag impulse was reflexive and Rumius could feel the bitter acid in his mouth as he tried to swallow the burning sensation back down.
Then, he noticed all the the people who were dying all around him. They had holes, and where there were no holes, there was only blackened skin, fried to a crisp and punctuated by spitting white pus. The moans were the worst of them all and for a moment, Rumius just stood there, dumbfounded. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. He couldn't believe what he had just had a hand in.
What he had just done.
' I…did this to these people.' He thought, the horror parching up his throat like thirsty devil. The thought was literally unbelievable.
' I did this to these people.' He repeated. Rumius looked around, feeling the devil claw it's way towards his heart as he remembered how effortless this had all been. He whispered a few words. Cooked up a few thoughts. And yet…
" Please…water…" someone croaked weakly.
Rumius turned so fast he almost fell. ' There was someone who was still alive! They're still alive! They're still alive!' He thought, an overwhelming sense of relief coming over him.
' They're still ali-'
Rumius turned to see a young boy with his legs burnt away, crawling on the ground with his scrawny, blackened hands alone. He wasn't coming towards Rumius, in fact he wasn't going anywhere in particular. Rumius realised that he was just doing whatever he could to survive. One of his eyes had melted close while the other looked boiled and clouded. But it was still open regardless, although oozing blood and tears and snot in a gruesome mess.
Rumius rushed forward to help. Water was it? If it was water, then he had some right here. It was hanging in his back pocket. If only he could reach i-
Rumius couldn't move. His legs refused to move. Rumius could feel no mana on him. No one was keeping him in place. Why wasn't he moving? What was this?
Rumius was sure he looked shocked from the outside, and the realisation shockingly made him think: ' Why?'
' Afterall…I know exactly why I am not moving.'
' It exactly because that someone is alive.'
' It's because there is a bandit who's is alive.'
The realisation struck Rumius on a core level.
Because it was right. It made sense. This young person was a bandit. He was a bandit, so he must have had killed his share of people. He must have caused suffering too. There was no need to feel sorry for him. Rumius rationalised.
This was their mission. This was their mission and their key to get to Limia. With this mission over, they could go to Limia. The faster they arrived in Limia, the quicker he could become stronger. The sooner he could use all the spells he wanted. The sooner he would be able to use that spell and the sooner he would be able to feel the same way he did that day amidst those clouds in that boundless sky.
Yes. Yes. That was the goal. That was where he was headed to. And the last thing to stop him would be a young upstart who gave zero shits for the lives of others when he himself took them and now demanded ' mercy'. Because that would make no sense. And he would be stupid to do that.
Rumius took a deep breath.
He stepped back. The sound of his footsteps must have created some noise as immediately after, the half-dead kid looked his way and started crawling towards him. It was as if he was looking at an insect. Rumius felt no pity for the creature. But he couldn't be bothered to end its pitiful existence either.
" Let's go, master." He heard himself say.
" Oh?" He didn't look to see her usual half-smile half-smirk. " I was under the impression that you need some time. That was faster than I expected."
" I don't need time." He snapped. " These are bandits. Our mission was to exterminate them. A low rank who can't provide information isn't worth trying to save. Then there is the problem of cost and…and…he probably can't be saved, anyway." Rumius looked away. " I won't bother myself with the likes of these."
Master raised an eyebrow. " You are saying that you ambition will take precedence over these people? How cold."
Rumius growled. " I don't want to hear that from you."
" Hahaha, very well then. Come. If we wait any longer, our main prize will bleed out." She began walking again.
Silently, Rumius followed.
" You expended quite a bit of mana back there. Unfortunately, I don't have any potions currently on my person, so make do by drinking up. I don't want to have to carry you back because of a heatstroke.
" I'll do it later. I'm not feeling thirsty right now." Rumius said. He couldn't tell her that he no longer had the water skin on his possession. That he had given their limited and precious water away to an insect.