His men were currently gathering the loot that they have taken from the caravan which they have attacked earlier, most were the merchant's wares. it was a short fight since only 3 men were guarding the caravan, those mercenaries were low leveled and didn’t even stand a chance.

The old merchant didn’t even try and fight. Even when they captured his son and daughter he just asked for them to be spared, but his pleading just went to deaf ears. When bandits capture someone, they either get killed, become slaves or even play things to the bandits. The merchant’s daughter would most likely be sold to slavery. Her smooth and pinkish white skin was one thing, but she also had a gorgeous body that made the bandits get a hard on.

But the Bandit leader did not let his men get their way with her. The Leader was a former mercenary from the Yellow Kingdom. He was once the strongest man from his village and was the envy of his peers, and women flocked to him. But not once has he acknowledge a single one of them, because there was only one woman that he loved.

"Okay boys how much loot did we get?" he asked the few men that were scrounging through the merchant’s stuff, they were just throwing the useless stuff out of the wagon and bringing in stuff that they took from the mercenaries’ and the merchant’s packs.

"The wagon had some silk and spices, the guards only wore leather armor, which are now ruined from the fight, they had some gold though which is always nice. And the Merchant had some serious cash in his pack." one of his men replied. the bandit leader nodded and went to the direction of their captives.

The leader was happy with the loot of course, he couldn’t go back home anyways so he just did what he can to survive. Even if it meant dirtying his hands just to do so. They called him their ‘boss’ or even ‘leader’ just because he was the one who lead their original group out of prison. That was around five years ago, and his handful of followers grew to the hundreds in that short span of time. If he wasn’t just sent to prison maybe he can go back home.

"..Fucking scum! I'll kill you!" the young man said to him. he was the the son of the old merchant. They were traveling to Lersche together with his sister where the were planning to sell of their remaining goods. He was aspiring to be a soldier when he grows up. Since he was young he has heard stories about the famous Adventurers that after some time, became the first kings of some of the kingdoms in the continent. But he might not get a chance to live that dream anymore.

"Don' tah back ta da boss like dat boi, o wud ya wan ta end up like yer gahds der." said the gruff man who was standing guard to the prisoners.

The boy glared at the man and looked the other way. what could the young boy do? his elder sister and father were both tied up just like him and the mercenaries that they have hired were all dead.

The bandit leader never chose a life like this, but he was a wanted man in the Yellow kingdom. He Is a kind man, that’s why he wanted to help his prison mates to escape since he thought that they were in prison unjustly. But alas they just tricked him.

His only choices then were continue through with his prison mates or, or die. Since he would either be killed by them or the soldiers that might pursue them. So he chose to go with them to Prathea and they chose him as their leader. Maybe it was because of his great individual strength? Or maybe something else he had.

The man sighed while looking back on everything. Did he do something wrong with his life? One of his men on horse back was in his sights, he was one of the men that followed the soldier that passed by when they attacked the caravan.

"Boss, we followed the soldier who escaped earlier, we managed to hit him with an arrow but he still ran back to what seems like a house near the river. there seems to be around 50 soldiers camped around it. some of the men are currently engaging them as we speak." said the scout.

'A house near the river? and in the middle of nowhere also. And he said only 50 men were there.' he thought to himself. since some of his men have already engaged them they might as well attack them with full force.

"Alright men gather all the loot and load it to the wagon, the other men have found another target and are currently fighting as we speak." the bandit leader said.

They loaded up all the stuff and their prisoners and headed to the location of the said house. He had more than two hundred men with him so he thought that he could take on that small force. and the house may also have valuable stuff inside too. There can never be enough gold anyways. His men loved going to brothels and go drinking whenever they go to town.

Upon reaching near the house, he noticed the first group that came were already taking as many things there were on the tents inside the camp. Outside the house were a lot of tents, which seem to be owned by the soldiers inside. Looks like they hurried themselves inside to the house. One of the men was holding a nice looking hammer, it was shining and didn’t have any sign of rust, only a few small dents and scratches that were barely visible from afar.

“Boz! Look, da hammer looks good no? It’s steel, I think, but there’s no rust on it even if it looks old and beaten.” the man holding the hammer said, showing the hammer to the him.

“And maybe we can get some good stuff in there, just look at that house! The house inside looks like it’s been made by a skilled engineer and I expect some good loot in there. Even if it has high walls we can still take them on, just because of the small odd chance that we might get something valuable. If there is nothing we can just kill them all!” exclaimed one of his men behind him. He hated that man since he joined up with them a few months ago, he would always charge up to the enemies and some of the others always go and help him. It also costed the life of one of their newer recruits.

“Well let me just try to negotiate with them to surrender their weapons first. If they refuse, you might as well go pillage the house.” the bandit leader said. If they were stubborn then there was no way to help them now.

Meanwhile inside the house, Justin and the injured soldiers were currently at the backyard with Christa tending to the wounded. She’s been using healing spells since they were attacked 30 minutes ago and consumed 3 bottles of what seemed to be mana potions. Justin didn’t know, but he didn’t ask. He went to the front of the house where the gate was located, he wanted to see what was going on outside now since they retreated earlier

“Seems like more bandits came. And one of them took my hammer!” the Vice-captain exclaimed looking through one of the grills on the gate. He really liked his new hammer.

