Nusantara Descend

The next morning, Arjuna packed his belongings into a space bag, a common artifact that can hold a certain number of items within it.

He packed only the necessities for his trip because the space bag could only hold so much. Arjuna then set off on his adventure.

He glanced toward the village, hoping for at least one person to visit him. Nevertheless, he held his head high and thus began his journey.

Arjuna was filled with excitement as he ventured farther from the village. The breeze brushed against his face, refreshing him. Arjuna entered the wilderness as the sun rose, bringing warmth to the surrounding area.

Making his way to the main road, he faced an arduous walking journey. He was startled when rodents emerged from the bushes, and a snake landed beside him. Poci, complaining as he walked beside him, added to the misery.

Poci, grinding his non-existent teeth, snaps at Kunti. "Oi, wench, how much longer to the capital?"

Kunti, still hopping from one tree to another, responded in kind. "If lucky, we should arrive by the main road before sunset."

"…you're joking," Arjuna retorted in disbelief.

"Well, what can I do when you've been living in a backwater village?" Kunti claps back.

"Yet you came to me, minutes after I summoned Poci?" Arjuna asked, watching Kunti hopping to another tree.

"Easy answer. My contractor, the doctor, specializes in space magic," Kunti stopped on a branch.

"If the doctor sent you to me in an instant, why wouldn't it work the other way around?" Arjuna stared at Kunti.

"...huh, now that I think about it..." Kunti leaned on a tree, lamenting.

All of a sudden, a thunderous boom echoed throughout the forest. The trio flinched to the east, where the sudden gust of wind originated.

The boom came, and then they heard the faint sound of screams. Arjuna was alarmed and hurried to the source, with the spirits right behind her.

The cries got louder as they hurried closer. As Arjuna emerged from the bushes, he saw a scorched earth.

Smoke rises from houses, turning into ash. Men in crude armor chased villagers and hunted them as if they were game.

"...my goodness, we wouldn't do this, would we, Poci?" Kunti stuck a palm over her mouth.

"They're despicable," Poci stared at the burning scenery.

"...Bandits," Arjuna glanced at the men.

Arjuna's gaze gravitated to a girl smudged by the ground, her dirty hair tugged by a coarse hand.

"Ember," Arjuna set fire to the hand.

"Yeowch!" the bandit screamed in agony but was soon able to put out the fire.

The bandit looked around his vicinity, skeptical about the source of the flame. Their eyes darted toward the bushes but saw nothing amiss.

"...whatever, I need to meet the quota," the bandit dragged the girl and disappeared into the flame.

On the other side of the bush was Kunti covering Arjuna's mouth while Poci held him back. Kunti whispered urgently, "We can't risk being seen. Let's follow them discreetly." Arjuna nodded, his eyes blazing with determination as they prepared to rescue the girl from the bandit's clutches.

They stealthily followed the bandit, staying out of sight as they tracked his movements. Arjuna tightened his grip on his wand, ready to take action when the time was right.

As they approached the middle of the village, it was apparent the bandits were gathering young flesh. Within them stood out a prominent figure, more menacing than the others.

His broad shoulders towered above the others. A jagged scar ran through his left eyepatch. His armor was steel, typical of knights. He also adorned a giant battle axe.

Kunti encircled her eyes with her fingers and said, "That's the boss if I've ever seen one."

"Don't do anything stupid, brat," Poci's hollow eyes stared daggers into Arjuna.

"I know," Arjuna slowly backed away from the scene.

As they slowly retreated into the bushes, Poci noticed a glimmer of light from the rubble. Curious, Poci made his way and found a pair of children hiding underneath.

"Wah!" startled by Poci, a child screamed, alerting the bandits gathered in the middle.

In an unfortunate accident, the bandits noticed Arjuna, crouching his way into the forest, attempting to hide within the bushes. The leader, determined to catch Arjuna, sent his men to chase him into the forest.

Arjuna's heart raced as he heard the bandits closing in on him; he asked Kunti to help him climb the tallest tree around. With the boost from the wind magic, "swift," he climbed within seconds.

Arjuna perched on the upper branch, his breath was short but steady as the bandits stormed the forest. In their rampage, they snapped twigs and rustled the bushes.

"Do you guys know that movie where a kid wards off intruders from his home while his family is away?" Arjuna asked the spirits as he monitored the bandits.

"Not that I recall," Kunti helped Poci climb up.

"Watch this," Arjuna smirked, clutching his wand.

He ignited a slow-burning spell on the dangling pinecones, carved the tree to collect sap, and grabbed a rag in his space bag.

The bandits scoured the forest's edge, looking for clues on the whereabouts of Arjuna. They looked in every direction, but above. That was when one decided to.

Suddenly, a burst of flame erupted as Arjuna chanted "Ignition!" to the sap-covered pinecones.

"My eyes!" one of the bandits stumbled, crashing into another bandit and burning him too in the process.

As the bandits were preoccupied with their burnt comrades, Arjuna took advantage of the limited time to jump into a different branch.

Without waste, Arjuna cast another spell of the earth element, "Treacle", a strong adhesive that doesn't last long, on a patch of mossy ground.

"Spread out! Be careful above you!" one bandit took command.

Not long after being directed, a burly bandit stepped on the adhesive. He tried setting himself free but to no avail.

"I'm stuck!" the bandit struggled taking his feet off the ground, further sinking into the moss.

"Just get him out!" the leading bandit ordered the others to help him free.

When they reached for his hands, they soon noticed that both had fallen into the same trap. This infuriated the leading bandit.

"Just take your clothes off, you idiots," the leading bandit facepalmed at the sight of his idiotic teammates.

The faces of three stuck bandits brightened at the revelation. They quickly took their clothes off and tried climbing out of the pit.

However, they didn't realize the size of the pit. Throwing their clothes away was a mistake. Without clothes, they now have nothing else to take off.

Stuck in the pit, the leading bandit has no choice but to leave them to die, not wanting further casualties.

Arjuna chuckled at the sight. He grabbed the rope from his space bag, tied it around a thick branch, and laid the other side on the ground. The camouflage spell, "Camo", was cast on the rope.

A rabbit rustled the bushes at the sudden commotion. One bandit, eager to avenge his comrades, jumped straight into the bushes.

The invisible rope was triggered and caught the surrounding bandits, tying them up high on the tree. The remaining bandits retreated, not wanting to get caught.

"Where we're from, kids usually just put a charm on their house to ward off evil," Poci snickered at the sight of the fallen bandits.

"What a sight," Kunti perched next to Arjuna.

The boss, waiting with the tied-up villagers, looked lost as fewer and fewer bandits came out from the forest.

"What happened in there?" the boss snatched the collar of a running bandit.

"They booby-trapped it in there; we can't find them," the bandit pleaded for forgiveness.

"Must I do it myself?" the boss flung his subordinate into the ground and headed into the forest.

"Blast!" the boss was caught in the massive fire blast cast from the distance by Arjuna.