"Little shit get back her-" one of the bandits shouted as they narrowly dodged Fer's attempt to throw a rock at him. "You're a fucking idiot don't charge into a trap! They're trying to split us up focus on the bitch! Stay together that's an order!" the bandit leader growled as he turned to Auriel and pulled out his rather rough looking sword and pointed it towards Auriel as she charged in to attack him the other bandits weren't quick enough to block her. But the leader on the other hand surprisingly stated, "Quick Blade: Riptose!" he called out as he deftly managed to get his blade into a position and smacked Auriel's spear to the side moving into stab her following that he was suddenly stopped by what could've only been Cole as a slash of magical energy cut into the man's armor, and made him bleed along his lower chest. The man coughed up blood and backed up quickly as the other bandits rushed towards Auriel to cover their boss with clubs, and knives. "I'll focus on the big guy! Try, and deal with the guards!" called out as he charged in with his golden blade at the injured man. He managed to get his blade up and blocks Cole's strike but barely stepping back and only managing to stay on the defense due to his serious wound on his stomach. "You think you can beat the sword hero!?" Cole called out trying to sound tougher than he felt as the man kept managing to use quick steps to dodge, and try to move out of Cole's way. "The Sword Hero!? What the hell!? Fine I'll deal with you like any other dreg!"

Fer threw and missed. He had almost accomplished his goal as he saw a few of them beginning to detach. He seemed like an easy target. A fool throwing rocks where any other man would at least have a club or some sort of wooden spear. Indeed, he was sorely missing his bow or at least his hunting knife.

The bandits however, seemed to at least have an experienced leader. He called the rest of the rabble back. Fer grit his teeth into a sardonic smile. The rabid dogs may be dumb but the handler was not. He cursed under his breath. Just as they had seen him an easy prey, weaponless and harmless. They now used that same assumption as a way to identify the real threat. Auriel would be the focus of their attention.

Eliminate the danger and deal with the weakling lather huh? Fer thought with bitterness. I’ll show you harmless.

He carefully jumped the tripping rope that would set off the trap. He headed towards the gathering bodies that would soon engulf his winged companion.

How dared they? The feeling of anger was not just at the fact that they would most definitely tear Auriel limb from limb but that they had discounted him as notihg more than an annoying gnat. Fer's anger welling up inside him. The shield at his forearm began to heat up. The green gem started to flicker, a reddish tint starting to form.

His mind started to go black. Only one thought seemed fixed in his thoughts.

Kill them

Kill them

His eyes flared as he saw the leader about to strike the holy warrior. He all but growled. Anybody seeing him approaching would have most certainly feel the murdeours aura but more probably they could see his eyes taking on the same reddish tint as his shield.

His shield slowly mutated into a round shape that morphed into a V but before more of the shield could be transformed any further a slash or a something hit the attacking bandit. That was enough to snap Fer out of his trance.

He shook his head to clear it and then hearing Cole’s order he rushed into the nearest bandits. He shield already in the morph setting he shouted. “Morph Shied: Small Kite!”
A quickl flash of green light and his shield was now in the shape of a small kite shield which point extended about half a foot from his knuckles. He would swing high with flat of the shield aiming at the head of one of the closest bandits approaching from on of the flanks to Auriel's left. Keeping the same momentum and direction, he would kneel while spinning and with the pointed edge he would aim for a lower part of the leg of the bandit next to his first target hoping to hit a knee or enough of the leg to try knock the other person to the ground.

Regardless of how effective his blows were, the moves would land him with him raising his shield to protect any downward blow. He would also be a lower smaller target. He may not be half as lethal as he would be if he had actual weapons but he would be dammed if he would not leave these bandits with something to remember him by.

The blow to the side of the head sent one of the bandit falling to the ground a bit dazed unexpecting the swift retaliation from the shield hero expecting him to play defense rather than offense. It was doubtful he was down for the count but he was out of it for a few moments. The next bandit was smacked rather hard by Ferr's attack making him shout but he quickly managed to get back up unlike the previous bandit. "The boss hits us harder!" the bandit shouted as he moved forward to swing his axe at Ferr's head. The other bandits seemingly diverted their attention from Auriel to try and pick off the weaker shield hero as they from Ferr's right came charging at him with their weapons raised high. When Auriel intercepted one of them they got in her face while their shortsword held firmly in their hand as the slashed at her violently. "Dead men tell no tales but tell me angel!? Do the gods do the same!?"

