Caophre ventured into the forest, nothing else surrounded her but plants thick enough for someone to hide in. As it wasn't a full moon, the light was especially low for someone to see through the area.
The earthy scent of the soil rose up in the warm air, contributed by decomposing leaves and fruits on the ground.
Since a person's sight would be completely hampered by the dark, Caophre knew that he had to do something.
She raised her thumb and pressed it between her eyes and quietly whispered a string of incoherent words. At least for the uneducated in soul energy arts, that is.
Caophre's voice resonated deeply with the surroundings like the deep ringing of a bell.
After he uttered the last word, a part of his being seemingly broke. A red spark ignited deep within his pupils and sank deep into her soul.
A feeling of lightness rushed to embrace Caophre, his senses expanded, enough to cover almost two kilometers of distance.
Getting used to this sensation, she scanned the area like an owl and saw a silhouette of what seems to be a human. When she focused her soul energy on her eyes, the trees that blocked her line of sight vanished into translucent glass.
Now, he could clearly perceive the presence of a man hiding behind the shrubbery. Not only that, there were several of them.
'Now… just who are these fools?'
Caophre properly fitted his leather sleeves and dashed towards the group's location.
…
Unknowingly to this band of criminals, they were already spotted.
These bandits were more of the capable bunch. For them to survive in the life of banditry for this long, they possess the brains, strength, skills, equipment and mystical means to keep going for another day.
One of these mystical means was to use detection methods far from just direct sight.
One bandit in particular, held a metal plate.
This plate was ornamental at best, it can even be considered as an antique.
This man's name is Gurmed. He stared at the metal plate in his hands with a copper coin in the middle of it and three water droplets.
Gurmed has long black hair and a face that was fairly decent for a bandit. It is a mystery why someone like him entered this kind of life.
The copper coin acted as the nexus for the three droplets of water. Each drop contained at least a morsel of soul energy to manipulate their movements real time.
Caophre was the fourth droplet of water that the device represented. And this drop had already left the effective zone of the plate.
It's been a short while since Gurmed checked on the metal plate. When he decided to look back, he sprung up from the ground, sitting with his back straight.
'Wait, when were they there?'
He clutched his sword next to his hip and rubbed the dirt off from it.
There were two water droplets huddled closely to each other, but they didn't mix at all nor did they move. The third water droplet was circling around the area though.
These water droplets represent Owen, Oslan and Riang.
Noting the appearance of the three, Gurmed alarmed his fellow bandits.
"I just checked the detection device, I got some guys on my side. You might want to check this out." Gurmed gestured with his hand in a beckoning manner.
"Really?" Qivef, a tall and fierce looking bandit wearing a wolf's head as a hood, went over to Gurmed and grabbed the metal plate from him to check it out for himself.
Qivef noticed a trail of water that leaked off the plate. "Oh..?" He wiped it with his finger and inspected it closely, "There's a fourth person coming towards this way…"
"Seriously? How did I not notice that.." Gurmed held the metal plate closer to his face and indeed, there used to be a fourth droplet.
The other scouting bandits looked over to him when he said those exact words.
"Stay alert, we have a visitor." Qivef heaved out a deep sigh and grabbed the longbow from his back and an arrow from his quiver.
The bandits all prepared their weapons and looked at the direction where the road was the nearest.
Because they never started a fire, all of them were concealed by the night's cloak.
They all acted like predators waiting for prey. None of them made a single rustle, their breathing remained silent, ensuring no sound would be heard from them.
Soon enough, Caophre approached their location.
Qivef and the rest watched her carefully and assessed the level of threat that the uninvited guest had.
Caophre's demeanor was nonchalant and steady at the same time. He acted as if he was just taking a daily stroll. Under his cloak, there wasn't a single weapon at all.
Only the bag around her neck could be seen. And when she turned, her cloak revealed that there was nothing else under it.
He was unarmed.
