Road to Prozor

Early in the next morning, Paul woke up. Marcus was snoring on a bedroll next to him.

“I’m really not made for drinking, neither in this world nor in the last one” Paul was still feeling drowsy. “Good thing I threw up most of what I drank yesterday.”

He went out of the house to fetch some water from the community well to wash himself and get the lingering bad taste out of his mouth. When he came back, Marcus and Jonas were already up as well, both looking as lively as ever. The group went to the barn, where Jonas attached the cart to a rather small but strong looking horse.

They left the village in the direction of Prozor. While the path to Marcus’ settlement was nothing more than a trail, the road to leading to Prozor was actually worthy of the name, with gravel along most of the way and only few bumpy parts.

Jonas was sitting on the driver’s seat, while Marcus and Paul were sitting on the back of the cart. The ride was expected to take nearly all day, so they would arrive in the evening.

Around noon a carriage drawn by two horses caught up to them.

“Make way, you are blocking the road” the driver started shouting from afar.

“Even if you say that, if we pull over here, we will be stuck in the ditch. Wait a few minutes” Jonas replied.

The other carriage slowed down behind them. “Hurry up, we are on the important trade business and don’t have time to waste.” Jonas did not make any effort to speed up, but pulled over at the next opportunity to let the other driver pass by.

When they took over, Paul took a good look. It was a fancy looking carriage. While he could not look inside, the roof was packed with textiles and small boxes, and a person looking like a mercenary armed with a crossbow was standing on the back and looking down on Marcus’ group, narrowing his eyes like he was suspecting them of something bad.

The carriage sped up again and was out of sight a short while after. Paul and Marcus ate some of the food they brought along and Paul let himself fall back on the pile of furs, planning to catch some sleep while he had nothing better to do.

He had not yet fallen asleep, when Jonas suddenly spoke up “Oy, guys, attention! This doesn’t look good.”

Paul immediately sat up straight and turned around. The carriage that overtook them earlier was standing on a part of the road where the surrounding hills formed at small gauge about a hundred meters in front of them. He could not really see past the carriage, but it seemed something was blocking its way. What made the situation even more suspicious was that people were standing on top of the small hill and some were behind the carriage. The group was definitely too large to have come out of the carriage alone.

“Bandits?” Paul was a bit nervous. Even if he died, he could respawn, but that did not apply to Marcus or Jonas. He took hold of his spear, that was laying on the carriage next to they intended to sell. Marcus lightly grabbed him by the shoulder. A quick look at the minimap showed that there were red dots surround the carriage, with a few yellow dots mixed in.

“It’s too early to say, but be wary. Maybe they are just helping each other to clear the road of some rubble or something.” Paul could see Marcus holding his bow ready, but out of sight of whoever was in front.

The people surrounding the carriage had spotted the approaching cart and one of them was waving to them while slowly walking up to them.

“It’s definitely bandits. There is someone laying on the ground next to carriage.” Jonas slowed down the cart.

“Hey, you over there. Slowly drive up to here. No use in turning around now, we will catch up to you in no time.” The person who was waving before shouted towards them.

“Hmpf, bloody bastards. Let’s hope they are just some idiots trying to collect some toll here” Jonas slowly drove the wagon towards the carriage. “I don’t mind if you jump off the wagon and run into the forest. I doubt they will be able to catch up to you that way”

“No way, I couldn’t abandon the furs I spent the last months collecting” Marcus was having an angry expression. Paul could not remember seeing that kind of face on Marcus before. Paul also did not think that Marcus was ready to just abandon his friend, furs or not. “Hey, how many of those guys are sporting bows or ranged weapons?”

“Looks like the two on the hill are holding onto bows, and I see a couple of swords and a spear. Five, perhaps 6 of them in total” Jonas was speaking with a low voice, but clearly understandable.

“OK, I will take care of the archers if things go south, make sure to stop early and let them approach. Paul, if the situation gets bad, think you can fight. Don’t take risks, but I don’t think Jonas and I can deal with so many by ourselves.”

“Sure, those guys don’t look to strong by the way. And as far as I can tell, there is 6 of them” Paul had checked the info of the bandits he could see and their levels were ranging between 6 and 8. He could see six red dots on the minimap and two yellow ones. Assuming that one of the yellow dots was the driver of the carriage and the other one whoever was inside the carriage, the guard with the crossbow must either be the person of the ground and dead or he joined the bandits. The latter seemed unlikely.

