Chapter 022:

The cart rumbled and rattled to the edge of the forest. The trees were giants, reaching almost twenty meters into the sky and quite thick at the trunks. The moment they entered the entire world felt like it had changed. Light pierced through the gaps, scattering beams of light throughout the canopy and onto the shrubbery. Strange shadows were cast everywhere but there was no sound except for the rattling and rumbling of the cart over the hard ground.

While there was a path through the forest, it was quite clear that nobody had used it for many years. Despite it looking like it was originally more than two carts wide there was barely enough room for one. Shrubs and trees had grown through the hardened dirt at the edges, sometimes close enough to scrape on the side of the cart as the continued forward at a reasonable pace. They were moving a little slower than walking, but that was to be expected with the large rocks and gullies on the path that had dug themselves during the rain.

The Ix beast seemed fine with the speed and load it was dragging. The driver had told Anton the signs of the beast looking tired or hungry, something he was told he should not ignore.

Verona was still beside Anton but her head darted around as she kept an eye out for possible danger. With the red crystal he did feel quite safe but Sybil's words that it would only impede the wolves, the same ones that he knew were probably lurking in the forest from the battle for the mountain, kept him on alert.

He breathed deep, enjoying the refreshing smell of the forest air, something that he sorely missed while he was living back on Earth.

Verona seemed to be enjoying the change. While it got warm in the grasslands, it did not become unbearable. Now it was slightly cooler although the air felt thicker thanks to the humidity.

She took a particularly deep breath.

“The air feels so much nicer here. There's no longer any smell of the dead goblins.”

Anton agreed. While the villagers had done a good job at removing the bodies to the south of Atros, small parts remained. These had rotted and put out a horrific smell.

“Yes. Yes it is.” Anton looked around and to the Ix beast, it seemed calm at the moment, “My time on Earth was spent in large cities, where the fresh air was virtually nowhere to be found.”

She threw him a quizzical look.

“Imagine being downwind of Jonathan's blacksmith all the time.”

“Ugh, that doesn't sound fun.”

“No. Having this fresh air in my lungs is a wonderful thing. Just like it has been since day one here.”

They continued further in relative silence the rest of the day, speaking as quietly and as infrequently as they could. Every so often Verona would grab at his shirt and point out into the shrubbery of the forest. When he looked he could see the green eyes of the wolves looking at them. The longer he looked the more he could see, counting over ten at one time. However, they refused to attack, content with lurking in the shadows before slinking away. The Ix seemed equally surprised. Ears twitched and it snorted louder, but it too seemed confused as to why they would not attack.

He kept an eye on the red crystal. The inside now looked like it was alive, a faintly swirling and writhing mass of red worms. They grew slightly in integrity the closer the wolves came, Anton had no idea when the red crystal would be out of power.

As darkness came and the sun began to set, things started to become more interesting. The wolves had given up their stalking almost an hour ago, the effect of the red crystal making further pursuit too much of an effort.

The Ix creature was starting to tire as well, occasionally requiring a whip from the reins to keep it moving quickly. Anton decided that it was a good idea to make some sort of camp for the night.

A few meters of the road was the best spot he could find, it provided an open area that they would be able to sleep and recharge the red crystal. Apparently it would keep working during its recharging, though Anton was not willing to take that chance.

Probably should have brought more people, oh well.

After bringing the cart to a stop, he loosely tied the Ix to a tree and allowed it to graze on the grass.

“They could still be out there.” Verona murmured to herself as she got off the cart. She held the spear very tight in her hands and close to her body.

“They more than likely are still out there.” Anton replied as he checked the tightness of the reins attached to the tree. “As long as we don't make too much noise and draw attention to ourselves, they should leave us alone.”

Verona still seemed a little unhappy, Anton moved to counter her.

“That being said, there's nothing like keeping watch. There's no way that we can leave it just to that thing.”

Anton pointed towards the red gem. It lay in the dirt just like the diagram shown to him. The swirling mass seemed to be responding to something, already having become a few shades brighter, probably through the Earth Mana flowing into it.

