A Terrifying Archer

[Arius POV]

BOOOMM!

"AAH!"

As we ran toward Grampa Edward's house, I heard a loud explosion and a cry nearby. Stopping in our tracks, panting, we look at each other before quickly running toward where the explosion sounded.

After running through a few small alleys, we arrive at the scene where I see Stella and Sophia facing a person wearing a large coat that completely covers their body. Behind the man was another person who was on the ground not moving.

"Huh? Stella! Sophia!"

"Arius? Jaque? Get out of here, this guy is dangerous."

"Wa?"

Hearing Stella's warning, I immediately stop to surveil the man that they were facing. While I had stopped, the two people with me had other ideas.

"Get away from them, you bandit! Challenger's Intent!"

Running head first at the man, the female guard pulls out her blade. As she ran toward the man, I see a white aura appear on the man and the guard.

"Hmm?"

"Just surrender you evildoer!!"

Bang!

"*sigh* Kids these days."

BANG!

"AHHH!"

With a cry, the guard gets flung backwards by a punch to her armour. Her previous attack had hit its mark but the man simply stood there after blocking it with an armoured glove.

"Hurry up, move!"

As the guard attacked and flew across the street, Big Brother Jaque quickly grabs Stella and Sophia, bringing them next to me.

"Stella, who are you facing?"

"I have no idea! He suddenly appeared after we took down the other guy. We got to run away. Sophia and I are pretty low on mana."

"I'm afraid that won't be an option."

As the guard pulls herself up, we see the man walking toward us. A brown furry cloak covered his entire body with the hood dropping over his face, the only thing that we could see was his two hands. His right hand had an armoured leather glove while the other simply had a basic black glove covering it.

"A skill that forces a person to fight is useless against someone who is planning to fight."

"Ah!"

Just as the man was talking, the guard emerges from the store that she got hit into with the only sign of being hit being a slight indent on her armour.

"Seems like there a little more to that skill."

"Shut it! Who are you?! Even the leader of the bandits isn't that strong!"

"Hmm? Ahh... It's my mistake then."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"Right now... I'm the second in command of those bandits. I'm here because a few people managed to knock out the chief arsonist."

While I couldn't see the man's gaze, I felt it shift toward Stella and Sophia. In response to the man's gaze, Big Brother Jaque and the guard quickly rush in front of them with both their swords drawn.

"Stay away from them!" "You'll need to fave me first Bandit!"

"Ha ha ha ha! Ha Ha HA! Seems like we have a slight problem then. But, luckily, I have an easy answer."

After a hearty laugh and speech, the man jumps back and raises out his hands. Instantly, in front of him, appears a blue glowing bow which he grasps with his left hand. Then, the man opens his coat and reaches inside with his right hand, pulling out a single arrow.

Grasping the arrow in his hand, the man nocks the arrow and immediately pulls it back and releases it.

PSiiuuuuu!

"Move!"

Seeing the arrow flying toward us, we quickly jump out of the way. After a small tumble and the arrow zooming past us, we get ourselves in fighting mode as the fight has begun whether we liked it or not.

"I hope you guys can fight just like you bragged."

"Of course."

"YEAH!"

"No, Arius, bring Stella and Sophia to a safe place-"

"But I can-"

"After that, you can join. Since I already know you can't stay still."

"Hey, how about me Jaque?"

"Stella, *sigh* recover some mana first."

With the quick conversation over, Big Brother Jaque and the lady quickly split up whilst engaging the coated man in battle. That leaves me with two girls who now showed signs of mana overuse, the two of them had pale faces and were sitting on the ground from a lack of energy.

Looking around for a good place to put them, I lay my eyes on the store that the female guard had previously been punched into.

'That should work.'

Carrying them one by one into the store, I notice that it's a clothing store. So the racks on racks of clothes, I simply take a few off the racks and put them in a pile. Then I slowly help Sophia and Stella lay on the piles.

"Ok, all good. You guys look sick, have some rest."

"..."

At this point, the two look very pale and sweaty. They were barely conscious as their eyes were semi-awake. After placing a few more pieces of clothes on them to form a makeshift bed, I quickly get up and put out the engraved dagger Grampa Edward gave me.

"Dakria, how strong is the guy we're facing? And, wait... Where did they go?"

Standing in the middle of the street, I didn't see a single person. There were only a few signs of battle, broken windows and many holes in the ground(a few of which were human-shaped.)

'That guy is extremely strong but it seems like he's limiting himself or has been severely injured. As for where the fight is, please look up, Arius.'

"Up?"

Raising my head up, I few people jumping and running around on the roofs of the buildings.

"OK! I'll be there in a bit."

Looking around for a way to get onto the roofs of the buildings, I see a narrow alleyway and have an idea. Running into the alleyway which was only around twice my width, I quickly grab onto one side of the alley before jumping to the other to a spot just a little higher up. Repeating it a dozen more times, I finally reached the top of the building.

"I finally reached-"

"WATCH OUT!"

BONK! BONG!

"AARRGGH!"

Just as I got to the top, I see two shadowing figures above me which immediately smack causing all of us to fall over.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Arius! We didn't think that you'd pop up here."

"What's going on?"

"The bandit is a lot stronger than expected. We got to make a plan to beat him but first move!"

Pulling us to the side, I see a single arrow hit our previous spot. Then the arrow magically floats into the air heading back to its sender. Quickly getting up, we start running and jumping to a different building, all while having a coated man shooting arrows at us.

"Come on. Do something more exciting else, I might get bored and kill you three!"

...

[Kaiser POV]

Sssip

Taking a sip of a hot cup of tea on my desk, I fiddle around with a small marble in my hand as I look at the plans I've written so far. After realizing that the S.T.A. was a temporary nuisance but a permanent benefit, I quickly started drafting plans to further my city. I couldn't help but admire the possibilities that could be achieved.

"Young Lord! Loung Lord!"

Hearing someone calling me outside my temporary residence(tent), I put the marble in my pocket before standing up and going outside.

"What is it?"

"Young Lord, we've received an urgent message for the commander but we couldn't find him so we've brought it to you, My lord!"

"Alright, pass it to me."

After passing me the message, the guard quickly backs away as I take a look at the paper.

TSK!

"Get the adventurers- NO! Get all are available guards and prepare our horses, immediately!"

"Yes, My Lord!"

'An attack on my city. An attack on my property. My work. It's high time for me to take out the trash.'

While outwardly, there was a cold-faced man, on the inside, there was cold brewing anger.

...

--------------------------

Stella Fun Fact: While most spells use your inner mana to change surrounding mana into different affinities, there are a few spells that have no affinity. Mana Affinity spells are simply spells that cause the surrounding mana to move without changing affinities. Mana Shield and Mana Bolt are few examples of them, simple constructs made of mana.