I start walking down the pathway heading towards the forest. My sword, which I almost never bring out, was firmly tucked into my belt. But this time, I’m not going in alone. By me are two guards, forced to come along by my mother. This very readily interrupts my plan for today. I expected to go in alone, find whatever could outcompete the bismuth bear and subdue it. Now, I have to maintain my weak and fragile act. That means the killing would be left to my guards.

It’s unfortunate. I caused this situation myself. In order to create a persona that could not be suspected hated or suspected as a criminal, I had to hide the many magics that continued to make me powerful, portraying this weak being who can only support others from a distance was the only way I could get away with large crimes.

We enter the forest, I plan to lose them in the sea of trees so I can roam freely without having to worry about being revealed. If that doesn’t work, I might as well just kill them. I wouldn’t be my first time taking a life and it sure won’t be my last.

It sounds extreme but its actually one of the best options to keep someone quiet. Asking them politely almost never works, especially if your hiding something evil, bartering always runs the risk of them double-crossing you and forcefully silencing them only leads to contempt which will surely come to bite me back. However, killing someone fixes all of these problems. You won’t need them to trust you, they won’t betray you, won’t hate you, they won’t talk. It’s just silence. The easiest solution. Not the one I want to take right now though, covering up the killings afterwards is annoying. I’d rather just kill when I know there won’t be consequences.

Aenios: “What’s that over there?”

I point into a dark area of the forest; both my guards turn towards the area. Right after, I bend the light around my once more, becoming an invisible entity, before running off in the direction we came from. The guards aren’t the brightest, them only being villagers until recently and they don’t have the ability to listen to my footsteps. My escape was clean.

Guard #1: “Young master? Aenios?”

I hear them call out in the distance, too far away from me to ever catch up. I couldn’t resist giving a little chuckle. They were so stupid, so weak, it was hilarious. They were supposed to protect me? I would consider that an insult.

After I walked a good enough distance, I disabled my invisibility, it takes a lot of control to use it and I’m barely able to cast other spells while its active. I’ve maintained my appearance as a weakling for sixteen long years but that image will almost definitely change in the MCBA entrance exams. I will no doubt have to use a bit more power than I used publicly ever before. This year should have some powerful students entering, students that will be with me for every year I’m in the school.

Despite me breaking that image I worked so hard to create, it has its merits. Firstly, I won’t be treated like a second-rate mage. If they realize I can fight too, they might not want to pick a fight with me. Secondly, I can gain recognition. Why does the school gather all the political powers in the country? It’s actually more of a grouping of judges watching the students battle skills and intelligence under pressure. The better you do in the entrance exam, the better your opportunities in life will be. Lastly, it will help me blend in. Similar to the first point, if I appear too weak, I will most positively stand out, not something I want. If I display an average amount of fighting prowess however, I’ll be looked over as just another among the many.

It took nearly ten minutes before I returned to the location of the dead bears. Their corpses rotting and already full of maggots. Various animal marks covered the bodies, seems like something tried to eat it before it decided it couldn’t or something else chased it away. The most obvious feature is that the bears seem to have had their skin removed by a careful blade, this was human work, without a doubt.

I’ve heard of poachers that often frequent this forest for the animals that live here, but I didn’t expect that dead corpses would be in their strike range too. More because the organs have weakened qualities and wouldn’t fetch a decent price in the market rather than me assuming those savages have morals.

It truly is a dog eat dog world out here, past civilization.

Well… where to start? My goal is to try and find whatever scared the bears out of their dominant position here in this quadrant of the forest. So, to accomplish that, I need to find where they came from. That should be my first step.

I look at the ground which was buried with multiple footprints. That wasn’t going to work. I tried to remember where the bears came from and remembered them stepping out of the shadows somewhere north from my current position.

I looked around the bushes and wild growth that surrounded this little grass clearing before finding those big, heavy paw prints that clearly belonged to the bears. The strokes were wide, they must have bolted here after smelling the prey. A few trees cut down around the area, but I didn’t pay it any mind. Loggers come into the forest almost every day. Lumber is always in demand, but not limited in supply.

I followed their footsteps. When I looked up, trying to find a possible landmark, I saw the large mountain that lay in the middle of the forest and due to the bears footprints leading to that area, I can safely assume that’s where they came from, and that there, I would find whatever drove them out from here. I’m not sure if it’s a beast anymore. It could be man, after seeing the work those poachers put in or maybe, something that’s not alive…

Fearing the possible natural disasters that could have occurred, I continued the way towards the mountain, taking the shortest path through the undergrowth, which also happened to be the path the bears took. It seems like they were running away from something rather than chasing prey. They would use more stealthy tactics if that were the case.

