When the Silver Saviors first came up to the town the townsfolk were rather edgy of them. Their first thought was that the bandits had come back! But they quickly realized that, while the Silver Saviors were geared out with armor and weapons, they did not look blood thirsty or have that greedy arrogance common to bandits.

Clayton went ahead of everyone else to introduce themselves to the town. The townsfolk were relieved to hear that they had come to rid them of the bandits. While Clayton decided to get some information from the townsfolk he ordered everyone else to help as they could around the town. Even Adam and the other boys went out to see if there was anything they could do. Adam took Silber with him in a sling one might use for a baby. It made it easier to carry him while he was sleeping.

The sight around town was very grim. There were places where buildings had been burned almost to the ground. There were a couple bodies laying around that a few townsmen had just started gathering up. Most of the townsfolk that they saw were either bruised or bloody. All this destruction and misery had been caused by human hands!

Some of the Silver Saviors started to help collect the bodies, telling the boys to go around and see if they could help somewhere else. The boys split up to ask around if anyone needed help. In the direction that Adam went there were a few people trying to dig out a collapsed barn. Looking with his elemental sight, Adam also noticed that there seemed to be someone trapped under the debris!

Adam quickly ran up to the group trying to dig the barn out. “There is someone buried over here!”

The group was surprised by Adam's sudden outburst. What they found weirder was that the boy who had suddenly shouted was blindfolded. Just how exactly was he to know someone was buried there? Even as they thought this, Adam started deftly moving debris out of the way, clearly showing that he could see just fine.

Someone muttered: “Did he really find Old Jenkins?” as he ran over to help Adam.

After a couple minutes of shifting wood around they finally got down to Jenkins. The old man was knocked unconscious from falling debris. It had already been a few hours since the bandits had left, but he had yet to wake up. After freeing Jenkins someone tried to check on his health. There was no official healer in this town so the townsmen could only try their best with what little they knew.

Quickly after they had started checking on Jenkins, Adam noticed that whips of the old man's soul were escaping from his body. Adam sudden realized what this meant as more and more of Jenkins' soul fled from his body. The old man's breath quickly lightened and then he stopped breathing all together. Adam watched as Jenkins' soul separated from his body and fully dispersed with that last spark disappearing. Adam now knew that humans did indeed die in the same way that animals do. All that was left of Jenkins' now was a body made of spirit essence no different from the wood of the collapsed barn.

After having watched this, Adam involuntarily shuddered. That ghoul that he killed that night surfaced in his memory again. He also thought: “Did father and Emilia truly die like this?” Adam could only hope that that last spark disappearing was the true soul going somewhere better.

The townsmen became disappointed when the old man died. They had been too late to help him recover. One of the townsmen saw Adam shudder as Jenkins drew his last breath. A little concern poured over the man's face as he asked: “Are you alright kid?”

Adam took a deep breath before replying: “I'll be fine.”

This was not the first time Adam had seen death. Though this was the first time he had seen a human die with his elemental sight. Adam felt sour when he thought that the bandits who did this to the town were still loose somewhere.

The man who asked if he was okay then said: “Will we finish up here. If you go down that road a little ways, you should see Anna and her mother. Why don't you see if they need any help?”

Adam nodded his head and replied: “Okay.” before walking down the road the man had pointed out.

Before too long Adam spotted a young girl who was around fifteen years old. She seemed to be helping an older woman, who looked similar to her, tend to some wounded people. “That should be Anna and her mother.” Adam thought to himself. He quickly went over to see if they needed any help.

Adam told them: “I am here to see if there is anything I can help you with.”

Adam got right to the point so that he did not distract them too much from their work. Anna's mother gave Adam a quick size up. He was certainly a stranger to the town and was well dressed with some light armor and a sword. He also oddly had a blind fold over his eyes and a puppy in a sling. “Just who is this youth? And what is with the puppy and blind fold?” she thought to herself. Instead of asking she said: “We are in need of plenty of clean bandages. Just go into one of the houses and see if there are any clean sheets we can tear up.”

Nobody complained as she told Adam to tear up their good sheets. It was better to have to replace some sheets than let their wounds fester. Adam quickly walked over to one of the nearest houses. The door was completely broken off it's hinges and the rooms were a mess. All the less valuable items looked broken or in disarray. All the valuable items had surely been taken. Adam eventually found a sheet that was mostly clean. After ripping off the dirty parts, Adam brought it back to Anna and her mother.

The sheet Adam brought was quickly torn into various size pieces. Some a size right for bandages, others for slings. Quickly the sheet was used up and Adam was sent to go get some more. Each house Adam went to was very much the same as the first. Some even had a few splatters of blood from the bandits beating the residents into submission.

The word bandit had started to come alive for Adam. Before, it was just a word that denoted a criminal. Now Adam was personally witnessing the aftermath of bandits. It was more than just a word now. There was a feeling of hate when he thought that people were capable of injuring innocents in such a way.

