Izick twisted the Honor Rod to the side, throwing the Kenomi bandit off his balance enough for Izick to push him off the carriage with the back of the Honor Rod.

  The bandit groaned as he crashed into the ground headfirst and tumbled lifelessly through the tall grass. Giselle used the confusion to cut down a bandit sneaking up on Izick before kicking off another bandit trying to climb up the carriage.

  "I see you're not dead, kid. I got worried there for a second," Giselle said as more Wolf Kenomi bandits jumped onto the carriage.

  She stepped in front of a bandit heading towards Mil and parried his sword slash.

  Mill remained focused on the task of healing and resuscitating the injured archer, while simultaneously keeping the reflective red shields up as occasional volleys of arrows and fireballs slipped off of them.

  Izick threw a knife into the back of the neck of another bandit rushing towards Mill at the back of the carriage.

  He pulled out another knife from the sheath on his forearm and stabbed the exposed shoulder of the bandit fighting Giselle, giving her the space to slash the bandit's chest and kick him off.

  Izick looked into the trees ahead to see more Wolf Kenomi preparing to jump onto the carriage.

  "We're alive for now, but we're all going to be dead if Mill dies. I want you to go protect her since you're a better fighter than I am. They're starting to notice she's the one holding up the shields. I'll keep the bandits off the carriage somehow."

  "Sounds like a plan. Try to keep them from even getting to the carriage if you can," Giselle said as she moved in front of Mill and the injured archer to take a defensive stance.

  The bandits jumped from the trees towards the carriage. Izick tossed five orange cubes into the air occupied by the falling bandits.

  The cubes detonated upon contact with the bandits, carpeting them with explosions as the sky above the carriage blazed orange. Screams of pain rang out as the charred body of a bandit fell by Izick.

  A single bandit stumbled onto the carriage unharmed, leading to him pulling out the axe on his back.

  "Lower shields, stop carriage…or die," the bandit growled while glaring with his yellow and black eyes.

  "Not a chance. You'd kill us even if we complied. I know how this works."

  Izick ducked under the horizontal slash of the bandit's axe to swipe at his feet with the Honor Rod, knocking him off balance. The bandit slammed his axe into the roof of the carriage to stop himself from falling, just barely missing Izick.

  Izick unsheathed the knife on the side of his boot and plunged it into the bandit's chest before he could dislodge his axe.

  The bandit reeled back, giving Izick enough time to swing the Honor Rod at the bandit's head, sending him tumbling off the carriage while gasping at the knife in his chest.

  Giselle kicked off two more bandits trying to sneak up the back of the carriage to kill Mill, clearing off the last of the attacking Wolf Kenomi.

  Izick's breath became ragged as he looked through Mill's transparent shields. His eyes went wide as he realized what was ahead of them.

  "We have a problem! We're going to crash!" Izick said, pointing to the massive collection of boulders in their path.

  The green healing light around Mill's hands faded as she turned to the boulders and then Izick.

  "Izick! My shields will shatter upon impact! You have to clear a path. No time to hesitate, just shoot!" Mill said quickly with bated breath as she wiped the sweat from her face.

  Izick winced but quickly slapped his left cheek before switching to the shotgun grip with the Honor Rod and turning to Giselle.

  "Giselle, can you anchor me somehow? I need better footing."

  She looked at him strangely, but she didn't ask questions and just slammed her sword into the top of the carriage.

  She leaned against the flat end of the sword, securing it in place.

  "Take a seat, this is the best that I can do."

  Mill dragged the archer behind Giselle and moved her floating shields to the side of the carriage to give Izick a clear shot. Izick sat down with his back to the flat body of the sword.

  He lifted the Honor Rod toward the now fast-approaching boulders. He pulled the trigger, heating the weapon in his hands and creating a ball of yellow light at its muzzle. Giselle's mouth parted, watching Izick's staff take on its true form.

  "Close your eyes!"

