[[Listin POV]]

“Quick! Retreat!!! Grab whatever you can and run!” Tigre yelled out in the chaos and confusion, with a struggling Sher under his arm. “You two! Grab the woman! We are leaving!”

In the dead of the night, I watched in horror as my guest stood on top of the carriage firing off magic spells like a madman at the group of 50 odd bandits who were scrambling to flee after kidnapping his wife and daughter, along with some of my cargo.

No sooner had the ambush started, it was all over and quiet once again, with only Kiefer and I left standing in the middle of charred and smoking ground that was splattered with the occasional fresh blood. I did not lose much, compared to Kiefer who lost his family to the bandits. It was my fault for not investigating further. How was I to know that Tigre had planned this ambush all the way from Mutatis.

“Kiefer… I- I’m sorry.” I tried to apologise, not sure how to even begin to make up for his loss. I not only cost him his family, he even saved my life and my cargo. I owe him more than anything I own in my entire life. Had he not been an accomplished mage, maybe even I would have been taken away by the bandits, probably used and then sold to a slave house.

Looking at him, he seemed to be muttering something to himself quietly. Had he gone insane at the loss of his family? Who could blame him? They looked so happy together, and to have all that shattered in an instant due to my mistake… Oh lord, what have I done…?

Then, as I looked at him still facing the direction that the bandits fled to, I tried apologising once more, this time louder and firmer so he would hear me. However, he turned to face me, all smiles as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened and calmly spoke. “Well then, shall we get going Listin? Or do you want to rest here for the night and continue in the morning?”

[[End of Listin POV]]

“How… How are you acting so calm?! Kiefer! Your wife and child were just abducted! Don’t you want to chase them? You are a proficient magus! You could easily tear their base apart if you give chase now!” Listin yelled, trying to knock some sense into Kiefer.

“Nah. Don’t worry about them. They can handle themselves. More importantly, I need to get to Alluviate, so do you mind if we set off tonight? I can carry the cargo the rest of the way, seeing as your drivers were scared off in the ambush.” Kiefer replied, offering his help.

“Nononono.. This isn’t right. Going to Alluviate is more important to you?! What kind of a man are you!? Leaving your wife and child to fend for themselves.” Listin yelled angrily. “Even if they are mages as powerful as you, they are against 50 bandits, maybe even more in the base!”

“Like I said, they can handle themselves. Besides, my wife should be joining us in the morning. So whether you want to move or not, it’s entirely up to you.” Kiefer nonchalantly replied, taking out the thermos from his sack inside the carriage and then sipping the still warm tea inside.

“Fine then.” Listin gave up trying to talk sense into the mad man. “We’ll stay here for tonight. The bandits killed the horses that were pulling the cargo so I can’t move them anyways. I’ll lend you a horse in the morning and I want you to contact an associate of mine back in Alluviate to bring help while I set up camp here and wait for you to return.”

[[Elsewhere in the Agrean forest]]

“Haah.. haah.. haah..” Tigre panted, still holding onto Sher in his arms. “Stop struggling dammit!” Tigre yelled at Sher glaring at her. Sher immediately stopped resisting, letting Tigre chain her arms and feet before passing her to a group of his men.

“Bring the woman to me! I’m gonna teach her a lesson for all the trouble her husband’s caused me.” Tigre barked, watching Isana thrust forward from amongst a group of unshaven, burly men. They were all already undressing her in their minds, watching every single nook and cranny of her luscious body. Isana was chained up similar to Sher and dragged by Tigre and thrown to the floor. The entire group started mumbling and chuckling, excited to see and experience the spectacle that was about to unfold.

“You lot! Take the kid straight to the slave house and sell her there. Make sure you get no less than 50 gold for her. We need to keep the 2 of them separate in case he comes chasing after one of them. At least we can use the other as leverage.” Tigre ordered, as he knelt down next to Isana.

“Thanks to your husband, I am going to enjoy myself tonight. I will make it as long and as painful as possible for you. I will make you suffer for the humiliation your husband had brought me.” Tigre whispered into Isana ears as he pulled her up from the ground and ushered her while blindfolded into a carriage that took off in the opposite direction from Sher.

