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The next day, they packed up, stuffing the entire camp into magic bags.

Madam Rothema argued that they could simply stay in her floating house on the way there, and save on mounts, but Master Thales would not hear of it.

In order to maximize on training, Master Thales instead had them climb on what appeared to be a short-haired bison as big as an elephant. The local name for the beast was Baelithon.

Baelithon would go about in groups on the plains, so it was surprising enough just to see a single Baelithon by itself. They did not speak, but were intelligent enough to understand what was said, and usually preferred to keep to their groups.

For this Baelithon to be so willing to help Master Thales, a non-Baelithon, Thera could only imagine what kind of thing Master Thales had done to gain its favor.

It was evident that Thales had been planning this, for in a short amount of time, a wooden platform sat on top of the Baelithon’s back, which Master Thales had made for the two girls, so that they would not fall off.

While Master Thales sat near the head, giving simple directions, Laura and Thera would practice their moves on top of the bison-I mean the Baelithon.

The Baelithon itself did not mind it. He was rather tolerant of the energetic young man-pups of his benefactor and old friend.

Laura couldn’t do much for the first week, as she came down with a terrible case of motion sickness. Thera also felt mild symptoms of having her insides being turned into churned butter, but she got through it on sheer willpower alone.

After a week or so, they had both got used to the swaying motion, and began practicing their skills in the limited space of the platform.

It was actually a good method of training, since the limited space meant they had to be conscientious of their movements so as to make the most of their immediate area.

Master Thales also had them practice their aim at moving targets, something which Thera was always first. Laura used her frustrations to fuel her efforts to get better at it, so that, even if she couldn’t beat Thera, she could at least be on par with her.

Sadly, Laura would never be as good at hitting moving targets as Thera was. Even the throwing knives that looked like they went off course seemed to home in on the targets for Thera.

Of course, for Thera to do such a thing was actually impossible at the time. During her practice under Master Thales, she was always required to wear the mana shackles.

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The hot, tropical climate had become more moderate, the untamed jungle giving way to the more contemporary forestry at the roots of the mountain range.

At this point, the Baelithon was far too large to take them through the smaller forest paths over the mountains, so Master Thales bade it farewell. But, Thera knew that the great gentle beast would return if he should call it again.

They now trekked through the woods on foot.

Every now and then, Madam Rothema would offer an invitation to afternoon tea, or to read poetry, but Master Thales always rejected the offers.

“It wouldn’t be training, then, would it?” He would say. Then the conversation would end.

Thera inwardly agreed with Master Thales, as tea would only be a distraction. But, after five years of enjoying tea, she sometimes wished she weren’t training, just so she could enjoy ‘a proper tea’ as Madam Rothema would call it.

She had to make do at the evening meal, with a bowl of local herbs steeped in hot water. Tea was best in the evening to relax, and Dandelion Coffee in the morning to wake up.

The Caffreet bean displayed too many side effects, so Thera switched instead to a Coffee substitute that she had learned about on her travels in her previous life.

The root of the dandelion, once dried, chopped, roasted, and steeped in water, would produce a drink similar in taste and color to coffee. And, with the addition of a tiny portion of Caffreet bean, it had the same effects as regular coffee.

Already, she had Master Thales and Laura addicted to it. She had made plenty over her five years of training, so there was no danger of her running out.

Whenever they stopped for the night, Thera would look over the campsite for fresh dandelions to place in her magic bag to process later.

They had left the tropics none too soon. Summer was approaching, and the forest’s berry bushes were already starting to bear fruit. Berries were included in the breakfast porridge, and as a side during lunch.

Laura and Master Thales were already used to seeing Thera strip a berry bush, or a dandelion patch bare in just a few seconds in passing.

So far, in their two months of traveling, they had not come across anyone. But soon that would change.

One day, Master Thales stopped in the middle of his explanation of a certain skill he was trying to teach. He turned and stared ahead of them towards a small hill, a serious expression on his face.

Behind the hill, a column of smoke was rising into the air.

“Gerard! It’s a village under attack!” Madam Rothema exclaimed. “I can’t land anywhere; there are too many trees in the way. You’ll have to go and scout out the situation yourself.”

“I know!” He replied curtly.

He looked at Laura and Thera and nodded. It was a bit early, but he felt they were ready. Then he took out the key and released Thera’s mana shackles.

“You two are going ahead. If you find any survivors, try to keep as many as you can alive. Thera, don’t use your magic except for healing. I want to see how well you can use your new skills in combat.”

Thera nodded. She understood what Master Thales was thinking. This was a test of their mettle.

Some people could train themselves to a phenomenal level, yet at the sight of a real battle, they’d forget everything they were taught and be practically useless, or run away.

