…In the dim night, two figures sat around a campfire, their behinds pressed firmly against particularly rigid logs. The scent of burning wood and something sweet and malty permeated the nearby surroundings, accompanied by the occasional ruckus of laughter.
"Haha! You really should've seen his face when I showed it to 'em. You woulda thought he saw a ghost or something!"
The two figures cackled to themselves, before the smaller one added something with a half grin on his face.
"Ya think he pissed his pants?"
"I'd bet the bar lady's rack he did!"
And they fell into another fit of laughter.
This process of theirs went on, uninterrupted for quite some time throughout the night. Pegenswali—better known as Peggy—and Rhinbo were in the habit of spending their nights like this whenever something worth celebrating occurred, blessing them with great fortune.
They would tell tales and recount their own wicked experiences, whether shared or not, and perhaps slightly exaggerate a bit of it, as well.
It worked well to remind them of the more nostalgic times, so that they could truly enjoy what it was their life had come to now—if you could even call a life of committing atrocious crimes and selling people—of all ages—as slaves, as a good improvement to anything their lives might've had to offer.
…Of course, they'd have spent their night like this anyways, even if they hadn't managed upon possibly the biggest play of their lifetimes combined.
The two were pretty famous drunkards in the underground scene, after all, recognized by many as no-goods who would forever remain at the bottom of the barrel, fated to live a meaningless life before dying in obscurity.
Even their boss, whose real name they still weren't quite sure of, was seen as somewhat of a kindred soul, a result of being directly surrounded by them.
Though it wouldn't be for much longer, though, as he was sure of it—once they cashed in the check for their shiny new merchandise, all of their roads in life would diverge.
Even if he didn't outwardly tell the two numbskulls he had hired of his plans, they had an inkling of it, anyways. Ties never usually lasted very long in this kind of profession. In this life, it was betray or get betrayed.
You'd either have to be a giant fool or be an enormous fool to seriously think about trying to look out for anyone other than yourself. Which Peggy and Rhinbo both were, undoubtedly. Those two had been together for a very long time as an inseparable duo.
…Which is probably why neither of them had thought to wonder about the sudden, very subtle shift in the atmospheric mana.
Or to have Peggy use his limited skills in magic to, at the very least, set up a barrier of some sort to protect them from any potential magic beasts or scouting groups sent after them in the search of the hostage they had taken—a noble belonging to an important house renowned for their fierce fighting capabilities.
Yes, indeed. They were both clueless, careless idiots.
And as such, maybe they deserved what was about to happen to them.
Standing up from his seat, Peggy sat down his cup and flashed his buddy a disoriented, half-aware look; courtesy of the alcohol.
"Hey, uh… I… I gotta piss. Be back," he managed in between hiccups, before he began to wander to a secluded area not too far from the campfire.
Little did he know, Rhinbo was just as dazed as he was, hardly managing to even remain awake.
In fact, he did not even understand a word his companion said, his crooked smile remaining placid.
As Peggy slid his pants down to his ankles and aimed at a bush, he thought to himself with a stupid grin as relief washed through him.
'Ah, this is the life indeed. 'Ma back home would be proud, no doubt… Er, well. Of the money, at least. Gandy'd probably stare at me with a jealous look in his eyes once he sees all the eris. Hehe… I can finally help them after all these years. Don't worry everyone, your dear ole Peg'll retire us from the slums.'
Just as these thoughts flashed across his mind, however, he seemed to notice something odd in the trees not too far from him. Through the darkness he was only able to make out a faint trace of something white and a piercing golden shimmer.
'...Eh? Was there always a—'
Suddenly, the stream of liquid exiting his body curved upwards and around, directly hitting him in his eyes. "Agh! Shit!"
His arm streaked up to wipe the invasive liquid out of his eyes as he muttered a string of curses, but in that small window of time, a series of events happened.
Peggy's boots suddenly sank into the soft moss and soil like a living trap—first, an inch, then two.
From the trees, a shadow flickered—swift and silent.
