Chapter 30: Chapter 29: On the road

[Enilla's cave]

Looking at the screen that Darganth was projecting, both Allaire and Jennia became flabbergasted. It took them a while before they managed to come out of their stupor and managed to voice their questions.

“Let me guess, in the mana heart row power refers to the strength increase it offers to spells and cost to the reduction in mana needed.” Allaire asked him.

“And how powerful is a factor of 2.8 in comparison to other dragons?” Jennia added.

“Yes, and quite high. The highest combined factor for high tier dragons is three, so its just a bit from the best one possible. The mana reduction even exceeds the limit, something very few species have in either aspect.” Dargant told them.

“You act as if it was my own achievement and not more or less handed to me. The abilities of dragons are unfair, I said so for years already.”

“And? Being born a dragon also isn't ones own achievement, sometimes you need to be lucky.” Darganth said.

Thinking for a moment, Enilla shrugged. Taking a few more minutes to allow Jennia and Allaire to ask all their questions, they made their way back inside.

For the remainder of the day and over the course of the next few days they all focused strongly on training themselves. Darganth and Allaire were mainly concerned with reaching the third rank, Jennia focused on unlocking her third element and Enilla remained occupied with trying to grow accustomed to her new body.

Jennia also moved her sleeping place next to Darganth and Allaire's. While it took Allaire some time to grow accustomed to waking up next to a giant hydra, there were no other major difficulties. The two of them had no real problems with each other, only continuing their friendly bickering.

After a bit over one week Enilla had largely grown accustomed to her new body and started spending most of her time transformed into her old hydra form. This made her a bit impatient to make her way towards the dragon peaks and with Darganth still planning to investigate the king they started deciding on a departure day.

After some back and forth they decided to wait until Darganth and Allarie reached the third rank. Darganth's passive growth would have brought him there in merely two days and Allaire also wasn't far of, so it wouldn't be too long away. During these days Enilla spend most of her time with Jennia, spending as much time as possible with her daughter before they would be separated for the first time.

With their days changing very little, they stood outside of the cave two weeks later, ready to depart.

“I will miss you mom.”

“I know, and I will miss you too.” Enilla said while hugging her daughter.

“But it isn't as if we won't see each other again. I will wait for you at the dragon peaks, till then I wish you good luck.” She added with a warm smile.

“Mhm.”

Stopping their embrace, Enilla undid her transformation. Looking at the three of them, she made her way into the sky with a beat of her wings. Jennia watched her mother flying away with some sadness in her eyes, looking after her for a few minutes before turning to Darganth and Allaire.

“Then lets go.” She said.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, its just new for me. But I can't live with her forever and there is nobody I would spend the first time I am away from her with rather than you.” Caressing her neck in support, Darganth let her to her thoughts.

“There are definitely better first times with him.” Allarie said after a few seconds, once she could no longer hold herself back from making this comment. This made Enilla blush a bit, while Darganth looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She answered this accusing look with an innocent one.

“And this comes from the women that chastised me for interrupting a sweet moment.” He said, causing her to shrug.

After this the group made their way towards the edge of the forest. Jennia's mood quickly got better, with Jennia's carefree and joking attitude together with Darganth's supportive one helping her. While she was still slightly downtrodden, by the time they reached the nearest street it had gotten significantly better.

Making their way along the street, they soon ran into a problem when they encountered the first wagon traveling along the same street. Seeing the merchant that was steering the carriage stopping it in panic and running away, Allaire nearly fell over from laughter.

“Maybe we shouldn't travel along roads?” Jennia asked after a short moment.

“I didn't expect them to react this bad, that could pose a problem. If every group of mercenary's that were hired as guards chases us, it will become annoying.” Darganth replied.

“Well, its not as if you could hide in the trees, not to mention that there aren't trees along the entire way.” Allaire pointed out.

“How about illusion magic?” Enilla asked.

“It will have to do. Sadly I never learned transformation spells as my innate polymorphing ability is far better.” Darganth said and prepared the spell.

Just as he was about to cast the spell, a better idea came to him. Stopping the initial spell, he send out a scouting one along the road as far as his current power allowed. Seeing only a handful of groups traveling along it, he smiled.

“Ah, you want to use the illusion only when needed.” Enilla said after a moment of confusion and Darganth smiled in confirmation.

 

The use of illusions eased their further travel tremendously. The combination of Darganth's skill and superior mana quality compared to those they encountered meant that, despite invisibility magic being far less effective when cast on others, it wasn't seen through. This allowed them to avoid bothersome encounters, as while the second ranks they met on their travel weren't a threat, they didn't want to constantly deal with them.

With the lack of troubles they managed to travel quit quickly, reaching about two thirds towards the city that was their target in just over a week. Currently they were making a camp a few meters away from the road when Darganth suddenly frowned.

“What is?”

“Bandits attacking a carriage a bit down the road. They have a third rank among them so he may find us here.”

