Lawrence took a look at the combat user interface and he saw that everyone in the militia were less than the level of 5. The highest was Roland, who was 5. Craig was 4 and Jacob was a 3. The rest were a mixture of 0s to 2s.

Lawrence confirmed once again that he was level 99.

Maybe the bandits would be like a hundred…. Was what Lawrence thought to himself. Then, some spells to buff himself would be good.

He chose the spells, Shield of Faith, which strengthened his shield with divine energy, making it even stronger and may even cause some enemies to recoil once their weapons struck his tower shield. Next, he opted for the spells, Divine Favour and Nature’s Strength.

Divine favour blessed his weapon with the favour of the gods, while Nature’s Strength allowed his armour to be strengthened through natural elements such as the wind, blowing strongly against the enemy while fighting him.

With that, they waited, as the torches in the evening sky became more and more apparent and it was way more than 50.

Lawrence counted 120 from his user interface, but they were still too far to examine their levels.

As they got nearer, Lawrence’s face was that of utter and complete relief.

They were dressed in ragtag iron, cloth and leather armour, with the highest level out of them being a level 6, who was extremely big sized and wielded a sledgehammer. He was easily twice of Jacob’s size.

At the head was a level 5, who had this irritating look on his face. He was the kind of person who seemed to be the salesperson who followed you incessantly on your trains asking you to buy a health product.

However, there was something out of place, given the cries of the village people, and from the militia.

The “salesperson” had placed a leash on an old man who had a collar around his neck and dragged him forward.

“All of you, Black Bay villagers, surrender now and I may consider letting him live!” he shouted and the old man whimpered as the “salesperson” kicked him.

“That’s Old Man Frost, those sons of bitches,” Craig said angrily, standing up and nocking his bow.

Roland quickly grabbed Craig and forced him to lower his bow.

“I am not surrendering!” Roland roared as the militiamen and villagers cheered. However, at this moment, the warehouse door opened and a young girl, probably the age of 10, ran out, only to be pulled back in.

“Grandpa!” the girl cried out, kicking and screaming as the other women, holding back tears, held her back. They knew if this young girl ran out, instead of one death, there will be two.

“How cruel, separating them.” The “salesperson” laughed and the other bandits laughed with him.

“Very well, let’s send one on their way first.” He gestured and one of the bandits raised his woodcutter’s axe.

“I love you, Marie!” the old man yelled, closing his eyes and as the young girl screamed—

“Guardian’s Valour!”

A roar, a massive shout, and Craig turned towards the origin of the voice but there instead, was Old Man Frost, looking utterly terrified, but surprised as he opened his eyes. It was as if it was instantaneous.

Craig turned to where the bandits were and saw Lawrence standing there, the exact same spot the Old Man Frost was in, but his tower shield had already slammed into the bandit’s face.

Lawrence, who could not bear watching this anymore, remembered that he had a skill, called Guardian’s Valour, which allowed him to trade places with anyone who was in immediate danger of death and perhaps it would have worked—

As he teleported, Lawrence’s own body acted out of reflex and slammed the tower shield into the would-be executioner’s face.

Would you like to initiate auto-combat?

A question appeared and he selected yes.

What would happen next was chronicled as the Battle of Black Bay Village and the debut of the legendary Guardian of Valour, Lawrence Carstein.