A New Challenger Has Appeared

Chapter 12 -A new challenger has appeared-

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The sun stood at high noon as the group made their way back through the forest. A serene silence fell over the group, not because no one had anything to say, but because Hi'kim grew tired of the piggy Bishop's constant hollering and demanding to know about the divine he sensed and what they said. It annoyed the young wizard to the point where he cast two alteration spells: one silencing the Bishop and another that disrupted mana flow, making the Bishop incapable of casting any recovery spells to regain his voice before the duration of the silence spell ended.

Hi'kim's mind replayed everything he had learned, not just now but since the beginning of the week. His father was the sorcerer king thousands of years ago, his grandmother was the goddess of magic Eldralith, and his father was the very first sorcerer... His frustrations grew on his face at how many blessings one could be born with.

He glanced to the side and observed Elizabeth, noticing a smile on her face that seemed ****. Beneath the surface, her eyes betrayed a hint of pain.

Elizabeth swiftly averted her gaze, picking up her pace to distance herself from the group. Her actions weren't fueled by arrogance but rather a desire to escape the discomfort caused by the piggy Bishop's presence and conceal her emotions from her beloved.

An unsettling sensation crept over her skin as she sensed the piggy Bishop's lingering gaze, his eyes leering at her from behind. She shuddered in disgust, feeling the phantom hands of the Bishop gripping her waist, the warm breath against the back of her neck, and the foul taste of his tongue as it entered her mouth, violating her once more.

She clenched her fist, fighting the urge to remember as the memories were making her wet and warm between her legs. She shook her head, trying to **** the memory away, which only intensified the sensations.

I want to forget! I want to forget the feeling of his fat cock inside me. How he violated my virginity. I can't forget. It won't let me. She thought, trying to suppress the arousal.

"Elizabeth!" Hi'kim called out, grabbing her by the shoulder.

Startled, she turned towards him, her mind snapping back to reality. "Yes?" she replied, her voice tinged with tension.

"What's wrong with you right now?" Hi'kim inquired, his voice laced with concern, but his attention momentarily diverted elsewhere. His right hand was slightly raised, signaling for everyone to halt.

Just then, a flurry of arrows descended upon them from the foliage surrounding the group. Without hesitation, Hi'kim swiftly erected a shielding spell, intercepting the projectiles before they could find their mark. The shimmering barrier crackled with magical energy, deflecting the arrows harmlessly away from the group.

"We're surrounded!" Hi'kim exclaimed as he raised both hands in an arcane gesture. As Elizabeth rushed to cover his back, she reached underneath her robes and swiftly drew out a mace.

Wait, since when did she have a mace, and where the hell was she hiding it, crossed Hi'kim's mind, but the thought didn't linger as he scanned the area.

The young wizard sensed no magic, so unless they were concealing their mana, it was safe to say there were no magical threats. Leah and the Bishop quickly tried to huddle closer to Hi'kim and Elizabeth.

"What's going on?" the piggy bishop asked after several minutes of nothing happening.

"They're still there, assessing what to do. It's dangerous to attack a wizard, especially without magic resistance," he responded.

"Dangerous, but not impossible," a voice remarked from the direction Hi'kim was facing. Then, emerging from the bushes, came a giant of a man, standing easily at six feet eight inches and as big as a bear.

He carried a massive battleaxe, resting the tip on the ground, and his body was covered in leather armor.

"And you seem like a smart lad, one who knows when to quit. Leave behind your valuables and your women, and we'll let you and that ugly piece of shit in the white robes live," the giant of a man commanded.

"That's not going to happen," Elizabeth answered for Hi'kim with a cold voice.

"Then, I'm sorry to say, your men aren't going to walk away alive, sweetheart, and you two are coming with us whether you like it or not," the giant man said, pointing his Great axe at Elizabeth.

As he spoke, the bandits emerged from the bushes: some wielding bows with arrows poised for release, while others brandished gleaming blades stained with blood and rust. Grinning menacingly, they advanced slowly, their confidence bolstered by the fact that they had the group surrounded.

"Wind dome!" Hi'kim called out, his right arm extended outward as he turned to his left. Mana flowed through his arm into his hand and to the tips of his middle and index finger. The mana interacted with the air around his fingers, pulling it with his movement, causing a cyclone of wind to swirl around the group, creating a protective dome encircling them.

The bandits unleashed a volley of arrows, only to watch in horror as the wind barrier surrounding Hi'kim and his companions twisted and contorted, diverting the projectiles back at them with deadly accuracy. Arrows whizzed through the air, impaling unsuspecting bandits and sowing chaos among their ranks.

