Ailluin led them towards a nearby lake called the Tranquil Basin by the residents of Lakefield. It was one of the smallest lakes people liked to go to because of its calm water and serene surroundings. Mahon and Jorik had gone there too on a few occasions, but never while training with the other bodyguards.

Still, like everything else in the vicinity, they had learnt by heart the whole region to its most remote corners. As the Tranquil Basin was classified as a high passing location, the Protectors had a nearby hideout in case of problems, and the duo was very aware of its situation.

Only a single road connected the lake to the city. The area around the Tranquil Basin was full of small lakes and ponds, and the landscape was very akin to a mangrove swamp. A multitude of trails crossed the mangrove from one lake to another in a gigantic vegetal labyrinth.

Mahon, Jorik and Ailluin reached the Tranquil Basin through the main road without any issue. It was still early in the afternoon, but a lot of people were already leisurely resting around the lake, and Mahon checked every single of them with his Flow, taking notes of those who appeared to be more stressed than they should be.

Both he and Jorik were feeling tense, knowing very well it was now time for the real challenge. But contrary to their expectation, Ailluin went to swim without a care in the world before taking a nap for a good hour. And yet, nothing out of the ordinary happened. The smug smile on the head instructor’s face was enough to keep them on edge during the whole time, though.

After another hour, Ailluin stretched and stood up, ordering his bodyguards he would now go back to his quarters in the city. Mahon had already scanned twice everyone that came since they reached the Tranquil Basin, but he did it a third time as they were leaving to make sure no one was planning to trail them.

Just when they moved out of sight from the shore, four people stood up and started following them. If not for his Flow, Mahon wouldn’t have been able to see them and their timing was really odd. Not giving them the benefit of the doubt, he pulled Jorik’s attention and gestured for a change of itinerary.

Jorik immediately branched off the main road, telling Ailluin they needed to check if they weren’t tailed. They made another detour through the mangrove, but Mahon saw the four people taking the same path they did at each intersection, and his suspicion confirmed.

“We’re followed.” He said out loud.

“What?! They can’t catch me!” Ailluin yelled in his best noble imitation before sprinting at full speed in a random path away from where they came. The flash of amusement in his eyes didn’t escape the duo as they ran after him with a frown.

You’re going to play it like this?

Within seconds, they caught up to Ailluin and forced him to stop, but Ailluin played the terrified noble to the extreme, throwing a tantrum and trying to escape them even though they were here to protect him.

In any other circumstances, a normal bodyguard would have panicked by being insulted and ordered by a frantic high noble, but the code of the Protectors Circle was clear enough. Jorik smacked Ailluin at the neck as he had been taught, and the instructor collapsed unconscious.

Save the client first, no matter what. The Protectors Circle will shield you from any retaliation.

Recent teachings echoed in Mahon’s head as he took a look at their surroundings. Meanwhile, Jorik grabbed Ailluin and shoved him over his shoulder like he would with a bag of potatoes and started running as if the man weighed nothing. They hadn’t trained their endurance every single day just to act like playboys by the lakes.

“Incoming groups from the front and right.” Mahon informed him while multiple figures converging to their position appeared one after the other to his Flow.

Inside the mangrove, sight wasn’t very helpful as the vegetation blocked anything a dozen meters ahead, and only a few tracks zigzagging through the greenery were easily practicable. With at least a hundred meters of range, even while running, Mahon had a clear advantage over their pursuers.

Why do I have the feeling they can see us as easily as I do?

Mahon took the lead of their escape while Jorik followed closely behind with Ailluin still on his back. No matter what Mahon tried to get rid of their enemies, the circle only grew smaller as they managed to converge to him, nonetheless. Only three quarters of the circle was closed, and given how the groups moved, it was becoming clearer and clearer that they were trying to push them towards a trap.

“I think they can track us, somehow. Check if there is something on Ailluin.” Mahon ordered as he stopped to focus on the movements of their pursuers.