“So,” Verona began, “Do you want to take the first watch or do want me to.”

“I'm not really sure. I don't think it matters. Do you want to go first?”

“Sure.” Verona replied, stretching out her body. “I'm not feeling that tired yet.”

They took the sleeping gear out, basically a thick woolen sleeping bag and food for their evening meal. It was some hard bread, salted meat and a few vegetables, presumably a carrot and some other green ball-like thing that tasted strangely like celery.

When I get back I'm going to need everyone to go over the types of fruits and vegetables here.

After that, Anton prepared to go to sleep. They had not lit a fire, fearing that it would attract many creatures lurking in the darkness. Verona had very keen eyesight that quickly adapted to the night, though Anton wondered if it could do better. There was the thing about the gods telling him to experiment more with their powers.

“Hey Verona?” Anton asked.

“What's up?” she asked from a broken log she was using as a seat.

“I want to try something, with my magic, on you. If that's alright?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I want to try and use the prayer power to see if I can enhance your eyesight for a time.”

Verona looked quite expectantly at him.

“Can it do that?” she asked excitedly.

Anton scratched at the back of his head.

“To be honest, I'm not sure. But if it cannot, it'll tell us something.”

He stood up and placed his hand on her head.

Okay....Tethra, goddess of prayer. May you bless this one with an increase in her ability to see in the night until the sun rises.

The mana flowed from his body, about a third. Something appeared to have happened.

Verona looked around wildly, focusing her attention into the darkness.

“I...I can see, so much better than before,” She was almost leaping with joy, “I can see the leaves, the branches so clearly. Just like it was day. How long will it last?”

“If it worked correctly, until morning. Not that you'll be on guard for that whole time, but I felt it was a good stopping point.”

Verona nodded in agreement.

“Great. You can go to sleep. I'll be fine.”

“Okay then. Wake me up when you get tired.”

Verona smiled as he slipped into the woolen sleeping bag. He hoped it would be a quiet night as he slipped into his dreams.

He was woken gently in the middle of the night, just as he asked. Verona smiled at him, though it was a little hard to see her with the lack of light.

Might as well see if it works on me.

Anton chanted the same prayer that he did for Verona. Almost a third of his mana was used again, though it had recovered mostly during the night.

Now he could see her almost as clear as day. It looked as if there was some grain effect over his vision and some of the color had been lost, but otherwise it was very clear.

“It worked. Thanks for waking me Verona. I feel quite refreshed. Anything happened?”

Verona shook her head.

“Nothing. I thought I saw a goblin in the far distance, but I couldn't see it again. I think as long as we keep quiet we'll be okay.”

Anton got out of the sleeping bag and looked around. He could see far more clearly but there was nothing else to see. Even the wind had died down, hopefully keeping their scent in one place.

“Thanks. Alright, you can go to sleep now. I'll wake you when it's morning.”

“'kay”

She reached into the cart and grabbed her sleeping bag, laid it out and slipped into it. Within a few moments she was fast asleep. He did not know if she was pushing herself, but he did know that she could fall asleep very quickly.

The Ix had long finished eating its fill of grass and had lain down on all it's limbs and had fallen asleep as well. It was a little bit louder than Verona, snorting and huffing occasionally, but otherwise everything was silent. There was not even the crackle of a fire to keep him company.

Time passed very slowly while he was on guard duty. Keeping relatively still so as to not make a sound while keeping a watchful eye out took quite a bit of mental effort.

Regardless, time continued to flow, the darkness of night slowly beginning to lift as the new day came into being.

Verona awoke without any input from Anton. A few quiet groans and she was completely awake. She did not ask how it had been, merely getting her spear and began practicing her thrusts and swings. She saw him looking at her.

“My muscles feel a little stiff.” she explained. “I've been sitting on that cart all of yesterday. Plus, I always need practice.”

She looked him up and down.