The carriage moved non-stop for 2 hours, with Isana keeping calm and silent, her sense of smell telling her that there were at least 30 bandits escorting her carriage and 50 more in the cave that was coming up ahead shortly.

The carriage finally stopped and Isana was dragged out and once again shoved from the back to force her to move. However, this time, the shove was met with resistance as Isana did not budge a single inch.

“Hey~” Isana beckoned to her kidnappers. “Is this your base?” She asked.

“Yea. And what of it? You will be so broken by sunrise that you won’t remember anything.” Tigre barked back, annoyed that Isana was still resisting after being so obedient throughout the journey. “You better move it or I’m going to do you here out in the open.” Tigre warned as he once again tried to push Isana, only to be reminded of how strong Kiefer was when he first met him.

Without any effort, Isana stretched her arms above her head and yawned, pulling on the chains and ripping the shackles into bits of scrap metal. Seeing this action, all the bandits kicked into high alert, drawing their weapons and carefully observing Isana while waiting for Tigre’s orders. Tigre on the other hand was too shocked by what he just saw to think rationally.

“Well now, let’s have some fun shall we?” Isana said cheerfully as she breathed out a thick white mist in front of her, instantly freezing the group of bandits that were in the way. Then, from the snow, uncountable numbers of her humanoid clones rose like the undead, engaging in a pointless battle with the bandits.

As swords and hammers smashed into the clones, the ice shattered, only to be replaced within seconds by the drifting snow that gently fell from the sky. This battle reminded Isana of her first meeting with Kiefer, where it had just started to snow too and she used a similar method to engage Kiefer.

Naturally, Isana made short work of the entire base. No matter how coordinated or skilled the bandits were, they were in the end, still human. In the face of an elder titan, possibly the strongest after Gondor, they might as well have been bugs, waiting to be splattered on the floor. Isana investigated the bandit’s hideout, stashing whatever she thought might be useful for Kiefer inside her PD. Finally, she filled the entire cavern with ice, entombing the bodies of all the bandits in a magical ice that would remain frozen for years to come.

“Kii, I’m done on my side. I’ve taken care of what seems to be their base. But I don’t know if there are others in the area. Do you want me to go search for them?” Isana spoke, flying above the forest canopy back to where the ambush was laid.

“No. leave them be. If they are in any way connected, this would serve as a reminder and a warning. Hopefully it turns them back to the right track. If not, we can always deal with them on a later date when we are bored. Sher what about you?” Kiefer replied in a hushed voice, not wanting to attract any more attention from the confused Listin.

“Master. My carriage is still moving, but I hear waves so we must be by the sea. Do you still want me to follow them? I can just eat them all up now.” Sher replied through telepathy, not wanting to speak into the comms with the bandits still around.

“No. Follow them until you reach their base. Then, I want you to free any other slaves being held there. Do with the slavers and bandits what you want, but make sure the captives stay alive. When that’s done, fire a beam into the sky. Isana will take over from there.” Kiefer spoke back after deliberating his options.

Getting out of his carriage and sitting on the snow covered roof, Kiefer observed the frantic Listin, still pacing around the campsite. She had put out the fire to avoid attracting more attention so Kiefer could see her shivering from the cold in the moonlight. With a quick chant, Kiefer reignited the campfire once more, before throwing in a couple more logs of firewood to feed the flames.

“Listin calm down. Come here and warm yourself up.” Kiefer called out to the poor Arachne girl. “The bandits won’t be returning anytime soon. Here have a warm bowl of soup.” Kiefer offered, taking out a pot full of creamy mushroom soup from his PD and placing it over the fire.

“What… how… where did you get the soup from?” Listin stared at Kiefer wide eyed. “And what do you mean the bandits won’t be coming back? They just left an hour ago. They could still be lurking around. Quickly put out the fire!”

“Like I said, don’t worry about them. My wife has handled the bandits and my daughter is on her way to decimate the slave house that they sell the captives to. It is all going according to plan so just come here, drink up and calm your nerves.” Kiefer reassured her, this time holding a bowl of soup up, signalling for her to drink it.

