The arrow had barely pierced the archer's shoulder, Nixen was already close to him and I trusted her not to worry for a while.
I was holding the saber so tightly that my hand was already starting to tingle. In front of me were two other people, not counting the archer Nixen was with.
Both of them had leather Armor on almost their entire bodies and their heads were partially covered as well. One was holding a two-handed sword, almost resembling a bastard sword, although it was a bit shorter. The other person was similarly dressed and was holding a pair of knives, which closely resembled Kukri knives but were a bit longer.
When the two of them saw me, they became alert. They planned to catch me off guard and attack while I hid from the archer. Thank goodness I'd decided to come out.
Just as I saw them, I began to calm down. I took a deep breath and started circulating mana through my body. I had to cover at least my arms and weapons.
"Hey, the kid's using mana. None of that was reported to us. We should have charged more," one of the robbers said, looking at the other.
I found that strange to hear. I didn't offend anyone so they'd pay for killing me. Anyway, I didn't pay attention. They took the initiative, and everything has a consequence.
Throw one of the daggers, it was meant to stick in the chest of the man with the Kukri and take off like lightning, try to make a diagonal cut with the saber to cut the man with the long sword.
The two realized it instantly. The man with the Kukri dodged the dagger, but it forced him to move away from the other man's side; that was the main idea of the dagger. As the saber was about to collide with his chest, the man intercepted it with his sword. I tried to apply more force but couldn't get the sword to move forward. I swung my body, trying to spin to take advantage of the force that countered my saber. I continued to insist, attack after attack, suddenly I saw a long jet of blood come out; I had managed to cut almost to the bone of the sword man's dominant hand. When I saw the large amount of blood, I was scared.
Although I've fought animals, it's not the same as seeing another human's blood, much less feeling the way I've cut them. The blade of the saber sinking into the other person's flesh wasn't a pleasant sensation. I started to feel nauseous. When I saw a cross cut coming my way, the man with the two knives had come for my head and almost succeeded; he'd used his knives like scissors.
I immediately reacted and pulled my neck back, trying to put as much distance as I could.
"You shouldn't have been so confident. You almost lost your arm. This should be considered an easy job; look, he's not even used to seeing blood. Who knows where he got the Andon from?"
While they were talking among themselves, I was already grabbing another pair of daggers. The threat of death had changed my mind; I had to keep moving, and this wasn't the time to be scared of someone trying to hurt me.
I pretended to remain shocked by the blood as they approached me. When they were close enough, I chanted, "Lignum Nauita." The feet of the man with the knives became snagged by the vines growing around them. I took advantage of their surprise to throw my daggers. The first one I threw caught the man with the kukris dead centre in the chest, penetrating almost to the hilt.
The other man reacted in time, and the dagger barely grazed his ribs, though it cut him a little; not enough.
I began to charge at the swordsman, mana coursing through my body, my strength and speed increasing. I was blinded by the rage of nearly dying when I reached striking distance. The first slash was already coming; I was aiming for the centre of his sword. With the strength I was carrying, I would at least have to redirect his sword and give myself time to attack his body.
Sure enough, the plan worked. When I launched the next attack at his neck, I stopped my saber; although I was filled with rage, I felt like I couldn't kill. At that moment, I felt something hot running down my other leg. The damned swordsman had taken advantage of my moment of hesitation to wound my hip. The cut stopped because it met bone.
Now both legs were almost immobile, and at this moment I was falling backward. As I fell, I caught a glimpse of a shadow rushing forward. The next thing I saw were the treetops; I was already completely sprawled on the ground.
Suddenly, I heard a crack. I thought the swordsman had taken advantage of the moment to stab me as I fell. I raised my head slowly, hoping the swordsman was on top of me.
What I saw horrified me, and I was also glad. The "crack" that sounded wasn't from my body, it was from the swordsman's neck. Nixen had taken advantage and jumped from behind, practically ripping the man's head from his neck.
I looked worriedly at the remaining one, the owner of the Kukris.
But he was lying face down on the floor. Apparently, the dagger had penetrated deeper than I thought and had managed to barely wound him.
I thought everything was fine, but suddenly I saw an arrow approaching. Nixen apparently couldn't finish him off. My reaction was the same: I dodged and threw a dagger charged with mana. Since I didn't aim well, the dagger barely penetrated one shoulder. The archer's condition was much worse than mine; Nixen had left him nearly paralyzed, so he couldn't dodge. Now, with both shoulders pierced, it would be very difficult to move. With the path clear, it was very easy for Nixen to reach him and knock him down. The man tried to scream, but only expressed a soft moan. Anyway, in his state, if he didn't die from this last attack, he would never be able to scream or speak again; he was practically in the arms of death. Although it seemed like a long time had passed, it all happened in less than 20 minutes.