  [ ATTENTION: SYMBOL LINK ENGAGED ]

  [ SYMBOL LINK: 100% ]

  [ SKILL: BANG BULLET ]

  Izick released the trigger and shot the ball of light at the boulders. His body pressed into the cold steel of the sword behind him as the Honor Rod recoiled. Mill quickly moved her shields back to the front of the carriage as the ball of light whizzed through the air before smashing into the boulders and exploding.

  Blinding light filled the area as shards of rock flew everywhere. But the carriage remained untouched as Mill's red shields repelled the rubble and debris, preventing it from being smashed to pieces.

  The carriage violently shook as the wheels rolled over uneven ground where the boulder once stood, until the hill straightened into a flattened field. The trees became sparse as they entered an open valley.

  Izick pulled out his spyglass and peered ahead to see multiple overturned carriages along with Barson and the rest of the Hossa Mercenary Band engaging with hordes of bandits surrounding them, trying to keep them away from the goods inside the overturned carriages.

  "We're heading straight towards that messy battle up ahead. We need to stop this carriage. I'm hitting the emergency brakes." Izick said as he slid down to the front of the carriage.

  Giselle pulled her sword out of the carriage's roof and sheathed it before helping Mill bring the injured archer down to the booth behind the dead driver. Izick removed the dead driver's body to take his seat and grab the brake lever.

  "Hold on. Mill, can your shields hold out for a little while longer?" Giselle said, awaiting a response from Mill.

  Mill looked to her shields and the incoming battle ahead before sighing.

  "It should work because it's less mass than those boulders, but they'll eventually break, and your people might get hurt," Mill said as she grabbed onto the chair Izick was sitting on to brace herself.

  "That's why we have a Healer with us," Giselle said with a mischievous smile while securing the unconscious archer in her arms.

  Izick caught onto Giselle's idea and now understood her intentions. Mill raised her glowing red staff, causing the hexagon shields floating in front of the carriage to blaze red.

  The bandits turned around too late as the carriage, surrounded by Mill's shields, slammed into their bodies and threw them to the side.

  Izick pulled the brake lever as Mill extended her staff again to create two sets of green shields to knock away nearby Hossa Mercenary Band members.

  The carriage plowed through the screaming Wolf Kenomi bandits like a battering ram. Mill's red shields flickered from her waning Mana and accumulated damage from repeated hits.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  An unseen boulder smashed into the carriage's wheel, changing its direction to a clustered formation of rocks.

  The red shields shattered upon impact with the rocks, clipping the side of the driver's area where Izick sat. Rocks pelted Izick's head and body as he was thrown into the air from his seat, along with the dead driver.

  Time seemed to slow down as he saw the Honor Rod slip from his grasp.

  "Never, under any circumstances, let this Honor Rod go out of arm's reach."

  Foster Braun's warning assaulted his aching head as he hopelessly reached for the falling Honor Rod with panicked hands.

  A glowing green whip of Mana wrapped around Izick's chest. The soothing sensation melted the pain away from his head and body as the green whip yanked him back to the carriage before it spun around and slammed into the base of a tree.

  The warding cloth, tied around Izick's wrist, tightened around the Honor Rod as it hit the ground a few feet in front of him. Izick thanked his past self for having previously tied the Honor Rod to his wrist.

  Mill steadied Izick in her arms. She dispelled the green whip extending out of the tip of her staff to release Izick.

  "Are you OK?" Mill said to Izick as he pulled the warding cloth to bring the Honor Rod closer.

  "Y-yeah, thanks to you. I'm just a little shaken up. That green rope saved me, but I almost lost my 'staff' back there…"

  Giselle silently watched them as she released the archer and began making her way down from the carriage.

  Barson stared in awe at the massive gap in the bandits' defenses made by the carriage attack before snapping out of it and raising his sword.

  "This is our chance! Mages, protect the goods, everyone else, let's crush 'em before they regroup!" Barson shouted as he charged forward with the other Warriors behind him.

