Chapter 22

The sun’s relentless heat kept beating off his back, yet Cort paid no mind for all his attention was focused on a certain task.

‘Nineteen.’ He thought as he watched a large number of leaves make their way down a tree. Taking a deep breath, his eyes turned sharp and the world around him slowed to a crawl. The tension with which he kept a tight grasp on his sword exploded and a clean slash cut apart two relatively close leaves at once. Following through with his momentum, he slashed apart another leaf that entered his range. As if dancing, his sword fluttered to and fro leaving cleanly severed leaves in its wake.

Unfortunately, he was still limited in his speed and as the nineteenth leaf was about to make contact with the ground, he knew he was never going to reach it. Frustrated at his lack of ability, he angrily shoved a hand into his bag. Swift movement followed by the appearance of a throwing knife was witnessed a fraction of a second before the knife barreled its way towards the leaf.

However just as the knife was about to make contact with the fragile leaf’s surface, a booming voice commanded.

“Disqualified….again!” Carson said as he stood a distance away, looking every bit as strict as any teacher scolding their student would. “How many times must I tell you, sword only.”

The young man landed and went to retrieve his knife while he retorted. “That makes no sense. The goal was nineteen, and I achieved that. Besides I don’t see how this would benefit me in any way.”

“Don’t underestimate my teaching technique boyo, I’ve raised more Late-stage core perfectionists than you will even see in your lifetime.”

“Keyword in that sentence being: magician. A question my dear teacher, have you ever taught anyone anything to do with being a warrior First hand?” Cort retrieved his throwing knife and polished off the dirt.

“Well you have a point there, but I’ll have you know that we also had a prestigious warriors’ academy and this exercise was a particularly popular one for breaking in newbies.”

“We?”

“Oho nice try but you won’t be getting any more information out of me. Anyway, don’t take this exercise lightly, while it might seem like folly it does show you your limitations. Fact is, without the artifact you call a gun, you are far weaker than most Mid-ranked warriors and I don’t see a realistic way of strengthening your attack any time soon. That’s why we must focus on working with your saving grace, your speed. And- Just where do you think you’re going?”

“We will continue this discussion later, for now, I have more important things to attend to.” Cort said as he donned a long hooded robe.

“Now wait just a damn second, what could be more important than training?”

But the young man did not listen and instead, he dashed away at full speed.

Old man Carson sighed as he lamented over his position. “What a pain…” He groaned. “Hopefully the other one was behaving himself better.”

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Rine clutched the bag of crystals with a concerned expression on his face. Never in his life has he held such a large amount of crystals. Two hundred reds. To place it into context that was enough to fund ten trips from his village to Phentar.

‘I wonder what grandpa will say when he sees this.’ Despite himself, he couldn't help but smile a little. But he snapped himself out of his daze and reminded himself of the story he was to tell. He found a job in Phentar, as evidenced by the crystals, the only catch was that he had to stay in the city. Every now and then he would pop back into the village to visit but he had to move, and while it may seem sudden, he was already nearing the age of going away for school anyway. Besides, it was best if he stayed close to the school.

‘Yes yes just like that.’ Re-running the story in his head over and over again until he was satisfied, he finally leaned back and enjoyed the ride. The only problem was that the ride itself was uncomfortable and overbearingly tedious. The carriage filled with people jumped and moaned at every crevice or pebble the road had to offer. That coupled with the lack of any cushioning between their butts and the wooden seats meant that the passengers jumped and moaned with every pebble or rock too.

Speaking of the passengers, in the cramped carriage, six people including himself sat in uncomfortable semi-silence. Four men and two women. The only two ladies were a mother and daughter pair. Both were modestly pretty, but aside from that nothing else stood out. They did not seem to be warriors or magicians of any kind. In the corner, one man sat alone with his head down. His large stature and steel armor told others of his warrior identity. Throughout the entire trip, he hadn't spoken a single word and probably wouldn't for the rest of the ride. No, the talking was mostly done by the remaining two, a pair of boys slightly older than Rine. He supposed that were he to have left Phentar earlier, there would be more people his age in the cabin, all returning with their tails between their legs after failing the entrance exam.

The older of the two, and the leader from what Rine gathered, was busy chatting away as he had a one-sided conversation with the young woman who seemed bothered by the whole thing. She remained silent despite the youth’s best efforts. Every now and then his partner, slightly shorter and pudgier, would interject a word or two to assist his friend.

Rine looked away from this scene for he had no business in it. Looking out through the window, he could see that they had officially left the city’s borders. His heart always tightened at around this point due to the troubling number of bandits that roamed these areas-

A commotion interrupted him from his thoughts.

Turning his head back towards the woman and her daughter, he could see the former yelling something at the chatty young man. She seemed to be scolding him about manners. Rine was curious as to what the man had said, but as he looked further down and saw that the young man had placed his hand firmly on the reluctant girl’s thigh, he realized what had transpired.

“Keep your hands to yourself, you cad.” The woman yelled as she pulled her daughter closer to her. Unfortunately, the cramped cabin did not offer much room, and no matter how hard she pulled they were still too close.

“This ain’t about you, young auntie.” He gave a devilish grin and scooted closer to the pair. To the side, the young man’s partner seemed uncomfortable.

“Maybe we shouldn-”

“Shut it Slug. This one’s all mines.” He licked his lips and tightened his grip.

The young woman’s face paled and she drew closer to her mother.

“Hey! Knock it off!” Rine shouted, surprising even himself.