Jonas stopped the cart around 20 meters before they reached the carriage.

“Hey, what are you stopping for? Pull up” The bandit approaching them looked angry and pulled a short sword from his belt. “Nah, doesn’t matter. Guys, take out the driver.”

When he said that, the other bandits turned their attention to Jonas and one of the archers raised his bow. At that moment Marcus jumped off the cart and immediately afterwards an arrow was flying towards the enemy archer, hitting him dead center in the throat. At that signal, Jonas made an impressive looking backroll from the driver’s seat, which ended in a less impressive looking belly flop on the contents of the cart, after rolling to the side, hiding from the view of the other archer.

The archer had dropped to his knees, holding clutching his throat. The guy next to him shot an arrow towards Jonas’ cart, narrowly missing the horse and hitting the driver’s seat where Jonas was sitting a moment ago.

“What the fuck?! Attack those idiots, no captives!” The bandit with the short sword was shouting now. Paul had taken cover behind the cart and pulled his spear out. According to the radar, two of the guys surrounding the carriage approached the cart, the supposed leader following behind them.

Marcus shot another arrow, and one of the red dots on the hill disappeared.

The three bandits moved rapidly towards the cart and Paul was waiting for them to come closer. When they were just a few meters from the cart, Paul stood up, wielding his spear.

“You take care of that bloke, I will take care of the asshole shooting arrows.” The leader jumped on the driver’s seat, intending to walk over the cart, and the other two approached Paul from the side.

The leader either didn’t count correctly, had forgotten about Jonas or just assumed he was a helpless peasant, but he carelessly jumped over the place where Jonas was cowering on the wagon. Jonas grabbed him by the foot, resulting in the bandit falling flat. The impact was soft because of the furs, but Jonas immediately followed with stabbing his dagger into the guy’s groin.

The resulting scream indicated a “critical hit” to the man’s genitals and Paul flinched. He didn’t get distracted enough though, and stabbed his spear towards the first bandit who had come for him and was now barely in range. The scream from his leader made him look to the side and Paul managed to stab him in the upper thigh.

You have stabbed Rick for 6 damage.

Marcus stood up again and shot an arrow at the man behind the guy who was obviously named Rick. The arrow hit into the attacker’s right shoulder and he dropped the spear he was wielding.

Jonas was fighting with their leader on top of the wagon, who had dropped his short sword and was trying to defend himself from Jonas’ dagger while bleeding profusely from his groin.

Paul pulled back his spear and stabbed the kneeling assailant in the chest. The attack was somewhat softened by the leather armor the bandit was wearing, and Paul immediately followed up with an attack to the man’s unprotected neck.

You have stabbed Rick for 30 damage. *crit*

Rick is [bleeding].

Rick is [unconscious].

Rick is bleeding for 5 damage.

The bandit behind the now soon to be dead Rick was making a complicated face while holding his shoulder, not knowing how to react. He was now unarmed, injured and surprised by the unexpected strength of their supposed victims.

Paul took the opportunity and rammed his spear into the man’s stomach with as much force as he could muster. He didn’t bother pulling it out again and instead let it go, followed up with a kick to the bandit’s chest.

You have stabbed Simon for 10 damage.

You have dealt 3 damage to Simon.

Simon is [confused].

Paul took a step forward and picked up the spear “Simon” had dropped. It was slightly heavier than Paul’s wooden spear and had a plain, sturdy looking iron tip. Definitely a good trade. He heard a gurgling sound and looked towards Jonas, who had impaled his dagger into the leader’s throat.

Paul then stabbed Rick in the neck with his new spear.

Rick is bleeding for 5 damage.

You have stabbed Rick for 15 damage.

Rick has died.

You have gained 80 XP.

Nice! Paul was pleased. Not only had he gotten a nice weapon, but also experience worth more than a dozen snakes or foxes.

“There is still one left near the carriage” Paul said after checking his minimap. One of the archers was still alive, but both were laying on the ground, so he was probably incapacitated. But there was another read dot on the road near the two yellow dots. Simon, who had a spear sticking in his belly, was laying on the ground and did not move, but still had around a third of his health left.

“Hey, help me throw that guy off my furs, he is bleeding all over the place!” Marcus was talking to Jonas while grabbing the dead bandit leader’s arms and pulling him off the cart.

“I will go and check out the remaining bandit at the carriage, would be nice if one of you could lent me some support when you are done.” Paul was blinded by XP and loot and hurried towards the enemy.