“And? Let him walk to his death if he wants, otherwise its just a bother to intervene.” Jennia said.

“What if its a bother? I don't care if you join me, but I will go take a look.” Allaire said. Picking up her bow and arrows, she made her way towards the street. Looking after her for a few seconds, Darganth stood up with a sigh and followed her.

“She doesn't know which way?” asked Jennia.

“She doesn't know which way.” Darganth replied.

Shaking her head before lying back down, Jennia ignored it. Darganth was meanwhile jogging after Allaire, catching up to her after a few hundred meters. Noticing him making his way after her, Allarie stopped and waited for him at the road.

“While I am happy that you did, I hadn't expected either of you following after me. Found you righteous side?” She asked him with a smile.

“Of course, she is standing in front of me right now.” He said with a smile.

“While sweet, flirting wont let you escape my question.”

“Well I never had anything about helping others, especially when it makes my wive happy.” He said before adding, “Besides, you don't know which way along the street.”

“No, I know.” She said to his surprise, “Before telling us you looked towards your right for a short moment and I am pretty sure that you used you dragon eyes to get more details of the situation.”

“Am I that easy to read?” He asked with a laugh.

“No, but I know you. Hadn't you found out the exact strength of that third rank you wouldn't have remained that relaxed and stopped me from going there. As the dragon eyes are better in such cases, I only had to remember where you looked.”

At her words Darganth grew surprised that she noticed his small movement, before agreeing with them with a smile.

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“On that note, while I appreciate you protectiveness you could have trusted me enough to know that I wouldn't have intervened if I couldn't have won. I may help others from time to time, but only if it fits me.” She added.

“I know that, but better safe than sorry. I don't want anything to happen to you.” He said, making Allarie smile. Giving him a short kiss, she made her way down the road.

Walking alongside her down the road, they made their way towards the place where Darganth had seen the bandits at. Carefully making their way through the forest once they have gotten close enough, they soon had eyes on what was happening.

Leaning against the toppled carriage were seven people, three of whom wearing higher quality clothes that showed them to likely be merchants, with the other four being clad in different kinds of armor.

Standing around the carriage were about two dozen men, most wearing only simple armor and weapons if at all. Only one of them had a decent weapon, having a greatsword hanging on his back. Most of these bandits were occupied with emptying the carriage, throwing chests and bags of all kinds and sizes onto the street.

While this was happening, two of them dragged corpses away from the site and threw them into the forest. The corpses belonged to mercenary's and bandits both, with the bandits clearly having sustained more casualties. One last man was currently holding a women in armor, likely another mercenary, at her throat and pressing her against the carriage while his other hand wandered along her body, clearly to her aversion.

Once she saw this scene, Allaire gritted her teeth in anger. Looking over to Darganth and seeing him nod, she placed an arrow on her bow, drew it and with only a short moment to aim, shot it towards the bandit leader.

Not expecting a surprise attack, he noticed it too late. In an effort to block the arrow, a brownish gray ethereal armor formed on his upper body, though it only managed to barely keep the arrow from hitting his heart. Striking his shoulder instead, the arrow pierced through his skin with minimal effort which left a deep wound in its path.

Walking out of the forest with a carefree smile, Darganth and Allaire watched the bandits scramble towards them in amusement.

“A beastmen bitch and a human think they could fight us? Even with a surprise attack you barely wounded me, so spare yourself the effort and obediently let yourself be captured. Wannabee heroes like you never find a good ending.” The leader boasted.

“Wannabee heroes? No, I couldn't care less whom you rob, I am only here because I didn't have anything better to do. Even then I probably wouldn't have intervened without that bastard there.” She said and shot an arrow towards the man who had pressed the women against the carriage. Arriving faster than any of them could react, the man's head was pierced by the arrow and he fell over dead.

“I only really have a hate for rapists, helping others is mainly when I feel like it. Its just you bad luck that I bothered coming here.” She said, before using the ability of the first order aura expert and being encased in an armor similar to the leader. Only small details as well as its color were different, being pure white.

“Manifestation.” The leader said and Allaire nodded.

“Didn't expect you to also be a third rank, that makes this far more intersting.” He said, drawing his sword before addressing his men, “Take care of him, I don't care whether he is alive or dead.”

With his men now slowly encircling Darganth, he jumped towards Allaire with his sword swinging down in full force. Before it could reach her, she suddenly vanished and reappeared a few meters to her left with a new arrow in her bow. Letting loose the string, it flew straight towards him with her aim being perfect onto his right shoulder.

Twisting to avoid having his sword arm immobilized, he managed to avoid the worst case though the arrow still struck his back. Even with his armor formed from aura manifested into physical form slowing it down, it lodged itself into his flesh.

“Do you plan on constantly running and tiring me out? Because your manaless companion will have fallen to my men before that.”

“Manaless? How did you come to that conclusion?” Allarie said to him with a smile that gave him a bad premonition.

