Chapter 11: Raiding Preparations

At the market square, he visited a merchant stall that mostly dealt with leather products. With help from the merchant, he found was he was looking for.

A pair of pants, made of sturdy linen, with lots of leather reinforcements. And the base colour was black, so they matched his armour and would not show bloodstains easily. They did in fact only have little protective value, because the material was relatively soft, but what they lacked in defence, they made up in badass value.

The price was reasonable, and after some haggling Paul paid 2 silver and 50 copper for them, after agreeing to buy a pair of matching boots for another 1 silver and 50 copper. He then went to a tailors stall and bought a linen shirt and a hooded woollen cloak, which was waterproof to a degree, at least according to the guy who sold it. Paul did not want to look like a poor man’s dark knight, so he opted for the dark brown variant. Altogether, he spent 6 silver on clothes, but quality wise it felt like a good deal.

He went to the armour smith and bought a pair of shin guards that he could comfortably wear under his pants. After trading in the dagger, he only paid 1 silver for them. Some other protective gear may have been more practical but after his most recent injury, they ended up on his shopping list.

He also bought a large linen bag and a big backpack, which was more like a square basket with straps. But it was large enough to transport a small person in it and relatively cheap. He also bought a water bag. The bags and straps were relatively cheap, he paid 60 copper for all of it.

Paul also spent 30 coppers on rations. A bit of dried meat, cheese and dark bread. They were only meant for emergencies, as he did not plan to journey far away.

The last stop on his shopping trip was the fletcher, were he bought a dozen arrows for 4 silver coins. The arrows were so expensive that he wanted to cry, but after even after haggling the merchant did not concede. At least they had a high quality, but he still felt like he was robbed. Paul now regretted not having retrieved his arrows earlier.

He then went back to the inn. It was still before lunch when he entered his room. He closed the window blinds and darkened the rum further by hanging his blanket over them.

He then activated the [Night Vision] skill. It barely made difference, if any. But his decreasing mana pool and slowly increasing skill level showed that it was working. He had activated the skill outside, but his vision became slightly blurry and even after 5 minutes there was no increase in his skill.

The room was not completely dark to begin with, so he could still make out most of the things in the room. He took out his whetstone and started sharpening his spear and knife in the dark room.

When he started getting the first signs of a headache, he deactivated the skill and checked his mana.

It was still at 15/75, so it seemed that mana depletion started to have an effect at 20% and below.

Regeneration was painfully slow, so he decided to go out and eat lunch instead of idling in his room. Emptying 80% of his mana took less than 10 minutes, regenerating took at least 4 times as long.

He went back to his room after he had regenerated all of his mana, and restarted the procedure.

While taking a break he washed his clothes in the backyard, or spent time strolling around the market square. He tried to raise his sneaking skill by moving as silently as possible across the room, but progress was slow if no one around cared if he was loud or not. Each time his mana pool was full, he activated his [Night Vision] and tried to make out details in the dark.

After his skill hit level 3, it started making a notable difference. It was still nowhere near being able to read or make out finer details, but he could actually make out the small gaps on the floor between the wooden planks, while he could not see them with his normal vision.

While taking his strolls outside, he was disappointed that after seeing the male cat person on his first day, no other mystic races crossed his path. No elves, fairies or beast-kin were seen within town. Even the blacksmiths were all humans, not dwarves. He wanted to ask someone about it, but no one came to mind.

It was late afternoon when he went out of the city and back to the spot where he had stashed the swords and armour in the morning. He packed everything into his new “backpack basket” and went back after taking a short stroll to the place where the fight with the bandits had occurred. He checked for fresh footprints and other signs of recent activity, but could not make out anything. Paul assumed that the bandits had no idea that the search party had been killed off as well.

He then went back to the city and stashed the items in his room. He planned to take the short sword with him. It was fairly inconspicuous, light and easy to wield, even though he did not have the [Swords] skill. After training his [Night Vision] again, he sharpened the short sword, put it on his belt and went out of the city, heading towards the hills in the East.

He had seen the direction the three bandits had taken last night, so he could now make a more precise guess as to where the mine was located. From the bridge, he headed straight towards the hills, without any detours or other conception. After 40 min, he was near the forest edge. He stashed his backpack near a dead tree that could be easily remembered and snuck into the forest. From here on, he tried to move as silently and hidden as possible. It was still bright, but under the canopy it was dark enough to train his [Night Vision] skill.

Paul assumed that the bandits would probably send another search party. If he could further thin out their numbers, there was no negative side to it. He went deeper into the forest and finally found a path leading in the direction of a large hill in the centre of the area. It was no more than a trail in an area that was especially densely overgrown, but with his experience so far, he could make out clear signs of regular travel.

Paul tried to go around the vegetation to avoid having to travel on the trail directly, but it was a pain and riddled with detours. If the vegetation was a dense everywhere around the place, it was no wonder that the town guard did not bother checking this place on their search for the hideout.

Paul gave up on finding an alternative route for now, he might be able to climb the hill and descent on the other side, but he would be less hidden than if he just followed the trail by himself. At least the likelihood of someone approaching from an unexpected direction was small.

He went to the start of the trail and followed it through the deep part of the forest. After 15 minutes, he finally saw some red dots on the radar. There were only two and they were not moving away from their position. Either guards at the entrance or lookouts on the way to the hideout, Paul concluded. Either way, he was close now.

Paul decided to stick to the initial plan. He retreated for now, and went back to where he found the start of the path and then hid himself around 40 meters away behind some shrubbery.

