I shook my head in an attempt to get rid of the angry haze which had settled on my brain. From the bandit king’s words, it seemed like he had underestimated how far Clive had gone, but he had still not cared when I mentioned the town being attacked at first.

I’ll speak to Anne about it. She’s on his side, but she was also Claire’s friend in the past. That’s as neutral as I could get at this point.

A wave of ants ran towards me, which helped me to push my thoughts away. Their numbers were significantly lower than the last battle, but that made some sense. Cory had explained that natural dungeons spawned creatures based on both the level and the number of people who invaded them.

And I was a single level ten Supporter.

But this dungeon could spawn creatures up to level twenty-five, and would reward experience to that level. After we have cleared the first run, the monsters would no longer drop loot, but there would be set rewards based on the speed and efficiency of the party. Mostly they gave experience, but there were other things that could pop up on rare occasions.

“If there were no rewards, fewer people would enter. If fewer people come to the dungeons, the overall level of skill will drop.” Cory had explained the logic. I didn’t know who had made these decisions, but I did agree with their line of thought. “Normally the spawns are limited, but if we get an outside source of mana…”

His words had predicted this situation. Clive had his forces launch constant attacks on the dungeon entrance. Cory had assured me they wouldn’t be able to break through, but their assault provided a constant stream of mana. We even moved the door around a little and had it respond to their attacks to goad them further.

And I had the perfect plan for the fruits of their labours.

I lifted my staff and ran towards the group of ants. Any tactics I had used previously were rendered moot. I had two choices, which were running away or jumping into the battle, so I chose the latter.

My first strike was simple and to the point. I smacked my staff down on the back of the leading ant's head. Even without the additional power of my abilities, the strike left the ant twitching on the floor. A quick follow-up thrust finished it off, but that gave the others time to catch up.

Two hits without an ability, but it would be difficult to land those if they surround me.

“Buffed strike.” I jumped forward and landed on the back of an ant. My staff acted as a vaulting pole as I launched myself over the group.

Those at the back were smaller than the leaders. In a fight against a group, there were two tactics I could use.

The first would be to find the leader, take him out, scare the others off.

The other option would be to knock down as many of them as possible before they overwhelmed me.

In this case, I chose to do both. My first hits had taken out the ant at the forefront before I moved to attack those at the rear. The group scuttled around to face me, but not before I had wiped out three smaller ants at the back.

Five down out of the fifteen summoned by the dungeon.

The remaining ten were infuriated. Their jaws clicked as they sprinted towards me again. After my last fight with these creatures, I was well aware of their main weaknesses. Thanks to my angry duel against the bandit king, I had every buff up and ready.

The remaining ants were on the higher end of the level spectrum, so I couldn’t use any tricks to clear them out. My mana would last if I used abilities to take the rest down, but that wasn’t my aim.

As they approached, I dashed forward and swept my staff along the ground. The strike smacked into the legs of one of the leaders and knocked it to the ground, along with its buddy beside it.

With a makeshift barrier created, I moved on to the next stage. Another strike locked the pair in place as their comrades tried to clamber over and around their bodies. the obstruction split up their group as each of them chose a different route around it.

So I dashed to the left.

Two ants saw me and chittered as they sprinted towards me. If I tried the same trick again, they wouldn’t fall for it, so now was the time for brute strength. I landed a full-powered thrust into the jaws of one of the pair and twisted my staff. It screeched as it dropped to the floor, but its comrade used the time to close in.

I countered with a kick. It wasn’t powerful enough to defeat the ant in one strike, but it left it dazed. The three who had chosen to climb over their brethren rose up behind me, which didn’t give me long.

I ripped my staff out of the ant's mouth and swung it at the one I had just kicked. the hardened shaft slammed into the side of its head and knocked it to the floor. These ants were weak, which proved that the dungeon had underestimated my power to a massive degree.

Five left…

The last five were dealt with in a similar way. They ignored anything and everything in their desire to eat me. I used the defeated ants to break the group apart and take them down one by one. The whole fight only lasted a few minutes, but the amount of mana I had used far exceeded that.

Each strike is fifteen, the buffs vary from fifteen to thirty. Each minute I get two mana back…

**Congratulations. You have levelled up.**

A quick glance at my guild card showed that my mana hadn’t increased. I still had a maximum of two hundred in each pool.