Listin was dumbfounded by what Kiefer had just said. She could not believe that Kiefer had sent his child to destroy an underground organisation by herself. To make matters worse, he seemed so confident without even a shred of worry that it made her feel stupid for even panicking in the first place. As she took the bowl from Kiefer’s hand, her body warmed up next to the fire as she savoured the delectable taste of the warm soup flowing down her throat.

The night passed slowly for Listin while Kiefer slept defencelessly in the carriage, as if the ambush had never happened. Even with Kiefer reassuring her, she still could not shake off the fear of the attack and stayed vigilant the whole night, finally greeting Kiefer in the morning with dark rings around her 8 eyes.

“Good morning Listin!” Isana greeted as she emerged from amongst the trees. Listin could not believe her eyes when she saw Isana completely unharmed. Unable to reply Isana, partly because she could not register what had happened and partly because she half believed she was hallucinating from the fatigue of staying up, Listin just stared at Isana with a gaping mouth.

“Listin?” Isana called out again, cocking her head to the side, confused at Listin’s reaction. “Is my husband still sleeping?”

“No… not anymore…” Kiefer replied in a drawn out voice as he yawned and stretched his body before appearing from the back of the carriage. “Good morning Sana.”

[[Near the southern shores of Shearwood]]

“Get in there kid! And Keep quiet!” one of the slavers yelled as he threw a little reptilian demihuman into a dingy cage, locking the cage and climbing up the stairs. Sher was now 3 levels below ground in a hidden slave house along the shores. This was the headquarters and holding cell for new slaves before they were transported to underground auction houses in the various cities. Human slaves would be sold to demi human cities while demi human slaves would be sold to human cities.

The basement was poorly lit, but warm from the winter’s chill. It reeked of piss and manure with barred cells lining each side of the room, with only a single corridor down the middle. Sher could hear the constant sobbing coming from different parts of the long basement room while groans of pain reverberated from other parts.

“Don’t worry little girl. They won’t hit you as long as you listen to what they say and do as they asked.” An older human girl from the neighbouring cell spoke softly trying to calm the newcomer. That was a task she took upon herself as the oldest of the slaves. All the slaves on their level were females while the males were kept separate on at higher level.

“It’s ok.” Sher replied curtly. “My master told me to come here to finish a job.” Sher replied, causing the older girl to give a confused look.

“Did your master sell you back to the slave house?” the girl asked, pitying the little lizard girl who seemed calm and used to the situation.

“No. My master sent me here to save all of you, and destroy the slave house.” Sher clarified, at which the ears of all the slaves in the basement perked up. Soon they started bombarding Sher with questions of who her master was or how she was going to save them.

Hearing the ruckus down below, one of the guards came down with a large metal pipe in his hand as he scrapped it past the bars of the cells, making loud clanging noises. “SHUT IT! ALL OF YOU!” He bellowed, making the slaves cower back into the dirty corners of their piss covered cells.

“Hey mister!” Sher called out jubilantly, looking at her first meal while clinging to the bars on the front of her cage. The older girl looked away in pain, shutting her eyes tight and covering her ears, already sure of the brutal beating that the poor demi human girl was going to receive.

“GET TO THE BACK!” The guard yelled as he thrust the metal pipe in full force towards the thigh of the new girl through the bars. However, he had a strange ominous premonition as the pipe descended and dove for the girl’s leg. Almost in slow motion, he saw the young girl smile, not even attempting to dodge or flinch.

With a loud clang, the pipe bent and warped as it struck the girl’s leg, the impact causing the guard to lose his grip on the metal pipe and letting it drop to the floor. There was not even a mark on the girl’s leg as the man switched his gaze from the girl to the pipe. Instantly, knowing he was not facing a mere demi-human child, the guard drew his sword that was hanging around his waist, holding the hilt with both hands, pointing the blade at the girl and stuttered, his hands shaking unsteadily, “you—you… wha-- what are you!?”

“I’m the one that is going to eat you for breakfast.” Sher replied, her pearly white glinting from the faint light of the torch hung on the wall of the stairwell. Saying that, she gripped 2 adjacent bars of her cell and pulled them apart, bending the bars to make enough space for her to step through.