Cole for his part had managed to rather deftly deal with the bandit leader his blade crossing the enemy's but neither gaining a true upper hand. As their blades met, and parried, and overall tried to gain the upper hand Cole began to get more confident. However as Cole saw an opening his mind flared "NOW!" Cole stabbed forward and..."Quick Blade: Riposte!" the bandit leader called out as he used the same skill as before to parry Cole aside sending him on his backfoot he desperately began to block. Losing some of that just newly found confidence Cole held his blade close like Marcino instructed blocking practically and not fancily. "I'm not going to let you win!" Cole shouted wondering why his blade hadn't quite allowed him to overwhelm this guy!? He was wielding a legendary artifact wasn't he!?

Fer saved his breath instead of trying to answer the obvious taunt sent by the guy who had managed to be lucky enough to just miss his knee being cracked by the point of the small kite shield. Expecting a downward strike Fer presented the shield to the attacking axe. He reached up to grab the man by the fore arm and planting his feet, he rose forcefully using his right shoulder as a pivot point, he used his enhanced strength to throw the man to the ground.

The motion of the man's body sailing through the air would break up the small crowd that was gathering around Auriel and him. If he was successful, Fer would follow up with a downward blow with the edge of his shield against the man's wind pipe. If his throw as not successful, he would attempt to at least unbalance the man and with a side ways kick disrupt him further hopefully knowing the bandit to the ground.

He would then move to Auriel's back and block any sort of attack that would come from that side. He would call back to her without loosing sight of the attacking me. "Lady, may I have this dance? I block you strike?" the plan again was simple, he had performed the same technique with Cole. He would bock the attack and spin to let the winged warrior's spear take advantage of the opening and strike. The constant motion would glint off any strikes and would prevent the attacking group from overwhelming them.

The young Shield Hero felt a surge of energy and a feeling that could only be describe as happy. He had fought many battles before and while he had care for the lives of the people with him, he had never felt any closeness to them. Yet here, today, he wanted nothing more than to protect Auriel and Cole and at the same time be of use to them to achieve victory.

He held his shield ready and as if to embody what he was feeling, the green gem flashed warningly towards any would be attackers. He half smiled/half snarled at the bandits. "Step right up gentlemen, I think my friend here has something for you." Then in a joking manner that seemed to be an outlet for how dire the situation was yelled out. "Cole, when you are done playing we could use your help in taking out your share of the trash"

The bandit unexpecting the force of Ferr's blow was tripped up and summarily finished by the blow to his neck as he fell to the floor choking on the sudden pain in his throat. The man hacked up some blood but it being lethal was up for question. The other bandit struggled as suddenly he was now in the face of two opponents instead of one. He tried to follow up on the shield but the gust of wind sent both him, and his allies falling to the ground. "Bastards...if you wanna stop us you're going to have to kill us you know...the boss don't take half assed losers back!" growled the bandit whom had been fighting Auriel standing back up as a few of his companions writhed in pain on the floor. The bandit in question spit up blood, and his friend raised his hammer. "Take the shield..." growled the bandit quietly as he charged back at Auriel his face still marked by her blow from her shaft.

Cole twisted and turned parrying, and blocking the leader's attacks competently but not able to decisively overwhelm him. His lack of actual sword training prevented him from seeing the openings. He tried finding holes in this man's technique but when he did he was simply met with a last second block. The one thing he knew was the man's blade was starting to crack...this wouldn't last too much longer. As they met for another blade clash the bandit tried to spit into his eye but Cole moved his head out of the way. Cole barely heard the signal to move, and it was at the very last second he disengaged and rolled out of the way as the lance of light speared the bandit who's eyes went wide and sent him to the ground limp. "If that hit me I'd probably would've ended up unconscious! And stow it Ferr I'd like to see you take on the biggest guy in the group." Cole complained seeing as he stood up, and charged over to the enemy who had taken the chance to get into Auriel's face after the spear attack. He raised his short sword, and stabbed downward towards Auriel's abdomen. "You let me close!" he growled.