Adam toiled away until the evening came. Kevin came and retrieved Adam. The Silver Saviors camped outside of the town and ate their evening meals in silence. No one was in the mood to start some light entertainment to pass the night by. Even Silber was affected by the mood and was not being playful as he usually was. Hansen was sitting by the boys as they ate their meal. He had come so that he could stand by and protect the boys encase anything surprising happened.

Hansen finally broke the silence and talked to the boys: “I used to be a bandit myself.”

The boys all stopped chewing their food in shock. Even Adam had forgotten about Hansen's dark past until now. Hansen continued with the boy's rapt attention: “I was part of a group that was a little worse than the bandits that attacked this town. Truthfully this town got off lucky! These bandits are still new. The worst type of bandits will murder the entire town! Some even go as far as to rape the women... My group was full of scumbags but we weren't that bad. I have been trying to find a way to repent for my actions as a bandit. One of those ways was to train you boys so you could protect your family from such scumbags.”

Hansen then suddenly shifted gears by asking: “Do you know what happens to bandits that are captured?”

None of the boys knew off hand and could only shake their heads no. Hansen answered: “In times of peace they will by tried in court. Most will be convicted and hanged. Right now, Heider is preparing for war. During this time they will completely forgo the trials and immediately hang any captured bandits. The bandits we are taking down will not go without a fight. They will want to continue to live their wretched lives. If it were not for my promise to protect you boys I would want to stand on the front lines as the Silver Saviors fight these bandits. After looking at this town, my disgust for the past is burning. I want to stop these wretched fools in their tracks!”

Hansen couldn't keep himself from talking and spoke with a fiery passion. Since it was quiet all around the camp, Hansen's voice carried to most everyone. The blood of the Silver Saviors started to boil in hate as well. While they would never join a war, they would stand and fight against bandits in a heart beat. It would be next to impossible to find an innocent bandit. Many simply no longer cared about the lives of others.

A few of the Silver Saviors also cast heated gazes at Hansen. He was a former bandit and they held some reservations against him for this. It was unlikely that they would call him out to account for his past, though. He was already trying to repent and even wanted to go so far as to fight other bandits.

Following up after Hansen finished talking, Clayton suddenly announced: “From the townsfolk I have learned that the bandits have based themselves somewhere further down the road. It should take us around two days to get there. They are apparently rather close to the road so that they can rob any travelers going by. As we continue down the road everyone will need to keep an eye out for scouts. We don't want them to know we are coming before we arrive.”

The mood of the camp quickly went from somber to boiling anticipation. From here on out they could fall into a skirmish with a small group of bandits at any time. They would then arrive at the bandit's stronghold and will have to rip it up from its roots. They also had to ensure they caught as many bandits as possible. If any escape they may reform again and become more ruthless than before.

The Silver Saviors set out the next morning. They did not encounter anyone on the road for the first part of the day. Adam and the others tried to stay on high alert at all times. It quickly got exhausting to try and find anything in the dense foliage on the sides of the road. Everyone was keeping a look out for anybody sneaking around in the forest since they might be bandit scouts.

The boring and exhausting morning finally came to an end when they stopped to rest and have lunch. Even while eating, though, the Silver Saviors took turns keeping a watch around. They were constantly getting deeper in enemy territory and they did not want to be surprise attacked.

The afternoon passed much the same as the morning. The constant surveillance straining the eyes of Alfred and the others. In a way, Adam had it a bit easier with his elemental sight. Still, he stretched it out into as wide an area as possible and it was exhausting to keep watch over that area. With Adam at the center, he could see everything within a ten meter radius at once. This might not sound like much but his sight penetrated deeper into the foliage than normal eye sight could. He could even see behind the trees! Adam would also occasionally narrow his sight down to a single direction and he could form an area of 10x30 to see areas further into the forest. If he did that, though, he would loose track of everything else outside that area.

A few hours before they were going to stop for the night, something caught Adam's attention. Adam had stretched his sight out to a single direction and saw someone sneaking in the woods! It was a man out fitted with leather armor, a bow, and a sword. Adam quickly whispered to Kevin: “There is someone in the woods over there!”

Kevin looked towards where Adam pointed. He couldn't see that far in so he couldn't see the man sneaking. “How far in is he Adam?”

“Around twenty meters.”

Kevin quickly grabbed a few Silver Saviors and sneaked into the woods. Everyone else continued walking forward at their regular pace. If the scout could see them, they didn't want him to know that they knew he was there.

Adam quietly watched as Kevin and the others quietly approached the scout. At one point the scout finally noticed Kevin and started to run. Kevin and the others were too close, though, and cut the scout down with their brandished blades. Adam was a little startled to see them go all out on a single target. He then shuddered slightly as he watched that man's soul disperse.

Kevin and the others then quietly rejoined the main group. Simply saying “All taken care of.” No one needed to ask anything more as they continued their march to the bandit's stronghold. Around an hour after all this happened the Silver Saviors stopped for the night. They pulled off the road, far into the trees. No fire was set since the smoke might give them away. Everyone ate a gloomy cold meal.