Seeing the horror unfolding in front of him, the guard dropped his drawn sword and fumbled around the whistle that was slung around his neck. With a deep breath, a sharp piercing whistle rang through the entire basement complex, but was cut short abruptly as his head was ripped from his neck in one swift tug from the little girl.

Sher turned around to see the rest of the girls all cowering, covering their faces with their hands and peeking at the scene from between their fingers. She smiled at the girls and said one sentence before slowly walking up the stairs towards the rumbling ruckus that started at the sound of the whistle, “Stay here. You’ll be safe.”

“Quickly! Kill her!” a lavishly dressed noble howled at the crew of slavers as he promptly made his way towards the exit. The guards and bandits alike rushed in past him from outside the building, heading towards the stairs where the young girl was now standing, her face bloodied by the victims that now lie strewn over the stairs.

In a flash, Sher charged out of the exit, grasping 2 of the bandits by the collars of their plate armour and flinging them up into the air with the momentum of her charge. Once outside, the guards and bandits formed a circle around her, keeping a distance of roughly 10 steps from her. The ring leader’s personal guards formed an arc between him and the monstrous little girl as he scurried to climb aboard his carriage.

Sher licked her lips, her gaze following the ring leader closely, not even putting the bandits in her sight. Then, she gradually floated a few inches off the ground, and her long silky hair now standing on ends as the static charge built up around her. With a single burst, a dome of electric pulse expanded from Sher’s body rapidly, charring the ground and searing the flesh of the bandits that had surrounded her. The metal armour and weapons glowed white hot from the heat of the electromagnetic pulse as anyone who got caught in the path was either fried directly or baked in their armour.

The short range pulse ended abruptly, stopping short of the ring leader who was now on the ground in a puddle of his own piss, desperately dragging his bum on the floor as he backed away as far as he could from the monster. Sher turned her head to the sky and opened her mouth, letting loose a huge red beam that tore through the clouds, lasting only a second before it became thinner and gradually disappeared.

Now facing the poor noble that was crying in fear, Sher repeated the same action, opening her mouth wide and revealing her teeth. The man had seen what happened earlier, and immediately put his arms up to shield his face, hoping against all odd that maybe he could survive the blast. However, what came next was a deafening roar that shook him from the inside, knocking him unconscious.

Meanwhile, the slaves underground were all unusually quiet, only listening in on the commotion and the huge fight that was happening above ground. Then it all ended with a loud roar. After that, there were no more screams, no more yelling, no more groaning, only silence. Before long, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

Straining their eyes in the darkness, facing the faint light coming from the stairs, they saw the silhouette of a well-proportioned lady dressed in a beautiful one-piece gown make her way down the steps. She stopped at the entrance of the basement, and waved her arm. The bars and locks immediately froze over and cracked, shattering and dropping to the ground. “Come.” She said. With one word, the slaves all felt the faint hint of hope reignite in their hearts, all willing their weak legs to stand even though they were originally unable to. They followed the lady back up to the surface, like sheep led by a shepherd.

The slaves had been kept in the dingy basement for as long as they could remember, only ever being moved to the auction house’s basement during the night. They did not know they could feel so much joy from just feeling the sun’s rays hitting their bleached skin and teary faces. Dragging themselves out of the building and onto the frsh snow, they all started weeping with joy.

“Why hello there Isana, Shearwood.” Rashael greeted, poking his head out of the ground like a mole.

“Wha- Rashael?! What are you doing here?!?” Isana exclaimed, surprised by the unexpected visitor.

“Well, I was tweaking with Kiefer’s communication device, trying to extend its range when guess what? I overheard you guys discussing your plans to raid the slave house and bandit base. There no way I was going to stay out of such a juicy and interesting event now was I?” Rashael smirked, finally coming out of the ground and setting foot on the soft loosely packed snow.

He took one glance at all the slaves and started glowing, as a blinding yet warm light enveloped all the slaves. As the light subsided, the slaves found that their injuries had all been healed by this mysterious saint, rubbing their wrists and ankles where the shackles had chaffed them for too long.

