80 Manius the Trap Master

In total, there are six of the poachers and all of them have turned their attention to Felis. Jumping out from our cover using my Air and Fire manipulation to use small explosion by my feet to propel me forward. And taking a page out of Milla's book and use Fire Enchant on my fists, sending the closest poacher flying into the cave's wall.

"What the hell! Where did these two come from!"

"Doesn't matter! We're under attack so just fight back!"

Three crossbowmen, two swordsmen, and a mage. All of them are around level 25-30 with Tier 3 classes, this doesn't seem too hard. The mage is preparing a spell as the three crossbowmen fire their bolts at me, but I deflect them with ease using my Wind Wall. As the two swordsmen approach, I give them a taste of my Ice Breath. While keeping up my ice Breath, I use my manipulation skills to bring down the air temperature even more while also sending out various ice magic spells. The mage in the back tries to heat the place up with a fire spell, but Lia intervenes with some water magic, brushing out any flames the mage tries to create.

Seeing how I blew away their bolts, the crossbowmen switch their attention to Lia as the shoot out another volley. I don't let this slip past me though, as I halt my Ice Breath and use my Gale Breath, sending it right in front of Lia, causing the directions of the bolts to shift once more.

Lia uses some more of her water magic to soak all the poachers while I continue to bring the temperature down, encasing the six of them in ice.

"Huh, that was much easier than I thought it would be... this can't be good, something bad is going to happen."

"Forget it, we should hurry and get this quest done with. You should have heard them earlier, their boss and a few others weren't here. We should hurry before any unnecessary trouble arrives."

"Sorry but that trouble has already returned, Miss." I voice calls out from behind us.

Turning back we see a group of three, led by a large well-built man. a quick look tells me that they are a step up from the group we just fought. The two guys who I can only describe as lackeys have Tier 4 classes with levels of 23 and 25. But the Boss locking dude with the fur clothing is some bad news.

{I told you this was going to happen.}

Name: Manius Flaccus

Race: Human

Titles: Wanted (800 Gold Pieces)

Class: Trap Master (Tier 5)

Level: 27

HP: 8,000/8,000 MP: 6,400/6,400 SP: 9,600/9,600

STR: 4,480

VIT: 3,520

DEX: 4,800

INT: 3,360

WIS: 4,640

MND: 3,280

His stats aren't too high over my total stats, but I don't think I would be able to actually fight this guy in a one on one. But I am confident in not losing either, still confident in not losing against all three of them for a pretty long time as well.

Not wanting to leak out any plans, I communicate with Lia via our Soul Connection, {get the cat out from the cage and bring her to the Dux. I'll keep these three busy. Contact me once you're out of the forest and I'll make my escape.}

Moving into the cave, Lia asks, {are you can handle them?}

{Win, no, but I can most certainly stall them for a while. The disparity between our stats aren't high enough to beat out my healing all at once, even with all three of them I should be able to hold on for a while. Now get going!}

Seeing Lia head into the cave, Manius yells out, "go and stop her, I'll deal with the feathered one."

"Not on my watch!" I yell as I return to my true form, giving the three of them a little surprise.

"Change of plans, help me catch this one. We should be able to make a lot of money selling this beast off. Far more than we can from whatever is in that cave."

That certainly did the trick, as I draw the attention of all three of them. Manius just stands in the back while lackey #1 and #2 are off to each of my sides, pelting me with crossbow bolts. In an attempt to deal with them quickly, I use my Freezing Flame Breath and sweep across the area. But they aren't anywhere as easy to deal with as the first group was as Manius and the lackeys avoid being hit. But unlike the sandy beach where I used this last, the forest serves as an easy way for the fire to spread as the forest slowly turns into an icy wasteland.

To my surprise, as the ice spreads around the ground it reveals several traps around where Manius was previously standing. I know those weren't there when we first got here, so those must have been placed by Manius in the short time he's been here. Just when did manage to do that? I've made sure to keep him in my sights at all time and I didn't even notice despite that.

Lia finally exits the cave with Felis right behind her. Taking a quick glance at what I've done to the forest, she wishes me luck as the two of them run in the opposite direction of Manius. It will be a bit of a detour since Manius and the ice are blocking off the way we initially came, but she will have to deal with it since there is little choice right now.

With Lia and Felis out from view, I say, "this might be more difficult than I thought."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Manius says while tossing a couple of things onto the ice, "ice with the propagation properties of fire and fire the doesn't burn but freezes, you are a lot more trouble than I initially thought. But that just raises your worth once we sell you off. I've dealt with intelligent monsters before and they all overestimated themselves, and I don't believe that you're any different."

No, I'm fully aware that he is stronger than me and that I won't win. But as long as this doesn't go on for too long then I don't think I will lose.