Now, only three camps remained - although, to call the third camp a storied challenge was to mock fabled heroics. Being the most sparsely populated thus far, it stood no chance against Quintin's dense fists. He assessed the five corpses on the ground with a trace of confusion. Upon closer inspection, these beasts appeared to sustain injuries unrelated to the fresh wounds he granted them.

He didn't linger overlong on the discrepancy. After all, even monsters found this forest daunting - or so Vissitri intimated.

Soon, his gaze slid across the motionless campsite, to the nearby Dragonkin's tent. It demanded his attention, not least of which because of the surreal outline that marked it as a [Quest] objective. On the way over, Vissitri reappeared on his shoulder.

[Those little beasties made such lonely sounds; I wonder where their handler is? Maybe they ran into something quite wicked in the forest, Si-Si-Si.]

Quintin came to stop in front of the tent, his feet crunching up the parched soil. "Oh, Ha-Ha! Based on the state of their injuries, whatever happened can't be scarier than an eldritch ooze-spitting abomination - scratch that, I really don't want to hear your truth right now."

Nowadays, Quintin kept [Sinisphere] active at all times. Though he couldn't use it to espy the contents of an enclosed space - such as the tent before him - it still lent a measure of certitude and confidence. Certitude in that the land withheld fewer secrets and the confidence to deal with any that remained.

Because of that, he tore open the tent flap without a moment's hesitation. As if foreshadowed by Vissitri's previous question, a jet of flames burst out from within. However, confidence in his approach did not mean being unprepared. In this way, Quintin breached the entrance in a diving roll, with the fire passing overtop.

The Dragonkin struggled to catch the shadow of Quintin with his flame breath. A hint of shock flickered through his eyes as the human's foresight left him on the back foot. With what was left of his forces, he knew his best chance to live was to strike the opponent after a hard-fought battle. Yet now, no trace of exhaustion or dullness could be seen on the human's face. On the contrary, only steely determination and a subtle smirk of derision were detectable.

Quintin shot forward once he got within melee range. One metal fist traveled skyward to close the Dragonkin's mouth, while the other shot point-blank [Wolf Claws] through its chest. The stiff uppercut made the fire-breather bite half its tongue off. Two of the three bolts snuck through the front and straight out the back, the third lodged itself firmly in its spine.

He let the Dragonkin fall where he stood like a weather-tossed scarecrow. From prior experience, their unique abilities and overall command of the collared beasts presented the biggest challenge. Since this Dragonkin gave up a part of those advantages before the fight even began, Quintin felt confident in his upfront approach.

With the fighting over, for now, he turned to look around inside. Past the bulky frame of where the Dragonkin once stood, he saw a ten-by-ten foot cage towards the backend. The frightened gazes of three men and two women stared back at him from within.

After sizing each other up for a brief moment, one of the prisoners, a man, went from fright to a partly excited expression. "Hail warrior! Dragon-shite is dead! I'd buy ye' a beer with a night of revelry, but- alas, as ye' can see, we're in a spot of trouble."

Quintin didn't have to keep them waiting overlong. One of the optional parts of his [Quest] had to do with rescuing fifteen of Laszlo's comrades. The handy outline marked them as such, making his job easy in this case.

He approached the cage, intent on breaking the prisoners free. "Don't worry, I'll have everyone out of there in a sec. You all must be a part of... Django's group, right?"

"Laszlo's, ay." The man shot him a meaningful look.

Quintin softly knocked the side of his head. "Right, Laszlo. My bad."

"You might find the key..." Dumbfounded, the man trailed off as the lock broke apart in Quintin's hand.

With some amount of amusement, Quintin stepped back to allow them all room to walk out. "Word to the wise; some might find the whole excitable, unphased act somewhat suspicious. You'd have a better chance appealing to a would-be savior's pity or sense of justice."

The man, and the other four, shuffled through the open door, "Point taken. Though, ye gots this virtuous air about yah'."

Quintin stifled a groan. The taint of corruption, [Stainless Self], and [Savior's Shoulder Cape] all competed in an endless fight for supremacy within him. Some days he appeared like a [Saint], while other times, he was a literal [Hellspawn] murder hobo. Today he was a virtuous buddha, tomorrow he may as well act like the demon.

"Yeah... I don't know about all of that. Anyways, when I came through, there were only five wounded beasts and this Dragonshite that you so aptly described. What exactly happened here?"

With some back and forth, Quintin got the gist of the situation. The five prisoners in front of him were not originally captives of this camp. The fire-breathing Dragonshite led his twenty-odd beasts to raid an adjacent camp for more 'toys', as the Dragonkin controllers affectionately labeled them. No doubt Dragonshite paid a steep price for his antics, thus the state of the third camp.

The ex-captives knew the woods well, so he sent them along with the whereabouts of Laszlo and Co. Afterwards, he saw several changes to the [Quest Chain].

[Quest Chain]:

[Along Came Some Bandits]: [√]

[Under a Serpent Canopy]:

-Rank: Rare

-Zone: Nagelroot Hills

-Action: Elimination

1. Defeat the [Dragonkin] controllers.

—oCount: 3/5

2.Eliminate: collared monsters and beasts.

—oCount: 3/5 camps

3. Optional: rescue Laszlo's comrades.

—oCount: 5/15

4. ????

Rewards: EXP. & [????] item

Quintin decided to head to the fourth camp straight away. Nothing else stood in his path, except for the thick underbrush. As he looked at the empty camp in the distance, and more specifically, the trees that ringed around it, a scheme began to manifest in his mind.