Seeing their comrades fall, the remaining bow-wielding bandits hesitated, their confidence shaken by the unexpected turn of events. In an attempt to change the attack, one of the sword-wielding bandits charged at the wind barrier, his blade held high in a **** attempt to breach their defenses.

But as he closed in, the swirling vortex of wind created the barrier and exerted its ****, pulling the bandit off his feet and flinging him into the air with tremendous ****. With a sickening thud, he crashed into a group of his fellow bandits, sending them sprawling in all directions.

Inside the safety of the wind dome, Hi'kim glanced around at his companions; Elizabeth stood beside him, her grip tight on her mace, her eyes flickering with determination. Leah and the piggy Bishop huddled close, fear evident in their eyes.

"Alright, are you ready? This right here is why we wanted to start adventuring, to begin with," Hi'kim said with a smile as he looked at Elizabeth from the corner of his eyes.

Elizabeth looked back at him, a smile forming on her face, but not like the fake smile from earlier, but a genuine one. The smile she used to give him before her anointment night. "I came to stay by your side, now and forever," replied the cleric before her left hand started glowing. She reached back, touching his side with it, covering his body in a barrier of divine energy before it vanished. "Shield of faith!"

"I'm lowering the barrier for about two seconds, leaving half of them to you, Elizabeth," the young mage said, his eyes glowing red as flames erupted from his hands.

Elizabeth nodded, quickly casting the shield of faith spell on herself before turning towards the bandits she was facing.

A few seconds passed before there was a flicker in the wind dome, another, and a third, which lasted a second longer than the first two. On the third flicker, Elizabeth and Hi'kim dashed forward in opposite directions towards the bandits. Once beyond the pull of the wind dome's vortex, the dome reformed to protect Leah and the piggy Bishop.

"Wait, Elizabeth actually knew how to fight? Did you train her to be a warpriest?" Leah called out, shocked, turning to the Bishop. After a few seconds, she realized he was still under the effects of Hi'kim's silence spell before reaching up and casting a recovery spell on the piggy Bishop.

The Bishop started making random sounds with his mouth as he waited for his voice to be restored before answering, "Of course not! I thought she followed him to heal him occasionally and warm his bed!" The Bishop responded, staring at the blonde cleric.

Hi'kim charged towards the towering bandit leader, a little cliche, but, With a swift gesture, he unleashed a ball of flames from his outstretched hand, the fireball hurtling towards the grizzly bandit leader with deadly intent.

The bandit leader reacted quickly, bringing down his massive axe in a thunderous strike that intercepted the fireball mid-flight. The impact created a more minor explosion than expected, as arcane runes now glow on the head of the great axe.

"Meet my partner, Spelleater!" the bandit leader declared triumphantly, his grin widening as he revealed the weapon's ominous name. "Perfect for dealing with insolent mages who dare to defy us!"

Hi'kim grinned as his eyes began to glow with a vibrant blue hue. "Is that so?" he retorted, his voice steady despite the tension thickening the air around them. "Tell me, then, how much can your partner absorb?"

With a mana surge, Hi'kim's figure seemed to pulsate with raw magical energy, the air around him crackling with power.

"From depths unseen, where rivers rage,

I call upon the waters' fury,

Let torrents wild and currents surge,

Unleash their might with thunder's urge,

Sweep foes aside in Tempest's flurry!

Raging!"

Water quickly gathered around Hi'kim, growing bigger and bigger as many of the bandits began to fire arrows at the currently unprotected mage. However, the arrows were constantly blocked by the ever-shifting bodies of water surrounding him.

Suddenly, the water exploded outward in a furious torrent, the powerful blast of water slamming into the bandits and throwing them into the air.

Hi'kim watched as the water slammed into the bandit leader, yet the vast majority of it was being absorbed back into the runes of the axe.

The bandit leader grinned, his teeth showing, and his axe raised high as he charged at the young wizard. Hi'kim threw both hands forward. "Ward!" he called out, summoning a sigil just before him to block the bandit leader's strike. Yet the ward was not completely successful, as the axe pierced it but could not destroy it.

Elizabeth charged at the bandits who were charging at her. She had already buffed herself with multiple blessings, and unbeknownst to the bandits, she was far stronger than met the eye.

"You thought you could take me, little girl? You were a fool if you thought I'd hold back just because you were a girl," a bandit sneered, raising his sword high.

The bandit was dressed in leather armor, with a longsword in his right hand and a shield in his left. He was clearly no novice fighter; his stance suggested confidence in his abilities greater than the rest.

"Do not underestimate me!" she shouted, raising her mace.

"Hahahaha," the bandit laughed, looking at the girl who was wielding a mace. "What a cute little thing. Give up, and I'll play with you a lot," he commented, a smile forming on his face.

