"Wait! Don't we need to prepare first?" Allesiah said walking beside Zeke.
"There isn't any time for that, the longer we wait, the lesser our chances to catch them at their encampment." Zeke replied.
Right after finishing the contract, the two headed out to fight the Viper Bandits. This was Zeke's initial goal after all but, he needed to make sure that he is strong enough. Hence the reason why he had to go with an adventurer party before going back to his main objective.
"But those bandits are strong. They are human and, unlike monsters, they are crafty." Allesiah responded.
"Oh my, I thought you wanted to become the strongest sorceress in the land?" Zeke taunted.
"I do! But I at least want to be alive when that happens."
*Sigh*
"Just quit complaining and trust me on this." Zeke replied.
Before noon came, the two of them have already reached the area where the Viper Bandits have made their camp. They aren't within the real camp of course because, that place will surely be filled with traps among other things.
"What now?" Allesiah asked.
"Now, you hold back your scream." Zeke answered as he conjured thirty goblins.
Zeke covered Allesiah's mouth before she could even shout. He then placed his pointing finger on his lips, making the 'shhhh' sound. Allesiah nodded and Zeke immediately took off his hand.
"What in the name of Nisha is this?" Allesiah said.
"These, are your friends." Zeke replied.
"What do you mean friends? Okay first off, how did you even get these guys?" Allesiah asked.
"You need to calm down okay? I'll explain everything to you later but before that, these guys have a mission to do." Zeke said.
He then instructed the goblins to scout the area, looking at every possible place where there would be traps and merrily stepping right into them. They all appear in Zeke's [Minimap] so he now knows where the traps are being held and, something else even came out – the bandits themselves.
"What's happening?" Allesiah said, not sure of what's going on.
"Oh right you're there. Okay let me just fix the settings for a while."
Suddenly, Allesiah can see a large map unfolding before her. Voices are also heard because, Zeke turned on the voice chat option. Making him and Allesiah clearly hear the monsters he conjured. This is what the bandits said over the voice chat.
"What the hell are these things?"
"Are those goblins?"
"Boss there's more around this area."
Zeke and Allesiah heard how the goblins now engaged in combat. From the sound of it, the goblins are losing.
"Okay, this is where you step in." Zeke said to Allesiah.
"What am I supposed to do?" She replied.
"Fight them of course." Was his answer, motioning his hands for her to go.
"Are you crazy? That's a whole group of bandits! How can I even measure up to those guys?"
"You see, that's the problem. The moment you think that you are underhanded in a fight, you've already lost." Zeke said.
"Climb up to a spot where you can see me. Watch." He said moving away.
"Where are you going?"
"Isn't that obvious? I'm going to fight all of them by myself."
"That's easy for you to say. You've got summoned monsters to help you out." Allesiah replied.
"You think I can't manage without them?" Zeke had a smile on his face as this challenge was posed. Then, without a single moment more to lose, Zeke rushed through the trees in the forest activating [Mana Conversion] in the process.
As soon as he did, he deactivated the [Conjure] skill, relying on his [Minimap] to know where his enemies are. His first victims are a group of three – all melee fighters holding scabbards while one had a brass knuckle on.
They saw him come out of course but, it was so sudden that he caught them by surprise. It wasn't until he was in the middle of the three before they started reacting.
"Catch him!" One shouted and at this, Zeke grabbed some dirt from the ground and spun around, hitting their eyes with dust.
"Ack! My eyes!" Those were the last words one of them said as Zeke continued to slicing their necks – making sure that they cannot scream. He then took the bombs that one of them had. As a bandit group, having reckless damaging items is one part of the criteria. He ignited three of these and quickly threw them at where the main camp is.
The bombs soon exploded but, they didn't reach the ground which meant that there are no casualties. But Zeke also had this in his plans. He rushed to the next group which created the sound of arrow shots while his goblins were being killed earlier.
"Yo!" He said as he reached the group. The archer tried to hit him but he made his way and grabbed one of the melee weapon bandits. He then pushed the bandit to the tree where the archer is staying at. Then, the bomb he placed at the back of the melee bandit exploded, hitting also the archer on the tree.
There is still one more enemy left and, Zeke quickly ended this guy's life with his blade.
"This comes next." He said as he converted the bandit clothing into his costume. Hiding his real weapon and clothing underneath it.
Zeke then rushed to the main camp shouting: "There are adventurers at the south!" Making the bandits rush out to meet the enemies.
"Good work." The man that came close to Zeke had a stronger appearance.
He didn't even need to rely on the [Analyze] to understand that, this is the group's boss. He then walked toward this enemy and, upon reaching the perfect range, he dashed forward and stabbed the man. However, his enemy has good reflexes so the stab was avoided – with the enemy's hand gripping on his wrist.
"What do we have here?" The bandit leader said.
"A bomb." Zeke replied, holding the item with his other hand. At this, the leader backed off and, Zeke immediately threw it to a tent nearby.
"Ha! You're wea –." Before the leader could even finish what he was about to say, a second bomb exploded. Zeke actually activated two, dropping one while holding the other in his hand. By making his enemy focus his attention on the thing he is holding, the other bomb that he dropped on the ground remained unnoticed.
"Okay, let's clean up the rest of this mess." He said to himself, collecting the loot he found while also hunting down his enemies one be one. Then, he finally returned to Allesiah, without a single wound on his body.
"Tada." He said.
"Show off." Allesiah replied.
"Like I said, the moment you think that you are underhanded in a battle, you have already lost." Zeke said, with a smile on his face.
"But you still used an amplification spell." Allesiah tried to justify.
"I didn't use my summons that time and, only relied on a single physical boost skill which I didn't even amplify much." This much is true, Zeke only used 100 mana on the skill, making him much weaker than when he faced the skeleton goblins.
"Do you know how I won? I used this." Zeke pointed to his head.
"In a battle, information is always crucial for victory. What the terrain looks like, where the enemies are positioned. Their skill level and, the items they are using for combat. Thinking about all these things and acting on them quickly greatly increases your chances for victory."
Allesiah couldn't respond anymore, knowing that all Zeke said is true.
"Does that mean you understand?" Zeke asked, with Allesiah still failing to respond.
"You know, for a disciple, you're quite prideful." He said, smiling at the spellcaster.
"Okay then. Since you made your master fight those monsters for you, I'm guessing you're prepared for the consequences." Zeke continued.
Allesiah's face winded in horror as she saw the expression on Zeke's face. She knew exactly what he'll do next. He's going to use her body until she can't move anymore.
"NOOO!"
…
…
…
A few hours later, the two have reached the other encampment of the Viper Bandits. Zeke performed the same procedure of sending out the [Conjured] Goblins first and then, as soon as the bandits showed up, he ordered Allesiah again.
"Knock yourself out." He said, this time Allesiah followed his orders and went to fight. However, he didn't let her go without any guards. In fact, he kept the summons in order to assist her. Even [Samael] is summoned but, Zeke kept his prized monster in reserve thinking that, if he send it out, it may juts do all the dirty work for Allesiah.
"Let's just watch and see what she can do for now." Zeke said, excited to finally begin training a real sorceress and making sure that she reaches her goal.
"I'm going to train you until even the Demon Lord compares to nothing but an insignificant slime."
Soon after, the explosions began – signaling the start of Allesiah's battle.