Bandits

Rustle— Rustle—

Regis continued to sprint as he had a glimpse of what seemed to be the exit as he followed along the stream of water.

On his back, excitement also filled Pandora's eyes.

It didn't take long before the two of them were able to get out of the forest.

"Ah!"

She squirmed as the rays of the sun directly hit her.

"Finally!" Regis also took a deep breath as he enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

In the forest where they spent a few weeks, it felt cold due to the density of the trees that stopped the golden rays of the sun.

Not to mention that the forest was also extremely humid.

Therefore, the two of them really enjoyed the refreshing warmth of the sun.

"Thank goodness we're finally able to get out of the forest! Let's never go into another forest ever again!!" 

Pandora sighed exaggeratedly as she slumped on Regis's back.

Regis laughed, "Sure~ Su–"

However, he felt something amiss before he could finish his words.

The smile on his face disappeared as it was replaced by a serious expression.

Pandora noticed this and kept silent.

The two of them had formed some sort of link in the past couple of weeks, resulting in them having an inkling of what the other was planning even without needing to speak with each other.

However, Regis's expression turned normal in the next instance.

He then strolled leisurely, "What do you want for dinner, Sister?"

"Wild boar meat!"

Pandora excitedly responded.

Regis had a helpless smile on his face as he spoke, "You really like wild boar meat, huh?"

"Yes! Its meat is so delicious and flavorful!! It became my favorite immediately!!!" Pandora responded energetically.

Regis giggled at her reaction.

"Really? Then I think I don't have a choice. Let's hunt a wild boar late–"

Swoosh—!!!

Regis heard something cutting through the air as he pretended to trip and fall.

"Eh? Did he really just dodge my arrow because of that?"

"Hahahaha! What a lucky bastard!!"

"Well, he won't be for long…"

…

Regis had a distressed expression on his face as he shouted, "W-Who are you!?!?"

'One, two, three… 6 bandits?'

'Two swordsmen, two warriors, an archer, and someone wearing a robe…'

'Tsk, this will be easy if I use my demonic power…' Regis thought as he glanced at Pandora.

However, the men who appeared only laughed at his face.

"You don't even know us? Then you must be some ignorant brats to not know the name of Ferdat bandits!!!"

One of the warriors shouted as he held his mace over his shoulder.

'What the hell…'

Regis felt himself cringing as he saw the proud expressions of the bandits.

Meanwhile, Pandora bit her lips as she observed the bandits.

She trusted Regis, she knew that he was strong to some extent.

However, there were six bandits.

Thus, she wasn't sure if the both of them could survive this ordeal.

'Come to think of it, I don't really know that much about him…' She thought to herself as she tightened her grip on his shoulder.

Aside from knowing that he was from the slums and other things, Pandora was in the dark about his capabilities and whatnot.

The only times she had seen his strength was during hunting.

'All I know right now is that he can defeat wild beats like the wild boar even without the use of energy…'

However, seeing his distressed expression, she thought that the situation was serious.

'If only I knew even one spell…'

Pandora bit her lip harder as she blamed herself.

Unbeknownst to her, Regis was only putting up an act.

In fact, he had finished analyzing the professions of each bandit and was already planning on how to take them down.

"B-Brothers… Can we talk this out?"

Regis stuttered as he looked at the bandits in fear.

The bandits sneakered as they looked at each other.

The warrior who spoke earlier spoke again as he stepped forward, "The two of you, kneel down."

"O-Okay! Please don't hurt us…"

Regis pleaded as he placed Pandora down before getting to his knees.

Pandora also knelt afterwards.

"Hmmm…"

The warrior walked slowly as he circled around the two.

He then stopped as he stared at Pandora's face, "You're quite the looker aren't ya?"

He stared at her down as he licked his lips.

"You're gonna be quite good when you grow up- No, even now, I ca— AHHH!"

The warrior couldn't finish his words as Regis suddenly punched his groin with full power.

"Disgusting."

Regis said as his previous scared expression was replaced by a calm one.

He then went and grabbed the mace out of the warrior's hand before smashing his head with it.

Pop!

His head then popped like a balloon.

'Thankfully, none of them can use energy…'

Regis sighed as he dashed towards the other bandits.

"W-What!?"

"Fuck, get him!!!"

…

The bandits were able to make sense of what happened after a short moment.

The two swordsmen immediately attacked Regis's right and left side while the other warrior rushed at the center.

Clang— Clang— Thud!!!

However, Regis was able to defend the two swordsmen's attack by placing the mace in front of him horizontally while kicking the warrior in the stomach.

"Argh!"

"He's quite good!!"

…

The four of them exchanged attacks as Regis focused on defending against his opponents.

However, it was obvious that he was slowly starting to get pushed back.

Clank—

It didn't take long before they got into a stalemate with Regis's mace being restricted by the swordsmen.

"Haha! Got you!!"

The warrior laughed as he struck with his two-handed hammer.

However, his hammer only met air.

"What!?"

The three bandits were surprised as they saw Regis squatting on their weapons that were stuck together.

Thud! Thud!! 

The two swordsmen were met with a kick to their face.

Regis then performed a back flip as he grabbed the warrior's hair.

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

The warrior let go of his hammer as he grabbed Regis's hands.

"Shoot him now!!!"

Swoosh— 

An arrow cut through the air as it headed towards Regis's head.

"Hupp!"

Regis breathed as he circled around the warrior's body while grabbing his hair, using him as a shield.

"Fuck you!" The warrior shouted as he fought Regis, pushing him towards the arrow.

Knowing that he won't win in a contest of strength, Regis faced the arrow.

He widened his eyes as he moved his leg.

Swoo— Tush!!!

The warrior was shocked as he saw Regis kicking the stem of the arrow mid air.

His accuracy gave him goosebumps.

Swoosh— Swoosh—

However, the archer wasn't fazed as he shot out two more arrows.

Seeing this, Regis smiled.

He let go of the warrior's hair as he dashed towards the arrows.

His hands moved in a strange manner.

The first arrow soon arrived in front of him.

Just as the bandits thought that he would be killed, they were shocked as they saw the arrow as it was flung towards the ground.

Tung!

The first arrow was then embedded on the ground.

Swoosh—

However, Regis didn't have the time to celebrate as the second arrow also arrived.

Nevertheless, the smile didn't leave his lips.

His hands moved in a strange manner once again.

Though this time, the arrow wasn't flung to the ground.

Instead, it spun in place.

Regis then performed a flip, kicking the arrow in the process.

Swoosh—

The archer felt a grip in his heart as the arrow grazed his right cheek.

"Be careful, I won't miss next time."

Regis smirked as felt the feeling of his Perfect Adaptation's activation.