The hammer bandit whom had ran over to Ferr swung his weapon wildly at Ferr he seemed more panicked than his other companion. His hammer was rather large and seemed hell bent on keeping Ferr still not so much hit him as he routinely went out of his way to hit his weapon rather than Ferr himself. Perhaps the plan was to keep him busy, or to hurt his hand until his friend could take care of Auriel. "I'm not going to let you go you monster!"

Fer smirked at the obvious missed chance of humor when Auriel replied to his sarcastic comment about dancing. It was ironic that the shield hero was actually a very good dancer. He had not enjoyed the pass time since his parents death. Perhaps the stage would present itself to teach Auriel some of the dances of his homeland. As it was, he had to learn and be better at the current dance of death.

He heard the winged warrior ask of his assistance. He nodded as his eyes scanned the remaining bandits. Apparently they would fight until he death rather than go back. He understood that. Some bandits and cartel members would rather die that have to face torture or be made examples when they returned home. Evil doers had no options of expectations of mercy. This suited the young hero just fine. He would have to make sure that he showed no mercy for he would get none in return.

He brandished his shield left and right showing the bandits that they would have to fight hard for their prey. Fer was not scared of death and had been in hair raising situations before. Those times however he had more than just a hunk of metal. He sighed, he wish he had his bow but his shield was all he had.

His musing were brought to an end as he felt something akin to static electricity building up in his body. It was the gathering of magic by Auriel. A certain glow seemed to befall her and even her voice sounded enhanced as if speaking through a microphone. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw the weapon of light. This made him rethink his initial idea that Auriel was indeed an angel from the bible stories.

The shield hero barely had time to see the light spear being thrown when two bandits were on them. He knew that Auriel was defenseless as she had stabbed her spear on the ground. He willed his shield to change.

“Morph Shield: Scutum!” A rounded tower shield appeared in his left arm in a flash. He stepped backwards towards Auriel and using his right hand grabbed her by her waist and using his body weight started falling towards the left. In the same motion, he would raise his shield and deflect the hammer swing just enough to allow the momentum of the swing to pass over them as they fell. If it happened like he intended, the hammer would find the sword or the body of the bandit attacking Auriel. With luck, that bandit’s sword would find the hand or head of the hammer bandit.

Either way, Fer would land on top of Auriel with the Scutum above them should the bandits recover enough for a downward strike. It would not be too hard for him to then swing his right leg backward to stand up again and Auriel would we on her stomach meaning she could roll to either side or quickly get on all fours.

Fer was getting up as soon as he had landed. He pushed his right leg back which brought him to a half kneeling position with the weight of the shield in the left leg firmly planted on the ground. Answering Auriel's command, he pushed forward and upward hard using his arms and leg strength to overpower the hopefully out of balance sword-wielding bandit. His Scutum shield would provide a wall between him and the attacker and be used as a solid leverage. The aim was to force the bandit to bait the bandit into pushing forward.

He called one last time for his shield to change. "Morph Shield-Round shield!"

The shield answered his command and a flash of green later a shield similar to those used by the Spartan warriors of his Earth. He spun to the left and then using the flat edge of his shield, he aimed at the base of of the neck where the brain connects tot he neck. A solid hit would cause serious damage to the bandit at the most and would make him loose his footing and fall flat on his stomach at the feet of the winged soldiers at the least.

The young shield hero swung with all his might hoping to connect and finish off the bandit.

As Auriel's weapon stabbed to its mark killing the bandit that hit its target, and Fer's man fell to the ground limp after the hit laying on the ground no more Cole used his energy slash, and finished off the remaining bandit cleaving straight through his opponent's weapon and slashing him deeply across the chest. As the blood flooded around from the various wounds inflicted on the bandit Cole couldn't help but feel his stomach churn. It was a really gross sight, and he had just taken the life of another person. To what extent would this continue? Would he end up like that Siegfried guy just numb to it all? All the same Cole sighed, and looked around checking the bandits for what he thought would be life ending injuries he had a hard time figuring it out. "Fer would you mind looking through the bodies for lethal wounds?" Cole asked as he let Fer take command eventually they found out most would be unconscious for awhile, or at least they would be to incapacitated to move. A good number of them were dead.

