"We're not alone."
Hound's voice was barely above a whisper, yet every trace of fatigue vanished from the tent the moment the words left his mouth. "Someone crossed the veil around the camp. I felt it the instant they stepped through."
His eyes moved from Lorenzo to Quade before settling on Zyon. "Get ready. We don't know how many there are."
The four of them grabbed their weapons and slipped outside.
The night air felt colder than before.
Moonlight spilled across the clearing while shadows stretched between the trees. For several tense seconds, nothing moved. Then figures emerged from the treeline roughly fifteen meters away.
Bandits.
The leader stood at the front, towering over the rest. He was a huge man with a chest covered in old scars, matted hair hanging around a face twisted by countless fights and bad decisions. A massive battle axe rested on one shoulder, its stained blade catching the moonlight.
Two nearly identical men stood beside him, both carrying short swords and matching grins that immediately made Lorenzo dislike them.
Further back, a young archer slowly nocked an arrow while at the very rear stood a short, fat woman with greasy hair and a cruel smirk, clutching a strange, gnarled staff-like artifact made from dark, twisted wood embedded with small, pulsing Ether-cores.
For a brief moment, surprise flashed across the bandits' faces as to how well prepared the group emerged from the tent.
The travelers were already armed.
Already awake and waiting.
Then the laughter started.
The leader slammed the butt of his axe into the ground. "Well, well! Look what we got here, guys! An old cripple and three whelps playing at being adventurers!"
One of the twins twirled his sword. "Look at the gear. Either they stole it or their rich parents bought it."
The woman smirked. "Hand it over nice and easy, and maybe we won't make it hurt too much."
Lorenzo tightened his grip on his blades. "You talk big for people hiding in bushes."
Zyon stepped forward beside him, golden light flickering around his hammer. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."
The leader's grin widened. "Big words."
He raised a hand. "Let's see what you've got."
The archer moved immediately.
His bowstring snapped forward and a strange glowing arrow cut through the darkness.
-"LIGHT DOME!"
A solid light shield flared into existence, catching the arrow mid-flight with a bright flash.
The projectile shattered against the barrier but wasn't strong enough to leave a scratch.
The bandits paused for a split second, then their laughter erupted even louder and crueler.
"Light users!" the leader bellowed, pointing with his axe. "Look at that pathetic glow! We've gutted dozens of your kind before!"
One of the twins said, "Go on then, shine some more! Maybe it'll keep you warm while we skin you alive!"
Zyon's knuckles vibrated around his hammer, fury boiling in his chest.
Lorenzo's face twisted with rage, his dual blades shaking slightly in his grip. They were trembling, anyone could see that, but he choked back the fear before it could paralyze him.
Slaughtering Ethereals was one thing. Trading blows with humans in training was another.
But fighting humans to the death? That was a different beast entirely.
Quade, on the contrary, was calm, having been in this position before.
"Last warning." Hound's voice cut through the clearing like ice. "Walk away."
The leader laughed.
Then pointed toward the woman. "Tonya. Enhance him."
The fat woman at the back cackled and lifted her wooden staff, embedded with pulsing Ether-cores. She began chanting in a harsh, guttural voice, her power activating through spoken words.
A sickly green aura flowed from the staff into the young bandit archer.
The archer drew another arrow, whispering his own short incantation. The arrowhead glowed with a greenish tint as the enhancement took hold.
"Incoming," Hound warned.
Hound and Lorenzo reacted instantly. A much larger, reinforced light shield expanded around the group, shimmering with white radiance. Lorenzo poured his own light into it, strengthening the barrier from the inside.
Zyon stepped closer. "I can help."
"Not yet." Hound never looked away from the enemy. "It's night. Conserve your Heka."
The barrage began.
Arrow after arrow hammered into the shield.
Green sparks exploded on impact while cracks spread across the outer layer like fractures in glass. Each shot hit harder than the last, forcing Hound and Lorenzo to pour more light into the barrier.
Through the noise, Hound's voice remained calm. "We split them up, force them into a one-on-one fight."
The others listened immediately.
"The woman is the problem. The archer is the second problem."
Another arrow slammed into the shield.
