Moments before the battle began.

News of an attack from the north-ease came as no surprise to Riaz and both he and Obrid understood the significance behind it. Helpless, Riaz could only watch as Obrid rushed out to meet his hated foe with only Akai to reinforce him.

But was Obrid really capable of slaying the two-legged beast? Many doubts rose up within Riaz, accompanied by a fear that a repeat of earlier events could come to pass.

'No, I must have faith in Obrid.' Riaz shook his head, refusing to give up on this last sliver of hope. He firmly held the crystal pendant close to his chest; for some reason it gave him comfort.

As for the girls, there was no question about the state of the two. Any fool could tell that those girls had suffered greatly, as seen by their appearance. The little Lissy had already sought out her big sister's embrace, but Leria had not been her usual self since Kyle's death and seemed rather unresponsive.

Riaz wanted to console her, but he didn't know how, not to mention that he still felt a shadow of guilt hang over him. Obrid's reassuring words had dispelled a lot of the self-deprecation, but he still felt like he could have done more. No, he definitely should have done more.

And now, what was he to do? Obrid had left him with old man Misaf, but why would he still entrust him with the duty to protect them?

His eyes gave Misaf a quick once-over, but no matter how he looked at him, he looked like a thin old man in his twilight years.

Still, ever since Obrid knelt before this old man, Riaz couldn't help but speculate about Misaf's identity; there must have been more to him than met the eye.

Riaz trusted his instincts. He could feel it whenever he was with Misaf; the man practically radiated a strong vitality.

'Again... this sensation.'

There were times when he should have questioned his so called 'instinct' to perceive these things. He'd always suppressed his suspicions and blissfully pretended that he was an ordinary youth. However, no amount of pretense changed the fact that he displayed unusual capabilities on multiple small occasions.

It was the little things that added up to be suspicious, especially when he remembered his dreams. Deep down he knew it. He knew that the visions from his dreams were connected to him, specifically his past.

So far, just how many clues did he pass up?

Maybe his past self frantically tried to resurface all this time, yet was impeded by his selfish desires to not let the peaceful days come to an end.

He'd subconsciously built a wall in his mind. But what awaited him on the other side? Death and despair. Tear-stained farewells. A promise he couldn't remember and a heavy responsibility. He wanted none of it.

For the past months, he had gradually nurtured a new persona, one unfettered by the tragic ties of his former self; one without burdens and regrets. However, in light of the current events, he felt truly naive.

'Was it wrong of me to start anew? I wonder, if I had listened, what would you have told me, Riaz?'

Riaz lamented quietly. Had he embraced every clue and seriously investigated his past, he may have found the strength to face adversity. Most importantly, he could have saved the people close to him.

Instead, everyone treated him like a burden. He had to be protected and had to watch others bleed for his every ounce of weakness. To make things worse, he now had to hide behind a frail old man.

Quietly, he resolved himself to grow stronger. He would begin now and stop being a coward, thus he gathered his courage and stood before Leria.

"Leria, I am sorry. The pain must be unbearable, but I want you to know that you are not alone in this." Riaz placed his hand on her shoulder, forcing himself to smile, but his hand was quickly slapped away by her.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, but her face didn't show any anger, furthermore her eyes didn't even acknowledge his presence.

Riaz reluctantly withdrew his hand and gazed at Leria's pallid face. He could barely recognize her the way she was now. She had become so fragile, her eyes bereft of light. The world had cheated her out of everything.

The more he saw her troubled countenance, the more ashamed he grew of his own whining and complaining.

"I won't run, Leria. Nothing will happen to you, I promise." He muttered these words for her to hear and waited.

Seconds passed with no reply and Riaz sighed. 'Perhaps, I have expected too much.'

He frowned and took a step back; however, just when he was about to turn away, she grabbed his hand while holding onto Lissy with the other.

Riaz was taken by surprise and a wry smile formed on his face. He grew hopeful that, maybe, he had gotten through to her after all.

Unfortunately, it was too early to rejoice. They had yet to make it through the night and yet, when Riaz thought they had earned a moment of respite, a group of bandits arrived.

The bandits engaged in conversation with Misaf, but the tensions were growing and Misaf was losing patience with every second. Before long, the leader of the bunch sent out two of his goons to attack the old man.

Riaz had long since taken the girls and escorted them to the sidelines.

He had to inwardly praise old man Misaf. As the battle unfolded, the elder displayed an awe-inspiring prowess. The bandit leader, Lorenz, was no less impressive, loathe as he was to admit it.

