In the time it took for me to realise that it was an arrow that had hit him, only a second or two had passed. But in that little time, the unknown assailants had launched a full-on ambush. However, Darith lifted his axe up in time to deflect an arrow that was aimed at his heart. Garth simply rolled off the log he was sitting on and not even a second later, an arrow buried itself into the place where his nether region would have been.
Malane dodged to one side, however, the arrow, missed her, it grazed her shoulder. But whether it was because of her pain threshold, or the adrenaline, she didn't seem to notice the trickling blood.
I, however, didn't get an arrow. I was in two minds about that, I wasn't sure whether I felt insulted or not. But I didn't let it bother me for long as I rushed over to Servose's side. As soon as I arrived, I noticed that the arrow didn't hit him. It appeared that he managed to cast a shield in time, escaping would be certain death.
Servose was already muttering something that sounded like an incantation, which most spell casters used to help focus their minds during the stresses of battle.
Three cloaked figures burst from the brush with weapons drawn and charging right towards Garth, Darith and Servose. The one who went towards Darith matched him with an axe. The other ones had short swords, which they held low so they could perform hit-and-run tactics. That was a tell-tale sign that these figures weren't amateurs.
Just before I turned my attention fully onto the one who was running at me, I managed to see that Darith didn't wait for his attacker to reach him, he charged at them instead. And Garth threw some daggers at his attacker. But before I could see whether they hit or not, Servose launched his spell.
A black bolt of lightning shot out of his hand and streaked straight towards the torso of the attacker. However, the assailant simply struck out with their sword. When the blade met the lightning, a loud sound of screeching metal rang out, and then the force of the spell was deflected into the forest to the side leaving the assailant reeling for a second.
That was the time for me to strike. Stamping down on the ground, I put my weight into my legs and dashed forward, readying a punch to land square in their gut. However, they recovered their stance quicker than I anticipated and twisted their waist to re-centre themselves and swung their sword at my throat.
I quickly ducked under the attack. Thankfully, the strike had been aimed high enough to easily evade. But my celebration was cut short as my opponent pulled out a dagger and slashed down at me. I had fallen for this obvious trap.
My balance was already unstable due to me still being in motion. So now, if I want to avoid a fatal strike, I'll have to be willing to sacrifice something.
With that in mind, I reached my open hand up towards the knife. My plan was to redirect the blade away from anything vital. If I'm lucky, I might be able to disarm the dagger.
Time seemed to slow when the dagger came a few inches from my flesh when an idea came to mind. I say an idea, it was more of my brain looking for a way out of a dire situation. The familiar feeling of mana building at my fingertips reverberated through my body.
Then, at what much have been an inch away, I shot out a small burst of [Force bolt] It caused my assailant's arm to be blown back as far as the body could reach without being ripped off. With it, the dagger was shot free from their grasp and propelled somewhere into the trees.
Without wanting to miss out on the gap that I made, I struck out at their throat and kicked the side of their knee to send them down onto one knee. It happened so fast for my attacker to process what had happened why their dagger had disappeared and why they struggled to breathe. But before their mind caught up, I dashed behind them put them into a choke hold and began to choke them out.
However, before I could render them unconscious, I heard a familiar voice call out from behind me. My instincts told me to evade, so I quickly released my grip and dodged to the side. And I was thankful for that as flash of steel swung through the space I was stood in, and bit into the neck of the figure that was crumpled in a mess.
One of the attackers had tried to ambush me, and even though it failed they didn't stop their swing, even at the cost of their comrade's life. Darith was a step behind and bisected the callous assailant.
With that, the ambush had ended.
"Is everyone alright?" Darith spoke in a loud voice, as he leaned against his axe that he buried the head into the ground. The sweat on his face glistened in what light flickered from the campfire.
"I'm fine." "Just dandy." "A little winded, but still alive." Malane, Garth and Servose said respectively.
Darith then turned to me with a small smile on his face. "Thanks for the help. I'm sure that Servose breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't need to face a melee combatant all on his own." Servose simply laughed along. However, something told me that he would have managed even if I didn't help. But maybe he liked to play the weak magic caster.
"Still, I didn't think that you would have been such a cable fighter, and a grappler at that." Darith laughed as if he just had a pleasant surprise.
"Ah, well, my father was a retired soldier. He insisted on teaching me some self-defence and as I became an adult, I thought that it'll come in handy for an alchemist apprentice when I have to deal with unruly customers." I let out an embarrassed laugh as I lied through my teeth.
However, the eyes of my companions seem to say that they feel sorry for those who would mistake me for being a helpless merchant.
After an awkward moment, Darith cleared his throat. "Well, we better dispose of the bodies before any monsters get drawn to the smell of blood. Servose, would you be able to strengthen the barriers?"
With a smirk, as if to ask Darith if he knew who he was talking to, he nodded rolled up the sleeves to his robes and pulled a black book from the wrapping of said robe.
Then, without any complaints, we stripped the figures of anything of value. However, the only thing they had of value was a strange brass medallion with the symbol of a fist with an eye on the wrist of an open hand. I recognised it as the symbol of the cult of Suma, they worship the corruption of the underworld, and their great goal is to bring it to the overworld.
I didn't think that they would be present this early in the game. They usually pop up a few weeks after the first players enter the capital. This must mean that they play a greater role in the main story than I thought.
Pushing the thought out of my mind for now, I put the medallion into my inventory for later and helped dump the bodies away from camp.
For the rest of the evening, none of us got much of a rest. Even though we had a barrier up to prevent an attack, somehow, we were still ambushed, and even with the stronger barrier that Servose put up himself, it gave none of us enough reassurance to fall completely asleep.
As a result, I stayed logged in throughout the whole night. Thankfully, however, I didn't receive the debuff for not sleeping. I concluded that it must have been because I at least rested my body throughout the night. However, even if I was tired and got a debuff, I wouldn't use my last tonic of rejuvenation as it wouldn't be that harsh for the little travel we had left. At least, I hoped.