Swan Hunter(10)(The end of an arc)

Very quickly, I was beginning to feel depleted while trying to avoid the assaults from two sides.

Moreover, I also had to act as if I was unable to hold on for long and maneuver in such a way that their attacks would end up hitting each other more than they hit me.

Dodging like that was very very hard.

Fortunately, just as I had planned after the 'uncle' was accidentally hit by a water wave spell from his 'nephew', he gritted his teeth and 'accidentally' hit him directly with a wind blade without any pretenses.

The 'nephew' wasn't the one to take things lying down and attacked him back, but his shoulder was still pierced by that huge wind blade, which resulted in a serious injury.

Magically though, his injury began to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye. Both I and the 'uncle' paused for a moment, dumbfounded by his out-of-the-world healing.

But just then, I observed that the beast cores dangling from his waist reduce a magnitude in size. I could take a bet that this guy wasn't playing fair at this game, but what can I do other than to continue avoiding his attacks?

Soon, after he healed up, he cast two huge fire serpents, one of which went after me and another, 'accidentally' chased after his 'uncle'.

And so while attacking me, they kept attacking each other as well until gradually it got to the point that out of every three attacks, one would be meant for each other instead of me.

Although this took a little pressure off my shoulders, I wouldn't have been able to hold on for long if those two persisted.

Therefore, I changed my strategy a little and slid to the left where a fireball cast by the 'hero' was waiting for me.

I made it seem as if I had stumbled there to avoid the other attacks and let the fireball hit my back.

Instead of the scorching sensation that I had heard about, all I felt was a little warmth. Years of beatings, physical training, and my efforts of reforming my physique were finally paying off.

Training as a warrior was less rewarding than mage training but it had a less strict requirement for talent, the point that made me the most interested in it.

Anyway, I had to act my part. So, after being hit by the attack, I screamed as loud as I could, almost injuring my vocal cords, squirmed like a dying insect, and rolled on the ground to avoid more of their attacks.

Upon realizing that his nephew was about to finish me off, the uncle panicked and furiously attacked… his nephew.

Random instant cast spells of the wind, water, and fire element kept lighting up the cave and made it shiver from time to time from the impacts.

I sneakily rolled close to the 'uncle' and pretended to lie dead there.

The nephew was still standing at the same place, intent on protecting Swan B to the best of his ability.

When the 'uncle' appeared to my side suddenly after avoiding his nephew's attack, I knew that my chance had come.

It was the only chance I had to turn the table around, so I wasn't prepared to waste it.

I gathered the remaining mana coursing through my body in my arms and legs and burst forth with all my strength.

The 'uncle' only became aware of the attack when my fist was about to connect to his head. He put up a hastily constructed wind guard but just as the name sounded, it didn't do much and cracked upon impact.

For the first time since I had come down from Mount Shu as a bandit, I utilized my full strength, the foundation for my crazy acts, and my unbridled confidence.

Just as I predicted, the pot-bellied guy wasn't able to adjust to the sudden shift of my combat strategy from a spineless escaping mage to a fierce warrior.

BANG!

Same as the first 'hero' who had come in, he was also neatly plastered on the wall. As for the third hero, the biggest problem, the cheater?

Well, I took a deep breath and turned to look at him. His state was even worse than his uncle's, and I… was about to make it worse.

The girl he was wholeheartedly trying to protect, Ms. Swan B, had stabbed him in the back with a pointed stone. The ease at which she sneaked up on him made me feel a little jittery as well.

But thankfully, the deed was already halfway done. The 'hero' had no time to care about how I had managed to beat his uncle when he had a problem breathing from the stone stabbing at his abdomen.

Ms. Swan B was crying, her tears ebbing out in a stream, but her hands didn't shake.

It seemed that I didn't misunderstand her. She would sink to any low to keep her life. Too bad the guy in front of her didn't know that. I was sure that he wasn't using his full strength as well but the girl he was trying to protect didn't.

On the other hand, Ms. Swan B knew of my hidden strength and assumed that I was just playing around with my opponents. My blow to the 'uncle' was the deciding factor.

When she saw that I was about to make a move, she took that opportunity to contribute something to the 'destined' downfall of the third hero.

After that, as the guy tried to breathe in, I went close to him and cast a wind blade at his throat.

The beast cores dangling by his waist soon faded away, and the injury from the back to the abdomen was healed as well but his body was missing… its head.

Swan B trembled and turned her face away at the sight. I sighed and grabbed the other three fainted bodies, the two heroes and the middle-aged mage, and asked her to tie them together in a complicated knot.

I stretched my body and relaxed. It was a long and grueling day. I thought about writing a journal but then smiled and decided to escape first.

Swan B woke Swan A up and after giving me three bodies and finding a horse, both of them tied their arms up and escaped in different directions, like I had intended them to.

With that, the mages would have little time finding my traces and would be swept up in bringing those two girls back and finding out what happened.

My horse ride to the slave trainer with three fainted bodies was slow, but I never let the horse stop, for who knows when death would decide to pounce on me.

As for the guy I killed, I left his corpse back in the cave to rot. He wouldn't be worth much as a slave anyway. My life was more important. And with how he was recovering, I couldn't take any chances.

My journey to the slave trainer was surprisingly smooth. I was able to snatch a new wheat hay carriage on the road and stuffed the bundle of my three goods inside.

I didn't know how Swan A and Swan B fared after that. I could only wish them the best. They would surely miss me in the future, perhaps even develop a secret crush on me.

Oh well, my first assignment was already complete, and there wouldn't be many chances for us to interact in the future.

Surprisingly, that simple journey had made my name quite famous across a wide region but people were quite misinformed.

Instead of calling me the righteous bandit or something, they called me, "The Little Demon of Mount Shu."

Heh, how ignorant.

Author's Note: This demon of Mt. Shu will soon make his reappearance.