TBATE - The Second Son

Chapter 4: Bandits?

We traveled for the whole day, sitting still really is hard. I wonder how the others are faring. Since I am but a baby, I was mostly carried by either my mother or Angela throughout the ride. The ride to the Grand Mountains was fun, there was lots of greenery, the view looks nice, especially with the Grand Mountains on the horizon.

Right now, the sun is setting. It looks beautiful, the sunset. Simply looking at the clouds painted by the setting sun calms my body. It removes my worries, fatigue, and paints my dull world with color. The sunset signifies the day ending, opposite to what the sunrise portrays, which shows that the day starts. Compare the sun to life, morning is where we start our journey when we are born. It passes by quickly, until when the sun shines at its brightest, at noon. Noon is where we hit our prime, it may be the shortest part of our life but it is where we shine the brightest, our zenith where we reach our highest point in life. Soon, the afternoon comes, where the heat from noon slowly dissipates, the air around cools down as the sun slowly fades into the distance. It is the time when we slow down and cool down. The sun slowly goes farther, to someplace beyond the horizon. Then came the cold and lonely night. Where the stars are visible in the sky, showing us how small and insignificant our existence is. It signifies that our time has come, where the bright light that illuminates our life has disappeared, death will come.

I would contradict my previous statement, life is..."ust", "gust", "August". A voice interrupted my train of thought. "August, staring at the sunset is fine. But, don't stare directly at the sun, look at the clouds and the sky." mother said. I nodded to show that I understood what she said and stared at the sky enveloped by the color of the sun.

Soon, night came. The sky is beautiful, the stars are clearly visible, nothing like in my old world where light pollution blocks the view. I've never had a stargazing experience as majestic as this one.

As we travel throughout the night, a pack of wild animals, or should I say, mana beasts launch an attack on our carriage. They defended it well, my mother protected me and my brother. Shielding us from the view. My brother and I got some glimpses of how they fought. Father used his gauntlets and fought at the front. Helen stood at the roof of the carriage, shooting arrows at whatever mana beast came near us. Jasmine went on the offensive and charged at the mana beasts with her two daggers. Angela went out of the carriage and defended the other side, to support both Durden and Adam.

They soon finish and set up camp. I've learned that the mana beasts that pulled our carriage are called Skittlers. They are ranked D-class, more efficient than horses on mountainous terrain but also cost more.

We then lit a bonfire and ate dinner. My brother was picked up by Adam who said he wants a light spar with my brother. I looked at him worriedly and stared at my father. My father agreed to let Adam spar with my brother but was told to not fight seriously. Who even agrees to let their son fight against an adult, an adventurer at that? Their fight soon begins.

Adam held his dulled staff with a standard front looking smug, while my brother looked at my father. Probably trying to look for permission or help him get out of the situation. My father nodded and my brother sighed deadpanned and blinked.

I felt it. As my brother opened his eyes, the aura around him changed. He looked like someone with authority...no, he looks like a master swordsman, fighting to protect something important. Well, it is my brother after all. He is strong.

My brother dashed forward and moved his two-handed grip to his right side. Adam tried to block an oncoming strike, but my brother suddenly dashed to his right quickly and tried to attack him from behind. Unfortunately, he slipped, giving Adam a chance to refocus after the surprise. He still persisted and attacked diagonally upwards, with Adam dodging.

Adam then followed up diagonally downwards, my brother ducked with plenty of breathing space. Their exchanges went back and forth until my brother landed a hit, a cheap one at that.

He charged at Adam, using his body and momentum to push Adam, which worked successfully. Adam got annoyed and tried to kick my brother in the head, but he managed to dodge safely. Adam, now serious, struck my brother with his weapon. My brother barely parried it as he flew quite a few meters back.

Mother and I immediately went to my brother, my mother healed the damage my brother sustained. Adam praised my brother's skills. My dad asked my brother where he learned how to fight like that. He told him that he read books and learned from some of his movements. I don't think there were books like that. If there were, then such a style of fighting should be well-known. A poorly made excuse, but it's the only plausible one.

I wonder if he is what I think he is. Well, I would have to ask him eventually down the line, for now, I'll keep it subtle.

As I finished using my mind to think, I heard Adam apologize to my brother. A voice I've heard for the first time spoke, it was Jasmine praising my brother and asking how he did such a technique. Durden went over and smacked Adam in the head. Well, that was somewhat satisfying.

Days later, we went over many sceneries and I've learned a lot more about this world and the mana beasts. Mana beasts range in sizes and strength, some are small yet powerful, some are large yet weak.

Depending on your luck, the mana core from a mana beast may have a beast will where you can use it to boost capabilities by obtaining some of the mana beast's abilities. In higher forms, you would also adopt how they somewhat look. Call me racist but if that's the case, then I would not bother obtaining a beast will. I would like to be completely human as it is the only life form I've ever been throughout the past and in the present.

After I've finished submerging from my thoughts, I once again resurfaced to reality. I was being showered by my mother while the boys were playing, unwinding from the fatigue that was built up throughout our journey.

Soon after, we continued on our journey to Xyrus. A few hours have passed when suddenly, the carriage shook. While we were wondering what happened, Helen shouted "Bandits!" with all seriousness, soon followed by a calmer tone "Prepare to engage!"

Well, I think that it's only a matter of time until we run into a group of bandits. If this world is really similar to the fantasy books I've read, then these types of actions would be common. Some would even commit more deplorable actions than just some mere bandits.

I was worried about the bandit attack, but it looks like the twin horns are strong. No use thinking about anything right now. I'm nothing but a mere baby who could at most walk and do what babies my age would have trouble doing. I would simply observe, analyze, and hope for our victory. I would watch with great interest, as it would help me in my future experience, hopefully as a mage.