Only those who face death know the true value of life

"The signal!" shouted Vance, as he charged, charging and stabbing two men standing together, Jonas cleverly hooked a lantern with his dagger in his left hand while with one agile movement he slaughtered another bandit with the point of his rapier, I charged the man in armor looking like a soldier, I judged that he would be much more dangerous than the leader of the bandits, the man reacted and quickly drew his sword, took a quick leap back and blocked my first attack, Jonas threw the lamp upward with all his might through a space left in the tent as a chimney and immediately attacked the bandit leader who defended himself with a small shield.

I was amazed at the reaction speed of the armored man, After blocking my stab, he jumped back to make room and launch his tackle, to avoid it I jumped back and could see the tip of his sword pass a few inches from my neck, "HA! You are not an ordinary warrior", shouted the elegant looking man, Jonas tried to break through the bandit leader's defense but he had already drawn his sword and they were involved in a fierce fight when it seemed that the bandit leader was taking advantage he was suddenly stabbed in the side by Vance, he screamed in pain and lost his posture, which was used by Jonas to nail the rapier in the stomach, now we were 3 against 1.

"Be careful it's very strong", I said, "useless bandits!", the elegant-looking man said annoyed, "what's going on?", "the screams came from the boss's tent", could be heard outside, "soon you are surrounded, your luck ran out", said the elegant looking man smiling maliciously, but then a big 《BOOMMM》 was heard outside followed by screams of terror and agony, "AHHHH I'M BURNED!", "THEY ATTACKED US!", "THE FIRE SPREADS VERY FAST RUNNING!", several screams were heard outside, it seems like all the lamp oil we spilled was doing a good job.

Distracted by the screams, Jonas made the mistake of looking away and immediately the elegant-looking man lunged at him, it was very fast, "JONAS!", yelled Vance, "Damn", I said mentally, I was forced to use one of my trump cards, simultaneously using body reinforcement magic and my original magic to increase concentration I was able to intercept and deflect the man's thrust with great difficulty, but still Jonas was hit in the right arm, Jonas screamed in pain, "Vance take Jonas and get out of here, this guy is no fan!", I said as I tried to keep the elegant-looking man at bay.

It was evident that when he attacked me the first time he did not use his full strength, he probably thought our strength would be on the same level as the bandit leader, that stab had been to another level, "so you're also a level 3 warrior", said the man as we kept pushing each other with the swords, "DON'T DIE LIF", Vance yelled as he ran out helping Jonas, "you have an interesting technique, mmm your appearance is singular without a doubt", said the elegant looking man approaching his face, "SHOW ME WHAT YOU HAVE!!!", he yelled, his sword and armor starting to glow slightly.

I was using body reinforcement magic, then he tightened his grip on his sword and threw me hardback, I ended up crashing into a log that served as one of the supports for the tent, after throwing me immediately, the elegant man made an explosive leap forward and made a horizontal cut from left to right, both the jump and the cut were at superhuman speed, it was a powerful blow charged with wind magic, it cut the wooden log like a twig and the fabric of the tent that was several meters behind.

But I had crouched in a pose similar to that of a sprinter about to leave, thanks to my trump card, concentration magic, I had clearly seen his attack and had anticipated, then I launched my counter-attack, the elegant man made a terrified face when he felt the paralysis from the poison, I had leaned on my left hand and stabbed my right just below his armor straight into his stomach, "Ahg ahg, h-how i-is p-possible", he gasped.

But instead of answering him I immediately cut his throat with my left sword, I preferred not to exchange words with those he had to kill, I felt slight nausea, I squatted half my body and took a few seconds to calm my breathing, I had just killed three men, a deep feeling of guilt flooded my mind, but I would have time to think about it.

Quickly inspect the body of the elegant man, he had a small leather wallet with several papers inside, no doubt this will be interesting to analyze later, also a medallion with a carved crest, take your sword, it was a weapon of superior quality, the tent had partially collapsed due to the powerful attack and had started to catch fire, I took several other papers that were scattered on the ground as a result of the fight, the explosions kept happening outside, but I no longer heard screams, I went out cautiously, except for the crackle of the flames the camp was silent, so I cautiously advanced towards the eastern edge of the valley.