I had a bad feeling in my chest, something my confidence in myself brushed aside. But with each step closer, the more impactful the feeling grew. I wouldn’t have doubts though. If I had doubts over a small issue like this, then what would happen if I were to carry out my plan? I would second-guess myself the entire way and that will surely lead to my downfall.

After nearly an hour of long walking, I had reached my destination, a large cave opening in the middle of the mountain. The footprints ended there. I assumed this was the bears’ home. Was. I saw something that shouldn’t belong in a bear cave. Two humans standing guard outside. Well, not two humans, rather one human and one demiman. Half human and half beast, more violent and chaotic than us humans. They were only recently accepted into society but most of the humans look down upon them with hate, mostly due to us having such uneasy relations with their kingdom, the kingdom of Cat.

This one seemed to be a cross between a human and a dog. Races and racism aside, they were standing guard outside the cave, spears in their hand and leather armor. It doesn’t seem like these guys were very wealthy and they surely don’t have any permits from us to live here. Their clothing too was dirty and ragged, something you’d find on a beggar or a criminal. In other words, they were bandits.

Bandits are one of the biggest problems in the country currently. Huge criminal organizations have been threatening to upset the balance between the crown and the common folk. If a rebellion happens and the rebellion fighters win, then the entire government system will fill and those criminal organizations will rule over the broken remains of the Gan kingdom while the nobles and royalty will lose everything.

The ensuing chaos afterwards would probably lead to another, more stable kingdom swooping in and claiming the land, removing the bandit lords from their brief but luxurious stay as royalty. This has happened in the past a couple of times, kingdoms stage revolts to weaken or dismantle their enemies before preying on their weakened state.

Wherever bandits were, chaos followed, and I wasn’t going to let bandits just stroll into our territory, probably the most valuable territory we own, and claim it for themselves. I could just walk back and inform my parents, but that won’t give them the punishments they deserve. No. They will meet my justice. My justice and my verdict. I am judge, jury and execution here.

I reapply my cloak of light, the rays bending around my body, rendering me invisible. For now, I assume every bandit has the training of a royal guard and can hear my footsteps, so from now on, I will be as careful as I can. It’s difficult, but I force myself to levitate off the ground while maintaining my invisibility and I slowly float towards the cave.

It wasn’t long before I could actually hear what the guards were saying. Deciding it could be useful information, I waited instead of charging in metaphorically of course.

Human Bandit: “I heard the scouting party found two dead bismuth bears just lying in the middle of the forest. They had circular holes in their limbs and head that went straight through them, sounds pretty creepy doesn’t it?”

I think I found my poachers. And creepy? What a rude thing to say.

Anthromorphic Bandit: “Yeah right, a circular hole straight through a bismuth bear’s skull? You know how hard that is to believe right? Their fur is as tough as armour, the only way that’s possible is if the bear just sat down and let someone drill a hole into their heads.”

He had a point, that’s what I assumed I would have to do as well.

Human Bandit: “No you dumbass. The fur was weakened. Apparently, they haven’t been eating much.”

Anthromorphic Bandit: “Course, were the ones eating all their food!”

After that, the dogman let out a hearty laugh. The human trying to shut him up.

Then another man walked out. Much larger than the other two and wearing a decent looking attire. Two short swords were tucked into scabbards on his belt and two long swords on his back. He had a nasty glare and both the guards stopped talking the moment he exited the cave. I can only assume who he was in this place.

Bandit Captain: “You two better shut the fuck up before some kid stumbles upon our operations and tells the big man. If that happens, were all screwed. You understand?”

He leaned over the dogman whose tail and ears were drooping despite his best attempts to stand as straight as he could.

Anthromorphic Bandit: “Yes sir!”

Almost like a real dog, so obedient. Perhaps I should make my personal guard completely out of dogmen. Thoughts for the future. For now, retribution must be delivered.

After the captain walked back in, I followed him, far above the two guards, almost touching the cave ceiling. I was surprised at what I found.

