"This is it."
Andrew stepped into a vast circular clearing within the forest. At its centre was a large boulder that was about five metres tall. They arrived at the clearing around midday and the person they were supposed to meet was going to arrive that night.
With a bit of time on their hands, the group simply decided to rest. The surrounding area was rather calm but the air around Andrew was tenser than ever before.
Rosaly could sense that the masked figure was nervous, but she couldn't understand why. From listening in on the faintest bits of her captor's conversation, she learned that they were going to meet someone.
For what purpose? Even the other two captors didn't know the purpose of such a journey.
It would have made more sense to meet the other individual in Castillan, "This whole thing screams setup." She thought.
Speaking of the other two captors, originally Rosaly had thought that they were just seasoned sorcerers with smaller physical stature.
But after taking a better look at them, they were much younger than they tried to let on, maybe in their late teens. If that was correct their level of skill would be well ahead of their peers.
To solidify that fact, they both possessed positive core dilation which allowed them to output power well above the current rank of their cores.
***
As stated above, core dilation refers to the quality of output a sorcerers' core can possess. Most sorcerers possess neutral core dilation and a minority of them possess negative core dilation; the quality of their core's output is well below its rank. An even smaller minority possess positive core dilation.
***
Rosaly understood that the two younger figures weren't as strong as the larger one, but she knew they were still quite formidable. One of them was still injured after saving her from the horned wolf, his left arm secured with bandages and ointments.
The wounds weren't severe enough to require the use of a healing potion. But it also wasn't mild enough to be treated with bandages and ointments alone. She could obviously see that the masked young man was clearly uncomfortable.
"A leader that doesn't care about his subordinates…" She thought briefly.
The sun slowly began to set and quickly receded below the dense canopy of trees surrounding the clearing.
Rosaly began to feel more and more anxious; she would have to do something soon. If she broke free from her bounds, she knew that she wouldn't get far.
She couldn't gather enough information about the relationships between her captors so she couldn't exploit any weaknesses between them. But there was one other thing…
"If I can get free for just a moment and use it, just maybe…" She thought briefly.
She hadn't considered using such a method because frankly, this wasn't the first time she was kidnapped. It was the second and knowing the people that were going to be looking for her, she thought her captors would have been long dead or captured by now.
But she could understand why, her last kidnappers were merely inept rank sorcerers that had grabbed her without knowing her lineage.
These masked people weren't as simple, they obviously knew she was of royalty. Hence why they decided to hide their faces for the entire journey.
Night swiftly approached and the atmosphere between her captors was only getting tenser.
"It's now or never…"
"..."
Just as Rosaly began to wield her mana, she felt a daunting presence behind her. She turned to see the largest of the three figures standing there.
His eyes were wide and filled with a sudden rage.
The roots of her hair groaned as Andrew tightly grasped Rosaly's hair.
Slowly, he raised her into the air, her feet dangling helplessly.
"What do you think you're doing? Now is not the time to get any ideas."
Andrew's words were stifled by his suppressed anger.
Why would she try to ruin his plans then of all times? He had known she was a sorcerer, but she was a jack, her abilities geared towards production: She was a noble daughter of a legendary artificer family after all.
There were many plans put in place to demoralize the young Lionheart before they had reached the clearing, but she had never tried anything.
"Now you want to cause a ruckus!"
Andrew cursed inwardly, infuriated by Rosaly's timing. In a swift motion, he launched Rosaly away by the scruff of her hair.
She soared for a moment before slamming into the large boulder at the centre of the clearing. Upon impact she released a short yelp and fell to her stomach.
Xaryus had suddenly stood up from his seat, seeing how Andrew had treated the young girl, "This bastard!" He thought briefly.
He then felt Zadius' gaze on him and came back to his senses.
Noticing his error, Xaryus quickly hid away his animosity and turned his gaze away from Andrew. It wasn't time yet; he only had to wait until Zadius made the signal.
"That was close." Zadius sighed inwardly.
Xaryus had almost made things worse.
Zadius knew that his younger brother was hot tempered, especially when it came to the wellbeing of girls and women around him. But to think that Andrew would treat the young princess in such a rough manner.
He wasn't surprised by it but seeing him launch the girl across the clearing and into the boulder wasn't a very pleasant sight. Zadius had to use every fibre of his will to hide away any killing intent.
"Not yet…"
After a few moments, Rosaly had finally come too. The force of the blow had momentarily sent her unconscious, and the pain still remained. She wasn't able to keep up her calm facade anymore, she was scared, and she wanted to go home.
Nestling her face into the grass, she silently let her tears fall.
"I'm going to die here." She thought.
Xaryus returned to his seat a few metres away from Rosaly with his hands tightly interlocked. He was using everything he had to remain calm but seeing the state Rosaly was in had irked him.
Then, he had caught a glimpse of the tears running down her face and into the grass.
The sight of the helpless young girl was heart-breaking. She wasn't meant to be out here with them; she was merely collateral to Andrew.
Xaryus cursed at himself in contempt, strangling whatever sick and twisted love he had hidden away for Andrew.
Now, only hatred and contempt dwelled in the hearts of the two young brothers.
***
"He's here."
Andrew alerted Xaryus and Zadius to the presence of another figure approaching them. His tone and posture suddenly became serious...
More serious than Xaryus or Zadius had ever seen before.