Gus stood on a small rock ledge near the main road in to Njord, perhaps a day’s ride out from the city. He is a large, well-built man with golden blond hair down to his shoulders, and he was wearing a mix of leather and fur armor. It was notably in poor condition, and he didn’t have enough to protect all his vital areas, leaving most of his stomach exposed and revealing a well-defined core. On his side he had an iron long sword, which unlike the rest of his gear, was clearly cared for and invested in.

Life at the edge of the wilderness was a hard one. He pulled a small brooch out of his pocket and looked at the picture on it, showing him as a small child with a baby sister and his mother and father.

“Don’t worry Nina, even with Mom and Dad gone… after I do this job, I will be able to take care of you. I won’t have to do work like this anymore.” Gus quietly whispered to himself.

“Hey boss, we just got word from out lookout, the carriage is coming through and it perfectly matches the description! MMMMMM, We are gonna be rich! I don’t get why it’s so urgent we do this so quickly, but who cares!”

A beautiful girl holding a longbow comes running out from the trees behind Gus. She is also wearing worn fur armor, although unlike Gus, she intentionally had cut out the midriff, the calf-section and part of the chest piece to reveal her ample cleavage.

“Amala, I still can’t stand you cut up the armor we made for you. Do you know how hard it is to hunt dire-wolf and get such an undamaged piece of its hide?”

“Oh come on boss, you have to admit nobody questions a pretty girl even if she is selling stolen goods! Plus we get so many better deals!”

Amala leans in and presses a little with her arms, accentuating her form.

Damn manipulative witch, if he didn’t know that she was a bandit for the thrill of it he might fall for her tricks. Even knowing better, resisting her temptation was really hard to do.

He averted his eyes from her, blushing a little as he did so.

*cough* “Anyways, the carriage is coming. Let’s move in to position. Tell the look outs to cut them off from behind.”

“Hmph. Fine.” She pouted.

She could wrap all the other bandits easily around her finger, not only because she was the only woman in the group, but also because she was pretty and she knew it.

However, she couldn’t get over the fact that Gus was the only one who could refuse her. Getting good deals was an excuse, she could easily choose another outfit for that. The problem was Gus only ever got involved with the group when he had a job, so she had gone to great pains and taken considerable risk to herself to get his attention!

Maybe… he had another woman?! After this mission, she would surely not let him slip away again, and if there was another woman, she would make her disappear!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

It had been a little over a week since they left Versailles.

The carriage ride had continued to be a quiet one, and they avoided staying in any of the settlements and villages in case of any danger within the Duke’s territory.

Thistleman had no idea how to approach this situation at all, and so he mostly kept quiet during the ride. Not only could he see the distress and worry on Diane and the coachman’s face, but he could also feel the pain Diane was holding in. It seemed to him that she was just trying to put up a strong front.

Although, as they passed out of the Duke’s territory and started nearing Njord, Thistleman noticed someone watching hidden within the wood-line. Power… pathetic. The only people who caught his eye as anyone of marginal significance was the Duke and the Knight back in Versailles.

Now that his life-force was starting to stabilize and his self-healing was gradually returning, Thistleman was taking great care in feeding and pushing Diane’s mana heart a little bit at a time to grow. The greater her strength, the faster his recovery. Even at his current meager form, Thistleman may have been a mountain of power to her being a pebble. Yet this pebble was his master, and by courtesy of such an arrangement, her current strength was significantly above that watcher. Even so, he had to be incredibly careful. Too much power would easily send Diane in to shock and destroy the mana heart that had finally been awakened, and could very likely kill her in the process. Far too much risk, best to take it slow.

Hmmm? Another pair of watchers? I also sense three more people ahead… a couple of them are close to Diane’s current strength… it seems some things never change. This… this is why I destroyed my world. All people ever do is bring more pain to each other! Thistleman began to seethe internally with rage.

“The road is blocked ahead, looks like it is bandits! I’m turning us around n… keugh!”

The coachman’s yell was cut off as an arrow pierced his throat.

The carriage lost control and veered to the side, breaking a wheel and separating from the horses pulling it. The horses dashed in to the wood-line, whinnying in fear.

“Kyaaah!” Diane yelled, until the carriage came to an abrupt halt.

“No no no no no, not now! Why? Why can’t he leave me be? What can I do now?!”

Thistleman grabs Diane’s arm, and looks straight in to her eyes, her fresh tears are starting to stream down.

“Diane, breathe! You still have your rapier, you are only dead if you give up now! The first bandit is about to be at the door, don’t stop to think about it. As soon as he opens the door, pierce his throat and clear the two behind the carriage. I will distract the bandits up front!”

