A failed experiment

Job Details:

Every action, no matter how small could possibly lead to some sort of consequence, it was a saying that Master Abbass was fond of using to remind Leila that everything he did, was for a reason. Of course, it made Leila more than aware of the fact that even a simple experiment could have some consequences, and when the farmers were in an uproar about an increase in kidnappings of their chickens, that Leila assumed this might have been a response from the friends of the bandit she had dealt with before.

Fortunately for her, the research she had been carrying out alongside her experiments was being fruitful, and she was now on the verge of succeeding in her ambition: to create a means to empower herself physically!

In the end, she needed all the power she could get in her quest for revenge, but it appeared that right now there would be an excellent training ground for such a test. With the farmers offering a bounty on the Chicken Kidnappers, the opportunity for Leila to play the hero and actually test out her new experiment properly was simply too tempting...

Perhaps it was for that reason she had made her way to her room at Abbass his residence, and after withdrawing the symbiote from a small jar she smiled briefly.

"To think of the things I'm willing to do to obtain my revenge..."

A soft whisper followed from Leila as she moved over to her bed, taking a deep breath as she lowered her face toward the pillow, taking a deep breath before bringing the symbiote to her neck.

A sharp pain horrible enough to make her knees give way and for her to scream into the pillow as the worm made its way into her body. It was bad enough that tears rolled down her cheeks when finally she recovered enough to rise upwards. "Want me to join you?"

A worried chirp came from Trapper who seemingly was hopeful in accompanying her, but Leila merely shook her head in response to the question, explaining with a smile. "I'm doing this exactly because I want to become stronger myself Trapper, I'll be back at dawn."

The bird chirped sorrowfully as Leila left the estate of her master and made her way to the hunting grounds. If there was one thing she was fortunate with, then it was the fact that her enemies were foolish enough to always target the same farms, and considering only one of them had any cickens on their farm currently, she expected it to be the target of her query. And indeed, like expected she found two young men having snuck their way into the barn. The dimly lit area was bright enough to show that one of them had just finished pulling the last chicken in the large crate he had hauled with him, and as the two of them moved outside to the wagon they had prepared she decided to strike. "Having a fine haul tonight?"

The bandits' seemed quite surprised by her arrival, and just like their friend they were rather quick to grab to their blade! "Who are you?!" The young lady couldn't help but smile calmly at them as she introduced herself with a cheerful tone to her voice. "Leila~ A pleasure to meet you chicken bandits."

The bandits clearly didn't plan to permit her to walk away, for one of them swiftly brandished his knife and rushed up at her while the other one pulled the crate onto the wagon and prepared to run after his companion.

The bandit's knife swiftly swept down at her, and she was barely able to leap out of the way thanks to the clever use of her Evasive Maneuvers. "Wow, that was pretty rude! Attacking out of the blue, don't you agree, my dear?"

Leila's sugar-coated voice seemed caused the bandits to glare at her, the bandit approaching for a second stab but instead, Leila was just quick enough to take a step backward and after a moment of preparing herself mentally for it, she tried to activate the power of her experiment

However, it seemed it was futile, no powerful ability came forth and instead, she felt the bandit's knife dig into her shoulder (D-tier damage). A pained cry escaped her lips, the backstep having been just enough to prevent the knife from tearing through her shoulder, but the pain was horrible enough to make her stagger from the recoil, an opportunity the bandit took in an attempt to end her life.

But the finishing blow never came...

A sudden high-pitched screech came from nearby, accompanied by a sudden projectile that impaled the man's head. A glimpse of the fiery feather revealed it had been Trapper's Fire Arrow, causing Leila to turn toward the flying bird with a look of disbelief in her eyes. "Trapper?!"

However, the remaining bandit had been enraged by the arrival of the winged creature, and soon he rushed forwards at Leila.

Another feral screech came from the bird, flying in a beeline toward the encroaching foe, who despite his attempt to slice down the bird, found Trapper scratching violently at his face.

It was just enough time for her to grab the felled bandit's knife, and by the time the bandit had succeeded in sweeping the bird off his face, she struck.

"RAAAGH!"

Attempting to muster herself some courage, the young aide made a warcry as she toppled the man onto his back, her knife tearing into the man's chest, but by the time he had prepared an attempt to stab her, Leila thrust the knife downwards a second time, straight into the thug's throat.

Feeling the bloodstains splatter onto her face the girl repeated the motion several times, till she ensured the man wasn't moving anymore, and with the adrenaline rush subdued she tumbled sideways onto the sand, panting loudly.

"Master---"

Leila waved a hand lightly in response to Trapper's voice, adding with a feeble smile.

"Don't apologize for disobeying your orders, if it wasn't for you I would have been murdered... Now give me a moment to--- GAH"

Another pained gasp escaped her lips as she coughed violently, finding that she had vomited some blood, alongside the symbiote she had tried to inject into her body earlier.

"A total failure..."

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she wiped the blood from her mouth and rose to her feet, a hand resting against her injured shoulder.

"Let's tell the farmers we solved the problem, and then I'll need a doctor..."

----
bandits killed, chickens saved
1106/500