With the fall of Balrog, chaos came to the village and the bandits. One of the lieutenants, those that had worn chain mail and wielded blades of great make, tried to turn and flee, only to find himself cut down by Paul, who was waiting for his moment to strike. Some of the bandits, who had tasted the harsh magics of the half-elf warrior that had cut down their leader, turned to flee, screaming all the while as shouts began to echo through the village. Arrows loosened, javelins soared, and bodies fell.

One of the remaining lieutenants, the thugs that had faced down Paul and Adam, froze, unsure of what he should do. He could continue fighting, but he had seen the nightmares that were Paul and Adam. Paul engaged him, and within a moment had knocked him out with his skillful blade.

“Can you send your owl to track them?” Paul asked.

Adam nodded and then sent such intentions to his owl, which followed the bandits around. It seemed they were turning around, heading towards the path they had originally taken to come to the village.

Shouting came from the other side of the village as Adam and Paul both began to circle around, allowing the villagers to give chase to the fleeing bandits that were being tailed by Hades.

Robert and Alten were still partly engaged, Mattias Moonblade causing quite the issue for them. The bandits on this side were still fighting, though they were half-shaken. Then Mattias caught the sight of both Paul and Adam, and then stepped back, disengaging from the fight.

“You have lost,” Paul said. “Surrender, or we will have to put you down.” Paul pointed his sword towards Mattias, the flames still crackling along the blade.

Mattias looked towards Robert and Alten, who were still up for a fight, yet were looking rather rough. Mattias sheathed his sword, and with that the bandits gave up. Some fled, only to be met by arrows and javelins, whereas those that remained were currently given some mercy.

“Smart choice,” Paul said as he knocked Mattias out. “Tie them up, gag them, and then remove whatever weapons you can find. The best thing to do is to strip them nude so they don’t have access to anything, including rings and other jewellery. They don’t seem like spell casters, but they may have access to certain magics through their items.”

With that the villagers came upon the surrendered bandits, knocking them out. The bandits were filled with terror, some even tried to resist, only to be put down harshly. Adam wondered if perhaps any of them died, but the thoughts quickly left as Paul placed a hand on his shoulder.

“We still need to find their camp. There might be fresh bandits at the camp, and you’re looking tapped out. Stay here, I’ll take Alten and Robert to find their camp.”

“No,” Adam said. “I’m fine. I have more than enough fight left in me.”

Lazina appeared beside them. “Do you need some healing?” she asked, ready and eager with her flute in hand.

“No, I don’t,” Adam said. “I am fine enough for now.”

Paul left it at that, seeing the look in Adam’s eye. “Then we’ll head on. How about the pair of you?” Paul asked, looking to Alten and Robert.

“If you have any healing, we’ll be able to continue.” Robert threw a look to Alten, who was fairly wounded. “No, Alten will remain here.”

Alten looked up to Robert and shook his head. “A little healing and I will be well on my way to dealing the finishing blow.”

Lazina looked to Paul, who nodded his head. She hummed out a tune, played a little tune, and then tapped her finger against their foreheads, needing to flick open the visor for Robert, before the pair were filled with magical energy, healing them of their wounds.

“How is that?” she asked.

“Thank you, miss,” Robert replied. Alten nodded his head and then they looked to Paul.

“Can you still communicate with your owl?” Paul asked.

Adam shook his head. “It’s well out of my range at the moment.”

“Alright. Grab onto Mattias’ blade, Alten you might want to retrieve a blade from some of those leaders. If you’re up for using a magical weapon, you can grab one too.” Paul threw a look to Robert, who closed his visor. His own blade no longer spat out hot flames.

Adam grabbed onto the sword and lifted it up, feeling how cool it was to the touch. It was made of steel, fairly decent steel at that as it seemed unblemished by fighting. He could feel something through it as he lifted it up.

Lesser Moonblade acquired.

You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon.

As a bonus action you can emit bright light up to 15 feet away, and dim light for an additional 15 feet.

Adam raised his brows in surprise. A magical blade, so soon? It hadn’t even been a month, but then again he was already such a high level due to his cheat abilities so he probably shouldn’t be so surprised.

With the group equipped with their magical gear, with Lazina grabbing a longsword in hand too, they made their way out. They followed the path the bandits had originally taken, with Paul leading the way. They moved quickly, following some obvious tracks after a few minutes. The bandits weren’t too far ahead, but well out of sight and hearing.

Eventually Hades reappeared, circling around their heads. Adam looked up towards him and then sent him a set of new instructions, having him lead the way. He met Paul’s eyes, who nodded and then they followed Hades.

It had taken close to an hour before they finally reached the camp, which was currently in a panic. People were screaming and shouting, and as the group approached, some village warriors appeared. There was a tense moment before the group finally realised that the warriors were allies.

“There are some slaves in the group, and the bandits are preparing to leave.”

