The bandit leader was a soldier of Bellburn city. He was on a mission to escort a noble family from Bellburn city to the capital. Everything went smoothly until the bandit leader saw a chest full of valuables inside the carriage with the nobles he was ordered to protect. The chest full of astral coins, gems, and valuables tempted him. When the night arrives, he snuck into the carriage, slaughtered everyone, and disappeared with the chest. This was the beginning of his new career. He earned more than he could have ever earned by serving the king. It had been five since he returned to Kingdom Ceva.
For five years, the Bellburn city soldiers had been searching for Maxwell, but no one had ever caught him. After he began his new life as a bandit, he tasted more and more wealth by killing merchants, nobles, and even commoners for anything that had value. He formed a little group of bandits to attack large parties. Because of his physique and Warrior trait, everyone in the bandit group feared him and dared not to piss him off.
Just Maxwell's physique alone made Kolvar tremble.
"An elf. How exotic," Maxwell licked his lips, looking at Kolvar.
"Now tell what an elf is doing with a noble like you. Don't tell me you both are nobles,"
"He's my servant," Hunter quickly answered Maxwell.
"He's accompanying me in my journey,"
"Journey to where?"
"I've been researching rare trees. I am a student of Rolewin, school of alchemists," Hunter said. Parker had memories about this particular school for alchemists in Bellburn city. Since Hunter and Kolvar had been carrying sacks full of devil's buttons, lying to MAxwell as he was a student of an alchemy school might give Hunter enough time to initiate his plan.
"Look here boys, we have an alchemist here. This is a rare catch indeed," Maxwell's laughter echoed through the forest.
He looked at Thrud, who stood behind Hunter, and suddenly, Thurud kicked Hunter and Kolvar in the knees. They fell to the ground as Thrud forced them to kneel before Maxwell.
"What did you find on them?" asked Maxwell.
Thrud swallowed a mouth full of saliva as the men accompanying him scratched the back of their heads.
"You didn't search them, did you?" Asked Maxwell
"Can we do that now?" asked Thrud. MAxwell's eyes glimmered with anger, but fortunately, he was used to his group's stupidity.
"You better find something valuable on them, or you will see how my fist tastes in your face," Maxwell cracked his knuckles. Thrud didn't even waste a second as he began to run his hands through Hunter's body. Hunter could hear Thrud's heartbeat. Drops of sweat fell on Hunter's shoulder from Thrud's face.
Finally, Thrud grabbed the pouch in Hunter's pocket. Hunter was really lucky that Thrud found the pouch full of astral coins instead of the devil's cry dagger inside his shirt. A grin formed from Thrud's ear to another.
"Boss, look," Thrud handed over the pouch to MAxwell. He weighed the pouch for a moment before opening it. A bright smile emerged on his face when Maxwell saw the coins.
"Now this is more like a noble," Maxwell laughed. He picked up four or four coins from the pouch and looked at Thrud and his men.
"Nah," Maxwell put the coins back into the pouch before taking only two coins.
He tossed the two coins toward Thrud.
"This is your share," Hunter almost laughed out loud. Thrud and his men did all the leg work, yet they received only a measly two coins. The pouch had exactly one hundred and fifty astral coins. Maxwell was beyond unreasonable. He was a monster.
But Thrud didn't dare to say anything as he picked up the two coins from the ground. Hunter looked over his shoulder to see the frustration on Thrud's face. If Hunter was a betting man, he would say Thrud is murdering Maxwell in his mind.
Despite all the frustration, Thrud continued to search Hunter for more valuables.
"What the?" When Thrud ran his hand on Hunter's stomach, he felt the dagger's handle. Maxwell noticed a vague outline of a dagger inside Hunter's shirt. Maxwell's smile froze on his face. He reached for the sword dangling from his waist. However, Hunter swiftly grabbed Thrud's hand, headbutter Thrud on the jaw, knocking him back, grabbed the dagger, and took it out of his shirt.
Before Maxwell could grab the sword's hilt, Hunter plunged the devil's cry right between Maxwell's legs. Kolvar hissed as he closed his eyes. Hot blood splashed on his face.
"BOSS!" The bandits shouted. Hunter was faster than them. He twisted the dagger and quickly moved Maxwell's behind. Hunter noticed the silver chain around Maxwell's neck lost its glow. This silver chain was MAxwell's defense talisman. The defense talisman would have formed a protective shield in any other situation before Maxwell received a life-threatening blow. However, the devil's cry had the ability to ignore all the defense talisman and spells when the target was under level 40.
