It was late on the third day. It wasn't quite time to pack up completely, but it was quickly approaching. During the journey, Kat managed to ride the high of laughing at Xiang for the first two days, and on the third she was able to keep a mellow happiness at the whole thing. She had dropped a few hints for Xiang about limiting damage at the compound, but she wasn't sure if he was listening. He certainly hadn't replied yet.
On Lily's end, apparently their list got more complicated. Some pointed questions sent to the system revealed that while she did actually have the complete list of races she could potentially be changed into, not all of them were available at Kat's current rank, and she wasn't able to find out exactly what rank would be required.
This required Lily to take the whole second day to restructure her spreadsheet to include what transformation would need to wait. Apparently, it wasn't actually too much effort, as for the most part she could ask the system about entire groups of races and then separate them out further until she had all of them categorised correctly.
Still, Kat received a lot of thanks for sharing the story of Xiang getting run out of town. Minor was a bit more hesitant to share her glee over someone's misfortune. So she dressed it all up in a bunch of fancy language which boiled down to 'it was amusing'.
As the second day wore on, trees started to sprout up occasionally, they were distinctly different to the previous forest and seemed to be only half the size of the others, but with even more vines.
Early on the third day, once the forest started to close in on the path and become a true forest again, Kat had to tune out the sounds of animals in the surroundings. They were exceptionally prevalent in this new forest. There were birds, some smaller squirrel-like creatures Kat didn't get a proper look at, and a few others she could vaguely hear.
The noise was a little disorientating, so Kat was glad to find that with a bit of concentration she could limit her hearing. It was awkward to do, like flexing an underused muscle, but it was distinctly possible. Combining this with a good helping of focus on other things, it was almost calming.
Of course, sadly this meant that when Kat found herself surrounded it was a complete surprise. A line of ten men, in front and behind, weapons drawn, with another three behind each line with bows. Each of them was in ragged looking clothes that seemed to have more in common with a sack of potatoes than anything resembling an outfit. Still, their weapons looked well-kept enough, shiny steel swords with a few axes added in.
Finally, behind that was a guy a head taller than the mooks. He had a scar over his left eye and a shaved head. From where Kat was standing, she couldn't see if he had any weapons on his hip, but she assumed he must have something. His outfit was in better condition than the others. It was clean leather, if a bit old, showing signs of wear and tear, along with some gashes around the edges.
"What have we here fellas? Looks like a dame and her bodyguard. One with a rare bloodline too" said the bandit leader.
Xiang growled "She has no bloodline, she isn't even human. And who are you to say I'm just a bodyguard?" *Why do I get the feeling he's just made this worse?*
"Ah, I see, some trumped up noble scion and his demi-human slave. That makes about as much sense I suppose. I ain't ever seen anything with horns and a tail like that… but… I suppose all the better" said the bandit.
*He made it worse.*
Xiang let out a wry chuckle "What makes you think it'll be that simple.." said Xiang drawing his sword. As he got halfway, the bandit interrupted again. "Stop." Xiang halted "Now… we are honorable gentlemen. We just want you to empty your pockets and hand over your slave, then you can be on your way. But… if you want to attack, we don't mind taking your life as well"
*Should I just tell him I'm not a slave? Would that help? Is he just as stupid as Xiang?* Kat looked down at her outfit and back up at the bandit leader. *I mean really. This kimono is fantastic quality. It's better than Xiang's dodgy ensemble. Why would they think I'm a slave?*
Kat opened her mouth to try and explain but Xiang cut in. "Are you sure you want to do this? My slave is more than capable of taking you all on itself"
Kat felt her eye twitch. *Not only am I a slave… I don't even merit a HER?* "If that's how you want to do this" said the bandit with fake despair. It was clear to even Xiang he was getting mocked for once.
Kat saw Xiang's muscles tense, he was about to draw his sword. *Well, I'm not going to let this go.* Kat let her energy explode out of her, focusing her power on her skin. Purple flames exploded from everywhere, shooting pillar of fire up around her and starting to freeze the ground.
Kat felt her flames settle into her control as she kept them around herself, keeping expenditure low. Diverting a bit of the intense flow to her voice box Kat began to speak. "Now… I'm a rather patient person, and forgiving too… but you lot" Kat turned to glare at the bandits, letting more concentrated flame leak from her eyes before sneaking back into her mouth to recycle the energy. "Seem to think attacking is a great idea. Sadly, I don't have anything valuable on me, and I don't feel particularly ready to hand anything over"
Xiang started to grin widely, but Kat turned her gaze on him next. "And YOU!" Kat's voice, distorted and curled its way into Xiang's ears. "I was willing to let that slave remark go. It's not the stupidest thing you've said recently. But IT? Really? A slave and not even a person? I feel like maybe I should beat you up first before moving onto this bandits"
Xiang gulped, and took an involuntary step backwards, keeping his front to Kat. The bandits surrounding Kat all paled and started to shiver. It was clear they were terrified. Only the leader at the back showed any sign of remaining calm.
"So you can put off a bit of fire. Just a trick of the eyes" said the bandit leader with a calm Kat was surprised to see. So, she slammed her foot into the road, and shoved some energy along with it.
The road cracked, and ice exploded from the impact crater, coating most of the area between Kat and the bandits with a thin layer of ice. "Do you really want to do this?" growled Kat, her enhanced voice lending extra intimidation.
"Just attack you idiots. She can't take all of you!" shouted the leader before bringing his arm down. Kat watched as the front line of bandits charged at her. She quickly retracted her flames, unsure if she could protect people she actively wanted to harm from the effect.
Sadly, the bandit leader wasn't keen on accepting her kindness "See! The bitch is already flagging! Strike her now!" *This is what I get for being nice.* Kat took in a deep breath and prepared to deal with the forces arrayed around her.
Xiang acted first though. He started to glow faintly then rocketed off. He slid between the rows of bandits before slamming straight into the leader. Kat watched as the bandit responded in kind, bringing out his own sword and matching Xiang blow for blow. Kat quickly turned her eyes away from the scene though, focusing on her own forces.
*Now… these guys aren't magic wielding wizards, or cultivators. Just some pedestrian bandits. Plus, we have no Thyme to heal them up later… so… let's just be a bit careful with these guys. Just in case after all.*
Kat stepped forward, still supercharged with energy. To the bandits it looked like Kat had teleported. Bringing her arm in for a punch, Kat struck at the nearest bandit's arm to test her strength… it was still overkill. As her fist came into contact with the arm Kat could hear it shattering despite the lack of power behind it. Quickly pausing her motion Kat pulled back…
Though that wasn't the end of the attack. Kat had struck the rightmost bandit with her attack. He went flying as Kat pulled back, colliding with three other bandits toppling them to the ground.
*Shit. That was already too much power… why? Are they so weak?* It was then Kat realised as she thought and the bandits were standing completely still… that she was already moving so far beyond human speed that just the slight transfer of momentum was enough to shatter bones.. *Oh… right let's try a tap.*