"What the hell?! Who's there—?!"
Immediately, a force of wind coalesced into a living hammer, slamming against the trader's back and exploding, sending his head snapping back against rough bark.
Blinding pain exploded from his body, but Peggy managed to endure this singular instance, catching himself right before slipping out of consciousness.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins, desperately trying to resist the pain and act as a shield as he reached for the wand on his hip.
…His luck had managed to run out, however, as the figure standing behind him recovered from his slight daze, simultaneously surprised by the strength of the wind spell, and the physical resistance coming from someone with such a scrawny physique.
'I… My wand! I can't go out like this, please…!'
But before Peggy's fingers could even brush against his treasured weapon, his body recoiled once more, this time with much more force, before he slumped against the ground, his final thoughts slipping from his lips in a whisper.
"...Sorry, 'Ma…"
The forest settled into silence once more.
…Behind him, Seraphis stood with an unsure expression on his face.
His heart was pounding against his eardrums as the surreality of it all began to settle in.
There was a lull—for how long, he didn't know—but it must've only lasted a few seconds before the steady rise and fall rhythm of Peggy's body told him of his fate.
It felt like a mountain had been let off his shoulders at this, knowing he hadn't accidentally killed the poor bastard.
Sure, he might've deserved it for the crimes he's committed, but still… Seraphis was not a judge or jury, and was certainly not an executioner. And he did not ever intend to be.
In the first place, are either of those roles even capable of sharing the same intense feelings of guilt and disturbance that plagued him, currently?
He certainly did not think so.
Slowly, the strength in his knees gave, leaving him slumped on the ground, stupefied.
Though he had not killed the man, the encounter on its own was enough to leave him deeply shaken.
Originally, he had intended to simply knock the man out with a single strike.
But it seemed that even in Peggy's time of vulnerability, his body was still being suffused with mana, no matter how small the amount, complicating the task that much more, which he did not take fully into account.
The plan… had not gone smoothly, in his eyes.
That was a lesson to learn about every future encounter with mages from now on, he recognized deep down—and with life in general.
But still, he didn't regret it. It was just overwhelming, is all.
'So this is what real battles are like… I can only imagine how frightening a fight to the death would be. I… I don't think I'd ever be ready for something like that.'
Yet nonetheless, that choice would not be up to him.
…Not only because of the path his dreams/goals—and by direct extension, future—had in store for him… but also because the man towering behind him was not going to go down without a grueling fight.
Sensing a sudden sense of urgency, Seraphis quickly jumped out of the way as alarm bells seemed to go off in his head, panic quickly spreading.
Because of Seraphina's mental warning, he had managed to dodge the harrowing grasp of the man who somehow also managed to get close enough to him without her noticing.
The situation wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed, however.
After all… Seraphis had not spent that time observing and listening in for nothing.
What he lacked in strength, he was determined to make up for in his smarts and creativity.
Which was ironic, considering his lack of creativity had once been something that was considered to be a reason he was having trouble progressing, funnily enough.
Or rather, creative expression, he supposed.
Grunting, Rhinbo stared at the fallen body of his comrade for several seconds as his voice grumbled. "Tch. Bested by a mere child… Damn idiot." Then, his eyes met with the boy who had done him in.
…Slowly, he flashed a toothy grin.
"Brat. I don't know who you are or how you found us, but… Blame your bad fortune for it. You see… I don't have a policy when it comes to hurting children. As long as you're my enemy, I'll kill you. Simple as that."
Rhinbo's body lowered itself just slightly, before it exploded with motion, and he dashed forward, swift as a tiger. By then, however, mana was already circulating well within Seraphis' body, offering a much quicker reaction time than any mundane human could ever hope to reach.
He sidestepped, slightly stunned by the speed at which the bulky man moved, but it was a non-factor.
This villain was going to be defeated here, nonetheless.
The boy sidestepped his enemy's lunge, feeling the air part around him. Which was just what he needed…
In the same fashion as hardly three minutes ago, Sera's palm curled in on itself, thrusting forward at Rhinbo's back, and a mounting force of wind slammed into his body.
