Minute Mage: A Time-Traveling LitRPG Progression Fantasy

Chapter 206: Fire with Fire

Loik stood in a field by the forest, staring at the group of two adventurers. That man with the creepy black armor stared right back at him, Loik just barely able to make out the whites of his eyes—the only thing proving he was Human—through the visor. And next to him stood that woman with the dark wisps of smoke surrounding her, obscuring any particular detail from his perception and making her blend in with the late evening’s darkness.

This armored man had been the source of so much stress ever since they met him. And they’d only even spoken once. Most of the stress after that single meeting came from worrying he’d seen this man creeping around corners, stalking them in the tall grass. Loik had convinced himself he’d just been seeing things, but maybe those two had been following them this whole time. But why?!

Right now, it seemed like the man genuinely intended to kill Loik. He’d noticed the blood on his axe, and…Damn it all, why hadn’t Loik had just washed the red off like normal?! He’d forgotten to do so after their work last night had gone messy, and now he was facing where it landed him. How did that armored freak even expect Loik and his coworkers to just start perfectly following the law, anyway? On a whim, they needed to simply decide to never make a good amount of money again? Didn’t these two realize that they had lifestyles to maintain?

“L-listen…” Loik muttered, backing up and putting a hand on his weapon. He’d still never seen the man fight. They were missing that monster they’d had with them last time, but that thing wasn’t the wild card. The Sorcerer woman? A Level 20 would be a problem, but manageable. And if she had just been paired up with some Level 20 Swordsman or some other Melee-Type, they’d be able to decently predict the pair’s fighting style and take them down with few injuries. But who knew this man’s Class? Or even his Level?

Loik heard something behind him. A footstep in the grass. Barely turning his head so he could keep his two enemies in his sight, he saw in the corner of his eye one of his companions sprinting off. It was Anthon, their Sorcerer. Before Loik could even figure out whether Anthon was fleeing out of fear or just trying to get to a more favorable long-range sniping position, the man instantly collapsed to the ground.

Nothing had happened. Neither the armored man nor the shadowy woman even moved a finger. For a second, Loik had to assume Anthon had simply tripped on a root or something. But he didn’t get up. Somehow…

“W-what did you do to him?” Loik asked, mustering up as challenging a tone as he could.

“Are you afraid I killed him?” the armored man asked in response. His tone was infuriatingly casual. “It would definitely be a fitting end to a group of murderers, for each of you to be killed in cold blood in return. But he’s not dead. Well, he might be soon, if he doesn’t have the Health to endure that Curse I put on him.”

See, that was what Loik hated about this man. He’d just admitted to attacking one of their group members! For the gods’ sakes, he might have just killed the man! But the way he said it, his demeanor, the way he didn’t seem to be on-guard in the slightest, it made it feel like fighting wasn’t even an option. To so casually attack someone like that without even beginning to adopt a fighting stance, it was like the man didn’t see Loik or the rest of his crew as a threat whatsoever.

He still hoped they’d be able to get out of this without a fight; that was another reason he—and the rest of his companions—didn’t attack the moment this man cast his Spell. Perhaps, if they tried to find a diplomatic solution, they could all get out of this unscathed. Well, all of them without Anthon. But that was a sacrifice Loik was more than willing to make.

“Hey,” Loik said, voice still a little shaky, “why don’t we just go our separate ways, huh? No issues, no problems, we just walk away and pretend we never saw each other?”

There was a deafening pause after Loik spoke where the man just stared at him, unmoving. Then, barely more than a whisper, Loik heard the man say, “Y’know, Index, I think you may be right about this one. As much as I feel you’re normally a little harsh with this sort of thing.”

The shadow woman seemed to hear the man as well, turning to look at him with narrowed eyebrows. Was her name Index? It hadn’t seemed like the man was speaking to her there, but who else could it have been?

She subtly shifted her body to look at him. “I assume Index is suggesting what it normally suggests with stuff like this?”

“Yeah. And, y’know, I’m not too opposed here.”

