As the screams grew closer, Kenneth began having mixed thoughts about rushing to the unknown person's aid. 

 

Sure, if the person was actually a real person and was in danger, then they'd probably save them in a beat. 

 

It was then Kenneth's mind went back to the time when Lucas had first warned him about the danger of the dungeons. 

 

This could be a trap disguised as a simple rescue situation in order for the people behind the scheme to ambush unsuspecting good Samaritans. 

 

But still, Kenneth's sense of justice didn't allow him to simply leave someone who was most likely in danger of becoming a beast's dinner, or worse, taken advantage of by humans. 

 

His guard, which had been kept up this whole time, had served well when multiple mana signatures appeared in the corner of his sight. 

 

Without uttering a single word, he raised his palm. He had gone through with his siblings the various code hand signs they would employ in order to have full communication with each other without having to speak. 

 

Both of them understood the sign's meaning, which was to stop, and be alert. 

 

Kenneth gestured towards the bushes and used his Mental Puppetry to slightly shift his siblings' heads to be in line with their respective targets. 

 

Once again he raised his hand. Three fingers were held up. This meant that they would attack once it reached zero. 

 

Three… two… one. 

 

Once his hand was fully closed, his siblings moved. 

 

They knew where their assailants were, and they didn't. In this scenario, the element of surprise would be a huge contribution to their win. 

 

And that was when Kenneth finally realized who they were up against. 

 

At the corner of his eye, he spotted numerous mana signatures that were rapidly increasing in strength. 

'Well, looks like the scream was fake.'

 

They had noticed them. He didn't know how, but they did. Perhaps they were more sensitive to unfamiliar changes in the atmosphere.

 

But still, the siblings were already prepared. 

 

"Sometimes, being just one step ahead in battle is bound to change things. Do it, Lena!" 

 

A blinding light came up from behind Kenneth. It felt much brighter than her already shining Flashbangs, and as such even he couldn't escape its larger radius. 

 

"It worked! Go!" 

 

Without wasting time, his siblings charged towards the locations Kenneth had marked, unleashing their strongest of spells on the immobile humans. 

 

Screams of pain soon ensued as the ones hiding recoiled backwards. They were ambushed, but the more skilled ones could afford to at least divert some of the pain to their non-vitals. 

 

Kenneth pointed to one small patch of grass. And as if on cue, it began rustling. The figure of a large man came into view. 

 

He was wearing almost tattered clothing, with a few strips of leather covering his important parts.

 

There was also an eyepatch over his left eye, perhaps to disguise an old wound he had received.

 

What was more worthy of attention however, was the curved sword that the man kept on one of his arms. The sword itself looked nothing too fancy material-wise, but Kenneth knew better to not judge a book by its cover. 

 

Something of that size could already be considered a greatsword. And he knew the destructive power these weapons carried. 

 

"This fucking sucks. We were hoping to swiftly take care of the brat and the idiot alive, and then grab the lady. You little brat, you're more perceptive than you look."

 

"I pride myself on being somewhat more attentive than most people. For example, about half of your team members are already down. They couldn't even dodge the surprise we prepared for them." 

 

"That may be true, but I don't need those guys. I could kill you all right now, but there's a reason why I let them come with me."

 

"Is it to laugh at your stupid habit of talking to a child, when you're clearly looking more hostile than all three of us combined?" 

 

"Hah! No. You're good at pissing people off too, huh?" 

 

"No time for talking, old man. Let's see if you can handle this." 

 

Kenneth, who had been drawing the bandit's attention, instantly let loose his reserve mana. 

 

He had one goal, and one goal only. To at least disable the big man for a short moment. 

 

From the moment he had spotted the people hiding in the bushes, Kenneth had already activated his Mental Analysis. Almost all of the bandits present were either low to mid danger, with the exception of the man with the greatsword, who was high danger. 

 

He had thought to himself. Did the levels of danger represent how strong they were compared to him? Or was it just in general? 

 

Now that he had been able to test it out on actual humans, he knew it was based on their power levels being how much more different it was. 

 

"I probably won't be able to stop you for very long, but I'd like to say that I'm quite confident in my Mental Magic as well." 

 

"You–fuc–" Exposed to the full force of Kenneth's mana, the man had no choice but to stop, and fight against the crippling feeling that was starting to rise in his head. 

 

"I'd like to see you try to move." 

 

A flash of light once again burst in the area, blinding everyone but his siblings. 

 

While Kenneth had been focused on impeding the man's movement, his siblings had already gone for his other teammates. 

 

Without the issue of having to watch out for the large man, they were able to quickly wipe out the injured bandits. 

 

A select few were able to escape from Lucas and Lena's grasp, and had now retreated behind the man. 

 

"This is what you guys do? Hide behind the strongest person you can find? What are you, parasites?" 

 

By now, the man had fully escaped from Kenneth's mental attacks. 

 

"But General…" 

 

"No buts! What happened to all that training you went through? Was all that bravado an act?" 

 

"N–no…"

 

"Then do your fucking job!"

 

"Right… charge!" 