The bandits were stunned beyond words. Hunter returned the favor by kicking Maxwell on the knees. The big man dropped to his knees. Blood flowed down to the ground, forming a puddle right between his legs. Kolvar quickly stood up and ran behind Hunter before someone else could take him hostage.
"There is a new sheriff in town, baby," Hunter slowly plunged his dagger into Maxwell's neck.
"From now on, all you bandits work for me. Are you going to fight me?" asked Hunter. He then slowly cut Maxwell's throat from one end to another. The sight of blood gushing out of Maxwell's throat scared the shit out of the bandits. Maxwell was the strongest one in their group, but the young man had taken him down in a few blinks of an eye. They could only imagine how strong the young man would be. The bandits might be stupid, but they weren't suicidal. Good thing it required special spells and equipment to see someone's level and trait. Otherwise, the bandits would have found that Hunter was not even at level 20.
"Now raise your hands if you have an objection to this leadership change," Hunter's calm voice swept across the bandit camp. As expected, no one moved a finger. These bandits didn't even dare to gang up on Hunter and try to kill him. Hunter gambled they wouldn't attack him together and his gamble paid off.
"Never underestimate the power of dumb people in large groups," Hunter recalled his father's words. Using these bandits to thieve on people was such a waste of their talents. Hunter had better plans for them, one that didn't involve robbing people, at least not everyone.
"Kolvi, go into the tent and see if this guy has any valuables,"
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for killing a level 20 Disciple Warrior. The reward is 60,000 Experience points and 800 Badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 6000 Badass points]
[Congratulations to the host for leveling up. The current is Level 12, Disciple]
[Congratulations to the host for leveling up. The current is Level 13, Disciple]
Kolvar seemed reluctant and afraid for a moment but ultimately went into the tent behind them. Hunter whistled a tune without a worry in this world. The bandits stared at him with fearful eyes. They looked scared shitless seeing Hunter playing drums on Maxwell's head.
"Kolvi, we don't have all day," Hunter raised his voice.
"Gimme some time. I am looking. This place is a mess," Kolvar complained.
"Look under the beds. People like him like to hide things they don't want others to see under their beds,"
The bandits were in complete shock. He killed their boss and ransacked his tent before their eyes like it was their own home. These two seemed completely psycho in their eyes.
"Found it," Kolvar shouted. Anyone could tell Kolvar was shocked and delighted at the same time. A few seconds later, Kolvar dragged a small chest out of the tent.
"I don't think it's a good idea to open the chest in front of them," Kolvar whispered in Hunter's ears.
"Nah, it's fine. They are our guys," Hunter grinned. The bandits took a step back in fear when he raised his dagger.
"Thrud," Hunter turned his gaze toward Thrud,
"Form a line, would ya?"
Thrud creased his brows behind his cloak.
"He said form a line," Surprisingly, Kolvar raised his voice and ordered the bandits.
The smile on Hunter's face disappeared. Looking into his eyes, the bandits shuddered. Fear made them form a line behind Thrud.
Hunter finally let go of Maxwell's head as his body hit the ground with a heavy thud. Hunter stepped onto Maxwell's body and looked down at the bandits.
"Open the chest," Hunter said to Kolvar as the elf slowly opened the chest. As soon as he lifted up, a golden light radiated from within. Hunter saw gems, jewels, astral coins, and rubies sparkle within the chest. His heart ached to see the valuables, but the sacrifice was worth his end goal.
The bandits drooled. Their eyes became sparky. Hunter jumped down from Maxwell's body and took a couple of steps to reach the chest.
"Thrud, step forward," Hunter said to Thrud. The bandit looked at his comrades behind. He was reluctant to take a step forward.
"I am not going to kill you. Come on," Hunter's smile somewhat reassured Thrud as he slowly walked forward. Hunter bent down and grabbed a handful of valuables.
"Extend your hands,"
Thrud had yet to learn what they were planning to do. He imagined getting a portion of the wealth in his mind, but his previous experience told him to expect otherwise. He took a deep breath and extended his hands.
To Thrud's and everyone's shock, Hunter put the handful of valuables into Thrud's hands.
"What the?" Thrud was stunned.
"Unlike your previous boss. I know how to appreciate your hard work. Take this. It's yours," Hunter said. The bandits couldn't believe what they had just heard. They were completely caught off guard. Even Kolvar did not expect Hunter to make such a bold move.
"Loyalty is far more valuable than this chest," Hunter grinned inside.