Hostages

Paul and Rena each quickly moved to distract two of the four bandits that Jen and Lethen were fighting. They were holding their own without issue, but the fight was going to go nowhere and Lucius was still trying to get out of the dirt. It seemed the kick from the Arts user was rather strong and knocked the energy out of him.

Rena shot spell after spell at the bandits attacking Jen, but in her caution to not hit an ally, the spells were easy to dodge so none connected. Paul was suffering the same consequences of missing shots because he was working to avoid hitting Lethen in the confusion of combat.

Rena glanced over and noticed that Lucius was no longer laying in the dirt and had vanished from his spot. When she glanced back to Jen, Lucius was behind one of the bandits.

"[Forsaken Arts…]…Erugh!"

He attempted to make a strike at his back, but after hearing the trigger word, the man he was going to hit swung around with his fist and planted it solidly in the boy's face. The hit caused him to stagger back several steps and blood poured from his nose while tears automatically welled up in his eyes. The bandit moved to take advantage of Lucius' opening, but Rena would not have it.

She quickly gathered the mana required for one of her stronger spells. "[Ventus: Wind Spear]"

A near invisible spear instantly pierced through the bandit's chest, right through his heart. Blood spurt from the wound and sprayed Lucius in the face.

Jen, now having only one enemy to worry about was able to finally take the advantage in her bout. "[Sword Arts: Heavy Slash]"

Her sword began to glow as she swung it in a downward motion using her strength, the weight of the blade, and the enhancement provided by the mana for the art to create a devastatingly strong impact. For a second, her foe was able to block the overhead strike with his sword, causing the ground beneath him to crack. However, his weapon was not up to the task and it was broken in two from the force. Jen's sword bisected the man from head to groin.

Lethen and Paul began to finish off their own foes. Paul's onslaught of arrows was able to create a spot for Lethen to shield bash and stun one of them before piercing them in the gut. Paul continued to pepper the other bandit with arrows until he looked like a human sized porcupine.

Rena looked to Lucius who had his back to them now and was looking calmly at the remaining two bandits that were still next to the captives. They each had one of the women in one hand and a blade to another. Rena watched as Lucius' body began to twitch. He was about to attack.

"Lucius, hold!" she shouted quickly.

Suddenly all the tension in his muscles relaxed and she sighed in relief. She was sure that if he attempted to attack them that those villagers would lose their lives.

"Smart girl. Tell you what. You can keep the other woman, the brat, and the baby. Then you let me and my friend here leave with these two." One of them offered.

"Okay." Lucius said simply.

"No! Not 'okay', kid. Gods, what is wrong with you?" Jen asked.

"This was not our job and by stopping the fight here, Rena is in less danger. There really was not a point in getting involved in the first place anyway since we were supposed to be hunting down a bear, not bandits." Lucius argued.

Again, Rena could not believe what she was hearing. Who was this…it reminded her of when they were in the woods…when something else was in charge.

"Lucius, is that you?" she asked.

He looked at her with soft eyes. "Yeah? Who else would I be?"

His eyes clearly showed that he was her friend. His body language and facial expression relaxed while looking at her and even remained that way while looking at the party, but when he looked at the bandits and hostages, that caring gaze just vanished.

"We are going to save them Lucius. Okay?" Rena said.

The boy simply nodded in response. The air was still between the two groups. At first the faces of the two bandits were ecstatic that they were going to be able to leave, but now they were frustrated that the two girls talked the boy down.

They did not seem too happy with them at the moment, but that was not Rena's problem. As the two groups stared at each other, she thought frantically about how to fix the situation. If they made a move, then the bandits would slit the women's throats without hesitation. If they did nothing, then they could be stuck here for hours. If they let the bandits get away, then who knows what would happen to those women.

"Rena, if you want to save them, I know you can come up with a plan."

Rena glanced at her friend who offered those words of encouragement. "Mmm," she acknowledged.

If he still had the ability to use his mark, then this would not be a problem. Gods, if he could use his thunder magic, this wouldn't be a problem. It was well known for explosive bursts of power and speed…

"Paul. I have an idea. Can you use your Art to split that arrow and hit them without hitting the girls?" Rena whispered.

Paul thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yea, but I don't know if they will get their fast enough to stop them from slitting their throats first. Or even putting the girls in the path of the arrows."

"I have a plan for that. When you are ready to activate your Art, whistle and I will do my part."

"They might die if we do this you know?"

"They might live too."

Paul nodded and waited for a few seconds tightening and loosening the grip he had on his bow several times over. Faster than Rena could almost see he pulled his bow up and drew the string, he let out a sharp whistle before letting the arrow go.

"[Bow Arts: Twin Arrow]!" "[Ventus: Tailwind]"

Rena and Paul activated their abilities at the same time. The arrows split in two and were boosted by a massive gust of magical wind that multiplied their speed at least three times over. Before the bandits could react, each of their skulls were pierced by the arrows and the collapsed to the ground, dead instantly.

Everyone rushed up to check on the villagers, that is except for Lucius who kept a watch out for them. The villagers thanked the party profusely over and over again with a the woman with the infant offering to rename her child after Paul.

The offer made the man blush and mumble and plead for her to not do that, which made the rest of the group laugh at him.

After tending to everyone's wounds with a few casts of her healing magic, Rena moved to heal Lucius' wounds.

"Take off your shirt please."

"Okay."

Underneath his shirt, Rena saw his toned musculature and she began to blush a little, however the feelings quickly dissipated as she noticed the severe bruising and one of his ribs being misshapen. She panicked and cast her healing magic multiple times in a row, rapidly healing the wound and repairing the broken bones.

Thanks to the speed at which they set themselves and moved, the healing process seemed about as painful as the process in which the injury was obtained.

"Sorry." Rena mumbled.

"I'm fine." Lucius answered.

Things felt a little awkward at the moment, but she did not know what to do to break the tension while Lucius put his shirt back on. Luckily, Jen was able to break the silence when she approached.

"Looks like these girls were transporting goods with their husbands to Pelith. They are from the village that we are hunting that bear, so we are taking them with us back to the village for now. You good with that kid?"

"Not a problem." Lucius nodded.

Rena did not miss the curious glance Jen gave her friend, though she could not blame her. This felt so odd…