New World, Old Problems: The Good Die Young...

Standing several feet away from the pair of bandits, armed with nothing more than a plank of wood, Shino stood ready to fight.

"Didn't you hear me? I said to back off!," Shino repeated despite not even believing his own words.

The two bandits looked at each other in disbelief at Shino's show of bravado. So much so that they openly discussed about it in front of him.

"Oi, you're seeing this?"

"I am. Looks like someone is trying to act like a hero. How cute!"

"Yeah...rock-paper-scissors to see who has to kill him."

"Why not?"

Since a very young age, Shino had been taught that one of the greatest evils in the world had always been inaction.

More specifically, if something was in his ability to do, then he had to do it!

Maybe he couldn't put out a fire by himself, but he could go find someone who could.

Perhaps he couldn't cure a disease, but he could help to ease their suffering and find a doctor.

Shino definitely wasn't able to fight a pair of bandits all by himself, especially those who had stepped into the 2nd stage of Allcana cultivation.

He could, however, help someone else escape with his abilities.

"Alright, you little shitstain," the Hammer-Tailed Lizard Demon said with obvious annoyance and disdain, having lost the game of rock-paper-scissors. "If you don't struggle too much, I'll make sure it's -huh?"

The moment the Hammer-Tailed Lizard Demon tried to use one of his claws to grab at Shino, his hand passed right through him like he was a mirage.

Evidently, this moment was so shocking that even the Hawk-Winged Celestial was shocked.

"Ey yo, what the heck? How come you can't touch them?"

"I don't know. It's like...wait a minute! The girl!"

"Huh? Oh shit, she's gone!"

...

"Get going! Head to the convent or the woods! Just find somewhere safe!"

"I will, Shino. Thank you, thank you!"

"Alright...still not done!"

After helping Eloise, an Ermine Folk girl, Shino proceeded to run back into the burning village in order to find more people to help.

'Got to be smart, got to be fast, and above all, avoid any fight I can!'

Shino, for all intents and purposes, wasn't a fighter.

He had arms about as strong as boiled spaghetti and legs that were more like twigs than anything solid.

In other words, if Shino had actually attempted to take those two bandits in a straight fight, he would've been sent to afterlife in a single hit.

However, as a demonkin of the Soul Mirror Tribe, he did have one trick that allowed him to escape such situations.

'Alright, I think I got three more mirages in me before I have to tap out. I better make them count.'

The Soul Mirror Tribe were able to make realistic illusions that could fool even the sharpest eyed Falcon Folk or the nosiest Pig Folk.

The only problem was that they could only tap into this power a certain number of times a day before becoming so exhausted that they pass out.

Over the years, Shino figured he had about four uses of this ability a day before he hit that limit.

Technically he had five uses, but after that fifth usage, he would pass out a minute later.

Meaning, that for all intents and purposes, he only had three shots to save as many people as possible.

Or at the very least, save the people that were still alive.

Either way, Shino had his work cut out for him.

'Alright, where am I most likely find people to rescue?'

"AAAAH!!"

"MOMMY, NO!"

'Probably where there's screaming involved.'

...

"Leave no stone unturned and no building untorched! Bring everyone to the center! If they struggle, kill them!"

"Yes, Chief Magina!"

The organizer of this senseless slaughter and raid, was a warrior known by his cronies as Chief Magina, but to the people of the valley, he was known as Magina the Man-eater.

On a surface level, Magina was known as a ruthless killer of the Material Mana stage, who became infamous among the peasants of the Shadowmarked Valley for his perchance for eating his victims alive.

The fact that he was a Shark Folk man who could regularly be seen chewing on mortal bones, didn't help with countering this image either.

If one were to dig into Magina's history though, they would learn that Magina was actually a former warrior for the Iron Wing Kingdom.

As to what happened to him that led to his current lot in life, nobody could say for certain.

Regardless of his past though, his present was filled with blood, smoke and the screams of innocent victims.

And he couldn't be happier.

A vicious smile and an even more intense bloodlust filled Magina's eyes as he watched his latest victims huddle together like helpless lambs to the slaughter.

Once his men gathered up all of the villagers, he would devour the tastiest looking ones, just in time for the next phase of the plan to-

"Chief Magina! Chief Magina!"

"Huh?"

In the midst of imagining the rewards of yet another job we'll done, one of his subordinates came rushing towards him with a panicked look on his face. Whatever it was, it had been important enough to intrude his fantasies.

"We have a problem!"

"What? What kind of problem?"

"The village guardians are returning sooner than we anticipated, they'll be upon us at the head of the hour!"

"Shit!"

If there's one thing Magina hated more than an interrupted fantasy, it was an interrupted meal.

Regardless, he knew better than to indulge his vices when he was on a timetable.

After making some quick calculations in his head, he turned to the subordinate to inform of his changes to the plans.

"Change of plans, we're just going to kill most of the villagers here and abscond with the rest."

"Of course, chief."

"Now then, let's-huh?"

Just as Magina was about to give the orders to begin the slaughter, he noticed something... unusual happening out of the corner of his eyes.

He wasn't sure how to describe it as exactly, but he had the distinctive feeling that someone was trying to do something heroic and dumb...which was something he absolutely hated seeing.

"Hold that thought."

Which is why he was going to go handle it himself. Well, that and one other reason.

'Oh well, if I can't indulge in a perfectly executed plan, I can at least beat out some stress relief.'

...

"Okay...that was...fifteen...people of a village...of...forty? Shit..."

At this point, Shino had burned up his last three mirror tricks and was basically running on fumes.

He had done as much as he could with his limited resources, rescued as many people as he could and needed to bail...that said, he felt like he could still do a little more.

"Okay, maybe I can't use my ability anymore, but I still know some back routes...maybe if I-"

"Hello, little guy. Any particular reason you're here and not cowering in the square like a good little lamb?"

"Oh...dang it."

Just as Shino was about to try and save one last person from a grizzly fate, a massive Shark Folk warrior that was radiating with power appeared behind him like a shadow of the reaper.

Every fiber of Shino's being told him that he should've been running in this exact moment...but he couldn't.

It wasn't because he was so scared he was paralyzed, if anything, the fear in his soul was causing him to run harder.

[Earth Spell: Binding Mud]

Instead, much to his oblivious horror, the Shark Folk warrior had used a combat spell that locked Shino in place by virtue of a sinking ground.

Every step he tried to take simply caused him to fall deeper and deeper into a dirty mire that threatened to drown him.

Unfortunately, his fate was gonna be much worst.

"I don't have any clue who you are exactly, little demon, but know this," the Shark Folk began to monologue for no apparent reason. "I am having a rather stressful day and you running around and saving people you shouldn't have, has made it a worst. So before you think of cursing me for what's about to happen, please know, it was all your fault."

'Shit! I need to-'

POW!

'...oh.'

"Ow...fragile. Just like glass."

Before Shino could even activate this ability, the Shark Folk warrior had simply punched forward with an Allcana enhanced fist and slammed it directly into his gut.

The blow came so fast and hard that Shino couldn't even let out a scream as the blow had pulverized his insides, shattered his spinal and sent him flying into a brick cottage.

So numbed from the pain, that he didn't even realize that he had already gone through the wall and was laying on a bed of rubble.

'Ah...'

Shino could feel his life slip away second by second...but the strange thing was...he didn't feel angry.

If anything...he felt...sad.

'If...if only I could've done more...'