Whilst I didn’t have any major attachment to the bandits, most of them weren’t particularly bad people. Bryan and the others had explained how they used to have an agreement with the town where they hunted the more dangerous packs and acted as a barrier for the stronger monsters. The town had provided them resources and ignored their minor transgressions in return for the assistance.

But that was before the bandits had moved against the town.

No one knew why they worked with the cult. In my short time with them, I had heard a lot of discontent towards the decision. These people couldn’t return to their old lives, and the choices of their commanders had cut off the stream of outside assistance.

Food had become scarce overnight. If it wasn’t for the hunting parties, many of them would have starved. The issue was the camp's location. As it was far into the forest, most of the beasts were above level ten and travelled in packs. It was a dangerous area for a large group, never mind a small squad of hunters.

But none of that mattered right now. Ron had been driven insane by the skills he had forcefully gained. If this was the usual effect, or some unknown side effect wasn’t clear. His eyes were unfocused as he stared at me. He had yet to make another move, but that wouldn’t last too long.

There was one upside to his state, however.

He had yet to use a strike ability during the fight. Last time, he had underestimated me and held back. This time, he had lost the capacity to even think to use such a skill.

I swapped to my Rage attribute and buffed myself as Ron lumbered towards me.

“Final Stand. Bolster. Carve.”

The crowd went silent as they heard my abilities. I had used six buff abilities in a short space of time, which left them shocked. I swapped back to my Novice attribute, which had more mana remaining, and prepared for the final exchange.

I can’t use my Buffed Strike too much, or they’ll catch on to how much mana I have left. This should be a good chance to test my new strength, though.

“RRRRRRRAAAAGGGHHH!”

Ron charged towards me with a scream. His axe swung towards my head from the heavens. If his strike hit, not much would be left of me. I dodged to the side and slammed my staff down on his axe as it swept past my head.

“Buffed strike!”

My blow, added to his full strength attack, lodged the axe deep into the ground. As he tried to pull it out, I scraped my staff along the shaft towards his hand.

Before my staff could push his grip off the axe, he let go and reached out towards it. His hand clamped on my weapon and stopped my blow in its tracks. As I tried to rip my staff from his grasp, he abandoned his axe and swung a meaty fist at my face.

I managed to twist my staff enough to block his blow, but the strength behind it knocked me into the air. That helped me rip the staff from his grip, but he didn’t seem to care.

Ron sprinted at me with his arms held wide. With his speed, he would catch me well before I hit the ground.

So I countered with a thrust.

My staff connected solidly with his forehead. I used the blow to push myself towards the ground as Ron recoiled back by several steps. I knew he wouldn’t die from the hit due to his defence, but it should slow him down at least…

But then he shook his head… and ran at me again.

Goddammit, how can he ignore that? He’s insane!

A deep cut had formed on his head as blood ran into his eyes. It turned his face into a demonic mask, which matched the expression he currently held. Ron was intent on grabbing me in a bear hug, and I didn’t have much confidence I could escape his grasp if he succeeded in doing so.

I had range, but he had an insane level of defence and strength. I could outrun him, but that would only prolong the inevitable. My next move was clear, but it was still difficult for me to contemplate.

As he neared me, I lifted my staff and pointed it directly at his face. He ignored the threat as he sprinted towards me.

“… Buffed strike.”

I thrust towards his head with unerring accuracy. My staff slammed into the same point once more with a heavy crunch. Ron was flipped through the air by the power of the blow and landed in a heap more than five metres from me.

The crowd was silent as I walked closer to the man who had tried to kill me. He was still and unmoving as I leant down to check on him. I was careful to not approach too closely, in case he woke up and went for me again, but such caution was proven unnecessary.

“Well done, Cub.”

I turned to face the speaker. Clive strode out from the crowd and moved next to me with a smile. He ignored the man by his feet as he clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“I didn’t want…” I started to speak, but Clive shook his head and glanced at Ron.

