Rook, I want you to loop around to the back of the village. If any stragglers or anyone are trying to get reinforcements, you take care of them. You mustn’t miss anyone.

“Vital my….” I let the words die out before I finished them, lying in the sand so that there was no chance any would see me.

They took this commission because they trusted I was strong. And yet, here I was being sent to wait out of harm’s way.

I don’t get her game.

Was it because I had freaked them out too much in the slip dimension? Because I’d tried to explain that it was a one-off. I couldn’t display that level of power if I combined all my mana over my entire life so far.

So why?

I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time to be doubting Veronika’s judgment. If she thought it was best I stay out of sight, then that’s what I would do-

What was that?

I squinted, doing my best to see far ahead of me towards the back of the village.

There!

I had thought I had imagined it at first, but no, I had definitely seen movement. Running as hard as she possibly could, was a little girl.

And she was being chased.

Could it be….?

No. We had been told the daughter had never even reached Kar’anza, so it was unlikely to be her.

But still.

It was a little girl, terrified and running for her life. I couldn’t just sit and watch.

Guess this counts as a reason they wanted me here.

I shot to my feet, sprinting towards the girl. As I neared, I saw a moment of hesitation and fear as I ran towards her, but a quick glance backward filled the girl with a steely look of resolve as she redoubled her efforts, sprinting towards me.

She wasn’t the only one who saw me. Her pursuers, two men, one short and one tall, noticed me. A look of surprise was replaced by what could only be described as excitement as they drew their weapons, orienting themselves slightly as they angled toward me.

Good.

The point had been to draw their attention away from the girl and onto me. I continued sprinting forward until the girl dove past me just as the sound of steel rang out.

I grit my teeth; my sword flashed out as fast as I physically could to intercept the hooked blade of the raider. Without the added power gained from drawing on my ruptured body, I was still only a fifteen-year-old, nearly sixteen, but still, only a teenage boy trying to contest the physical strength of a grown man.

“Looks like we got a hero showing up.” The man licked his lips before turning to holler at his friend. “Guess our wish came true!”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why men who chased little girls around would be excited at the prospect of fresh meat showing up.

Animals.

Maybe I couldn’t beat them with strength in a straight-up contest, but that wasn’t all there was to swords.

First style.

The smirk on the man’s face was wiped clean as my sword, struggling to hold back his own weapon, was suddenly pulled free before flashing forward like a viper of steel.

And when that viper’s strike landed true, a finger fell free from the raider’s hand.

“Ack!” The man clenched at his hand, now missing a finger, howling in pain. “I’ll gods damn pull your guts out!”

I had already moved past him toward his lackey. The shorter man scrambled to raise his own weapon, a crude carving knife, but it dropped a moment later.

Along with the hand holding it.

“Who the hell are you!” I heard the first man shout from behind me, and I quickly turned around to see where he was.

“This is what you get for playing stupid games.” His eyes were bulging, spit frothing from his mouth as he held the girl pinned next to him, his sword sweeping down towards her head.

Crap.

There was no time for thinking, no time for planning, no time for anything other than reacting.

The mana flowed instantly through me. Had I been taking the time to focus on it, I perhaps would have noticed it flowing steadier, faster, but my mind was solely on the girl who was about to lose her head.

I hurled my sword through the air, body augmented by mana for a singular burst of speed and strength. One, two, three spins, and then it stopped.

Because it was lodged directly through the face of the man, who staggered back lifelessly to the ground.

I’d just killed a man.

I just killed someone.

A rush of bitter bile surged up my throat, but clenching my fist, I forced it down.

I’d killed a man, but I hadn’t had a choice.

A glance behind me showed the shorter raider grasping at his stump in pain, tying the end of his shirt around it. Figuring I had time, I walked up to the man’s corpse, who had just seconds ago been cursing vilely. Standing over him, I grasped the hilt of my sword, yanking it free with a sickly squelch of sound, never looking directly at the wound as I calmly paced back to face the other man.

“Wha- wait! Please, don’t hurt me!” The wounded raider raised his good hand in front of his face, begging as tears began to stream down his face. “I’m sorry!”

My sword slashed out, stopping a hair’s breadth from his face as he flinched back.

“Leave.” I grunted, surprised at how hoarse my voice sounded; my throat burnt from the rush of bile.