  Izick helped Mill lower the injured archer from the carriage. More damaged carriages were scattered around them in the tall grass.

  The nearby Mages began to Recite in front of Izick's group as bandits tried one more time to take the goods by attacking the flank opposite of Barson and his Warriors.

  A red-haired Mage wearing a black suit and carrying a staff with a spiked ball on its tip barked orders at the other Mages before him and five Mages in brown hoods.

  The Mage in the suit raised his mace-like staff, signaling the five Mages to quickly Recite and launch fireballs at the approaching bandits.

  The spiked ball on the Mage's staff caught fire as he incinerated and cracked the skulls of any bandits getting too close to the Reciting Mages behind him.

  The Mages finished Reciting, bringing forth a series of green circles that enveloped the carriages. Green light shot into the air, creating a force field that encircled and protected the goods from the advancing bandits.

  "Scotts! The Barrier Skill is up!" a Mage shouted to the Mage in the suit from behind the forcefield.

  The Mage in the suit, Scotts, shot a white fireball at an axeman, instantly turning him into ashes as his eyes drifted to Mill.

  Scotts walked through the forcefield with his Mages. The bandits chasing him slammed into the hard, green light like they ran into a wall.

  Giselle walked by the Mages with uplifted hands, keeping the Barrier up as she got in front of Scotts.

  "Why are we getting attacked like this? I thought Hobbs scouted a safe path?" Giselle said, raising her hands in frustration.

  "He did. Something is off. I'll have to look into this after we're done here," Scotts said as he turned his gaze to Mill. He pointed past the overturned carriages with his spiked staff.

  "You're the new Healer, right? I need you to go further back, where we're keeping our wounded. One of our Healers died, and the other lost her mind."

  "A Healer is dead? Alright, I'll head over there right now," Mill said before turning to walk in the direction where Scotts pointed.

  "I'll go with them. Can't have our Healer getting killed by some random bandit," Giselle said as she unsheathed her sword.

  "Fine, but return here as soon as you can. I need you to help me cut these scoundrels down. I don't want to waste any more Mana than I already have."

  Scotts waved his staff at the Barrier, making a hole big enough for Mill to pass through. He sent another fireball through the hole, blowing away the bandits trying to run into the new opening.

  Giselle led Izick and Mill through the hole before Scotts fired more fireballs to give them an opening to escape toward the injured mercenaries.

  Izick whacked a bandit in the head with the butt of the Honor Rod. He slowed down to look at Mill, who was struggling to keep up with her heavy breathing.

  "Mill, how are you doing? Your condition doesn't seem too good right now," Izick said with worry as he watched endless sweat roll down her face as Giselle continued to clear a path through the small group of bandits ahead of them.

  "I'm fine. I was hired to keep these people alive. I can't just sit back while they die in pain. I'll rest plenty when this is all over," Mill said as she wiped sweat off her face with her sleeve.

  "I can hold on for a little bit longer. Being a liability to your client and letting them die when there's Mana still in you is the ultimate offense as a Healer."

  A group of mercenaries ran toward them with their weapons drawn. They noticed Giselle and came to a halt.

  "We just finished securing the area and dumping the injured back there. We're rejoining the main group to help Barson and Scotts."

  "Got it. I'm heading back with you since I have to support the Mages. Mill, Izick, you two should be pretty safe here. See you soon!" Giselle said as she tapped Izick and Mill on the shoulders. Her eyes lingered on the Honor Rod before she turned away and ran off with the small group of mercenaries.

  Izick and Mill found themselves in an open field, surrounded by dozens of wounded Warriors. Healthy Warriors and Mages kept watch while a few tried their best to nurse the badly injured.

  Mill looked at the scene in disbelief. Numerous injuries with no Healer in sight. Mill noticed a gruff-looking axeman looking down at an injured man while shaking his head.

  The man with the injury had a rolled-up rag in his mouth. His lower leg was pulverized and bloody.

