Enigmas

That night, the both of returned to their room and both of them shared the information they discovered, realising they had one information in common.

Enigmas.

"People with supernatural powers huh? I guess that must mean all the different races, like ifyls, edras and us, humans." Yoan mused.

"It's not possible, where and how do they gain these powers? Those must be false rumours."

"Rumours aren't always entirely false, Hilia." Yoan retorted.

"But they aren't entirely true either." Hilia countered.

"Who cares? Either way, if they are really true, I can't wait to see them." Yoan smirked, his eyes glowing in excitement.

Hilia heaved out a long sigh, shaking her head at Yoan who seemed too eager to meet them.

Yoan always likes challenges, and he always will.

"If they are true, Yoan, we need to be careful instead, we don't know what kind of powers they have and what they can do."

"Don't worry, I won't die so easily." Yoan grinned cheekily at Hilia who narrowed her eyes at those words.

"That doesn't mean you can go and be reckless, hurting yourself in the process."

"Fine, fine, I understand."

"Jeez, why is it you are only so reckless when it comes to fighting?" Hilia sighed in resignation and Yoan continued grinning at her.

Suddenly, Hilia's relaxed posture started to tense up, just as Yoan's grin disappeared, a frown covering his face now.

I feel something…a presence.

An unwelcoming presence, a sinister one.

Hilia lifted her head up, her staff immediately landing in her hands as her pupils changing. On the other hand, Yoan's hands instantly went to his sword, feeling the same dreadful feeling that Hilia sensed too.

A few seconds later, a piercing scream rang through the air and a loud commotion came from outside of the inn. Hilia and Yoan looked at each other, thinking the same thoughts.

Bandits.

They nodded at one another, Yoan pushing the window open and taking a few steps back, sprinting forward and jumping out the window, doing a shoulder roll as he landed on the ground, standing up. Hilia wasn't as agile and athletic as Yoan, hence, she just rushed out of the inn in an ordinary fashion.

Joining up with Yoan, they both set off and Hilia hastily searched for any life forces that were slowly decreasing; Yoan following her lead as she led them to those areas. Reaching the front of the town, they assumed correctly that it was bandits, planning on raiding the town as mothers gathered their children in their arms, rushing back into their houses while the fathers and sons tried to push back the bandits with whatever flimsy weapons they had.

"Hilia, help those who needs help, I'll push the bandits back!"

"You can't, it's dozens of them against you!"

"Hilia." Yoan said, gazing at Hilia straight into her eyes and Hilia's eyes widened slightly.

"Wh-what?"

"Have I ever lost a battle before?" Yoan questioned, a smirk on his attractive face.

Hilia shook her head and Yoan gave her a small salute, charging forward as he unsheathed both of his swords.

"Arrogant as usual, Yoan." Hilia whispered to herself, placing her staff on the ground as she focused all her spiritual energy onto her staff, biting her lower lip due to the amount of energy she was exerting.

"Barrier!"

Within seconds, a gargantuan thin layer of bubble enveloped half the town. The attackers who tried to attack the helpless villagers from outside the barrier, flew back from the impact, the weapons clattering onto the gravel.

"Go, run! I'll hold them back!" Hilia told the villagers, who gazed at their surroundings in amazement, especially at Hilia, whose voice sounded ghostly and pupils were in a mystical shape.

The villagers immediately knew that Hilia was a priestess, since priestesses were rare and they possessed powers similar to the goddesses. They were the only humans capable of casting otherworldly spells.

The villagers thanked her as they ran past her, dashing back into their homes for safety as Hilia disabled the barrier, panting. A drop of sweat rolled down her face and she lifted her head up, glancing at Yoan, who easily took down three men, slashing at them adeptly.

She still needed a lot of training, both as a priestess and as a fighter.

Blocking an attack with both of his swords, Yoan pushed the attacker back, hopping backwards as he found himself slowly getting surrounded, while the bandits grinned maliciously at him.

"Look, kiddo, you are all alone."

Yoan smirked at the comment, sheathing his swords at the side of his hips, making all the bandits confused at his actions.

"I'm not alone, you filthy bandits." Yoan said, turning around and dashing off, away from the bandits who stared at him in puzzlement, wondering if he surrendered.

Sliding under one of the bandit's legs, Yoan got up and started sprinting towards Hilia, stopping a meter away from her, not giving her a second glance.

"Not alone? Hah! Look around, boy!" One of bandit remarked, causing all of them guffaw loudly. "There's no one here!"

Hilia inhaled in a deep breath, opening her mouth and starting to chant.