I contemplated the problem. It would only get more difficult as the level of my opponents climbed. these ants were still armoured, but the plates on their heads broke apart with a single swing. Compared to the last battle where the ants had been closer to level twenty-five, the difference was significant.

But the problem gave me a much needed distraction. Claire sat on my shoulder, but she had yet to speak after she had protected me from the bandit king. As I watched the ants turn into smoke, she broke her silence.

‘I get what he meant.’

“What who meant?” I glanced at Claire. “You’re not talking about him, are you?”

‘Yeah. Anne told me a bit about him in the past. He’s had a hard life, but he still helps people where he can.’ I was about to interrupt, but Claire continued on. ‘You might not believe it, but a lot of people respect him. If you make a deal with him, he’ll never break it.’

“But his ‘deals’ are extortion, Claire.” I shook my head and dismissed her excuses.

‘Some of them could be seen that way, but not all of them. From what I remember, most of those who came to attack us are the same ones who backed Clive up against the bandit king. The others wouldn’t move against him without an overwhelming push. And that's because they believe in his word.’

No matter how I considered it, her words sounded weak. The bandit king’s thought process was alien to me. I just couldn’t understand why Claire and Anne would try to defend him when it seemed so clear to me.

‘Why don’t you speak to the village leader. He dealt with him directly, maybe that will help you understand.’

“Sure.” I nodded and turned back to the door. After the monsters had been defeated, I could move back into the previous room. Cory had deactivated the monster spawning in there before the villages entered, so it had turned into a free space.

“Rook.” Anne walked over to me with a worried smile. “Are you OK?”

“Yeah, I am.” I glanced at the bandit king, who was sat against the wall at the far side. “Sorry, I need to sort something out. I’ll see you later.”

Anne nodded before I walked over to the villagers. The leader was talking to one of them, but he agreed to my request to speak privately without hesitation.

“You want to know what I think of the bandit king?” The leader frowned as he glanced over at the slumbering man. “That’s a complicated question, and I think you already have your own opinions.”

“I do, but I want to hear what you believe.”

“Well, I respect him.” The leader smiled and held up a hand to stop my interruption. “I understand your opinion of him, I really do, but it's different for us. The world is dangerous, and some people don’t have the best of paths through it.”

I clamped my mouth shut as the leader spoke. It was difficult to not ask questions, but those could wait until he had finished his explanation.

“He’s a product of his world. His life has taught him that power is everything. He sees the world in black and white. You’re on his side, or you’re an enemy.” The leader grinned. “I don’t really disagree with his logic. When he led the bandits, our village was safe. The protection fees actually went to protecting us.”

“Because he wanted more money out of you.”

“That is true, he does value money, but he values respect more.” The leader shook his head as he leaned against the wall. “Don’t the town leaders expect a tax from those below them? Any missions that are completed have a portion pulled away before they are even awarded. How is he any different?”

I wanted to argue, but it was easy to see his point of view. The logic was based on a world unlike my own, and I could easily see myself agreeing if I had been born in this place.

“Anne told us about what happened after we escaped. You fought that man, but you didn’t have any energy left. Wasn’t it the bandit king who saved you?” the leader raised an eyebrow as he stared at me. “He risked his life to save you, with no thought to money or gains. That’s because he respects you, see?”

“Really?” I couldn’t quite believe his words. Why would a brute of a man shift his opinions of me so quickly?

“I can tell he does, because you’re still alive.” the leader chuckled. “I’m not dismissing your skills, but he’s on a different level. If you two truly fought, I doubt you’d survive.”

“Right.” I turned away and walked off. “Thanks for that. I’ll talk to you again.”

The leader laughed again as he moved back to his fellow villagers. I knew that the bandit king was strong, but I had yet to see him in combat. During the previous battles I had been too distracted, and the exchange outside of the dungeon wasn’t long enough to see the breadth of his skills.

Anny walked over and patted my shoulder. She glanced over at the village leader before she gave me a small smile.

“I didn’t have time to say this before, but thank you. You saved these people, and you deserve an explanation.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come with me, and I’ll explain everything. Claire, the holy kingdom, why he acts like this.” She pointed back at the sleeping bandit king. “I think we’ll be here for awhile, so we need to start on the right foot. Let’s go.”