Vol. 2 - Chapter 13 - The Mountain Bandits (I)

Mathias chose not to respond to the questions about what he just did at the corpse of the boar, however, as he listened to Orpheus comments, it seemed that moment when he did 'Mana Devour' looked as if he was touching the ground and wanting to blast it with one of his 'Arcane Missiles'.

This solved the nuisance of having to bring up some lies to have people stop questioning him what he was doing.

Yet, apart from this incident, they began forgetting about it with the encounter of new monsters who rose in level, but now that they grouped up, those normal monsters were easy kills contributing slowly to their advance in EXP.

The number of monster trophies for the Elder's quest overpassed the mark requested by the old man, reaching a number of 146 heads under his belt and still counting. The two players who teamed with Mathias experienced a new style of fighting, watching him dispose of the low leveled beasts using his basic attacks and the raven's feathered steps that boosted his agility.

"You are a beta user, right?" asked Orpheus, after stopping to recover his resources when they killed a pack of wolves.

"Indeed. Why? Do you want some advice?"

"No, not really, I've dug out all the information ever posted on the forums by the beta users. Also, that spear of yours resembles something I saw from a video that went viral two months ago. The Black Spearman."

"I don't know the guy."

"Right, his gear was totally different from yours. Another question if is not troublesome for you."

*Sigh* "Go ahead." replied Mathias, slightly annoyed by the constant questioning, as if he was under some interrogation, but keeping a tactful approach he was kind enough to respond to their questions.

"That suit you are wearing, how did you get it?"

"Tailoring? I am a tailor."

'What? You have spearmanship, you have magic, and you also have a craftsman class? Could this guy be a hacker? No, no, he is just too calm while responding to my questions, as if he means it.' thought Orpheus while adding up the information he managed to dig from Mathias's mouth, preparing to ask another question.

"And your class?"

Mathias' calm gaze turned cold immediately, telling the Indian player, taking him unprepared for such a reaction.

"That would be enough questions for me. There's something called decency. Do you even wish to know what color my underwear is? My blood type? The year I was born? Country? Address? So you know, this is how your questions feel to me."

Feeling that he might have messed up, Orpheus nodded his head and apologized.

"Sorry if my questions have bothered you. I will no longer ask you about those types of information."

Shaking his head, Mathias pushed ahead slowly, reaching the end of the forest where the view of the Gravelmark was enhanced by the massive size of the peaks in the distance.

'On the opposite side awaits the lake. I am sure about it.'

Stopping to look around himself he saw a trodden path cleared out, which was something rare to be spotted in a mountain where people didn't adventure. He checked around for any possible traps, not finding anything weird, the same was for Orpheus and Ape Wine who looked around the surrounding range of the pathway.

"No monsters, wild beasts or signs of activity even though there's this pathway leading to the top." commented Orpheus after gathering back to where Mathias was placed in the central part of the trodden pathway.

"The bandits should be at the end of the pathway. Let's go, follow me and stop talking. Use your system interface to talk around if it's so hard to keep quiet."

"Understood."

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Settling down on a plan, Mathias started ascending the mountain, using the pathway already trodden by someone or a group of people. A new eye-capturing scenery welcomed the group of three players where they could hear the stream flowing downward to the Cidarian Village, with the trees scaped around allowing the sunlight to beam off them.

The feeling he had was similar to a hike in the Carpathian Mountain along with everything that a hike had in store. However, this moment of calmness and stillness from the Gravelmark Mountain instantly shattered when he heard the sound of something darting at him.

Quickly activating 'Raven's Movement' he moved away from where he was standing in seconds taking by surprise the two brothers, who didn't understand why Mathias reacted like this.

"Start dodging, those guys have prepared for us." called out Mathias who saw an arrow hit the ground after failing to meet its target.

"Wait, what?? But how, we didn't see anything." asked Ape Wine who also sensed something approaching him, but because he asked that question, delaying his response.

[Party member 'Ape Wine' has suffered 109 damage.]

Orpheus was luckier, managing to dodge the arrow targeting him.