“Do you want to practice as well? I haven't actually seen you use a sword.”

Anton felt a little sheepish.

“I...haven't actually used it yet.”

He pulled the blade from the sheath, it felt quite heavy in his hand. It was a short sword, so it probably should be used with a shield in the other hand for it to be the most effective. He swung it up and down, left to right, to try and get a feel for it. Verona looked at him, her head rocking side to side, she did not seem pleased by his effort.

Without being asked or speaking she walked up and corrected his stance, spreading his legs and making sure that they were in the correct position. Immediately, the sword felt easier and less awkward to use.

She took his smile as all the thanks she need before carrying on with her own morning training.

When the morning sun was well and truly up, Verona started acting funny again.

“Whatever I had that improved my vision, it just left.”

She looked over at the rising sun.

“You did say it was meant to last until sunrise, right?”

Anton nodded.

“Well, it's good to know that.”

“It is. I don't know how long I could make it last though.” Anton said, “It used a third of my mana, so I could probably do a days worth in one go. It seems to get easier with every time I use it, so...” Anton shrugged, “It's probably very useful. I wonder if I could tether the prayer magic?”

“Hey, you haven't told me what that is yet.” Verona pointed out.

“Right...well, that feeling when you're using separate parts of your power. Say, two blood spheres?”

Verona nodded as her body started to glow. She held her spear our for Anton to place his hand against.

After drawing up the blood she formed two blood spheres. To help demonstrate the way he felt tethering worked, he summoned two small fire balls of his own.

“Okay, these two fire balls are separate, but, using the same feeling of mana that created them, I can join them.”

Anton did so, the only change being a thin line of fire connected the two. Verona looked at his then to hers. She frowned and grumbled as she tried to get them to work. Almost ten minutes had passed when a tiny sliver of blood started to join the two. She looked quite happy with what she had done.

“Is that it?” she asked.

“I take it wasn't just literally putting the two together that was the problem? I've seen you break and reform them with ease”

Verona pursed her lips.

“Yeah. I just don't see how this makes them any better. Keeping them two separate lumps of mana and joining them without them becoming one was really tricky.”

“When I use it, the bombs effect become larger and the pillars became much bigger. You remember that?”

“Oh yes. So...I used these to smash their skulls in. So...”

She moved the balls around, they seemed quite sluggish compared to usual. After some time, she broke the spheres into many fragments then reformed them. A growing look of disappointment grew on her face.

“Okay,” Anton began, trying to console Verona, “It might not make them more destructive, because yours is different to mine, it should do something else though. What about the hardness? That was a potential problem.”

Anton pulled out his steel sword and waved Verona's blood spheres over. Before he had been able to cause a serious dent into it with a sudden strike. This time, he raised the sword over his head and swung it down like he was trying to cleave the sphere in two.

As the edge of the blade made contact, he felt it give way but only slightly. The handle rolled in his hand and spun the sword's edge away from the sphere. It was strong, probably as strong as steel if not stronger. Only a few tiny shards had formed. Verona looked quite happy by the results.

“I could feel that. It felt just the same when I moved it normally but that felt like nothing when you hit it.”

“Your tethering seems to make the solid blood much stronger each time it is tethered...maybe. It could just be you're getting better at controlling it. We'll do more tests when it's safer but at the moment it's best to stick with what you know you can do safely.”

She seemed very happy knowing that something came out of her effort.

“Okay. Let's get a move on then.”

They gathered their sleeping gear, collected the red crystal, woke the still dozing Ix and got on the road again.

---[]---

For the next two days the events were the same. Every so often Verona would point out something in the distance but they never came any closer.

The third day, over half-way of their journey, something was finally different. Anton was the first to see it.

In the center of the road was a cart lying on its side, broken and rotted over time. But there was something else. Hanging off the sides were pieces of torn cloth and raggedy pieces of fur, forming fur tents. Around them green moved.

The Ix began to snort and became restless, so to did Verona. She could see them clearly a few seconds before Anton did.

