Ren and the villagers had gone down the new path, Tuarine had been confident that it could also lead to the bandits that they were in search of, or otherwise, something equally as important. They had been on the path for a good fifteen minutes and nothing, nothing but more trees and bushes were ahead, and from the looks of the clouds, things would get dark quite soon.
"Oh! ooh! ha! ha!" Noises came from above.
"I know that sound." Said Jonan, and as soon as he uttered the words, a bunch of animals fell from above with vines.
"Wolfians!" Another cried.
"Damned creatures."
Many unsheathed their blades. A few wolfians were no problem to able-bodied men, they were small mischievous and wild things but nothing a man could not strangle with his bare hands, but they often moved in numbers, especially when it's a target they were wary off, and the number of wolfians that fell down on the team were over two dozens, it would seem that the team had walked into their turf.
One landed on Jonan's shoulders, teeth bared and ready to draw blood when a swift punch buried itself on its small face, hurling it across till it struck a tree with a splat. Ren grimaced, the creature was sure to be dead. Others landed on the rest of the team, many were cut down, but they were relentless, they kept falling like rain drops on a stormy day, they had to leave their turf.
Wolfians they called them, they were monkeys if anything, albeit bigger and more ferocious. They had the physique of monkeys, grabbing hands, and feet, a hunched back, and a long tail. Their faces were slightly pointed, giving them a more grotesque look. Ren being the animal carer he was was a little hesitant on landing a killing blow, he landed punches and kicks, getting the wolfians off him, but he was reserved about killing them.
Clearly the beasts were annoyed by their presence, and wanted them gone, and the team did just that, they could not cope with the numbers, and they were getting covered in foul smelling blood, not to mention that they had a group to hunt.
The wolfians pursued them as they ran but soon stopped once the men were out of their home turf.
"Quite the territorial creatures." Ren joked, nobody however heard him nor listened to him.
They continued their walk down the path, grumpy and smelly. The fire that had stirred them to hunt the bandits was dwindling, hunger was settling him, and it was getting cold.
Suddenly, Ren caught an upward blast of energy in his peripheral vision. They immediately understood what this meant, Tuarine had not mentioned that she would utilize the signal, she had believed that her team would not come to be in need of it, but now, her team needed help.
"Isn't that?" Jonan blurted.
"Yes, Tuarine needs our help." Ren said.
The blast had come from in front of them, and they could hear grunts, and see flashes of light.
They hurried to the scene, when they were forced to stop at the sight of the charred bodies before them, they had crossed over some, making crunching sounds as their feet broke the blackened remains of their comrades.
Tuarine remained standing, huffing and puffing. Her muscles were tensed, and they seemed like they had grown considerably larger. Parts of her clothes had been burnt off. She still had on her green woolen trousers which seemed unscathed, but her top was gone, exposing the bandages tied tightly around her breasts. None of her men remained, she was the only one standing from her team, and the enemy had two, two to one.
"We are here Tuarine." Jonan yelled, and Tuarine smirked, reinforcements finally. The team gathered behind her, swords held out in the open for combat.
"The tattooed one is immensely powerful. She is something like a mage, keep your distance, and be careful."
They understood immediately that the woman was responsible for the charred bodies, she had burnt their friends to a crisp.
All this while, Ren maintained his gaze at her. There was something about her that drew her to him.
'Is she really from Combec?'
"Mage?!" She roared and erupted in laughter.
"Oh I wish, I would be the most powerful mage ever if I was one, but I am a magicker." She said, and her bright eyes rescinded back to their deadened appearance.
"How are you so sure you would be the most powerful mage?" Ren questioned, and everyone paused. What use was the question to one that they intended to kill?
The woman squinted her eyes at Ren, and Ren still maintaining his gaze had his eyes locked at her. Her eyes went wide-eyed immediately.
"You?! You're like me. You are a class wielder."
Now it was Ren's turn to be surprised. He had felt an attraction to her but being both class wielders was not a thing he could have thought about.
"How?" He uttered.
'How does she know?'
Now, Ren had his comrades giving him suspicious looks.
Even Jonan had to ask, "Are you with them or with us?"
"I am with you people." Ren whispered back.
The woman immediately burst into laughter, "I have always known that there were other class wielders but I didn't think I would come across another, at least not this soon. What are you doing with these bums? My insight skill says you are a farmer…. what?!" Her joyful countenance got seized by shock.
"Cultivator? You have two classes? What?!" She couldn't believe it.
"That's so unfair. Mashiggot!" She cried, and Ren immediately understood that it had to be the guardian angel assigned to her, if she truly was a class wielder like him. Nothing happened, nothing changed. That was not surprising, like Enoa, Mashiggot showed up whenever they wanted and when it was particularly important. Besides, a clash like this tended to have the gods' attention, and they would rather not have an outside force intervene.
She then raised her arms, "Let's call a truce." She had been keen about slaughtering them all, but the presence of a cultivator changed things, a magicker could go toe to toe with a cultivator of equal skill, but the odds go slightly in the favor of a cultivator, only mages could be placed above them, and seeing as [Insight] could not reveal stats, she had to assume that Ren was fairly experienced. It was a bad idea to start up a fight with a cultivator, but little did she know that Ren had a mana proficiency of an average knight, he was nobody to be afraid of.