With a sigh, I began to recover. I was trying to breathe again. I don't know how long I'd been holding my breath, and now I felt suffocated.
Tears began to flow down my cheeks. I had never killed anyone, not in this world or on earth, even if I claimed it was in self-defence. Hunting to feed my family and murder are two very different things. My heart ached, and the air I was breathing seemed to be insufficient.
I felt a warmth next to me and panicked. I tried to move, but the pain was enough to immobilize me. I turned to look, only to see the sweet companion who had helped and rescued me. Without Nixen, I wouldn't be here. I hugged her and began to cry harder.
It was strange that she let me touch her so much. I guess she sensed I was going through a difficult time and decided to offer support, even more than she'd already given me. I continued to cry like a baby for a while, until I started to feel cold. I realized I was already sitting in a pool of blood, almost out of energy, and I had to start applying first aid.
I was trying to bandage my leg and hip as tightly as I could. They were the deepest wounds I had and where the most blood was leaking.
After bandaging me, I told Nixen to watch for a moment. I needed to regain my energy, and the only way to do that would be to meditate.
Meditation helped me regain my energy and also heal some of the wounds.
With a light water spell, I cleansed the entire wound. First, I must take care of the worst one, and that's the one on my hip. After cleaning it, I had to close it somehow; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to walk for a long time. 'Lignum Nauita' was imagining a type of thin vine that would help me keep the wound closed until I got home. Over a cloth that I cleaned with 'Mundatus,' I tied the wound tightly, and the bleeding almost stopped. Now there was the arrowhead. I would have to break off the arrowhead to get it out, and that would be very painful.
I gritted my teeth and with a jerk, broke off the arrowhead. The pain I felt almost made me faint; but it had worked. I went back and applied the same process, squeezing the entire leg to stop the bleeding.
After a good rest, I decided to stop. It was time to continue; at least we weren't in the dangerous part of the forest. I approached the men's bodies; I should at least bury them. I guess.
I collected everything that was useful or gave clues to who they were. Their weapons, money, and anything else they had that could be used.
I dug a hole with Terra Fodere and stuffed the bodies of the three men inside. I'd uncovered their heads, so at least I'd never seen them. I covered the holes and said a few words. I was still bitter about their deaths, but I was even more relieved that I survived.
I placed all the belongings I'd collected on the sled and cast the spell. I tied a vine to the end of the sled so Nixen could help me move everything. Although it wasn't heavy, I needed help with the condition of my legs.
We left the outer part of the forest without any unforeseen incidents and headed toward the house. Now we could go more slowly and take a few breaks along the way.
By the time we got to the house, it was already completely dark. I knew where I had to go because we always took the same paths, and Nixen helped guide me. I was practically blank. The lack of blood and the trauma of having been murdered were taking their toll on me.
Before I could call for help, my parents were already screaming and running toward me. Apparently, it was becoming a habit. I kept walking almost on instinct. The blood covering my lower body was so thick it looked like I was wearing red pants and boots.
-"Sam, what happened? We told you to be careful." My father asked me with great concern, seeing all the blood and the condition of the two.
-"Father. I'm sorry, I didn't go out of my way. Someone attacked us. I brought some of their things on the sled. There are the weapons and other things from those who attacked us." I was telling them when I felt a pair of arms grab me from the front and give me a big hug.
When I felt the hug, I immediately lost all the strength I had. I dropped the sled and started crying again. I cried and cried.
"Mother, I'm a murderer. I killed those men. They came for Nixen and tried to kill me and take everything we had earned," I managed to say between my sobs.
My mother had greeted me after what I told them with a big hug, without worrying about anything else.
"Sam, this is the cruelty of our world, and to live, you must be strong. I know you may not understand me right now; but the stronger you are, the more you can accomplish. Power is everything."
-"You may think you were wrong to stand up for yourself now, but what would have happened if you had just let it all go? Nixen would have been dead or sold off to the highest bidder, while your father and I would be mourning the loss of our beloved son, not even knowing who to blame."-
-"Do you really want that? You're a strong person, and you should always put your life and the lives of your loved ones first. Understand?"-"
I was thinking about what my mother had said. I looked into her eyes and nodded slightly. I understood that this world had only one law, and it seemed to be the law of the mightiest.