Exiting the alley, he headed towards the Adventurer's Guild. An and Si Sera were standing at the reception and Changchang gave them company. The trio was talking freely as most of them had gone to have food and only a few were standing and sitting here and there. Changchang saw Lee walking in and she greeted him with a smile. An noticed this and saw Lee entering. Shi Sera was delighted to have companies of two women.
"Thank you for keeping me company. It was a great relief for me!"
Shi Sera thanked An as she held her hand with gratitude. Lee can tell that their talk has come to an end and asked his doubt to her.
"Is there any bandit extermination requests available?!"
Shi Sera and Changchang raised their brows in surprise. Most people avoid such missions since bandits are very cunning and ruthless.
"Yes, there are 23 requests. But the bandit hideouts are not pinpointed yet. And most adventurers avoid such requests."
Shi Sera spoke and nodded at Changchang. She understood the meaning and took a small box from the drawer. Many mission requests that range from pale-yellow grade to deep-orange grade were stacked inside. She slid the box towards Lee.
Lee nodded at Changchang and took out missions one by one. The trio thought that he was looking for a specific request.
"I'll take them all!"
Lee rolled them into one and placed it inside his jacket. His poker-face was unreadable to them. Changchang glanced at Shi Sera for help and got a nod in return.
"These are not published ones, so there will not be any rewards."
Changchang warned him in a serious tone. She was expecting him to put them back in the box upon hearing this. But his face remained the same.
"I was not expecting anything. I took these as I need something to practice with, and bandits seem the perfect opponents."
The trio was lost for words. For the first time, they are looking at someone who considers bandits as 'things' to practice.
Lee didn't give any further explanation and turned to An. She was ready to accompany him, but he patted her shoulder and said-
"It'll get dangerous as I'm not going on a picnic. I want you to stay here because I'm concerned with your safety. I'll be back by...…a day or two."
Lee didn't say anything else and went outside. An didn't defy probed him as she felt that he had his personal reasons. Shi Sera thought that the bandits may have been the reason he lost his group.
=====
2 P.M.
450 Essence harvested.
=====
----------------------------------
Exiting the city through the western gate, Lee walked to a distance before taking the mission papers out. Among the 23, 11 were reported at the western gate. That means the road to the city of Festa or to the city of Crogh or both of them are infested by bandits. Lee intentionally didn't ask anything about bandits due to security reasons.
The road is not paved in any way, but the regular travelling of carriages and horses has carved out a brown path, with borders of short and thick grasses. After making sure that the gate is no longer visible from where he's standing, he dashed with all his strength.
'D, I want you to increase my Intelligence and Resolve by 100 points.'
[About that, when your attributes reach 300, the Essence cost will increase by six times. I forgot to tell you before. Teheee....]
'.....how much is my Intelligence and Resolve?!'
[270.]
'Increase both to 300 points.'
[Ok…..and done.]
'What about my physical attributes?!'
[All at 280.]
'To 300.'
[Done.]
'Essence left?'
[6890.]
Lee calculated and responded.
'Increase all stats by 20.'
[6600 Essence consumed. You have 290 Essence left.]
'Any skills that are related to fatigue-resistance?!'
[Skill 'Regeneration' is available, but it costs 1300 Essence.]
Before Lee realised, he had entered a forest area. He was constantly in touch with the Map as it is inside his mind. There were many creatures as he travelled along. He captured them and placed them in his EsGen storage. D told him that they can give a small amount of Essence until they die.
3 minutes later.
A bunch of dots appeared one and a half kilometers away in the Map. Lee counted 29 red ones surrounding 9 green ones. An immobile grey dot was among the red ones. He can tell which is which. Lee took out his blade and activated Rock, Metal, Nature and Sound. He didn't activate Poison or Lightning because Lee is familiar with them. Fire, Water and Ice are mutually countering ones. Sand and Air needed higher proficiency so he kept them for later.
=====
3 P.M.
570 Essence harvested.
=====
Another green dot became grey and Lee hurried with all his strength to the spot. Within seconds, he can see 3 merchants and 4 warriors defending the bandits. Two warriors were already dead.
Lee brought a black mask from the Shop for 30 Essence. It only had eyeslits and gave an ominous aura. He took out his bow and fired a homing arrow at one of the bandits. The affinities took effect and their progress increased by one. He confirmed that non-opposing skills can be stacked together and that he can use his affinities with homing arrows for maximum efficiency.