@Orpheus: Now what Mathias?"

@Mathias: Take cover, I will see how many of those bastards are hiding in the mountain. Be on your guard because there might be those trying to flee once the fight ensues.

@Ape Wine: Fuck them, that arrow hit me good, 109 an arrow? Most likely those bandits are all elite mobs.

@Mathias: That's why you should take cover and let me see where they are so we don't suffer unnecessary damage.

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Giving his quick instructions to the brothers, he jumped from his hiding spot, choosing to go on another path while climbing some large stone walls of the mountain, a point where he started hearing the voices of people.

"Get your weapons ready! We got guests trying to attack us."

"Don't tell, did the Immortal Duke arrive to deal with us?"

"It is unlikely, it is probably those damned villagers from Cidarian who send out those outlanders we captured three days ago and interrogated. Those crazed outlanders are far more dangerous than the Duke or even the Emperor."

Keeping in mind those voices, while hanging himself by the end of the rock to hear their conversation, he used his strength and agility to get up until the ruins of a fortress entered his sight first before he dashed for cover using the high vegetation.

Scanning his field of view from the cover of the dense vegetation, he could notice 6 guys holding swords in hand, all with elite marks over their heads.

(✣)[Kewin - Lv. 20] (4500 HP) / (✣)[Cainan - Lv. 19] (4000 HP) / (✣)[Sven - Lv. 20] (4250 HP) / (✣)[Laius - Lv. 20] (4200 HP) / (✣)[Diede - Lv. 20] (4400 HP) / (✣)[Hauke - Lv.19] (4100 HP)

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'Hah, it will be hard to deal with all of them. I can only try, but first let me recover my MP and after that, I have to charge up the missile for the surprise effect.'

Yet, in the meantime, he opened the chatbox and told the brothers about the situation on the top of the platform where the fortress ruin resided.

@Mathias: I already managed to get in sight 6 elite bandits, and from my estimation, there should be more since different voices can be heard from here. Once you hear their screams don't forget what I told you, surround this range and also climb up to assist me.

@Orpheus / Ape Wine: Got you.

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Mathias casted [Arcane Barrier] and [Arcane Intellect] along with [Isolation] who slowly enveloped the fortress range in an invisible veil of dark-purple light, a point where he started to bide his time.

While waiting for the resources to fill up, he eavesdropped on their talk and also plans to take on the "outlanders". They didn't seem to notice the veil he shrouded the fortress in and kept discussing their plans, from taking revenge on the Cidarian Village to how they would rape all the women in the village and turn to slave the male population, which was an instant mood swing for him.

With his eyes on the mana gauge, after about one minute he activated 'Raven's Movement' and using his high movement speed, he appeared like a ghost where the group of 6 bandits grouped up.

"Who?" asked one bandit who spotted Mathias at the center of the grouped bandits, before receiving a cold response that alerted all of them.

"Your maker."

'[Treachery]'

Starting off with his advanced engaging skill, he pierced three of the bandits with lightfast movements before fastly spinning and cleaving at them two times, to the point where they tried sounding the alarm in the camp, but for an unknown reason, there was no backing up.

When the spins were completed, he dashed away from the center of action, ending with two jabs which pierced their leather armor, nonetheless, he remembered something about fighting humanoid enemies, they had a higher armor than normal monsters, turning his damage weaker instead.

Such was the case for 'Treachery' who on a single enemy dealt only [608] damage.

"FUCK HIM UP! HE IS OUT OF ATTACKS"

"AHHHHH! DIE, DAMNED OUTLANDER!"

Being received so well by the bandits, Mathias just scoffed at them, activating Raven's Movement starting to dodge some of their attacks, however, there were still some that landed clean on him, dealing [81] and [100] respectively.

[☆ Arcane Barrier effect 'Reflect' has been triggered, dealing the target 54 damage.]

The dark-purple bolt that was discharged by the barrier hit the bandit in his face, giving off an 'Blind' debuff, which Mathias took advantage, stepping back and switching his hold on Ragnius, he casted two 'Arcane Missiles' hitting the one blinded in his chest, and another one closer to him.

