Chapter 66 - Wesley's... Epilogue (2)

At this point, the two swordsmen turned around and faced the azure-robed man. The one with the broadsword was a giant of a man, standing at around six feet six inches. His body was burly, and his muscles strained against his robe. He also had a strong face with a rectangular chin and a solid jawline. This man was the very prototype of a swordsman.

Comparatively, the other man was much shorter, standing at a height of six feet. His body was extremely slim, and his face was sharply defined, with every bone clearly visible. With his sky-blue hair and jade-green eyes, he was quite handsome.

Now that the azure-robed man was able to see their faces, he couldn’t help but be dumbfounded; they both seemed extremely young, barely past their teens. However, these two youths were emanating a subtle killing intent. The azure-robed man didn’t know whether the killing intent was because of all the carnage around them or something else, but he still grew wary.

Suddenly, the youth with the blue hair stepped forward. He took a single step, causing the azure-robed man to prepare for a fight. But before he could react, the blue-haired youth smiled and spoke:

"Greetings, Elder."

The burly youth also spoke, though he didn’t smile amiably like his companion:

"Greetings, Elder."

The azure-robed man furrowed his brows slightly. He couldn’t help but wonder how they knew he was an elder. However, the fact that they knew seemed to confirm something in his mind, though he still asked questioningly:

"Which year are you two from, and whose batch are you?"

The five black-robed youths behind the azure-robed man seemed surprised by the elder's words. None of them recognized these two, so they looked at them suspiciously. Some even secretly began preparing their spells.

The blue-haired youth continued smiling and spoke respectfully:

"We are sixth-year seniors. The batch under the second elder."

"Oh. The second elder..."

The azure-robed man looked around for a while, as if searching for something. After a short pause, he spoke again with a frown:

"Where is the second elder?"

The blue-haired youth's smile shifted to one of helplessness as he replied:

"The second elder is on vacation. We haven’t seen him in almost a year."

The azure-robed man suddenly understood something. He reflexively looked back at the five youths behind him and smiled resignedly. He turned back to the two youths in front of him and spoke:

"You two get going. We’ll still need to finish up here."

"Yes, Elder."

The two swordsmen were about to move, but before they could, a man next to them suddenly started running with all his might. The azure-robed man was caught by surprise and turned his head, watching as the man ran past him, heading toward the youths behind him.

However, before he could do anything, two cold lights—one blue and one black—rushed past him on either side, with the black one seemingly faster. A second later, a dark sword stabbed into the running man’s back, while a bluish greatsword chopped his head off an instant later.

The azure-robed man turned back to the two youths in front of him. As soon as he did, he noticed they were still standing there; one still had the same smile on his face, while the other stood motionless like a rock.

Their reaction time, their coordination, their ruthlessness—everything was top-notch. The azure-robed man couldn’t help but sigh at how superior these two were compared to his students.

The blue-haired youth stepped forward and spoke while smiling:

"We'll head out Elder."

The other burly youth also walked alongside him. Their two swords returned and attached themselves to their backs. The two just walked forward, but when they were walking by the five black robed youths, the burly youth with the broadsword suddenly spoke in growl like voice:

"You might want to consider attacks that do not come from a single direction."

With this said, the two swordsmen youths exited the building without hesitation. The five students simply stared slack jawed at these two youths. They simply had no idea what to say.

The azure robed man spoke with a hint of resignation in his voice:

"let us also leave. We have five four more places we need to visit."

The five youths didn’t even hear what the man said. They simply continued staring at the entrance with a myriad of expressions on their faces; surprise, fear, envy, veneration. They were simply overwhelmed by those two.

One of the girls spoke with a slightly shaky voice:

"E..Elder. Who were they."

The azure robed man simply shook his head and spoke:

"They are your seniors. The students of the second elder."

It seems that the man's answer didn’t satisfy the girl as she immediately asked another question:

"Why didn’t we see them during the send off ceremony?"

"Hmm. Because the second elder took his students out for their final test a year ago."

The azure robed man's words struck the five youths like lightning. The final test only took two weeks at which point they would graduate. What kind of test were those two taking for it to continue for a whole year.

"Enough. We're leaving as well."

The azure robed man didn’t want his students to think too much about those two, lest they start feeling inferior and lose their confidence as he himself started losing confidence. He couldn’t help but feel inferior to the second elder.

- - - - - - - -

Wesley and Kellan were moving south along a small dirt road that was surrounded on all sides by forest. Currently, neither Wesley nor Kellan had an ambiance of a smile on their faces, rather Kellan was even scowling.

Kellan turned to Wesley who was walking next to him and spoke with some annoyance. Only the annoyance in his voice made anyone who heard it feel some dread and fear.

"Wesley. What should we do now. Those little brats took our prey."

Wesley just kept looking forward while frowning. His eyes shone with heart wrenching coldness. He spoke without even turning:

"We are close to Blackreach City. There should be plenty of bandits around. We're bound to run into some of them."

Kellan only frowned further and spoke again with even more anger and irritation in his voice:

"Why didn’t we just use all those dead bodies. There was enough of them strewn all over the place."

Wesley simply turned his head and questioned Kellan with a calm but cold voice:

"Is that so. And what about those brats and the elder that was with them?"

Kellan's face changed slightly and he only snorted. Wesley just smiled slightly at Kellan and continued his walking as he walked:

"Forget it. We'll find the bandit base and get to work. Am sure they have more people there compared to that Inn."

After a few hours of walking around the back roads, Wesley's prediction came true and the two of them found a group of hundred or so bandits assaulting the guards of a small group of merchants.

Most merchants would rather avoid the back roads, but the towns that are located away from the main road still require things; so a few merchants would often brave these bandit stricken roads. Because of the danger, most merchants charged rather steep prices for their merchandise.

This current group of merchants were unfortunate as they have met with bandits. Although the profits merchants receive from these small towns bordered on extortion, this didn’t mean much if they got killed, so many merchants chose the safe path.

Wesley and Kellan were hidden in the shrubbery as they watched the scene of this battle. The bandits had almost double the amount of guards, and although the guards were better coordinated, they still couldn’t overcome the numbers advantage of the bandits.

Wesley turned to Kellan and spoke softly:

"This group of bandits seem unusually large. What should we do."

Kellan stared at the battle with a sharp gaze. He stayed quiet for a few seconds and then he turned to Wesley and spoke:

"Those guards are well organized. They should be able to kill half of the bandits before half them also perish. We'll wait for that moment."

Wesley only nodded his head. Although Kellan seemed hotheaded and was often itching for a fight, his skills in strategy and tactics were not something Wesley could compare to. Wesley's skills in strategy and tactics could be said to be impressive, but Kellan was simply a genius. He was practically built for war.

This was the reason Wesley asked for Kellan's advice. And, as Kellan predicted, almost half an hour later, the guards lost half of their numbers, but not before half of the bandits were dead or dying.

Kellan spoke with some fire flickering in his eyes:

"I'll take the front. You take the back."

"Understood."

Wesley and Kellan walked in different direction. Kellan walked directly towards the battle while Wesley circumvented the battle and headed towards the rear of the bandits.