"Clang!!"
Two swords met each other, producing a force that blew away the dust and rocks in the alley.
Steve bit his lips and maintained his hold over his sword as he and the bandit pushed themselves to dominate their swords over each other.
At such a close distance, the bandit could clearly see the boy's glowing sword, which seemed to emit a pure aura.
Increasing his strength, the bandit pushed away Steve a few meters and took a few steps back with a cautious face.
Staring at the boy who was getting back into his combat stance, the bandit muttered in astonishment.
"I didn't expect that you could manifest aura....", there was a hint of surprise on the bandit's face.
Steve kicked off the ground without replying and brought down his glowing sword on the bandit.
"Cheh!"
The bandit twisted his face in anger as he felt jealous of the boy who could manifest his aura and grasped his sword tightly before blocking the boy's attacks.
Their swords clashed against each other, with Steve attacking and the bandit blocking all of them as he remained wary of the aura-coated sword.
He didn't have much knowledge about the people who could manifest their auras out of their bodies as he had rarely interacted with them.
It was said that among the most talented warriors, some could merge their inner aura acquired from training with their willpower, resulting in the manifestation of their aura into a tangible reality.
Saying it in words may sound easy, but according to a report, only one among a thousand warriors had this remarkable ability.
No one knew the criteria of possessing such an ability, but whoever possessed it, they were placed at the top of their ranks.
Steve backed a few steps away from the bandit as he took deep breaths, whereas the bandit remained silent as he contemplated something while narrowing his eyes.
Roven walked over and patted Steve's shoulders before whispering a plan that he had come up with to deal with the bandit.
"....after that.....we'll...."
Steve had his eyes lit up as he nodded energetically at Roven's plan and got ready to execute it.
Giving Roven a nod, Steve approached the bandit slowly and started asking him questions.
"You...what did you do to Eric? And where is he now!?", he sounded angry.
The bandit was brought out from his thoughts as he looked deeply at the boy in front of him for a few seconds and gave a mocking smirk after coming to a decision.
"It doesn't matter whether I tell you or not, because you're soon going to meet him as a fellow hostage."
His words angered Steve more, who clenched his teeth and dashed forward to attack the bandit.
The bandit received Steve's attacks head-on and even started to retaliate in many ways.
Steve was finding it difficult to cope with the Rank 2 bandit who had a stronger body than his own, but his ability to manifest aura on his sword provided an advantage when their swords struck each other.
Their swords danced in the dark alleys, gaining sparks and metallic sounds, which would awe any spectator present at the scene.
As both of them increased the intensity of their strikes, some minor wounds formed on their bodies, but the bandit had the least of them.
"Hehe, is that the best you can do? I guess you're ready to meet your friend.", teased the bandit to make the boy more angry.
"Gwhhaaghhhhhh!!!", His eyes red, Steve let out a roar from his throat and pushed himself to his limits, thinking of giving the bandit at least one critical hit.
"Wait- NO, STEVE!!", Roven screamed while he was sneaking behind the bandit.
The plan he had whispered to Steve before was for him to distract the bandit with many questions and act angry over them while attacking to fool the bandit into lowering his guard.
Giving a crazy smirk, the bandit slowly raised his right leg above Steve.
"One."
On the count, he heavily stomped his leg on the boy's stomach.
"Kghaaahh!!!!"
The already injured boy screamed at the top of his lungs as his ribs cracked a few bones.
"There's much more coming. Two!"
A little excited from the pained look on the boy's face, the bandit gave another kick on the side as Steve rolled painfully.
"Gwaah!", Steve spurted out blood and looked at the bandit with hatred.
"S-Stop it!!", shouted Roven grimly as he picked himself up by the wall's support.
"No can do. Three!"
Then came another kick on Steve's back, throwing him some distance away to the corner of the alley.
The bandit started moving to the fallen boy with a twisted smile.
"W-Wait! I was the one who planned all this, so leave him alone and hit me!!", Roven pleaded with a sad face.
The bandit ignored the begging of Roven and looked deeply at the boy who was twitching on the ground.
Putting his finger on his chin in contemplation, the bandit muttered.
"Hmm....it's not enough. He should be more injured, so that he may never be able to walk and fight again."
This time the bandit didn't use his leg to kick or attack, and instead grabbed his sword, intending to stab a few places on the boy.
Roven's face became pale when he saw this. He didn't want his teammate and friend to get hurt anymore, so he forgot about everything and kicked off the ground without caring for his wounds.
Grasping his sword, he grits his teeth and attacks the bandit from behind.
"Clang!"
But his weak attack was easily blocked by the bandit who used his sword and parried off the boy's attack without even turning around.
"Get lost."
Annoyed at the interruption, the bandit slashed his sword on Roven's arms, wounding him so that he may not pick up his sword again, before kicking him away back onto the far ground.
Rolling on the ground, Roven's body hit the wall of a building as he clenched his teeth in agony.
He painfully opened his eyes, only to see the bandit raising his sword high while aiming at Steve's back.
"...n-no..", he called out feebly but his words didn't bring any change.
At his lowest point, he even came to regret choosing this mission to complete, blaming himself for not carrying out his duty as the leader of the team and for placing his teammates in grave danger.
Watching the bandit slowly bring down his sword, Roven begged hopefully in his mind.
'Anyone...just anyone...please, please save Steve...'
Laying on the ground, Roven teared up, witnessing his friend getting stabbed.
But moments before the sword could reach Steve's body, something sprang up from within the ground below the bandit.
"W-What...", the boy could only widen his eyes in shock at the miracle that was happening before his eyes, but he didn't know that there were more shocking things stored for them today.