Qivef didn't waste time and readied an arrow into his longbow before aiming it at Caophre, not before using a green magic circle on his palm to shoot a soul energy imbued arrow. This magic circle did not glow, it resembled an emerald ring when its luminescent nature was taken away.
He released his fingers on the string.
The arrow flew through the air soundlessly and imperceptibly. There was no doubt that it would hit the target.
Caophre did not dodge the arrow.
It lodged itself into her mouth, confirming it for Qivef that he managed to hit her successfully. Caophre's neck keeled backwards, his face obscured by the shadows.
But just as Qivef was going to lower his guard and watch Caophre's body fall, an unexpected sight played in front of him.
Caophre smiled.
The arrow's tip almost touched his throat, but it was caught by his teeth, unable to move any further.
Caophre slowly returned to her proper posture and looked exactly where the arrow was shot from.
"Pweh–!" Caophre spat out the arrow and with a provocative grin, he locked eyes with the barely visible Qivef.
Cold air whistled through the branches.
He didn't know why, but Qivef was overwhelmed with the feeling of a rabbit being spotted by a tiger.
He gnashed his jaw and shouted, "We've been discovered, attack her, now!"
The other bandits nodded and jumped down the trees and dashed with the style that trained combatants would have.
Caophre straightened her hands like blades, a large red magic circle appeared on her back as thin vein-like tendrils extended out from it, going to her hands.
*Fwoo– Gsash!*
Bright red flames ignited on Caophre's hands.
"Finally, something worth stretching my arms for..!" Caophre was filled with exhilaration.
Although she wasn't here to fight because as a merchant, she prioritizes money over anything else. But then again, fighting does have a charm of its own.
Tier-V Amplification Spell [Heatless Flames]
Caophre bent one of her knees and leapt forward. A shallow footprint was left on the ground where she previously stood.
A spiky short haired bandit in front of Caophre swung his saber at her. With a wide shield on his other hand, he had a good balance of offense and defense.
This bandit used several magic circles that rotated on his legs, elbows and arms of varying colors. Providing him with an excellent power boost.
Caophre caught the saber with his left hand and used his other hand as a spear to stab through the shield.
*Thukk-!*
The bandit was nothing short of surprised. He looked down at his chest with Caophre's hand in it.
He wasn't given enough time to think when a red flamed elbow strike broke his spinal cord, killing him as his neck was horribly misplaced.
Qivef shot another arrow at Caophre as she dealt with the bandit. The arrow hit Caophre's mouth once again, but was caught by her teeth like earlier.
"Pwah-! Can you stop aiming for my mouth?" Caophre sprinted forward and faced three approaching bandits at once.
One of the bandits was someone who specialized in soul energy. She waved her hands, three green magic circles spun on her right forearm like revolving bracelets and aimed at Caophre.
The ground moved as if it came to life. A stone spike emerged between Caophre's legs. Qivef wasn't idle and kept shooting arrows at him as this was happening.
A normal person would find themselves stuck in such a tight situation.
But somehow, this was barely even a challenge for Caophre.
Up until this point, Caophre only relied on her physical capabilities to fight them. There was no need to waste soul energy that was beyond her regeneration of it.
Caophre manipulated the red flames into the shape of a drill and punched the emerging stone spike, pulverizing it into a molten mess. His other hand wasn't idle, a flick of a hand expanded the shape of the flames into a flat protective screen that destroyed the arrows upon contact.
True to its name, the red spectral flames on Caophre's hands were truly heatless.
Like a grasshopper, Caophre targeted the mage.
"Watch out!" The two melee bandits protected the mage with their swords.
With a swift slash, two swords barred Caophre's path. She responded by grabbing both blades by the hilt, snapping them as they turned liquid.
Then, she shifted her hands into spears and plunged them towards the bandits' chests.
Caophre felt as if he stabbed his hands through nothing but air.
Using her grip on their bodies, Caophre used them as leverage and leapt forward to kill the mage.
