Sol spent the next 3 days repeating the quests. He took the chance to buy a bigger backpack to store more items to bring back as well. Overall, his gains from doing these E-Rank quests had already surpassed what Sol used to gain in a year back in Initium. Granted, he only took one quest, and it was to just leave the town; he still was amazed by how much money he was making.
Currently, Sol was on his fourth trip doing the quests, making this the last one he needed to rank up. Normally, it would take a normal E-Rank adventurer at least a month to produce these results, but by making use of a single skill for gathering herbs, it created outstanding results.
In addition to that, thanks to [Siphon], Sol was able to level up [Leap] and [Strength Up] by one, [Harden] and [Sprint] by two, and [Analysis] by one from repeated usage.
Halfway through the day, he was traveling through the forest, with a better grasp of the layout, he knew the better spots to search for his quest targets.
"All I am missing from the monster quests is the termites; I always find them near the road to the city."
Making his way to the road he initially took when he arrived at Kerman, he heard the sounds of fighting. At first, it didn't surprise Sol as he had encountered other individuals and parties hunting in these woods, but it sounded like it came from the road. Finding it odd, he went to investigate.
Upon arriving Sol saw a carriage being attacked by bandits. 6 guards were defending against 14 bandits, and the guards were losing ground. Sol was about to leap in to help the guards until he was shocked at who the bandits were. He recognized two of them from when he was attacked on his way to Kerman city.
'No… I let them go, and they really just went back to stealing. Was I wrong? Should I not have let them go?'
Hundreds of thoughts raced through his mind as he felt regret from his actions. He truly thought he might have convinced them to strive for a better future, but seeing them still in their ways, Sol was stunned.
The fight did not wait for Sol as eventually, one of the guards was struck down by the dagger-wielding bandit Isaac. Seeing this brought Sol back to reality.
'Now is not the time! I need to help them, and I can't hold back!'
Sol then used [Sprint] as he dashed into the fray, using [Leap] to quickly approach and slash down with his sword at the nearest enemy, killing him instantly.
The bandits were surprised but kept fighting as it wasn't the first time someone intervened in their robbery. The guards, on the other hand, were elated at the reinforcements and fought with more vigor.
Blocking out the fact he just killed another human, he focused on the fact he was saving others.
"Make the wind move in my favor, [Tailwind]!"
Casting a spell to move even faster, Sol dashed between the bandits, slashing at them with a force he didn't know he had, killing most bandits in one hit. Those who survived the initial attack were quickly met with a second, sealing their fate.
Seeing his friends die to Sol, a bandit screamed at their leader.
"This guy is too strong! We gotta get out of here!"
Isaac, who was focused on fighting the guards, turned to look at who was interfering with them and was shocked upon seeing Sol.
"Fuck! It's you!"
Seeing three more bandits fall to his blade within seconds, Isaac started running away.
'Shit! He isn't holding back this time! I need to hide!'
Before he could get very far, Sol chanted from a distance.
"Burn my foe to cinders, [Fireball]!"
From Sol's extended hand, a ball of fire a meter wide launched towards Isaac. He tried to dodge out of the way but was still hit by half of the sphere, burning his body.
"AHHH! IT BURNS!"
Still living after the blast, Isaac was left rolling on the floor in pain. Seeing that he was out of commission for now, Sol focused his attention back to the bandits still fighting, wanting to prevent any more innocent deaths that he caused.
Making quick work of the remaining bandits, the carriage and the people were finally safe.
Knowing the area was now safe, a chubby middle-aged man walked out of the carriage and introduced himself.
"Thank you for saving us! My name is Hughbert, a merchant of the Stellar Trading Company. While I thank you on behalf of the company for saving my merchandise, I truly wish to thank you for saving my son and daughter. Come out, children, and say thank you."
Out from the carriage, two little heads peeked out, still a little shook from the encounter. Both were still children looking around 10 to 12 years old.
The little girl spoke out first.
"Thank you!"
"Yeah! Thank you, mister!"
Hearing the word mister, Sol cringed a bit as he wasn't even 20 yet.
"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner."
The guilt from letting the bandits go still weighed heavily on his mind.
"Nonsense! If it weren't for you, those bandits would have killed us."
Being reminded of the bandits, Sol turned to look at the scene of the fight with bodies of the dozen bandits dead on the ground. The fact he killed them all made Sol feel nauseous.
"Speaking of which, young man. What do you plan to do with them?"
"Pardon?"
"The bodies. You basically killed them all on your own, so I say you earned it. Do you want us to help you take them back to the city for the reward?"
Not having dealt with bandits before, as Initium was lucky to rarely have bandits, Sol was unaware that bandits could be turned in for a bounty. The reward itself could be considered very generous to the point people have dedicated themselves to doing it for a living, commonly known as bounty hunters.
"No, it's okay. I just need a moment."
Seeing the look on his face, Hughbert started to understand this may have been his first kill.
"I see, young man, I have an offer for you."