If he had some effective way of doing so, he would have trapped the area, but he doubted that the bandits would fall for a simple snare. Humans were a difficult prey after all. Paul frowned as his own thoughts and was reminded of when he killed the young bandit that had begged for his life. Paul would not hesitate to kill someone in self-defence, young or old, male or female. As long as they wanted to attack him, he would take them out.

Of course he was broadening the meaning of self-defence here. He was practically a home-invader and planning to strike first. But he was invading bandits and had the moral advantage of being able to determine via the minimap if someone would attack on sight or not, at least he would not lose sleep over it that way. Probably.

He shook of the thoughts and started practising his [Night Vision], which was still only at beginner level 3, 25%, so level 4 was far away. When his mana went down to 50%, he cancelled [Night Vision] to regenerate his mana reserves. During the break, he picked up an old piece of a broken branch, basically a dry stick. He started carving it to raise his carpentry level.

He wanted to carve something like a figurine. With no experience in sculpting, he ended up just sharpening one end and removing the remaining dead bark from the wood. It did not raise his carpentry level either. He turned on [Night Vision], to take a look and saw small insects crawling around the wood. Paul then quickly threw the sharpened stick as far into the forest as he could while cancelling [Night Vision] again.

He regretted ever learning carpentry. Now that he could buy things in the town, he suspected it never being useful again.

“What can I do out here? How do people cope with camping?” Paul had heard of professional snipers who lay in wait hidden for days, not even standing up to pee, only waiting for one good opportunity to shoot. “Definitely no job for me.”

He checked his notes and the diary. Today was day 46 in this world. [Bought a nice leather outfit and a cape. Have not figured out how to wear the quiver over the cape correctly, looks weird. Carved a stick. Carpentry sucks.]

He was hoping he had something to write down regarding the bandit hideout later, but for now there was not much use to it.

He looked over his stats and skills.

Level 6

Experience 1105, 61%

…

[Carpentry] Beginner Level 2, 78%

[Leatherworking] Beginner Level 5, 75%

[Spear-type Weapons] Beginner Level 5, 55%

[Bows] Beginner Level 3, 48%

[Resilience] Beginner Level 3, 28%

[Sense Surroundings] Beginner Level 3, 79%

[Healer] Beginner Level 2, 15%

[Night Vision] Beginner Level 3, 29%

[Trapping] Beginner Level 4, 38%

[Sneak] Beginner Level 1, 2%

His experience and combat skills made good progress after the fight yesterday. And the new [Night Vision] skill was easy to train, but the advantage it provided was barely noticeable at best for now.

If Paul was careless, he would get a bad headache from the mana depletion, so it could even be a bit dangerous.

Paul thought over his plan for attacking the bandit patrol he was expecting to come out soon. Calling it a plan was a long stretch, he would just rely on his skills and the minimap again. Attack in the dark, first with a bow, then with a spear. Sneak around in between. He hoped for enough loot to make up for any arrows he would lose. The end.

It was still bright enough for some light to be breaking through the canopy, and in fact it looked beautiful when Paul took a closer look. The forest floor was already covered in dark shadows though. With the [Night Vision] he could at least make out the trees, which would be important if he planned to shoot arrows around in the dark.

Finally, a red dot appeared on the radar, then another one and another one. All together there were 6 dots moving in a line along the trail. Paul gulped. He should have expected a larger group, and in fact he should feel lucky that it was only six. He was waiting in a position they would probably not pass by if they moved towards the river, so Paul could just let them pass by and wait for another opportunity. Perhaps they would split up at some point. But the forest was already dark, he was around 50 meters away and there were a lot of hiding places around, so he should be able to flee if he felt at a disadvantage either way.

Paul decided to stay and fight. If he fled all the time, it would be of no use. He had stashed away some of the gear he found yesterday and his old clothes, so he wouldn’t even have to run around naked for long if he died here.

While Paul was motivating himself, the group of bandits got closer to the end of the trail. He waited for them to come out, bow and arrow readied.

Then Paul saw something, and smiled. There was a faint light coming from the dense forest, slowly brightening. When the first bandit came out, it was confirmed: they were carrying torches.

Now Paul was confident he could win. When the first three bandits were in view, Paul picked up out a target. A bandit, wearing a bow. He was not wearing armour, so no matter how he hit him, it would probably take him out. The first bandit was carrying a torch, the following two were not.

Bandit #4 came into view and was also carrying a torch.

Paul was about to shoot the archer, when he reconsidered. If he attacked now, the bandits would certainly run back and get reinforcements, or barricade themselves in the mine. He might be able to kill a few off, but that’s it. Afterwards the situation would be much more disadvantageous.

He lowered the bow. That has been a close call, he nearly did something stupid. Well, the worst case would be to tell the guards where the hideout is, but he would not get experience and would not be able to loot the place by himself.

He let the bandits pass, then followed them from a distance of about 80 meters. He was wearing his cloak and did not use any lights, so the bandits should not be able to see him. He concentrated on being walking quietly and a quick check told him that this was enough to raise the [Sneak] skill, although he was not perfectly silent.

The bad lighting conditions made it harder for him to follow, but the bandits were talking among themselves and rather noisy, so it was not a problem.

After they had walked for about 10 minutes with Paul following at a steady distance, he decided to catch up. He tried not to alert them to his presence and got as close as 50 meters, then 40 meters.

He could see the bandits through the trees from time to time. When they came to an area that was somewhat less blocked by trees, Paul decided to start his attack. He hid himself behind some shrubbery, laid down his spear next to him and readied his bow. This time, he did not really care who he took out. It was getting darker rapidly, so he had a definite advantage. Just wounding the enemy would be enough for now.

Paul shot his arrow at the bandit walking at the rear.