The mage swiftly dodged Caophre's strikes by utilizing a unique spell that appeared on her ankles as blue magic circles.
Her excellent footwork allowed her to avoid the swift barrage of punches aimed for her face. She ducked and weaved like a professional boxer. Some of the mage's hair was singed because of the red flames.
Qivef shot three soul energy infused arrows at Caophre which were dealt with quite easily using one hand. This gave the mage enough time to retreat far away from Caophre.
"Change of plans, we can't let this woman reach us. Those red flames are troublesome to deal with." Qivef took another arrow from his quiver and said, "Wilha, get ready to use your strongest spell.. Thast, use all of your restraining type spells. The rest of you, try to circle her as distraction and keep dodging before Thast casts his spells…"
"Gurmed, you will be going…"
"…"
Qivef began to give them all tasks to complete.
"Understood!" The other bandits acted quickly and implemented the plan.
Qivef activated a large yellow magic circle on his palm that was roughly the size of head and infused three arrows at once before shooting.
The three arrows flew with a bright yellow light, making them look like pure energy.
Caophre guarded against the arrows and waved his hand to create a screen of flames to cover him from the arrows. But unexpectedly, the arrows blew up and separated into long tiny needles of light that fluttered around Caophre like a swarm of bugs.
When the needles of light surrounded Caophre completely from all angles, they all darted towards him with the intent to turn Caophre into a pin cushion.
'Awh, what a tease… I like this guy's tricks.'
Caophre saw the arrows and the attacks of the bandit's encirclement. Even if he dealt with the arrows, swords will be able to find their way to slash him, which isn't good.
Clapping his flaming hands together, a thin wave of red soul energy spread out in a spherical shape, destroying the arrows of light and even giving the nearby bandits that tried to pull a fast one on him with some nasty burns.
This move cost considerably more soul energy than just covering her hands with the red flames.
Although that gave her some breathing space, chubby vines with red spikes suddenly sprouted from the ground, snaring her legs tightly.
Not only that, the bandit named Thast used an ice trap spell and a spell that shot out a spurt of a clunky gray liquid that acted like fast drying cement after a few seconds.
The female mage from earlier waved her hand, using a lime magic circle stacked with several layers of smaller white, red and violet magic circles.
Tier-IV Compound Attack Spell [Cloud Torrent of Primal Beasts]
*Fhooooshhh—!*
The woman named Wilha who fired the spell shot out a flurry of white clouds similar to a fire extinguisher at full power.
These thick clouds formed the shapes of four legged beasts with large bodies, sharp teeth and claws almost appearing like lions, tigers and bears mixed into one unholy creature. These beasts were disfigured and rushed out like an amalgamation of stitched creatures in a pure, cloudy form.
This large jetstream of amalgamated bestial clouds with enormous soul energy brandished its claws and bared its numerous fangs at Caophre who was still stuck in place.
Unable to dodge, he was covered in this torrent.
The violent energies within this attack tore the affected trees apart into splinters, the rocks were further fined down into smaller fragments, showcasing just how much damage it can cause. An unlucky bandit was caught in the attack and was reduced into a red mist as she shouted in pain.
The other bandits didn't mind the extra loss and merely observed if this managed to kill Caophre.
Soon, the clouds dissipated, leaving the mage named Wilha a bit fatigued. She felt that her arm was so sore that it made her blood feel cold because of the shock and adrenaline.
The reason why she was so fatigued is because of a simple reason.
Soul energy not only needs a magic circle, but it requires physical endurance of the caster as well. If you used a magic circle on your hands, your hands will be dealing with the energy load caused by the spell. That's why a wand or a staff is useful because it shoulders the energy load damage instead of the caster.
All magic circles require a physical medium to activate.
Continuous use of a magic circle on your hands will tire it out physically. If you keep using too much soul energy on a single body part, it will eventually break apart as it is unable to endure the soul energy forced into it.