Something in his eyes… felt mesmerizing. A calm began to fill her chest, and the fear felt like it was fading. In its place… rage. This is unfair! She is Diane Culaine! She… she would indeed destroy anyone who would dare to step on her! She won’t lose any more! Not again! She only has one person left… only one… Unbeknownst to her and Thistleman, the effects of the contract affect both parties, and as Thistleman could feel her emotions, his emotions could also affect her. His rage is her rage, amplified by her personality, it began to explode in an inhuman fury.

The door opened, almost as if time itself slowed down.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

So far, so good.

Her shot was perfect and the coachman is down, and now it is just a couple little kids. This is the easiest money she would have made since becoming a bandit!

A smile enveloped her face, although she quickly hid it when she saw the serious look on Gus’ face. She couldn’t understand, he just never smiled on any of their raids.

The other bandits were whooping in excitement, and the other man in the front ran to open the carriage door. However, their joy was immediately silenced. A small blade launched through the barely opened door. The bandit couldn’t react in time as he saw a small pointed tip coming straight in towards his eye, followed by a small girl at the hilt of the sword. Her face was twisted in rage and a bloodthirsty scream escaped her small lips. The blade pierced through his eye and skull, and she twisted her body so her foot would land on his shoulder while the other foot pushed his head back. Diane then pulled the blade out of his head before dashing towards the bandits in the rear. Behind her, jumped out a small disheveled looking boy who began to dash towards the front.

“Damnit! You should just have accepted your death, you fucking kids!” Amala screamed.

“Don’t get distracted by rage, Amala! The boy is unarmed, he is probably just a distraction. Take care of him and I will get the girl!”

Gus dashed past the boy, as Amala readied her arrows. Shooting a boy? Easy work, she will kill him and then snipe that girl before Gus even has a chance to reach her! He will have to acknowledge me then!

She shot… and she missed.

“A fluke?” she muttered? All signs of joy were gone from her face.

She aimed and shot again, sure that this time it would hit the boy’s chest… just as the arrow skimmed over his shoulder. The kid seemed to be running in a circle to get around behind her?

She shot again… sure it had to be a mistake! And yet again she missed.

“This damn bow must be broken, get back here you damn kid!”

Amala dropped the bow, pulled out her dagger and began to chase the boy, who turned around and started running towards the other side of the forest. Internally, one could imagine a wicked smile breaking out on his face. Everything was going according to his plan. If she and Gus were to focus on Diane, their combination would surely kill her at this stage. However, separate is a wholly different matter.

He glanced over, the two lookouts behind the carriage were already dead, one blow each. Gus was barely holding on, dripping in blood. Diane could easily be mistaken for a little devil, her rapier easily exploiting all the holes in his armor. Between her small size and improved speed, his large blade would never be able to reach her on its own. Then… Thistleman detected something a little deeper in the woods. Now he definitely could not contain his smile. He can deal with Amala without putting Diane in to more risk.

Amala was absolutely focused on Thistleman. She would never hear the end of it from the others if she couldn’t even kill one kid! She kept chasing him in to the woods, ducking through the trees as they were pressing closer in and were getting darker. She was breathing heavily.

“What the hell is up with these kids? This was supposed to be easy money! I should be able to live care free now!?

Amala’s frustration was building. But… she was finally getting close! Thistleman cut around a very large tree up ahead, and as she came around the corner she ran face first in to something large and very furry. She fell on her butt, the blood beginning to drain out of her face. Thistleman was nowhere to be seen, but the creature in front of her turned and looked at her, blood dripping out of its fangs. The carcass of a wild boar, partially eaten behind it. She was looking at a lone dire wolf. Hunting one with a full group is dangerous enough, and now she is here on her own.

Thistleman could hear her scream as he made his way back to the carriage. It’s a shame he couldn’t observe her longer to see how things would turn out, but he is nowhere near recovered enough to scry that far out, and his mana sense is too weak to pick out any significant details. Still… it is good to see that even at this low point his shadow step can still evade the sight of these pathetic creatures. Silver lining and all. Although this would all be even easier still if he wasn’t forbidden from causing harm himself.

Thistleman sighed deeply as he hurried along, his rage at these creatures beginning to subside.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Diane had never moved this quick nor felt this strong in her life.

From the moment the door opened, it felt as if she had been in a non-stop rush. After leaping off the corpse of the first bandit, she rushed to the closest one behind the carriage. She saw him raising the bow, and he felt so slow doing it… she felt like she could see the trajectory of his arrow as he aimed.