“But I-” The man began, but my sword flicked to the side, clipping a sliver of flesh from his right ear.

“Leave.” I repeated.

The man nodded, tears streaming down his face, a noticeable stream of wetness down his pants as he hurried off and out into the dunes.

To where, I didn’t know, nor did I care.

There. I mentally sagged inward. Only killed one.

I didn’t want to think about how I had just ended a life, so I finally turned my attention to the girl sitting on the ground, holding her knees to her chest as silent tears streamed through the sand and dust covering her face.

“Hey, you’re okay now.” I looked down at my bloody sword, realizing it probably wasn’t helping my case. I wiped it off before sheathing it within my cloak. “You’re okay.”

“M-my sister.” The girl whispered.

“Your sister?”

The girl nodded, tears slowing down. “Did you come for my sister too?”

I shook my head in denial. “No, no. We came here to save you all.”

“We?” The girl asked, hope in her eyes.

“Yes, we.” I smiled as brightly as I could, forcing myself to seem confident. “We’re an adventuring party! We’re here to save the day!”

I was thrown off balance as the girl lunged forward, wrapping her arms around my legs as she began to bawl her eyes out.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” I awkwardly patted her head as the girl cried. The terror she had likely been living through finally appeared as if it were over to her.

“It’s going to be okay.” I gently soothed the girl as my gaze turned towards the village, watching the smoke from some of the buildings on fire roll away into the sky above. “One way or another.”

-------------------------------------------------------------

By the time I found where Tez and Zet were, my body count had increased by another six. I’d encountered two small groups, five each. I’d been hesitant in the first group, trying to find a way to dispatch them, but when push came to shove, my sword took their lives with less and less resistance.

I’ll have to decide what that means later.

I’d managed to scare one away from the first group, but the other four had fallen as my sword reaped the life from them with almost painful ease.

After I’d finished cutting down two before they had the chance to raise their weapons, the second group simply tossed them and ran.

I let them. I wasn’t heartless, and the thought of having killed people when I brought it front and center still made bile rise, but I’d force it down, continuing.

Until, at last, I found them.

“Took you long enough.” Zet smiled tiredly from where he lay propped up against a nearby house.

“What happened?”

Nearby I saw a group of villagers, the sudden panic at seeing me fading as they heard how I was conversating freely with Zet. Next to Zet, Tez was lying still, the only sign she was alive being the rise and fall of her chest.

“Raider had them hostage. One thing led to another, Tez got her bell rung, and my hamstring was cut. I freed the villagers, though.”

The villagers in question raised their ‘bound’ hands, revealing the ropes tied together had been cut, and they were simply making it look as if they were still captured.

“Why not have them escape then?” I questioned as I paced forward.

“Couldn’t, not without knowing how everything is going elsewhere. Otherwise, I could be sending them to the slaughter. But, since you’re here-”

“I took care of the raiders hanging out towards the back of the village.” I answered, choosing not to explain what ‘taking care of’ meant.

“Well, did more than us.” He shrugged his head toward the interior of the building he was propped against. When I peered through a curtain covering the open window, I noticed an unmoving body lying on the floor inside.

“I had them drag the body inside, so at least the raiders wouldn’t be able to see at a glance that one of their buddies was dead if they ended up checking in over here.” Zet informed me.

“What about Veronika and Dayvin?”

Zet shrugged, glancing to the side as he did. “Dunno. Haven’t seen them, but I haven’t seen any other raiders, so your guess is as good as mine.”

It wasn’t good news, but neither was it bad news.

“Excuse me.”

Both Zet and I looked over to where the villagers were gathered. A single man was standing up, looking about nervously.

“Yeah?” Zet inclined his head.

“Your friend there-”

“Rook.” I informed him.

“Your friend Rook, he said he cleared out the back half of the village. Is it okay if we….?”

“Yeah.” Zet nodded. “Go hide back there for now, then.”

“What about you?” The man looked at Zet’s bad leg with hesitation.

“Can’t move around much anyway. If one of you could drag my sister inside, I’ll just stay here with her.”

“And you?” The man who seemed to be the group’s voice turned toward me.

“I’m going to go see what happened with the other two of our group.”

“Hopefully, there isn’t a need.” I mumbled under my breath.

“What was that?” The man leaned in, missing what I said.