“Well Ainash is already on her way. Plus company.”

“Seems like it’ll work out just fine, then. Do you—”

“Hey!” Someone muscled past Loik, shouting to interrupt the murmured conversation between the man and the woman. Loik glanced over to see it was Habban. She was a Swordsman on their team, decently high-Level, as well. He could tell she’d grown more than tired of Loik’s reluctance to fight, grabbing the greatsword on her back as she stood against the two, standing up tall so she towered over them. “You think you’re getting out of this alive?”

He looked up at her and simply said, “...Yeah.”

Then, once again without any indication that the man had done anything, Habban leapt back, shouting in alarm and raising her sword as if to block an attack. Then she swung it in a wide arc, striking the plain air. She turned back and shouted, “Help me against these things!”

“W-what things?” Loik asked.

“Are they invisible to you or something?! He cloned himself!”

Loik glanced around. Nothing. The man was still standing there looking at them. Curiously, as though he were researching their reaction.”

“I-it may be a trick. Are they illusions? Are you taking damage when they hit you?”

“M-maybe. Where’s the real one?! Did he run off? Is he attacking?”

“...No. He’s still standing where he was.”

Habban wildly threw her head around in search of the armored man in what was apparently a crowd of illusory copies. “Why’s he standing there? Hey! You! What do you want?!”

“Well, for now, I’d prefer it if you would stop trying to run away or attack us. You’re kind of forcing my hand in terms of retaliation.”

Loik frowned. “So then what do you want, if you don’t want a fight but you also don’t want us to leave?”

“Calm down, and I’ll tell you.”

Loik glanced around. This felt weird. It all felt weird, but especially now. What was this guy doing? He turned to the woman. “You said that someone was on their way. You trying to call the guards? There’s no evidence against us, okay? And we can get you in trouble for attacking us randomly, too. So don’t even try it.”

Instead of answering him, she looked at the armored man. “Honestly, I think we should just go. But…well, I certainly see the other side of the argument, as well.

“Time?”

“Let me ask. Uhh…not long until she gets here, seems like.”

Loik looked between them. “Until who gets here?! Listen, if you don’t answer me, I’ll be forced to attack. You’re outnumbered, and you won’t get the drop on us again. Walk away now, and you live. No harm done. Alright?”

The man frowned, Loik just barely able to see it through his visor. “Since when were we outnumbered?”

Loik glanced around, but saw nothing. He turned to Habban. “Those copies are illusions, right?”

“Y-yeah. Attacks go right through me. I-I can’t see well through them, though. Aren’t there just two of them?”

“Yeah. …Yeah,” Loik repeated, trying to convince himself. “They’re just stalling. Lying, pretending, they aren’t strong enough to kill us all.”

“You really think that?” the man asked.

“Men, draw your weapons,” Loik said, ignoring the man’s words. He wouldn’t be intimidated. “This is your last chance, you two. Turn around and leave right now, or you’re done for.”

The man shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure.”

Then he turned and started walking away. The woman turned and followed shortly after.

Loik blinked, and his companions began murmuring among themselves. Had that really worked? All they’d needed to do was…ask?

Once the two people had gotten around fifteen paces away, Loik began to hear more footsteps in the grass. He turned, expecting to see some of his own companions walking somewhere, but none of them were moving. They seemed as confused as he was. They were the only ones out here, and any guards trying to approach would be coming through the fields, visible from far off. So what was—

A barrage of arrows burst out of the nearby forest’s edge, impaling the unsuspecting victims of Loik’s group.

One sunk right into Loik’s shoulder, too, and he got a notification announcing the 19 damage he’d just taken. He grunted and raised his weapon, preparing to fight, but before he could even take a step…

You have been coated in frost for the next 15 seconds.For as long as you are coated in frost, you lose 7.76 Health and 6.21 Stamina each second, and your Dexterity is lowered by 15.5.