“Calm down Marshu, we can get your hammer later, for now, lets formulate a plan on how to fight them off for now. I already made some of our runners to send for help from the nearby village. Maybe they can come in 1 or 2 hours.” the Captain said trying to console the Vice-captain who was both angry and sulking.

“I don’t suppose you have a plan Sir?” the captain then said when Justin approached them.

“Seems like I don’t… or I think I have something that we can use.” Justin said. Well it was a long shot but there was no time for testing.

“Wait for me here captain. I’ll just take something from… inside, but don’t let anyone inside for now okay? Or should I just lock the door. Either way just wait for me.” he then exclaimed and ran to the kitchen where the entrance to the cellar was located.

He went inside and took the M1 Garand that was leaning on the wall and an ammo box. He then looked through a few boxes until he saw the box that he needed. He smiled and took it outside. When he came back the captain just looked at him. What did he have anyway that can help them? To the captain it looked a bit useless.

“We just need the help of your Fletcher and archers for it to work.” he said to the Captain who was still skeptical.

The Bandit leader was now in front of the gate, waving a white flag. He was going to try to negotiate their surrender. The bandit leader waited until the gate was open and the Captain with Justin and a few men came out.

“Good day to you good sirs! I am the leader of these bandits and I would like to ask you all to kindly surrender and we will let you all escape.” the Bandit leader said to the men in front of him.

“And if we wont? What will you do?” the Captain replied

“Then we will slaughter you, well my men will, not me. I don’t enjoy it.” he answered.

“What will you do to the house then?” Justin asked. He was more concerned for the house because the landlord might get angry if it gets totaled. That was what he had on his mind.

“Well I don’t know. But maybe we will take everything that we can sell and then destroy it.” the Bandit said.

“Fuck you then! you’re gonna die for hurting the men who are helping me and for trying to destroy the house!” Justin literally snapped at that moment. But only at that moment. He regained his composure shortly after.

“...Very well then… I bid you good bye.” The bandit said excusing himself.

“Well were fucked.” one of the men who were with the Captain and Justin said.

Well it was true if it weren’t for the fact that Justin brought out a box of that.

A few minutes later Justin was now on the roof top for a ‘birds eye view’ of the outside, he had the Garand and ammo box with him and wore the black military suit which he got from the attic and some night vision goggles. The suit looked like it was for night ops anyways.

“Never tried shooting this gun before, but I’ve played a lot of video games before. So it might work. I plan to fuck those bandits all up anyway.” he said to himself while trying to fix himself up on the roof. It was a good thing the Garand had a suppressor to, since the bandits wont notice where the shots will come from.

When the bandits charged with their weapons drawn, the Captain commanded his archers to aim high with the special arrows that they made using the materials given by Justin and with his instruction. He doesn’t know how well it would work. But he still took a chance on the strange scholar.

“Well men, as Sir Justin said be careful with those when you light them up.” he said to his men while another man was lighting up the arrows which were aimed at the bandits.

“Now!” the Captain then yelled and the archers let loose their bows.

None of the arrows hit the bandits.

“hahaha! Their archers can’t even aim right! Lets go men!” one of the bandits shouted continuing to charge past the arrows lodge on the ground. The suddenly

BANG BANG BANG!!!….

One by one the arrows suddenly explode. The bandits were surprised and were moving disarrayed. The captain and his men were shocked by the effects of this material that Justin gave them. Justin knew what it was and what it’s effects was. It was dynamite. While looking down on the men, he carefully aimed at one particular man who was holding his ears that were ringing from the explosion.

BOOM! Said the gun, but I didn’t hit the man.

He tried again.

BOOM! Cluck! He shot him straight in the head and the man fell down, dead on his feet. He didn’t even notice he died.

The Vice-captain then gave him a thumbs up for killing him. Since that was the guy who has his hammer.

Enemy killed +50 exp

He aimed at another one and missed the first shot again but managed to score another head shot.

Enemy killed +50 exp

One after the other he aimed and shot bandits

Enemy killed +50 exp Enemy killed +50 exp Enemy killed +50 exp Enemy killed +50 exp Enemy killed +50 exp Enemy killed +50 exp

.

..

...

Until.

Congratulations! New Class Acquired: Gunner +200 exp Congratulations! New Sub-class Acquired: Rifleman +100 exp Congratulations! As the first to recieve the Gunner Class in the world you are awarded additional 200 exp Congratulations! As the first to recieve the Rifleman Sub-class in the world you are awarded additional 100 exp

New skill Acquired! Long Distance Shooting

Allows the user to shoot targets at longer distances. this skill is passive.

New skill Acquired! Popping Heads

GIves the user a higher chance to do a headshot when using a ranged weapon, headshots deal more damage to enemies. this skill is passive

Level Up! You are now level 18! 3 skill points are waiting to be distributed.