[You have dealt 458 damage to Cainan.]

[You have dealt 916 damage to Kewin.]

"Watch out, this guy is also a mage. Don't allow him to hit you so easily, and let him consume his mana. I might not be an expert to know how mages work, but I heard from the taverns in Grenhaler that mages require a lot of mana to cast their spells." reminded the bandit Deide who gazed at Mathias with a murderous look.

He too was hit by Mathias' piercing attack and spinning strike from 'Treachery' unable to coordinate himself to dodge those unpredictable attacks which decimated them. Readying himself to strike at Mathias, he saw the latter turn his gaze at him staring with his green eyes that contained a dark-purple light in them.

"You talk a lot."

The bandit then noticed how Mathias turned his body in his direction, while his hand released a dark purple light that concentrated in the center of the palm. Instantly, a projectile that had the shape of an arrow or better called it like a javelin was released, finding its target before the bandit could even react.

[You have dealt 458 damage to Deide]

After the missile hit its target from behind Mathias something akin to a portal opened, where a dark purple arrow was sent out, moving at a random targeting, find the mark on the person called Sven.

[☆ Chaos Blessed has been triggered. Spell: 'Chaos Arrow' has been casted, dealing 1145 damage to Sven.]

Once Sven was hit by the 'Chaos Arrow' he screamed in pain looking as that dark-purple was disintegrating while causing him more pain with his muscles pulsing.

Looking left and right vigilantly, Mathias started conserving his mana and stamina, but doing this also caused him to suffer from the strikes of the bandits who were left with only 1000-1600 HP each, whilst his resources looked rather decent taking in account that he was fighting 6 elite humanoids who had an increased fight IQ.

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[Health: 685/1146] / [Mana: 265/1584]

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Drinking two potions one for HP and MP, he recovered back his HP to full while the mana also got reinvigorated without him having to cast 'Evocation' to start his mana recovery.

"Those potions! Curse be that witch from the village. It is unmistakable, those potions belong to Olga."

Mathias didn't care about their line, as he casted 'Sweep Thrust' after stepping inside their encirclement, trying to drop them down, but all of the bandits jumped avoiding the sweep but failed to counter his thrust which carved a wound on the chest of the bandit Laius.

The fight kept on going, with Mathias returning back to being low on resources after the bandits adjusted to his skills, such as 'Piercing Rain', 'Sweep Thrust', something he was aware himself which flustered him.

'Nothing to cry about, those attacks are the fundamentals to a spearman, so it's not a mistake those bandits started reading my attack pattern. Hmm, let's combine the attack sequence, and see how you will fare.' contemplated Mathias while sidestepping from the attacks of the bandits, where he took the stance for Sweep Thrust which instantly alerted the bandits who prepared to intercept him and counter.

Dashing toward them, Mathias did the sweep attack, which was dodged by the bandits, however, when he was about to do the piercing attack, he switched up canceling the attack, and starting 'Treachery' which got them.

"Fuck, I didn't expect he could do that. BLOCK HIS ATTACK!"

He could only say that, because he later screamed in pain, when his chest was pierced by Ragnius, leaving him stunned in pain, before Mathias continued his attack sequence, finishing it in seconds, with the two spins, before he jumped in the air and unleashing 'Bloodfall' bringing the end to the bandits who were level 19 and one who was level 20.

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[You have defeated the Mountain Bandit Hauke, gaining the following rewards. 1500 EXP, 500 silver coins, Laced Mail Pants]

[You have defeated the Mountain Bandit Cainan, gaining the following rewards. 1500 EXP, 350 silver coins, Bandit Bracers]

[You have defeated the Mountain Bandit Laius, gaining the following rewards. 1750 EXP, 700 silver coins.]

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"Curse you, outlander! We just minded our business in the mountain, why did you have to come here?" shouted Deide, who was full of wounds, with blood oozing from his wounds.

"A quest." replied Mathias in a cold manner, not placing too much heart to respond to those criminals.