“Don’t worry, he’s not dead yet. He forced his way through the advancement test, and he gained a stupid level of toughness from that. As long as he’s cared for over a week or so, he’ll be fine.”

“Oh, right. that’s good.” I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. Whilst I held no love from the idiot, killing a real person was still a large step to take. I had ended Ray’s life, but my memory of that time was hazy. I had moved on instinct back then.

This time, my thoughts had been crystal clear. I had launched my last attack with the intent to cause fatal damage.

It’ll happen eventually. Someday, someone will force my hand. I can’t hold back… this isn’t my old world.

I glanced over to Leah, who had lowered her shield with a grin. She stepped towards me, but her expression changed drastically as she stared in horror at something behind me.

“What…”

A sickening crunch rang out across the area. I turned around slowly, and what I saw left me speechless.

Clive had drawn his sword and stabbed it down at the unconscious man. His fate, which had been uncertain previously, was sealed by the vicious blow.

He was dead.

“I told him to not cause any trouble. I even gave him the chance to prove himself after he forced his advancement as I asked.” Clive shook his head as he wiped the blood from his sword.

“Why did you do that?” I asked quietly. The crowd watched silently as Clive sheathed his sword and turned to me.

“He failed.” The vice-commander answered simply, as though those two words fully explained why he had just killed one of his followers. “That’s unimportant. Tell me, what happened in the dungeon.”

His sword was in its sheath, but it wouldn’t be too hard for him to draw it once more. Ron had lost his life due to his ‘failure’… what would be my reward if I said we had failed in the dungeon.

“We passed the dungeon, but it threw us out at the end. I landed in a cave with the loot, which hid away before I came back here.”

“Hmm.” Clive glanced at Leah, who stood stock-still at the side. “That doesn’t match what you said, Leah. You told me the dungeon took all the loot and tossed you out randomly. Why is that?”

“Maybe it’s because I was the leader.” I answered before Leah could respond. I had been in charge of the raid party, so it was up to me to explain what had happened. If I let her speak, she might ruin the plan I had just formed. “I can take them out and bring back the loot. The dungeon will open eventually, we did pass it after all.”

“Right.” Clive pulled his gaze from Leah and turned back to me. “You said the loot is hidden? Is there a chance someone will find it?”

“The cave it dumped me in was filled with wolves. I managed to sneak out, but it would be impossible to get in without a fight.” I made up the story on the spot, but my voice didn’t waver in the slightest. “That’s why I need the rest of the group to go get it, we need at least that many people to make it through. No one else would do such a thing purposefully.”

“OK.” Clive turned and walked back towards his mansion. “Come with me, I need to tell you something. Leah, get the rest of the team together and wait by the southern entrance, you’ll set off within the hour.”

I followed Clive into the building without a word. The crowd watched silently as we walked off, though I did spot several people who stepped out and moved towards the fallen bandit. They picked him up and carried their fallen comrade away.

I still have a few ways to get out, even if he makes a move against me. Let's see what his plan is…

After we had let the bright, sunny day behind, Clive pulled me down a side corridor and lead me into a room at the end. Two guards stood outside, but their gazes didn’t move as Clive walked me past them.

“So, you were telling me about the loot from the dungeon.” Clive smiled and waved me into a chair in front of a desk. After I had seated myself, he dropped down into the large chair opposite me.

“Yeah, it dropped me into the cave, like I said. I managed to hide what we got before-”

“Right, that’s fine.” Clive silenced me with a wave. “I do have a question, though. With how many enemies your team defeated, there must have been a lot of drops. How did you manage to hide all of them in a cave?”

“Well, most of them were in a side passage, so I just blocked it off before I left.”

“OK. Can you give me the full details of each battle inside of the dungeon? Leah gave her report, but you lead the party. I need to see if you spotted anything she missed.”

I gave him as many details as I could, whilst still holding back on the most important facts. As I had taken over the dungeon, I could alter the rooms in the future. My connection was still too weak, but eventually all of this information would be outdated.