…However, the slave trader hardly flinched, slowly turning around whilst still wearing the same, creepy grin.
"Ah… So you are a mage. This makes it much better. On second thought, I think I'll keep you alive!"
Then, he was moving again.
His boots tore through the soil in the ground as he redirected himself, launching forward once again like a missile.
'Crap! He's even faster this time…!'
Seraphis' wrist flashed forward and a scorching wall of flames interrupted Rhinbo's violent charge.
He used this preciously borrowed time to make a brief dash through a dense assortment of trees, with the added assist of a propellent of strong winds from his palm. His assailant had recovered rather quickly though, and was already charging after him, a mass of hulking flesh and malevolent will.
For a split second, the boy considered the raw physicality of the man chasing him; the sheer explosiveness packed into every lunge.
'Damnit. I need to think… He's too strong to fight head-on. What can I use against him?'
Seraphis scanned his nearby surroundings, mind and heart racing with adrenaline, before ducking behind a tree, a plot coming to mind. His palms promptly contacted the ground, spellrunes shimmering to life in front of him.
When he stood up again, only a second or two later, he hadn't the time to even look back, instead he broke into another sprint.
…Which turned out to be the right choice, because mere seconds later, Rhinbo crashed through the particularly dense placement of trees he hid behind, bark splintering, continuing his chase.
Before he could get much further, wooden vines lashed out from the ground, tangling his body in various areas, slowing him down immensely.
[Earth Bind: Terra + Duratus + Si; Itaque + Vinculum]
Huffing, Sera whipped around, his right palm splayed, and surrounded with a bubbling torrent of water.
"Not bad, kid," Rhinbo spat, his voice low, almost a growl that was tinged with a very little amount of real respect. "But it's hardly enough."
He wrenched his arms free, ripping through the vines with a snarl, and soon enough, he was unbothered by languid extensions of the earth once again.
Seeing this, Seraphis' mood turned particularly sour and slightly introspective—a myriad of thoughts passing in an instance.
'Damn it. I used too many runes—my spell was weakened because of it. I was too hasty to try out some of the new runes I'd learned.'
The fierce torrent of water was unleashed from the boy's palm, slamming directly into Rhinbo with an explosion intense enough to knock out a mundane adult male.
…However, his opponent was no mundane.
Emerging from the mist left behind by the spell, mana coursed through his limps, Rhinbo's foot was connecting with Seraphis' stomach—at a speed much faster than he could react to.
His body was sent flying through bushes nearby, battering against a tree, and splintering branches as blinding pain ransacked it. His hand in particular had been burning fiercely as it slapped against a thick trunk.
Even with the slight amount of mana naturally reinforcing his body, the damage dealt was fearsome.
…Truly, the might of an enhancer was nothing to scoff at.
As Sera's body came to a stop, he desperately gasped for air. His chest felt like it had caved in on itself, each breath coming in only through a strenuous effort. For a few seconds, he had not even been able to.
'Agh…! Shit. I thought I was gonna die…!'
The loud footsteps of his assailant thundered, growing closer with each second as he struggled to even stand, each breath taking everything out of him as it was.
Soon enough, his head was lifted off the ground just slightly, enough for Rhinbo to look him in the eyes.
What Sera saw reflected at him… was pure terror.
A dark satisfaction spread across the man's face as he realized the severity of his victim's wounds.
It was evident from the way venom hissed from his tone, all the way down to how relaxed he looked as he crouched.
Completely unassuming.
"Nicely done, brat. I'll have to admit, you were doing quite well there for a second. Even managed to knock that damn idiot unconscious… I ought to thank you for doing my job for me, though I would've preferred to end 'em completely."
Seraphis' heart dropped as he found realization within his words. "...What?" He managed to say, in between breaths.
