Joe was glad for the dark. His Night Eyes ability let him traverse the ground with no problem, and would hopefully keep the bandits from seeing him. They were still far enough away that it shouldn't be an issue, though. The Target Sight ability could see through matter like X-Ray Sight, but it didn't give any details. All Joe could see of his 12 targets were red silhouettes.
Before long all 12 targets stopped and gathered together. Joe quickly moved to a location where he had an unobstructed view of them and activated Telescopic Sight so he could see what they were doing. They were in front of a bunch of large boulders. The orc woman pushed one of the boulders to the side, revealing a large cave entrance. Most of the bandits went in, pushing the wagon with them. The orc stayed out and moved the boulder back in place. Afterwards she moved to a smaller boulder on the ground and lifted it like it was on a hinge. She disappeared into the ground while pulling the boulder back into place. From her movements it looked like a ladder was there.
Seeing that she was alone, Joe decided to run up to the smaller boulder and quickly lift open the secret hatch. There was no light but the night sky was obvious above him. He heard the orc woman ask, “Who's there?” before he jumped down, not bothering with the ladder. He activated Land on Your Feet before he hit her, and Lightning Jolt when he did hit her. Since both his feet landed on her and he wasn't sure how tough she was, Joe did a double cast of Lightning Jolt, one from each foot.
Down they went and the orc bandit died before she even hit the ground. The ground was only a few meters further down, and Joe's Toughness alone was enough to prevent injury from that short of a fall. The underground chamber Joe fell into was poorly lit. The room was barely large enough for the orc bandit to stand up in, if she had been able, and was only about 2 meters across in any direction. Other than the ladder there was a crude wooden door on the opposite side of the room. Joe Listened for anything on the other side, not having enough Stamina to spare an X-Ray Sight, and opened the door.
The next room was slightly larger, and there were two more doors. There were also 2 alcoves on either side of the room, each one blocked off with steel bars like a prison cell, complete with prisoners. One held a male gnome, one a female gnome, one an old female elf, and the last one had a young teen female human, probably also under 18 like the elf Joe saw them capture.
“We don't have much time before they arrive. Where are the keys to your cells?”
The prisoners looked confused and blinked in surprise. Finally the elf woman said, “Jedzin has the key. Watch out for her, she's really strong.”
Joe nodded in comprehension. “Orc lady, brown skin, moves wagons better than a horse?”
“Yes, that's her.”
“Perfect, she's already dead, I'll be right back.”
Joe returned to the previous room and searched the orc's pockets. He found some daggers which he put to the side, some gold coins, and finally an iron key. He took everything back to the prison room and unlocked the cells. He noticed that except for the gnome woman, none of the rest of them could walk, likely affected by the same poison as the caravan guards back on the road.
Joe cast Healing Touch on the elf woman, curing her poison, and he saw the gnome doing the same to the other gnome.
“Ah, no wonder you weren't affected by the poison, you could just heal it anyway.”
She nodded and replied, “That's one of the reasons they kept me, for my healing. But please, you have to help us rescue our boy before we leave.” The gnome woman and man held each other, both looking toward Joe with a pleading look.
“Why isn't he kept here like the rest of you?”
“He's too young, only 15. It will be years before Glior can use him for whatever he took Melanie here for. Please, save Gymmie for us.”
“Not to worry, I need to rescue someone else they captured outside anyway. Besides the 12 who I saw out there and your son Gymmie, do you know of anyone else down here with us?”
“We can't be sure,” the gnome man said. “They always keep us separated when they take us out to do our tasks for them.”
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Joe thought for a moment. “Okay, well, some of them were a little injured, so they might come here looking for healing. It looks like some of them are on their way in this direction. Quick, all of you back into the other room, watch out for the blood from Jedzin's body. Here are a couple of daggers she had on her if you can use them.”
By that time the gnome healer had gotten the human girl back to her feet and the elf woman and gnome man each took one of the daggers in a well-practiced grip. All four of them shuffled back to the other room and closed the door.
Joe got close to the door it looked like the three approaching bandits would arrive from. Before they opened the door he could hear one of them yelling, “Jedzin! Where are you with that gnome witch? We need to be patched up.”
