That night, we arrived at the land of Earth. It was a forest; it had much more trees than the land of wind or the land of water.

  Some time had passed since dealing with the bandits, and I was still feeling guilty

  The next day, some drakes and wyverns appeared, but we dealt with them, then something worse than dragons appeared: more bandits. They surrounded the carriage three in front and one behind. Me and Sid jumped out to defend the carriage. I took the one behind the carriage, while Sid took the three in front. I had to finish fast so that I could help Sid. I knocked out the one I was facing, but by then, Sid had already finished the fight and was now killing them; the only one still alive was the one I had fought.

  I then said, “There are a lot of bandits,” then the carriage driver said, “Yeah, they have been a problem lately. I hear that they sell their victims as slaves.” I looked at him in disbelief and said, “That can't be right. Who would do something like that?” Then Sid said, “It happens, many of the slaves that aren't debt slaves or criminal slaves are illegal slaves, and even some of the debt slaves and criminal slaves are there unfairly.”

  I then said, “Then we need to help them.” Sid then said, “That's very heroic of you, but if we do so, we may miss the dragon's blessing.” I said, “I don’t care; if people need help, I’m going to help.” Sid then smiled and said, “Ok, let's save them.” She then told the carriage driver to leave without us.

  Then Sid walked up the the bandit I fought, and once he woke, she told me to leave. Even I knew where this was going, and I did not want to see it. A while later, I came back, and he was beaten to a pulp, she said she got the location of the prisoners, then she killed him. I still wasn't good with all the death. She then said, they are hiding in a mine to the east.

  A while later, we were looking at the entrances to the mine, then she told me the plan: I would cause a racket out here to draw them out, and she would sneak in and free the prisoners once everyone is out. I asked why I didn't sneak in as she was stronger, and she replied, “You're better at taking on big groups of people with your magic, and I have been trained in stealth.”

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  So I went and blew wind magic at the cave, and they began pouring out to intercept me. I kept blowing wind at them with as much dust as I could get in it, I was holding everybody off, but then someone cut threw my spell. It was a big guy with brown hair and dirt-collared skin, holding a long two-handed sword; he looked to be the leader of the bunch. He looked at me angrily and said, “Surround him.” His minions tried, but I held them back with my wind magic, then he said, “Worthless bunch, leave him to me.”

  Then he came charging at me. I threw some spells at him, but he cut through them, and before I knew it, he was right in front of me, swinging his sword vertically at me. I blocked, but the impact sent me flying. He came at me again, and I sent a jab at his face, but he just leaned his head a little. He swung at me again, and I jumped back while using wind magic on him, buying me enough time to distance myself.

  He smirked and said, “Shouldn't have messed with us,” then he again charged at me. I swung my staff vertically, supported by the wind magic, and he jumped over it and swung his sword down at me. I managed to block it, but it forced me to kneel, then he began to slide his sword along my staff towards one of my hands. I let go and allowed the staff to go horizontal with the sword sliding down it quite closely to my body. Then he prepared for another vertical swing, but before he could, I jumped at him, and instead of his sword hitting me, his arms did, then I used the wind to blow him away.

  He quickly got up and ready to fight, but this time, when he charged at me, he held the sword with one hand and swung it down at me. I blocked successfully this time, but then he grabbed my staff with his free hand and pulled it out of my hands. I backed away immediately, but I lost my weapon. The only other weapon I had besides magic was my knife, but I wasn't ready to kill someone. Then he said, “Don't think I didn't notice that girl sneak in, once I finish with you, I’ll take good care of her.” It was then that I found my resolve to kill. I drew my knife and charged at him. He threw a jab at me, but I dodged and, remembering my sword training, thrusted my knife at him, reinforced with water magic to penetrate his leather armor in the stomach.

  He then wobbled, and I then stabbed him in the throat He made a wet, gurgling sound, his eyes wide with shock. I stumbled back, my knife slipping from my grasp. The world narrowed to the red on my hands and the irony smell filling the air. The bandits' shouts became distant noise. The other bandits, seeing this, scattered, and they got away.

  Then Sid emerged from the mine, herding a group of ragged people. Her eyes went from the fleeing bandits, to the dead leader, to me. She didn't smile. She just gave a single, slow nod. It wasn't praise. It was an acknowledgment. A lesson learned. I picked up my staff and thought, at least me killing someone wasn't worthless.