Chapter 50: Bandits

[ Name: Ren Arken

Age: 14

Race: Human

Strength: 50,000 (+3,000,000 [Qi] +700,000 [Mana])

Agility: 80,000 (+4,000,000 [Qi] +800,000 [Mana])

Vitality: 100,000 (+7,000,000 [Qi] + 900,000 [Mana])

Mana: ~~~

Spiritual: ~~~

Intellect: 300, 000

Unique Skills:

-Magic cards -appraisal -evil gaze -strengthen -leap -basic magics -Magic mastery -Grimoire of death -Real Clone [Heavenly Slime] -Eye of Wisdom -Sword God -Fenrir Arken]

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“We’re under attack!” (Coachman Uncle)

Hearing that statement, Oz immediately lifts his body and narrows his eyes while he scans the surrounding. He’s still inside the wagon, and the trio siblings are gone.

(No, they’re outside, together with lots of other presences) (Oz)

“You’re very difficult to wake up, huh?” Said the coachman uncle as he shrugs.

“I’m so sorry uncle, thanks for trying to wake me up,” Said Oz, and he got out of the wagon.

“Damn, we’re surrounded by a lot of bandits, huh,” Said Oz with an indifferent tone as he joined together with the gathered trio.

“R-ren!? You finally wake up… We thought you died you know? You’re so difficult to wake up,” Said Edreale with an annoyed tone.

“Well, well, sorry about that. What’s the situation?” Asked Oz.

“Quite serious, Ren. There are about eighty of them, while there are only five of us. And their cultivation rank is all above the Greatswordsman rank. Five against eighty is a suicide, and what troubled me the most is, they just surround us without doing anything, as if they’re waiting for someone,” Said Sen with a serious tone.

“Any ideas, Ren?” Asked Alfred with an unusually serious face.

“How about we start by asking their motives?” Suggested Oz, but he didn’t wait for the other to answer. Oz immediately walks slowly to the direction of the most bandits.

“Is there anything you wanted from us, gentlemen?” Asked Oz politely.

“Give us your money!” Said one of the bandits.

“I offer you my most sincere apology, as we didn’t have any money ourselves, the proof is that our wagon is not an expensive wagon too,” Oz answered in the same polite manner, but with a hint of sarcasm.

“Say that to our boss,” The bandit answered with his hoarse voice without taking any steps forward. Seeing that, Oz returns to the trio.

“This is bad, they’re waiting for their boss to come, even without the boss, I could sense two sword saints, we need to breakthrough-” Before Oz could finish his words, he sensed a very terrifying danger from his back.

Clank!

Oz could barely block the strike that was aiming at his head.

“Whoa, I’m thinking about killing the magician first to make it easier, but who would think that it’s actually a warrior,” Said the person who just struck Oz with an awestruck tone.

!!!

Sen, Alfred, and Edreale immediately went to the person and tried to slashes at him, but he easily dodges and retreated.

“Are you okay, Ren?” Asked Edreale.

“What? You’re worried?” Teases Oz.

Edreale just snorted and pretended that she didn’t hear what Oz just said.

“So? Who are you, old man? You’re quite strong,” Said Oz frankly.

“You as well, brat. I never really heard anything about a warrior dressed as a magician,” Answered him with a wide grin.

“It’s a good plan of capturing the famous bard, Edreale. And we’ve prepared to face the merciless, Sen and the shadow, Alfred. But who are you brat? I didn’t hear anything about you from the intel,” Said the bandit boss as he narrowed his eyes.

Oz shrugged and said: “Well, I don’t have any talent to be popular,”

“Alfred, Sen, Edreale, I’ll handle this guy, could you handle the rest?” Asked Oz with a small voice.

“Probably…” Said Alfred with a wry smile as he saw the great amount of bandits.

“I’ll give you some backup, Reo! Fenrir!” Together with Oz’s calls, a white tornado and a black tornado suddenly appeared at his sides. As the tornado dissipates, a magnifying huge black lion and a beautiful white wolf appeared.

