The red-haired adventurer glared at Caius and reached for his sword, he looked back at the carriage driver. "You go! We will handle this."
The driver nodded and jerked the ropes and the horse galloped down the dirt path and past Caius.
Caius' gaze held firmly on the four, and the one he kicked before who was getting up. He slammed his hands together. "Come at me then."
His condescending attitude made the red-hair man grit his teeth and he nodded to the other three beside him—the adventurers stretched out and surrounded Caius, the bulkier of the group charged at the latter with his hammer swung down to bury Caius.
Caius tracked the man, he inched his feet and grounded them on the grass and raised his hand as the hammer came crashing down on his extended hand—a loud impact originated from the collision and the adventurers smirked In triumph.
"Serves you right for being cocky you bastard!"
The red-haired man spoke and his companions laughed in tandem.
"That's all?" Caius' voice came beneath the man and he clutched his hand shattering the hammer. He jumped up a bit and delivered a kick to the bulky man sending him flying into the trees as well, breaking his bones. "Do not insult me this way." Caius spat.
The second and third adventurers seeing they cannot fight him solo, pointed their staffs at Caius and a fireball, alongside a gust of wind soared across the space burning the ground beneath it.
Caius snapped his fingers and the moisture In the air was influenced by his mana causing the particles of water to quickly gather and create a wall of water before him just as the combined attack of fire and wind struck him creating a miniature explosion which scared the wild life in the forest.
With the steam produced from the attack covering the field, Caius used his superior speed to Incapacitated the two with swift strikes to the back of the neck leaving only the red-haired man.
"Pathetic!" He said as he jumped onto the tree branch revealing himself to the adventurer.
The red-haired man was not having a fun time—a simple abduction and trading job in the black market was foiled by this kid. He gritted his teeth and glared daggers at Caius. "You shitty brat." His hand held the handle of his broadsword and he drew it. "First form knights art; Severing Wave."
He swung the sword in quick succession sending a sharp wave of mana at Caius.
The latter simply jumped from the tree as the attack sliced it cleanly—once in the air. He pointed his finger at the man, and mana gathered at the tip before blue flames flared to life. "Scatter shot!" The fireball was launched at incredible speeds at the adventurer who attempted to dodge.
But that was futile.
The fireball exploded true to its name sending smaller fireballs in every direction, some landing on the man; he screamed in agony as the flames burned through the leather clothing he wore forcing him to discard them as he ran back in the direction he came from.
Caius landed on the ground and Kraven jumped on his shoulder having spectated the entire fight.
No abnormalities in your mana. He spoke staring at Caius.
Caius nodded. "The rune Asterion placed on me helped, I can draw up more of my mana without issue…" He turned in the direction the carriage disappeared into. "We need to rescue those girls."
Kraven raised an eyebrow. Since when were you a hero?
Caius chuckled. "Guess since today?" He jumped on the trees and ran after the carriage.
*
The carriage having passed through the city gates turned an alley and stopped next to a dilapidated building—windows were shattered, doors hanging from the hinges, like every building within the city, this one was also in a state of collapse. The driver got off and walked inside the establishment.
Inside, the place was lively, many bandits sat around in the lounge drinking liquor.
The driver ignored them and went straight to the man with pink, short hair sitting at the furthest end of the bar hidden from the light hanging above. He stopped behind the man. "Your cargo has arrived."
The pink-haired man turned to face the driver—his dark eyes scrutinizing the man and he smirked making the scar running across the bridge of his nose distort a bit giving him the appearance of a demon. "Good work here's your money." He reached into his black jacket and retrieved a sack of gold which he handed to the driver. "Where are the adventurers."
The driver gulped. "They stayed behind to fight a young boy with a scar over his eye. He wanted to stop us."
The man nodded I'm understanding. "I see, you may leave."
The driver heaved a sigh of relief and turned to leave the establishment.
The smirk on the man's face did not settle, it grew bigger and from the same jacket—he pulled out a magic gun and pointed it at the back of the driver's head. "One more thing…I'll be taking that gold back " He laughed and pulled the trigger.
A deafening bang resonated in the building and the driver dropped down into the pool of his blood while everyone else laughed maniacally.
Caius and Kraven followed the path the carriage made and they made it to the city. He walked into the city, and stared at the infrastructure as he passed.
The people were malnourished, they looked like they had lost hope in living—the stench in the air was revolting but he continued on; he turned the same alley the carriage turned and he was confronted by several frail looking thugs with knives in hand.
Be quick. Kraven spoke and Caius nodded.
He did not want to waste time with thugs—he skillfully stepped across the thugs faster than they can see, everyone of them he passed, he delivered blows to their torso knocking them out. He stopped at the edge of the alley and looked behind him where multiple thugs hunched on the ground, out cold from his attack and he continued.
Caius stopped where the carriage was and he looked at the building beside the carriage. "This must be where he went." He mused to himself.
Kraven looked at the cage and noticed something. The captured girls…they aren't here. He informed Caius.
Caius calmed himself and walked to the crumbling door. He kicked down the door sending it flying from the hinges and slamming into the other end of the room.
His nose scrunched up at the stench in the building and every eye within turned to face him. His expression changed at what he saw.
The bandits within were surrounding a crouching girl with grins on their faces—they were grabbing her hair and some her legs as she was crying; the loud impact of the doors shattering startled them and they turned to face Caius who had a dark look on his face.
"Ey, what's this lacky fucking doing here?"
Caius stepped forward, a gust of wind pushing away the first line of tables and causing the room to shake.
Seeing the predicament the girl was in—reminded of what he went through; the false accusation from the sister of his then betrothed wife…his fist clench tight.
"All of you are disgusting pigs."