"Ah, children. So naive… Don't sound so surprised, kid. This type of thing isn't uncommon in our line of work. In fact, you'd have to be a pretty big dumbass to not expect it, hehe. …Come on, don't give me that look. With such a boon, you couldn't possibly expect me to share it amongst three people, could you? Hah. No way in hell. I might've known Peggy for quite some time, but truthfully, the fool had it coming. I mean, seriously, the guy was a complete idiot—how could someone of my standards truly be fine with living life at rock bottom with him? To hell with that."
The longer Rhinbo went on about the topic, the angrier Seraphis began to feel. He had even begun to tune him out, as his thoughts grew louder.
'How… How could anyone just betray someone like that? Those two… They were good friends, weren't they?
Both of them had been inseparable—from the stories Peggy had told, smiling all the way, as they imagined their future after receiving their lump sum amount of eris for their dastardly crime; laughing and drinking.'
…At least, that was the impression he had gotten.
"—nd that "Boss" of ours. Man, some fella, wasn't he? Haha. Can't believe the dummy fell for the good ole "personal" booze trick. Guess that's a classic only I'd been aware of. Bet he's in there having a nice rest… Some might even say it's eternal!" Rhinbo laughed at his own joke, finding amusement in the thought of betraying his two colleagues… former, at least.
Seraphis clenched his fist.
"Ah, but seriously. All's well. I really have to thank you for your handiwork on the dummy, by the way. While I'd love to see him gone forever, I don't exactly mind keeping him alive for now. I'll just make my way with my merchandise—both of them, since you'll be included—and leave him out here to fend for himself. Not my problem if he kicks the bucket."
Eventually, throughout all of Rhinbo's sneers and crude, foul comments, Seraphis had enough.
"In any case," he began, "why don't we—"
"...You are a despicable man."
The words naturally found their place in between the foul man's sentence, low but threatening.
His brow rose, an amused smirk creasing his lips.
"...Is that so?" He repeated, as if almost daring the boy to continue.
But before Sera could respond, Rhinbo's wrist flashed, and a searing sensation streaked across his cheek, leaving a light mark.
"You've never been taught manners, have you, boy? That's fine. Someone will." The treacherous trader stood, reaching his full height with a slight dissatisfaction on his expression.
"For the show you put on, I'd sure expected you to fare a bit better. Guess that's the extent of a child. A brat's a brat, at the end of the day."
Slowly, a smirk creased his prey's lips. His voice croaked, slow and unbidden by the seemingly disastrous situation he had been caught in.
"...My hand, you know. It hurts like hell." Rhinbo paused, frowning, before a loud snap exploded just to his left.
A thick tree trunk suddenly ruptured, crashing down into the burly man.
In a fit of panic he let go of the boy, bringing both arms up in order to properly meet the crushing weight of the ancient wood.
His feet sank into the soft soil hardly an inch under the pressure as his muscles stretched and strained—pain rolling throughout his body.
Realization slowly manifested on his face as to what had just happened, but by then it was already too late.
Seraphis surged as much mana as his body could muster within a split second, pushing himself off the ground and lowering into a stance, centering his gravity. Throughout his time spent observing the group, Seraphis never once lost sight of his true goal. He was always thinking, planning ahead and trying to come up with the best method to defeat the three members—there had to have been a universal weakness amongst them all. Step one was to, of course, pick them apart while separated as much as he could.
But the decisive blow? That one was a tough cookie to crack.
…Until it wasn't. He possessed the same weakness as them, after all.
Rhinbo's eyes went wide with understanding as Seraphis' mana-empowered fist crashed directly into his weak spot.
His testicles.
'An eye for an eye, bastard…!'
Under the assault of pressing weight and the blinding, gut-wrenching sensation of having your vulnerables violently crashed into, Rhinbo's body gave out.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and miraculously he fell forwards, only being buried underneath the massive tree.
In any other circumstances, he wouldn't've fallen so easily.
As an enhancer, he would have been capable of getting free from the trap Sera had set out for him.
However, Seraphis had known this beforehand.