Riaz wondered how they'd compare with the beastman named Boffu. He asked himself how Obrid was fairing on his end and if he and Boffu were fighting already.

'Huh, what are those scumbags up to?' Riaz looked towards the side.

During the exchange between Lorenz and Misaf, Riaz didn't miss that those three leftover bandits were closing in on him and the girls. They had a hand on their weapons, tossing seemingly valuable objects into a corner as they approached.

'This doesn't seem good.'

He knew that he could not rely on the old man to help them out; it was now up to him to keep the girls safe. He knew he couldn't stand his ground against three bandits, so he chose to flee with the girls.

Riaz and the girls had turned tail and taken no more than a handful of steps when a shockwave spread out from the center of the square.

Before Riaz could take the girls away, both he and the girls were sent flying towards the side of the road. Instinctively reaching out, he managed to pull Lissy into his embrace and soften the impact for her by using himself as a cushion.

The two girls let out a shrill yelp during that moment while Riaz crashed into the wall of a building, still firmly holding Lissy in his embrace.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood and he could feel the hairs on his neck stand on end. This power just now was too tyrannical.

When he looked around, he noticed that the bandit trio was flung down the same road as well. Through some stroke of bad luck, the bandits landed not far off from their location.

'Wait... the old man?'

Riaz had lost sight of Misaf and could only see Lorenz with an injured hand. He followed his gaze, which was aimed at a hole inside of a building.

Riaz's eyes widened when Misaf emerged from the rubble, a weird sun image forming on his abdomen. He wanted to pay closer attention to the mark, but there was no time to be absent-minded, not when the shadow of a man hovered above him.

That bandit, while Riaz knew him to be a human just like him, looked freakish; a wide scar ran down his cheek, paired with two intimidating blood-shot eyes.

In this moment, he looked no different from a nightmare creature. Fear set root within Riaz's heart while the bandit reached his hand out towards him.

Riaz, while terrified, closes his eyes, silently praying for the bandit to disappear the moment he opened them again. However, reality wasn't so kind.

To his surprise, the bandit's aim deviated from himself and the hand aimed for Lissy instead.

"Come 'ere ya little twerp." The bandit grabbed her with a lecherous expression.

Looking from up close, one could see a thin line of blood flowing down from his greasy hair and onto his forehead. The bandit didn't seem concerned with his injuries in the slightest, however.

Riaz felt his heart leap to his throat, quickly willing his body to move, yet his attempts were met by intense pain. It took him too long to realize that he had suffered injuries from the impact earlier.

The little girl, Lissy, cried out in terror and flailed around, but the man was too strong and his grip too firm. As she was wrested from Riaz's embrace, the latter desperately tried to hold onto her, prompting the bandit to kick him in the face.

His head slumped forward and his nose bled. Kicking Riaz in the head was more than enough to weaken his grip.

The bandit handed Lissy over to one the two others, a dirty man with a thick beard and rashes on his face.

Riaz, dazed from the kick to his head, tried to come to his senses. He came to remember Leria and quickly turned his head in an effort to locate her. They needed to work together in this situation, but she had her own share of troubles.

Leria had landed farther away from them and was being pushed down by the remaining bandit, the smallest of the trio who had hideous deformities in his head.

"Keep thrashing about and I'll kill ya, you brat!" The bearded bandit, with Lissy in his clutches, grew angry from her continuous struggles. He reached the limit of his patience when Lissy used her teeth to bite down on his hand.

"Argh! You little bitch!" He tossed her towards the ground with full force. Lissy could only yelp like a puppy when her small body touched the ground.

However, the bearded bandit didn't stop just there and drew his sword. Practically fuming from rage, he lost himself in the moment and slashed towards Lissy's chest.

His sword lashed out in a curve starting above his shoulder. Lissy closed her eyes and stumbled backwards, a line of red forming on her chest.

"NOOO!" Leria touched upon a rock and smacked her assailant against the temple with it, then crawled towards Lissy. Her knees scraped against the rough floor, but the pain didn't even register with her, unlike the heartache that the events caused her.

Her face had lost all color long ago and it took her every ounce of self-control to not cry as she approached the small body of her youngest sibling.

Clearly seeing her sister sprawled on the floor with blood gushing out in the rhythm of her weakly heaving chest, Leria lost her wits and wailed sorrowfully.

The piercing cries helped Riaz come to his senses and see things clearer.

His heart stopped for a moment that felt like eternity. He became conscious of his own peril, the blade, which was suspended above his head, ready to send him out of this nightmare. His chest burned with a horrendous pain.

An unfamiliar voice reached his ears.

