Usually sneaking around a night was something that I did for fun or to gather my thoughts without disturbing the general peace, but tonight's festivities would require me to take a different route to my usual past time. The city guard clearly required some help for whatever this little operation of theirs this was. The captain of the guard definitely seemed relieved at my presence and willingness to take up the quest. According to him, these bandits had been giving his force quite a trouble. They complete their jobs at the weirdest of times and always manage to make an escape despite their best efforts and supposedly one among them is quite the formidable opponent when compared to the common riff-raff that usually made up the bandit group. Which makes it all the more interesting that they would go through all this trouble to hire a mage to hunt them. Was this individual a mage him or herself and if that was the case what kind of magic would they employ. But then again, I'm sure I would have received those in my report when I took this request on. Anyway, there was a matter of getting to the drop before things became clustered.

Shuffling quicker Lucian, maneuvered from the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. The Moon hung high in the sky this evening, luckily it was a simple crescent moon and so there wouldn't be too much light to reveal the area but still, it wouldn't be smart to be caught. Nearing the general store run by the Victoria family, he slowed down his approach. The large store sat in the center of the shopping plaza with a rather large opening serving as the land in front. The image was a stark contrast to the usual high lively place that it was during prime time market hours. With the target in sight, Lucian sat down on the edge of the roof and waited, the time for the heist was nigh.

332/300

Laying down, Lucian waited, then he heard the familiar sound of shuffling feet and coarse language. The bandits seemed to appear like mist and rodents, scurrying out from the surrounding alleyways like vermin on fresh rotten produce. Their ensemble was a collection of black clothing with cloth mask covering the lower portion of their faces. Each one seemed to carry some sort of weapon, and a bag. Granted, who knows how much money is really in a store but I guess the goal was to take everything they could handle. Among them a large man stood out from the rest, his aura was impressive and it was easy to tell he was the one that they had been looking for. He smelled different and felt different from the rest, but there was no mana coming from his presence so clearly this was just a powerful individual. Scanning the area, the lead bandit seemed to study the surrounding area before continuing towards the door, each individual surrounded the door like hungry rats. They bounced with anticipation and hunger, some reeked of the smell of greed and some just reeked. As the large bandit went to make a move, Lucian whistled loudly, the sound carrying over the area.

The bandits all froze, their bodies caught stiff at the unusual sound, some immediately took off fear taking over their lives, others remained where they were but tried to slink down into the darkness and disappear from the possible persecution only the main bandit seemed to maintain a sense of nerve and resilience. Taking the opportunity of hesitation, Lucian stood up at the top of the roof, making his presence known to the individuals below. The bandits stared up at him and then slowly they all began to laugh. Some jeering and others paying him no mind and returning to look at the door in front of them. Only the leader among them seemed to understand, but instead of warning them he simply moved out of the way of the crossfire. Lucky for him.

Focusing his mana, Lucian gathered his mana into his palms and fired, the two balls of mana energy exploded on the ground beneath, knocking the bandits aside in a violent sweep. Those who hadn't run before took off this time, some of their bags and weapons being the only evidence of their existence at the place in question. Scurrying like bugs the streets cleared quickly save only for the large bandit from before. He seemed unfazed by the magic spell and was intent on not running.

426/300

Whether out of foolish arrogance or foolhardy pride, this was gonna be his downfall, jumping from the top of the roof, Lucian landed to ground below, the bandit brandished his weapon and began to circle, his eyes were cold orbs of calculated killing intent. Lucian could tell this wasn't going to be a simple fight whoever this man was, he was definitely prepared for whatever he could face. The two combatants circled one another, neither one wanting to make the first move. At a few more moments of posturing, the man attacked with a violent running horizontal slash aimed to bisect him at the waist, pushing backward Lucian watched the blade pass harmlessly in front of him. Without letting up the man roared and followed up with another horizontal slash, followed by a downward slam. Dodging backward again, Lucian could feel that he was being backed into the corner, noticing the wall at his back at the last moment Lucian rolled to the right, the sword scraping against the wall where his head would have been.

Whirling around, the bandit went to continue his attack but this time Lucian was ready.  The bandit followed up with a charging attack, his blade arcing forward with another horizontal slash, timing the weapons speed, Lucian rolled under the incoming attack, activating the strength of the primal spell, the bandit's eyes grew wide as he tried to halt himself but it was too late, folding his arm, Lucian gathered the mana into his arms and forced his energy into the chest of the large brute. His body going slack as the magic exploded through his body.

Letting the big man fall where he did, Lucian saw the guards come running up, having rounded up some of the stragglers. Looking down at the impressive man, the guards begin to tie him up. Thanking him for his work, Lucian grabbed on to the bag of jewels he was given and walked away.

327/300

Grand total WC:1085/1000