Elizabeth ignored the taunt, her body moving gracefully as she swung her mace toward the head of the bandit, only to have it parried by his shield. Yet, this kept his attention away from her fist that was coming for his head.

The bandit's laughter quickly turned to a grunt of pain as Elizabeth's fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying backward and crashing into a tree.

"Blessed with the swiftness of wind, the might of earth, and the resilience of steel, shielded by faith and empowered by righteous fury. These are but a few of the blessings that bolster me. Underestimate me at your peril," Elizabeth declared, her voice ringing out with unwavering conviction as she pointed her mace at the remaining bandits on her side of the battlefield.

The bandits hesitated, unsure what to do against a priestess with both holy and martial prowess.

"You can't stop the inevitable; I have much more men than this!" the bandit leader shouted, his voice full of frustration as he struck at the young wizard with his great axe.

"Not anymore," a voice interjected, cutting through the chaos of battle. Stepping into the fray was a figure clad in bloodied half-plate armor, his handsome features set in a cold expression. He wielded a heavy shield in one hand, while in the other, a freshly bloodied sword gleamed in the sunlight.

"I was in the midst of scouting out the best way to attack your bandit hideout when this skirmish presented itself," the man remarked, his tone laced with a hint of cockiness as he surveyed the scene before him.

"Who the hell were you, and what the fuck did you mean?" The bandit leader turned, ensuring both Hi'kim and the newcomer were in his sights, wary of being caught in a pincer attack.

The Bishop's eyes shot open at the sight of the newcomer. "Prince Aldric!" the piggy Bishop exclaimed.

"Oh, you needn't worry about me," the prince said, sheathing his blade as he stepped back and leaned against a nearby tree. "There was no need for me to wield my blade against an already defeated enemy."

"Who the hell do you think you are, boy?" the bandit leader snarled at the prince, who stood seemingly unafraid despite the danger.

"Prince Aldric, heir to the throne and future ruler of these lands," the prince replied calmly.

"But I'm not the one you should be worrying about. You should worry about what will happen when that wizard over there gets bored with playing around with you."

Hi'kim glanced towards the prince at his declaration but remained silent, neither confirming nor denying the statement.

The bandit leader burst into a thunderous laugh. "This wizard? The one that my partner Spelleater has been feeding on his spells? You should've been here earlier. His spells were useless, and he has barely been staying alive this whole time."

An earth-shattering strike reverberated across the battlefield, drawing everyone's attention to the other side. As they all turned to see the source of the noise, they were met with the sight of Elizabeth rising to her feet. She lifted a now blood-covered mace off the ground, where the head of the bandit she had been facing should have been.

That was the blast bandit on her side, around her, where the dead and broken bodies of twenty-five bandits and the cleric without a scratch on her. Elizabeth made her way towards the Hi'kim and the bandit leader, making sure to avoid the wind dome's event horizon.

"I don't know why you wanted me to go easy on the bandits, but I tried to make them last longer than they normally would have. Now, are you finished, Hi'kim? I'm hungry, and we haven't eaten yet."

"Well, you heard the lady," Prince Aldric added.

Without hesitation, Hi'kim knelt down and threw the palm of one hand against the ground, casting "Earth prison!"

Dirt and rocks began to entomb the bandit leader in a swirling mass of dirt and stone, constricting his movements while dragging him into the very ground itself, leaving only the great axe behind as it attempted to devour the mana in the ground.

"Earth primal magic, huh? Guess he would've been dead from suffocation in about five minutes, less if he panicked," Aldric stepped forward, striding over the area that had just been swallowed by the earth. The prince stared at Hi'kim and Elizabeth as if trying to see through them.

"What is it?" Hi'kim said, glancing back at the prince with a similar expression.

"Just trying to figure out who you two might have been from. Neither of you showed any hesitation in killing these bandits. While killing bandits isn't anything new, novice adventurers tend to hesitate to kill other people. So, were you from another country?" the prince asked.

"No, well, I was born and ra..."

"Hey, get us out of this thing before we have any friendly conversations," the Bishop yelled from within the wind dome.

"Oh great, he can talk again... might as well get the silence spell ready again," Hi'kim lamented, making the Bishop jerk back and stare at the young wizard in fear and annoyance.

"Dispel," with a snap of his fingers and an utterance of a simple word, the cycling winds that created the dome began to bend and twist in an unstable manner until it completely popped like a bubble.

As the rapid winds of the dome died down, Leah and the piggy Bishop emerged unharmed, though visibly shaken by the recent events.

"I take it you both are unharmed?" he asked, walking over to the two clergy.

"Yes," Leah nodded her head, still a bit shaken. "Thanks to you, Hi'kim."

"Good, and I assume the same is true for you, bishop, though I doubt you were ever in any danger," Hi'kim replied, glancing at the piggy Bishop.