Spurred on by the warning, he managed to roll out of harms way, but his first concern wasn't the bandit's next move. Instead, Riaz ran towards Lissy, sliding the last few paces on his knees.

Lissy's pitiful condition entered his eyes and both Riaz and Leria found it difficult to look the little girl in the eyes. All they could see were the tears forming in her eyes.

"Big... sis. It h-hurts. It hurts s-so much." Lissy sniveled silently, her voice weak from exhaustion.

"It's alright! Don't t-talk, everything will be alright, Lissy. I am here, it w-will be fine." Leria repeated, grabbing Lissy's hand, still unable to stop her own tears from leaking out.

Riaz wanted to believe her, alas he knew all too well that Leria herself didn't know what she was saying. Loathe to accept the situation, he himself was at the brink of losing it.

'Again... it has happened again. It's happening again and again.' Riaz started to lose all hope.

"Che, you brats, what do you think yer doing?" The bearded bandit stomped towards Lissy's chest, but the kicks landed on Leria's back instead. Leria had bent herself over Lissy's body to take the abuse on her behalf.

As the bearded one grew increasingly upset with her, the short bandit sauntered over with a lecherous expression and dragged Leria off by her hair.

"Heh, if ya don't wanna end like the lil' one, you best obediently spread yer legs, little lady." The lusty bandit didn't drag her too far before letting go off her.

Leria, released from the small man's clutches, was too worried about Lissy and kept crying out her name.

Riaz drew his dagger while no one was looking and stabbed out towards the one with the beard in an attempt to peel him away from Lissy.

"Pah, get outta here boy! The bandit smacked Riaz out of the way, using just the backside of his clenched fist.

A strong force struck Riaz in the face. He was flung aside and his dagger slipped out of his hand during the fall.

The scarred man was upon him soon after to mete out more harm for his personal enjoyment while the bearded one thought of ways to play with Lissy.

Riaz bled even more and subconsciously clawed at his own chest. It felt like something was writhing underneath his skin.

Riaz was woken from his stupor after a kick landed on his abdomen. He focused on the voice inside his head.

Closing his eyes, he tuned out all the noises and forgot about the threat before him as well. His heart wildly throbbed and he knew he had to calm down, thus he drew a deep breath.

He could feel it. Like a hot melting orb sitting in his belly, churning, an energy so eager and wild and yet so familiar. He focused on the warm sensation and willed for strands of that energy to flow along the pathways in his body.

The scarred bandit sneered, "Bah, we have no use for ya, brat. Let me send you off ahead of the others." His tone was mild. From the start, he had never placed Riaz into his eyes.

He was about to cut down the incapacitated Riaz when the latter opened his eyes. The bandit was taken by surprise by the abruptness of Riaz's leg sweeping out towards his knee.

The bandit groaned in pain with his back hitting the dirt while a shadow leapt over him and charged towards his bearded comrade.

Lissy wasn't looking too good. The bearded fiend of a man pressed her tiny arm underneath his foot whereas the girl winced in great pain. He chortled in amusement when, suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder.

The man's expression hardened and he threw a cursory glance over his shoulder. Upon recognizing that it was Riaz, that weak punk, a contemptuous smile formed from his lips.

"You lil' trash, didn't I tell you to scram?" He swung his fist behind him, expecting to knock the boy down again. "Huh?"

His arm was grabbed by the youth. When he tried to shake him off, he realized that the youth didn't budge. Only when the youth forced his arm down could the bandit peer into directly into his face.

The bandit swallowed. He could see faint sparks of light dance in Riaz's eyes. The boy looked pretty banged up, but those eyes were filled with the resolve to fight.

'These energies... they're so difficult to maintain.' thought Riaz in that moment.

Nevertheless, he had done it. He could feel the nourishing energy in his muscles, strengthening his fists and sharpening his senses. He felt like he had remembered something that was as natural as breathing, yet, with the passage of time, his body had almost forgotten about it

Riaz let the man's arm go and growled furiously, "Remove your foot, you bastard."

"Heh." The bandit sneered, but acquiesced with the words "As you wish." Next, his leg, that was pressing against Lissy's arm, whipped upwards into a roundhouse kick aimed at Riaz's head.

A muffled impact came about when Riaz blocked the man's kick with one of his arms. His other arm shot forward, grabbing the bandit by the shirt around his neck.

Twisting his body, Riaz threw the bandit to the ground and mounted him. His fists flew out in a flurry of blows, pummeling the bearded man to the point that the latter swallowed his teeth.

