Chapter 146: First Blood on the Trail

The rhythmic clopping of the horses’ hooves and the steady creak of the wooden cart wheels filled the air as they left the last outbuildings of Oakrest behind. Seraphina sat rigidly on the driver’s bench, her hands holding the reins with practiced, if tense, precision. Adam occupied the space beside her, his posture relaxed in contrast to her knightly stiffness.

The silence between them was thick, broken only by the sounds of travel and the muted conversation from the back where Elise, Lilith, and Ignis were settled among their packs.

’This is awkward...’ Adam thought, staring at the road ahead. ’Maybe I should just go sit in the back. But if we get ambushed from the front, I need to be here to react first...’

"Hey..."

Seraphina’s voice, tight and formal, pulled him from his thoughts. He turned his head slightly. "Yeah? What’s up?"

She kept her eyes firmly on the road, her profile sharp. "Thank you," she said, the words sounding forcibly pushed out. "For your... hard work."

’Huh? What’s this about? Why’s she thanking me all of a sudden?’ Adam blinked, momentarily thrown.

She continued, her voice gaining a slight, strained momentum. "Were it not for you and your... companions... Her Highness and I would have faced far greater difficulties. So... thank you."

Adam shrugged, turning back to face the road. "It was part of the deal. We protect her, we get her to the Archivist. You don’t need to thank me for holding up my end. Don’t overthink it."

"I wish to build a foundation of trust," Seraphina stated, her knuckles whitening on the reins. "For what lies ahead. Even though your manner—your disrespect towards Her Highness and your provocation of the Duke—is... infuriating."

A wry grin touched Adam’s lips. "Yeah, well. The important thing is we’re moving, right? And we’re all still in one piece. So let’s just focus on that."

"It was still reckless," Seraphina insisted, though her tone lacked its previous heat, settling into something more akin to stern advice. "In the future, you must consider your conduct more carefully. It invites unnecessary trouble."

Adam shrugged, the motion loose and easy. "I’ll consider it. Depends on the situation." He glanced over at her hands on the reins, then at the two sturdy draft horses pulling them along at a steady clip. "By the way, you’re pretty impressive. Getting this cart and handling it so smoothly."

A hint of pride straightened Seraphina’s shoulders almost imperceptibly. She kept her gaze ahead. "It is a basic competency for a knight. One must be versed in logistics, travel, and animal husbandry as much as in swordsmanship."

"Hmm. Lucky the horses are useful too," Adam mused, watching the animals’ powerful haunches move in rhythm. "I’d kinda written them off."

"It is fortunate they have now proven their utility," Seraphina agreed, a touch of dry acknowledgment in her own voice. "It would have been a long walk otherwise."

The peace shattered in a heartbeat. Adam’s hand snapped up, closing into a fist with a sharp crack. An arrow, meant for his eye, splintered against his knuckles, its shaft snapping in two as the arrowhead deformed against his hardened skin.

Seraphina yanked the reins, bringing the cart to a sudden, skidding halt. "Ambush!" she barked, her sword already halfway drawn.

Adam stared at the broken arrow in his hand, then at the forested slopes around them. ’Strange... I didn’t sense them at all. My Hunter’s Tri-Sense didn’t pick up any heartbeats, any intent. Are they outside its range, or... are they masking themselves completely?’

Before he could ponder further, the air hummed. Three orbs of crackling fire, each the size of a man’s head, shot from different points in the tree line, converging on the cart.

"Tch." Adam didn’t hesitate. He vaulted from the driver’s bench, planting himself between the cart and the incoming spells. He crossed his arms, bracing as the fire orbs slammed into him.

BOOM—CRACKLE!

Heat and force washed over him. His clothes smoked, and the skin on his forearms blistered instantly, red and angry. But beneath the surface, his Blooming Vitality and draconic constitution flared. The blisters popped and smoothed over in the space of two seconds, new, pink skin forming. A faint, acrid smell of burnt flesh hung in the air before being swept away by the wind.

Adam shook his arms out, a fierce grin spreading across his face. "Heh. Not bad. Got some kick to it."

From inside the cart, Ignis’s head popped up over the side, her eyes blazing with excitement. "Is that enemies?! Are we fighting?!"

Elise peered out, her face pale. "We’ve only been traveling for twenty minutes!"

"Your Highness, stay inside!" Seraphina ordered, leaping down from the bench to stand guard at the cart’s rear, her eyes scanning the trees.