Therefore, mages in this world are physically fit and aren't just your typical squishy spellcasters.
Qivef looked at the spot where Caophre earlier stood, his chest rhythmically moving in a tensed yet controlled manner.
The clouds slowly dissolved into the air, slowly allowing them to regain visibility.
Eventually, the clouds faded.
However, there wasn't anyone in the spot where the spell was fired. Instead, there was a human sized hole under it.
Everyone froze.
Wilha felt the soil under her shake before seeing the unharmed Caophre diving out of it.
Caophre delivered a clean uppercut, burning her jaw clean off that spurted out blood as her face was ruined into a charred mess.
Qivef was gripped by terror and rage.
The rest of them backed away from Caophre, quite hesitant to fight him once again.
Caophre stretched all his fingers out into tiger claws, adapting a peculiar and low stance.
"That almost grazed my clothes, well done." Caophre's eyes shone with a ferocious and playful glint.
She could've used a variety of spells from the start and ended this fight in a few seconds, but where's the fun in that? Only by handicapping yourself and giving the opponents a fighting chance would the fight feel fair and a bit more enjoyment.
'Merchants have to de-stress as well.' Caophre snickered inwardly.
As Caophre observed his fearful enemies, he noticed that one of them was missing.
'Wait, where's the other one? I could've sworn he was–' His eyes widened when he noticed footsteps heading towards Owen and the rest.
Qivef laughed out loud. "You just noticed it now!? You're too late, whoever your friends are back there, they're dead once you get there!"
"Sh*t!" Caophre immediately stopped playing around and activated a high leveled spell on his hand.
Tier-??? Summoning Spell [Myriad Forms of Heatless Flames]
A red magic circle appeared from Caophre's palm. He smashed his hand against the ground which made the magic circle expand from his feet a few meters wider.
From this magic circle, a magnificent red aura flourished upwards.
Numerous phantoms that looked exactly like Caophre with blank expressions and eyes crawled out like ghouls from hell, the magic circle acting as its gate.
They all rushed towards the bandits as Caophre herself used a soul skeleton that specialized in speed to arrive at Owen's location faster.
Qivef was confronted by a dozen red phantoms of Caophre. He dropped his bow and unsheathed the sword on his hip.
He began swinging the blade into the crimson phantoms, only for it to phase through, hitting nothing, and for his own sword to melt.
His pupils shrunk into a pin's size.
The phantoms brought down their fists and began to perforate through Qivef's body. His face, ribs, shoulder, arms and legs faced no resistance as if he was made of styrofoam being pierced by hot metal rods.
— Meanwhile, at Owen's location…
It hasn't been that long until Caophre left.
The silence was eerie, but he didn't feel uneasy. Only boredom.
There was no need to worry about a powerhouse like Caophre. Owen saw his level and a person like that should be able to survive and even win against organized bandit groups.
During his time of doing…. not doing anything, Owen walked around to waste stamina to keep his fatigue from fading away just in case he sat down for too long.
At one point, he even did jumping jacks for no reason at all. He was just that bored.
Owen was currently sitting on the grassless trail. He went ahead and summoned the Bloodwhetcher to inspect its purple sheen tainted by the blood of its previous owner.
With no other entertainment, he wanted something to play with. He spun it around and wore the brass knuckles on his hand.
He did a couple punches and pretended to gouge the air, getting a good feel for the Bloodwhetcher's flow.
It was quite pretty when he held it up to the moonlight to get it to shine.
'Cant believe a knife this gorgeous used to be used by someone to kill me….'
This peaceful moment was broken when hurried footsteps began to grow closer and closer to him.
Owen stood up, expecting it to be Caophre, but all he saw was a man with long hair and sharp eyes with anxiety written all over his face running towards him.
This man was holding a glowing coin that was illuminating the area around him and a sword on his right hand.
