The wind attribute, out of all the attributes of magic, was the most coveted by mages. This was due to how easy it was to raise its attribute power, at least at the beginning. The way to increase its power was from repetitive use.
The more a mage used wind spells and powers, the higher the attribute points would rise. As the points rose more, one would have to count surely in order to use the spells more and more to increase them.
So although it was quick to grow at the start, the progress did slow down drastically as time went on. For Raze, it wasn't something he could do in his current situation.
If he was to spam his skills, using them one after the other, he would have no mana, and he was still in a dangerous situation. He still was no closer to the truth as to why his family had been killed back then, and the possibilities of assassins being on his back.
On top of that, since he had a dark core, his wind attribute points could never rise above that of his dark attribute. At the moment, he had no ring to gauge exactly if his powers had risen in numbers, but he could feel within his core his power was rising.
Looking up, Raze was surprised that he didn't need to do much. After the two realised that they had some strength, the rest of the bandits were now rolling about on the floor, with a few broken bones here and there.
"Since our driver has run off, one of you figure out how to ride or steer the horses." Raze asked.
"Huh? Why us, what makes you think we can ride a horse if you can't." Simyon replied.
"Because they no longer exist." Raze replied back and stopped himself there. He realised that he might have said something that would seem absurd to others, even for him.
Safa was the one who had accepted the task, as she went up to the horses and immediately started to stroke its face by the side. They seemed to be quick to accept her.
Seeing how that situation had been dealt with. Raze went to deal with the other situations. He placed his hand out, looking at the men rolling about on the ground below.
"Wind strike." Raze said.
A small gust of wind pushed out from Raze's hand, and when it pressed against the neck of the man on the ground, it had cut through the skin making a large cut. The attack wasn't deep enough to go right through, but it was enough to send him to his death.
After one had passed, Raze walked over to another bandit, and placed his hand out again. With the mana regain effect it wasn't a problem since he wasn't using much mana either.
"What are you doing Raze!" Simyon shouted. "They've already been taken care of. These guys, they can't even fight back, there's no reason to kill them!"
Before attacking, Raze lifted his head looking at Simyon again.
"Are you still going to do this after last time?" Raze said. "I told you before, that if we let these people go, they will only return to do more damage to us. You should know what these people are like based on how they acted now."
"I know… but taking a life, don't these people have a family that cares about them? Don't you feel bad for those that will miss them when they are dead?" Simyon asked.
"And what about what they have done?" Raze replied. "Do you think they felt bad when they killed others? When they stole their money. Do you think they would have felt bad when they took our lives as well?"
"You have to think, if we didn't stop them, or take them out, think about how many more people they would hurt. And think, if we don't get rid of them now, there would be more than just us that are hurt by them."
Simyon was finding his own emotions conflicted. It wasn't because he thought what Raze was saying was wrong, but it was more so that he found doing all of this too easy.
"Simyon." Raze called out, while he held out his hand. "You promised your loyalty to me. I won't ever force you or Safa to do things you don't wish to do. I'm not that type of person, but I don't want you to get in the way of me doing things the way I do them."
"There is always a reason for my actions. I will protect those I promised to protect including you two, and if that means I have to become a villain in everyone else's eyes, including you two, then so be it.
"Wind strike." The attack left Raze's hands and struck another one of the bandits.
Leaving it to Raze, after that conversation Simyon didn't know why, but he almost felt sorry for Raze, that he had to carry all of it on his shoulders.
Simyon waited inside the carriage and after everything was done, Raze had entered. With using his wind powers, and having completed the condition for the Darkness attribute he had seen another increase.
[Darkness attribute: 29 >>> 30]
[Wind attribute: 6 >>>> 7]
The carriage was off, with Safa at the reins. The ride was just as smooth as with the professional driver, it was quite amazing that someone was able to control animals so well, especially one who would have never interacted with them.
The more Raze was hanging around Safa, the more he thought she suited the qualities of the light attribute, but just as had said to Simyon before, he believed that it was true for her as well and she needed to choose her own way.
The ride was mostly silent between Raze and Simyon in the back, the whole situation felt a little awkward after their talk. That was until finally, they had come to another stop again.
"Don't tell me its bandits again!" Simyon said, shoving his head out of the window, but it wasn't bandits at all. Instead he could see a large wall and a gate, surrounded on its own island of sorts, and an even larger building that towered over the gates.
"It's the Pagna Academy!"