Author's Note

This episode is marked "[NSFW]", as it contains the following:

EXTREME VIOLENCE
GORE

2 : "Hexblade, Unhinged!"

"After spending the rest of the day walking, the girls and I decided to set up camp for the night. Though not entirely out of Griffonstone's Territory, we're at least a couple miles away from the shoreline. Once we've reached that, we may see about visiting the tavern there, and finding some odd jobs or work to deal with.

"Greta's gotten a little bit better, but not by much. I might have a talk with her tonight, if she's okay with it. Don't want her feeling left out, after all.

"In the meantime, though, Gilda's stoking the fire with the wood we've already gathered and Gabby's fixing up the tent. Greta's just sitting there quietly, scratching away at a few pebbles, so as to make a few runes for our camp. Wards, more than likely, to prevent beasts from approaching us while we're asleep.

"As for me, well, I've decided to scout the area for any additional resources we might need... extra firewood for later on tonight, maybe some berries and herbs I can bring to Gabby or Gilda for potions or seasoning. We've got enough Travel Rations to keep us well fed for at least a week, though, so there's no need to go hunting for game just yet... however, with about a month's worth of travel ahead of us, we're probably going to need to prepare ourselves for that.

"Speaking of hunting, though, there's something that seems off about this forest... it's a lot more quiet than I'd have thought most forests would be... almost too quiet.

"Despite the silence, however, I'm starting to get a hunch that we're not alone in this forest..."

You take a few steps towards a nearby bush and begin searching it for berries. Red, blue, and a few green ones fill the vines, and according to both, Gabby and Gilda, these ones would make a nice little treat for any meal.

At least, you hope these are the ones they said. You would call out and ask them, but you've been walking for about five minutes straight. Chances are, they might not hear you very well.

As you finish picking the berries, you place them in a wooden bowl that you brought with you and wrap it up with some cloth, so as to keep any unwanted leaves and acorns from falling into it. Then you stand back up and start heading back to the camp.

Then it hits your senses... the smell of fire, but from a different direction. You turn towards the direction of the fire, and frown. Your left eye begins to pick up the auras of other living beings nearby... all of them seem to be focused on you.

With a sigh, you decide to just ignore them. Perhaps they're just guards on patrol, or something?

"Hold it right there!" comes a gruff male's voice. You roll your eyes and continue heading towards the unknown fire source. Maybe they'd back off if you didn't acknowledge them as a threat, then... if only fate would be that kind for once.

"Oi! I'm talking to you!" he calls out, stepping from the bush he was hiding in. He's dressed in a mix between fur and chains, which can only mean one thing... bandit.

You pause then turn to face him with an annoyed glare adorning your features. "Yes, and I'm ignoring you... was kinda hoping you'd pick up the pattern here. Guess my standards were too high."

He smirks, folding his talons over his chest. "Heh... a wise one, eh? Tell ya what, how's about ya hand over your valuables, and we'll let ya go nice and easy-like?"

You stare at him for a moment, before your eyes drift around the surrounding area. Nobody's showing themselves just yet, though your enhanced senses can definitely pick up nine more around you.

With this in mind, you look back at the bandit and fold your arms over your chest. "I take it if I refuse, then all nine of your friends here will leap out of the bushes and attack me, right?"

He raises an impressed eyebrow at you and hums. "Ah, so you've noticed me crew, then? Suppose there's no point in hidin', then!"

At the snap of a claw, the other bandits step out of the bushes. However, you're quick to notice that most of them appear to be minotaurs. You've read a bit about them from some of the foreign books you found in the library, which were written in Common. Unfortunately, though, you're still learning Griffscript, so you can't really read the works of a griffon just yet.

Regardless, though, they seem close enough to your body shape, so this should be even easier to work with, should they be foolish enough to fight.

"You've got ten men on your side, total... you might wanna rethink this, captain. That's ten casualties for your crew, including yourself."

They look at each other, almost hesitantly, before one of them looks over at the captain. "Erm... boss? Are you sure this is worth it? I-I mean, he did notice us before we even came out of hiding, and yet he isn't even showing signs of fear... I think this might be a trap!"

You look at the suspicious bandit and grin wickedly. "It's not a trap, it's a fact. Attempt to strike me down, and I'll kill you... simple as that."

"Don't let him fool you! He's just hiding his fear... we have him outnumbered! Surrounded! There's no way he can win this!"

You unfold your arms from your chest and clench your fists. Clearly they aren't going to back down, so you decide to have a little fun.

"Then tell you what... I'll close my eyes, and stand here for fifteen seconds. If I open my eyes, and you're in my line of sight, consider yourself already dead. It starts as soon as you start swinging."