Jorik grabbed everything from Ailluin’s pockets and threw it on the ground. The noble was left with only his clothes, before being shoved back over Jorik’s shoulder. In the meantime, Mahon swept as far as he could with his Flow to get a better sense of what was coming to them.

He had used the Flow at shallow levels for most of the day, only doing an occasional long range swipe from time to time. If he had attempted that feat six months before, he would have been left exhausted long before he could reach the Tranquil Basin. With his recent intensive training with Rania, however, he only felt a bit drained.

“They’re trying to circle us while letting this side open.” Mahon pointed to the west. “Continue west, I’ll try to lead them on a false trail. I’ll catch up to you afterwards.”

Jorik nodded and immediately left while Mahon grabbed Ailluin’s possession on the ground and shoved them in his own pockets. Lakefield was south of their position and their safer bet to escape their pursuers, so Mahon chose this direction to lure them.

He ran for half a minute before he stopped to push his Flow wider and watch their pursuers' reactions. Unfortunately, he quickly realized that they were still following Jorik.

Fuck it.

He dropped everything Jorik had taken from Ailluin’s pocket and rushed back to them before they would fall in the trap.

Even before he could see Jorik, the noble perceived him with his Flow and stopped, understanding that something went wrong. Mahon was at his side shortly after.

“They can still track him and the trap is closing on us.” He checked with his Flow the position of their enemies and pointed northwards. “Nearest group. Five people. Fifty meters from us.”

“We pierce through?” Jorik immediately suggested.

“We can’t hide, so it’s either that or we go where they want us to go.” Mahon acquiesced.

Jorik nodded promptly. “But not north. We should aim for the city.” He gestured to the south.

“It’s where they’re the most people.” Mahon quickly checked. “Forty meters, now.” He added with his arm still raised towards the northern group.

“That’s why they probably don’t expect us to strike there. And the quicker we reach the city, the quicker we can ask for help.”

“Ok, let’s do this.” Mahon agreed while devising a new plan on the go. “Leave Ailluin here and get rid of that unit.” He gestured with his head to his arm still pointing north. “I’ll open a path south. Follow me with the client immediately after you get rid of them.”

Jorik only hesitated for a slight instant. Leaving their client alone wasn’t a smart move, but since he was unconscious and Jorik would get rid of the closest group, there shouldn’t be any problem. He nodded to Mahon, and the two men bolted off to their respective directions.

Mahon gave up following the existing paths, and he rushed through the vegetation with his sword drawn instead. The Flow helped him move effortlessly through the dense foliage, and where he couldn’t pass easily, his sword created a way in a few efficient strikes.

Like that, he moved to the two groups that would hinder their escape to the city. He soon appeared near the first one like a cheetah jumping on his oblivious prey. There were only four people, and he recognized them all as six-stars he knew from the Protectors Circle.

Mahon sent the first one to the floor with a strike in the neck, while he stabbed the hilt of his sword on the head of a second one. Before the two other soldiers could notice, Mahon was at their side and swiped their legs, sending them on the ground. He kicked the one to his left at the head while he fell and pounced on the last one, placing his sword on his throat.

“You’re dead.”

The Protector nodded slightly, indicating he agreed on his situation, and Mahon let him go. He touched the chest of all the three other unconscious people with his sword, to indicate the only conscious one he had “killed” them.

Then he left without a word towards the next group. He got rid of them in a similar fashion, and watched with his Flow Jorik pick up Ailluin and rush towards him. While waiting for him, he checked the Protectors’ equipment and found an odd compass pointing to Jorik and Ailluin.

He looked at it for a few seconds, but he couldn’t get a sense of how it worked, and even his Flow didn’t pick up any magic. Without any clue how to get rid of the tracker, Mahon pocketed it and started to open a path through the mangrove so they would escape their pursuers' grasp.

Mahon’s group had moved fast enough to catch them by surprise, and they passed the blockade without any issue. Mahon noticed with his Flow how their enemies regrouped and tried to chase them, but once out of their encirclement and back to the main road, Mahon and Jorik ran at full speed and lost them.