“Nothing.” I shuffled awkwardly, suddenly feeling antsy to move on. “Just do what Zet tells you for now. I’ve got to, uh, go.”

Before anyone else could speak to me, I turned toward the front of the village, briskly walking away, only keeping an eye out for any potential raiders about to jump out at me.

And when I found none, my anxiety only rose.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time I’d reached the front of the village, I’d only encountered three last raiders, none the wiser of what had befallen their comrades. They had been sifting through a house when I stumbled upon them, the three of them staring at me from through the front windowsill of the tiny house. Tired of killing already, I slowed my pace, thinking my movements through until I found the opportune moments to crack them as hard as I could over the head with the blunt side of my blade.

Without fail, they crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

That, or they were suffering from brain damage because of the blunt force trauma. Still, at the very least, I didn’t have to be outwardly presented with the reality that I was responsible for their deaths as I did whenever my sword was painted in blood.

Where are they?

I’d been searching around, but I had yet to find any sign of Veronika or Dayvin.

After they were done out front, they said they would make their way inward. So, where are they?

My answer came after only a short few minutes of searching later when I finally decided to check the very front of the village.

When I did, my heart sank.

“Dayvin? Veronika?”

Laying in the sand were several bodies, most of which I thankfully didn’t recognize.

But only a short distance from them was two that I did. One lying propped up, clearly in pain but alive.

Dayvin.

The other was in worse shape. Even from where I was standing, I could barely make out the rise and fall of her chest.

Veronika.

I bolted forward until I was crouched down next to them.

“What happened?” I questioned, taking in their state more clearly now. Dayvin had been cut up badly, but he was alright other than clearly being in pain. His hands were covered in blood, but it was clear whose blood it was.

Veronika. He had been doing his best to staunch the flow of blood coming from a stab wound that, by all rights, or at least from what I knew, should have been fatal.

“Front line fighting is made for the front lines.” Dayvin grunted, nodding toward the nearby corpses.

“But you’re adventurers! How could a few raiders have done this?” Panic began to flutter from within my chest. I’d never dealt with a situation like this. I wasn’t a doctor, I couldn’t do anything about-

“Relax kid.” Dayvin laid a hand on my shoulder. “Breath.”

As he told me, I took a deep breath in, drawing in a fresh flow of mana to still my scurrying thoughts and frantic emotions. Heart settling, I was able to take a clearer stock of what had likely transpired.

With just two of them, there had been nothing to prevent the raiders from circling around and attacking them from the sides or angles that would be difficult to guard against with just the two of them.

“We were just foot soldiers.” Dayvin leaned back in the sand, staring up at the sky, answering me as if he had read my thoughts. “Humans. Maybe a bit more training than most get, but still normal people. Not even any sort of special forces. Just soldiers.”

I looked back toward Veronika and her freely bleeding wound.

“What can we do? Can we do anything?”

“Stop the bleeding.” Dayvin coughed; his body, I noticed, was trembling. “I tried, but I got nothin’ on me past putting pressure on it. Couldn’t risk crawling into the village for help either, not without knowing what or how it was goin’ in there.”

Bleeding. C’mon Rook. Surely you can figure out a way to stop a little bleeding.

I looked at Veronika’s wound again, the stab wound somehow looking uglier, knowing it was on someone I knew.

Think.

If I had a needle, I could attempt to stitch it up.

You don’t know how to sew.

I could drag her into the village, find someone who could-

Idiot, she’ll die if she gets moved in this state.

I could try to find someone to bring to her and-

And if you don’t find someone right away, she might just die anyway.

No. Something had to be done, and it had to be done now or never.

Think.

I looked down at the wound once more. I couldn’t sew it up, couldn’t bring her to anyone, nor risk searching for someone. I needed something fast, something to stop the bleeding.

I could cauterize it.

I grimaced at the idea. One, it would be dangerous. Cauterizing a wound wasn’t just as simple as burning it and hoping for the best. Or, well, in this case, it would be precisely that. Cauterizing it would come with its own array of potential risks, but time was of the essence right now.

The other issue was I had nothing to cauterize it with.

Or almost nothing.

The answer always comes back to mana.

I drew my sword, and I saw as Dayvin eyed me for a moment before shutting them again, his message clear.

I trust you.