*thuk*
The arrow flashed and the bandit fell. All the red dots stopped in their tracks and looked at the arrow that struck the bandit at his head. They looked around immediately and saw a figure about 600 meters away. Bandits recognised the culprit as they saw a bow in his hand.
Lee thought of the possibility that the bandits may escape and scatter if he maintained his distance. But if he's to come close, they'll attack him as he only has his bow.
Lee ran at the bandits at a slightly-faster than normal speed. He reached around 300 meters and he shot down one more bandit.
This was enough to enrage them. 11 of them started to run against Lee as the other 16 continued to strike down the warriors.
Lee smirked and released his arrow as they reached about 100 meters from him. His speed considerably increased. The bandits were confused. Only two remained when they realised his trap.
*thuk*
*thuk*
The warriors were happy to receive an ally. They prayed for him to survive till the end. They were thankful to him as the pack was reduced to 16. But the merchants who watched him were baffled by his sudden increase in speed.
*thuk*
*thuk*
*thuk*
Three arrows flew and struck three bandits who were at the outermost position. Before they realised that three were dead, two more followed their fate. They turned towards the archer and another one received an arrow in the forehead. 10 bandits who were left alive tried to run away, but the warriors blocked them from their retreat. Still, 5 of them got away.
*thuk*
*thuk*
*thuk*
*thuk*
Four arrows flew past the warriors and four bandits that got away fell on the ground. The last one saw this and stumbled on his track. When he tried to get up, an arrow pierced his back of the neck.
Two of the bandits pushed down a warrior and ran away. As the warriors were protecting the merchants and blocking the bandits simultaneously, they could only put their hope in this anonymous archer.
An arrow hit one of the runaway bandits and it exploded. The explosion was powerful enough to take down both of them. Their bodies rolled on the ground lifelessly.
The 3 bandits surrendered and begged not to kill them. Warriors tied their hands and glanced at the approaching archer. His figure made them shiver in fear.
"What are you called?!"
Lee sounded his voice. Through the mask, it gave off a rough and threatening presence.
"The...the bull….people."
One of the bandit replied as he drenched in sweat. Lee took out the papers and saw the name of the group in one of them.
'One down, 22 to go.'
"You are reported as a nuisance to the travelling folks."
Lee turned at the warriors and asked-
"Tell me, should I kill them or arrest and send them to the city?!"
Warriors glanced at their comrade's dead body. Their eyes welled up as they said-
"Kill them!"
Lee took out his blade and chopped their heads off in an instant. The warriors were extremely thankful as they are alive to bring their comrade's remains to their homes. They thanked earnestly and Lee replied-
"I'm on a classified mission to exterminate all bandits around the Lorin city. Do not spill any information about seeing or meeting me. If anyone asks, you killed the bandits and you lost two comrades."
The icy voice sounded as the merchants and warriors listened to him without blinking. They nodded in response and Lee dashed to the horizon.
.....…..........
==========
Name: Lee
Age: 20
Title: Grim-reaper, Soul Liberator
Fame: 1581
Essence: 504 (3 PM)
Money: 1000 Gold, 0 Silver, 31 Copper
----------
Partner: An
----------
Health: 320
Strength: 320
Vitality: 320
Agility: 320
Defense: 320
Endurance: 320
Sense: 320
Intelligence: 320
Resolve: 320
----------
Immunity:-
• Greater Poison Immunity (6/1000000)
• Medium Lightning Immunity (3217/10000)
Affinity:-
• Lesser Poison Affinity (11/100)
• Medium Lightning Affinity (781/10000)
• Lesser Fire Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Water Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Ice Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Rock Affinity (28/100)
• Lesser Metal Affinity (28/100)
• Lesser Sand Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Nature Affinity (28/100)
• Lesser Air Affinity (0/100)
• Lesser Sound Affinity (28/100)
----------
Mastery:-
• Absolute Blade Mastery
• Absolute Nunchuck Mastery
• Medium Bow Mastery (395/10000)
----------
Cultivation: Peak stage Core Formation realm
Qi: 0/1100
Mana: 0
----------
Innate Skills:-
• View
• Foresight
• EsGen
• EsConv
• Curse Remover
----------
INVENTORY:-
QUESTS:-
MAP:-
SHOP:-
RE-MODEL:-
==========