Chapter 145 TWENTY SIX: Unexpected Opponents

Kel took slow and careful steps as she neared Mr. Thomas's house.

A few minutes ago, she'd left Mr. Thomas behind with the horse and instructions to ride into the market for help if she didn't return within an hour or so.

The purpose of her instruction was to help the crippled man feel useful, but the both of them knew an hour was far too long to wait before getting help if Kel seriously ran into trouble.

Kel wasn't afraid, however. There was a chance that whichever trained soldiers were currently pillaging the small shack were better fighters than Kel, but she had a trump card up her sleeve.

Fortunately, she was undetected as she tiptoed across the desolate land surrounding the house on all sides.

It was strange, though. Without so much as a scraggly thorn bush to hide behind, Kel thought for sure she'd be seen by the men creating a ruckus inside.

Perhaps, these 'soldiers' weren't so trained after all.

Regardless of how confident they were in their strength, how could they forget to post a watchman?

"Better for me," Kel breathed as she pressed herself against one of the wooden walls.

She had been in such a hurry to join Mr. Thomas before that she'd forgotten to bring a weapon. The mediocre sword left by Dash would have been ideal, but even the old rake would have been better than nothing.

"No matter," Kel whispered determinedly, sidling toward the open door. "I'll just make sure to take one of theirs."

​ As she had the thought, the Dragon Emperor's voice suddenly popped into her head.

'Your plans are usually terrible.''

Even when the man was a whole country away, he was still scolding her for not thinking things through--or rather, thinking them through horribly.

Well, there is no plan this time! Kel shouted back to Calix's voice. So, how can you accuse me now?

She paused for a minute.

"Ah.. maybe I should have a plan, though?"

After considering the situation for several seconds, she came to the conclusion that ambushing the enemies would probably be the most effective if she wanted to catch them off guard long enough to snag a weapon.

"Alright. Through the front it is!"

The first thing Kel saw as she came barreling through the door nearly caused her to freeze in her tracks.

There were three men tearing through drawers, boxes and even ripping up floorboards. Like Mr. Thomas said, they were definitely soldiers.

The thing he didn't mention, however, was the midnight black armor covering the men's torsos, decorated with a blood-red dragon.

Serin soldiers.

Forcing her mind to focus on the task at hand, Kel took advantage of the split second of shock that had befallen the room thanks to her boisterous entrance and leapt to the man closest to her, reaching for his sheathed sword.

The man's head was completely bald, but his upper lip was graced by a bushy mustache. His large round belly made Kel think snatching his sword away would be simple, but the bald man reacted faster than she was expecting and caught her wrist inches away from her target.

As soon as his skin made contact with hers, Kel felt an explosion of tingling in her chest. In a moment, the tingling had already spread to her wrist, gathering under the man's large brown fingers.

"Hey, wh-ARGH!"

The man yanked his hand away, flapping it back and forth as if he'd just accidentally touched a hot iron.

Kel smirked. It seemed her training for the past few months had paid off.

"You!!" the other two men shouted in unison, lunging forward.

By the time their heavy boots carried them within striking distance, Kel had already latched onto the sword and rolled out of the way.

"Get out of here, boy," the man with singed fingers growled, holding out an arm to stop his comrades. "We don't want any trouble with you."

"You shouldn't have attacked my friend then," Kel retorted, brandishing the hijacked weapon.

"Friend?" the man scoffed. "Let me tell you, that man isn't worth calling a friend. Do yourself a favor and just let the adults handle this issue between each other."

"I am an adult," Kel quipped. "And I don't plan on backing down."

As she spoke, she noticed the bald man shoot a rapid side glance at the two other soldiers. Receiving the signal, the armed men slowly bent their knees, their vicious gazes locked on Kel.

They were going to rush at her.

In five, four, three, two..

"Hah!" Kel grunted as she dodged to the side avoiding one blade and then bent backward as another swoosh cut through the air where her head had just been.

"Such cheap tricks," she clicked her tongue mockingly. "Aren't you ashamed of yourselves?"

"I don't know where your courage came from, Boy," a soldier with a potato-shaped nose and tiny eyes spoke up, "but this game ends here."

Kel grinned, raising her sword.

"That's funny. I haven't even started playing yet."

For the next several attacks, Kel remained on the defensive, ducking, twirling and jumping out of the way each time the men tried to subdue her.

Before long, she noticed their advances were getting easier and easier to avoid. Frustrated with their inability to land a single blow on a simple-minded farm boy, the men's attacks had gotten sloppy and rushed.

Now was the perfect time for Kel to take the offense.

She took one slow breath, pumping as much of her fire ability as she could into her weapon.

Each hit she landed would automatically cauterize itself, but the added heat should also make the pain from the slashes manifest itself much sooner. Without the loss of blood, the men's adrenaline would slow, making it harder to keep up with their wounds.

Or, that was the idea at least.

After landing a single swipe, the men's fortitude crumbled as soon as they saw the smoke rising from the potato-nosed man's arm.

"Y-your sword," the injured man stuttered, turning to Kel's weapon donor.

"It's not the sword," the bald man responded with a gulp.

"This kid must be a witch!"