“Then let’s hit them like a pack of hell hounds,” Paul said. “Lazina, stick with Robert and Alten, I’ll take Adam and then we’ll take one side. The middle will be held by the villagers. I’ll give the signal to charge, it’ll be obvious.”

With that the groups took their placed, with Paul taking Adam aside. Then Paul dropped to a knee, holding up his sword and looked through it as if judging something.

“Are you able to Shatter again?” Paul asked.

“I’ve got one left in me,” Adam said with a nod of his head.

Paul threw him a look and then nodded. “Then could you? Right at the back, see the guy in the chain? Him and as many as you can.”

Perception

D20 = 6 (6)

D20 = 20 (20)

With Paul’s direction, Adam could easily see where the being was. The guy in heavy chain was currently commanding a few men and women, all of whom were bandits, with displacing and carrying things.

They moved a little closer, equipping themselves for a fight. Adam raised a hand and his wizard’s die, calling forth the power of his magics, muttering a few words of power. “The bell is rung,” he said.

Mana

3 -> 1

Spell: Shatter

4D6 (1, 4, 4, 6)

15 thunder damage!

The air around the heavy chain bandit distorted for a moment before an explosion of sound rocked through the area, causing screams and shouting to fill the camp. It was then that Paul rushed forward, revealing himself with flaming blade in hand, roaring out, reading for a fight.

Alten and Robert appeared too, and many arrows showered upon the bandits like rain. There was screaming and shouting for a moment longer, but by the time Adam had appeared, the bandits were down, either dead or in the process of surrendering.

The death unnerved him, but he swallowed down to wet his dry throat, before he marched alongside Paul.

“Well,” Paul said, “that was easier than I intended it to be.”

Robert and Alten were throwing Adam a suspicious look, not quite a glare, but it wasn’t quite so peaceful.

The area around them was a mess, with barrels strewn about the place, food stuffs having spilt out of them, gear and weapons littered the floor. A mule was trying to escape from it’s peg pinned to the floor, the rope around its legs making it harder to flee.

There was a cart, several large tents, and about a dozen or so bandits, as well as a half dozen others. Adam spied that the six beings were each of a different race. A dwarf, an elf, a human, a half-orc, a roken and a lizardman.

Adam wondered if perhaps it was the start of a bad joke, but shook his head. These were prisoners of bandits, and they all seemed fairly young, all in their teens or so, or whatever would be considered teens in their respective cultures.

“Traffickers,” Paul said. “No, Balrog wasn’t a trafficker. Keep an eye out, I’ll interrogate the prisoners.”

The others threw a glance to Paul with a particular look, and even Adam was a little confused.

“Our prisoners, not their prisoners,” Paul said with his brows raised. With that he went to politely ask the bandits about what they were up to, keeping his sword aflame for the moment.

The village warriors kept an eye out as the group began to set the teens free. Robert asked them how they were, though they withdrew from the humans.

Adam stepped forward, heading to the elf first. He was probably in his seventies, but with how slowly elves aged, he was still a child.

“It is a shame we meet under such circumstances, but assuredly, you will see the stars and sun blessing you.”

The little boy looked to Adam, noting the elven features. “The stars bless me today, for the night was void of such. Have you, oh worldly elf brother, come to assist me?”

The boy was a little rude with his elven, worldly elf brother was often used as an insult, but Adam was sure he didn’t mean it as such. “As the stars light the sky, I have come to assist you, oh dearest brother of mine.”

With that, Adam spoke to the little dwarven girl, though she was already cursing at the humans.

“Aye, lemme go yer fakken short-lives! Ah’ll have yer heads on a pike!”

“Careful,” Adam said in dwarven, “they will bite back.”

“Who are you to speak the good earthly tongue of the dwarves?” the dwarven girl replied, her eyes shooting up towards the half-elf in surprise.

“Isn’t it rude to not reveal your name before asking another their’s?”

“Thunderhammer,” she replied back.

Adam raised an eyebrow. “Any relation to master Thundersmith?”

“Aye, ya know Thundersmith?”

“That I do,” Adam said with a nod of his head. “He’s in Red Oak.”

“Aye, he is! That’s true. Are you from Red Oak?”

“I’m an adventurer currently based there,” Adam said as he motioned to his token. “Paul over there is the Vice-Master of the guild, and he knows master Thundersmith quite well. He’s currently making me a dwarven blade.”

“Aye! Is that so?” she said as she nod her head. “Then you aren’t so bad then, are ya?”

“I’d like to think so.” Adam smiled.

With the elf and dwarf calm, the others seemed far less afraid, allowing the humans to set them free. Adam went about distributing his rations to the various teens.

Inventory

Three rations remaining.

Paul returned not long after, wiping his gauntlet clean of blood. “Looks like these youngsters are the children of prominent people that were being blackmailed,” Paul said bluntly. “We’ll take them back to the guild once we’re done at the Iyr to begin the process of sending them back. Let’s start looting the place.”

