As the sun sank ever so closer to the horizon, the bright blue light of the day gradually drained away to make way for the evening sky. A chilling wind breezed through the convoy sending a shiver down the spines of any who ca into contact with it.
"Sothing seems amiss..."
The Instructor, who was casually steering the wheel of the aether car, glanced around the surroundings in suspicion. After travelling for a few hours, the caravan was nearing Chilyoja Waypoint and might arrive at any mont. However, ever since leaving the clan, he had not seen any other traders or rchants that might be entering the waypoint. Scratch that, he had not even seen traces of any other humans.
"Hmmm? Sothing wrong, Lou?"
Ines, who had finished answering all of Shin and Junius’ queries, at so point returned to her original seat at the front, next to the Instructor. Hearing the upsetting words of the muscular man, she asked for the source of his worry.
"Don’t you feel that sothing seems weird? We are about to reach the waypoint, but there is no one in sight. Usually, there would be so other carriages on the roads leading to the gates. But we have yet to see a single soul..."
"Hmmm? You’re right... Stop the car, I’m getting out."
Hearing the Instructor’s legitimate concern, Ines tapped the steering wheel of the aether car and asked the brawny man to stop the vehicle. Once, the car ca to a halt, she opened the door and climbed to the roof to get a better viewing angle. Since the car that they were in was leading the caravan, the abrupt and unplanned stop startled those who were behind them.
"What’s going on?"
"Why is Ines on the roof of the car?"
All the other Frie Clan mbers perford an ergency brake and got out of their vehicles.
"Hraaarhhh, what’s going on?"
Waking up from the commotion, Shin, who had decided to take a nap, rubbed his eyes while yawning. Junius, who had also shut his eyes for a light rest, quickly beca alert after hearing the noise.
"It seems like there sothing happening..."
Grabbing on to his pristine, new shoes, Junius attempted to wear his footwear and leave the comfort of his wheelchair.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Unfortunately for Junius, Shin was still playing the role of his caretaker. Reaching out, the black-haired youth gripped Junius’ hands.
"I’m going out to check."
"No can do, you are supposed to stay in that cosy chair of yours for two more weeks!"
"But I can walk with little problems! One or two weeks doesn’t make a difference!"
"Nope, the doctor said that you have to remain wheelchair-bound for a month! Not one day less. Don’t worry, I’ll go out to see what’s going on. You remain here and rest like an injured person should."
Wrestling the shoes away from Junius, Shin kept the footwear at the overhead compartnt so that Junius would be unable to reach it. Once he made sure that Junius failed to escape, Shin left the aether car from the back door. But what greeted him were the confused faces of the other Frie Clan mbers. Many of them looking at the roof of their car. Intrigued, Shin followed the direction of their gazes to find Ines grimly scanning the surroundings.
’What’s going on?’
Shin asked ntally. At this point, the more experienced escorts realised that sothing had gone awry and scrutinised the surroundings.
Ines, with her high vantage point, was able to see much more. Currently, the convoy was on a road that was surrounded by multiple trees. Scanning deep into the woodlands, Ines could see signs of irregular movent. The rustling of leaves hinted that a substantial number of living beings were hiding in the bushes.
"Bandits... I should have expected... Everyone, assu battle positions! We are under attack!"
Raising her right hand upright, Ines gave the order. The highest command present were Ines and the Instructor due to their high cultivation levels. Thus, her words were law.
"Alright!"
"Co at !"
"Hah!"
The long forest road blinked sparks of red as the nurous escorts gathered spiritual energy to summon their Spirits. As mbers of the Frie Clan, all of those present had undergone the Spirit Awakening ceremony and had decent cultivation levels. Usually, escort missions were taken by juniors of the clan consisting of Spirit Apostles and Spirit Cores with a Rank 30 Spirit Adept leading the convoy. However, due to so special circumstances, the current caravan had two Rank 50 Spirit Lords presiding over it.
"Hmph! Damned bandits..."
Ines cracked her knuckles as she prepared herself for battle. The reason why the Frie Clan had to purchase a new batch of aether cars was because a few months ago, a bandit tribe had hijacked a caravan en route back from a trading port. Although there were no casualties from the attack, the clan had suffered severe losses. Unfortunately for the Frie Clan, an aether car was a sign of wealth and opulence. Hence, their convoys had historically been a pri target for bandit attacks.
The council had once toyed with the idea of going back to using horse carriages, but the efficiency and low maintenance costs of an aether car were hard to ignore. Furthermore, the Frie Clan had the pride of a major power. They did not want to be seen using a backward thod of transportation.
"Ho ho, so ignorant bastards are trying to steal our stuff huh?"
Getting out of the driver’s seat, the Instructor stomped out of the car leaving massive footprints on the ground.
"Hey, Ines! Leave them to ... I couldn’t let out steam before, so let them be my punching bags!"
Back at the mountain, the Instructor wanted to rush out and club the Second Elder and Bates till their heads caved in. However, he was deprived of that urge once he read the official statent that was issued by the upper council of the clan. Swallowing his anger, all he could do was grit his teeth in indignation. Now that the perfect target had shown up, he could finally vent his frustrations with a good old fashioned beat-down.
"Hah... Leave so alive and intact... We need to bring them to authorities later on..."
Although they were under attack, Ines was more worried about their assailants. Seeing that the Instructor was pumped up and ready for a fight, she prayed that the bandits would not suffer too much at the hands of that pent-up monster.
"*Whhoooshhh*."
At that mont, a flying arrow whistled out of the woods and headed straight for the brawny man’s head. It flew through the air at speeds untrackable to the average human eye. With a foul black arrow tip, the arrow threatened to take down the Instructor before he could even react. But unfortunately, the muscular man was no average human. A crimson red light gathered from under the Instructor and condensed to form a humongous battle club that was a hundred fifty centitres long. Adding that to his unkempt facial hair and broad-shoulders, the Instructor currently looked like an indomitable caveman.
The Instructor effortlessly deflected the arrow by simply raising his Spirit. However, once his club made contact with the projectile, he noticed that sothing was wrong. Looking down at his Spirit, a purple fluid remained. As if it were alive, the liquid bubbled, trying to eat away the massive club. Sadly, the Instructor’s resistance was much stronger than the strange fluid.
"Poison huh... Interesting... Everyone, be careful! They are using poison-laced weapons! Don’t think of them as diocre bandits!"
The Instructor had his fair share of fighting against bandits. Most of the ti, bandit tribes are ford by weak and impoverished people who had yet to awaken their Spirits. Even those who were able to awaken their Spirits were barely to cultivate to the Spirit Apostle level due to the lack of resources and cultivation techniques. However, seeing that their foes were able to use poison-laced arrows that were strong enough to cause a reaction to his Rank 57 Spirit, the Instructor knew that the bandits were not regular outlaws.
The mont the Instructor warned the other escorts, a horde of ruffians wearing tattered and filthy clothes erged from the woods. Ard with steel weapons such as swords and spears, over a hundred bandits ford up into a neat row, preparing themselves for an ordered charge. Bown nocked their arrows and stood at the rear of the formation. Instead of a bandit tribe, the assailants seed like a well-trained army regint.
"Woah... What’s going on?"
The muscular man was shaken. He had never seen such strange bandits in all his years serving the Frie Clan. Before he could give out any orders, the bown released a hail of arrows that flew directly at the caravan.
"Damn it... Brace yourselves!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)