Adam took a step forward, his crimson eyes sweeping the silent, seemingly empty forest. His voice, cold and clear, cut through the sudden quiet. "Come on out. Or do I have to come in there and drag you out?"

From the trees, a ragged line of men emerged. They were a motley crew, armed with an assortment of rusty swords, chipped axes, and notched daggers. Their clothes were patched and dirty, their faces leering with the cruel confidence of predators who’d cornered easy prey. A rough count put them at over twenty. They fanned out, surrounding the stationary cart.

The one who seemed to be the leader, a burly man with a scar across his nose, spat on the ground. "Sharp instincts, I’ll give ya that. Means we do this the old-fashioned way." He hefted a heavy cleaver. "Empty your pockets, your cart, and your pretty little heads of any valuables. Do it quick, and we might just take your stuff and leave you breathing."

Adam’s eyes, however, were locked not on the leader, but on a smaller, weaselly-looking bandit hovering near the back. The man clutched a small, dark, crystalline orb that seemed to swallow the light around it, emitting a faint, dissonant hum. ’That’s it. That artifact is jamming my senses. A useful toy.’

Before Adam could point it out, another bandit, this one with a missing front tooth, jabbed a finger towards the cart. "Hey, Boss! Lookit the cargo! Forget the coin purse, we hit the jackpot!" His gaze was fixed on Elise and Lilith. Another chimed in with a crude laugh, "Yeah! We secure that treasure first! We’ll have ourselves a real good time after!"

Seraphina’s face contorted with pure, unadulterated disgust. "Filthy gutter rats," she snarled, her sword now fully drawn and glowing with a faint silver light. "You will not touch them."

Adam cracked his neck, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face. His voice was deceptively calm. "By all means. Try and take them."

The bandit leader’s grin vanished, replaced by a snarl. "Big words! You’re outnumbered five to one, fool! Get ’em! Kill the men! The women are mine!"

With a ragged roar, the bandits surged forward.

Adam didn’t move to meet the main charge. His form blurred. Mirage Cascade. He became a streak of afterimages, bypassing the front line entirely. His target was singular: the weaselly man with the orb.

The bandit’s eyes widened in shock. He fumbled, trying to raise a dagger. He never got the chance. Adam’s hand shot out, not to punch, but to seize. His fingers closed around the man’s wrist with a bone-crunching snap. The bandit screamed, the dark orb tumbling from his limp fingers. Adam caught it mid-air with his other hand, stuffing it into his pouch without a second glance. A brutal, short elbow strike to the temple dropped the weaselly bandit like a sack of stones.

The moment the orb left the bandit’s hand, Adam’s Hunter’s Tri-Sense roared back to life. He could feel them all now—the pounding hearts, the stink of fear and aggression, the crude psychic impressions of violence.

At the cart, Seraphina met the first wave. Her sword was a whirlwind of silver light. She parried a clumsy axe swing and ran its owner through with a precise thrust. She spun, her blade deflecting two sword strikes aimed at the cart’s flank. "You will not reach her!"

The cart’s canvas cover erupted in flame. Not from an attack, but from within. Ignis burst forth like a volcanic eruption, her hair streaming fire, her eyes slitted. "MY TURN!" she howled, unleashing a wide-cone Solar Flare that engulfed three bandits who were trying to clamber onto the cart. They fell back, shrieking, clothes and hair ablaze.

Lilith hadn’t even stood up. From the shadows of the cart, nearly invisible threads of Sovereign Silk lashed out like psychotic whips. They didn’t entangle; they sliced. A bandit charging from the side suddenly stumbled, his head tilting at an odd angle before toppling, a thin red line across his throat. Another found his legs swept out from under him by an ankle-level thread before a second thread pierced his eye.

Elise, white-faced but resolute, chanted from within the cart, her hands weaving. Crimson energy snaked out, forming Binding Sigils on the ground around them. Two bandits who stepped on them cried out as glowing red chains erupted from the dirt, coiling around their legs and rooting them in place, easy targets for Seraphina’s swift sword or Lilith’s seeking threads.

The bandits’ triumphant charge disintegrated into chaos and terror in less than ten seconds. Their numbers meant nothing against this level of coordinated, brutal efficiency. The leader stared, his cleaver hanging limp, as his men were slaughtered like cattle. The "easy prey" had vanished, replaced by a cart that was a fortress manned by nightmares.

Adam turned from the unconscious artifact-thief, his crimson eyes finding the leader. He took a single, slow step towards him. "You were saying about a jackpot?"