"One down.... Nine left...."

Immediately the guard alerted them, Arin increased his walking pace, with Tessa following behind him. Her mission was to observe him, so of course, she would follow him.

Meanwhile, Fang instantly shouted, "All the guards stationed at the gate should come here immediately!"

The guards, hearing this, instantly left the gates, heading towards Fang.

She instantly told them the exact same thing that Arin told her.

"Station yourselves near the homes, in case any of the bandits manage to slip past."

"Understood!" the seven guards said in unison.

Immediately after that, she ran towards the storage hall to protect it against any of the bandits that managed to get there.

'I hope the bandits will be eliminated for good this time,' Fang thought as she glanced back while running to look at Arin.

Arin and Tessa had almost reached the exit gate of the village where the guard shouted from. Thankfully, there were no houses around the area of the exit gate, so he would be able to engage the bandits without destroying any house.

Arin glanced at the gate. 'Though, this gate will suffer much damage. It'll even be completely destroyed.'

Since the bandits were coming from the exit gate, they'll surely destroy the gate to enter the village. Though, he wasn't concerned about it, because first of all, it was a wooden gate, so it could easily be replaced, and secondly, Fang told him that the bandits always destroyed it, so it wasn't like this would be the first time.

He glanced at Tessa before asking, "I just want to know, there's no penalty for killing the bandits, right?"

Tessa smiled softly... a smile that caused Arin's body to shiver.

'What is this feeling?' Arin thought.

He didn't know why, but it was almost as if he wanted her to smile again.

"No, there's no penalty," Tessa replied. "In fact, that's the best thing to do."

Arin expected this reply, but he just wanted to be sure.

In this world, bandits were seen as murderers, so if a bandit is killed by someone, it isn't considered a crime. In a way, it was even considered a good deed.

"Great," Arin whispered to himself as he eyed the gate.

With his enhanced hearing, he could already hear footsteps approaching and voices, which were certainly that of the bandits.

Tessa folded her arms again before speaking, "I'll hide somewhere close by and observe you."

"Okay," Arin replied shortly as he watched her walk away.

Bringing his attention back to the gate, he thought, 'Since she'll be observing me, I have to find a way to stop my body from healing itself if I get injured.'

Even though he wasn't in his Vampire form, his enhanced physical capabilities and senses were still available, alongside his healing capabilities.

The footsteps drew closer, and Arin readied himself. Suddenly, he felt someone coming from behind him.

He turned back, and it turned out to be Tessa.

Now standing in front of him, she unsheathed her sword, stretching it towards him.

Arin squinted his eyes, his expression clearly showing that he was reluctant to collect it.

Tessa chuckled lightly. "Don't worry, it won't affect my assessment of you."

Arin was cautious because she could reduce his assessment by saying that he wasn't prepared because he didn't bring a weapon.

'I'm sure she'll keep true to her words,' Arin thought.

With that, he collected the sword from her.

"The sword's Rank isn't that high, so I'll still be sure that anything you do was done by your own strength," Tessa said.

"Okay," Arin said. "Thank you."

Tessa smiled and nodded her head before walking away. Now, it was time for Arin to focus on the bandits.

And he didn't have to wait, because...

BOOM!

A sword suddenly struck the wooden wall, destroying it instantly.

Arin furrowed his brows, fixating his eyes on the ten individuals that stepped into the village.

Just like Fang said, nine of them were men while the last individual was a lady who looked to be in her early thirties.

Talent was something that determined how far one could climb the rankings. Apart from the lady, the other nine also looked to be in their thirties, and yet, some of them were still at the Common Rank. That was because they didn't have enough talent to progress, get stronger, and climb the rankings. They had reached their limits.

The lady had a somewhat masculine appearance, with short black hair, and visible muscles.

Her sword was large, but the weight was nothing to her... as expected of a Warrior.

The other two Warriors in the group were holding large axes, and they were standing in front of the seven Mages.

"Hahaha! Once again, they have all entered their homes in fear!" one of the Mages laughed.

"Shut up!" the woman exclaimed. "We don't have enough time. I'll go to the storage hall while you all raid their homes."

One of the Mages suddenly looked ahead and noticed that someone was standing not too far from them.

"Leader, look!" the Mage said, pointing his hand in Arin's direction.

The lady noticed Arin, and a slight frown appeared on her face.

"He's holding a sword," she said. "With the way he's dressed, I'm sure he was hired by the village to stop us."

"And they think that'll work, haha!" one of the Warriors laughed.

With an unbothered expression, the lady spoke. "Scar, finish him."

The Warrior, who had a scar on his face, gripped his large axe and stepped forward, walking towards Arin.

Arin just stood in one spot without saying anything. He didn't even grip his sword. Instead, his eyes were just fixated on the Warrior who was approaching him.

'With just one look, they think I'm a weakling,' Arin thought.

Scar kept advancing towards Arin, with one thought in his mind: 'He isn't even running. And what's that look in his eyes?'

The look in Arin's eyes pissed Scar off, and he suddenly increased his pace, dashing towards Arin.

Seeing this, Arin finally decided to move. He dashed towards Scar as he gripped the sword.

WHOOSH!

"AGHHHHHH!" Scar let out a cry as he activated the only Warrior Technique he knew.

"Great Axe Strike!"

The axe he was holding suddenly vibrated, and after reaching Arin, he swung down with great force.

WHOOSH!

With quick reflexes, Arin slid to the left, evading Scar's axe.

BOOM!

The axe struck the ground where Arin was once present.

But that wasn't all.

The same moment Arin slid to the left, he swung the sword with great force towards Scar's neck.

He was just too fast, and Scar was too slow to notice it, so...

WHOOSH!

Scar's head was instantly separated from his neck as blood spurted out.

The other nine watched in horror as their comrade's head rolled on the ground.

Meanwhile, Arin swung the sword, getting rid of the blood that was on it before looking up.

His expression turned cold as he whispered, "One down..... Nine left..."