With that the group began to bundle everything together, looting the enemies which had been knocked unconscious. Paul took care of bringing all the coins together, with Lazina calming the donkey so they could start to guide the bandits back to the camp.

“It’ll be tough bringing them all back,” Paul said. “I’ll leave the bandits to you.” He motioned his head to the villagers as he led the cart away.

The journey back to the village wasn’t too harsh, though he could see the bandits had almost all been killed, leaving only those in the heavy chain alive, though they were all basically nude under blankets with their hands and feet outside of them so the villagers could keep an eye on them. Adam winced at the thought of all that death, not yet realising he had killed so many bandits himself.

Paul spoke with the elder for a short while before returning to the group with all the teens. “You’ll be joining us on the way to the Iyr. We all have business there, and though it may not be so safe travelling to the place, you’ll be safe with us. I can’t send you back to the guild just yet, but we’ll return in a short while.”

“They’re coming with us?” Adam said, surprised.

“They have to, it’s the safest place to be.”

Adam thought on it for a moment and then nodded. He could see how Paul could come to that conclusion. Each of them were fairly powerful, and they couldn’t ask the villagers to leave their village undefended when the bandits remained there.

Most of the items had been piled on the second cart, barrels of coins and dried fruit, weapons, armours, and all sorts of miscellaneous items within a sack.

“Quite the pay day,” Paul said with a smile. “We’ll split the loot once we’re at the Iyr, until then we’ll have to keep it safe here. When it comes to everything, other than the coins, the guild will need to assess those items. You can keep the magical weapons on you for now, just pray none of them are cursed.” Paul smirked.

They all spent that day resting, though Adam noticed he had yet to receive the pop up for experience.

EXP GAINED

BALROG (+700)

3x LEIUTENANT (+600)

30x BANDIT (+750)

SUB TOTAL

2050

SHARED WITH PARTY (-1025) = 1025

OTHERWORLDER BONUS (+1025) = 2050

EXP TOTAL

450 + 2050

CURRENT EXP

2500

Level up available!

Nevermind. He almost whistled aloud when he saw the experience he had gained, but decided that it probably would have been a bad idea that he was whistling because of pop ups that other people probably didn’t experience.

He hoped that it was enough experience to level up Warrior, but he’d check that later since he could see the teens were feeling rather overwhelmed. He sat near them and then revealed his die.

“Do you want to see some magic?” Adam asked. The teens paid keen attention to him. Adam smiled and then closed his hand over the die. “Let there be light!”

With that, the button on the elf’s shirt flooded out light. The teens pulled away quickly from the elf, who looked away from the light before noting that it was coming from him. He reached down to look at it, for a moment since his sight was much better than most people’s, before he looked at Adam. Adam waved a hand and the light disappeared.

“Do you have any other magic?” the orc girl asked.

Adam’s fingers curled around his die once more as he placed a finger on his lip. “Very few that don’t hurt people,” he whispered, though the whisper was carried along a breeze and only tickled the ears of the orc girl.

She gasped and then her eyes went wide as she looked at the others, noting they were quite puzzled. They hadn’t heard anything, and so her behaviour was a little unusual to them. Well, the dwarf and the elf understood at the least.

“I can throw out fire too, but I don’t want to do that in this village, it seems a little rude.” Adam laughed. “I can do a lot of magic, or a fair amount, but I’ll show you more next time.”

The teens looked more than just a little disappointed, so Adam thought for a moment. “I suppose I could give you a hand,” he said, his fingers wiggling.

Then, appearing from nothingness, a floating hand appeared, white and blue, as though it was the hand of a ghost.

The teens watched the hand, entranced as it began to crawl away on its fingers. Then Adam tossed a little stone from beside him, and the hand caught it before it tossed the stone further away.

There were ooo’s and aaa’s as the children clapped, watching it move about. Then Lazina appeared. “It’s time to eat,” she said as the children got up and followed the bard.

Adam did so too, eating with the villagers who were celebrating. Some kept an eye out on the bandits, of course, but the others partied hard. There were drinks, none for the teens, including the dwarf, and lots of delicious food.

Lazina played some music as the people ate, apparently preferring to eat afterwards. During the food, Paul began to hand out the rewards to everyone.

Currency

28 Gold

28 Silver

80 Copper

2x Obsidian Disks (10G each)

2x Black Onyx (50G)

It was mostly all copper and silver pieces, though Paul had enough coinage and gems that he was alright with swapping the gems and higher denominations of coin to everyone since he had a bag of holding. Paul also kept all the other weapons and things he viewed as magical, as well as some of the gems, which he didn't quite know if they were magical as of yet.

Adam was flush with cash and experience. He smiled to himself and thought about how he wanted to level. He could take a level into Warrior, or take a level into Wizard and Priest, and still have some experience left over.

He looked to Robert, who was sitting a fair ways away, right beside Alten. He would have to duel Robert in a short while.