"Of course not," the Bishop responded haughtily, though the quiver in his voice betrayed the facade of bravado.

"More importantly, Elizabeth, when and how did you learn to fight? My congregation didn't train warpriests, only clerics!"

"Everyone in the village already knew about all the intense combat training Hi'kim was going through, but few, if any, realized I was put through it as well...just not as much as Hi'kim," Elizabeth answered.

"I even learned some arcane spells," the cleric said, raising her hand with the mace in it and letting go just to watch it vanish. "My mace is a summoned weapon taught to me by my soon-to-be father-in-law. He had me practice pulling it from somewhere to follow the enemy."

"Father-in-law?" the prince repeated.

"More importantly, what was a prince doing here?" Hi'kim asked as two more individuals stepped out of the bushes and stopped just behind him.

"Brother, the women in the bandit camp have been healed and cl... oh, who are they?" the young girl asked, clad in the attire of nobility. Her dress, crafted from luxurious, flowing fabrics like silk in pastel colors of soft blues, was embellished with delicate lace cascading down the front and intricate shimmering gemstones adorning the trim.

"That's right, you all know my name, but I only know one of yours, isn't that right, Bishop Cassius?" the prince said, smiling at the Bishop, though the smile felt more ominous than joyous or friendly. It was a smile that filled the Bishop's face with dread, causing him to gulp nervously.

"So, let's try this again; my name is Prince Aldric, heir to the Aetheria throne and future ruler of these lands. What's your name, young wizard?" the prince inquired, gazing back toward the mage.

"I'm Hi'kim, the generalist wizard for now," the young mage replied.

"I am Elizabeth, a cleric of the Church of Arvia," Elizabeth said as she greeted the prince, respectfully bowing her head.

"I am Leah, also a cleric of the Church of Arvia," the redhead said while mimicking Elizabeth's gesture.

"I am First Princess Adele, the healer of my brother's adventuring party," the young royal announced before turning to Hi'kim. "You know, most people bow when addressing royalty."

"Unfortunately, Princess, I am not like most people, and I was taught never to bow my head to anyone. I think I'll keep to that," Hi'kim replied defiantly.

"You'll bow to the king if you visit the capital, and he's much more terrifying than any of his children," the prince commented.

"I'll bow to no one! You don't know, terrifying princess!" The young wizard rebutted.

"Why you filth...."

"And this was our ranger, Aafje," the prince said, gesturing to the third figure behind the princess, who hadn't spoken once while also cutting into what was about to be a pointless argument. She looked just like one would imagine the classical idea of an elf, tall and gorgeous, with curves that the leaf and vine clothing could barely cover.

"That's nice, but that didn't answer my question," Hi'kim repeated, his tone polite but insistent. "What brings Royals all the way out here?"

"Banditry had been rampant in this area, and when there was a quest in the capital city, we decided to take it," Aldric said, giving a sly smile. "Same question to you, what brought you out here?"

"Simple, I'm from a region close by. I received a request for an escort mission from the Bishop, and I accepted," Hi'kim responded.

"Brother, why are we wasting time here?" Adele added, giving Hi'kim a nasty stare.

"You're right; we should hurry and escort the victims back. Farewell for now, Hi'kim, but not forever. I have a feeling that we will most definitely meet again in the capital," the prince spoke, his gaze shifting from Hi'kim to Leah and finally lingering on Elizabeth. His tongue slightly pierced his lips as he licked them before turning around and moving back from whence they all came until they were no longer in sight.

"Great, I had a feeling we had just met some annoying people..." Hi'kim sighed as he walked back to the rest of his party. "Let's get going; we still have a ways to go."

"Wait, aren't we going to talk about how you were kinda rude to two members of the royal family just now?" Leah spoke up.

"And? I didn't know nor care who the royal family even was. Nothing they do can compete with growing up with my father."

Leah opened her mouth to argue, only to have Elizabeth tightly grip then gently shake her head's shoulder. When Leah looked at the blonde, the cleric simply shook her head, silently telling Leah to drop it.

"Leah, you are a woman of the cloth, so I know you know the difference between devils and demons. How, despite being evil infernal creatures, devils follow strict contracts and rules," the young wizard said, looking up at the

clear blue sky as if he were reminiscing on a lifelong past.

"Of course I do; what's your point?"

"Would you like to hear how, on my sixteenth birth year, my father, for three months, left me in the hands of an arch-devil?"

A/N: I might consider retconning the schools of magic, but I'm not entirely sure yet. Additionally, I've been debating whether to rewrite some older chapters that I'm not completely satisfied with, now that I'm going back and rereading them, or simply continue pushing forward with the story.