Some huge construction had been going on. The cave, with its smooth, flat walls was dug out by the bandits. Using magic, I’d assume. Lumber from the forest was used to build a large wall, two trunks thick that spanned the entire length of the cave. Two towers, half dug into the rock enclosed either side of the barricade made the structure look like a wooden castle wall. Guards walked atop the building with arrows nocked in their bows, ready to fire.

This stopped looking like a riffraff of bandits and more like a campaign to undermine our rule in the forest. The bandit captain approached the gate which used a pulley system of logs to open. The guards quickly moved the gates open and let the captain in.

I simply floated over but I was still impressed. This was an amazing defensive structure. If it were stone, it would make this place a fortress. Huge armies would be useless here, and it could always be expanded further into or below the mountain making this one of the most coveted offensive and defensive positions during war. Being able to store tons of supplies and withstand sieges while also doubling as a stop for an army marching onward. It was beautiful.

These bandits had someone very smart leading them, someone who found this place before me. Yesterday, I hadn’t even known about the mountain. It always blended in with the mountain range that surrounded our lands.

Behind the wall looked like a makeshift village. The walls here were more natural, but still extended, nevertheless. Wooden huts extended from the walls of the cave, propped up on stilts made form long pieces of lumber. While disorganized, it allowed a lot of space, building up tended to do that, and left the big ‘road’ in the middle of everything empty.

The captain walked straight through the camp, headed towards what I could guess was his quarters. A single stone arch, built into the back wall of the cave with an iron door. I flew right up behind him. If he was going to open it up, he was going to close it as well. While fighting this entire camp isn’t impossible for me, I will surely leave witnesses. If I cut the head of the snake off first though, the body will stop functioning.

That was the plan at least.

Like I suspected, he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and opened the door, I rushed in before he turned around and locked it. The inside of his room couldn’t be compared to the filth that was outside. It was simple except it wasn’t messy. Something you don’t see with bandits. It consisted of a bookcase, a desk, a bed and a pile of gold in the corner. The room was fairly large leaving lots of empty space that could be filled up with more items.

The bandit captain went straight for his desk and entered his chair. He started writing something right away.

I think the time was right to reveal myself. I landed on the floor with a soft thud. His head instantly jerked up.

Bandit Captain: “Who’s there?!”

He got up from his seat and pulled out two blades, made out of a blood-red crystal I recognized. It’s name, blood crystals which should have been pretty obvious but that’s not what’s important. Those things have antimagic capabilities, destroying magic on touch if its too weak or dampening the effects. The only downside is that it slowly drains away at the mana of mages that are near it, permanently. This also means it was no downside if your unable to cast magic in the first place.

So this was what drove those bears away huh?

I released my spell, revealing myself to the captain. His eyes went wide after seeing my appear from nowhere.

Bandit Captain: “Teleportation? That’s impossible, that ability died out with the thunder clan. Who are you?!”

I smiled.

Aenios: “You’re right about that captain. It wasn’t teleportation. However, I’m not inclined to give you anymore information than I need to.”

He snarled.

Bandit Captain: “You seem cocky kid. Probably means you think you can take me on in a fight. You see what these are? They will ruin your future if I strike you even once. You seem like you have a lot of promise and I’m not so reckless to jump into every fight that comes my way. How about a deal. You leave right now and promise not to tell anyone about this place, and I promise that my men and I won’t kill you. Understand?”

My smile grew wider, the captain becoming visibly distressed.

Aenios: “Your offer isn’t appealing at all. Besides, why should I run when I can kill you in a matter of seconds?”

The chains emerge from my hands and a translucent shield appears around me. The captain took one look at the chains and his eyes grew wider than they were already.

Bandit Captain: “You were the one who left those bears in the forest.”

I couldn’t contain my excitement. I had never had an opponent this smart before! My past previous kills have mostly been animals, petty criminals and peasants nobody would care about. In front of me would be my first real challenge. This was going to be fun.

Aenios: “That’s correct captain. My chains bore through their skulls like a dagger through flesh. Only this time, my opponent isn’t wearing any armour.”

He looked at me, then steeled himself. The fear I felt from him disappeared entirely. An impressive trick, being able to remove fear from yourself. I don’t need it though, there is nothing I fear.

Bandit Captain: “Heh, your funny kid. Your magic spooked me at first, but now I can see you’re just a little boy. You really think you can win a one on one fight? Fine, lets assume you can beat me, but do you realize where we are? We’re in a bandit camp, out there are my underlings who would literally die for a chance to grab some of this gold I have piled up here. Without me, they would still be beggars on the street. They know they don’t have any chance without me, unlike you nobles. I say one word, and they’ll all come rushing to my aid.”