Rapidly he put an end to the remaining three bandits, which didn't give him much rewards aside from the experience, which brought him to a new level.

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Following that, he moved to the end of the zone he isolated, where he could see the bandits gathered at the wall of the purple veil with a guy at the center of this group of 15 people who shouted madly.

"SOMEONE OPEN THIS PURPLE SHIT RIGHT NOW!"

"Boss, we tried. There's simply no way for us to enter inside." replied a subaltern, with a worried expression, trying to calm down his boss.

Meanwhile, Mathias, who was facing the wall where he could see everyone's faces, took notice of the leader of the bandits whose name and level was larger than what he encountered so far, with the exception of the Spider Queen.

(Ψ)[Evander - Lv. 25] (12.500 HP)

This level along with his HP gauge made him contemplate if he was strong enough to kill this boss-level bandit, and with the 'Isolation' still holding 10 minutes from his duration, he gave the brothers a message.

@Mathias: There's a change of plan. Everyone of the bandits has gathered where I am. I need you with me right now, so I can take on the boss without feeling the struggle of fighting the elites.

@Ape Wine: Is the path you took safe?

@Mathias: That's right, you can come the way I took, and I will explain to you my strategy of dealing with them.

@Orpheus: Wait for us, we will come fast since we still didn't advance toward the mound.

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Mathias after his short talk with the brothers, looked at the fortress part he managed to envelop in his arcane spell, looking at advantageous points he could use to split up the bandits, allowing himself enough space to fight the boss.

'Wait, I can have the two pull the aggro from the boss, and get them to circle around, while I deal with the bandits one by one. It will be more efficient, but there's a flaw. What if they don't enter my scheme? Well, I might sound selfish, but as long I clear the quest without dying, I will repay those two in a way.'

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It took the brothers 6 minutes to arrive at the wall of the fortress, where a dark purple dome enveloped the surrounding fortress, looking skeptical at this light wall, but when they asked Mathias, he told them to enter inside since they were in the same party with him.

"Hey, what's with this dome, is this your doing?"

Mathias turned his head at the newcomers looking calmly, while responding in a short manner.

"Hmm, indeed. But this isn't important now, the details of what the spell does. We only have four minutes before the spell wears off, so listen to my strategy of dealing with the remaining bandits. If you have another idea make sure to tell me, don't worry about interrupting.

"The boss of the bandits is a level 25 NPC, what I want from the two of you is to distract him, not fight him per se. Following that, I myself will start clearing out the rest of the bandits."

"Wait, aren't you asking us to kill ourselves by making us fight a level 25 boss?" asked Ape Wine, feeling cheated by this strategy where it was visible Mathias's plan of using them.

Mathias looked at the guy, and with a calm gaze which made him look even scarier, he commented.

"Ohh, you think I am using you by distracting the boss? Then do you wish to fight the 19 elite mobs? I don't mind taking on the boss if you can pull that."

"Well, we might be able to deal with the elites."

"Bandar, shut up. Sorry for my brother's narrow-mindedness. Can you detail a bit more on the plan?"

"After I tell you this, we will move on to different locations to hide from the bandits. The inside of the fortress is the best location to take the fight. I will be the one starting the fight, while you keep your eyes on the boss, once he appears, attack him, taunt him, anything can be on the table as long as you distract him. Run, dodge his attacks, just try staying alive, while I will try my best to take out the remaining bandits and take on the hurdle of the fight."

"Fine. This sounds like a sound plan. I got nothing to reproach especially when you detailed how the fight might turn."

"Good, now go hide, enter the forest ruins."

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Swiftly the brothers entered inside the fortress ruins, searching for a good location to hide, while Mathias, also entered the fortress after carving something on the floor using Ragnius before entering too inside the fortress.

['Isolation' effect has waned off.]

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"FINALLY THIS BLASTED SPELL IS OFF! SEARCH EVERY SINGLE CORNER OF THE RUINS AND HUNT DOWN THOSE WHO WANT US DEAD!" shouted the boss of the bandits in a crazed style while the bandits moved around the range of the fortress ruins, with some entering inside the fortress.