(Yes! We finally had a chance to go on the action!) (Fenrir)

“A beast tamer?” (Bandit Boss)

Everyone present was surprised by the sudden appearance of the two huge beasts. Seeing their shocked expression, Oz smirks.

“With these two, you should be able to manage,” Said Oz.

“Okay then, be careful on your opponent, Ren. I know him. He’s the bandit boss that infamous for his strength, Gale the vigor,” Warned Alfred.

“Thanks for the warning,” Said Oz, and he dashes forward with his staff.

“A-a magician, charged forward?” The Bandit boss, Gale, exclaimed in surprise.

“Do you even have the time to be surprised, old man?” Oz said with a voice filled with confidence, as he suddenly vanished and appeared behind Gale’s back.

!?

Boom!!!

Oz’s strike contains more power than he expected, making him greatly surprised when he tried to block the strike.

“Hm?” Oz notices something and retreated a few steps.

Gale snorted.

“Hmph! Good instincts you got there, brat!” Said Gale with a broad grin, he looks like he’s enjoying the fight. When Oz’s staff and Gale’s sword clashes, Oz felt a trace of mana gathering and surrounding his body. Oz narrowed his eyes as he searches the source.

“Wha- Don’t tell me, the winds!?” Oz exclaimed in surprise.

“That’s right,” Gale’s voice suddenly appeared from Oz’s back, but when he reflectively turns his back to guard.

(H-he’s gone!?) (Oz)

“At your other side!” (Gale)

Slash!

“Tsk!” Oz clicked his tongue.

Oz manages to jump to the sides, to evade the strike, but his left shoulder still got cut by Gale’s slash.

“I see, so you whisper your voice, and sent it to my back with the winds, good strategy,” Said Oz as he analyzes what Gale’s just did.

“You really have a sharp mind, brat! You’re right, it’s a simple skill called ‘gale whisper’,” (Gale)

“But a simple skill like this managed to kill a lot of people,” Gale’s voice appeared at Oz’s right side this time, while Gale strikes from his left.

“This is the end, brat!” (Gale)

Clank!

“Huh?” (Gale)

“I don’t know who is the opponents that got defeated by you and this simple technique, but we magicians have our own rules,” (Oz)

“You may only use a trick once,” Said Oz with his evil smirk.

Boooom!

Oz smashes Gale with his staff, sending him away like a bullet. Oz turns his head to the sides to see the trio’s condition, but they’ve also finished their fights.

Reo and Fenrir transformed into their usual mini form and approaches Oz.

“What? You’ve finished? Even though I tried to finish my fight quickly to help,” said Alfred with a sigh.

“Did you kill them?” Asked Oz.

“Just some of the bad eggs, we just knocked out the rest, your pets helps greatly, but most of the people they attacked died, though,” Said Sen.

“What is this? Does the ‘Merciless Sen’ is only an exaggeration?” Teases Oz.

“I would be so glad to mercilessly kill you now if you wanted so,” Answered Sen coldly.

“You have no sense of humor, Sen,” Said Oz with a shrug.

“Ren, you’re bleeding,” Said Edreale as she saw the red color of Oz’s left shoulder.

“Hm? Ah, yeah, he got me there, it’s fine, let’s get into the wagon,” Said Oz as he walks into the wagon.

Oz opens the wagon’s curtain and saw that the Coachman Uncle is sleeping soundly inside.

“…” (Oz and the trio)

“This guy, should we kill him?” Asked Oz to the others.

“No, no one of us could drive a wagon,” Answered Sen.

“Hm? Is the battle over?” Asked the coachman uncle while yawning.

“Oi, uncle. You…” (Oz)

“What? It’s the job for you, youngster to fight, an old bone like me should just rest my back. Now, let’s continue our journey,” Said him cheerfully.

Oz leaked out a sigh.