He instantly felt the power drain from his body. The Stat penalty wasn’t enough to instantly drop him, but it was definitely uncomfortable. And then, Loik realized how drastic that Health and Stamina drain was. Especially the Stamina. Losing 6 every single second, he’d be exhausted by the time this damned curse ran its course.

With a quick glance around, he saw that it looked like the rest of his team had been hit by a similar effect. Some of the Magic-Types that hadn’t raised their physical Stats much even collapsed on the spot, just like their Sorcerer had before.

Just a couple seconds after the first, another barrage of arrows launched from the trees. What in the hells were they even fighting?! The curses had stopped everyone in their tracks in trying to get to the forest's edge, so Loik still had no idea. Was it a random attack by the forest Goblins?! He thought they’d been pacified. He glanced over at the pair of adventurers that were walking away, hoping they’d go take care of the things. But no they were still…Well, actually, they weren’t walking away. They were standing there, staring at Loik and his companions.

It was them. These archers were their reinforcements. They weren’t getting the guards at all! What in the hells was this?!

Suddenly, something popped out of the tall grass. A monster—the one that’d been with that pair the last time they’d seen them. It drew back its flaming whip, preparing to strike. At the same time, another barrage of arrows launched from the forest, and yet more projectiles—Firebolts and these glowing-blue rays—came from the two adventurers.

Loik realized in that single instant, like time had been frozen. This whole encounter been perfectly coordinated, somehow without any of these groups ever speaking with each other. The monster, the Spells, and those archers, they were working in perfect harmony. Simply put, not only had Loik been overpowered, but he’d simply been outplayed, as well. And then that moment ended, and all of the attacks hit at once.

I stared at the battlefield, all of the enemy combatants dead. It’d been bloody, and not something I’d enjoyed. But it had been necessary. They’d squandered the second chance I’d given them—proven that if I gave them a third, they’d have taken advantage of it all the same. If we’d let them go, they would continue killing more people, simple as that.

“And they’d have the possibility of growing stronger and becoming a more significant threat to you,” Index chimed in. “Good to get rid of any enemies you can, whenever you can.”

“That’s true,” I said with a sigh.

Erani had already left. The stench of dead bodies, burnt from her own Firebolts, had been too much for her. The moment it’d become clear that the fight was basically over, she ran into the forest while I stayed behind to ensure my curses took out the remaining paralyzed ones lying in the dirt. Ainash had stuck behind, as well.

“Am glad we got to kill mean guys, father,” she said. “And was good practice for Goblins! They only attacked mean guys, and not good guys! Were very good soldiers.”

“Yeah, well. We clearly should’ve killed them earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

“I gave them a second chance, at first. Well, really, I realized that we would’ve suffered pretty bad losses if we fought the first time around. This time we had the advantage of the Goblins, plus my own Level having increased. And my Spells were higher Rank, too. But still, I could have hunted them down and picked them off after they split up that night, or something. I didn’t do that, though. I thought there was a possibility they’d learn from the experience, and maybe go on to become good people. If they did that, then killing them anyway would mean killing a perfectly good person for no reason.”

“But they did not do that.”

“Exactly. Instead, they went and killed some innocent people. The exact thing I’d wanted to avoid—the death of people who didn’t deserve it—happened anyway. So it would’ve been better if we’d just killed them right away. No innocent deaths, that way.”

“Do Humans really change from being mean guys into becoming good guys? It happens often?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, really. I’m sure it happens, but as for how often? Maybe it’s less than I hoped.”

“I’m telling you now, you should just kill them most of the time,” Index said. “Like you said, why risk the lives of the truly innocent just for the sake of maybe redeeming someone who already proved themself bad?”

“You’re just saying that because you want me to kill anyone who looks at me the wrong way,” I responded, rolling my eyes. “Ugh, I need to get out of here.”

“Is seeing dead Humans making you sad?”

“It’s certainly not making me happy.”

“Okay, let’s go meet with mother! She is already seeing Goblins I think. Cannot wait to show them to you! They have presents.”

“Presents?”

“Yes, like gifts! Think you will like them.”