Faster. FASTER. She had to move faster! Dodge to the right, and dash! The arrow missed completely. She could see the fear in his eyes. The rush was taking over. She saw an opening in his leather armor, and stabbed straight through his throat.

No time to wait. She pulled her blade out deftly and dodged around the falling corpse, dashing to the next bandit. He was turning to run, but not fast enough. She leaped and stabbed him through the ear. Diane wasn’t sure what was going on with her… but this overflowing rage… it felt… liberating to let it out. She didn’t even notice she was laughing as the blood rained on to her.

She turned to look at Gus, who was running her way.

His face was perfectly calm, his emotions betrayed by only a slight trembling in his hand. They are the ones who came to attack us, what right does he have to act afraid?

Diane was thoroughly unaware of how terrifying she looked right now, and Gus had a very weak ability to sense magic. While he was never proficient enough for training, he still learned what he could. Strength is important in this world after all. However, what he felt from her was only reinforced by the blood dripping from her blade and splattered on her face. He felt like he was looking at a monster, with her aura more sinister than that of a Dire Wolf. He would need Amala’s help if he was going to kill her.

She moved after him quickly. He didn’t have time to yell for help, as the blade came straight for his face. He used his longsword to deflect the rapier, but she struck quickly. He was dodging as best he could, but cuts were rapidly appearing on the unprotected parts of his body. He was losing blood quickly. Gus tried to throw a counter, but she was so short she dodged easily and his blade only hit earth. Then he felt a searing pain in his calf.

His strike overextended and his pants pulled up exposing some of his calf for a moment, and she took that opportunity? What kind of life did this kid live to learn that kind of move?

However now he had an opportunity to breathe, Gus yelled out “Amala, where are you? Stop playing around, I need help here now!”

He looked back as he yelled, but she was nowhere to be seen. Nor was the peasant boy. Dread filled his eyes. He knew that he was going to die here.

“I’m sorry, Nina…”

Gus quietly whispered as he let his sword fall from his hands. His sight went black as the rapier pierced up through his chin.

Diane was starting to breathe heavily. The rush was fading and she wasn’t feeling the rage anymore. Her body was starting to feel tired.

She looked around, and saw the first lookout standing farther down the road, an expression of terror on his face as he realized everyone else had died. He turned to run.

She wouldn’t be able to keep up if she had to chase him. She had no choice, she had to use a ranged attack. Although she couldn’t recall the incident with the Grendel, she felt that she could use a spell.

“Damnit! Fireball!”

It was nowhere near as powerful as when she was forcefully awakened, as during that time she was drawing on more than just her own power. However, it was still a proper fireball. The spell flew true down the road, and exploded on contact with the back of the bandit.

She shivered on hearing his screams as he burned to death. The rush and rage had fully left her, and that spell burned through most of her remaining mana. She was coming to terms with the fact she just killed nearly a half dozen men.

*blergh*

She threw up. Her vision was getting blurry. What the hell did I just do? I killed people! Is this what Sir Gregory or Hal felt when they had to fight in war or hunt bandits? This has to be why the pushed me so hard in training… if only they were still here…

As Thistleman arrived back at the carriage, he could feel Diane’s distress building. He made sure to add a bit of a huff and puff.

“Hey Diane, I think I lost her. Quick, do you think you can find the horses? They shouldn’t have run far, I will grab our supplies and let’s get out of here! Diane! Listen!”

“W-what? Oh, Y-yeah, your right. Don’t take long, I’ll be right back!”

Thistleman managed to snap her mind out of the spiral for the moment. Now was not the time for her to think about this. She was thankful he had come with her, at least she wasn’t left completely alone…

As Diane ran to grab the horses, Thistleman took a quick look over the bodies. He found some of Thieves guild tokens on them, which served as a supplemental way for bandits to get in and out of the black market to fence their goods. As he was searching Gus, he also found the locket with a picture in it. As he was looking at it, Diane came running up behind him with the horses.

“I got them, hurry! Let’s go! Hey, whatcha looking at?”

Her mental state was already breaking down. If Diane saw this… she would definitely break. He had no choice.

*gulp* Down went the brooch.

“I found a great snack! This guy had a sweet muffin on him!”

“What?!? You found a snack and didn’t share?! Greedy! Greedy! Why am I having to be so nice to you?”

Diane smacked him on the side of his head in a huff.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know you would want some! Fine… I… I will give you the next one! I promise!”

“You… Next time? You didn’t do anything! It was all supposed to be my spoils anyways! How can you give me what is already mine?”

They continued arguing like this as they mounted the horses and quickly rode to the Port City of Njord.