“The last leg of our journey took longer than expected,” I commented.

My father nodded, but his attention was clearly elsewhere as his eyes focused on an incoming figure from the village. As we approached, the signs of bandit activity were clear. Fields were damaged, homes were plundered, and the villagers were huddled together, wounded and dirty.

Father dismounted from his horse and approached the man, Baron Aaron Vale of Greenhaven, who was also his distant cousin. "What exactly happened here? Tell me everything," he said with a hint of anger in his voice as he took in the damage done by the bandits.

Baron Vale replied, avoiding eye contact, "They came from the south coast a few days ago, at least 50 of them. They demanded food and supplies. When I told them we didn't have enough, they started beating my people. They warned that they'll be back at sundown today and kill anyone who doesn't give them supplies, or… something else that they might find desirable."

"Has anyone been seriously injured?" Father asked, the anger in his voice gone, but I noticed him clench his fist as he struggled to control his emotions.

"Thankfully, no one has been seriously hurt yet," Baron Vale said with a sigh.

"Very well, I'll wait for them here. Kai, go with Baron Vale and observe from a safe distance," my father instructed in a stern voice, showing his clear authority.

I immediately spoke up, "I'm here for a reason. I'll help you confront them, Father." I maintained eye contact to show my confidence and determination to assist.

“Good, I was hoping you’d say that. Make yourself comfortable, we haven’t a clue how long it will take.” My father leaned back against a nearby tree trunk, closing his eyes. But I knew he was attempting to sense any mana fluctuations that may indicate their approach. I sat down beside him and felt for the atmospheric mana flow, absorbing it in preparation for the upcoming battle.

It wasn’t long before we felt their presence, they didn’t try to hide at all, that overconfidence would be the death of them. 

The death of them all, I reminded myself. While the dryad wasn’t entirely trustworthy, I felt that following her advice of hiding my name and leaving no survivors would be best. I didn’t see a downside to the end of these monsters.

Their weapons were already brandished, as if they came searching for a fight, with no intention of leaving the civilians alone even if they fulfilled their demands. This solidified my resolve. They all wore the same leather armor, like a uniform of sorts.

The bandits noticed us straight away.

“Oh lookie here boys, looks like we got us an idiot who thinks he can play hero” He let out a laugh, revealing a set of yellow teeth, with a few missing. He seemed to be the leader, the bandits behind him were shouting threats. I could see a few of them looking into homes and throughout the village for valuables to steal or civilians to slaughter. I felt a surge of anger and determination. I reached for my sword, ready to defend the innocent.

My father turned to me and said, "Stay behind me, Kai. I'll handle the close combat. You focus on practicing your use of magic."

I nodded, and reached for the mana inside me, feeling it surge within my channels. While I had only learned wind magic so far, and not even to mastery, my father on the other hand, an ex-captain of the Guardians, had mastered wind and fire and could perform the basics of earth. 

I knew I could help my father in the fight. I began to gather the wind around me, calling forth powerful gusts that could knock the bandits off their feet.

My father charged forward, his sword brightening as flames clung to the black blade and wind coalesced around his limbs. He moved with incredible speed and grace, parrying and striking with precise, mana-enhanced blows. The bandits were no match for him, and one by one, they fell to his blade.

I used my magic to further enhance his movements, using wind to give him an extra boost of speed. I felt my father release his wind-based enhancements, leaving me to provide his speed increase while he dedicated all of his mana to his fire magic and arms to increase the potency of his swift and precise slashes. My magic and my father's skill with the blade were complementing each other, and I knew that together, we were unstoppable.

We quickly overwhelmed the bandits, and they attempted to retreat. I used my magic to create a wall of wind, trapping them in place and making it impossible for them to escape.

My father's sword blazed with fire as he expertly swung it in battle. His prowess as a swordsman was unmatched, and I watched in awe at his masterful technique. It was no wonder he was renowned as one of Arboreus's greatest warriors. I felt incredible pride as his son.