"They should be more or less there", I thought as I tried to locate the position that would be occupied by the group led by Val, I left the burning camp behind and approached the dark stone wall of the mountain, I could see some bodies of bandits, some had embedded arrows, "Stop! Who's there ?!", a female voice that I knew well ordered me from the darkness, "Calm Val, I'm Lif", I replied, "LIF!", I heard a chorus of screams, Vance and Jonas came out of the dark and took me by the shoulders, after they came Val, Gilbert, Sophia and Katarina and further behind the other wizards and warriors.

"Did you have a problem?" I asked for, "some tried to attack this place but Gilbert, the old dwarf, and I were able to deal with all of them", said Val puffing out his small chest with pride, "I see that your arm is better", I said to Jonas, observing the bandage on his right arm, "Sophia care my wound", Jonas said shyly, "what happened? That guy was really fast, I could barely see his attack", said Vance, "I was able to beat him even though it was very dangerous", I replied to Vance, "Hey boy, what the hell happened there? Young Vance told me it was all very suspicious", said the old dwarf mercenary, "about that ...", I showed the sword, the wallet and the medallion with the crest, "I think we should check it in the camp", I replied to the old dwarf.

The next morning we were all gathered around a makeshift table in the camp set up in the rest area, on the table were several papers, the sword that he had taken from the elegant man, and the medallion with the engraved crest, "damn fucking war between nobles", said the old dwarf mercenary, they all looked seriously at the papers, they were mostly a record of purchases, provisions, equipment to set up a camp, weapons, it was all the equipment that the bandits had used.

Everything had been bought by an anonymous customer, there was also the medallion with the crest, without a doubt it was the emblem of some noble house, but nobody knew who it belonged to and lastly, there was the sword, after examining it carefully we realized that it was a custom weapon, which left an uncomfortable question floating in the air, "was that person a knight?", said Vance, "boy this is something very stinky, we must inform everyone in the city", said the old dwarf mercenary, "Yes, I also think we should inspect the camp again", I replied, "I agree with you", the old mercenary said back.

"It's better if only a few of us go, the survivors could roam the area", I replied, "if it seems the best to me, it will be better if only you, me, and at least 2 other people go", said the old dwarf, "yes, let's bring people who are good trackers, can Val count on you?", I said while looking at Val, she nodded while thinking deeply, "yes, I'll take an experienced hunter with me too", said the dwarf, "Vance entrusted you to take care of the caravan", I said as I said goodbye, "we won't be long, young man", the dwarf mercenary said goodbye, we walked away while Vance waved us off.

"By the way my name is Gulmir", said the dwarf, "Lif", I replied, "I know your name child, you are well known in the city", replied the dwarf, "I already imagined it", I answered, we keep walking while carefully observing the surroundings, we finally reached the same place from where they had attacked the camp the night before, there were still small fires, the vast majority of the tents had burned down, the rest were crushed when the bandits fled in panic, "let's check the camp, don't lose sight of it", said Gulmir, "yes, come on Val", I answered, "okay Lif", Val replied, the camp smelled horrible, it was the smell of burned bodies.

"This is what Vance was talking about", I said while holding a box with several one-handed swords inside, "put it aside we'll take it as proof", said Gulmir, "this is where they fought?", Val asked as he covered his mouth and nose, "if those are the remains of the chief bandit's tent", I answered, there were the remains of several burned bodies in the rubble, we went through the whole camp and Val found a trail that went northwest, "they probably fled around here", said Val, "it seems that this trail has been used a lot, look there are even mule tracks", I said to Val while pointing out the tracks, "Boy we are done here! We better go back!", shouted Gulmir in the distance, "Ok", I answered, "let's get out of here Val", I said while taking her by the shoulder, "if I go with you", Val replied and we returned to the caravan.

We recovered the box with the swords, Gulmir said he could identify who the manufacturer was, other papers with information, inside a partially burned trunk we recovered the diary of the bandit chief, what remained in the place we set fire to prevent the bandits from recovering it again, after that, we decided to take turns on guard to spend the night, the next day we would leave for Dumai.