The door opened and three men entered, all holding blood-soaked rags to their bodies. Joe quickly cast Cold Snap, limiting the range to not go beyond the three men he could see. All three men stiffened up and were covered in frost. He hadn't heard a kill notification chime yet, so he reached out a hand to each of the two nearest and cast Lightning Jolt on both at the same time. Both frozen bandits exploded into shards of frozen flesh and steam as the blood in the bodies evaporated with no room to expand.
Joe thought that was rather gross even if it was completely effective. Not wanting to be showered with more frozen bandit pieces, Joe punched the remaining one before he could thaw. The head was knocked off. Joe's meditation was getting better at restoring his stamina being drained by the Target Sight as he just reduced the original cost by a third.
It looked like half of the remaining bandits were sitting at a table, maybe going through the provisions they had just stolen. Another two were moving like they were unloading the wagon. The leader, recognizable for the only silhouette with a long snout, was off on his own, and the last one looked to be coming in Joe's direction and looked to be bringing along the newest prisoner.
Since Cold Snap could exclude people, Joe figured something similar to last time. He didn't want to use Lightning Jolt while the bandit could be holding metallic chains connected to the elf teen. Joe moved to the next room to surprise the bandit. Cold Snap was able to exclude the elf just like the description promised it would. He was untouched by the biting cold that nearly froze the human woman dragging him along, showing that she was tougher than the last three guys he hit with it. Still, she was surprised enough to drop the chains, so Joe reached out for her arm and cast Lightning Jolt which finished the job.
“I'm sorry, I don't have much time, I have to move while they're still split up and distracted. I'll find the key and free you shortly, though. Go into that other room,” Joe said while motioning to the door he came from, “and go near the back door, but don't open it. There are a couple of stab-happy former prisoners scared and waiting on the other side. Oh, and watch out for thawing bandit pieces on the floor.”
At that last warning the young man's eyes went wide and he just mutely nodded and moved to follow directions.
The four bandits sitting together were close enough together he could hit them all with a single Cold Snap. But of course, two in succession would be better, so that's what Joe decided to do. He entered their little dining hall and before they could process what they were seeing he rushed forward to the edge of the table and cast Cold Snap twice in a row.
Only three targets left. Joe decided to go for the leader first, as he was more sure that the other two would be busy for a bit unloading their loot. There was no telling when the boss, Glior, as the gnome woman called him, would finish whatever he was doing. Joe crept through the base towards the silhouette of his marked target and prepared himself. He Listened at the door to see if anyone else could be heard.
“If you tell your mother I'll kill her and bury her next to your father. As much as we enjoy her druid magic, my plans for newly minted CGS kids take priority over her or your father, which is why he's being killed to make room.”
Joe heard the same voice as outside before he killed the boy's father. Other than Glior speaking, he only heard a boy crying, presumably Gymmie. Joe wanted to be extra prepared so he activated Read Aura, just in case it gave him any warning about weird abilities Glior had, like that dagger summoning thing.
Joe closed his eyes for a moment and took a calming breath. Then he knocked loudly on the door and called out, “Boss! Jedzin needs to see you about that new prisoner.”
As soon as the door opened Joe grabbed the crocodillian's snout by both hands and cast a dual Lightning Jolt through them. Glior's yellow eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. He moved his empty hand towards Joe's chest. Time seemed to slow as Joe entered a hyper-focused state. He could see manachlorian energy flow out of Glior's hand and a dagger appeared. A chime sounded in Joe's mind, but quicker than thought Joe cast Cold Snap, making sure to limit its distance as well as exclude Gymmie, just in case. That was enough, Glior froze solid and Joe knocked his head off like before.
Joe wanted to see what that notification he got while in the middle of the fight was. It was too long after casting Lightning Jolt to be a level up notice. He quickly skimmed over the many combat experience notices and found what happened.
Read Aura ranked up to Rank 4.
Hidden Blade spell learned.
Hidden Blade (Level 1). This spell allows the caster to move a one-handed bladed weapon from somewhere on their person to their hand instantly. At the current level only mundane blades can be teleported in this manner.
Stamina cost: 15 Stamina