He didn’t look at the notifications for now since he was focused on finding his next target. He wasn’t happy with how he got it, but they forced his hand, and they will pay for all of their crimes. From side to side, top to bottom, he tried to look for the bandit leader. He was still unable to find him though. Maybe it was because of all the commotion, or maybe he fled.

“Captain! Try to route them out now, but don’t let the archers fire those exploding arrows while you’re outside, it’s too dangerous.” he shouted to the captain. And the captain nodded back.

“Archers! Hold! Lets take them on while they’re confused! Charge!” the captain order. Them men the drew their weapons and plowed through the disgruntled force which were the bandits. Some of the bandits manage to get their selves together and fight, but were eventually killed by the men who had very high morale.

The Captain was currently using his hidden trump card. [Inspire] was a passive skill that boosted the morale of his men and gave them added strength and agility for the duration of the skill. While it is a passive skill, it is only triggered when in a dire situation that turned favorable. Which was something that is happening now.

The remaining Bandits scurry away from the battle field, trying to save their lives. Their leader though was no where in sight.

“Boss where are you!”

“Has anyone seen the boss!?”

“God dammit their coming!”

The bandits were already fleeing left and right.

On the hill top, a few bandits looked upon the battlefield. They ran off at the first sign of shit hitting the fan.

“should we not help them?” one of them asked. He was concerned for his comrades.

“Hussh man, we cant go der anyway, it’s a damn fooking bloodbath there.” said another.

“Seems like we’ve underestimated them.” said another.

“We need to let the other bandit groups know about this new weapon the army is using.” said a young bandit.

One of the bandits suddenly drop dead in front of them. A man comes out from the shadow and points his weapon at them and asks.

“Where is your leader?”

“Who the fook died and made ya king!?” an older bandit said and tried to unsheathe his sword, but ultimately failed when a bullet was lodge between his eyes.

“I’m not going to ask again, where is your leader!” Justin was already frustrated with these bandits.

The older men ran and one by one were shot down. Leaving the young bandit alone with Justin.

“Where is your leader?” he said to the young man that was kneeling down in front of him asking for forgiveness.

“Please spare me! I just joined up with them because we needed money at home. The boss on the clearing at the other side of this hill on a wagon with the prisoners!” he said still kneeling in front of Justin.

‘Should I spare this poor guy? He looks like he’s telling the truth.’

He then left the guy and faced the direction of where the young bandit said their leader was. Justin saw a man trying to untie some horses on a wagon.

The bandit leader was trying to untie the horse from the tree so he could make his escape.

‘I need to see her just one last time.’ that was on his mind the entire time. The moment his men were decimated by that unknown weapon was the time he realized that all of the thing he has done, and all the decisions he has made since he escaped from prison was all wrong.

He needed to go now. He needed to go back home.

He after untying the horse from the tree he then proceeded to remove the bindings of the horse and wagon. He couldn’t take the loot with him that would only slow him down so he just took the horse.

Inside the wagon the sees the three people they have tied and gagged. He looked at the young adolescent boy that was glaring at him.

He unsheathed his knife and approached the boy.

He was squealing, but nothing discern-able came from his mouth. So he closed his eyes and hoped for the worst.

And the Bandit Leader cut the rope that tied his hands together. He placed the knife beside the boy. The boy looked at him confused. But the bandit just said.

“Use the knife to free your father and sister, my time as a bandit has ended, and I must now leave.” was the only thing he said and he left the wagon and rode the horse.

He was finally going home. Even if what awaits him is death from the Yellow Kingdom’s Soldiers, he would still risk it just to see her again. This was his only chance, and staying here he would just die.

Then a loud bang was heard and he fell to the ground.

‘ehhh? Why did I fall down’ he asked himself and touched his chest. He saw a familiar red color.

‘so this is how I die, a long way from home. I regret everything that I have done.’ he thought to himself

He didn’t enjoy being a bandit. He just wanted a peaceful life before.

“Anna my daughter, daddy isn’t coming home.” he said, trying his hardest to breath.

He was on his way home from work when suddenly a man that was running handed him a bag. The soldiers were chasing after the said man and he called the soldiers so he can give them the bag, the soldiers though arrested him and he was charged with Stealing from a Noble which was punishable by death. The people didn’t listen to his pleas, the same people who used to admire him didn’t even bat an eye when said that it was not him.

His young daughter was crying, she was already orphaned to her mother and now his father was also leaving her.

“I’ll come back for you Anna I promise!” he said to his little girl.

“Promise dad! Promise to comeback safe.” her daughter said

His memories flooded, all the good and bad times that they have spent together. It was his time now.

“I’m sorry Anna.” he said to himself. “Claire I’m going to where you are now.”

And with his last breath, the man known as Altair, died unable to see his beloved daughter.

Justin then went down the hill and approached the body of the now dead bandit.

“Living a life of crime, that’s not even the worst death that you can receive.” he said as he closed the man’s eyes. On his hand was a small drawing of a girl and the name Anna written on the bottom. He took it from the man and walked away.