Ten Green Goblins moved about their tents.

He had not seen this type before.

They looked smaller than the Yellow Goblins, about 70 centimeters tall, though they looked more deformed and hideous than the Yellow Goblins.

He pulled on the reins, bringing them to a halt, trying his best to keep quiet.

Verona gritted her teeth loud enough for Anton to hear. Her hatred of them was well and truly ingrained in her. She took Anton's hand, cut it with the spear and drew out some blood.

The red crystal was doing a good job. Some of the Green Goblins close to them seemed a little agitated but looked as if they could not figure it out.

Either they have poor eyesight or the really can't see us...I wonder what they are seeing right now?

Thick shrubs and many trees were either side, meaning they had to go through and move the cart. There was no possibility of talking with these monsters.

“Do you want to do it, Verona?” Anton asked.

From what he could see it was only a great mental effort that stopped her from launching herself at them.

“Yes?” she replied, saying it like she did not understand why he even had to ask.

“Just keep quiet when you do it.” Anton said as he lent forward and stroked the back of the Ix, trying to keep it calm and not making any noise.

Verona smiled with her wicked grin. She hopped down from the cart and began to glow brightly.

The Green Goblins closest to them woke and alerted the others. They all looked towards them but still seemed hesitant to approach.

Verona ran towards them, summoning the blood into ten small daggers. It was when Verona was ten meters away from him, and away from the red crystal, that they started to act.

As if a fog had been lifted from their eyes and mind they recoiled backwards, reaching for their weapons.

They tried to form a wall of wooden sticks but they were useless against Verona. The moment she was in range, about ten or so meters, she flung all of the blood daggers straight towards the goblins with a flick of her wrist. All found their mark, flying straight through and landing in the cart and dirt.

One had survived, possibly a deliberate act on the part of Verona. It looked bewildered at its friends dying, though by the time it realized what was happening Verona was a few meters away. Her spear sliced through the stick raised to defend itself and cleaved its head clean off its shoulders. Blood spurted from the wound before the body fell limp like the others.

It covered her arms and hands. Verona stopped and stared at her hands dyed red in blood.

Anton whipped the reins on the Ix, the creature moving forward at a quick pace. When he got to the strewn cart Verona was still looking at the blood covering her hands.

Her head twitched as she came back to reality.

“Sorry. They're all dead, so we can move the cart.” She looked a little bashful but did not acknowledge that she had just zoned out.

Anton hopped off the cart and held Verona's cheek.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just got a little carried away there. Been a while since I've had to kill something.”

A couple of days...most people would be glad to not have to kill.

Anton felt that he would not get anything else out of her right now, so he let it go, though kept a mental note of it.

“Before we move it, we should at least have a little peek at the cart.” Anton suggested, “There might be something useful in it.”

They searched through the piles of clothes and rotten wood, finding roughly sharpened branches but little else of value. Anton then turned his attention to the ruined cart. The wood turned to dust and fragments as he touched it.

After a minute of fruitless searching they gave up.

“This thing is years old,” Anton explained as he stood up and motioned for Verona to help him rock it from side to side, “Anything good would have been either lost or been destroyed by now.”

They began rocking the cart back and forth, finally rolling it out of the way. The cart crumbled in two as it smashed and rested on a large tree.

They were about to leave when Anton spot a golden glint underneath where the cart lay. He lent down, brushed the dirt to the side and picked it up.

It was a single gold coin. On it was the sign of the royal treasury of their dead kingdom, a crown with eight points. He dug a little further around, finding another two coins, these ones silver but still with the same eight pointed crown.

“Looks like they also tried to flee to the west, to Maxill and beyond.”

“How do you know that?” Verona asked, coking her head to the side as she started to pull up the blood from her arms and stored them in her pots.

“We...oh, you were having a bath at the time.” Anton explained. “The journal we found with the rest of the treasure told of a group of people that tried to escape the destruction. It said they were going to head east but were killed by the Yellow Goblins.”