“I’m way too tired to rebuke him” Oz mumbled to himself.

Oz sits and leans against the wagon’s wall. He closes his eyes for a while, thinking that he sensed something wrong about the bandits.

(Where do they get the intel from?) (Oz)

Oz contemplates and got absorbed by the thinking, but as he still closes his eyes, he felt that his left shoulder is being touched by someone.

“Ouch! It’s hurt!” Oz reflectively said.

When Oz turns his head, he thought that it’s Fenrir doing pranking on him, but it actually Edreale, holding a wet cloth and a bandage.

“W-what the hell are you doing?” Asked Oz, flustered.

“Hm? I’m cleaning your wound,” Edreale said with her expressionless face.

“Wha- Well, I knew that, but…” (Oz)

“Let her be, Ren. It’s rare for Edreale to care someone like that, so be honored,” Said Sen, he also seems to be rather surprised with Edreale’s action.

“…” (Oz)

“Open your clothes,” Said Edreale.

“…..What?” Asked Oz, dumbfounded.

“Just open it,” Said Edreale as she furrows her brows.

“…Fine,” Oz reluctantly said and obeyed. Oz opened his clothes, and sit half-naked, making his well-built body to be shown.

(Why do I felt that I’m getting humiliated here?) (Oz)

(You are, master. To show off your body to a girl like that, the master is a pervert) (Fenrir)

(It’s not a perverted thing, Fenrir. For a man, especially for someone who had a great figure like the master, they must have the urge to show off their body) (Reo)

(Shut up, both of you!) (Oz)

“W-where do you get all of these scars from?” Asked Edreale, she widens her eyes when she saw Oz’s body that filled with a lot of scars.

“Ah, well you see, I got to a lot of unfortunate battles, while just barely hanging on the string of life, it recovers, but it can’t help but leave scars,” Said Oz as he shrugged.

Alfred and Sen also looked at Oz’s body that filled with a lot of scars, they themselves, who lived as a mercenary, didn’t have that much of scars. ‘For him, that could defeat that ‘Gale’, to have these much of scars, who does he battle with?’ Question Alfred inside of his heart.

“Ren, you’re strong, you could even defeat ‘Gale the Vigor’, he’s famous because he’s at the bottleneck of the sword saint rank. Even if the three of us handle him together, Sen and I are still at the first stage of sword saint rank, while Alfred big bro is at the second stage, we wouldn’t stand a chance against him,” (Edreale)

“How could you defeat him with your cultivation rank that is still at the master swordsman rank? And if you’re that strong to defeat ‘Gale the Vigor’, who are you fighting with? Does that what makes you this strong?” Edreale surprisingly asked a sudden bunch of questions at Oz.

Sen and Alfred are also wondering about that, they could only sense mana cultivation at the level of a master swordsman from Oz, but how could he be this strong? They focus to hear what Oz’s answer is.

“I cultivate a different type of power than you if mana is using a power that exists at nature, I’m using a technique of cultivating the power that exists inside of you,” Answered Oz with his eyes closed.

“Inside of us?” (Edreale)

“It’s a concept that you won’t understand, but the key to strength does not exist at the mana cultivation rank. The concept of mana is they help you to boost the capacity of your body right? But if you see at from a different perspective, if you train both your body and your mana cultivation, you’ll be able to boost your body multiple times, right?” Oz tried to explain as simple as he could.

“In my case, I uses an energy that existed inside of our body that is very difficult to explain,” (Oz)

“I understand, so it means that if we train our body to be stronger two folds than before, it will also multiply the power of the mana cultivation for two folds, right?” Said Edreale as she started to comprehend Oz’s concept.

“The journey is still long, how about you tell us the story of your kingdom, Ren?” Suggested Alfred.

Oz took a peek of the sky, and see that it’s still afternoon.

“Since you had known somethings already, it won’t change anything if I tell you all, so I’ll explain it to you as quick as possible, and I’ll get another sleep after that, okay?” (Oz)