Clive kept asking question after question. The whole discussion took over ten minutes, but there was no way I could excuse myself. Never mind the fact that Clive was far stronger than anyone I had seen, other than Ray, even his two guards would be enough to hold me back for a significant time.

Whilst we spoke, Claire made her own moves. I winced as the cold slime dripped down under my clothes towards the floor. She had cancelled the acidic nature, but it would be reactivated the instant she gave the command. It took quite a long while to lay the trap, but luckily Clive’s scheme gave her more than enough time to finish the task.

That’s one way out, but I’d rather not take it just in case…

He seemed engaged and happy throughout the conversation, unaware of the trap that now lay beneath our feet. Whilst the slime pit wouldn’t hold him for long, it would last more than enough time for me to escape. Even so, I didn’t let my guard down. Several minutes after my last buff fell off, he picked up the completed manuscript and tossed it aside.

“Well, that might be helpful in the future. I’ll compare it to the other reports.”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes and glanced at the papers which littered the floor.

“So, this cave… do you want to give me the directions?”

“It’s hard to describe. It took me so long to make my way out that I would need to be there to lead you.” I smiled as I ran through my options. Even with the disparity in numbers and level, I still had confidence in my ability to lose these three.

“Hmm.” Clive tapped his fingers on the desk rhythmically. “How lucky for you. I guess that’s why it took you so long to come back, right?”

“Uh, I didn’t know where I was. It took me a long time to find my way back, seeing as I didn’t-”

“Shut up.” Clive’s friendly expression vanished as he leant towards me. “Do you really think I’m stupid, Cub? Things just seem to disappear around you. Care you explain why that happens?”

His sudden shift didn’t surprise me. It made some sense why he had made the connection, and the fact he had kept me talking was an obvious ploy to waste the duration on my buffs. Even without them, I still had two trump cards to escape with, so I decided to go along with his little game.

This should be the endgame for him. If I guessed right, this will work out perfectly. If not, then I just need to escape.

“Never mind, we’ll find out eventually. Guards, dump him in the special cells!”

The door burst open as the two burly guards stepped in. They rushed beside my chair and grabbed my arms as I tried to leap up. A small smile flicked up onto my face before I called out my first buff.

“Acceler-”

A fist slammed into the side of my head before I could cast my buff. The strength of the blow surprised me, but I had expected it. I could have cast at least one of my buffs before the strike landed, but that would reveal the full extent of my strength.

I shook my head in an exaggerated manner as he clamped a pair of heavy manacles across my wrists. As soon as they closed around my arms, the flow of mana through my body turned sluggish.

Damn, there goes my buffs. I can still use Transmutation, and I have Claire in reserve… but why stop him when he’s helping me?

“You really are stupid, Cub. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of mana-cancelling items?” Clive stared at me with a grin. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I know someone who’d pay a fortune for a Supporter of your skill. The only problem is that you’ll probably not live through their experiments. What a shame.”

The guards pulled me to my feet and moved towards the door. As they dragged me away, I gave Clive one last glare. Before I could speak, Claire shivered slightly on my shoulder as though she wanted to make a move.

“No, it’s fine. Calm down.” I muttered. Clive raised an eyebrow at my random response.

“It won’t be fine. I’ll keep you here until you tell me what you did with my armour. Enjoy your last hour of pain-free life. When I’m done gathering up the rest of your team, they’ll get to watch me pull you apart. I hope you look forward to that, Rook.”

So, he knows my real name. That explains why he doesn’t trust me. I don't really care how he found out, but that cuts off any chance to talk him out of this. Not that I wanted to anyway.

I allowed myself a small grin as the guards pulled me out of the room. If Clive had known the full extent of my plan, he would have cut me down then and there. Luckily for me, he didn’t have a clue.

Then again, even if I had decided to reveal the details, he would have never believed it.