He looked to the cart. “Looks like some tried to make it to the west.”

Anton looked closer at the underside of the cart. Walking closer, he saw the circle a five pointed star within it underneath the cart.

“Looks like another noble family tried and failed to make it through.”

Anton waved for Verona to come back to the cart. They boarded and began moving again, leaving the carnage to be feasted on by the wolves and other creatures.

---[]---

The fifth day revealed something far more interesting. A few meters off the side of the road was a lake. Nowhere near as large as the one near Atros, but at least several hundred meters wide.

Anton bought the cart to a halt, allowing them to stop and soak up the sight. It was currently the middle of the day, the sun was quite hot. He looked towards the lake, thinking about the cooling water on his skin. He had not taken a bath, despite having one in the village, and it was really becoming a problem.

He brought the Ix and the cart to a halt, Verona looking confusingly at him.

“Do we need more water?” Verona asked.

Their water supply was enough if they conserved it during their travel and got some more at Maxill, but getting some more would help them should something bad happen.

“We can do that as well. But, actually I was thinking of something else.” Anton whipped the Ix and drove the cart next to the short sandy shoreline of the lake.

“Actually, I was thinking of having a swim. Maybe even catch and eat some fish. We'll have to spear-fish though, I don't want to use lightning bombs here.”

Verona looked at the lake then to her body. She rubbed the exposed part of her neck and then her still exposed feet, grumbling as she frowned.

“I do feel a little sticky and dirty. I guess a swim could be good. Do you think anything bad is lurking in the water?”

The water was incredibly clear, like it had never even seen dirt. The lake was relatively shallow and they could see the bottom even several meters away from the shoreline. He could see small fish, almost the size of his hand but nothing larger.

“Looks like it will be fine.” Anton said as he hopped off the cart and helped Verona down. “We'll stay in the shallows and keep near the red crystal as well.”

Verona smiled, running and splashing into the shallows. Diving back up in the waist high water her body glistened with water. She splashed onto her back and floated on the water, closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation. Anton heading in as well, loving the cold sensation on his skin. Verona drifted over to him and spun back onto her feet.

“This is nice.” She said as she took off her shirt, throwing it to the grass.

The Ix looked dismissively at it before returning to eating the grass.

“Well, come on.” she said, reaching for and pulling Anton’s shirt up. “We don't have all day...and we haven't had much 'alone time' since we started this trip. How 'bout it?”

She wore a devilish grim, the same one she wore every night they were together.

“I guess we have some time.” Anton said as he looked around, throwing his shirt away and kissing her deeply.

An hour later both were sitting around a small camp-fire, eating a half dozen of the small fish cooked over the fire. Verona was the one to catch the fish using thin blood spears to hunt them. She did not know about the depth perception altering properties of water, taking many angry attempts before Anton helped her get it right.

Verona nestled in arms, occasionally humming something as she rubbed his free hand. They both heartily devoured the freshly cooked meat, occasionally eating a piece of bread or vegetable as well.

“I'm surprised you know what you were doing,” Verona said with a full mouth of fish and bread, “Since when do you know how to prepare a fish so you can eat it? My parents knew something about it, and I know that others can...”

Verona turned her head and looked straight into his eyes.

“You said you always lived in a city, where there was very little fresh air...so?” She waved her hand telling him to finish her thought.

“When I was young, we used to live out in the countryside. While it was out there, my father taught me quite a few things about doing things like this.”

“Hmm...what are they like? Your parents. You haven't even told me their names.”

She seemed a little miffed that he had not volunteered the information before.

He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He could not remember. The further he searched back trying to remember his parents names, mother and father, he found blank spots where there should have been memories.

A little bit of terror filled his mind and heart, Verona picking up on his increasingly rapid heartbeat.

Why can't I remember what they look like, even their names. I haven't even thought about them for years...

“Anton?!” Verona asked worryingly. There was panic in her face.

“You okay?”

She brushed his face and hair trying to see if he was alright. His heart started to calm down with her touch.