  "Bite down hard on that rag. Off with your leg," the axeman said as he raised his axe and sighed.

  "Wait!" Mill said as she rushed to stop the axeman, who looked at her, confused.

  "Oh, are you a Healer? I'll let you deal with this then. This man will die if you don't fix that leg," the axeman said while pointing to the injured man's leg.

  "A Healer ate an arrow, and that other Healer went off her rocker, so I'd figure to do this myself."

  Mill knelt and placed her glowing yellow left hand on the man's chest. She continued to scan his body until she put her right hand over the man's bloodied leg.

  The man's troubled face became peaceful as his leg mended itself and became whole again. The man spat out the rag in his mouth and turned to Mill.

  "T-thank you so much."

  "Try to stay off that leg for a while. The muscles in your leg are still weak after I reconstructed them."

  Izick looked down at Mill's handiwork in awe. It never got old seeing this. He turned to the axeman, who nodded while appreciating Mill's healing prowess.

  "That Healer that's still alive, do you know where she is right now?" Izick said while scanning the area for the familiar white robe of a Healer.

  "Oh, she's talking to herself over there."

  Izick looked in the direction where the axeman pointed.

  A crying Healer with blonde hair muttered nonsense to herself with her hands on her head as she rocked in the fetal position with her back to a tree.

  Mill rose to her feet and joined Izick in watching the Healer. Her face scrunched up as she stormed off towards the Healer.

  Mill grabbed both of the arms of the Healer and then pulled her up to her feet.

  "What are you doing! These people need you!" Mill shouted into the Healer's face. The Healer lifted her tear-filled face and stared back at Mill with her wide eyes, revealing herself as the Healer Sibyl.

  "Didra is dead! She was the first to die after getting shot in the mouth with an arrow. I didn't sign up for this. We're all going to be killed by these beasts, aren't we? You agree, right? I don't want to die like-" Sibyl said as she grabbed Mill's white robe.

  Mill slapped Sibyl across the face and then backhanded her before grabbing her wrists.

  "Get a grip. I'm sorry Didra and many others died, but many more will die now because you're over here crying like a newborn baby," Mill said with disgust as she tightened her grip.

  "How could you let your comrades die in front of you when you're full of Mana? You're a disgrace to the definition of a Healer. It was your duty to save them, not cower under some tree. Never call yourself a Healer ever again," Mill said as she released her wrists. Sibyl fell back into the tree and slid down, crying even harder.

  Mill leaned over Sibyl and held out her hand.

  "Give me your Mana."

  "W-what?"

  "I'm almost out of Mana, so transfer your Mana to me. You don't have any use for it anyway. You're a skilled enough Mage to do it right? Or did I somehow overestimate you again?"

  The straightforward aggression toward Sibyle even spooked Izick as Mill continued to hold her hand out. Primal fear took over Sibyl as she placed her hands into Mill's almost instinctively. Brilliant green light emitted from Sibyl's hands before Mill's hands began to glow green in response.

  "I'll put your Mana to good use. You can keep crying, or try to help me save as many people here as possible with the Mana I left you with. Your choice," Mill said as she walked past Izick towards a heavily breathing Warrior lying on his back.

  Izick walked up to Mill and tapped her on the shoulder.

  "That's a side of you I haven't really seen before."

  Mill hovered her glowing hand over the Warrior, closing his chest wound up within seconds.

  "I'm sorry you had to see that, but people dying due to the hesitation of a Healer is something I can't overlook."

  War cries sounded off in the distance, making Izick perk up, searching for the source of the commotion.

  Dozens of Wolf Kenomi bandits charged toward them from a distance.

  Izick began to sweat as the Honor Rod felt heavy in his hands after seeing the bandit army. They had to be reinforcements sent to crush Barson and the other mercenaries from the opposite direction.

  It seemed his luck had finally run out, leaving his chances of survival laughably slim.