However the bandit leader had survived Auriel's light javelin by some miracle, and as he lay unconscious on the ground Cole fiddled around with some of his pockets, and found some gold among other items he found a roughly written set of notes. As Cole went through the notes, he couldn't help but sigh. "Looks like they had been planning on raiding farms until they got the guards to do something about it and then attack merchant caravans to draw out more. The end goal was to try, and sack the city itself once they got enough men from reputation....they're at Wolf Paw Cavern...I must admit I don't know where that is..Auriel? Do you know? If not...our only recourse is to go find Marcino...we need the guards anyway to clean up this mess." Cole stated as he stood up standing up straight from his kneeling position he let out a deep sigh, and looked up towards the night sky.

Like many of the battles he had been a part of, it was done before you knew it. Adrenalin still rushed through is veins as he looked about. Cole, as the main attack dealer, had dispatched three or four himself. A few groans could be heard from the ones who had been knocked out by Auriel’s spear shaft. He looked down at their feet and the two who they had recently dispatched lay unmoving.

He turned to the winged warrior. “Hey you ok?” Came his gasping question. Fer saw some blood on her but it seemed to be only that which had spattered on her after inflicting wounds. He grimaced. A few specks had gotten on her pretty wings. The young shield wondered if they would be hard to clean off.

While waiting for her response, he gave himself a patting. There did not seem to be any obvious wounds expect for some scrapes and bruises. His shield arm especially hurt now that the adrenalin was receding. He shook it a couple of times and allowed his shield to disappear into the gem. He touched it to make sure there was not break but it seemed like it was only bruised.

Fer was still making sure he would not bleed out when he heard Cole’s request. It was a bit stranger to the shield at first but he figured it was better to make sure none of the bandits would surprise attack them later. He made his rounds. The two at their feet were definitely gone. Even in battle Auriel was merciful. The hammer bandit ha died quickly. As if to perhaps show a bit of mercy himself he closed the man’s eyes. He moved over to his own handy work. The edge of his shield had connected perfectly at the base of the spine, he had heard a crack and a gurgled grunt from the man. Some moans later and then silence indicated the final demise of the sword wielding bandit.

The shield hero moved on to other targets. Some, which had met Auriel’s spear shaft, were just knocked out. Utilizing what material he had available he hog tied them. With their hands behind their back and using their ankles as leverage, it would be really hard for the bandits to try to escape let a lone wield a weapon. He counted about three or so which were still alive.

Fer walked over to the water throughs for the cattle and washed his hands and face. He hissed as the water made the scrapes and cuts sting. But he was more or less used to that. He splashed water on his face and headed towards Cole who seemed to be taking all the death hard. The young shield hero could sympathize.

His first time had been much worse. They had been ambushed and forced to escape via a mine field. Needless to say many of the gore on him was not his own and there are nights he still wakes up hearing he explosions and the screams crying for help. Maybe that is why he was so adamant about being the hero that this world needs. He did not have the courage, power and means to help at that time but he did now.

As he neared Cole, he placed his hand on the sword’s shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. “Are you ok?” The question both asked for his physical and mental state. Fer had heard Cole describe the ultimate plans of the gang. It seemed that these vultures were hoping to enjoy the end of the world feeding of the less fortunate.

The plan made Fer feel less bad about killing such scum. Taking life is not something you should enjoy be even vermin must be cleared to let good game thrive. Such is the circle of life, and somebody had to do it.

“Well, you are right about cleaning up this mess. I don’t think the poor farmer would have the fortitude to try and remove our bloody mess.” He thought back reflectively. “Also, we need to notify them of the plan. If I remember correctly, this quest was personally given to us by the king. I am sure he knew all along. But, this feels like more than just a test or a chance to cut our teeth at being heroes.” He massaged his left hand from the soreness that started to set it as he continued. “I think we are going to get little to no help from official avenues. We might have to try the adventurer’s guild again.”

Fer was not happy with the idea. The bat winged adventurer which was supposed to have inside knowledge on the gang never met them at the advertised location. Adventurer’s were nothing more than hired muscle and as such followed those who paid them the most.

The young shield hero stood there next to Cole absently rubbing his left arm as his eyes were fixed on the last rites being performed by Auriel. He marveled at what he saw. Despite being in this world for almost a week he was still not used to the idea of magic. Yes, he had seen castles, knights, and people who looked like animals but still the idea of the manifestation of magic was fresh in his mind.