Aenios: “Very true captain, but did you forget that you locked the door?”

The captain shook his head.

Bandit Captain: “I don’t need to open the door when one of the mages out there can open a hole through the earth. How do you think we cleaned up this cave so much?”

Okay. That’s enough. This is getting annoying. I came here to kill a few people, not waste my time in a needless argument.

Aenios: “Enough. I say we finish this now. You can’t come waltzing in on my lands just because you think you can. By doing so, you’ve incurred my wrath and are exempt from the laws of the kingdom. From now on, your verdict belongs to me.”

I start to glow brighter as I release more mana, I start to float once more and my chains bury into the solid rock. Every time one impales itself in the earth, the captain winces a little bit. I could feel him getting cornered and saw his muscles tense up, was he really going to make the first move?

Bandit Captain: “GRAAAAH!”

He rushed at me, short swords at the ready. He was going to try and finish this in one shot. Hilarious, he can surely try!

Aenios: “Captain, captain, I didn’t think you were this foolish.”

My chains extended from my hands, every single one of them aimed directly at him. This was probably the end. There’s no way he could possibly block this attack. Alas, it was only the first one.

The chains would have surely destroyed his body, if it weren’t for those swords. He wielded them with some respectable swordsmanship. Cutting each chain faster than I could see. I kept summoning more chains but he kept cutting them. How? How was this possible? I should have infused enough energy into the chains so that the blood crystal couldn’t destroy it, so how is he cutting through all of them.

Each arm was like a whirlwind of death, destroying my chains the moment they got too close. If he gets near me then…!

I start to back up and summon even more chains, each one being cut off from the end, dragging themselves back into my hands and shooting back out again.

Then, he slashed at me. Finally getting into range, he attacked me with a powerful downward swing. I was launched to the other side of the room. My shield only barely holding together as a large crack formed down the middle.

Bandit Captain: “Hahaha, that was so pathetic. I bet you’re wondering why I was able to destroy your chains like that. Let me tell you. I wasn’t hitting the links themselves, I was hitting the place they connected together! Let me guess. This the first time someone manage to land a blow. Hahaha.”

I couldn’t manage to form a smile. I was actually hit. By a disgusting bandit? Even if I wasn’t physically wounded, he actually managed to hit my shield. I felt anger consume me as I raised my right hand upwards, a glowing rune appeared and the entire room was filled with light, the Captain shielding his eyes.

Aenios, the brilliant One: “I, Aenios, call upon the ancient spirits of order, the guardian, the executioner and the lady of faith. Come to me and smite my enemies, by my judgement, they shall be executed!”

I chant the words, anger consuming my rational train of thought. I pulled out my final trump card, the one I should have kept until the last moment but instead, I used it on a simple bandit. I will come to regret my decisions later, but for now, I will enjoy watching this man suffer.

From behind me, three portals formed, flooding the room with even more light. From the first came a man in a full suit of silver armour. He held no sword or spear, instead he held a shield, depicted on which a great battle. His must striking feature being the pure beautiful wings that sprouted from his back.

From the second portal came a woman in a similar fashion as him. Two wings emerged from her back but her attire was entirely different. She wore white robes instead of any type of armour. In one hand she carried a golden scale, in the other, a sword made out of a glowing metal. Her eyes were covered by a large cloth and her hair seemed to be made out of gold.

From the last portal emerged another woman with stark contrasts from the other two. Her skin was an olive colour, her hair a deep black and her eyes a beautiful gold. She wore dark robes and carried a crooked scythe with a simple wooden handle and a sinister edge. From her back emerged not white, but black wings, almost like a raven’s.

Judgement: “Eh? Where am I? Oh. Hi Aenios.”

The woman draped in black turned to Aenios and started talking without stop. Aenios visibly rolled his eyes. When the light slowly faded away the captain could finally open his eyes. He dropped one of his swords in disbelief.

Bandit Captain: “Are those… fucking angels?”

Judgement: “Hey! We’re kind of like people too you know!”

The black angel turned to the Bandit who stopped talking under her gaze. Her golden eyes glowed, her appearance shimmered making her seem more ethereal than corporeal.

Purity: “Why have you summoned us Aenios?”

The armoured angel spoke with a soft tone, instead of the sudden outburst the black angel had.