Using a mana burst to gain 360 degrees of awareness, his eyes widened in shock once he 'saw' Darganth leisurely sitting on a throne of metal while his men were lying on the ground, lifeless. Focusing back onto Allarie, he saw her smiling at him triumphant.

“What are you spacing out for?” She suddenly said, firing another arrow at him. Barely reacting fast enough to jump out of the way, formed his external aura. Hoping to catch her of guard with his increased speed, he dashed towards Allaire.

When he had barely crossed half the distance between them he saw Allaire sigh in annoyance. Watching in shock how a metal sword slowly formed in her right hand, he watched helplessly as she used it to deflect his blow to his right while also leaving a small cut on his cheek.

Using the momentum of her swing, she turned out of the way of his momentum to prevent his body from colliding with her. Taking more steps back, she let go of the sword she conjured and drew another arrow. Watching him slowly turn around to face her in irritation, she chuckled.

“Magic? How can you form a spell this fast, none of the mages I faced previously could.” He asked her.

“Earth aura against light aura, the slowest against the fastest element, of course I would have enough time to form a spell. Crossing nearly twenty meters in under half a second may be impossible for normal humans, but for a third rank aura user it is laughable. In that time I could have formed enough spells to attack you with every element.” She answered him mockingly.

Hearing her insulting his strength among third ranks made him furious as he took great pride in it. To Allaire's surprise he tried the same thing he failed with twice and charged straight at her. Letting loose her bowstring, the arrow lodged itself into his chest just below his heart without interrupting his charge.

Surprised by both the arrow being deflected downwards by his aura armor and him powering through the pain, Allaire followed his movements without showing any intention to dodge. Thinking that she couldn't react due to her surprise, the bandit leader laughed at what he thought to be assured victory.

Just as he reached a two meters away from her, he saw the picture in front of him fading, being replaced by one where Allaire had her bow still in her left but letting the arm hand down leisurely. In her right she again held the sword she had conjured via magic, being positioned perfectly to intercept his strike.

Still going through with his horizontal swing at her side, he watched in disbelieve as her aura gained another color, adding a metallic gray with tinges of silver to the white.

When the two swords collided not even a moment later, the bandits strike was completely stopped despite his momentum and larger weapon. Trying to jump away from her by putting force on to his forward outstretched leg, he suddenly howled in pain before falling over backwards.

Looking down he found the source of his pain, his legs broken as if hit with a sledgehammer. Looking up to Allaire, he noticed two angelic wings in a similar coloration to her armor extending from her back.

“H-How?” He stammered in shock.

“Because you only scratched the surface of manifestation. Creating armor and weapons is effective, yes, but having the ability to create and control extra limbs is something far more effective.” Allaire told him with a smile.

“Two elemental aura and this? You really played with me from the beginning.” He said in a defeated tone.

“Of course. And even if you ever had an advantage, do you really think you would have won? With a third rank mage protecting me?” She said with a laugh.

Looking at Darganth in shock, the bandit leader didn't even notice the two wings behind Allaire piercing forward. With his aura armor having already faded, they pierced cleanly through his chest as if the feathers were sharp blades.

Dismissing her aura constructs and enhancement, Allaire walked towards the carriage. Darganth also disassembled his throne, standing up and following her.

Reaching the bound group, they looked at the two in gratitude, while in the case of the merchants a slight tinge of fear towards Darganth was mixed into it. The sight of killing the bandit with a mere wave of his hand left a lasting effect on them. Swinging his hand with his middle and index finger outstretched, Daranth send small sharp blades of wind flinging that effortlessly cut through the gags and ropes binding them.

“Thank you for saving us.” One of the merchants hastily said, with the mercenary’s simply nodding in gratitude.

“If there is anything we can repay you-” The merchant started but Darganth simply waved him off.

The mercenary's were meanwhile making their way towards the body's of their fallen comrades. Once they reached there, they became overwhelmed with sadness, shakily looking at the lifeless body's of their friends and colleagues.

Watching them for a bit, Darganth and Allaire turn to leave. While they could have offered their help, it would have delayed them even further. Just as they had walked a few meters, one of the mercenary's turned to them.

“The spell you used was of the death element, right?” He asked Darganth with teary eyes.

“Yes.”

“Then can't you do something? I know that it also has resurrection spells, you can help them.” He asked pleadingly.

“No.” Darganth answered, much to the man's anger.

Cursing him, he picked up a stone and threw it after them. Stopping suddenly and catching it before it could hit Allaire, Darganth looked at the man in rage. Closing his fist around the stone it broke apart, even with the man's aura enhancing it.

“Be happy that I will let you of lightly.” He growled to the man. Just as the others of his group wanted to sigh in relieve the man howled in pain.

“Arghh!” He shouted, holding his right arm. Or more precise, the wound at his shoulder where his right arm used to be. The arm itself lay a few meters away, being cut cleanly by a teleportation spell from Darganth.

Looking in shock between Darganth and the man, they took a few seconds to come out of their stupor. Hastily running towards him, they helped with bandaging the wound.

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