 

He had to decide, Kenneth thought. Either he would face punishment in the hands of the "General", or take their chances against the siblings. 

 

"Right now… they're running on fear."

 

"What do you mean by that?" 

 

"Exactly what I mean, sister. The only reason they can keep going right now is because they're scared of that person."

 

The General held his sword at the ready, and looked like he would charge at any moment. But at the same time, he was watching the others. 

 

"Come to think of it, they seem to organized for bandits." 

 

"Lucas is right. What do you think, little brother?"

 

"I think we should continue this conversation after we've beaten them. Look, their eyes are practically screaming "let me win this." The big man must be hiding something… big." 

 

"We'll have to worry about that later. Give me your assistance, little brother!" 

 

"I've got you. Go wild, sis." 

 

The Light Sword Lena was holding in her hands began morphing into the shape of a different weapon. 

 

It grew twice as large, and the farther edge had expanded into an axe's blade. The very tip of the weapon also possessed an exceedingly long spike. 

 

"Hoh, a halberd. Little missy, do you even know how to use something of that weight?" 

 

"The weapons I use don't have weight. Since when did light ever feel heavy?" 

 

"I guess I'll take the little ones. Don't die on me, Lena." Smirking, Lucas broke from the siblings' formation and headed for the crazed group of bandits. 

 

"He'll be fine, I'm sure. We should focus on beating him." Kenneth reassured his sister. 

 

"You're right. Then, I'll be heading in. Blink!"

 

Lena's body instantly disappeared into a golden glow. It seemed like along with the Blink spell, she had incorporated a small Flashbang-effect with it. 

 

"Unpredictable, just how I like my women. Did you take a crash course on impressing me, missy? I want you even more now!" 

 

"Don't listen to the idiot and just focus on taking him out. Don't worry about dodging either. I'll make sure not a single hair on your skin gets cut." 

 

"That's reassuring!" Lena reappeared moments later, right behind the man. 

 

With the pointed end of the halberd, she used a great deal of her force to stab through the man. 

 

What wasn't in her calculations was the probability of the man actually blocking it. She had cast a Flashbang, so he should've been blinded. 

 

And yet here they were. Lena's halberd made contact with the large hunk of metal the General placed in between his body and the weapon. 

 

Like a rock against a concrete wall, the halberd bounced clean off, as if Lena hadn't even put any force in it to begin with. 

 

"I don't need my eyes to know where you're going to attack. Your presence is enough. It's the reason why I can still fight even after losing one of them." 

 

The man retaliated, swinging the greatsword back in Lena's direction. This did not reach her, though. Kenneth's Mental Puppetry had long already been in play. 

 

"How were you able to dodge that, I wonder? You don't look like someone who's trained her body well." 

 

"I don't need to answer that. Take this!" Lena held out her enclosed palm, and another Flashbang came upon the area. 

 

This too, managed to blind the man. It wouldn't serve much of a purpose, but it was better than charging at the man who was twice as large as her. 

 

"Right… there!" As if he was playing Whack-A-Mole, the man seemingly chose a random side and struck the ground fiercely. 

 

Shockwaves resounded in the area as gusts of wind pushed back Lena a good distance away from the man. 

 

"What's the plan, little brother?" 

 

"We kill him, what else?" 

 

"You know, being our commander in battle, you'd think you would have a plan or two in mind…" 

 

"Fine. I do have one, but I'm not quite sure if it's going to work. Plus, I still haven't dabbled enough in sensory deprivation magic."

 

"Does that mean you'll…" 

 

"Take away his senses? No, of course not." 

 

"I was going to say seal them for a moment, but…" 

 

Kenneth thought for a bit. Would sealing his five senses really work? Just looking at it right now, the man wasn't even relying on his sense of sight to find them.

 

Their presence, was it? Did highly experienced warriors have some sort of danger-sixth-sense that allowed them to feel it?

 

Even if that was the case, Kenneth wasn't too confident in being able to lock down this sense, especially when he knew next to nothing about it.

 

"No time for you guys to talk! Crushing Gale!" 

 

It was a speed unfitting of a greatsword. The man swiftly swung his weapon at the air. 

 

Two curved blades of wind flowed out from the edge of the blade. These shot through the air rapidly, just barely missing Lena. 

 

"The reason you can dodge my attacks when your body is so immature… it's because of the brat behind you, right?"

 

"Oh, looks like he figured it out. I'm gonna need to stay even farther back." 

 

"Don't worry! He won't get even an inch closer than he is right now. You have my word." Lena smiled as she made a promise to Kenneth. 

 

"We'll see then. How about we try meddling with his mind a bit?"

 

"I just hope you never show that face towards me, little brother." 

 

Kenneth's expression wasn't that of fear. It showed hints of confusion (of the man's power) but that was about it. 

 

A somewhat subtle smirk had formed on the edges of his lips. 

 

"A Mental Magic user, huh? I already figured it out from the attack you did earlier, but this just confirms it even more. Suddenly, you've become even more interesting than the girl."

 

"I can't stand him anymore, little brother. Let's end this."

 

"I agree."