"I SAID STOP!!"

A wall of flame rose up instantly between Greg and Ben, as Greg's hand was in the way, that, as well as his entire forearm, was completely engulfed in flame. The smell of burnt flesh instantly spread thru the village square and Greg's arm soon became as black as coal and the hand that gripped the knife broke away turning to ash.

"AHHHH!! MY HAND, YOU TOOK MY HAND!"

Greg fell to his knees grasping the remains of his arm in pain whilst howling like a madman. The gathered villagers looked back and forth between Chief Roland and the now distraught Greg, seeing such a frightening sight the villagers couldn't help but back away slowly in terror. They knew that Greg deserved what he got but that didn't dispell the fear they felt from seeing such a thing. One of the men keeled over and began to puke, not only from the sight of what remained of Greg's arm but also from the combining awful smell of burnt hair and flesh.

Roland couldn't be bothered with the weak stomach of his fellow villager instead he looked at Greg and the maddening gaze that surged within his eyes. As Greg continued to howl in pain Roland saw the terrible sight of Nia and Ben as he moved closer an anger erupted within him.

"YOU, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? DID YOU THINK YOU WOULD GET AWAY WITH THIS?"

But Greg fired back with just as much fury.

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP. THIS IS YOUR FAULT, THIS IS THE BOY'S FAULT. IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU AND HIM, MY EYE, MY FUCKING EYE!!"

Greg was so mad he couldn't even finish a sentence properly but everyone around knew what he meant. Greg blamed Lowen for his crushed eye and he blamed Roland for doing nothing about it. Lowen's actions had received no consequences of any kind and he had even gotten preferential treatment. Greg, on the other hand, was punished and locked away. Not only did he not get any justice but he was even humiliated by Lowen in front of the entire village, that, plus his crushed eye, Greg needed to see Lowen's corpse completely drained of blood or he would never live down the shame and humiliation he felt that day.

As Roland inched closer he started preparing another spell. To Roland, there was no reason to allow such a person to live any longer. If he did, it would only cause him to lose sleep at night as he would have to constantly look over his shoulder. Mages may be some of the most powerful entities on the planet but at Roland's current circle of magic didn't make him immune to mortal wounds. So even someone with just a regular dagger who only has regular strength, if a Mage was caught off guard, then, of course, they can be killed like any other. Only at the later Circles of magic would a Mage no longer fear such things as metal swords or steel arrows.

Greg saw Roland inching closer and knew that if he did nothing then he would die right there and then, so in desperation he did the only thing he could do.

Greg using his only good arm grabbed at Ben, snatching him up by his neck. Spinning around, Greg held Ben's small body in front of himself as a human shield. In a panic, he shouted.

"Don't come any closer, anyone who does will have this boy's death on their hands."

Roland froze in place coming to a complete standstill, he knew that Greg was serious. He regretted not using another spell earlier but he was unsure how well it would go as he was still recovering his powers. Even though his 3rd circle was healed Roland didn't know if he used multiple spells or not if that would redamage his 3rd circle of magic. Roland in his current state didn't know where his limit was and earlier did not want to test it and risk everything he had just gotten back but because of that hesitation, Greg now had a hostage.

One or two of the villagers didn't heed Greg's warning and still continued to approach. Seeing as Greg no longer held a weapon, their worry was many times less and they thought this to be the perfect opportunity but Greg saw their foolish actions and roared in anger.

"I SAID STAY BACK!"

Tightening his grip around Ben's small neck Ben began to choke as tears poured down his face he tried to kick, scratch and claw at Greg's hand trying desperately to remove it but his strength compared to a full grown adult was absolutely no match. The approaching villagers stopped but Greg continued to squeeze causing Ben's face to start to turn blue. Only when they retreated back several steps did Greg finally loosen his grip a bit allowing Ben to breathe.

*Cough cough huff huff huff*

Ben swallowed air in painfully and tears continued to pour from his face. All he could think of was how much he wanted his Big bro and his big sis.

Now everyone stood there powerless not knowing what to do. Those that weren't terrified had now all gathered at the village square looking on in horror. Even Roland was unsure of what to do, as the magic he could use was limited. As his cane held 4 spells there were 4 options but none of them were suited for this situation none of them were precise enough. Whether it be his fireball spell, his chain of fire spell or his flame wall spell, none would work with Greg in such close proximity of Ben, it was simply too dangerous. Roland couldn't help wondering how different things would be if he could use water magic or earth magic, fire magic was just too dangerous.

By this time nearly the whole village had gathered and encircled Greg, Nia, and Ben. Finally, a woman in the crowd could no longer take it, Luna had stood by terrified but she knew that if Nia didn't get help soon then she would surely die. She stood out from the crowd and yelled toward Greg.

"What do you want?"

Greg saw Luna and thought nothing of her but her question did garner a response.

"What do I want, WHAT DO I..... WANT! I WANT THAT LITTLE SHIT TO COME HERE AND BEG ME ON HIS HANDS AND KNEES FOR FORGIVNESS AND THEN I WANT TO STRANGLE THE LIFE OUT OF HIM JUST LIKE THIS."

Greg again began to squeeze Ben at the neck draining the life from his body many of the men couldn't watch any longer and were just about to rush him when a loud yet childish voice came from behind them.

"GREG YOU BASTARD, IM RIGHT HERE!"

