“Captain Ruby! Would you like to join us for morning exercise?” Kyle smiled and asked the captain, who had just come back from washing her face after waking up.

The captain glanced over at Amelia before nodding her head and following Kyle along, even though she didn’t really know Kyle’s purpose.

Vanessa had taken charge of making breakfast for everyone. Kyle would be teaching the forms to Alex, Amelia and Ruby.

Kyle stood in front of the two youths and the accompanying Ruby. Liz and Kaylee had already started their routine off on the side. Although, the exercises proved far too tiring for the maid, she also felt quite comfortable and full of vitality after she had taken a rest.

“Ok, so what I’m about to teach you is in a way similar to refining your physique, like the warriors do. Difference is that it is twice as effective. Meaning that the mages can also have a strong physique without putting in huge effort!”

Looking at Ruby’s doubtful expression, Kyle couldn’t help but smile. Alex and Amelia had converted into Kyle’s fanatical worshippers after being taught the methods last night. They watched him with rapt attention, not willing to miss any detail.

Kyle demonstrated the set of the basic forms to the trio. Captain Ruby would not benefit much from this but she needed to be able to perform these flawlessly before moving onto the next part.

By the time they were laying on the ground exhausted, the smell of food was wafting around the campsite. The captain was in a much better state than the two youths, only sweating a little and managing to remain upright after going through the forms a few times.

Kaylee and Liz had gone to help with the meals, since Kaylee only saw them as something fun to do, and Liz was not able to do more than two sets, they had finished rather quickly.

“How do you feel?” Kyle looked at the couple sprawled on the ground, with a smirk on his face.

Alex could not help but glare at Kyle. Performing those forms were far too tiring! As mages, Alex and Amelia had better physiques than someone like Liz but they were not able to continuously repeat the exercise.

“Well, take a rest for a few minutes and go wipe yourselves off. You’ll be feeling the results in a few days.”

***

While, Kyle’s group travelled south towards the city of many races, there was a shuffle of power among the local bandit groups that were situated halfway between the human capital city and the frontlines.

The Bloody Butcher, having gained the aide of Tony, had made his move to subdue the other groups of cutthroats. The Butcher disposed of those unwilling to follow and forced the ones that surrendered into mana contracts.

The number of master ranked warriors had grown to five including the Butcher himself. They had enough manpower to attack a medium sized caravan group and get away without much trouble.

The Butcher was rather pleased, having turned a few of his competitors into his lackeys. Of course, he had no idea of the disaster bearing down upon him.

***

It was meant to be a moonless night, but with the light of the stars being blocked by a thick layer of clouds, it was even darker than usual. Kyle sat in front of the campfire, surrounded by silence. The occasional cracking of the wood in the fire was the only noise that could be heard in the pitch darkness. The firewood was collected in the city before they had left and would run out in three days at this rate.

He had taken it upon himself to take watch every night. Of course, Alex wanted to share the duty but Kyle had left no room for discussion. Everyone in the group was aware of Kyle’s strength and even the taciturn captain did not dispute Kyle’s decision.

Kyle looked up at the clouds. “Looks like it will rain soon.” His soft mutter cutting through the silence, he got up to put the fire out.

Just as Kyle stood up, his vision was drawn towards the hills off to the side of the road. The location of the campsite was near the main road. Kyle had chosen a relatively flat spot amongst the hills and craters that littered the ground.

A small smile reached Kyle’s lips.

“I guess this is to be expected as there are only a few of us.” Kyle walked into the dark, towards the hills. He had heard some sounds from that direction earlier. Soon enough, the intruders would be upon their small campsite.

Kyle decided to go and meet the local populace after making sure the barriers that surrounded the tents and wagons were in place.

“Ah, better put up a sound prevention one too.”

Kyle merrily resumed his walk while humming an unknown tune. Vanessa would be quite surprised seeing the current Kyle. His face was smiling yet it was not of a friendly sort. A sharp glint could be seen in his eyes.

After a quarter hour of walking leisurely, Kyle encountered the group of intruders. There were only about sixty men. They were led by a master ranked warrior who was constantly complaining in a low voice.

“Damn it! Why do I have to go out at this ungodly hour! The other guys are sleeping in their nice and comfortable beds while I have to trek this rubbish ground in the dark!”

Not able to notice Kyle standing a few tens of meters in front, the group of men silently travelled under the quiet whispers of the leader.

“Welcome, friends. Are you perhaps lost? Do you not have any torches?”

A sudden voice cut into the darkness and startled the group as everyone froze up. They were not able to see further than ten meters or so into the dark and it seemed as if what they had heard was purely their imagination. None of the bandits dared to made a sound. They were not able to see anyone other than their companions, yet the speaker had clearly discovered them! Chills went down their backs as the men recovered.

“““W-who are you?! Show yourself!”””

The leading bandit stopped immediately and looked around him, fully alert. The man vaguely spotted a silhouette moving towards them from the direction of the camp they were going to. Initially, nothing else could be heard but as the unknown form got closer to them, everyone could hear the sound of footsteps.

Steady and firm, each step bore deep into the minds of the bandits. Fear rose up from their hearts although they could not explain what caused them to be afraid. Tightly clutching their weapons, everyone huddled slightly closer and looked ahead to see who the stranger was. The bandits at the back were not able to see Kyle but they could clearly feel that their companions had encountered a roadblock up front.

“Ah hello! Sorry if I startled you.” Kyle maintained his smile that was not a smile as he stopped a few meters away from the group of men.

“Might I ask what you gentlemen are doing here out in the dark!”

‘That’s what we want to ask you!’ The bandits complained yet did not dare to speak out. The master ranked warrior gathered his courage despite the bizarre situation.

“That’s none of your business! What are you doing here all alone?” Having realised that Kyle was by himself, he pushed down his fear, believing that they had superior numbers and should not be afraid of a single man.

“Ho ho, but I do think it is my business!” The voice carried a hint of danger, the contents bringing confusion amongst the bandits. The leader quickly figured out that something was wrong. This man had come from the direction of the camp that they had spotted earlier. He had clearly come out to meet them!

“Men! Get him! There’s only one of him and over sixty of us!”

Although the master ranked warrior had yelled out, he had not actually attacked Kyle. The men behind him all charged up and hacked at Kyle with their blades from all directions! All blades were stopped half a meter away from Kyle, by an invisible barrier.

“Now now, that’s not very nice! I had only come out for a chat but this is how you treat me?” Kyle’s figure blurred and slowly vanished from the view of the surprised bandits along with his chuckle echoing into the night.

““Ahh!!”” A few screams rang out at the back of the crowd. The leader pushed his way through his men to reach the source of the screams. A few of his men were crawling backwards, away from a fallen companion. Further inspection showed that the dead man had a large hole where his heart used to be. The hole had gone through a couple of ribs and broken them clean off!

The leader shuddered. Even he, a master ranked warrior, could not perform the same task without making a noise! He realised that this man was in a completely different league!

“Everyone, pair up! Keep your backs to each other! Stay alert!” He yelled out some instructions and started to creep his way back towards the way he came.