Alexander led his men in search of bandits and quickly located a group of bandits. Seeing that Alexander and his men outnumbered them, the bandits turned to flee, but Alexander was not about to let them escape.
In hot pursuit, the bandits were finally cornered by a large mountain, unable to flee any further.
"Must it come to this?" the bandit leader said. "We don't want to be enemies with you."
Alexander, wearing a green hood, smirked devilishly. "Running into me, consider yourselves unlucky."
"If that's the case, then come at us!"
The bandits numbered 15, while Alexander and his men numbered 30, and the battle was imminent.
Initially, Alexander hid behind the shield-bearing Odor and others until the bandits exhausted their ancestral technique of throwing stones. Then, Alexander drew his two-handed sword and charged bravely.
Due to his high agility, his speed far surpassed that of ordinary people, quickly outpacing the rest and engaging the bandits alone.
The bandit leader, surprised, brandished his large cleaver and met Alexander head-on. They understood the principle of capturing the leader first, but they hadn't expected to encounter a foolish lord today who dared to charge alone.
However, before his cleaver could descend, he suddenly felt his vision spinning, accompanied by a splatter of blood. In his sight, he saw a headless body falling. Wasn't that himself?
In the eyes of the other bandits, their leader was suddenly beheaded without any warning, clean and easy, even easier than slaughtering a chicken. That guy in the green clothes seemed to be quite strong.
Unconvinced, several bandits rushed forward together.
Alexander smirked. "Too slow!"
Swinging his two-handed sword, he managed to parry the attacks of three or four bandits in succession and even launched counterattacks in the gaps.
Soon, two more bandits fell at his feet. After all, these bandits didn't have armor, so a solid blow from the sword would leave a deep cut.
By this time, the main force had also arrived, outnumbering the bandits and surrounding them to cut them down.
The battle ended without suspense.
With the kills and captures, Alexander gained a total of 170 experience points. His experience bar now read 1570/1600.
He would level up again soon. Alexander was determined to continue hunting down bandits without pause, leading his men to chop them down wherever they were found.
Soon, his level rose again:
Level: 6
Strength: 9
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 6
Charisma: 6
Available Attribute Points: 1
Experience: 100/3200
System Coins: 0
Alexander decided to once again allocate his attribute points to strength because wielding a two-handed sword requires arm strength, and increasing strength would enhance the power of his two-handed sword. After adding points to strength, he felt a surge of power coursing through his body, even making his two-handed sword feel lighter by a few degrees. This sensation of growing stronger made Alexander eager for more. Taking advantage of the lull in battle, he continued to hunt down bandits, selling their loot and then hunting them again in a continuous cycle.
Until one day, the system's voice finally rang out. This sound was like celestial music, making Alexander so ecstatic that he almost jumped up. He now loved the cold, merciless voice of the system. This signaled the completion of the first step of the Merchant's Path.
[Congratulations Lord Alexander for completing the Merchant's Path - Petite Bourgeois Life]
Ding! 1000 system coins credited!
Alexander's attributes panel now read:
[Level]: 6
[Strength]: 10
[Agility]: 10
[Intelligence]: 6
[Charisma]: 6
[Available Attribute Points]: 0
[Experience]: 1100/3200
[System Coins]: 1000
He had been hunting bandits continuously for several weeks now, and the surrounding bandits had been completely wiped out. He even earned himself a well-known title in the bandit circles - the Green Cyclone. Bandits now fled at the sight of anyone wearing a green cloak.
Alexander had reaped considerable rewards, and he was once again preparing to lead his troops to hunt bandits. His army had significantly strengthened, with 30 soldiers, none of whom were new recruits; at the very least, they were all Saint Martin Light Infantry. Even the earliest recruits had all been promoted to Saint Martin Infantry.
In reality, the Saint Martin military had many branches, quite complex in structure. They could be roughly categorized as follows:
1. Saint Martin Recruits - Saint Martin Levied Crossbowmen - Saint Martin Crossbowmen - Saint Martin Hard Crossbowmen - Saint Martin Sharpshooters.
2. Saint Martin Recruits - Saint Martin Light Infantry - Saint Martin Spearman - Saint Martin Hook Sicklemen - Saint Martin Axemen (or Saint Martin Longspearmen).
3. Saint Martin Recruits - Saint Martin Light Infantry - Saint Martin Infantry - Saint Martin Swordsman - Saint Martin Sergeant.
Alexander intended to pursue the fourth path:
Saint Martin Recruits - Saint Martin Light Infantry - Saint Martin Infantry - Saint Martin Light Cavalry - Saint Martin Vanguard Cavalry.
In the Kingdom of Saint Martin, soldiers who do not want to be cavalry are not good soldiers.
Alexander lives in a country of cavalry. From a young age, the people of Saint Martin pledge to become distinguished knights, fighting for their country and defending the knightly spirit. Therefore, they are all qualified cavalry prospects. It would be a waste not to cultivate them into cavalry.
"Lord Alexander, there are people blocking the road ahead," a soldier pointed out.
Alexander focused his gaze and indeed saw a group of riders ahead. Before Alexander could speak, they asked, "Have you heard of the legend of the Green Cyclone?"
Standing behind his men, with Otto and others blocking the view, only Alexander's head was visible, so the others did not see him.
After a brief silence, Alexander spoke up, "No, what is it that you want?"
"We, the Green Cyclone, have cleared the bandits around here and kept the area safe. Isn't it fair to ask for some protection fees?" the leader continued, their attitude extremely arrogant.
Only then did Alexander notice that they were all dressed in green robes. He glanced down at his own clothes and realized he seemed to have bumped into poor imitations.
Alexander stepped out from the crowd and frowned at them. "What if I don't want to pay?"
"You..." The leader looked at Alexander's attire in surprise, then suddenly realized something. "I didn't expect to meet a colleague here. You even imitate us quite well. The Green Cyclone serves under Duke Ferdinand. Without even a flag, you're not even worthy..."
"Raise the flag!" Alexander commanded.
Under Duke Ferdinand, Alexander belonged to the mercenaries, so naturally, he had the corresponding flag. But he was usually too lazy to use it, especially since they weren't at war with another country, did they really need to raise a flag to deal with bandits?
The dozen or so people on the other side were silent for a moment, then immediately threw down their weapons and knelt on the ground, very skillfully, they could see it was an old habit.
"Master... we never killed anyone, just used the name to make a little money...