"Well, Sera Druva, me neither, I didn't know I have a brother until a few days ago, haha!" The woman giggled, putting her left hand near her mouth to stifle it. Truly, she looked like a teenage girl in the presence of Kreig. Him being a squire, a far more experienced combatant, and an older figure made Rachel looked up to him by a great deal. "I grew up in an orphanage in Sunberth... I never knew my mother nor my father, the caretaker said a woman left me on the porch." She sighed, her tone audibly said as she remembered her parentless childhood, but it was quickly replaced by a wide grin. "But I have brother now and I live in this city filled with wonderful people like you!" 'you' as in the whole Syliran Knight Order. Being called polite, the woman smiled in appreciation. "Thank you, Sera." One should be polite in the presence of the Knights, they were the protectors and defenders, without them, Syliras wouldn't even be there in the first place.
"W-woah!" Rachel's emotions caused her to lose concentration and she briefly lost control of her borrowed horse. The girl had little to no experience in riding these majestic beasts, the only thing keeping her from spooking the animal was her companions' guidance.
"Easy there, lass! Hold the rein gently and relax your footing, don't want to startle the horse." Ser Titus explained in his casual voice which was considered loud by common people's standards.
"Al... alright, here... like this?" Rachel tried her best, she relaxed her feet on the stirrup, then she firmly grasped the reins. The horse was moving in a steady trot. Rachel had trouble maintaining the horse in this slow pace, she didn't dare to try galloping it, she would fall off the animal, hurting herself and looking silly in front of her brother and the Knights. "Phew, okay... Thank you." Rachel rubbed her chest with her left hand, sighing in relief.
"No problem, Miss!" Ser Titus replied in his bellowing voice. The patrol group then continued, chattering among themselves to keep each other company.
"Oh... Yukman, dirt naked people?" Rachel mused, stifling a giggle. Yukmen were a constant threat, those landspawns were infamous for plaguing the forest, attacking caravans, and disturbing hunters. Rachel never faced one of them before, but from the stories she heard, they were... amusing. Witnesses always said Yukmen were humanoid, had dirt sticking to their bodies, and... naked. "Aha... ahahaha." For some odd reasons, Rachel found the image of those dirt people running naked, their booty shaking, to be hilarious. Not many knew of this, but the instructor had a weird sense of humor. "*Cough* Ehem... I'm sorry." She calmed herself down, it wouldn't do for her to keep giggling like an idiot when speaking about serious threats such as Yukmen.
"Oh, ahaha, silly brother." She playfully jabbed his shoulder with her left hand, almost losing control with her horse again. She imagined Kreig screaming with a high-pitched wail like a little girl, again, the instructor found it funny. "Pfft..." She held back another giggle. A devout of Priskil and a kind person overall, but a twisted sense of humor. Some said it was due her upbringing in Sunberth, the scum-filled city wasn't exactly a good place for a girl to grow up for the first seventeen years in her life. She listened to Kreig's explanation about various threats in the Woods, one of them being Rhysol's minions. Rachel's heart skipped a beat and her gnosis shone with yellow light, the God of Evil was Priskil's sworn enemy. If she ever encountered any of those abominations, she would smite them all in the name of Priskil. She calmed down soon after, huffing in tension.
"!?" Her green eyes widened, along with all her companions, as the sight of a collapsed carriage complete with splotches of blood on the ground, something obviously happened there. "What happened?" Her expression turned serious, losing her bubbly cheerfulness, Rachel dismounted her horse and brandished her steel longsword, her real sharp longsword, not the blunt one she used for instructing students. She kept a lookout as Kreig and the two knights examined the carriage. Though in her mind, she wondered if Titus' voice alone could flush out anything hiding behind the trees and bushes. She listened to Natasha's explanation, Rachel formed her own conclusion based on it. "Bandits? Or... Yukmen?" Those two were the most plausible explanations unless... this was caused by Rhysol's minions. Nevertheless, Rachel would help the knights see through this, knight or no, every able-bodied citizens should help the Order in any way they can.