He waited until the very last second to what Rhinbo would've been capable of reacting to, threw him off with a final remark as he let loose his hold over the spell he had casted after being kicked; the reason why his hand in particular was stinging very badly, and finally, it was also why had delivered such a fearsome blow immediately after everything had fallen into place.
If any of his timing was off, there was no doubt in his mind he would not have gotten off in such a way.
That much he was sure of.
And as if that was not convincing enough of his victory, the fact that Rhinbo's chest still rose and fell was enough to show that such a thing would not have stopped him for long.
The man was truly a beast. This battle was a testament to the strength of mages of all calibers.
…Though, a lot of the bones in his body were indeed broken, it was a much better alternative.
Kneeling, Seraphis took a few minutes to catch his breath. Their battle had not lasted very long—such was reality, things were often swift, and delivered with unforgiving finality—but it had taken an extraneous amount of effort out of him.
Not to mention mana…
Having officially gotten his first taste of battle; with humans, no less, had left the boy shaken, the reality of it all coming down on him once again.
All of his training seemed to have paid off, though he quickly realized that was all training could amount to. Nothing was quite the same as a real scenario. While it would help to strengthen his foundations, and theoretical knowledge, it would also represent a branch in which he would have to personally leap off of.
Not unlike a dove's first attempt to fly.
He had finally taken his first steps toward warriorhood… or rather, Herohood.
Yet nonetheless, the fervor of battle surged within his veins, coursing through his body. It was an odd sensation. Honestly, it almost made him want to laugh, which he found to be odd.
Accompanying the after-rush of battle was a slight sense of belonging and satisfaction.
More than that, despite the pain that had accompanied his win, things went relatively well, all things considered.
It could have been much, much worse. Shaking his head, he stood. Sera could not allow himself to rest yet.
There was still one final thing to do.
Inhaling deeply, he made his way back to the camp. The distance wasn't very far. Along the way, though his thoughts were a mess, he couldn't help but feel relieved at it all. Proud, even.
He had finally achieved something he dreamed of—with his own two hands, no less.
And so, it was understandable that he found it hard to almost contain his excitement.
'A Hero… Is this how Lucien feels after every battle? Was this the emotion that was meant to drive me forward?'
…Eventually, he found himself standing in front of the wide wooden box that the Horseers had been pulling, positioned on wheels and mounted by a rather long piece of cloth. There was a slight opening for air, though something told Sera he'd be better off not sticking his eye inside there.
'How should I go about opening this?'
There was a small door facing him but it was equipped with a lock. Sadly, he had not yet bothered to check the traders' bodies for any such thing. Frowning, he cast a disheartened glance towards the main carriage, where their boss had entered and… never returned. The door was slightly ajar.
'It's reasonable to assume that guy has it, I guess. …Actually, come to think of it. Where's Seraphina?'
As if on cue, right as he thought that, the small silver fox emerged from the very same location, holding something within her jaws.
It was a keychain with an assortment of keys. "...Hey, you. What'd you go searching for? Don't just wander off without me knowing. That' s dangerous," the boy lightly reprimanded.
Though deep down, it was not as if he hadn't an inkling of what she was up to—around the time he was struggling against Rhinbo, she had made a dash back towards the campsite in order to look for something, anything to help him in his battle.
Put more directly, the cunning little creature went searching for a weapon. Despite the rush of the situation, she had managed to stay clear minded enough to not allow herself to be entirely swept up in it, instead managing to break free.
'What an insidious little creature… It seems like her intelligence has suddenly improved, somehow.'
In any case, Seraphina merely looked at him indifferently. Though she appeared unbothered on the outside, through their connection, he could feel her lingering feelings of worry and panic, which he found to be quite… interesting.
What remained instead was a sense of relief and slight concerns for his being.
He bent over and retrieved the keys from her, petting her soft fur in the process, which seemed to improve both of their moods.
Fiddling with the keys for a short while, he finally found the right one for the box, clicking into place perfectly. Finally, the door opened, giving way to a dark interior.
…What followed next, however, was quite unexpected.