The four of them stood in front of the quest board, which was covered with dozens of quest papers
Hunting quest, investigation quest, courier quest, escort quest, and many more
They began searching through them, reading details of each quest
After a while, Sylffie pulled one of the papers from the board
"Hey this one looks good"
She showed it to the others
"Hunting a Beru, that should be fine, right?"
"We could also try Erin's new staff too"
"What is a Beru?" Erin asked
"Beru, it's a large bear that usually lived around caves"
"It has big claws, really thick skin, and its mouth is covered with fangs, some of them even grow outside of its mouth"
"I-it's sound really scary"
"It's fine, we should be able to fight one of it" Sylffie said, trying to cheer her up
"So, what about you two?"
She showed the quest to the boys
But without a single interest to looked, Auel answered
"No, we're taking a bandit quest"
"What?! Again?" Sylffie exclaimed
"Hey two of your party members have already upgraded their equipment, and you still want to take some bandits?"
"I never heard them complaint"
"So, if you don't like it you can leave"
Sylffie clenched her fist and ready to fight
But Erin immediately stopped her
"It's fine, we can take bandit quest"
"And by taking a bandit quest, we'll also be helping the villagers who were kidnapped, right?"
"Yeah, I know about that, but beating bandit is super easy"
"We won't be able to see what your new staff can do"
"Y-yeah, but there'll be plenty of time for me to show it, right?"
"Hey, why do you always take his side and agree with everything he says?" Sylffie asked
Erin immediately shook her head
"N-no, it just…"
"He is just our party leader"
"Tch… What a stupid party leader"
Meanwhile, the boys continued searching through the quest board
Eventually Rikka found a bandit quest
He pulled it and showed it to Auel
"Hey, found one"
"This one is right near the city, so it should be quick right?"
At the same time Auel found a bandit quest too and pulled it from the quest board
"I think this one is better"
Rikka read the information on the paper in Auel's hand before noticing something
"Hey isn't this one too far"
"It's… in the other end of the north forest, right? Isn't that really far away?"
"Yeah, I know, and it's also near Kouzlo"
"Kouzlo…?" Rikka tried to remember that name "Ohh, it's your hometown, right?"
"Yeah, we could go there after finished our quest"
"I've got something important to do"
"And what kind of thing you want to do there Mr. important?" Sylffie asked
"None of your business"
Auel walked toward the quest counter to register the quest
While Sylffie became more furious
"What the hell?"
She turned toward Rikka and Erin
"How can you two stand being around that guy?"
Rikka laughed awkwardly
"The three of us already together for quite a while, so yeah…"
"Please bear with it"
Time passed, it was night time already
Right on the forest, there were some bandits taking turn to guard their basecamp
Their hideout was an underground cave
Now there were two guards guarding the entrance
"What the hell, man? Why does it have to be us guarding the entrance?" one of them complained "Didn't we do a great job last week?"
"I don't know, the big boss said someone important is coming and we have to greet them" said the other bandit
"Yeah, but where are they? The boss already said that since last week, and nobody has shown up"
"Just do your job man"
Thwip!
An arrow came toward one of them
It pierced straight through one bandit's neck, killing him instantly
"What the… Tchhh"
Another arrow flew toward the remaining bandit, but the bandit already anticipated and dodged it
Right after that he pulled a whistle and blew into it
RIIING!
"Hey, aim better next time" Auel said as he dashed out from the bush
"What?!"
Auel ran toward the bandit with high speed
The bandit raised his sword and swung his sword
Auel easily tilted his body and dodged the attack
Slash!
A high-speed attack from Auel toward the bandit
Then someone came out from the cave, a big man swung his fist toward Auel
Auel jumped back and sheathed his sword
The big man didn't stop and swung his fist again
"Earth Wall!"
BAM!
Quickly the ground raised, creating a wall that blocked the fist
The wall was really strong and able to blocked the fist
Auel dashed around the wall
He unsheathed his sword and trust right at the big man
Thwip!
An arrow suddenly flew out from the cave toward Auel
He was forced to stop his attack and jump backward
The big man pulled his fist and swung back at Auel
From the other side of Erin's wall, Rikka already moved and swung his flaming sword at the big man's back
Slash!