As my father continued to wield his flaming sword, decimating the bandit horde one by one, three of them managed to make a break for it. However, I erected a wall of wind magic, quickly putting an end to their escape attempt. With a determined stance, I stepped forward, blocking their path.

My father was occupied with the remaining bandits, so it was up to me to face this new threat. Despite my weariness and dwindling magic reserves, I was resolved to stop the bandits from slipping away. I braced myself, ready for the coming confrontation.

None must be allowed to live, I reminded myself of the dryad’s words.

I gathered my remaining strength and stood my ground, waiting for the bandits to approach. Unfortunately, I hadn’t listened to Blake enough about recharging the shield ring regularly, and I didn’t have enough mana spare to use it now.

The bandits spread out as they approached me, charging from multiple angles, but I was ready. I used my magic to create a gust of wind, hurling myself at the rightmost bandit, I flew straight into his left shoulder, and he was knocked off his feet and disarmed. His large sword, the handle traced with rust, fell to the ground next to me, thudding into the dirt. I launched his weapon up to my hand with a small pillar of wind, catching it and swinging down at him with incredible speed. Unfortunately, I missed by a hair as he rolled slightly to the side.

I managed to recover from my blunder with a concentrated blast of wind, slamming his head into the rough ground below, an ear-splitting crack reverberated through me, making me feel nauseous at the thought of what I had done. But I had no time for remorse, there were still 2 people trying to kill me.

The balance of this sword was imperfect, nothing like Mistral. Suddenly I felt a disturbance in the air behind me. I instinctively ducked and rolled, propelling myself further, and faster, with wind magic. I immediately regained my footing, dropping the unfamiliar sword and drawing Mistral. 

I coated Mistral in sharp wind mana and swung behind me, where I had last sensed the bandit. The sword cleaved through the air, then I suddenly felt much more resistance. I looked back to see the blade slicing through the second bandit’s torso. 

The last bandit was the most dangerous, and I could feel my exhaustion starting to catch up with me. He was a skilled fighter, and I could see that he was trying to find an opening to strike. I knew I had to act quickly, a prolonged battle would only wear me down further. I used my magic to create a gust of wind that sent him onto his back, and I seized the opportunity to strike.

I dashed towards him and swung Mistral. I felt it connect with the bandit's armor, the impact was painful, and I felt my arm go numb, but I didn't let up. I lifted Mistral high above my head and swung again, enhancing my body and sword with mana this time, and I felt it connect with the bandit's neck. 

Even though I did not regret it, I knew the weight of the deaths would not leave anytime soon.

I looked around for my father, catching his gaze with mine as he was staring at me. We were each surrounded by bodies with bloodied swords. He looked at me with a mix of pride and sadness, and I knew what he was thinking without him having to say anything. The sight of death, even as the result of a battle to protect innocent people, was never an easy thing to take in.

"We should search the surrounding area, there might still be others out there," I said, thinking of the dryad’s words.

My father stayed silent but nodded in agreement. I walked alongside him as we made our way toward the outskirts of the village. We encountered a few more bandits, but my father managed to provide them with quick and clean deaths. I had done more than enough killing for one day, I felt sick at the memory of what I did. 

After thoroughly searching the surrounding area, we agreed that there were no more threats and headed back to the village to let the people know it was safe.

It was strange, one wind blast had managed to take a life. I suddenly realized how bad any one of the hundreds of sparring sessions Arden and I performed could have gone with one wrong move from either of us. Humans are truly fragile creatures, I would need to learn restraint to avoid unwanted lethal blows. 

As we made our way back, I couldn't help but reflect on the events that had just taken place. I was grateful for the skills that Blake had taught me, but I couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt that was now a part of me. Death, even in the defense of others, was never something to be taken lightly. I was ignorant to believe I could kill them all so easily just because a dryad had said so.