The trio was walking towards a specified location inside the forest. They had accepted a mission to exterminate some bandits that had made an appearance recently.
The mission was posted by some noble around that area. The bandits had already killed an entire village and kidnapped their woman.
According to the intel, the bandits had made their hideout in a cave around that village.
Ozul was bored out of his mind during the entire journey. He could not even focus on training his Ball of Purity because they had to keep walking.
If they had stopped to rest, the mission would only waste their time. Fortunately, Ozul did not have to wait any longer than two hours.
They arrived to see the scene of a destroyed village. Only the flapping of birds' wings could be heard on the streets.
The scene in front of them confirmed that they were in the correct location. Now Ozul just had to find the hideout of the bandits.
All three of them were powerful enough to massacre all the bandits alone. Hence, Blaze and Raven split up to locate the cave.
Meanwhile, Ozul did not want to search anymore. So, he decided to stay in the village and just instructed them to complete the task.
However, Ozul had also ordered Blaze not to use any Rank-5 Spells. He had to learn how to control his power. Every time Blaze fights, he goes all out and ends up exhausted! It was a fatal mistake to let your guard down just after the battle.
Furthermore, Blaze also needed to learn to conceal his Mana. Borin had quickly figured out his power level because he couldn't even control his own Mana!
Ozul closed his eyes as he sat under an apple tree far from the smell of blood that covered the entire village.
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Raven ran for half an hour searching for the cave when she stumbled upon a drunk man behind a tree.
She was on top that exact tree, looking down at the filthy appearance of the man. She did not need to contemplate before realizing that the guy looked just like a bandit.
Since this guy was here, the bandit's cave must be close as well.
She got jumped down the tree and appeared behind the drunk man. With the dagger placed on the guy's neck, she spoke;
"Take me to the hideout or die."-
Raven had practiced the Spell to such an extent that she never had to chant to create the daggers. And since the guy was drunk, he didn't notice it until he had no other choice but to comply.
"*Eekk!* P-please d-don't kill me! I...will t-take you there!"- The drunk bandit was scared shitless when he felt the ominous feeling from the sharp dagger on the back of his neck.
In this world, just like Spatial Rings, there were other Magical items such as communication devices.
The distance for the communication depended on the quality of these items. Raven and others had also bought such Rings. She just had to send a wisp of Mana in the Ring to activate it.
Although Ozul could not use the item to 'call' someone else as he had no Mana, receiving the call wasn't a problem.
Raven informed Ozul about the hideout. Much to her displeasure, Ozul instructed her not to kill them herself. He told her to inform Blaze and let him do all the work. Blaze needed every bit of experience he could get.
Ozul also instructed Raven not to let Blaze use any Spell higher than Rank-4. He wouldn't improve if he kept fighting life and death battles with opponents only weaker than him.
Raven grudgingly contacted Blaze and told him the location. She didn't ever want to anger Ozul again!
When Blaze arrived, Raven had already located the cave. She had killed the drunk bandit right after finding their location.
Both of them stood on the tree as they heard the maniacal laughter behind those tall bushes. Their faces turned cold when they saw the scene behind those tall trees.
They saw the naked corpses of women scattered on the ground. The blank look on their faces showed their misery before death knocked on their door.
However, someone of those disgusting dogs did not even spare the corpses! Women of all ages were dragged there and humiliated!
The bandits behaved even worse than animals! But Raven and Blaze knew that those bandits were not the only filth in this world.
If it were before, Raven would have mindlessly charged after witnessing such a cruel sight.
However, living these previous years with Ozul, she had learned that the scene before her eyes was just the tip of an iceberg.
Moreover, she was not the all good-natured naive little girl from back then. Her personality had changed enough to not care about others! Only Ozul was an exception.
And in the case of Blaze, he had already seen the worst in humans nature. He had no sympathy for them.
While this might be the case, but they still found the act of these bandits as sickening. Blaze entered the field while Raven stood guard, so no one escapes.
Their mission was to exterminate the bandits, so they didn't want even one of them to escape. Blaze went on his killing spree. No one could last even a second before him as most of them were just Fighters.
Only after most of them had died did the leader came out of the cave. He looked like a typical gang leader with a few scars on his face.
Blaze realized that the bandit leader was a Rank-4 Mage. He was surprised because it was rare to see a Rank-4 Mage as a bandit.
"Huh!? Did that bastard sent you!? But we have already completed our side of the deal!"- The scar-faced bandit leader spat.
"He wants to get rid of us now?!"-
It seemed that he had mistaken Blaze and Raven for someone else. They did not wear the Mercenary emblems, so the bandit leader did not take those two for some Mercenaries.
However, Blaze did not bother to explain and attacked. It would be a tough fight since he was not allowed to use any Rank-5 Spell.
In the end though, Blaze won by a large margin. The bandit leader was not a Fighter, which provided a significant advantage for Blaze. His natural talent that surpassed even the 'Gifted' did not help the bandit leader either.
"Tch! I could take on multiple Rank-4 Mages when I first advanced..."- Raven muttered from a distance.
Since all the bandits died, Raven and Blaze searched the entire cave and only found some women who were 'broken'. They had the same lifeless eyes as the corpses with a difference that they were alive.
Raven chose to end their miserable lives as they would never be able to live after such experience either.
There were some expensive items in the bandit leader's Spatial Ring. But they were of no use to Raven.
Since they completed the task, the duo returned to the village where Ozul was staying. Raven explained the details to Ozul when they were returning. On the way, he spoke;
"So...what is odd about the situation?"- His words brought the attention of both Raven and Blaze. Raven was about to answer, but Ozul gestured towards her to stop and let Blaze reply.
Raven was already smart enough to figure out these details, but he also needed Blaze to do the same. Blaze took a few seconds of contemplating before he answered;
"Master, There were... no children?"- Blaze was doubtful of his conclusion as he did not have much common sense.
Ozul nodded his head as Blaze sighed in relief. Ozul then explained;
"Yes, the children disappeared... You guys did not even find them on their hideout... And...the strange wording of the bandit leader also adds up... to the oddness of the situation."- Ozul said while the trio kept their pace.
In just two days, Ozul had come across two strange events. First, the joint attack of three Rank-5 Beasts, and now the disappearance of the kids.
There was also a possibility that the bandits had sold the children as slaves, but it was highly unlikely due to the short amount of time.
He had a hunch that the situation might not be so simple.