I pressed two fingers to the width of the sword just below the tip. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the mana I knew was around me.

Quickly. Quickly.

I felt the familiar rush as my perception of the world grew deeper, able to detect and make out the mana around me. I had no time to delay, rushing to locate and draw forth as much thermal mana as possible.

Quickly. Quickly.

It was a similar process to when I tried to work on forming my band, except instead of drawing mana to just below my wrist, I pulled it toward where my fingers were placed on my sword.

Faster.

The silver lining was that, at least within a desert, there was no shortage of thermal mana.

More.

I imagined myself desperately pulling the floating particles of mana to my sword, like the kindling needed to start a blaze.

Satisfied with the amount of mana, I opened my eyes to my next problem.

The thermal mana itself wasn’t enough. Sure, it had the potential to make fire and heat, but it was still untapped conceptual energy.

I needed to realize it.

Please, I silently prayed in my mind, work.

“Scorz.” I whispered.

Not once, not even since I’d been under the tutelage of my master, had I managed to manifest external magic. The slip dimension hardly counted. There, where the world was made of pure mana, it was more like harvesting what was already there.

This, this was drawing from my own mana, an ignition. Hardly a spark even, but scarcely a spark had still been beyond my capabilities my entire life.

So when a single lazy ember floated from my finger and sank within the blade, I could hardly think, my breath freezing in its place.

I did it.

My first valid usage of external magic.

I’d done it.

My moment of celebration was wiped away as I yanked my finger away from the blade’s tip, suddenly scorching hot. Considering the amount of thermal mana I’d condensed within the edge, it’d only stay hot enough for several seconds, but all I needed was several seconds. Lowering the blade, I pressed the flat of the red-hot blade to Veronika’s stab wound, a mocking belittlement of the life she had lived, threatening to steal it all away from her.

Not today. Please.

I grit my teeth as I heard the hissing of burning flesh and the acrid smell.

Bare it.

I held the blade still, waiting until the hissing subsided. When it finally did, I looked down, afraid of what my eyes might see.

Where the freely bleeding stab wound had been now laid an ugly scarred mat of mangled and burnt flesh. With an injury like that, I doubted if Veronika would be able to ever swing a sword again, much less continue her days as an adventurer.

But, at the very least, the bleeding had stopped.

I sank back on my butt, staring up at the dark sky, the sun only barely beginning to cross the horizon. With some effort, I saw Dayvin prop himself up, inspecting the wound before lying down with his eyes closed.

“Will she live?” I asked him, still watching the sky.

“Maybe. Only time will tell.” Dayvin huffed. “She wanted to keep you from getting blood on your hands. The twins as well.”

“They’ve never killed anyone?” I questioned.

“No. You’ve heard it before, but adventurers of our calibers don’t take on rescue missions for villages under siege by raiders. We deal with one-off monsters or act as liaisons. But this?” Dayvin chuckled painfully, head resting in the sand. “This isn’t work made out for regular folk, and that’s what Veronika and I are.”

“What about the twins?”

“They can decide for themselves. But after this, me, and Veronika, we’re done. Carrion Gulch, The Rebellion of Oxent, and now this? Call me superstitious, but they say you get three freebies. After that, your fate is up to you. Normal people like us? Nah. We’re done.”

I nodded; at the very least, I could understand the man and his choice. I knew nothing about this ‘carrion gulch’ nor the Rebellion of Oxent, but from how he phrased it, they must have been bad memories from their time as soldiers that he preferred not to relive.

“What about the commission?”

“Me and ‘Ronika, we’re out. We’ll need some time to recover, and Veronika probably won’t be able to be an adventurer after this anyways, assuming she lives. I take it you met up with the twins?”

I nodded.

“Good, then they’re okay. Zet may not always act like it, but he had the makings of a party leader. Defer to his decision.”

When Dayvin stopped talking, fear began to bud from within once again.

“Dayvin? Dayvin?”

He had stopped moving, but before I could give him a shake, I saw his chest rise and fall.

Oh. He just fell asleep.

I stood up, looking between the village and my two temporary comrades. Part of me wanted to stay out here with them, but at this point, what could be done had been done. The best I could do for them was relay the message, and from there, our fate, or more specifically, the future of an unknown girl, would be decided.

Zet. I began making my way back into the village.

I hope Dayvin is right about you.