Richard struggles to untie himself, finding no such progress. He's hanged upside down against a tree, all of the blood rushing to his head. A gag is tied around his mouth, making his breathing stuffy. He grits his teeth, trying his hardest to free his hands. A dagger whizzes through the air, striking the trunk next to his head, making him shout in surprise.

"Mmmmfffph!"

His head bounces against the dagger's handle, he can see his reflection through the shiny blade. An eruption of laughter sounds out from the bandit camp on a few meters away, a bandit with half of his face covered shoots Richard a disgruntled look. Another stand up, patting him on the back.

"Not a very good shot with one eye, are ya Scuilis?"

The bandit with half his face covered shoves the other bandit away, who laughs about the whole prospect. Behind the two six more bandits sit around a campfire, roasting stolen food, and parked just next to them, is the cart Richard was traveling in. It's foodstuffs have been ransacked, and Richard can only guess that the three other people he was traveling with are dead now, he can't see them anywhere.

"I'm not a bad aim!"

The bandit named Scuilis shouts aggressively, swinging a hand to point at Richard.

"That weakling is just moving around too much!"

So this is how I die, not on a battlefield. Not in bed with a potential wife and kids to comfort me. Not even starving in the woods alone. Just some game, to satisfy murdering thieves during lunch time.

The other bandit shoves Scuilis aside, drawing his own dagger from his sheath.

"This is how you throw a knife."

His makes a few practice swings, lining up his shot for his head. Richard's eyes are wide, he tries shaking his head, wanting to shout for help. But they are too deep in the wilderness, the only others out here would probably be bandits too. The bandit throws his dagger, the blade making a beeline for his head. Richard squeezes his eyes shut, overcome by fear to take any action. The bushes next to his tree rustle, probably a rabbit making a run for it. So Richard waits, keeping his eyes closed and waiting for the release of death. The creature jumps out, it sounds excited. Richard opens his eyes the last second, almost his entire vision is filled with someone's back, moving out from the bush. The dagger whizzes through the air, before striking the newcomer blade first into his skull.

There is a loud bang, the person in front of Richard freezes, the arms droop down. Someone is dying in front of me, because they saved my life, for the next three minutes. Now that Richard gets a better look at the newcomer, a strange black scar rests on their left side, white veins pulsing. Richard doesn't known what he was expecting, maybe the person slouch and fall over, or stay still as their muscles lock up. But not for the person to shout.

"Ow!"

The person back away, rubbing their head. The dagger falls to the floor, it's blade is terribly bent. Richard watches in shock, his expression matching the bandits'

"Hey what was that for, I was just gonna ask for some food!"

Richard tries shouting, making muffled noises. The newcomer turns around, puzzling over why there is a person tied upside down, with multiple daggers embedded into the tree next to them. The newcomer yanks one of the daggers for the tree, quickly slicing the rope holding Ricard up. He falls to the floor, the rope around his legs and arms are cut, his gag is removed. The newcomer drops the dagger, his hurt expression has left his face, switched out for a frown. His slit eyes focus on the bandit party, it loos like he understands the situation, but he still asks a question.

"Why did you have a friend tied up, did he do something wrong?"

Scuilis puffs out his chest, the other bandits rise to their feet, their daggers or magics appear.

"Beat it freak."

Scuilis says gruffly, activating his own magic. Fire erupts from his hands, making the air around his half face waver. The newcomer crosses his arms, looking the party over.

"Still don't know how to fight."

The newcomer mutters to himself, before raising his voice.

"I know your kind, you steal and plunder, not thinking about those you robbed at the end of the day, like they aren't important."

Frosty air starts circulating around the newcomer, ice begins to grow across his forearms, ending on his fists. The bandits rush forward, aiming to kill the both of them. Richard runs, diving behind cover. He doesn't have magic, and he's no fighter.

"Die!"

"Ice Dragon Wing Attack!"

Richard has to cover his ears, before the ground rumbles violently. He turns around in his bush, barely able to se thousands of icicles zip through the air, exploding on impact. When the dust clears, half the force is frozen stiff. Parts of them are still normal, but wherever the ice hit, it spread across the skin, like letting a drop of blood fall into a small amount of water, moving out and covering the clear liquid in crimson. Scuilis shouts something, making a large fireball roar forward.

"Exploding Flame!"

The newcomer dodges, letting the fireball collide with the undergrowth. An explosion rings out, the forest illuminating orange. Flaming wood chunks sputter past Richard, burning to ash on the ground. The newcomer rushes forward, head butting Scuilis in the face. Scuilis gags, his flames dissipate, before he collapses to the floor. Richard is happy he's being rescued, but his new friend doesn't look like he knows what he's doing. He's powerful, and he shrugged of a dagger piercing his head. But there is something off about him, by how he startles himself when he jumps, or looking in awe at his attacks. It's like he's a fan, watching his own body do the work for him while he watches with starry eyes.

Richard shrugs away the thought, just happy he's not dead right now. Flashes of magic clash one another, ice against water, solid script, and fire.

"Solid script, Earthquake!"

The ground starts rumbling.

"Ice Dragon Crushing Claw!"

There is a loud crack, before the solid script mage goes flying by, tossed away like a doll in a tornado. He smacks the ground twice, before colliding with a tree, making the wood splinter. Ice quickly envelops his body, before he becomes as white as spider silk. The other two are taken care of, from what it looks like is an even newer newcomer. A shining blade strikes a bandit across the chest, making him collapse. The newcomer is in heavy armor, glistening in the light.

"Equip!"

The armor and sword glows, before dissipating, revealing a young man underneath, who looks kind but fierce at the same time. The two newcomers exchange looks.

"What happened to getting food?"

The newcomer with ice magic scratches his head.

"Well, one of them threw a knife at me, and they had this guy-"

He points toward the base of the tree where Ricard hung, his loosened ropes sitting idly on the ground. The newcomer looks around, sniffing the air like a wolf. He leaps over to Richard's hiding spot, startling him as he's picked up, shown to the other newcomer like an interesting flower.

"And they had this guy tied up, playing darts with his life."

The other newcomer touches his chin thoughtfully, before sticking two fingers into his mouth, letting out a high pitched whistle.