With that, you close your eyes and wait.

You sense movement coming from behind you, and hear the sliding of a blade coming from its scabbard. The bandit is lunging at you from overhead.

In the blink of an eye, you draw your sword and lift the blade up, clashing it against his in a perfect parry.

"Fifteen..." you say, while another bandit rushes towards you, followed by another. Before long, there's six of them surrounding you, each swinging at you, while you effortlessly parry their strikes, eyes closed, and senses kicked into overdrive.

All the while, you keep counting down.

"... Five ..." you say, deflecting a blow inches away from your neck.

"... Four ..." You push a stab aimed at your heart away, while also using their blade to deflect another strike.

"... Three ..." You lift your sword's handle up. The base of the blade catches another sword. Then you rotate your sword into a reverse-grip and block a swing aimed at your back.

"... Two ..." Yet another swing against your right shoulder is attempted. You swirl your sword around in a circular pattern, deflecting the swing off-course, making that particular bandit fumble to the ground... your first victim is now determined.

"... One ..." They all take a step back before deciding to lunge at you simultaneously, save for the fumbled one, who's making an attempt to stand back up.

And then, you open your eyes. Time freezes around you, as your Demon Eye immediately glows bright red. In your left hand, you raise a Fire Rune towards the staggered bandit and point at his right eye.

"Flei." (Fire.)

The rune glows a bright red color. A burst of flames shoots from your finger, and into his face, sending him falling onto the ground, gripping his face in pain.

You then turn around, sword drawn, and thrust the blade into the neck of the nearest bandit.

You manage to stab him in the throat, forcing him to drop his weapons and, instinctively, lift his talons up in a fruitless attempt to remove the blade.

To your left you spot one of them lunging their sword your way, so you quickly duck down and slide your blade outwards, rupturing the bandit's throat, before slicing upwards towards the next one.

Two more are swinging at you; one overhead and the other after your legs. You leap forward, flying in-between the blades, and roll from the momentum, then slice the stomach out of the left bandit.

The right bandit makes an attempt at your neck, so you raise your sword and cross the blade's path, before standing back up completely, and lodging your knee into his stomach.

He falls to the ground, allowing you to slice his head clean off.

Afterwards, two more bandits rush towards you, swords overhead. You notice one of them carrying a dagger, and quickly rush in-between them before they can even swing, and disarm the dagger from the bandit, while plunging your sword into the other one's chest.

A seventh bandit then joins them, while the one next to you adjusts his posture to take another swing at you.

You slice the sword out of the bandit's chest and into the neck of the fifth bandit, then turn around and throw the dagger into the seventh one's left eye.

As the three of them fall at once, the remaining three bandits stare at you with shocked expressions, before the two surrounding the leader drop their weapons and run away, deeper into the forest.

The leader glares at you and picks one of his comrades' swords, then shakily points them towards you.

"Who are you... w-who the hell are you?!" he demands, as you casually walk towards him.

Expressionlessly, you stop moving and reply, "Regol of Seuhans... Hexblade."

He lets out an angry roar before lunging towards you, both swords crossed in an "x" pattern, and aimed for your head.

You sigh, shaking your head in disappointment. "Should've learned from your comrades."

You then lift your sword and angle it just slightly. As it clashes with his swords, you take a step to the side and apply pressure to the strike, forcing the blades in his hands to inch closer to him.

He shakes very briefly and attempts to push your sword away, but with one more surge of pressure, you force the blade forward once again. This time, his swords crack, then the tips of them shatter. Your sword slides through effortlessly, and in a single swipe, your sword is, once again, in front of you.

You wipe the tip of the sword with your waist cloth and slide it back into the scabbard, before turning towards the bandit captain, who's standing perfectly still.

"You should've listened, while you had the chance." you tell him.

His only response is a choking noise, before his head and right arm fall from his body, pulsating with blood for a brief moment.

Seeing how the other bandits fled, there's a chance you might have to stay up all night, just in case you have unwanted company.

After all, they've got a campsite of their own...

"Without anyone else in the area, I've decided to return back to the campsite. Picking up the bowl of berries I've gathered, which I left stored away near a bush at the beginning of the encounter, I began the hike - my senses constantly picking up traces of the bandits that weren't there before.

"It seems the magic in this world's air has weakened my sensing abilities to a degree... that, or I was out of the hunt for a lot longer than needed. I may have to hone them some more, and train rigorously so that I can avoid surprise ambushes like this in the future... however near it might be.

"And considering how close the bandits are in this area, that might not be very long at all."