In his mind, he still thought of his winged companion as a heavenly host from the church stories of his world. He had heard the preacher do a sermon on the last battle between good and evil. As he had seen her battle, he could only imagine an entire army of lovely war angels. Yet despite her proficiency in battle, situations like this made her larger than life as she cared for the everlasting soul of men who had but minutes ago tried to end her life at the least and perform hideous acts to her at the worst.

As she spread her wings to their full extension he gawked. She looked beautiful standing there covered in radiance and with bodies of the dead at her feet. For all intents and purposes, she looked like the very embodiment of war angel. If he had read more, he would perhaps equate her to the Valkyries of northern myths that took the souls of the valiant to the mead halls of the Norse gods.

Fer averted his eyes a bit as the light intensified towards the apex of the rite. Then darkness rushed in to greedly swallow the light. She assured the that their spirits would not torment the living as their hosts had done while alive. That was a good turn out the hero supposed and he nodded towards her appreciatively.

His face then shifted to a perplexed look when he noticed the feeling wash through her features. Fer knew that she had been a leader of men in battles before. Surely she had seen death of that was no doubt. So it was not regret of killing that plagued her like it did Cole. So instead, he could only assume that she had lost somebody she cared for or in her care. He felt sad for her. That was the curse of all leaders. They are gifted with followers. Unfortunately, they are also likely to follow one to their deaths.

Fer walked over to her and placed a supporting hand on her shoulder. "I am glad to have you on our side." He smiled at her showing her the full meaning behind his words. He truly cared for her despite the short time together. He cared for Cole as well. He even cared for the world he now existed in. He cared for the people of this world like the poor farmer he could see peeking his worried face at them from the windows of the farm house.

"But I agree with you. I think the mama bear will be more trouble than the pups"

"Alright well if Auriel doesn't know where the bandits are located at then we best get back to the city, and risk Rayla being aware some of her goons failed. Tales of our summoning have likely gone around...plus whatever Matsunaga is up to. God knows what the bow hero with her attitude, and that bard friend of hers have been doing in the wild." Cole stated as he looked to the two of them. He choose not to comment on how he felt further about murdering these bandits. After informing the farmer that they should stay in their house Cole led the party back to the city. On the way back in they informed the city guard that they should be careful, and that the bandits rumored to attack the farm were killed. The guards thanked the heroes graciously for their help, and told them that they would send a group to help the farmer clean it up, and guard the general area.

It wasn't until they had decided to go, and find Marcino to get directions did the Cole get pulled aside by a fairly pretty woman in a dark cloak who motioned quickly for the heroes' party to follow them into a nearby Alley. Cole was suspicious but it didn't take much convincing when the woman pulled out a small signet ring with the King's symbol on it. As the group gathered in the alley the woman cleared her throat. "You did well with the bandits." She said clearly as she looked at Auriel, Fer, and Cole. "But the worse is yet to come. Rayla is likely more dangerous than anyone in that group, and is an trained fighter. It is my recommendation that you get your trainer to assist you, otherwise you'll have to go find the bow hero. They've returned to town and are at the Drunk Huntsman. Of course you're all free to do as you please but fighting will be a struggle with only the three of you fighting the bandit's entire group." the woman says to the group as she talks to the group quietly. "Matsunaga is a punk, and Marcino is probably not going to jump at the chance to fight a member of his own country...but I think he's our best bet. Speaking of which who are you?" Cole asks the woman who shakes her head as she puts away the signet ring. "I want to know. Are you a direct servant to the king or something?" Cole follows up as the woman shakes her head more firmly. "Who I am doesn't matter I am just a pawn in the grand scheme of things. Know that all I am seeking to do is help you three."

There was really not much that could be done. Fer felt that the three of them were truly doing the best that they could and for a band of newly formed and low level adventurers being able to defeat the group of bandits with no more that scratches and bruises was pretty epic. Of course, he had relied on Auriel and Cole as the offensive members of the party which made the shield hero feel a bit bitter.

He stayed quiet during their trip to the city. The young hero wondered what he could do to become a more productive member of the party. He made it a point to ask Auriel if there were any suggested ways to augment his shield so that he could do more than just morph it into different shapes and sizes. He needed something like what Cole was able to do even though he understood that his abilities would be vastly different from the offensive capabilities of the Sword.

