"Are you crazy?" asked Roll shocked at the manner in which Shadow had taken down both the lookouts. Looking at the health bar, he could see that Shadow had also lost some health, but he doubted that the lookout actually hurt him and was sure that it was self-inflicted from the fall. He had already known of Balthazar's present state as perceived by Rudra and his question was from the sheer surprise of his tactics.
"It is faster this way and the commotion isn't small, the other might notice the guards missing and there are even patrols moving in the camp. If anyone comes close to the gate and finds the guards missing, it would be a prolonged tussle with these monsters," said Shadow as he made his way towards the gate.
"Get into stealth and follow me," said Shadow as he crept into the camp with Roll following him while the other were still fighting the four guards. Roll and Shadow quickly came to the first tent. Through the window flap they could see the bandits without their armor feasting on the carcass of a stag. This was the first time that Roll saw the bandits head and could finally see their race.
Roll was both a bit disgusted and frightened by the appearance of these monsters. At that time, Balthazar found that he had a few notifications. It was for the quest that he had received when he reported of the bandit lair to the encampment of the guards at the back of the Blackrock town. The number of bandits killed increased to two in the quest progress.
[Quingol Bandit] (Elite Monster)
Level 10;
HP: 4500/4500;
"These rat headed creatures. Are all the bandits same?" asked Roll.
"Yes, a race called Quingol. I sneaked in last time and got a decent harvest, but I have seen a lot of them in the camp. They also have harpoons and other tools lying on the floor by the river." explained Shadow as he was moved around looking into other tents.
He noticed that most of the bandits were similar and had their armor removed inside the tents. It would be an easy thing to take them down, if they had enough assassins. The problem was that they had only two and unlike the goblins, the quingols kept quiet in their tents and either feasting or sleeping.
"I don't think there is an easy way to get through these bandits. We might need to kill through all of them," said Roll as he had also observed the situation in various tents. While they were searching the tents, he had already asked the other to keep a safe distance from the gates and Slaine also perched himself on a watchtower and began to make a map of the camp and mark the paths of the patrols that he could see.
Balthazar continued to observe for a few more seconds before conceding. "It might be as you told. I can't see another way either. The goblin fort seems quite simple compared to this," he said looking at Roll. Unlike Roll, he knew that there was always away to use the camp's structure to their benefit in the game. That was considered the iron-clad rule of the game in his previous life and it just depended on the players ingenuity and their intelligence.
Even in situation when the players failed to exploit anything and fought like brutes, there were always things that they realized later which they could have used to reduce the difficulty by a bit. Even though, it wouldn't make the fight easy, it definitely would help reduce the difficulty. In hindsight, many could find the flaws of other, but it wasn't the same when they were actually in the fight.
Shadow had seriously looked for anything that could be used but failed to notice anything among the behaviour of the bandits that would help the team's raid. "Damn, I can see a lot of harpoons by the lake, but sadly can't transport them from the midst of the camp," said Shadow sending a few pictures of the area around the lake to Slaine.
"Found a warehouse here, the last time I came into the camp," he sent a location to Slaine in chat. "Good chance of getting goods from the warehouse. Found a crossbow in one of their tents. So, a warehouse is bound to have better equipment," he told Slaine.
"You found crossbows in the tents? Are those the ones similar to the crossbows used by the bandit lookout? Does that mean that we can expect more of the bandits to be carrying crossbows? That would make our task a lot more difficult. How come you forgot to tell me that, I would have come with more players than call for reinforcements," said Slaine.
"You better call them now," said Shadow.
"Called for help as soon as I saw those frightening guns," said Slaine as he continued to observe the pictures that were sent by Shadow and Roll.
A few seconds later, Slaine sent a message that surprised Balthazar and put a bit of hope in his mind. Slaine suggested using the mounted weapons against the bandits. They just needed to find a way towards the bandits without noticing them. He also sent Shadow co-ordinates for a place where a patrolling bandit would soon come close to the gate.
Shadow and Roll quickly made their way to the place mentioned by Slaine to ambush the patrolling bandit first. Shadow used cheap shot from the side stunning the bandit and then they both repeated strikes at its neck beheading it within five seconds.
"Let us get closer to the weapons and we can take clearer pictures and see if they can actually be rotated to face the bandits," suggested Roll.
"It is not a bad idea, the last time, there were a good number of bandits at the very least twenty of them in the lake. Don't know whether they might be at this time of day or no, but it is a fair assumption that a few would be at the very least," said Shadow. His words put another hurdle in their plan.
There were quite a few harpoon guns and other machines mounted by the lake and most of them were not manned and probably wouldn't be except for special situations. But, if someone from the lake saw them and attacked from behind, it would get a lot more difficult to use the mounted weapon and fight the bandits.
"Well, I can only find one way that would make it easier," said Slaine on the team chat. "We first need to get to the guns by the lake. Then, a couple would get into the lake to locate the bandits in it. We use a couple of those weapons to get rid of them first and then continue to attack the other bandits," said Slaine.
"Any other thoughts or suggestions? Please make it fast. The patrols would sooner or later notice the missing personnel," he continued.
"You are right. Let us get to the lake. If we are really blocked, we can use dynamites and quickly escape," replied Roll.