Startled by the sudden interjection, the young man turned his gaze away from the girl with an annoyed expression. But as his eyes came upon Rine, his annoyed expression turned into one of mischievous glee. “Well well, what do we have here? A damn hero with us huh.” He stood and clumsily made his way towards Rine who grew anxious.

The young man heavily sat down to one side of Rine while his friend sat on the other.

The young man’s face drew close to Rine’s and he could smell the scent of alcohol lingering around it.

“So tell me, twerp. What’s new with you? Want a piece of the action huh?” He nudged Rine with his elbow.

Seemingly more at ease, the partner laughed lightly and also came closer.

As the two were older, their bodies were also larger and right now Rine felt incredibly small.

“Well too bad for you cause I called dibs ya see. But you can have the mother.” He laughed before quickly punching Rine in the gut.

“Hgh.” Rine groaned, and Slug laughed.

“Ooh, what do we have here?” As Rine moved, the young man spotted a conspicuously full crystal bag.

“Bingo baby.” He said as he snatched the bag away. And as Rine attempted to retrieve it, he tossed it towards his partner Slug.

“Woah! Damn, that’s a lot of crystals.” Slug said as he opened up the bag.

“N-no give it back.” Rine reached for the bag, his anger finally boiling over. Unknowingly he began to chant the words of a spell. But as he thought more about it, he decided against it. The cabin was so small, he could hurt the other passengers if he did cast it. Embarrassment dyed his cheeks red and his frustration grew.

“And what if we don’t huh? Gonna kick our asses?” The young man laughed heartily before asking his friend. “How much Slug?”

“About two hundred reds.” Slug said as his grubby hand ruffled through the bag.

The young man whistled. “Well, I’ll be damned. What’s a twerp like you doing with so many crystals huh?” Once again he sent another punch towards Rine’s gut. They seemed to be warriors as the young man’s punches were stronger than average.

Rine could feel himself instinctively drawing Origin in. His anger had finally gotten the better of him and just as he was about to let loose…

The carriage skidded into an abrupt stop. All the passengers shifted to one side heavily.

“Ow, what the hell.” The young man said as he stood up angrily.

“Bandits.” One of the guards stationed to the carriage yelled forcefully.

Slug’s face paled significantly and he asked in a scared voice. “B-boss what should we do?”

The young man grew more annoyed. “What da ya mean what should we do?” He snatched the bag from Slug. “Why do you think we paid them so many crystals? For this reason exactly, now get up, and let’s watch the show.” He said as he tied the bag to his side and made his way for the door.

Outside the carriage, frantic movements and clashing steel were heard.

‘The guards are fighting the bandits back.’ Rine thought as his spell neared completion.

As the young man neared the door, he reached for the handle.

“Wait boss wait!” Slug yelled desperately.

Annoyed, the young man turned towards his friend. “What?”

But before he could continue, he was yanked hard by the opening door. Suddenly, a gruff-looking shirtless man with a tattered cloth wrapped around the bottom of his face was visible to the passengers.

“Who the hell are yo-” The young man’s words were interrupted by a sword that lodged itself into his abdomen. He opened his mouth once more in shock but only blood flowed out.

“Boss!” Slug yelled in fright.

However the bandit did not care, for he wanted one thing. With the expertise that comes with experience, the bandit undid the bag’s tie and snatched Rine’s crystals away.

Satisfied with the job well done, the bandit squeezed the bag with his hand as his eyes made their way across the cabin lingering a little too long on the mother and daughter pair. “Crystals. Now.” The bandit said intensely.

But Rine heard none of this. Blood was rushing to his ears and his world was dyed red in anger. For the second time today, he was robbed silly. ‘Enough of this. Fuck it!’

Spreading his arm out and outstretching his fingers, he cast towards the bandit. “{Fireball}!”

A roaring ball of fire the size of a watermelon materialized and quickly shot towards the bandit whose eyes widened in shock.

It wasn’t just him who was surprised, the mother and daughter both gasped, and Slug staggered backward while muttering incoherently. “A-a M-magician.”

The lone man sitting in the corner lifted his head up slightly as his gaze focused on Rine.

An explosion shook the cabin as spell met man. The bandit was blasted backward and out of the cabin.

Rine could care less about any of this as he dashed out of the cabin himself.

“No don’t!” Slug yelled as he watched his only hope of survival run away. He ran after him.

Outside the carriage, the scene was far more chaotic than Rine originally thought. The guards numbered three while the bandits outnumbered them two-fold. Blood covered the ground and men grunted as they slashed away with their swords, in hopes of severing heads.

Scanning the field, Rine’s eyes came to a stop on a certain burning bandit. ‘There!’ He thought as he ran forwards.

“No, get back!” A guard said as he saw the running boy.

“Hehehe wrong move kid.” A bandit said as he slashed his sword towards Rine.

“Fuck off. {Fireball}!” Rine roared as the man was blasted away.

“““Magician!””” Both the bandits and the guards said with surprise.

Rine finally arrived next to the burning man. The bandit was seemingly hurt as he stood up shakily.

The young magician approached from behind and grasped the bag tightly. “{Fireball}!” He yelled as he pressed his hand against the bandit’s back. The man was once again shoved forward, but due to Rine’s grip, the bag remained within his grasp. The force of the attack ripped the bag's tie away and some crystals fell to the ground.

He bent down to pick them up, but he was interrupted by the scream of a young man. Turning his head to the side, he saw Slug backing away in fear as a bandit came closer to him.

Rine clicked his tongue in frustration, but he knew what he had to do.

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