Hoshuka's POV
I know that the young master has told me not to go with him, yet here I am watching him from afar. I watched the young master's hand to hand combat while using Force as his weapon to compensate for the lack of Force Affinity.
Then a group of thieves suddenly appeared. But instead of going there to help him, Banther stopped me and insisted on watching from a distance.
"You know we are both dead if something bad happens to the young master, right?" I looked at Banther who was beside me, watching the scene unfold.
Banther chuckled. "Are you telling me that you don't trust the young master?"
I clicked my tongue. "That is not what I meant! I mean-"
"The world is a scary place, Hoshuka." Banther cut me off. "The young master has indeed shown us great improvements thanks to us training him. But now that he is facing enemies that far outnumbers him, this is a good opportunity for him to test his skills."
His words stunned me. He was right. The young master is strong, and he needs to know how big the world is.
"Besides," Banther stirred me up from my thoughts. "If I sense any danger, we will quickly dispatch ourselves to aid the young master. For now, let us watch to see if he is ready to face the world."
~~~~~
Arthur was being surrounded by ten thieves. Despite their scrawny looks, each one of them has a Force Level of 2 and 3. To make matters worse, the ten thieves used to be a Guardian of the Zolgarian Army, so their Force Core have a single Runes in them.
Arthur knew that, yet he didn't falter. Thanks to his sharpened Force Senses, he could see an opponent's Force Core and Force Level, as well as their intentions. By judging at how the energies around them reacted, in a single glance, he could tell whether they have good or bad intentions.
"How cocky." One of the thieves said. He pointed his dagger which was already enhanced with Force at the young master. "Go get him!"
Nine thieves rushed at the same time while the tenth stayed from a distance. A glowing halo appeared in the air beside her with a color of red and a text around her halos written in 'Fire'.
"She has Red Rune for destructiveness for her fire affinity. I don't think the young master stands a chance at all." I said, but Banther shook his head.
"Just watch."
The woman conjured Fire Balls. They have a similar size to that of a basketball and as they spin in the air, their flames keep getting bigger and bigger until each of their flames touches one another despite the distance of each flaming orbs.
While the nine rushed forward, they swung their weapons at Arthur. The young master leaped up to avoid the melee weapons aimed at him and he landed behind their encirclement.
Meanwhile, the caster used Force Hands to change the trajectory of the Fire Balls where Arthur was standing. The young master dodged the incoming missiles of the flaming orbs. Each ball generated a potent impact as they hit the ground, causing the ground to quake violently. Arthur kept dodging the remaining Fire Balls, avoiding them by sidestepping while he bolted towards the caster. He imbued Force to his legs, dashing swiftly to reach her.
However, one of the thieves got in between them.
"Not so fast!" A red halo with Earth written around it appeared on his palms. He swung his palms to the ground and conjured Hard Wall. The soil of the ground went up, forming a wall while the soft soil transformed into a hard construct which Arthur was not able to destroy with strength alone.
He jumped over the walls and used Force Hands to grab the caster who was behind the Earth conjurer. The caster felt a tight grip around her. Arthur pulled her towards the Earth conjurer and the two made a collision with each other.
"Aw!" They both said in unison. "What the heck are you-"
Before the Earth conjurer could speak, a Fire Ball was sent flying in their way. As the flaming ball made impact on the two of them, the ball exploded.
The eight thieves halted as they watched two of their comrades go down.
"Where did that Fire Ball came from?" I asked Banther, still shocked at what I just witnessed.
"The young master used his Force Hands by secretly grabbing a Fire Ball and changed its trajectory by performing a wide arc in the forest where no one could see it." Banther said with excitement in his eyes.
"How smart!" I said enthusiastically.
Before the eight thieves could make a move, Arthur appeared from the flames and bolted swiftly at the horde. He used Force Hands to grab one of the thieves' swords, which he successfully took, and swung the sword against his third and fourth victim.
"R-Retreat!" Their leader who was wielding a dagger ordered. "Don't let the kid get near you! If you can, cast some spells at him!"
Alas, they only have one caster while the rest of them are only good in close combat. But thanks to our training, the young master was expert at hand-to-hand combat. Yet, I still am worried.
Two thieves, one wielding a mace with sharp, pointy teeth around it and the other using a battleaxe, rushed against Arthur. Thanks to his speed, the young master quickly got behind the two thieves and slashed their necks, separating their heads from their bodies.
"Four more." Banther said, watching the fight. My worries were immediately replaced with joy.
'Oh, how strong the young master has gotten.'
"Do something!" Their leader said, pushing one of his men towards the incoming hunter. Arthur quickly swung his sword until it broke into pieces, slashing the thief like a cake into pieces.
"Three more." I said this time.
"Darn it! I'll deal with him. The two of you ambush him from the back!" A thief wielding two glaives said. A purple halo appeared on his chest written with Air. "You are fast and strong, kid. But let's see if you can survive against my two babes!"
The thief swung his two glaives faster than the young master could parry. Thanks to his Purple Runes, his physical strength was much stronger than Arthur while the Air made his attacks quicker, forcing Arthur to dodge while being pushed back.
Behind him, two thieves rushed towards him. Purple halos written in Air and Fire were already visible on both of them. As they got closer, they swung their weapons at the young master.
The young master spun on his heel. He hurled the shards from the broken sword earlier using Force Hands, aiming them at their eyes until they got blinded. The two thieves screamed in pain, halting their movements. Arthur used the chance to grab them and threw them against the dual wielding glaive thief, which caused him to stop swinging his weapons.
"Darn you!" He roared in outrage, but Arthur used Force Hands to grab the daggers from their leader and sent it flying at the three remaining thieves.
The fight lasted for about ten minutes, and standing tall in victory was the young master.