He stepped over the dead guard, who was laying on the road next to his crossbow with an arrow sticking out of his head and found a young bandit pointing a sword at two men sitting on the ground next to the carriage. One was the driver, who had taken an arrow to his thigh and was holding the wound with both his hands. The other one was a man in his late 30s, wearing colourful clothes and looked pale. He must be the merchant owning the carriage.

“Who are you? What happened to the others?” The boy was looking confused and lowered his sword.

Paul took another step towards him and swung the blunt end of spear towards his head.

Smack!

You hit Darryl for 5 damage.

Darryl is [confused].

The young bandit fell to the ground, loosing hold of his sword.

“Wait! Please, don’t kill me! I did not want all of this!” His eyes were teary, perhaps from the blow he had received.

Paul did not wait for him to recover and stabbed him in his unprotected chest.

You have stabbed Darryl for 20 damage. *crit*

Darryl is [bleeding].

Darryl is bleeding for 3 damage.

Darryl is [scared].

The bandit had nearly lost half of his health and Paul noticed that the red dot on the radar had turned yellow. Paul pulled back his spear and stabbed again, aiming for the boy’s heart.

You have stabbed Darryl for 10 damage.

Darryl is [unconscious].

Paul did not pull back his spear, but pushed as hard as he could, grabbing the spear with both of his

hands.

Darryl is bleeding for 3 damage.

You stabbed Darryl for 55 damage. *fatal crit*

Darryl has died.

You have gained 65 XP.

He had penetrated the ribcage and stabbed the bandit in the chest. Paul pulled his spear out. The bandit on top of the hill was still alive, indicated by the red dot.

He climbed up the slope and found one of the bandit archers laying on the ground with an arrow sticking out of his eye, the other one was holding the arrow sticking out of his throat with both hands and breathing with gurgling sounds. According to the interface he only had around 10% health left. Paul quickly and forcefully stabbed him into the chest with the spear.

You have stabbed Ryan for 11 damage.

Ryan has died.

You have gained 40 XP.

Less XP because it was only an assisted kill. Still, around 8 foxes worth of experience.

Paul climbed down the hill again. Marcus had caught up with him and was talking to the merchant while carefully extracting the arrow from the driver’s leg.

The bandit with the spear in his belly was still alive, according to the radar, so Paul hurried back to the cart. Jonas was rummaging through the dead bandits belongings. He looked a bit flustered when he saw Paul approaching, like he had been caught doing something bad.

“Hey, I don’t mind you checking for loot. There are two dead archers on top of the hill, better check them as well. I will take care of the cart.”

“… OK. Marcus doesn’t like it, I can tell you that much.”

“He is still talking to the robbed merchant, if you hurry he won’t notice.”

“OK, I’m off then. Watch out, the guy on the left is still kicking.” Jonas hurried off towards the carriage, but staying out of Marcus’ sight. Paul approached the half-dead bandit. He had an idea.

“Hey, Simon. Don’t fall asleep.” He had checked the info on the bandit. He still had around a third of his health left and was [confused], but conscious. Paul supported the bandit’s neck with his arm and started talking.

“Let me help you. I will take you to your friends, tell me where we can find them.”

“…help me?... where are the others?...” He had obviously lost a lot of blood and was not recognizing Paul as the guy who had stabbed him earlier.

“They are already on their way. Darryl told me to take care of you. Where should I take you.”

“… Darryl… he is a good boy…”

“Yes, a good boy. Where is your hide-out?” Paul was still talking in a soft voice, but was pressing the issue. He had no idea how long Simon would hold out.

“…Prozor… an hour to the east of Prozor… in an old mine in the hills….”

“Good, I will take you there now. How many of your friends are in the camp?”

“…Darryl, nearly threw up… you know… couldn’t see blood” Simon was faintly smiling, but the pain was showing on his face.

“How many are there?”

Simon didn’t answer and closed his eyes.

Simon is bleeding for 3 damage.

Simon is [unconscious].

“Useless…” Paul dropped Simon’s head to the ground and stood up. He positioned the tip of his spear at his throat and pushed down while closing his eyes.

You stabbed Simon for 20 damage. *crit*

Simon has died.

You have gained 80 XP.

Neat! Even though Marcus had shot him with an arrow, Paul had gained what seemed like full XP for the kill. And he had gained useful information. His experience had risen by a large amount just from the short fight. He had noticed that after level 4, the XP required to level up had not risen by twice as much as before, but only to around 150%.

