Bandits On The Road

-Alexis Lycan, 18 years old-

Alexis walks with Jessica towards the outskirts of Starfall village. There in a large area, cleared of all vegetation, is the lumber felled by the villagers. Said clearing was their destination. Jessica was in the Lycan domain on an official visit after all.

"I am impressed you were able to get the operation under way so quickly." Jessica says while eyeing the bustling people around her. They were carrying axes and rope with big grins on their faces.

Alexis chuckles before replying. "As you can see, the villagers were extremely motivated to begin." he says while gesturing towards the excited village folk.

"I see." She giggles. "And how much have you managed to gather so far?" she asks in regards to the lumber.

"It will be better to see for yourself, we are almost there."

Alexis wore a slight smirk as he led her towards the clearing. They were finally there.

Jessica gasps softly when she eyes the area. A great many logs were gathered, stacked neatly into piles. The amount shocks her. There is over double the amount she was initially expecting. She steps forward to examine them. As she takes a closer look, half of the trees were cut by an extremely sharp blade, in seemingly one swing. She quickly flicks her eyes to Alexis, but decides not to question it, it would be rude to do so, she decided.

In truth, Alexis had been practicing his blade work on the trees in the area. He had been dragging them here afterwards to hide the evidence of his morning practice. Though doing so had always covered him in sweat and dirt. He shudders when he remembers the lectures Sabrina had given him. She could be a scary woman.

"So many..." Jessica finally mutters, still in awe at the amount gathered in just a short time.

"Like I said, my people have been very motivated." Alexis says while smiling at her.

Jessica nods a few times before fixing her expression. "Ahem. How soon until they're able to be transferred?" She asks.

He grins slightly. "Whenever you are ready.

-

Alexis watches the carriage carrying Jessica Anaxia depart from the village. She is an interesting woman, and he is pleased that he could now count her among his allies. He needs to shore up as many competent people as he could.

He had received a Note of Transfer from her before she left in exchange for the lumber.

In the Dragonair Empire, large transactions are handled through the state owned bank. Every noble is required to have an account by the time they inherited their lands. This way, any due taxes could be drafted directly from the bank by the Empire's official. Now, there is no reason for a tax collector to travel through the Empire.

A Note of Transfer is essentially a check that was used to notify the bank of a transfer of gold from one account to another. Nobles no longer had to cart around large chests of gold with them wherever they went.

The amount given to Alexis was no small sum. He can now afford to pay the villagers for their hard work as well as start other projects. Various officials in the village have been keeping track of how many trees an individual had felled. He would have to go to a city to withdraw the gold, as most commoners did not have an account with the bank.

-

Alexis is on the road leading towards the closest city with a bank, Neverand. He personally undertook this trip because he wanted Ryan to stay in Starfall to defend the area. Now that a deal was signed between the Lycan and Anaxia families, Starfall village is almost irresistible to bandits and brigands. The Lycan domain only has Ryan and the six men at arms underneath him to defend the domain. Alexis wants to withdraw money from the bank to expand his forces and pay the villagers their due.

He continues on the road for a while before he gets the faint feeling he is being watched. The hair stands up on his arms and his neck tingles. He casually looks behind him and sees a lone rider wearing a dark cloak following him. Alexis tightens his grip on the reins and glances at the sword on his hip. He has a strong feeling he will have to draw it soon. And he was right.

A man, followed by six others steps out of the woods surrounding the road. They are all armed and wear vulgar grins.

"Stop right there mister." The man in front says arrogantly. He is pointing a chipped sword at Alexis.

Alexis pulls on the reins and stops his horse a good distance from the man, the leader, he presumes.

"How can I help you, sir?" Alexis says good naturedly, feigning an ignorant personality.

The leader grins even wider and steps a bit closer. "Well... I was thinking that I want that horse you're riding." the man says slowly. The bandits behind the man snicker.

"My horse?" Alexis says, still acting ignorant. He is eyeing the men, they weren't on guard, clearly thinking that he was an easy mark. The weapons and armor they are wearing are in poor condition and falling apart. His eyes survey his surroundings for other surprises that may be waiting. After a quick pass, he spots two young girls tied up in the woods the men stepped out of. Their clothes are torn and their breasts are clearly visible. Tears are flowing down their faces as they huddled together. It is clear what the foul men had done to them.

The blood in his veins boil as he remembers the way his father had constantly raped his mother, and how the bandits in his employ did the same to the villagers. Anger flashes in his eyes and his shadow wavers underneath him. He casually grips his sword and leans forward slightly.

"Yes, you dumb motherfucker! I want your horse! Now get off rig-" The bandit leader starts, but is interrupted when Alexis suddenly appears in front of the man and shoves his sword through his throat. Blood splatters all the other men and their mouths hang open. They didn't see Alexis move, one second he was on his horse, the next he was killing their leader.

"Fuck!" A bandit yells as he hastily readies his spear. But Alexis is already standing behind the man and proceeds to cleave him two. The two halves of the man fall to the ground with a wet thwack.

"What the fuck is goi-" Another man screeches but is killed before he could finish his sentence.

The other four bandits are slaughtered before they could even swing their weapon at the young Duke. Alexis then turns towards the last remaining man, the one that followed him on the horse, and grins.

The man swears loudly before turning his horse around and galloping away. He is badly shaken and has pissed himself in fright. But Alexis suddenly appears, standing lightly on the front of the brigand's saddle, and beheads the fleeing man.

Alexis is using a shadow technique called blink. It allows him to seemingly teleport by traveling through the shadows and popping out of any shadow in the area. It is an overwhelming power.

After confirming every one is dead, he then turns towards the woods.

Alexis walks slowly to the two women in the woods, who are still cuddled together and shaking. They are clearly terrified and probably thought they were next.

Alexis slowly approaches them with his hands out to show he meant no harm. He then slowly takes off his pristine cloak and drapes it over them.

"My name is Duke Alexis Lycan. You're safe now." He says softly to the trembling women.