A direct hit on the bandit and immediately knocked him down
Auel and Rikka took their stance and looked toward the cave entrance
Four more bandits came out, 2 melee fighters, an archer, and a mage
The two melees rushed at them
"Fireballs!"
Their mage cast fireballs at them, while the archer aimed his arrow and ready to shot
Auel dashed first
With his sword still sheathed, he partially drew it and deflected the incoming fireballs
He immediately sheathed the blade again
Then, in one swift motion, he drew his burning sword and slashed through the air
Several arcs of flame flew toward the two bandits
The two bandits dodged the attack and kept moving forward
One of them swung their sword at Auel, but Auel blocked it
Then the second bandit came in from the side and swung his sword
Rikka stepped in and deflected the attack
Rikka didn't stop and swung his sword at them
Slash!
In a single motion, two bandits knocked down
Then an arrow came at them, but they easily dodged it
"I'll take care of the archer; you take the mage" Rikka said
Without any complain they dashed at the remaining bandits
Another arrow came at Rikka, but he easily deflected it
Then he closed the distance and knocked the archer down
"Fireballs!"
Another set of fireballs came toward Auel
He blocked it again and ready to attack
Thwip!
But suddenly an arrow came from behind
He dodged it
The arrow landed on the mage, taking down the last bandit
Sylffie came out from the bush
"Phew… that's easy" Rikka said
"Hey, could you aim better next time?" Auel argued that Sylffie's arrow almost hit him
"What do you mean? You're the one on my way" Sylffie answered
"Am I on your way or you just suck?"
"What did you say?"
"Arghh… can you two stop arguing" Rikka complained
But neither of them listened
"Erin you can came out now, please help me tie this bandit up" Rikka called
There was no answer from behind the bushes
"Erin?"
Then suddenly golden light appeared around them and forming a ring
Auel looked at the light and realized what was happening
"Move!"
Auel and Sylffie jumped back but Rikka couldn't jump right in time
The golden ring shrank around him, binding his body
"What the hell is this?"
"Tch… we're not done" Auel said while took his stance again
Then from behind a bush, someone came with a high speed and attacked Sylffie
But Sylffie reacted right in time and pulled her dagger to blocked it
Clang!
Sylffie was pushed back because of the impact
Auel immediately rushed at that person
But a large silhouette suddenly descended from above
BAM!
Auel jumped back right in time
It was another bandit, a really big man
The two new bandits shifted their attention toward Sylffie and dashed at her, completely ignoring Auel
Auel tried to followed them, but he felt something from behind
Slash!
He twisted his body and dodged the attack
"Wew… nice instinct," said another bandit
Two bandits rushed at Sylffie
One of them swung his dagger at Sylffie
Sylffie tried to block again
Clang!
But the impact was too strong her dagger slipped from her hand
Then the big man came and grabbed her arm
He pulled it forcefully toward him before smashing her with his other hand
BAM!
The impact cracked the ground beneath her and knocked her down
Meanwhile, Auel was dealing with the other bandit
The bandit swung his dagger at him
Auel easily dodged it and counterattack
But the bandit simply smiled and didn't move
Slash!
Hit
Or so it seemed
Auel sword slashed the bandit's body, and slowly his body turned into fog and disappeared
"What!?"
Then Auel felt another danger from behind
The bandit swung his blade toward Auel's back
Auel twisted his body and dodged it
Then he thrust his sword
Not at the bandit but at his side
Thrust!
He hit the bandit's body, but then it turned into fog and disappeared again
Auel turned his body and raised his sword
Clang!
He blocked the attack
"Damn… your instinct is really good," said the bandit
"But sorry…"
The big man suddenly appeared behind Auel
His fist slammed into Auel
BAM!
Auel couldn't dodge
His body was sent flying, and he lost consciousness
"You need to stop minding other's business" the bandit continued
"You're really surprise me with that performance"
"Now I understand how you managed to beat Sibilo and Forto"
"But hey…"
The bandit looked down at Auel
"Your journey ended here"