==========
[Gurmed Amval - Level 24]
[Affiliation - Lanuz Ciol]
[Skills - Unavailable] (You do not have the necessary detection skill/s to view the following information.)
==========
Gurmed spotted Owen and was immediately ecstatic. When his gaze went lower, he saw Riang and Oslan sleeping soundly on the wagon, he then figured that Owen and Caophre were supposed to protect these two or something like that.
It didn't matter.
The point is that he can kill Owen and use the two as hostages against Caophre. That was the plan.
'This shouldn't be that hard..'
Gurmed gripped his sword and ran towards him with a crazed smile.
Owen assumed a defensive stance, copying the exact leg, arm and body posture that Iovoi employed before swinging his right hand.
Gurmed did not understand the logic from this move during the first moment that it happened until the last second.
*Slegch!*
An azure arc flew towards him that formed in a split second. If one looked carefully enough, it looked like the karambit was spitting out blue liquid to create the form for this arc.
He hurriedly used his right leg to stomp forward, stopping his momentum.
Gurmed then activated a blue magic circle by reflex that appeared on his forehead, summoning a shield to protect his face as he backed away from Owen.
*Crack!* The blue shield shattered into fragments after being struck by the crimson arc.
Gurmed was sent staggering backwards, his smile completely wiped off his face. Cold sweat drenched his back just from that short encounter.
'No good! This one's also brutal to deal with!'
Owen raised an eyebrow, a bit troubled about the bandit's skills. He already noticed the difference between this Gurmed fellow and Yuhmbir. They weren't even at the same level.
Gurmed scolded himself.
'He has a missing hand and doesn't seem troubled after seeing me at all! Of course he'd probably be as strong as that monster back there! Why didn't I notice this sooner!?' Because of Caophre, Gurmed's evaluation of Owen's strength was thoroughly off.
Meanwhile, Owen was thinking the same way.
Without a choice, Owen knew that he had to bring out his hatchet to help out even by a little bit.
'I really need that shield ASAP.' He called out the inventory while lamenting in his heart.
Using the save slots, the black scarf from his neck, the belt that held nothing on his waist disappeared and reappeared in his left forearm, now being used to keep the [Iron Battle Hatchet] in place that took the role as Owen's left hand.
The only aspect that the game interface showed to be competent to use in combat was the inventory. With masterful use of it, he could use the inventory's functions to summon random objects mid-battle to disorient opponents.
And even better, equip armor, shields and weapons almost instantly.
'Alright Iovoi, let's see just how great your stuff is.' Owen locked his eyes on Gurmed, ready to move whenever he acts.
[Ashensnow Tormentor Hide Battle Coat]
[Ashensnow Tormentor Hide Boots]
A long white coat blemished by dried black soil appeared on top of his hauberk. It had accents of golden thread and clear segments that separated it from different parts of the arm to make it flexible despite its thickness.
One notable detail of the battle coat is that the right sleeve was cut off and was stained with two drops of dried blue liquid.
His dark brown leather boots faded and were seamlessly replaced by a pair of sleek buckled boots reaching above Owen's ankles. His new footwear was much sturdier and fitted around his feet steadily, making it impossible to fall off even as he moved.
Gurmed saw Owen's left forearm 'grow out' a hatchet out of nowhere which added to his fear. Not only that, there were zero traces of soul energy when Owen did that.
A second later, a white pair of boots and a long battle coat appeared as well.
This was unbelievable for him. The fact that Owen could do this meant that he isn't a simple opponent at all.
Gurmed imagined several possible abilities that Owen could have in store for him. Could he use that blood arc continuously? Can he grow his arm into a sword? Can this man cast spells without him noticing just like when he materialized a hatchet out of thin air?
He had so many thoughts in his mind that he didn't want to be answered by paying with his blood.
'What did I just put myself into?' Gurmed reluctantly raised his sword in front of him all while he cursed himself and his life decisions for leading him to this very moment.
He watched Owen with heavy apprehension.
