the bandit leader flew once again, but this time he hardly hit the ground before Mars appeared behind him and sent him off with another kick

*CLANG*

"f.u.c.king break already!"

Mars's attention was completely caught up with playing his one man ball game as he kicked the bandit leader around in circles, meanwhile the mercenary's was hunting down the rest of the bandits that had started fleeing after Mars sent their leader flying the second time

*CLANG*

"you know what, f.u.c.k this"

Mars, now really annoyed loaded his left arm with 20 energy units and walked over to what was left off the bandit leader and sat his left hand down on his chest before he unleashed the energy

*BOOM*

"...are you f.u.c.king kidding me?"

the s.h.i.+eld still held, despite Mars's best attempts at breaking it

"maybe if..."

Mars activated his drain touch and put his hands on the s.h.i.+eld and sure enough after a few seconds the s.h.i.+eld broke and Mars grabbed the battle axe with a excited look on his face, completely disregarding the dead bandit leader

"now how does it work..?"

Mars tried putting his mana into the battle axe and sure enough the magic beast core on the blade lit up with a soft glow and soon a soft looking red membrane covered Mars

"...neat"

Mars became a little excited and tried putting more mana into the handle of the battle axe but unfortunately the battle axe was a cheaply made AMW so the core exploded into dust and the s.h.i.+eld around Mars disappeared

"...s.h.i.+t"

Mars threw the battle axe aside and looked around and found Jack and Lina covering their mouths, trying not to laugh a little away from him

"....really guys?"

"sorry... hehe---"

"yeah we're really sorry Mars... hihi---"

Mars became depressed and walked back to the convoy were Frank greeted him with a smile on his face

"hey Mars, good work with the bandit leader I'll be sure to add a bonus"

"...okay"

Mars felt a little better and found Victoria to pat until the convoy started moving again

"just because we beat the bandit doesn't mean you can slack off the rest of the way, be sure to keep alert!"

after Frank yelled the convoy started moving again and Mars took his usual spot in the back of the convoy with Jack and Lina until the convoy stopped as the sun was going down were Mars ate and then vent to bed in his bedroll...

opening his eyes Mars saw the familiar room, or rather the familiar prison cell with the clock on the wall that was displaying 104 days, 15 hours and 52 minutes

"...f.u.c.k not again, is the demon dreaming magic not working anymore or what?"

Mars tried to use his mana and surprisingly a small reaction happened, like the fabric of the dreamed twisted slightly, but didn't fully break

"interesting..."

Mars tried again and this time a small hole was thorn in the dream but it quickly reformed and repaired it self

"so I need more mana... I can do that"

Mars loaded the spell with 4 times as much mana and used it again, tearing a hole in his dream were he quickly jumped though

"well this is... weird"

around Mars was flashes of images, fragments of his memories that pa.s.sed by in a otherwise pure white s.p.a.ce, as he tired to focus on one of the images it stopped flas.h.i.+ng and showed a picture of a old computer along with his dad that held it up, he was standing on a pile of rubble and was covered in dirt

"that's right... dad was a information archaeologist"

as soon as Mars saw the image memories came flooding back about how him and his dad had spent weeks working on a old pc only to find the only complete data was a pictures of a weird green frog that looked kind of sad, Mars was disappointed by this until his dad explained how this picture often was found on information era pc's but this was a new version of the picture and it was therefore a unique find

"I remember how mom yelled at us afterwards... that's right mom, how did she look?"

Mars once again tried to focus on the flas.h.i.+ng images but suddenly a headache struck him and the images became blurred...

"Mars... Mars wake up"

Mars opened his eyes and saw Lina in her casual clothes shaking his slightly

"hmm...?"

"good, your awake"

"yeah just give me a second"

Mars sat up and saw the other mercenary's was packing their stuff

"wait what happened to my night guard s.h.i.+ft?"

"Frank decide to let you off since you beat the bandit leader alone"

"...okay"

Mars stared off into empty air until Lina poked him on the cheek

"you sure your awake?"

"...yeah I just had a nostalgic dream that's all"

"was it a good dream?"

"yeah that's why I'm a little tired still"

"I see"

Mars stretched and eventually got out of his bedroll and put on his boots before he packed his stuff and vent over to wake up Jack, afterwards he took up the usual spot in the convoy and around midday the convoy reached Malrton's northgate without further trouble at around noon

"good work everybody, come over here to collect your pay!"

Mars lined up and soon it was his turn, when Frank saw him he gave a smile and handed him 35 silver coins for a total of 3500 cel

"if you ever want a permanent job come to Relt, we will take care of you and make sure you get a nice pay"

"I'll think about it"

after Mars received his pay and said goodbye to Jack and Lina he and Victoria vent back to the mansion though the busy streets and soon they reached the mansion where a man stood outside the gates he looked like a young scholar, he wore a mantel and carried a bag that gave of a thick smell of medicine, when Mars and Victoria vent past him into the mansion grounds like he owned the place the man called out to him

"excuse me, do you know if this is where Hanna Orbrage lives?"

Mars stopped and turned around and looked at the man

"you here to see Hanna?"

"oh so it is here! do you mind letting me see her?"

"...well as long as you follow closely after me"

"thank you very much!"

the young scholar picked up his bag and followed after Mars into the mansion were Mars vent up all the stairs and stopped in front of Hanna's door and was about to knock but stopped

"...what's your name?"

"me? I'm Ivan"

"okay... my name is Mars by the way"

Mars knocked on Hanna's door and called out

"Hanna it's me, I have brought a guest his name is Ivan"

"oh Mars... give me a second"

while Mars waited Ivan jaw dropped until he eventually studded

"i-is s-she awake!?"

"yeah she is... I heard the family invited a skilled healer"

"really now..."

Ivan looked stunned but soon the door was opened by Jean

"please come in"

Ivan swallowed once before he walked in the door followed by Mars

"you... are healed"

Ivan looked at Hanna and was completely stunned until he began crying and hugged Hanna

"you're okay!"

Hanna was a little stunned by the sudden embrace but quickly recovered and patted Ivan on the back with a soft smile on her face

"yeah I'm fine Ivan"

after some time Ivan gradually let go of Hanna, at this point he was bright red in the face and quickly sat down on a chair

"sorry, I lost my self a little there... I'm just happy your okay"

"I'm also glad to see you Ivan"

Hanna also sat down and gestured to Mars that he should sit down too

"but... who was it that healed you?"

Hanna gave a glance at Mars that shook his head before she spoke

"I think it was a wandering healing master... I don't even know his name"

"I see..."

"well enough about me, why are you here Ivan?"

"oh right..."

Ivan gave a sigh as his face darkened slightly before he spoke with a defeated smile on his face

"it's the prince, he made the academy move to expel you if you don't show up within 20 days"

Hanna's casual smile widened as she narrowed her eyes that had turned cold

"did he now?"

"y-yes that's why I came here, to try and heal you"

sparks flew in the air around Hanna before she gave a sigh and turned to Mars and bowed

"I'm sorry I can't take your lessons anymore, I need to return to the academy"

"Hanna?"

Ivan looked confused at Mars, he had no idea about what Hanna was talking about

"...tell me about the prince first"

"he's the 3'rd prince of Destra... and also probably the one that almost had me killed in that 'accident' with my staff"

"accident?"

Hanna gave a sigh and touched the light skin around her right eye

"...my staff was sabotaged after I refused to become the mistress of the 3'rd prince"