“I'm not really sure,” Anton replied, “I...can't remember.”

“Did you loose it when you came into this world?”

Anton shook his head. “I don't think so, I can remember everything else, just not them. It feel like its been...I don't know. It's just-”

“It's okay.” Verona said as she leant into him. She did not say anything else as she curled into him and held his hand tightly. They remained like this for many minutes.

“Well, it's time to go.” Anton lifted Verona up as he stood up.

He kicked dirt and sand over the fire, picked up what they had taken out and got onto the cart.

Verona held onto his arm until night fell, doing her best keep him calm and show her support. Anton did not calm down until he was asleep. Terrifying thoughts plagued his troubled sleep.

---[]---

The seventh day of traveling, and Anton had pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind. Verona had not asked about it again, letting it drift away in his mind, though not completely.

It was a few hours before lunch when they saw the first signs of human habitation. Some trees had been cut down to stumps and there were small tracks running through the grasses and shrubbery. However, Anton knew that not all humans were friendly.

“Verona?” she turned to look at him, “Keep your guard up, we may run into unfriendly humans and we'll need to be ready.”

“In that case, I'll need some of your blood.”

Anton held out his hand as he she drew up some blood, enough to fill up two pots.

“Can you use the Ix's blood?” Anton asked, Verona threw him a quizzical look. “It's just a thought.”

“I don't think it would like me cutting it, or draining up its blood.” Verona replied as she patted the backside of the beast.

The Ix snorted, but Anton had no idea if it was good or bad reaction to her touch.

They traveled for a few more minutes before Anton felt like he was being watched. Verona seemed to notice it as well, her eyes darting left and right but kept her head as steady as possible so not to as alert them.

A bolt flew at them, landing in the dirt on the road. Anton pulled back hard on the reins bringing the cart to a halt. Verona turned on her blood power, eyes darting about.

“I can feel that there's about eight people around us, one is hiding up in that tree.”

She brought her spear close and used the end to point at the tree in question.

Anton could see it, somebody was leaning against the trunk of the tree with a crossbow pointed at them. That was the one that fired the bolt at them judging by how it appeared to be reloading.

“Get ready.” Anton said as rustling sounds came closer.

“You don't look like youre' from round 'ere.” came a droning voice from the shrubbery.

Seven people emerged from the forest, five men and three women. They all wore basic leather armor and wielded crude iron weapons. Their faces were completely unwashed and their hair lank and greasy. Most of their teeth appeared to be missing and they smiled like deranged morons.

Ah, fantasy hill-billy bandits? This shouldn't be fun.

“Hello. Pleasant day for travel. And what do you want with some innocent travelers?” Anton asked, trying his best to not be offensive.

One of them men brought his blade up to his mouth and licked the blade.

“What's up with her?” he asked pointing at Verona, “That thing looks like a really menacing beasty.”

Verona scrunched up her face and clutched her spear tighter.

“Well, this has been a fascinating conversation, but it really is time for us to go on our way.” Anton whipped at the reins though the Ix did not appear to want to move too fast.

“Whoa, we're do ya' think you're going?” one of the women moved infront and brought the cart to a halt.

“Show us what's in the back.” said another. “I can see a chest back there. It looks like its worth quite a bit.”

Anton glanced back, finding the chests were slightly exposed from underneath the thick blankets. It must have moved during their travels and he did not noticed it until now. He groaned on the inside.

They moved towards the back of the cart.

“So are you guys and gals bandits?” Anton asked loudly. They stopped and looked at him with a smile.

“I wouldn't wanna' say that but...”

“You are bandits?” Anton asked again.

One of them shrugged.

“I suppose you could call us that. So, now that we got that out of the way-”

“I suppose I can kill you then?” Anton asked, “From my experience nobody cares if a few bandits get killed.”

The bandits laughed, though the backed off and grouped together to the side. They did not seem to be sure if Anton was serious but were playing it safe.