The bandit howled helplessly, "H-hehrp... HEHRP! Shtohp hm!"

The other two, including the short bandit, who was fondling Leria's body after wrestling her down, heard the shouts of their comrade and looked over.

While the scarred one still struggled to get back on his feet, the shorty had already let go of Leria and drawn his dagger.

"Riaz, watch out!" Leria tried to warn him, but it was too late. The short bandit jumped onto Riaz's back, ramming the dagger into his shoulder.

It was only through sheer instinct that Riaz avoided his throat from being stabbed.

The situation turned very dicey for the young Riaz. As he was clueless on what to do, he had hoped for instructions, but the mysterious voice inside his head remained silent.

From here on out, he could only rely on himself, so he reached behind, trying to throw off the man that clung to his back. The bearded bandit saw the opportunity to withdraw his leg and kicked out against Riaz, pushing him back.

Coupling the kick with the grappling from the back, Riaz tumbled backwards and fell. However, his fall was cushioned by the bandit who became sandwiched between Riaz and the road.

Riaz struggled to free himself, throwing elbows and clawing at his enemy's face. After a while, he somehow slipped out of the small one's grapple and distanced himself.

His hand reached for his shoulder, which bled from the wound left by the dagger, staining his shirt. He realized that the dagger must have been pulled out during the scuffle.

His eyes darted all over the place. He was mostly concerned about his three opponents, so his gaze swept back and forth between the three of them.

One lay on the ground while the small one picked up his dagger and threatened him. As for the last one...

'That one is strange.'

He focused on the scarred bandit. Riaz remembered that he held nothing back when he kicked that man's knee. That same man was now standing straight without any indication of being hurt.

As if having read Riaz's thoughts, the scarred one brandished a blade towards Riaz and smiled provocatively.

Adrenaline was pumping through Riaz's veins as time seemed to have slow down.

Riaz furrowed his eyebrows. His entire attention was focused on the stand-off.

Nobody made any moves, but then his ear perked up, picking up a scrunching noise.

The short bandit kicked off the ground again, his boots grinding against the pebbles of the road.

Since Riaz was wary of the scarred bandit, he was less prepared when the short one tackled him. Riaz caught the hand that the bandit was using to hold the dagger and punched the shorty in the face.

Instead of reeling backwards, the latter cackled and wrapped his arms around Riaz. The scarred bandit then seized the opportunity and took a stance to attack.

In one spurt, he crossed the distance between them and shouted, "Die!"

The gears in Riaz's head spun wildly. 'I must evade this!'

Quickly, Riaz gathered his qi, but struggled to finely tune his control of it. He strengthened his legs and pushed himself backwards, taking along the bandit that had latched onto him.

In order to peel him off, Riaz threw punches with his free hand, landing one blow after another against the small bandit's head.

'Why is his damn head so hard?' Riaz grew frustrated by the robustness of the enemy.

The small bandit's deformed head was unusual from the start. It felt almost like his skull was made of iron. What sort of nonsense was that?

"It's useless!" The scarred bandit arrived in front of Riaz and his blade struck forward.

That's when a set of light footsteps sounded nearby, accompanied by a shrill, loud "No!".

Before the scarred bandit could go through with his attack, he felt a piercing pain from his sides. Looking down upon himself, he found a dagger lodged inside his leather chest-piece. It had barely penetrated the armor and more than half of the dagger stuck out still.

Two pallid hands released their grip on the dagger. Leria stood beside the bandit, trembling from head to toe. Her eyes displayed the clear realisation of what she had just done.

The bandit looked pissed and wasted no time to grasp the girl by her neck. He dropped his blade and reached for the dagger lodged in his armor.

"Lil' lass, that ain't how ya carve a man. It's different from the chickens you carve in yer kitchen. Carvin' a man takes intent. You gots to go in deep... like this."

His vulgar eyes peered deeply into Leria's terror-stricken ones, then he slowly ran the dagger through her belly.

"Leria!" Riaz roared. Putting all of his strength into his leg, he rammed his knee into the small bandit, audibly shattering his ribcage. It was only then that the bugger finally let go of him.

"Pipe down, boy! I'll take mah time killing ya both slowly... or maybe I'll keep the lass." The scarred bandit snickered. "I like 'em feisty like this."

The bandit leaned in on Leria's face and stuck out his tongue. Before Riaz's very eyes, he licked her tear-stained cheeks.

*badump*

Riaz staggered as a throbbing sound reached his ears. His chest felt like it was burning up and his vision blurred.

"WUUUAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Riaz let out an earthshattering howl as his consciousness was pulled away.