Yavi dispatched the three bandits closing in on him with lightning speed. The bandits catching up from behind saw him standing there with his sword, and for a moment, not one dared step forward.
Yavi surveyed the enemies around him. With his Witcher Senses, not even the slightest movement from the bandits escaped his eyes.
He slowly lowered his center of gravity, holding his clenched left fist across his chest and resting the sword in his right hand across his left arm. It was the most classic "Sign Sword Stance" of the witcher schools-suited to both offense and defense, ready to transition into Signs at any moment.
"What? Weren't you full of courage just now?" Yavi's voice was low and steady, as though he were stating the simplest of facts. "Now you're afraid to come at me?"
The bandits swallowed and exchanged glances, their feet unconsciously beginning to retreat.
At the very front of the caravan, the bandit leader saw that the bandits at the rear had still not broken into the caravan and begun plundering, and he grew somewhat anxious. Fighting the caravan guards head-on put considerable pressure on bandits like them. After all, with the caravan guards' fine equipment, the bandits had no advantage in gear and were fighting on sheer ferocity alone.
As time passed, they barely held on at the front while the surprise attack at the rear accomplished nothing. The balance of battle began tipping toward the caravan guards, and the bandit leader had no choice but to abandon the raid. Once he shouted for a retreat, the bandits showed no desire to keep fighting and began withdrawing into the woods on either side of the road.
Watching the bandits recede like a tide, Hawk, the caravan leader, did not order a pursuit. After all, they were a caravan, and their main objective was to deliver their goods and passengers to their destination.
Yavi paid little attention to the bandits fleeing in every direction. His gaze remained fixed on their leader-the burly man with scars crisscrossing his face, who was waving a massive axe and harshly urging his men to retreat.
Yavi's pupils contracted slightly, and he picked up a spear a bandit had left on the ground. A shoddy wooden shaft and a crude iron head, but in his hands, those were enough to make a lethal weapon.
He took a small step back, the muscles in his right arm tightening. His mind rapidly and precisely calculated the wind direction, distance, and the target's trajectory. Everything was analyzed in an instant.
Whoosh!
The instant the spear left his hand, it tore through the air with a sharp sonic boom, its shaft even bending slightly from its extreme speed. The bandit leader had only just heard that terrifying whistle and had yet to turn around to see what it was...
Squelch!
The spear pierced his back with precision. The tremendous impact sent his entire body flying before finally pinning him hard to a thick oak tree with a thud!
The bandit leader's eyes widened, and rasping sounds escaped his throat. He looked down at the spearhead protruding from his chest, blood streaming down the wooden shaft.
"My... back..." He struggled to raise his hand, trying to grab something, but it could only fall limply. "So itchy... quick... help me pull it out..."
Before he finished speaking, his head lolled to one side, and he breathed his last.
The bandits around him, who had still been retreating, witnessed the scene and were instantly scared out of their wits! Screaming in terror, they no longer dared look back and fled desperately deeper into the woods, wishing they had been born with an extra pair of legs.
Hawk stared at the corpse pinned to the tree, his pupils contracting slightly. He slowly turned toward Yavi, looking him up and down.
"The power of that spear..." Hawk's voice was somewhat strained. "It was practically on par with a heavy crossbow." He narrowed his eyes, weathered by years of wind and sand, and let his gaze linger on Yavi's hands. "Are you really just a student?"
"Before I became a student..." Yavi's voice was as calm as the water in a deep pool. "I had many identities." The wind swept through the woods, lifting a corner of his cloak.
Hawk's Adam's apple bobbed. He noticed the combat instincts formed over many years in the young man's stance-his left foot always half a step ahead of his right, his right hand always in the best position to draw his sword. This was not a stance an academy could teach.
Yavi paid little attention to Hawk's gaze and instead went over to Mel and Claire. The two were still hiding beneath the carriage, as Yavi had instructed, because stray arrows could easily strike them in a chaotic battle, making beneath the carriage the safest place. He helped them out and brushed the dust off Mel. Aside from being a little dusty and disheveled, she was unharmed. The same was true of Claire, who patted her chest, still somewhat shaken.
"You're not hurt, are you, Yavi?" Mel immediately stepped forward to check her younger brother. Apart from some bandit blood on his cloak, Yavi had suffered no injuries.
As the two spoke, Hawk ordered the battlefield cleared and the losses in goods and personnel tallied. Yavi escorted Mel and Claire back to their previous carriage, then joined those clearing the battlefield. About half an hour later, Hawk had finished compiling the losses and casualties. Yavi had also found a pitiful dozen or so crowns on the bandits he had killed. It seemed these fellows really were dirt poor, or they would not have set their sights on such a large caravan.
Yavi then went to the front of the caravan to hear the losses from the attack. They were not far from what he had expected. After all, the caravan guards were well equipped and well trained. Six guards had died in battle, three were seriously wounded, and more than ten had minor injuries. The goods and passengers had suffered no losses; apart from the girl who had run the slowest, no one else had been hurt.
After tallying everything, Hawk instructed his men to deal with the aftermath as quickly as possible. They needed to leave this place at the earliest opportunity. Seeing Yavi leaning against a carriage, he walked straight over, lit his pipe, took a puff, and then offered it to Yavi, gesturing for him to try it too. Yavi shook his head to indicate that he did not smoke.
"Your name's Yavi, right? You did very well. We owe you a lot today. Otherwise, we couldn't have dealt with the surprise attack at the rear in time, and some passengers would certainly have been wounded, killed, or abducted." Hawk held the pipe between his teeth, wisps of smoke making him squint as he spoke calmly of the possible consequences.
"I think anyone else with the ability to stop those bandits would have stepped forward too." Yavi did not respond to his remarks, merely offering a pleasantry to deflect Hawk.
Hawk did not seem to mind. Instead, he turned to glance again at the bandit leader pinned to the tree. "I didn't expect you to kill that fellow with a single spear throw, but your instincts are sharp. If we'd just let them escape, they'd definitely have looked for another chance to attack us later. But once their leader is gone, divisions will arise among them as they fight for power and profit. Then they won't be thinking about us anymore." After speaking, he took another couple of puffs.
"I just wanted to make this journey a little safer. If I were alone, I wouldn't care, but I have my sister and my friend with me. I want to do everything I can to keep them from harm." Yavi remained calm in the face of Hawk's praise and frankly stated that he had only gone this far for his sister and friend.
"Whatever the case, when you leave the caravan, I'll refund the fares for you and your sister..."
Yavi said nothing and merely nodded. Then he and Hawk parted ways and returned to their respective carriages...