"We win if we break their formation."
His eyes moved from one student to another.
"Zyon, you take the big guy with the axe. Distract him as long as you can without overcommitting if needed."
Zyon nodded.
"Quade and Lorenzo. Eliminate the supports."
Another nod.
"I'll handle the twins."
Despite the barrage, Hound's expression remained steady. "We killed a Conga King."
The reminder landed exactly as intended. "We can win this."
The arrows suddenly stopped, and everyone's gaze shifted toward the archer. The young bandit staggered as his bow lowered, his face turning pale the moment Tonya's enhancement wore off. Exhaustion hit him hard, leaving little doubt that the support technique carried a significant rebound effect.
Hound narrowed his eyes. "As expected, the support technique comes with a price."
The three large bandits stepped forward, weapons ready.
The leader hefted his massive battle axe and pointed it at Zyon and the rest. "Light users, huh? We've crushed plenty of you little glowsticks before. You won't last long."
One of the twins laughed mockingly. "Look at them hiding behind their pretty shields. Pathetic."
The other twin spun his short sword. "Let's see how bright they shine when we cut them open."
Despite the taunts, the bandits seemed slightly wary. These light users had survived the enhanced barrage far better than expected.
Behind them, Tonya remained cautious.
Watching.
Waiting.
The clearing grew silent.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
Zyon lowered his center of gravity and adjusted his grip on both hammer and shield. Golden light spread across their surfaces, reinforcing them while consuming only a small amount of Heka.
Beside him, Quade lowered himself into a sprinting stance, katana still sheathed in his left hand while his right rested gently on the hilt. Ready and waiting.
A signal.
One they had practiced dozens of times.
Without a word, Lorenzo and Hound lowered their large light shields.
Their hands moved in a familiar pattern.
"FLASHBANG!"
The words exploded from Hound and Lorenzo simultaneously.
Quade instinctively turned away, clamping his hands over his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. Zyon, however, stepped forward protectively, raising the glowing Aether Tortoise shield in front of Quade's head and upper body to further dampen the shockwave.
Light consumed the clearing.
A blinding white explosion erupted alongside a deafening sonic blast that rolled through the jungle like thunder.
The bandits closest to them screamed in agony, clutching their faces and ears as they staggered backward.
The light slowly faded.
The two twins were badly disoriented, stumbling and swinging their short swords wildly at nothing.
The supports farther back were less affected but still dazed, giving Quade the opening he needed.
Quade exploded forward like a hunter unleashed, sprinting low and fast toward the woman and the archer, katana glowing in the moonlight.
But then, without warning, the massive bandit leader swung his huge battle axe in a brutal horizontal arc.
-SCHWING!
The axe cut cleanly through Lorenzo.
For a split second, horror flashed across Zyon's face as he watched his best friend get sliced in half. Time seemed to slow. The image burned into his mind, Lorenzo's body parting before his eyes.
The leader, who had clearly fought light users before and anticipated the flashbang trick, had covered his eyes and ears just in time.
He was dazed but not blinded. A savage grin spread across his ugly face.
But before the horror could fully register, the 'Lorenzo' that was cut had dissolved into a brilliant shower of light particles.
From within that fading light show, Zyon burst forward, roaring as he swung the smaller battle hammer with every ounce of strength he had.
Golden light blazed around the weapon like a falling star.
The leader thrust his left arm forward to meet the hammer strike.
His skin rapidly hardened, transforming into a grotesque, rock-like armor.
Dark gray stone plates erupted across his forearm and fist, jagged and uneven like natural granite fused with obsidian shards.
Veins of darker mineral ran through the hardened flesh, giving it a brutal, almost volcanic appearance.
The transformation was fast and complete, turning his arm into a living battering ram.
CRAAAAASH!
The impact exploded across the battlefield.
Golden sparks erupted outward as both forces collided, and despite his enormous size, the bandit leader was forced backward several meters.
His boots carved deep trenches into the earth.
Zyon planted his feet and raised the hammer again. "Fight me if you dare!"
The bandit laughed while shaking his partially cracked stone arm. "You've got spirit, little sun-brat."
His grin became vicious.
"I'll enjoy breaking it."