Actually, Mahon slowed down and kept track of them for a bit longer until he saw them halt. He then sprinted back to Jorik and grabbed Ailluin so that the noble could rest a bit. They continued for five minutes before Mahon noticed two figures rushing at them from behind.

His Flow had trouble tracking them because fire magic was covering their whole body and their speed was at least two times faster than any human Mahon had seen running.

He barely had time to warn Jorik that the two human torches were already on them. The noble moved in front of Mahon, who was still carrying Ailluin, and assumed a defensive posture.

The two enemy sorcerers hardly slowed down and attacked Jorik with their dual swords at the same time. Jorik pivoted to reduce the size of his body they could attack and parried the best he could the four swords coming at him from four different angles.

Being a Flow user, he had benefited the most from Mahon’s private lessons at the Protectors Circle, and given their more intimate relation, Mahon also taught him while in Nightmare. Jorik’s level with a sword was at the early eight-star now, and he managed to hold his ground for a few seconds against the frenzied assault of the two strangers.

Mahon dropped Ailluin without ceremony and joined Jorik right in time to save his ass. Now a two versus two, the fight reached an equilibrium. With the help of their Flow, Mahon and Jorik made an impressive duo, but the sorcerers in front of them weren’t far off easier. They were clearly used to fighting together too, and with each passing second, their magic intensified, and they gained both speed and strength.

“Run with Ailluin.” Mahon said once he realized they wouldn’t be able to win against the duo.

If it had been two normal sorcerers, they would have stood a chance, but both were seven-stars and fought together almost as well as the instructors. Actually, Mahon would have tried his luck in a real situation, anyway. Jorik and him were far from having exhausted all their resources, but killing or injuring their opponents was out of the question. It was still a test, after all.

Mahon stepped forward at the same time he spoke, forcing the two sorcerers to gang on him. Jorik immediately seized the opportunity to run back to Ailluin. Without stopping, he grabbed hold of the man, threw him over his shoulder and accelerated towards Lakefield.

“A noble sacrifice.” One sorcerer commented without any taunt.

Who said anything about sacrifice? Mahon thought while stepping up his game.

Going all out, he launched attack after attack at the two sorcerers, forcing them to move back. Mahon angled his sword in a way that would force the two men to hinder each other or retreat. Their coordination was top-notch, however, and Mahon didn’t get as much edge as he wanted.

He still saw multiple opportunities to attend to their life, but took none of them. At such a fast pace, it was very hard for Mahon to distinguish which attack would lead to an unfortunate end to those who would help him without endangering the sorcerers’ life, and he refused to take any risk.

During half a minute, he managed to control the two sorcerers by himself, but afterwards it became too difficult to fight at that level without aiming to kill. The two sorcerers slowly took back their edge and soon, it was Mahon who was pushed back in an uncomfortable position.

I hope it’ll be enough, Jorik. I can’t do more.

A second before he would lose the fight, Mahon suddenly focused his Flow on the two sorcerers and catching them off guard, he snuffed out all their flames.

The three men stumbled for a moment.

Mahon because of the energy spent to accomplish such a feat. The two sorcerers because of the backlash of suddenly losing their magic.

Being the least surprised by the situation, Mahon came to his senses first and without wasting any time, he ran away. He didn’t rush to the city and plunged into the nearby mangrove instead, hoping to lose his opponents should they choose to pursue him.

As for Jorik, he had bought him almost a full minute, and given the sorcerers had just lost their magic, it would be some time before they built up enough to run after him. Given the distance they were from the city, Jorik should be able to reach it safely if he went all out.

Contrary to Mahon’s expectations, however, the two sorcerers didn’t move at all. Instead, they bore wide smiles while talking with enthusiasm between themselves as their voices carried over while Mahon disappeared inside the mangrove.

“Little Rania wasn’t lying! He can suppress our magic!”

“He’s even more impressive than what she said. I…”