Days later, after traversing the same forest three times, Jaeger felt less optimistic.

“What the hell is going on? We've passed this tree eight times, I can see my damn marks on it.”

Stopping Ventress, he hopped down and walked over to the tree. It did indeed have a series of notches on it, taking out his axe he made another identical notch. It hadn't taken him long to figure out that he was trapped by magic, he just hadn't known what to do. Jaeger thought that if he kept going he might be able to burn out the magic or maybe just break free. Now he wasn't so sure. What he was sure of was that he was trapped.

Trying to find solutions, Jaeger decided to go through his skills. Chains that Bind and Contract Hunter were useless here, but maybe Bloodhound could work. It wouldn't free him, but it was a tracking spell. If Crusher was not trapped here somehow, this spell could hopefully lead him to the orc and to freedom.

He wiped his pants clean, holstered his axe, and mounted Ventress, activating the skill. A faint golden trail appeared before his eyes, floating across the ground in front of him and leading off into the distance. With a grin on his face, the hunter set Ventress in motion, careful to guide her along the trail.

Jaeger had no way of keeping track of time in this magical trap, but he was certain that at least a day of time had passed. His belief in the skill to free him was slowly fading. It was a tracking skill, after all, how was it supposed to... crack.

“What do you mean the spells breaking?”

“I mean, this thing is coming down, I don't know how or why, but it's happening. Be prepared.”

“This guy wasn’t supposed to have any real magic. Just some magic chains.”

Jaeger began to hear voices, faint and distant at first, but quickly, as if shot from a cannon, they came close to him. And then the world changed. From high in the midday sky to low on the horizon, the sun had moved half a day. This change wasn't the only one, now a group of people were standing on the formerly empty stretch of road.

They were a mixture of humans and beastkin, wearing an assortment of armor. Unlike the adventurers Jaeger had seen wearing a similarly haphazard array, these peoples were clearly rusted and worn. That, along with a certain way they carried themselves, told Jaeger all he needed to know about them. They were bandits, bandits with magic, but bandits nonetheless. He smiled, it looked like he was going to make a little extra money today.

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“I guess even in a world of magic there’s bandits. So what do you fools want?”

“Your gold, your horse, and your gear.”

“Yeah and we’ll take yer life too if’n you don’t listen.”

Jaeger laughed, it had been years since bandits had tried to rob him. It was refreshing, but he didn't take the situation lightly; they had used magic, after all. They might be competent.

“That's not going to happen. I have a bounty to collect and I need everything I've got. I'm feeling generous, so I'm only gonna say this once. Leave, and I won't come looking for you until your face is on a bounty poster.”

The group of men looked at each other. There were eight of them, each one armed, and yet Jaeger called them out without fear. He could tell that these bandits were used to dealing with novice adventurers and peasants, people who usually didn't know how to deal with bandits. Jaeger knew what he was dealing with though: petty men who valued their little power.

“Tough talk for some novice adventurer. The arrogance of you, we've killed more than our fair share of you, and it looks like I'll be adding your tag to my collection.”

A Beastkin, best described as a calico cat, was the one who spoke. He had a scar over one eye and a notch over his opposite ear. He also had a chain of plaques and badges that he threw to the ground. After this display, he grinned cruelly and drew his two swords.

“Get him lads, lets add another pass to our Killers Chain.”

With a roar, the bandits charged Jaeger, but unfortunately for them, he was prepared. With a flick of his reins, Ventress jumped directly to the side and began to move as Jaeger drew his rifle.

Taking a deep breath, he turned in his saddle and sighted an axe wielding bandit. The runes on the rifle began to glow, then with a roar and a puff of smoke the bandit fell, his face a broken, bleeding crater. Sending more mana into the rifle, and after testing it, Jaeger knew he had ten shots before he was spent.

The men chasing him had dropped and ran for cover at the sound of the hunter's rifle. The bandit leader growled.

“We know he doesn't have any real magic, that thing has to be a magical item. He can't use it repeatedly.”

Just as he finished speaking, Jaeger shot another bandit, this one holding a rusty spear, his chest ripped open with giblets.

This seemed to hurt the bandits' morale, as they began to run back to their leader. He only got angrier as they began to group together.

“What the hell are you doing? He’s gonna get away.”

“I ain’t dying for some bloody gear. He’s obviously got some kinda magic, that innkeeper lied to us. He ain’t some old farmer turned adventurer.”

The bandit leader did not like to hear this, for in one swift move he plunged both of his swords through the belly of the complainer. He lifted the man up and yelled.

“The innkeeper is reliable, unlike you. He does what I tell him and gets paid. You don't, and so get dead.” Dropping the body and as he looked around him a faint red aura seemed to manifest around him. “What about the rest of you, will you get paid or get dead?”