Chapter 120: Fighting Practice
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Through a crack in the curtains, Anfey spotted a shadow walking towards his carriage. It was dark outside, but he still recognized who was walking over. The wind blades around him disappeared.
The shadow stopped outside of the carriage, then pulled the curtains aside abruptly and jumped into the carriage, as if she couldn’t do it unless she did it quickly.
Anfey looked at her. He was still leaning against the wall of the carriage, expressionless.
The princess seemed very nervous. She weaved her fingers together, then she placed her hands next to her legs. Her eyes were shifting and she clearly didn’t want to make eye contact with him.
Anfey was very attentive to details. He observed all her body language and came to his own conclusion. He kept his expression cold. In situations such as this, it was better to remain silent than to talk. It didn’t matter what she was going to say or do. The silence alone would be enough to make her nervous.
The princess’s hands were shaking. If Anfey had talked, even if it was a greeting or question as a master, she could use it as an opportunity for communication. Now, however, the silence was making her uncertain.
The princess couldn’t bear the dreadful silence anymore. She reached for her dress strings. It took her a long time to undo the strings, even though it should have been easy to untie. She then lifted her dress softly.
Inside was her white underclothes. It was still wet from when she was drenched by Ahab. It clung to her body tightly, accentuating her body’s curves. Sometimes, scantily-clothed women were more tempting than naked women. The princess’s curves, bright skin, full breasts, and sad, fearful eyes were enough to arouse most men.
Anfey, however, was not most men. He did not notice the princess’s body. Instead he focused on her feet. She had two wounds there. The blood was still drying, and it looked like scratch wounds. She may look good with no shoes, but they were still in the wilderness and not a palace. There were many things that could scratch a princess’s feet.
When the princess was trying to take off her underclothes, Anfey said quietly, "Do you want me to avenge you?"
The princess hesitated, then she ripped her underclothes off to prove her determination.
She moved closer to Anfey. Perhaps it was because she was inexperienced, she carefully avoided touching any place that may carry a sexual subtext, and only leaned against Anfey’s shoulder.
Anfey sighed. His camp had seemed calm, but was in fact very heavily guarded. He didn’t know how many people saw the princess going to his carriage. He didn’t want any rumors circulating among the group.
"You don’t have to do this," he told the princess. "Ahab won’t live to see the morning sun."
The princess froze. She looked at Anfey, trying to process his words.
"Anfey, they’re coming," Christian called, knocking on the carriage wall. Anfey was thankful that it was Christian who came to warn him. Sante probably would have lifted the curtains without knocking.
"If you don’t want your body being seen, I suggest you put on some clothes," Anfey told the princess.
She lifted her head and looked at Anfey, her eyes filled with confusion. In the past, she had seen many men staring at her or looking at her. She was very confident in herself. Before she came, she had already prepared herself for every possible outcome, including the worst ones like if Anfey had taken advantage of her but would not do as he had promised. Now she realized he was not interested in her. He didn't even try to touch her. He didn’t look at her as a woman.
Anfey narrowed his eyes. He could already see suspicious movements through a crack in the curtains.
The princess grabbed her clothes and kept her head low. This trip did not accomplish anything. She had just taken her clothes off, and now she had to dress herself again, and they did not even do anything.
In the past, Alibaba mercenary group didn’t need any sentinels. As long as there were fires, Eye of the Sky could see everything. The vigils were responsible for patrolling the campsite with the magic. It was another form of training. Ahab didn’t know that, though. He had once told Anfey that it would be safer to have sentinels. Even if they did not run into bandits, sentinels could protect them against magic beasts. Anfey only smiled and did not explain anything. For Ahab, this was proof that Anfey and his friends were inexperienced and ignorant of the rules of the forest.
Levels didn’t necessarily equal power. An experienced junior magister could easily defeat a new junior magister. The strength of the magic depended on releasing the right magic at the right time, not how powerful the spell was. Back at Saul’s mansion, Christian did not release powerful magic. He released a lightning arc that effectively ended the fight.
Ahab didn’t know what they had been through. He was very careful when he was making the decisions and considered every possible outcome. When he really acted, the attack turned out sloppy. Ahab clearly did not consider the possibility of an ambush. He was right, though, since Anfey did not prepare an ambush.
When the caravan’s guards and mercenary surrounded the carriage, the curtains were ripped off. Anfey climbed out of the carriage and stood on the front of the carriage. The mercenaries and guards all froze.
"Ahab, you’ve gone too far!" Anfey called loudly. He could easily see Ahab’s swollen figure in the dark. Ahab must worry that his men would try to steal the gold, and chose to come with his men to prevent that.
Ahab froze as well. However, he was too worried about the money to hear the sarcasm in Anfey’s voice. He thought that Anfey was only questioning why he was doing this. It was too late to pull back, and Ahab didn’t care for friendships. "Attack!" he called as a reply to Anfey.
Two guards dashed forward and lurched towards Anfey. The dark red combat power around them proved that they were senior swordsmen.
Anfey waved his hands. Several small fire balls appeared in the air. Hundreds of fire balls surrounded Anfey, hiding his body and illuminating the space around him.
The swordsmen weren’t afraid of the fire balls. The two jumped upwards with their combat power to attack Anfey. When they were a few feet away from him, the fireballs disappeared. In Anfey’s right hand was a burning longsword. On his left arm was a large, burning shield.
Anfey reached forward, the longsword pierced his enemy’s combat power easily. He flicked his wrist and threw the man’s body back. Then he took a step to the side to avoid the attack from the other man. He swung his left arm, and hit the man in the face with the shield. The swordsman was thrown back before he could even make a noise. When he landed on the ground, his face was blackened his clothes were aflame.
"A paladin!’" someone called, terrified.
Anfey's attack shocked the mercenaries, and a blinding flash of sword radiance made the mercenaries realize how hopeless the situation was. Suzanna’s entire body was hidden in bright combat power, and her combat power cut mercenaries in half before her swords even reached her enemies.
The mercenaries did not know what to do. They did not have any swordsman or mages. Any logical person would know a single senior swordsmen could kill all the mercenaries there. The guards and mercenaries scrambled away from the fight.
Waves of strong magical surges reached the felt. Bolts of lightning fell from the sky. Riska’s team had begun its attacks.
"Everyone! This is an ambush! Take him! That's the only way we can live!" Ahab called to his men.
His voice calmed many of the despairing mercenaries and guards. They dashed towards Anfey together.
Wind blades fell onto the enemies. Sante and Zubin led half a dozen people and appeared above them. This team included Feller as well, at Anfey’s request. Ahab did not have any powerful men working for him, so his men wouldn’t be much of a threat. Even if there wouldn’t be any one-on-one fighting, Anfey knew it would be good practice for his friends. Except for Blavi and the few that were protecting Niya and Shally, everyone must join the fight.