"Sure, I couldn't locate anything useful either," said Mob who was on top of the other watchtower. He had been watching the camp from another watchtower. Summoners send their summons to fight. So, they tend to keep their perception high to be able to monitor the fights. Moreover, Mob also had a scope which was given to him by Merlin who got it from Rudra.
They would also gain a skill to watch from the viewpoint of the summons after the first upgrade. This would be very helpful in scouting and laying traps, but currently Mob had to rely on scope to control his summons like other control their pets. The only difference between the pets and his summons currently is that even if a player is dying, he could give some commands to the summon that would try to complete them even after the player died.
"Anyone have strong frost spells like the frost nova?" asked Slaine. "They would be better suited for holding back the bandits in the lake, if they could freeze the area. Apart from that keep your crossbows on ready. We don't need to kill the bandits, but at the least make sure they wouldn't be able to use those guns."
"Yes, Grenadier has got wintertide. It could be used to freeze multiple targets in direction," said Bitter Beast. Wintertide is just an uncommon skill that send a chilling wave of white particles covering an area of about 4 by 4 metres in a direction selected by the user. Usually it just slows down the opponent by freeze effect and deals negligible frost damage. It was considered a good way to run away. But it has a special effect near water. The wintertide's range of attack increases in water, its freezing effect also increases and an ice barrier in the shape of a tide is formed which can be used as a cover.
"Well, then he comes along with me. You guard the lake for the bandits with me while others use the mounted weapons to attack," said Shadow in the team chat. "There rest should also make sure that none of the bandits from the tents reach any of the mounted weapons close to us."
"No, I am not good at close combat. Why do you want me with you?" asked Grenadier a bit worried. Moving along with an assassin usually implied being a bait which requires decently good close combat skills to survive. So, he was worried and started to suggest that Bitter Beast best keep his mouth shut.
Grenadier Mage usually played the role of a bombing specialist. He maintained his distance while providing support to other characters. He was never good at one-on-one fights and preferred team fights. Both Mob and Bitter Beast knew this and were silently laughing at his plight.
"You are not being the bait. Just follow me. I need your skill to be used at the lake," said Shadow to calm him down.
Slaine remained on the watchtower while he provided direction to the others. Apart from that, he also called for reinforcement from the guild and Blazing Fury when he realized that it isn't easy to capture the encampment. There were a couple of situations when Shadow and Roll had to ambush a few of the patrolling bandits who might discover the others, but they managed to react in time and kill them in time.
They all knew that they could only sneak in till a certain distance. The area around the lake had a decent number of bandits and anyone without stealth skill would be detected. Slaine had already sent everyone marked position for the mounted weapons based on the pictures that Roll and Shadow sent him.
"Guys you need to make it to the points that I sent you and hold the positions. There are three mounted guns near the lake close to us. We need to secure them. There is a bandit near by the one in the centre and that gun is closest to us. Shadow and Roll will help secure it quickly and then they will get to breaking a couple of gun mounts. Let the ones who have crossbows accompany them as there is a high chance that the bandit might turn the gun pointing at the lake around and use it on us," said Slaine in the chat.
"Each of the guns will have two players with it. One to use it and other to try and protect it. You have crossbows and dynamites which you could use, but make sure to at the very least keep one dynamite with you in case the plan fails and we need to run back out," continued Slaine.
"Yes, dynamites are quite useful with these quingols. Though they have a tough shell, they burn easy and like water. So, a dynamite would be very useful to handle them," said Shadow agreeing with Slaine.
"What am I doing?" asked Grenadier as he moved beside Shadow along with Bitter Beast and Mob. Shadow quietly sent them messages asking them to accept the quest to kill the bandits, that he had received from the soldier at the rear of the Blackrock Town. Shadow thought that it was a simple quest and it is best to share it with them rather than the guild as he possibly would be playing with them more than the guild.
"Stick with Shadow and follow whatever he says. We need to just hold on for a few minutes. I have already called for reinforcements from the guild, but as there is a high chance that the patrols will soon find the bandits missing and raise the alarm, we are making the first attack before the others come here. I am staying behind and will provide directions from the watchtower. Keep in your positions. I am waiting till it is the best time and when I give the signal run," said Slaine.
Slaine had been monitoring the situation in the camp from his perch. He had them wait behind a tent ducked and out of view of from any windows of the tents. He wanted them to wait for a time when there are a smaller number of bandits in their way to the lake. He just hoped that none of them the others in the tents come out.
A few seconds later, he felt that it was the best time and more delay might probably make them realize that some of the bandits were no longer in the camp. So, he told them to raid in the team chat and they ran towards the guns.
There was only one gun manned, while the other two were unmanned. Grenadier and two others ran towards the manned gun. When the others were waiting when Slaine told them to, Roll and Shadow had already moved closer to the gun in stealth. They three of them had crossbows which they fired one after the other aiming at the bandits back as soon as he noticed them. The bandit immediately started turning the gun towards them.
There was another thing that was useful in attacking the manned gun first. They didn't know the method to turn the direction of the mounted guns. It would make operation easier and faster if they have a look at the bandit using it. That was the reason, Shadow and Roll moved closer to viewing distance before they started the attack.
The bandit couldn't even rotate it halfway around before Shadow managed to reach him. Roll had a good look at the levers and buttons on the mount used by the bandit and quickly put in the information in the team chat, so that the other two pairs could get to know the operation of the gun.