While in thought, Marcus called him over and he hurried towards the carriage.

“You hurt or something? Seems like those bandits threw a small tree onto the road to block them and killed the guard before anyone realized what was happening. Shot the driver as well and killed one the horses.

I agreed to help escort them to Prozor. We will need to report to the guards there.” Marcus spoke to Paul.

“Need to collect the bounty as well.” Jonas said. Seems like he had checked the corpses for valuables already. “Hey, merchant guy. You don’t have a problem with us storing those dead bandits in your carriage, right? Think of it as a payment. But we won’t share the bounty. All you did was getting robbed.”

Jonas took advantage of the still shocked merchant. Marcus didn’t look very pleased, but did not interject either.

The group then hurried to clear up the road. They dragged the tree up the hill to make way for the carriage, pulled the dead horse to the side of the road and carried the dead bandits and the guard to the carriage. The merchant and the driver both sat on the driver’s seat, the rich guy probably didn’t want to ride in the back with a bunch of corpses.

Jonas collected the weapons separately and stashed them in the back of the cart.

They then drove off to Prozor. They were all on edge because they did not know if there were remaining bandits on the lookout for their missing friends. Paul did not tell the others about the hidden camp. He planned to go there alone as soon as possible and try to kill them off. If he did not manage to do so, he would still have the chance to report the location to the city guard in hope of a reward.

On their way Paul looked over the bandits’ weapons.

[Iron Sword

Damage 8-10

Durability 20/24

One-handed sword

A standard sword made of iron, often issued to soldiers and guards. The blade is a bit dull.]

[Short Sword

Damage 6-8

Durability 19/20

One-handed sword

A short sword. Short enough to be easily concealed and can be wielded easily, even by amateurs.]

[Hunting Bow

Damage 6

Durability 20/22

Bow

A simple, but well-made composite bow, made of wood, bone and leather. Often wielded by professional hunters. Despite its relatively small size, it has a good range.]

There was also a good amount of iron-tipped arrows and two quivers. Marcus saw Paul looking at the loot.

“Don’t worry, after we have dropped them off with the guard we can probably keep most of the stuff. If not, we will get at least a good amount of silver for the bounty. Buying you a decent bow should not be a problem.” Marcus obviously didn’t plan to keep any of the items for himself, unless they were officially offered as part of the bounty. Considering that both Marcus and Jonas were somewhat veterans of Prozor, Paul did not worry too much. If this was a game, he would have equipped the best items already though.

They arrived in Prozor rather late. The sun was already starting to set, although it was still bright enough to see.

The carriage stopped in front of the gate and Jonas stopped the cart behind them as well. Marcus then first talked to the merchant and the driver before talking to the guards. Shortly afterwards the gate was opened and they drove inside the town.

Paul could not see too much of the town from the outside, because it was surrounded by a stone wall around 2.5 meters high. The street was paved with cobblestones and wide enough for two carriages to ride next to each other. They parked both the carriage and the cart next to a large building which was supposedly an inn, and waited for the captain of the guard to show up.

He was an old acquaintance of Marcus, and judging from the conversation Paul assumed they were treating each other respectfully. They had thrown away some of the bloodsoaked furs on top of the pile on their way, and Paul was resting and occasionally observing the soldiers.

The captain was level 16, the guards at the gate were both level 11 and the guards inside the town were anywhere between level 8 and level 13. Paul had also seen some of the normal townspeople passing by, all of them were level 8 and below.

The guards loaded the bodies onto a separate cart and collected all of the bandits’ weapons. Paul looked at Marcus while holding his newly acquired spear. “We will hand everything over to the guard for now, tomorrow we can collect the bounty and some of their belongings.”

Paul handed over the spear, even though he didn’t want to.

They would move towards a cheaper inn at the other end of the town while the merchant had already made arrangements with the innkeeper at their current location. Marcus looked into a small bag with coins, it was obviously the compensation he had received from the merchant for escorting him to Prozor.

When they were about to set off, a man in similar clothes as the merchant hurried to the carriage and greeted the merchant who was nearly robbed earlier. He had two young men following him, carrying buckets and cleaning utensils. They were obviously about to clean the carriage from the blood.

While driving off, Paul noticed a detail on one of the servants. He had not noticed earlier because of the guy’s dark hair, but there was a dark tail sticking out of the back of his pants, and on closer inspection he could see two bushy ears poking out of his hair.

Cat people! Paul could not help but smile.