Yet, even should Laura freeze upon encountering what they might find, Master Thales already knew that Thera would not. She would, instead, make herself too busy to freeze, immediately jumping into action.

Thera immediately shot forward flattening herself in the grass at the top of the hill, and carefully looked down, observing the scene before her.

The village itself was a small town of log houses and stones, situated in a quarry.

Half of the buildings were already on fire, while screams and yells echoed as the village women fled before the oncoming bandit men. Dead bodies lay here and there on the burned side. The village men were fighting back desperately against the bandits.

In a moment, Laura was by her side.

“Let’s go.” Thera said, as she threw herself forward, sliding down the hillside, under the cover of the tall grass and low bushes. Laura followed behind her.

When they got to the bottom, Thera ran for the nearest building and jumped on top. She began throwing her needles out at the bandits, effortlessly striking them in the throats, or the heart as she jumped from roof to roof.

Madam Rothema was right. The houses were grouped too close together for her to land her mansion anywhere. However, that made them perfect for jumping.

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Behind a house:

Four figures lay there, one fainted, and three bleeding to death.

The bandits had come too fast; there wasn’t enough time to retreat. When they had arrived, only the youngest boy had been outside.

Right before a huge bandit had attacked the small child, the mother had come running out and taken the blow intended for him, instead. She screamed as she was hit, fainting from the pain.

The scream had alerted the two men inside that something had happened, and they had rushed out to see the mother lying on the ground, bleeding, with her child, who had fainted from shock, underneath her, and several bandits standing over them.

Both the father, and the eldest son had gone into a rage and attacked them with a kitchen knife and an ax. But neither were skilled in weapons, and were quickly brought down.

Now, there they lay, bleeding to death. The eldest son had already fallen unconscious from lack of blood.

Only the father was still awake, fighting to stay alive, just barely breathing.

How could this happen? How could this have happened?! He raged within himself for not being strong enough to protect his family.

After listening to the shouts and screams in the village for a while, he realized that, unless a miracle took place, the village itself was done for.

But his struggle was nearing its end as he grew weaker and weaker from the loss of blood. Soon enough, he found he couldn’t keep his eyes open.

At least, he had died together with his family. Hopefully they would be reborn in a better, more protected place. The death god was coming to take them away.

Ah, it is here…He thought to himself as he saw a cloaked figure descending from above. His eyes closed right before the cloaked figure reached the fallen four.

“Heal!”

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Thera had found them just in time. If she had arrived a minute later, then it might have been too late to save all of them. As it was, she quickly healed them and turned to Laura, on the rooftop behind her.

“Laura!” She called, Picking up and tossing the healed people up to her like they were rag dolls.

Laura took it upon herself to grab the injured people and move them to a safe place as that they would not get caught up in the fighting. If any bandit tried to climb up to the rooftop, she would effortlessly down them with a punch to the face.

Arrows could not breach her martial spirit shield.

Soon enough the bandits realized that the villagers had powerful backup, and tried to overwhelm the two girls in numbers. But Thera remained unhindered, slashing her way through the crowds as if they were only so many bamboo shoots.

No one could even touch her.

The bandits, realizing that they were being mowed down like grass, began to run away from the little monster covered in the blood of those she had slain.

Within moments, the whole horde was in full retreat, having lost hundreds of men in mere minutes.

Thera continued to make her way through the village, finding and healing as many people as she could find who were still alive. The bandit bodies, she threw into a pile in the middle of the streets.

The village men were also wary of this little girl, covered in blood, until they noticed that she was healing their injured. Deciding to accept her aid, they set out to extinguish the houses that were still on fire, grabbing water from the nearby lake.

In total, fifty villagers had died that day. If Thera had not given immediate aid, eighty more would have perished from their wounds alone.

Five hundred sixty-two bandits had been killed in total, with over four hundred of them being killed by Thera.

Laura had killed fifty who had tried trespassing upon the rooftops, as she protected the unconscious people that Thera had saved. She was lucky that the fighting had lasted less than ten minutes. Her [Star Shield]

would not have held up for much longer.

After the battle was over, Laura immediately emptied her stomach behind some bushes, sickened by the smell of blood and smoke everywhere.

Thera, wished to do the same, but she still had to finish treating the men who were injured in the fight, and was currently surrounded by people who were cheering and showing her their wounds to be healed.

They tried speaking to her, but she didn’t understand their language.

About a half an hour later, Master Thales walked into the village. Thera noticed that he also reeked of blood. It seemed the bandits who had retreated had not kept their lives after all.

He put a hand on Laura and Thera’s shoulders.

“Well done.” Was all that he said, before going to speak to the village chief, whose eyes lit up as he saw Master Thales.

Thera only nodded and continued working, helping the men to extinguish the last of the flames licking at the buildings.