Hearing this childish yet familiar voice, Greg stopped squeezing Ben's throat and looked over toward that shout. All he could see though was a crowd of villagers but very quickly that crowd of villagers began to part making a path for someone or rather they were forcefully being shoved aside. Lowen moved thru these grown men and women pushing and shoving them aside as though their roles were reversed, them being children and him the adult. Although they were all bigger than him in stature, not a single one of them could match him in strength. When Lowen finally stepped out of the crowd and he saw the state Nia and Ben were in his eyes began to take on a coldness like no other.

Greg seeing his most hated enemy appear from the crowd, took and held Ben up high in pride. With a hatred that seemed as though it could burn an entire forest Greg spoke with pure malice.

"So you finally decided to show yourself you piece of...."

Greg was suddenly frozen in place, his words left completely unspoken. The gathered men, women and children, none of them had seen what had just occurred. None of them had even noticed anything wrong until Greg had already collapsed. Only Roland had caught a glimpse at what just transpired. Before Greg had finished his words, Lowen had already appeared behind him, that, Roland had seen but what he didn't see was the moment Lowen had drawn his sword. Lowen, with Ki circulating thru his body at his maximum, had unleashed his Shadow Steps and as he passed by Greg, with a thought, his family sword had unraveled itself from his arm like a coiled up Viper and instantaneously decapitated Greg. The cut had been so fast and so clean that it had left no traces of blood on the blade and as Lowen took just a single step past Greg, this magical sword once more wrapped around Lowen's arm as though it had never even moved. Roland saw Lowen move but he had missed Lowen's blade. When he drew it and when he put it back Roland had completely missed it, so even he had not seen how Greg had been killed. A bit of terror entered a small place in his heart, did this not mean Lowen could kill him before he could react. The same fear Lowen felt when he first learned of Roland's magic, Roland now felt that same bit of fear creep down his spine.

As Greg's head fell to the ground it rolled away several feet only stopping when it hit the feet of a young lady in the crowd. Seeing this brought shouts of horror, it was only now that people could clearly tell that Greg was dead. How he died none could tell but seeing Lowen vanish from the crowd only to reappear next to Greg's dead body in a flash they all knew he had done it but once again the same question continued to bounce around in their minds.

(Just, how?)

As blood gushed like a fountain out of Greg's neck it quickly formed a red muddy puddle causing those that were nearby to be disgusted, to say the least. As the puddle grew bigger and bigger a few villagers finally snapped out of it and rushed over trying to help but Roland quickly ordered them back. Lowen bent down and held Nia in his arms. Ben struggled as he limped over he looked at his sister's face and cried pitifully.

"Big bro, big sis is dead, I tried to protect her but I, I, I was too weak."

Ben began to ball his eyes out even more at his own words, only when Lowen flicked his nose did he look at Lowen in shock. With a look of betrayal, he asked in a sad babyish voice.

"Big bro, why?"

Lowen gave him a small smile and said gently.

"Ben, you little fool, she's not dead yet."

Ben looked at Nia and then Lowen and then back at Nia, concentrating on her face he could see her eyelids twitch a little before she barely opened them. Seeing his sister slowly awaken Ben felt a joy like no other. He immediately tried to cheer in utter happiness and glee but found his throat to be feeling beyond terrible, causing him to quickly cough in pain. Still, there was no wiping the delight from his face. Lowen had already been passing Nia some ki when he held her, that was the only reason she had awakened otherwise shed still be unconscious. Roland at this time came over.

"Lowen is there anything I can do?"

Lowen looked at Roland with curiosity, he seemed to be genuinely trying to help. Lowen didn't know why he wanted to help but for Nia and Ben's sake, he wouldn't refuse. At the same time though there was no one better qualified to help them then Lowen, with his ki he could speed up their recovery by several fold.

"No everything will be fine, I just need to get them home and I'll be able to handle the rest."

Lowen felt Nia's wound and thought about how much she suffered and recalling Ben being chocked like that filled Lowen with sadness. He couldn't believe how someone could hurt children like that. He couldn't understand how someone could almost kill innocent children without a second thought. As Lowen went over this something suddenly popped into his head.

(They almost died, they were almost killed, wait, doesn't that mean this is the perfect opportunity?)

With this sudden thought, Lowen gently lifted Nia up and placed her on his back. Seeing how Ben wasn't too hurt Lowen was a little more rough with Ben and simply snatched him up carrying him under his arm. Launching his Shadow Steps, Lowen like a blur disappeared from everyone's vision, with Nia and Ben in tow, he carried them away, to where, no one knew.

The situation in the village square was still chaotic, people were amazed and terrified of the things that had just transpired. From the brash hostage situation to the near death of Nia and Ben to the instantaneous decapitation of Greg. With all of these events quickly happening Roland was trying to bring things to a calm end but everyone was filled with unanswered questions and this time no one was leaving without an answer. As all of this was occurring Lowen could care less, carrying Nia and Ben inside their home Lowen set them down. Ben immediately wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep after his traumatic experience but Lowen wouldn't let him. Grabbing Ben by his shoulders Lowen gave him a shake.

"No Ben, wake up."

"Why? I want to sleep."

Lowen gave Ben a small grin.

"Didn't you want to become strong like me?"

Ben's eyes perked up and he immediately sat up straight and stared at Lowen patiently.

(After I heal Nia they will be ready. After that near-death experience they both just went thru they should be able to connect their mind, body, and soul. It's time for them to become Ki manipulators.)