On the long road between Rosa and Castillan within the small forest expanse that surrounded said road, a simple black carriage shook as it rode through the spotted canopy.
The moment it escaped the midday sun, it was being watched closely.
"Do we let it pass?"
"We should, it doesn't match the description given."
"After we messed up with the other carriage, the boss said to check everything, no matter what the carriage looks like."
"That's a recipe for disaster."
"Well you can pick that up with the boss if you're brave."
Coming to an agreement, the voices decided to approach the carriage.
Several figures darted through the trees with weapons drawn, their senses focused on the carriage in the event there were any awakened inside.
As they got closer and closer they had finally felt connections with law.
"Awakened!" One bandit screamed out.
As his words echoed throughout the forest, both doors of the moving carriage flew open as it came to a scraping halt.
On the right side where the bandit stood he saw a black haired awakened dart into the open, his body brimming with power and his eyes aglow.
His most daunting feature was the aspect he wielded, clad in searing light, "Get inside, Henry!" He roared at the old man driving the carriage.
Without any wasted movements, the old man then rushed into the open door whilst a group of arrows flew overhead towards the carriage.
In a single breath, the black haired boy deflected the initial barrage of arrows that was used to scare travellers. His weapon searing through each of the mundane arrows.
On the other side of the carriage, a grey haired boy rushed outside, his eyes quickly darting across the canopy. In just a few moments, he had already made eye contact with all five bandits hiding on that side of the road.
Not wanting to see what the young awakened was capable of, three men charged from the tree line.
Two of them seemed to possess physical enhancement abilities whereas the third held an ability that encased his sword in a strange red aura.
Zadius however didn't falter, at his current level, enhancement was sufficient enough.
"Three adept ranked awakened in front and two expert ranked awakened hiding at the back." He thought briefly before his body shot forward.
The first attacker with the strange red aura raised his blade into the air to seemingly strike from a distance but Zadius had closed the gap between them faster than expected.
In the blink of an eye, Zadius had equipped two dagger aspects and plunged them into the man's neck.
Spinning around, he leapt into the air, dodging blows from the other two attackers by a hair's breadth. Whilst afloat, he slammed his feet into each of their heads.
His dextrous attack caused them to stagger back, giving him enough time to land.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Zadius erupted in another violent rush of movement; reaching into his clothes, he flashed his hands into the air towards both his attackers.
The first attacker barely kept himself on his feet from the initial blow, but the moment he caught himself and prepared to return to battle, a sleek throwing knife had already plunged itself in his eye.
Hearing the first man fall to the ground, Zadius focused on the second who surprisingly blocked his throwing knife.
"I barely blocked that shit!?" The bandit screamed inwardly as the throwing knife flipped through the air above him.
Not giving himself another moment of rest, the man filled his body with animus, deepening the boon of strength his physical enhancement ability gave him. But even then, he still knew that it would not have been enough.
Even as the grey haired boy rushed towards him, there was not a single opening found.
On the other hand, Zadius could notice several openings in the man's form; three to be exact.
"That woman said that they were organized. They don't seem that-" Preparing to dispatch the third attacker, Zadius' senses screamed at him as he felt a strong connection with Law deeper in the forest.
Something big was coming towards him
"The expert ranked awakened?" Zadius thought.
Wasting no time, Zadius had pulled upon a boon of his enlightenment.
Originally, [Herald of Shadows] only allowed him to control shadows that already existed, however, he now found himself capable of converting his animus into shadows of his own.
Burning through his animus, deep shadows coalesced and moved alongside the dim shade cast by the overhead canopy.
In another moment rustling flames and crackling lightning could be heard before a massive ball of fire and a bolt of lightning soared towards Zadius.
Stopping in his tracks, Zadius slid across the ground for a moment before large, shadowy spikes shot forth from the coalesced darkness, colliding with the oncoming attack.
The ranged attacks erupted in an explosion of flame, dirt and dissipated lightning.
Using the brief opening, the bandit wielding the enhancement abilities attempted to strike Zadius' blind spot.
Whipping around, Zadius brought one of his daggers to the man's sword, sparks flying across the air.
"Just my luck! What are you two doing, hurry up and kill him!" The man screamed out.
Almost as if heeding his call, both him and Zadius felt a connection with Law being formed.
Clicking his tongue, Zadius cursed inwardly.
He didn't want to waste any more animus.
Instead, he parried the man's sword to the side and gripped his armour tightly and placed the man between himself and the oncoming attack.
"Wait n-" He tried to call out but a massive javelin of electricity rammed into his back.
Zadius had already let him go to avoid any residual effects from the lightning.
The attack itself had broken the man's spine and the electricity burned his body. Not giving him any respite, Zadius shoved him back towards the ball of fire hurling towards them; he collided with it a metre or two away.
The man screamed in pain before it was drowned out by the violent surge of flames.
Zadius glanced back at the carriage for a moment to ensure Henry and Rosaly were safe; they were.
He pondered intently for a moment, "I wonder if Xaryus is alright? I shouldn't wander too far away from Rosaly, those other two have no intention of getting close right now."
"Get back in front, Henry!" Zadius commanded.
As quickly as he could, Henry jumped out of the carriage and grabbed the reins.
Before he could even motion the horses to start moving again, Zadius felt a jolt up his spine. Another surge of animus and a connection with Law.
Another coordinated attack was coming, but a blind man could see that Zadius was not their target.
"Crap!" Zadius thought briefly before his body moved on instinct.
Spite Ability: [Shade Armour]
Ability Description: In times of need the shadows will act as your trusted refuge, protecting you and warding off the unwanted.
Seeing another large ball of flame and a jolt of lightning fire from deep within the Canopy towards the front of the carriage, Zadius' body moved without limitations.
First his animus rushed from his core and further enhanced his body to the maximum, then swell of animus vanished from his core and a connection with Law was formed.
From beneath his armouring aspect and clothes, eerie shadows began to grow and swell around his body. Each roiling shadow released a faint black mist.
Now encased by the shadows from [Shade Armour] as well as the boon of strength he gained from the shade provided by the trees, Zadius' body erupted from the ground, kicking up a swath of dirt.
In a flash he came in between Henry and the lethal blow aimed towards him. Gritting his teeth Zadius willed the shadows that [Shade Armour] created and shadows of his own animus to swell in front of him like a shield.
In the next moment, his vision went blank and his ears rang. He felt a shocking sensation then a swell of heat, but not enough to kill him.
Then his vision came back but his breath left his body as his back slammed into the edge of the carriage, sending splinters of wood into the air.
Rosaly, yelped in surprise as the carriage suddenly lurched to one side.
"Are you alright, Zadius!?" Henry asked, reaching towards Zadius.
"I'm fine, just drive!" Zadius groaned as he reached to the top of the carriage and pulled himself up.
Looking down to the right side of the carriage, he saw an array of deflected arrows lodged into the ground. Faintly, in the distance he could see Xaryus' glowing sword flashing through the forest.
"We need to draw them out." Zadius thought.