The trio made their way to the city. Fer notices much like Auriel the hustle and bustle. However, he wondered at the atmosphere. While he did not begrudge them the lack of urgency that comes in preparation to a battle, he wondered if many knew of the upcoming waves or if the king was keeping that information secret to prevent any mass hysteria.

This brought up another question, why did bandits know of such events? Where there signs that were being missed? Was there a leak in the royal court?

As if to answer his question, they encountered yet an other secretive individual claiming to work for the crown. Fer shot Auriel a sideways glance. Apparently he was not the only one who found the identity of the woman questionable He was not very fond of meeting in alleys, and crowded bars. This sort of modus operandi had a very distinctive clandestine smell and often those sort of operations resulted in suicide or highly costly missions.

It did not surprise him that the messenger confirmed what all of them knew. Rayla would be a costly prey. The suggestion of enlisting the bow hero was interesting to him. He had not met the person and only briefly did he meet the Spear hero. What was so different between the Bow and the Spear? Being a bow user himself, he understood the benefits of ranged combat and top cover and he figured that it would indeed be best to engage the bandit leader at a distance if at all possible.

Still, there was a thing line between guidance and manipulation. Unfortunately in the party’s current state, the needed help in whatever shape it came. Even if that help irritatingly wanted to keep them in the dark. He remained quiet and let Cole speak. After all, his demeanor often produced more results that Fer’s own.

He was surprised at Auriel’s request for splitting the party but he understood her point of view. It was refreshing to him to note that the winged warrior also looked towards the whole point of them being in this world in the first place. He nodded towards her, it was not like she needed his permission but he wanted to show her he did not mean to stop her. “Auriel, if you could. While you are there. Is there any way for you to research how I can better upgrade my shield? It felt very one dimensional and I think that a legendary hero should have more than one trick up his sleeve. Any information as to what the old users of the shields did to make it more useful would be appreciated.”

Fer gave her a smile. He knew that neither of his companions would ever call him a burden but he also knew that they needed him to bring more to the table. He had even entertained being the pack mule for the group. The hero knew that somehow he had increased strength and resilience thanks to his status of shield hero. He would willingly carry extra gear, weapons, medicine, or anything else that was required.

However, that still left the battle aspect in poor review. He wondered if he would be able to wield magic? He had seen Auriel perform the ritual and also heal his minor injuries. He made it a point to try and inquire about this. Any way he was able to, he would improve.

"So then you've chosen the Tiger's Eye? An interesting choice but not unexpected. Marcino's expertise will be overkill in this matter but you will certainly win if not have the fame taken down quite a bit." commented the veiled emissary as she looked to Fer, and then to Auriel. "Careful of the church they have already started taking sides as expected. Churches are likely developing sects favoring one hero over another. Some of them want to see Sir Cole victorious already rumors of him being the premier hero after taking the shield as a 'subordinate', and having a member of the church. However the Spear has done a lot of work themselves. They've saved a village from starvation by killing off a local wolf pack that had been terrorizing a village to the south." The lady stated further as she sighed.

"The bow has...become rather infamous. She's saved a travelling merchant on the day she arrived and then demanded half his purse as payment. And the other part of the bandits you've fought showed up at another farm. They sacked the place, not fault of your own, but they were found dead in a ditch not long after. Found with large gouged out wounds precise to be any melee weapon other than a rapier. Judging by the lack of other cuts that seems unlikely making the bow hero the obvious choice in their deaths. The bard with the Bow Hero seems to be exceedingly good at giving strength to his party. Along with the Bow Hero's innate strength she's...dangerous." the woman stated further her eyes a bit unsure. "Why haven't you brought this up with Matsunaga then? Why us?" Cole asked as the lady shook her head. "We did. The bow hero told me to...'get bent ho.' And the Spear Hero told me that he would do his best to help." the response made Cole feel a bit less giddy about getting stronger if the Bow also would be getting that power..."I suppose Marcino would be our best hope given the circumstances. Even if it would hurt my reputation gain otherwise." Cole stated as he cringed. He wondered just how far Rin would take things if it came down to it...the only question was...how would they convince Marcino to help he said he didn't want to right?