“You got some serious balls on you, you blonde twat.” the apparent bandit leader laughed. “We were just going to take all your stuff, maybe beat you up. Now...I think we're going to have some fun with you.”

They all looked at Verona.

“Especially her, your little feral woman.”

Anton felt his blood boil, he had played his part along with these bandits for more than long enough.

“Feral?” Verona asked angrily.

He got off the cart, so to did Verona.

“First of all, you can't have her. She's mine. Secondly, you should have gone into a different line of work.”

He looked straight at the bandit hiding in the tree.

“Verona, kill all of them except for that leader. I'll take care of the one up there.”

Without waiting for a response he raised his hand towards the hidden bandit and formed a lightning bolt with his mana. The single bolt arced through the air and struck the bandit in the chest, the crackled echoing through the forest air. It did not even have time to whimper as its body charred and fell from the tree.

Anton summoned a dozen lightning bombs and turned his attention to the seven bandits still around him. They had been stunned by his display of magic, Verona had not.

She brought up the blood and formed four spears, throwing them at the bandits. They screamed in terror before the spears punctured and tore into their chests. Verona did not seem to care whether they were man or woman, she killed them with no hesitation. Her attack left three bandits alive, including the supposed leader.

Verona lowered her spear and charged. With a shriek, one of the surviving women swung her metal hammer. Verona scoffed as she blocked the hammer with an enveloping ball of blood and swung her spear upwards. The red tip tore through her armor, flesh and bone as if it was not even there. The woman barely recognized its disappearance before Verona spun around and cut off her head in a single swipe.

The bandit leader looked on, terrified at what was happening, but had the sense to try and run away. Verona, however, ripped more blood from the dead woman and formed four long, three pronged spears. She flung it at the legs and arms of the bandit leader. He screamed as the blood pierced through his skin, Verona force them into the ground and refused to let him moved.

That left the remaining bandit, now wetting himself at seeing such rapid carnage. Anton still felt quite annoyed at the whole situation and flung a lightning bomb at his face. It exploded along with his face, the body falling backwards and limp.

“That was, what...ten seconds at most?” Anton asked the downed leader coyly.

He walked over to the bandit and knelt down, keeping his distance.

“All of this could have been avoided if you weren't bandits. Taking things from those-”

“We aren't always bandits!” the bandit blurted out. Anton rolled his hand, telling him to continue. “We're hunters...Look, most of the time we survive by hunting beasts and selling them to Maxill, but we need this.”

“How much do you make? Selling furs and meats?”

“If it's good, maybe a dozen or so copper coins for a full hide.”

The conversion here was 1,000 copper to 1 silver and 1,000 silver to a gold....we really are rich.

“So you resorted to robbing people so you could live like kings?”

The bandit went silent, looking straight into the ground infront of his face. Anton looked back at the other bandits.

“I take if from your clothes...and your smell...that you live in a camp in the forest.”

The bandit nodded furiously.

“Are there any more of you? I would hate for you to have to take a bolt to the throat for me.” Anton said sarcastically.

The bandit got the message.

“It's just me left. The camp is just over that way. It's not far.”

Anton got up and looked to Verona. She seemed a little distant as the blood dripped off her face, her mouth was slightly agape as the blood dripped onto her lips.

“Verona?” Anton said sternly.

“Ready!” Verona shouted, wiping and drawing the blood off her face and pointing the spear at the bandit.

“Get him up and be ready to kill him should he try anything.”

Verona nodded, raising the impaled spears and the bandit, creating another small shard and keeping it at the neck of the bandit.

Anton jogged over to the hidden bandit and recovered his crossbow and over thirty bolts. The crossbow was quite heavy, though not unsurprising that it was a lump of wood and metal.

Could come in handy. This might be the most valuable thing the bandits own.

He returned to the Ix and led it off the road, Verona pushing the bandit forward.

Four minutes later they arrived at the edge of the camp. It was not much, a few simple leather tents and a fire in the middle. The bandit had been lying about it being deserted, another three bandits were lounging about.

