From what I could see, there were at least thirty bandits. Our situation was unfavorable at best, as our paths—both to move forward and to retreat—were blocked by bandits wielding swords, spears, and other close-ranged weapons. Archers were positioned atop a cliff on the mountainside to our right, their bows aimed down at us, while only the steep edge of the mountain, with the looming fog below, beckoned to our left.

Jasmine, Durden, and my father showed no visible injuries, but Helen’s complexion was unhealthily pale—evidently a result of the arrow jutting from her right calf. The walls of our carriage had given way to the force of Angela’s spell, but the wind sphere still protected us.

A scarred, bald man with the body of a bear approached, settling the giant battle axe he carried against his shoulder. “Look what we have here. Pretty good catch, boys. Leave only the girls and the kid alive. Try not to scar them too much. Damaged goods sell for less,” he snorted with a leer that revealed his nearly toothless mouth.

‘Damaged goods’…

I felt my body temperature rising, and I tensed with a smoldering anger I hadn’t felt toward anyone in a long time.

Being sheltered in the bubble of my home had almost made me forget, but any world will have its own share of trash like him.

Nearly forgetting the fact that I was now in a four-year-old’s body, I was ready to rush this brute when my father yelled, “There are only four mages, and none of them seem to be conjurers! The rest are normal warriors!”

I hadn’t yet learned how to distinguish a mage from a normal human, but I trusted my father’s assessment—it was easy enough to infer what sort of mage a person was by their physical appearance and weapons.

I was impressed by how quickly my father reverted to his former adventuring days as the leader of the Twin Horns. His expression held the wisdom that could only come from experience. He donned his gauntlets, shouting, “Safeguard formation!”

Adam quickly arrived at the back of the carriage, facing the road behind us with his spear raised. Jasmine and Helen moved to our left with their weapons unsheathed, facing ahead, while Angela maintained her position, preparing another spell as she kept her wind barrier active. My father and Durden faced the mountainside, positioning themselves to protect us from the archers overhead.

“Gather and guard my allies, O benevolent Earth; do not let them be harmed,” Durden chanted, casting a spell, and the ground rumbled and transmuted into a massive earthen wall curving up in front of him.

Seizing that moment of distraction, my father burst forward toward the enemy archers, raising his gauntlets to guard against the flurry of arrows.

At almost the same moment, Angela finished her second spell and unleashed a torrent of wind blades, aiming them at the path behind and in front of the carriages. That was apparently the cue; Adam and Jasmine shadowed behind the wind spell to arrive in front of our distraught enemies, who were covering their vitals against the flurry of blades. Helen held her position, her arrow nocked and bow drawn, imbuing the tip with mana that shone with a faint blue light.

It didn’t take a genius to realize that this was the ideal arrangement for protecting people or valuable goods. With two layers of protection from the conjurers and an archer-mage ready to shoot down anyone who managed to get past Adam, Jasmine, and Father, it was a standard yet well-thought-out formation.

“Warrior coming your way, Helen!” Adam shouted as he dodged the swing of a mace, delivering a precise swipe to the jugular of an unfortunate bandit. The man’s eyes widened and he dropped his weapon, desperately trying to seal the fatal wound with his trembling hands as blood spurted from the gaps between his fingers.

Mother was holding me firmly to her body, trying to shield my eyes from the scenes of gore around us. But she wasn’t looking down at me, so she didn’t realize that I had a clear view of everything her arm didn’t cover.

Meanwhile, a scruffy middle-aged man wielding a machete lunged toward us, hoping to disrupt Angela’s wind-blade spell. Although the spell wasn’t particularly powerful, it provided a painful distraction that kept us on equal footing, despite the fact that we were outnumbered.

I tried to free myself to block the man before he got in range to attack Angela, but before I could pull myself away from my mother, it was already over.

The fierce sound of the shot came only after the arrow had done its job. Helen had fired with enough force to pierce through the armored chest of the machete-wielding bandit, lift him up and back a half-dozen yards, and nail him into the ground.

I took a brief moment to make a mental note: Wise men ought not to piss off Helen.

Helen’s eyes narrowed as she nocked and drew another arrow. Looking carefully, I could make out the mana gathering in her right eye as she shut her left. Soon, a second reinforced arrow streaked past with a sharp hiss, ignoring all air resistance as it closed in on another enemy fighter.

This man vaguely resembled a smaller Durden, but more muscular and more angular of face. With his brows furrowed in concentration, he had somehow brought his giant sword—which was easily as tall as he was—around to reach the arrow in time to block it, creating a sound like a bullet hitting metal. The enemy fighter slid back, unharmed, and anchored his greatsword into the ground to balance himself. However, before he even had the chance to smirk in contentment, a second arrow pierced through his forehead. It was a grim sight, seeing the light drain from his eyes.

Jasmine was engaged in an intense duel against an augmenter, whose weapon was a long chain whip. Jasmine seemed to be at a disadvantage; the range of her two daggers was lacking, and she was doing all she could to dodge the erratic movements of the whip.

The enemy had realized how much she was struggling, and he licked his lips as he jeered, “I’ll make sure to treat you real well before we sell you off as a slave, little missy. Don’t worry—by the time I’m done training you, you’ll be begging to stay with me.”