The body soon followed the head, the women were shocked but Val had already become used to killing and was unfazed. He heard noise coming from the room on the right, Jamal was the same and they both turned to face the door as it was opened.
The other 4 bandits were only low rank and did not consider the fact that they were under attack. They thought the noise coming from outside their room was from the other bandits returning.
When they opened the door they were shocked for a moment and before they could realize what had happened they had been killed by Jamal.
When Jamal finished ending the lives of the bandits he noted,
"If what the bandit said is true, there should only be 2 other bandits still in the hideout. I am not sensing anyone else down this path, so the remaining two must be down the last path."
Val looked around and asked,
"I wonder what's in the last room then?"
Jamal was also curious but he knew it was best to be safe than sorry so he reminded Val,
"We should check the other two bedrooms first, then we can have a look."
Val just nodded, he knew Jamal was right.
The group checked the bedrooms and found some clothes and books, but nothing that was obviously worth a lot of money. Jamal still took everything, in case something was worth more than he expected.
The group then proceeded to the last room in this corridor. Jamal opened it but remained cautious. As he saw what was inside, he dropped his guard and opened the door fully for everyone to see.
The room was the bandit's armory. It had a plethora of weapons and armor. In fact, it seemed like there was some armor and weapons that were of better quality than what the bandits who attacked them had.
Val activated [Mana Eyes] and observed all the items. There were a few weapons that had mana but what drew Val's attention was a short sword that had mana running through it in the corner. Val could not believe his luck, the extreme fight may have been dangerous but had become unbelievably rewarding.
Val moved to take the magic short sword, however, Jamal spotted him and spoke,
"What are you doing?"
Val shifted his gaze from the sword to Jamal and nonchalantly responded,
"Taking the short sword."
Jamal's eyebrow twitched when he heard Val's reply, the boy had taken probably the most valuable prize in this place and wanted to take more.
"You have already taken the most valuable thing in this place and you want to take more?"
Val looked at Jamal and feigned ignorance,
"I don't know what you mean, are you saying that my partner and family, Larz, is merely a prize?"
Jamal could not believe the shamelessness of the brat and was about to respond when Val continued,
"Also I couldn't take Larz by force anyway, you told me he had to choose me. Plus I am by far the largest contributor, I even saved the lives of your merchants. Are you saying their value is less than this short sword?"
Jamal was stumped, he had noticed that Val was not the most caring person in the world, but this was the first time he had seen him so shameless. He just sighed and did not argue any further.
Val gave a big smile at his verbal victory and went to the sword. He threw away the rusty short sword he had taken from the goblin and attached the new magic sword to his belt. Val then exited the room and went towards the women who were waiting for them.
Sav had been dying to talk to Val, but did not know what to say, when she saw his new sword, she quickly took the opportunity and asked,
"Is that a new sword, it looks really cool!"
Val nodded and drew the magic short sword. The blade of the sword was an obsidian black similar to Sav's hair and the handle was a shiny silver similar to his own. Val was unsure about the magic qualities of the sword but knew it was most likely related to shadow or Darkness.
Magic items, weapons, or armor are hard to assess when found. Unfortunately, they do not have a status to check, nor do you just know what they can do when you use them. You have to try different things based on appearance. Alternatively, there is a skill called [Appraisal] which can tell you, but it is an extremely rare skill, which can only be obtained through a physique or blessing.
Val would have to take some time to try different things out when he has an opportunity. To use a magic weapon you do not have to have the corresponding Magic Talent, but you do have to have the Martial Talent. So to use this magic short sword, Val does not need Shadow or Darkness Talent, but he does need Short Sword Talent. However, the weapon will become significantly more powerful if you have all the matching Talents.
Val nodded in response to Sav, and replied,
"Yeah it looks powerful, it has this black blade which I really like. Also, it's a magic sword, so it should have a skill or two that can be used. I think the skills will have to do with shadow or darkness element."
Sav's eyes opened wide, the sword was even more awesome than she had originally thought.
"Oh wow, the shadow and darkness elements are my favorite, I hope I awaken them when I turn 10."
It was Val's turn to be surprised, it was rare for a girl to want Shadow or Darkness Talent. He did not know why, but he liked Sav and thought she was very cute and would become a beauty when she was older, therefore he made her a promise,
"Well then, how about this, if you awaken the Short Sword Talent when you turn 10 like me, I'll give it to you as a congratulatory gift!"
A huge smile appeared on Sav's face, it was like she had not just been imprisoned by bandits for the last few days after her village was destroyed. Val found her ability to still be happy even after everything that happened to be very strange but was not going to bring it up.
What Val did not know was that Sav's only family was her mother, who was a whore and abusive. Her mother did not care about her and would have sold her to a man when she was older. Therefore, for Sav, this was an opportunity to be free, she was no longer a prisoner, and due to being not even 10 yet, none of the bandits had raped her, and quite frankly, the prison was not much worse than her living conditions prior to the village being destroyed.
Sav quickly responded cheerfully,
"Okay that's a promise, you can't take it back!"
Val gave a little chuckle at the eagerness of the black-haired girl and confirmed the promise,
"It's a promise."
The two kids kept chatting for a bit until Jamal exited the room, he had stored all the weapons and armor and was ready to finish this operation.
The group headed back to the fork in the corridor, and then down the last path on the left. They walked towards the end, but before arriving they got confronted by the remaining 2 bandits.
The bandits tried to speak but before any words left their mouths, they were killed by Jamal.
The group continued to the end of the corridor, where they were met with only one door. All the bandits should have been killed but Jamal was still cautious when opening the door to the last room. As he opened the door, even he was surprised by what he saw.
The room was full of different treasures. There were chests full of coins, jewels, and expensive metals. There was a vast range of magic items, and a chest full of skill orbs.
When Val and the women saw the contents of the room, they were all speechless. When Jamal started storing all the treasure in his Spatial rings and pouches, Val finally snapped out of his shock, he did not care much about the treasure, what had caught his eye was the chest of skill orbs. It looked to contain about 20 different skill orbs, for a range of different Magic and Martial Talents.
Val had a quick look through and found a Spatial Skill Orb, and from the look of it, Val guessed it was of a very high rank. Val wanted it badly and was about to say something to Jamal, however, he heard Jamal's voice before he could say anything,
"Don't even think about it. You have already taken the sword and tamed the dragon. Everything else will be split when we get back to camp."
Val was unhappy about not being able to take the Skill Orb immediately, but he understood that it was not fair for him to take things before others had a chance to say what they wanted. He figured he would probably get it anyway because no one else had a Spatial Talent.
As Jamal was storing the treasure, Sav approached Val and asked,
"What type of Skill Orb was that?"
Val thought about if he should lie or not, but decided to be honest with Sav,
"It was a Spatial Skill Orb."
Sav was once again shocked,
"Why would you want a Spatial Skill Orb?"
Val heard Sav's confusion and answered with a cheeky smile,
"Obviously because I have a Spatial Talent."
Sav's eyes shot open,
"What!!"
Everyone looked at the duo, Val placed his finger against his lips and shooshed Sav.
"That's a secret, so you can't tell anyone."
When Sav heard that Val had told her one of his secrets, she was delighted, she nodded vigorously, and apologized for being loud,
"Sorry for yelling, I promise I won't tell anyone."
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It took Jamal a while to store everything, he found some interesting items, but he would have to inspect them more when he returned to the camp.
After they had completely taken everything in the base, the group left.
It took them a little longer to return to the camp than it took to get to the hideout, but that was to be expected now that they had a group of women who had been confined for the last few days and had not eaten properly.
After about 2.5 hours they arrived back at the camp.