Three headless bodies lay cooling on the damp earth. Stell stood before the yawning maw of the cave, her glowing golden eyes piercing the absolute darkness within.
[Cave interior topography scan complete...]
[Internal life-sign scan complete... Target individuals detected: 142.]
"So this is the bandits' hideout, Teacher?" Takson's voice was low and steady.
He stepped over the fresh corpses, the battle-axe that had been his constant companion for years resting comfortably on his shoulder.
He saw the faint, flickering light in Stell's eyes and knew, from long experience, that she was processing information.
A few seconds later, the light faded.
"Affirmative," she stated. "This is the target's primary base of operations."
"Query: Takson, are you prepared?"
"Of course," he replied, his grip tightening on the worn leather of his axe handle. The easygoing, friendly expression he usually wore had vanished, replaced by a mask of cold, murderous intent.
He had volunteered for this mission. After hearing Stell's analysis of the caravan attack, a cold, familiar rage had settled in his heart.
To use monsters to prey on innocent travelers... these bandits were worse than beasts.
They were no longer human. He wanted to make them suffer, to deny them the quick, clean death his teacher would have granted them.
He knew her methods. Stell was efficient. Against non-mage opponents, she always chose the quickest, most painless method of termination.
In his mind, this was not a sign of coldness, but of a strange, angelic compassion; she couldn't bear to see others in pain.
"Reminder: Topographical data has been uploaded to your terminal. You may access it at any time," Stell said, her voice cutting through his thoughts.
The "terminal" was the small, in-ear device she had given him years ago.
A simple press of a button would project a holographic interface before his eyes, providing him with a detailed map of the cave, a constant communication link to her, and various other useful functions.
"Right," he said with a nod. "You stay up here and watch over Alice, Teacher. I'll be back soon."
"..."
He didn't wait for a reply; he was used to her silences. But just as he was about to step into the oppressive darkness of the cave, she spoke again.
"Reminder: Maintain open communication. Ensure situational stability."
"...Right," he said, a flicker of surprise on his face before he schooled his features.
….
As Takson's figure was swallowed by the darkness, Stell turned and walked back towards the edge of the clearing.
A small, blonde-haired girl was peeking out from behind a large, moss-covered rock, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and insatiable curiosity.
….
The silence was thick, broken only by the chirping of crickets in the surrounding forest. Alice and Stell sat on the rough-hewn wooden bench where the bandit lookouts had been just minutes before.
The three corpses had been unceremoniously incinerated, leaving behind only a faint, acrid smell in the air. They were waiting for Takson's return.
Stell was not worried. She had no doubt about the outcome. The device she had given her apprentice years ago was more than just a communicator and a map.
It included a "life-support" function, a fail-safe of her own design. If his vital signs ever dropped to a critical state, it would automatically trigger two protocols.
First, it would open an instantaneous portal to her exact location.
Second, it would release a pre-charged Fourth Bullet, reversing any fatal damage. He was, for all intents and purposes, immortal.
Of course, the life-support function was a one-time use. After activation, it would need to be recharged by Stell.
So now, she waited. She waited for Takson to fail, to be "killed" and teleported back to her. Then, using the coordinates of the open portal, she would go in herself and finish the job.
If, by some miracle, he managed to clear the hideout on his own, that would be a pleasant surprise.
But Alice, sitting beside her, knew none of this. From her perspective, Stell had just sent her apprentice, alone, to fight an entire bandit encampment. She couldn't see the numbers from Stell's scan, but she could guess from the size of the cave.
Is she that confident in him?
But then, she remembered. She remembered Takson, standing over the bisected corpse of that giant bull-monster. She remembered the effortless way he had dispatched it.
He... he is really strong, she thought. Stronger than I ever imagined.
With that realization, her worry melted away, replaced by a quiet sense of awe.
Stell, who had been passively monitoring the girl's emotional state, noted the rapid shifts in her facial expressions.
She couldn't read minds, so she had no way of knowing the cause. A new, troubling hypothesis formed in her processors.
The trauma... has it caused some kind of psychological instability?
She began to run a search through her database for information on "post-traumatic stress" and "psychiatric treatment."
The vast repository of knowledge she had downloaded from the internet of the previous world contained a wealth of information on the subject.
And so, a small, and rather significant, misunderstanding was born.
….
Inside the Hideout…:-
"Aaargh!"
"My hand!"
"My leg! Aaaah!"
"I surrender! Please, spare me! No…!"
The sounds of clashing steel and agonized screams filled the cavern. The air was thick with the stench of blood. The celebratory feast had turned into a slaughter.
Takson stood before them, his face a cold, emotionless mask. He didn't bother to look at their faces. They were scum, not worthy of being remembered.
"Die!" one of them shrieked, charging at him.
"Spear of the Goddess."
Schlick.
The bandit was impaled by a lance of golden light.
Takson was a master of this particular divine spell, his most practiced and deadliest art. He had carved a path from the entrance to this main chamber, and every bandit he had encountered along the way had met the same fate: a golden spear from below, shattering their spine, leaving them crippled and helpless.
Thwip, thwip, thwip!
Arrows and crossbow bolts flew at him from the shadows. But they never reached their target.
Voom...
A translucent, shimmering barrier appeared around him, and the projectiles stopped dead in mid-air.
This was his own creation. A spell he had developed himself, based on his observations of his teacher's combat style, pieced together from the various grimoires she had given him.
A spell to reflect ranged attacks.
….
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