Anton had Verona pull the bandit down before he could say anything. He summoned a fireball and held it close to the bandits head.

“Anything else I should know, or should I burn your face off to see if your lying?”

The bandits face paled as he shook it from side to side.

“No, No. I'm sorry, it's just those three. They're-”

“Is one of them the boss?”

“No. That's me.” the bandit said in a quiet voice.

“Then it doesn't matter if they die.”

“You-”

Anton punched him hard in the back of the head, the bandit fell unconscious.

Remaining crouched down, he summoned another three lightning bombs and threw them at the new bandits. They died without know what killed them.

Both of them entered the camp, finding it looked as basic up close as it had been far away. The tents were open and empty, but Anton knew that there should be a stash somewhere. A quick search revealed a large chest hidden within a particularly dense shrub. He pulled it out, and with the help of Verona's spear, broke open the lock.

Inside was a few hundred copper coins and several silver ones, it would be a good boost to their funds for trading in Maxill. Further searching revealed another two crossbows and almost a hundred extra bolts hidden underneath their beds.

Anton wanted to know if they got them from Maxill. The bandit was still unconscious and he had no intention of waiting for hours for him to wake. With the help of Verona, he dragged him into the camp. He knelt down and placed his hand on the man’s' head.

Tethra, Goddess of Prayer. Restore this man back to consciousness.

Mana flowed into the man. He coughed and spluttered but returned.

“Hey, time to answer some more questions.” Anton said as he kicked the back of the man, “And no lying anymore. I've just about had enough of you.”

“Okay. What do you want to know?” the bandit asked. He looked around and saw that everyone else was dead.

“Your crossbows, did you get them in Maxill?”

“Yes, several hundred copper if you want a rubbish one, like those. A good one will probably cost a whole silver or more.”

“Just a question, but how much would a cheap house cost in Maxill?”

“You looking for a house?” the bandit asked, rewarded with a kick to the chest. “About twenty or thirty silver for basically a shack.”

“Thanks for that, how much further to Maxill?”

“You should reach it before the afternoon, quite a bit before if you go by the old road.”

Verona looked at Anton.

“What do we do with him?” she asked. “Even I know that we can't just let him go. He'll get someone else to come after us.”

“No! No I wont!” the bandit started pleading for his life.

“I would.” Anton replied, summoning a lightning bomb.

“You-” the bandit managed to squeak out before the bomb exploded his head from behind.

Verona sighed loudly, drawing up the blood and putting them into her vials.

“I still don't like having to kill humans that much.” Verona mumbled as she moved to his side.

“You seemed okay with those other bandits.” Anton pointed out.

She shrugged dismissively.

“They were going to kill us, or worse. I just imagined them as more Yellow Goblins and I didn't feel much.”

Verona looked down at the bandit bodies. “Not that I feel much for them right now.”

Anton loaded the two additional crossbows into the cart.

“Let's go, the wolves will be drawn to this massacre and clear it up for us.”

“Okay,” Verona said as she hopped onto the cart. She took one quick glance back at the ruined camp as Anton led them back onto the road.

“By the way,” Verona lent forward towards Anton, “What did you mean by 'she's mine'?”

Anton scratched his beard.

“That was sort of a slip of the tongue...do you not want to be my woman?”

Verona laughed. “Of course I do. I just never thought you would say it out loud.”

He turned backwards, her face was red but she kept her smile.

Under half an hour later, the forest continued to thin out until they stopped completely. A few hundred meters beyond that lay a giant wooden wall, about ten meters high.

It was a city, they had finally reached Maxill.

--------------

Hello again.

A few things here and there in this chapter, most importantly they've managed to get some crossbows. Should anything go wrong they will at least have those to copy.

Thanks for reading.

EDIT:

Thank-you Axelord for pointing out my spelling mistakes.

EDIT 2:

Thank-you to everyone else for finding my grammatical mistakes. I blame typing late and spellcheck.