About thirty minutes into the ride the carriage seemed to have stopped all of a sudden as it got stuck on a large rock. 

“Sorry! It seems a wheel got stuck on some rocks, but don’t worry It will be repaired in a short while.” The carriage driver said as he got off his seat and tied the rope that was attached to the horses into a nearby tree. Followed by this he inspected the wheel that seemed to be stuck.

The four got off as well as the twins lazily sat down on a rock while Alicia and Regulus assisted the driver as they tried to push the carriage off the rocks. Eventually after a few tries they got the wheel off the rocks. 

They all got on as the carriage started to move, but not even minutes later the carriage stopped again.

“S-Sir, we have a problem.” The driver said as he seemed to stop the carriage in fear.

“What is it?” Regulus replied in a calm demeanor.

“B-Bandits sir….. A lot of them sir, at least 15.” The man said as he started to shake in fear. 

Regulus started to think of a way to get out of this situation. He could attempt to kill them, but that would be exposing the twins to violence. Since he deduced that the bandits were here so that they could collect tolls from unfortunate merchants. 

“Ok, I have it.” He whispered as he grabbed and hid his dagger on his robe. 

“Hey you two, would you mind if you could do me a quick favor?” He said as the twins looked at him.

“Could you both cover your ears? If you do, I'll get you two anything after we reach your manor.”

“Only if you get us snow pudding!?” The girl said as she wore an excited face. But gave Regulus a worried face, since a single cup of snow pudding would cost him two month’s worth of his entitled salary. 

“Ok….. I can do that….” He said as he almost looked like he was regretting his decision.

He then got up and hopped off the carriage. But before he left he whispered to Alicia to cover the twin’s eyes. She was confused at first but nodded in reply. Regulus walked up to the driver and told him to run the carriage at a slow pace.

He took a good look at the bandits as they were ill equipped. Wearing hide armor and old creak weapons, but still a weapon no matter how old or blunt can still kill.

Following the speed of the carriage, Regulus called out to the bandits. 

“Good morning friends! What seems to be the hold up here?” Regulus said in an upbeat tone as he observed the bandits and their defenses one by one. 2 wooden spiked barricades, 6 Archers, 8 Lightly Armored Footmen and a hooded figure who looks like the leader of the group. The archers were up in large rocks, 3 on each side; having a full view of him. So it would be wise to take out the archers first so that they wouldn’t bother him once he goes up against the infantry, 

“A toll, the nearby Retinas manor has asked for a toll to any passing merchants or travelers.” One of the bandits said as he stood up.

“Well…. Let’s say I don’t have money? What could I do to pass?” He said as the archers were nearly in range.

“Then I’m afraid you have to give up a horse….. Or maybe that amulet you have dangling on your neck, it doesn’t suit you very well since you look more like a peasant than a merchant.” The man barked as he seemed to have let down his guard.

“Ah, quite unfortunate then…” He says as he acted as if he was scared and dejected. But when the bandit had surely let his guard down, Regulus threw the dagger at one of the archers.

This caught all of them by surprise, but before the archers on his right side could even draw the arrows from the quiver, their throats were slashed. As Regulus had attached a rope of mana to the dagger before he threw it. 

With his free hand, he casted sparks of lightning; as it blew up the large rock the other group of bandits were standing on. Followed by this he yanked the dagger back to him as he parried the strike of the nearest bandit. Counter Attacking, he kicked the bandit as he was impaled by the barricade head first. The other bandits seeing this began screaming as some sort of war cry. 

With the dagger he stabbed one of the approaching bandits and blew him away with a thunderbolt sending him tumbling with the other bandits. But all of a sudden a large rock had come hurling at him, which he luckily dodged by ducking down. It wasn’t easy to find the culprit as it was the hooded figure, indicating from the fresh runes fading away from their hands, it seemed he was fighting a mage.

But before that he had to focus his attention on the others, but it seemed they were too afraid as they had started to run the other direction. As it seemed the mage was the only person left, a rune circle had formed on their hands as they chanted “Ikke Frykt”. 

From this the fleeing bandits have turned back and have started to run at Regulus once more.

‘What kind of spell was that? A spell that alters their minds? A spell that lifts up their spirits? Nevertheless what kind of animal would let some helpless men fight someone they can’t kill….. I should make this quick for them, but not for the mage. But back to them’ 

The bandits seemed to have gotten faster, maybe it was because of the spell or maybe not. A part of Regulus didn’t want to kill them as they looked to be the same age as him, but he had no choice.

Raising his right hand he prepared a destructive spell that could even reach him, but it was the most logical so that he would not waste his energy. 

“Summon Lightning”

As the name suggests a lightning strike had struck the bandits in front of him, causing some of the blood and gore from the bandits to scatter, some of it even getting into Regulus’ face and clothes,

“Ugh, this is filthy.” Regulus said in disgust but was soon diverted by clapping. Looking in front of him it was the hooded mage, they seemed to be clapping from enjoyment.

“Marvelous, what a light show you have brought! And here I thought all the mages in Syndis were weak! It seems you are quite adept at using your sparkling magic!” The voice said as it sounded feminine and had a northern accent. 

‘A woman? So the mage was a woman? What kind of life had she been living to be this vile?’ Regulus thought as he wanted to hold back now since it was a woman he was going up against.

“Entertain me, Syndisian! If you do, maybe I’ll even let you keep your carriage!” The woman said as the runes have once again appeared on her hands, and from them came a boulder that was launched at him with great speed. 

Having almost no time to react, he could only cover his hand in mana and try to crush the boulder without breaking an arm. With only half of a second to spare he punched the boulder as it bursted into pieces. Luckily he had hit it at a spot where it wouldn’t harm the carriage.

Unfortunately his left hand had broken a few bones from the impact, leaving it only useful to cast spells. 

“Amazing! That was one of the strongest spells in my arsenal! Yet you managed to stop it! Bravo to you!” She said as she seemed to enjoy what was unfolding.

Using her calmness to the situation, Regulus threw his dagger and dashed forward. Conjuring a mana sword in his left hand he readied a feint to his right and slash up. 

The dagger had been blocked by the mage as she had coated her arms in rock and stone. Reading Regulus’ attacks she readied to block right but was taken in surprise when he feinted and swung up. Using the millisecond she had she stomped the ground as a tremor stopped the mana blade from reaching its target. 

The tremor caused Regulus to stumble forward as he had lost his footing. Before she could use this to her advantage he had casted a lightning bolt spell; using the shockwave to escape from her range. 

“Smart! Very smart! But smart is the only thing that you and your people are known for. Your fighting styles are boring, but I have to say you're unique! You don’t fight like a merchant nor a commoner! You move as if you were a knight! But you aren't, you don't have the mercy that a knight has! So are you perhaps…. A noble!?”