Meanwhile, Owen only thought of one thing.
Riang and Oslan were both sleeping and they were easy pickings if he was careless. Even if he wasn't careless, he wasn't confident that he would be able to hold Gurmed back.
Gurmed can also use soul energy to augment specific parts of his body, making his battle style more erratic and hard to predict. He must have other spells in his disposal as that couldn't be ruled out as a possibility.
Overall, even though Gurmed was of a lower level than Iovoi, he was more dangerous.
Since he couldn't place his focus elsewhere, he needed Riang and Oslan to be both out of danger.
*Bang!*
With a back kick, Owen's white boots slammed into the wagon, rattling the duo into a startled yet groggy state.
At least they were awake because of it.
With very disheveled hair that made her head look like a large clump of red threads, Riang rose up from the wagon and scowled.
"Owen... what was that fo–"
Her eyes immediately focused the moment she saw the unknown long haired bandit in front of them.
Riang then asked, "Who is that? Where's Caophre?"
"Hmmm?" Oslan rubbed his eyes and looked at Gurmed as well.
In the dark, Gurmed's glowing coin was impossibly hard to ignore.
"No time, take these and prepare to fight this maniac that tried to kill me." Owen hovered his left arm into an empty spot of the wagon. It was the spot where the jars for Iovoi's ritual used to be placed.
He then called upon his inventory, summoning dark blue stone panels that threw out a shortsword and a hatchet meant for woodcutting into the compartment.
[Woodcutting Hatchet] [Plunderer's Iron Sword]
To Riang, Oslan and Gurmed it made no sense how the weapons appeared. It merely looked as if a sword and hatchet fell out of the battle coat's sleeve.
To Owen, he just needed to call upon the number associated with the inventory and it would promptly appear according to his will.
Oslan and Riang looked at each other doubtfully but didn't feel as if Owen would lie to them like this.
Leaning over to the compartment, Oslan took the sword and hatchet and contemplated for a second before passing the sword over to Riang, to which she gratefully accepted.
The two hopped off the wagon and stood by Owen's side.
Seeing that the duo now had access to weapons, thus increasing their danger, Gurmed involuntarily took one step back.
But the thought of his friends getting slaughtered without a way to help them, he paused and stood in his place.
He sighed.
'It seems I'll die today.'
Gurmed held the glowing coin tightly and placed it into an inconspicuous slot located on the hilt of his sword.
Then once that was done, he gripped the handle with both hands tightly and fixed his stance towards Owen and the two.
A boy with unblinking eyes was sitting atop Caophre's carriage and looked at Owen.
With a voice soundless to others but himself, the boy asked Owen,
"Do you require assistance?"
Owen bit on his lip with hesitation.
On one hand, he was still untrusting of the boy when it came to his body despite the fact that he helped him get out of dangerous situations more than once, alongside that he hated the boy for being a cold, selfish, inhuman shell with no regard to human lives.
But then again, the boy's strength came with his uncanny gift to perceive flaws and wrongness to exploit it for his advantage.
So even against his own comfort, he was willing to protect Riang and Oslan.
There was no reason to do it other than one simple thing.
And that is, he wishes to be true to his nature.
Yes, he still wanted to go home and feel the embrace of his parents once more, he longed for the bickering and thoughtful conversation with his sisters, he wanted to hang out with his friends once more so badly.
But if Owen knew one thing, it's that he will achieve things the way he wanted.
So if it was possible, he will choose to get back without innocent blood being spilled.
This way of thinking is stupid if one were to look at it from the eyes of the boy. Adding to that, the boy views Owen's decision as inefficient and a pointless risk instead of just running away.
And if the boy was given the decision, he would ditch Oslan and Riang without a second thought.
But for some reason, he didn't do so…
"Half control…. Protect Riang and Oslan at all costs." Owen muttered under his breath with sharp eyes.
The boy nodded.
"As you wish."