Aenios: “I…I need you to kill this man.” I hesitated in my speech, evidence of my shaky demeanor. I couldn’t just say outright that I had gave into emotion and made a mistake. I can’t make mistakes and if I ever stop believing that, I’ll lose all self-worth.

Fortunately, just my words are enough to explain the angels. Each one preparing their own battle stance respectively. Well, this is good enough.

Aenios: “Make him feel pain.”

The man plunged both his swords in the ground and drawing his other two in an attempt to block the magic, but the might of man doesn’t compare with that of the heavens.

Three beams of holy energy washed over his form, the blood crystals shattering under the sheer magic pressure. I could faintly hear his screams over the roar of the magic that was drowning him. Perhaps summoning the angels wasn’t a bad idea after all.

It was over almost as soon as it started. The bandit captain lay there in a puddle of his own blood. I could hear the interior of the bandit fortress mobilizing, it seems they finally noticed the bright lights and sounds of battle coming from inside their boss’s quarters.

Aenios: “Thank you. I can handle it from here.”

Purity: “I can sense hostility from nearby mortals. Do you require us to eliminate them?”

I considered his suggestion. But I politely declined. I have a better idea. Purity and Mercy bowed, while Judgement waved goodbye. The portals reopening and their shapes slowly disappearing into the blinding light.

I approached the bandit captain, who incredibly, was still alive. It must have been courtesy of angels. I picked him up by the neck right before several bandits broke down the iron door. Moments afterward, the stone walls came down. All of them were shocked to see their leader in my grasp.

They drew their weapons in a threatening display. “Wh-who are you?” Their legs were shaking, and their eyes darting all around the room which had been bleached of all colour by the waves of light that had emerged from the previous battle.

The group was nothing more than disorganized. Bowmen in the front, swordsmen at the back. The only person who really drew my attention was an older woman, who was holding a sword, pretending the mana coming from her was invisible.

Like the captain from before, I saw the fear in their eyes, and I saw it disappear as they fully examined me. The fear replaced by confusion. I dropped the captain to the floor, restoring my shield and chains sprouting from my palms.

I’ll end this battle before they can react.

With a single mental command, I send the chains soaring at them, wrapping around every single bandit that had dared to face me and with the few remaining, pierced the stomach of the mage that was so conspicuously disguised. I lifted her dead body above the other bandits, having it slowly float in front of each of their faces. I assumed this was their only mage.

The fear returned into their eyes. They realized who the superior being was here. They struggled in my grasp, some gave up and dropped their weapons, others continued to try and fight. Swords desperately trying to break my chains and arrows trying to pierce my shield. Neither advance would come to avail their situation.

There were around twenty men bound in my chains, everyone else too afraid to come closer despite their friends being in peril. I could chain them up, but its nice to create that divide among the bandits, or rather, reveal how trustworthy their allies really are.

Now, for a bit more… demonstration.

My chains slowly crawled up their body until they were wrapped around every single one of their necks. The bandits dropped all their weapons and desperately tried to claw at the chains as their throats were slowly crushed.

The other men were simply too afraid to move, unable to run, unable to look away.

Bandit: “P-Ple..ase st..opp.”

One of them managed to get a few words out, before his body lost all resistance. Either he was unconscious, or dead. Either way worked for me but I couldn’t let the rest of them die this way. I only had so much time and I had a showy-er punishment in mind.

I raised my right hand and with a single, swift motion, closed it into a fist. The chains suddenly tightened, and every single bandit head popped off in a glorious display of bloody gore. The bodies fell to the floor spewing blood in all directions.

Any blood that flew towards me was simply blocked by my shield. I can’t have my clothes getting dirty after all.

Some of the bandits behind them tried to run, I killed those ones, nothing fancy though. Just a chain through the heart. The rest of them stopped trying to run away. If you want to teach something, its better to give people a lesson through a visual presentation. That’s what I find the most successful anyway.

I think they are sufficiently scared. It’s time to start.

Aenios: “Your captain, he tried to fight me. Now, he’s a writhing pile of meat that’s barely alive. Your friends, they tried to fight me. Now they are headless corpses whose remains you can see right before you and if you try to fight me…”

I recalled every chain an pointed it directly at the captain. The result was a large bloodstain that covered the entire room. All the bandits that remained, went down on their knees, their weapons falling from their hands. No words were said. Dominance was established. I own this fortress now.

Aenios: “Good. You understand. Now, let’s begin.”