"Hi?!" Her body froze as a sharp projectile sang through the air, barely missing her cheek by inches. "Company!" She shouted out of instinct, holding her longsword directly in front of her in combat position. It was then a group of eight suspicious men emerged from bushes. Bandits... Armored, armed, and masked, bandits or highwaymen for sure. The swordswoman visibly winced when she saw a literal chunk of brain being held by the bandits' leader. He looked cold and cruel, befitting the part of a scum. People like these were the ones that drive this petched up world to an even more petched up state. There was no time for pleasantries, these scum must be smitten in Priskil's glory!
Tch... Excited as she was for upholding justice, she needed to plan her moves carefully. The party was surrounded by the bandits. Two of them were notching their bows... while the rest wielded swords or axes, with the brain-eating leader wielding a broad sword and shield.
Ser Titus, being the most largest person in the group, whispered to the party, he actually whispered this time.. "I'm going to shout... Natasha, you can shoot one of the archers with your bow, Kreig, take care of that bastard leader, me and Miss Messer will face the rest." They didn't have more time, it was now or never. Titus heaved up his breath then shouted with all his might. "SYYYYYYYLIR!! SMIIIIIITE!!! YOUUUUUUU!!" Then they were off, Rachel charged together with Titus, facing the bandits.
"For Priskil!" The swordswoman held her sword with both of her hands, her gnosis flaring once more, reinforcing the party with courage. five bandits charged at the duo, Titus used his large presence to attract the attention of three bandits, leaving one bandit to face Rachel. "..." The blond narrowed her eyes, her disciplined form walking sideways as her eyes locked themselves to the male bandit wielding a shortsword and small shield. They stared off for a couple of ticks... and with a breeze of cold wind, they both charged.
"Haaaaa!" Rachel's boots thumped on the grassy ground as she closed the distance with her opponent. Using her superiority in weapon reach, Rachel brought her longsword's tip forward, charging to gore the bandit. Her opponent anticipated her move and blocked her attack with his small shield, shuddering at the impact. "Kih! Ha!" The heavier weapon staggered the bandit, gritting her teeth as she felt the vibrations flowing through her arms, Rachel continued by swinging her sword upwards for an overhead strike, then she brought it down, aiming to cleave the bandit's skull. Her opponent used the lag in her movement to roll out of the way, he was an agile sort. "Tch!" Rachel had very little time to recover as the bandit quickly countered by slashing diagonally upwards with his short sword. The swordswoman's eyes widened, her body instinctively moved backwards to dodge, the sword very narrowly missed her ear, cutting a few strands of her blond hair. The bandit grinned at her with foul yellow teeth, this annoyed her.
"..." Gripping hard her longsword, her right palm emitting the yellow glow, Rachel inhaled, feeling her djed flowing through her body. Priskil guide me! May my strikes be true! She felt the muscles on her shoulders and arms strengthened with magical vigor, the power of flux. With a yell, she quickly counter-attacked by swinging her sword sideways, her speed slightly enhanced by her flux. Her opponent miscalculated her strike due to the sudden increase in speed, it might not be much, but in a combat situation, even half a tick tethered on life and death.
The bandit widened his eyes as he felt pain wrecking through his body, he fell down, his eyes looking down to find his left hip slashed by Rachel's longsword, the wound was deep and blood started pouring. Rachel used the moment to continue her attack, stomping at his stomach with her right foot then stabbed her sword to his prone neck. The bandit gurgled for a moment before he went limp, smitten. "Ha... ha... ugh." Rachel felt her arm muscles ache, flux was a powerful yet dangerous combat art. She needed to mind her use lest she destroyed her own body. She got no luxury to ponder, the battle was still raging. Rachel looked to her right, Ser Titus was fighting against four bandits, the master warhammer wielder was slightly troubled facing against those criminals, they might be small fires compared to Titus, but there were four of them. Rachel would obviously offer her assistance. Gripping her blood-stained steel longsword, she charged once more into the fray.
As for the archers and bandit leader... hopefully Kreig and Natasha could handle them.
Also, feel free to throw something at them!