A few of the Silver Saviors then set out to scout during the night. The bandit's stronghold should be somewhere nearby. They wanted to scout it out before the attack. While everyone else was preparing for the scouting missions and figuring out night watch shifts, Adam and the other boys were left without a task.

Adam was feeling anxious about the next day. Anything could truly happen but the death of many people was assured. Hopefully it would just be the bandits dying and no one from the Silver Saviors. Alfred and the others were having similar feelings as well. Silber was also being affected by their mood again. At this time Hansen started handing each of the boys a small pile of leaves. He simply said: “Chew on this. It won't do much but it will help your anxiety a little. Try and get to sleep before too long.”

Adam curiously picked a leaf up. It was rather fresh so it wouldn't be crunchy like dead leaves. He folded it up a little and placed it in his mouth. After he chewed it a bit a sudden flavor spread out from the leaf! It was odd and faintly sweet. Surprised, Adam asked: “What is this?”

Hansen answered: “It is a Cicely herb. It grows in a lot of places and is often used as a sweetener.”

Adam put the name to memory as he chewed on the leaf. Relieved of some of his anxiety, Adam found it easier to fall asleep. Silber followed Adam's mood change and curled up next to Adam. The next morning was greeted with another cold meal. Adam then started to chew another leaf as he waited for Clayton and the others to form a plan.

The scouts that the Silver Saviors had sent out had long since come back. They found that there were only a few bandit scouts placed along the road. They were probably only there to see if there were any travelers worth stealing from. They did not seem overly afraid of any force coming to subjugate them.

The bandit stronghold was hardly that. Their 'stronghold' was just a bunch of log houses horribly built in a clearing off the main road. It was more of a hamlet, really. They had a few barricades made from sharpened wood but it was not really all that sturdy. This group seemed to be formed by a bunch of idiots who thought they could live freely as bandits. There really wouldn't need to be a whole lot of strategy to take them down.

Clayton voiced his opinion: “I will go first and give them the option of surrender. When they will most likely refuse I will cause some destruction to send them into a confused panic while the rest of you finish them off. Sound like a plan?”

Someone said: “Simple, honest, and brutish, just like our leader! I like it.”

With a simple plan put together, the Silver Saviors set out. It would take around two hours to get to the bandit stronghold. Along the way, they took out any scouts they could find. Watching the scouts die, Adam's breathing started to become harder as more anxiety started to hit him. He could handle hunting and butchering animals just fine. But he simply could not get used to seeing people die.

Finally they arrived at the stronghold. The bandits were simply relaxing and enjoying the spoils they had recently plundered. It was only when one of them lazily glanced at the entrance to their little hamlet that they finally noticed the large group of mercenaries.

The guy who noticed them just about fell out of his chair. As he shakily got up, he shouted: “People-intruders! There's a large group of people at the entrance!”

Many of the Silver Saviors simply rolled their eyes at how stupid these bandits were. Clayton stepped forward and shouted in a loud voice: “You have two options: surrender or die! You can choose.”

The bandits were all stunned speechless. They had never expected this to happen. One of the braver bandits stuttered as he shouted: “G-get outta here before we kill you all!”

A scared bandit beside that guy slapped him upside the head. “What are you saying stupid!? Shut up!”

“You shut up! I was trying to intimidate them and you ruined it!”

A gruff voice from the back suddenly shouted: “Both you imbeciles shut up!”

The bandits immediately quieted. From the house furthest back a new small group of bandits came out. They numbered around five or so and looked different from the others. They looked meaner and more sure of themselves. They were likely veterans and the leaders of this group.

The man who shouted was bald with a large build. He then told the group: “Don't forget what would happen if you surrender to these louts. You will be hung without trial!”

All the bandits around paled at the thought of it. A few of them unsheathed their swords with shaking hands. They were used to frightening simple townsfolk. They had not been in a heated battle before.

Clayton merely shrugged and said: “Looks like you've chosen.”

He then hoisted a gigantic battle axe off his back. His burly figure had mostly covered it up and it was only now that the bandits finally saw it. In his two hands, Clayton gave the axe a simple practice swing in front of himself. The heavy axe weighed at least fifty kilos, probably more. It was swung with incredible ease as a giant whooshing sound followed the axe's arc. Clayton then gave an evil grin.

Adam could see Clayton suddenly circulate massive amounts of spirit essence in his body and through the axe. Clayton suddenly disappeared with small parts of the ground flying up. He then reappeared by one of the houses at the entrance. With a gigantic swing, Clayton stuck the house with the flat side of the axe. The house immediately blew apart from his hit. Wood and splinters went every direction among the bandits. Some of the larger pieces even crashed into other houses creating big holes in their walls or roofs.

At this point, even those veteran bandits were wide-eyed and ready to pee themselves. It was at this point that the Silver Saviors gave a tremendous war cry as they unsheathed their swords and advanced into the bandit stronghold!