“So where is Kiefer anyway? I’d thought he would be here to help facilitate the movement of the freed slaves.” Rashael asked, looking around for any signs of the man.

“He’s still on his way to Alluviate to discuss the issue with the land ownership. Sher was going bring them back to Mutatis on her back while I return to my husband’s side to aid in the negotiations.” Isana explained, helping one of the captives onto his feet.

“Bah! What do YOU know about negotiations? You barely even know how to cook a decent meal, let alone run a city. Yea that’s right, I know ALL about your little cooking sessions.” Rashael sneered, watching Sher round up the captives all the while dragging the ring leader’s unconscious body around.

“Tell you what. You help Shearwood escort these slaves back to Alwin, and also tell him to lock up that no good bastard. I’ll find Kiefer and help him with the negotiations. I might be able to offer my expertise in designing runes and technology as a trade-up for the lands.” Rashael suggested, hinting that he was not going to take no for an answer by shoving one of the slaves into Isana’s arms and sinking back into the ground, not waiting for Isana’s reply.

Kiefer was sitting comfortably at the back of the carriage as Listin urged the horses to sprint forwards. In order to save time, Kiefer had picked up all the cargo and thrown them into his PD. He then wrapped Listin, the carriage and the horses in his mana ropes, ferrying all of them straight towards Alluviate through the skies above the Agrean forest. When he arrived at the forest clearing, he set the entire load down softly on the main road that cut through the snow covered meadow that separated the city walls from the forest.

Listin was too shocked to even bother asking Kiefer how he did what he had just done, knowing full well that she would not even begin to understand a fraction of the man’s true abilities. She simply accepted the fact that he did not mean her any harm and thanked her lucky stars he chose her convoy to follow.

Listin made it past the gates with ease by flashing her merchant’s pass, registering Kiefer as her helper. There, once within the city walls, Listin made a beeline for her warehouse where Kiefer unloaded all her cargo from his PD, before bidding a quick farewell and going on their own ways. Listin stayed behind to do a stock take while Kiefer already knew where he was going.

Walking slowly down the familiar roads of the first city he set foot in, Kiefer looked around, reminiscing his time in the academy and in the inn with Marley and her bear-like dad. He walked slowly towards the palace grounds, waiting for Isana to return before he actually moved into the palace for an audience with the King.

Loitering around the front gates of the palace, camouflaged by the optical spell he stole from Rashael’s small repertoire of Titan skills, he kept looking at the sky, expecting isana to come floating down any minute. However, what greeted him was not isana’s sweet voice, but that of an annoying comrade.

“Hello you bastard.” Rashael greeted as he appeared from behind an alleyway. “Thought you could leave me out of the fun did you? Well too bad. I have more bad news for you. Isana isn’t coming and I’ve found a way to improve your comms device.” Rashael gloated, raising his chin up with pride as he delivered the new change in plans.

“Hmph. I should have known. Well then, let’s stop wasting time.” Kiefer said, turning to ignore Rashael while dispelling his camouflage. The 2 men walked steadily towards the gates of the palace, scrutinising and sensing everything living thing that was beyond the gates with their own unique sensory methods.

“HALT! What business do you have here?” One of the guards asked audibly, holding his armoured arm up to signal for the 2 men to stop.

Before Kiefer could respond, Rashael cut in, hoping to watch a fun scene. “Make way for us. He’s the representative of Mutatis, and he is here to threaten your King.” He said, sneering at Kiefer. Kiefer literally face-palmed as he saw the guards get into an attack stance, while another one just beyond the gate blew a horn to rally more troops to the gate. Rashael on the other hand was chuckling and trying to stifle his laughter.

In particular, i will be removing the whole burn the villages to get out of the academy part in the first arc. I finally realised it was way too sadistic for even kiefer and that i only put it in at that time because i had planned for Kiefer to go the extreme route, which did not happen.

You can choose to re-read it, or not, since it doesn't really affect anything other than the lives of a few thousand fictional villagers. The chapter in question here is Chapter 1.17 - The Failure and The Goal