lirvothethird

  "You head to the Shurima capital? It fake! I no see. After going there."

  After a quick look at our Piltovan attire, the stranger spoke with a broken accent and a strange conviction.

  A strange sense of unease tingled. The inability to detect anyone while on a raft made my stomach queasy, especially when someone comes closer to talk. Did they see the goods!? I mean the 100% legitimately acquired relics from a commissioned site.

  But the stuff he talked about... Was there a Shuriman capital? Weren't they all kinda like nomads?

  I continued to use the pole to push the raft forwards, fshing a fake smile towards him as thanks. Whatever is going to happen, Ezreal's gonna have to deal with it. Not my job, my job right now is to steer the raft.

  The wind brushed across the bushes, as I kept my head down to keep the sand out. A brief glint of light from the bushes caught my eye as I kept my head down.

  Should I act preemptively? I shot a look back towards Ezreal. A smirk was on his face. Uh oh.

  "Hey look!!!"

  "Huh?"

  The innocent gruff looking traveler tilted his head slightly in surprise. Ezreal drew a yellow line in the air before pulling it back like a bow. Strangely, the line curved in the other direction he was pulling, like he was pulling on an invisible string and not the line.

  "A blessing for you!"

  This madman aimed at the bushes. The traveler widened his eyes as Ezreal released the energy bst towards the bushes. Dust stirred up behind it as it cleanly cut through the bushes, revealing... a shaved head of a shrub.

  "Thank you! Thank you great mage for your blessing!"

  All of a sudden his Piltovan improved as he profusely bowed in thanks. What could have been him was taken by the shrub. Ezreal ughed with his hands on his hips. Very evil.

  (Bandit POV)

  A few minutes passed as the strange magic wielding duo of Piltovan teens passed.

  "Blessing?"

  He felt the top of his head. His luscious precious hair he kept in the desert was still intact. The bushes rustled as a few more heads popped up. A clean shaven face asked the question everyone else was thinking.

  "Boss. Maybe we take this opportunity to turn a new leaf?"

  "Shut up! I'm thinking."

  The boss held his head as the others chattered behind him.

  "Do bandits think?"

  A quick smack on his head solved his question. One of the others berated him.

  "If we ain't bandits we gotta think!"

  They huddled, a bunch of burly men thinking hard to their heads turning red. At st, one of them couldn't take it anymore and stood up. An impromptu impassioned speech came out.

  "Boss!!! Why do we have to think! Isn't it fine to be who we are!? Just meeting a few brats shouldn't make us cower! Right brothers!!!"

  ""Yeah!!!""

  The bandits raised their arm in support. An outburst came from the boss. He grabbed the speaker's shoulders and shook. Spittle flew

  "Idiots! All idiots! Do you think I don't want to be like that! But -"

  A shadow that lurked behind the water surged up with a spsh. A gapping maw filled with teeth the size of hands plucked the upper body of the boss, before spshing back into the water.

  "NOOOOO! Boss! How could you die like that!"

  Wails of grief filled the air as they cried.

  ""We shall get revenge!""

  And thus the river bandits formed anew.

  Until they got bsted by a blue thing.

  "'The center of the empire flowed with life giving water in the three directions.' This handbook is a scam!"

  I threw the pamphlet we bought from a merchant down angrily. There were much more caravans heading in this direction, but no sign of the ruins. Ezreal picked it up, dusting it off by smacking it.

  "It's not wrong. Don't you notice anything unusual?"

  I looked all around. I tentatively replied.

  "No?"

  "There's more than one sun!!!"

  "Huh? Isn't looking at the sun bad for you?"

  "No! That one! Over there! !s the sun disc! Not the sun!"

  He held my face and turned it at a direction. A bright golden disc hovered in the sky, with a holder beneath it. How did I miss it? It was still a distance away however.

  Dragging the raft onto shore, we just left it after salvaging whatever good rope was left on it. The sand clung to the damp clothes, especially the bottom bits. I took it in stride, just applying another yer of sand. It can't stick if it's already stuck on. On the other hand Ezreal almost got to the point of tearing off the leggings.

  Briskly walking towards the sun disc, time passed as more and more caravans congregated. Passing the st dune, a not so breathtaking sight beheld us. Not pointing out the fact the base of the sun disc had cracks, the rest of the buildings were still slowly being rebuilt by soldiers.

  Donning a golden attire, no sign of life could be felt from them. No vapour from breathing, heartbeat, or micromovement. Where'd they find such convenient workers? Did they raid a Shuriman emperor's tomb or something?

  I whispered to him as we got closer to what seemed like a checkpoint, where some normal people asked some questions before the caravan could enter.

  "You thinking what I'm thinking right?"

  "Damn right I am."

  With a high-five, I went underground, mirroring his steps. Before we could even get in line, one of the soulless husks with an official in tow came towards Ezreal. But we were getting surrounded by the second, and an authoritative presence was heading our way. I tapped the bottom of his boots.

  "Run! We getting surrounded. Raft."

  I headed in the opposite direction of the authoritative presence. Ezreal started running as well, appearing in one pce and another the next second. With the raft as our meeting spot, we headed in different directions.

  I can't hope to get lucky like in the past after getting caught. Therefore, just don't get caught! My face hardened as some soldiers started chasing in my direction. They split into two groups, chasing both of us. Thankfully the big guy stopped chasing, content with chasing us out the area.

  Why were they chasing us anyways? It's not like we did anything wrong. After a bit, they dissipated, falling down as sand. Sand? Strange... Whatever, let's first go back and meet up with Ezreal.

  Easily following the river, I was greeted with multiple fish grilling. A savoury aroma wafted with the smoke as they stacked with leaves in between. Buying salt from one of the caravans earlier was a great move by us. Gone were the days of using fish to fvour fish. Running out of supplies really sucked.

  Sitting down with a sigh, I prodded at the fire with a stick. Just then, the wind changed direction, blowing the smoke in my face, forcing me to shift my spot.

  "How'd they detect me down there? Does sand magic do that? What am I good for if every single big guy knows where I am?"

  "And every single small guy doesn't. Deal with it. Also you shook off all of them right?"

  "Yeah. Now what do we do? Should we sneak in a different direction?"

  "Let's head back home first and drop off the loot and restock."