“Are we just going to rush in and clear the place out?” Alce asked.

“Mmmm… We can’t let them leave but running in blind sounds like a bad idea. How close do you think you can get to that house without being seen?” Dem responded.

“Honestly, if they have any scout or hunter that was born with two eyes, I don’t think I’ll be getting too close without being spotted. I could crawl my way to that house, but it would take hours,” Alce shrugged.

Dem clicked his tongue and crossed his arms in annoyance. It was true. I doubt even I could make my way unseen toward that house. The house was a two-story farmhouse built out in the open fields. Since it was fall, harvesting had already begun so much of the cover that would have been provided by the fields is absent. With no trees or any real cover to mask an approach, anybody looking out from the house would have a very good chance of seeing us.

Sure we could wait for nightfall, but that would defeat the purpose. I believe Dem is correct in thinking that if we wait too long, these bandits will make a run for it. The older man who was being used as bait for the bandits turned out to be the owner of this house. The others were either members of his family or farmhands. They said the bandits showed up at the worst possible time for them.

They had just finished harvesting a good portion of their crops when the bandits kicked down their door, stole their gold, held the woman hostage, forced them to dig the cellar out into a small underground base, then required them to be bait. This all happened about three weeks ago, which lined up nicely with our last known bit of information about these bandits.

“We could just level the house. Trap them in the rubble and let them suffer,” Ilme said nonchalantly.

Anna looked over with a look of horror, but Dem spoke out first. “No, we can’t do that. There is a chance they built an escape tunnel down there on their own without these guys knowing. If we let Voker burn the house down and can’t get into the underground base, they might just escape. We have to confirm the bodies, or the guild will be pissed. And I don’t want Dominick to come looking for me.”

Ilme huffed and said no more. Then Dem turned to me, “What do you think we should do?”

Mmm.

“Why not pretend to be the bandits? We have some of their gear. It’s all bloodied and messed up too. Just slap that on you and Silent and get as close as possible. If they are watching us then it should allow us to get as close as possible before they realize something is up,” I suggested.

“And what if they have some kind of signal? Or do they just attack us the second they see us?” Alce countered.

“Then it doesn’t really matter anyway, right? We either have the element of surprise or we don’t,” I said back.

“You aren’t wrong…”

“Then we go with Voker’s plan. Does anyone have any objections?” Dem asked. Nobody voiced their opinions, so Dem continued. “Good. Silent, let’s get dressed. Ilme I want you in the back of the carriage and ready to cast a barrier just in case they start tossing spells or arrows at us.”

“A barrier?” I asked.

Everyone looked at me with surprise. “Did you not know that Ilme was a barrier mage?” Anna asked me.

“No… I don’t even know what a barrier mage is capable of,” I said honestly.

I don’t remember reading about barrier magic in my books. But there are a lot of schools of magic that I am unfamiliar with or don’t even know. What’s the point of a barrier mage if someone can just make a barrier out of their school of magic? I mean I can make a pretty strong earth wall. Even a wall of fire would be useful in some cases.

“I can create a barrier that is stronger than anything an earth or wind mage can create. My barriers are nigh impregnable. I can even summon a barrier that is one way at the cost of the barrier’s strength. Allowing us to fire our own spells and arrows in retaliation to our foes,” Ilme said proudly.

“That is… very useful.”

“It is indeed,” Ilme said boastfully with a satisfied grin that showed off her rows of white teeth.

With Ilme’s gloating out of the way, we began to prepare for our sneak attack. Silent and Dem would masquerade as wounded bandits while the rest of us would hide in the carriage. Thankfully Dem managed to convince Sylvia to stay behind and watch from a distance.

It was a tight fit back here and if the bandits managed to cast a spell without us knowing we might just all die in one go. But I didn’t imagine that happening. If they had a mage they would have been out in the field attacking the caravans.

And a quick look at the bodies suggested that they didn’t have a dedicated mage amongst them. The farmers also noted that they didn’t appear to have a mage. Of course, a mage doesn’t have to wear robes to be a mage. They could easily just look like a normal bandit.

Regardless, we pressed on towards the house. I could say that I was oddly calm about all of this. I suppose I’ve been in this situation enough times myself. Now that I think about it… I’m not really afraid of combat or any confrontation for that matter.

Even with my newfound emotions after being reborn, fighting has always been in my nature. Perhaps it’s a byproduct of my past life and my parent’s genes. I know Dad is a fighter and I’m sure Mom isn’t a pacifist either. Maybe this is just who I am. I guess you can take the soldier out of the fight but not the fight out of the soldier. This isn’t what I want out of life…

I wish I could say everyone shared my internal thoughts but I guess I was the abnormal one. With every rattle of the carriage, we inched closer to the farmhouse and the nerves of everyone in the back of this death box became more and more strained.

Sweat beaded down from Anna and Alce’s faces. Whether it was from nerves or the body heat I couldn’t be sure. Anna was mouthing a silent prayer to her god while Alce rolled an arrow in between her fingers. Ilme was using a small hole in the carriage's canvas to peer out to see if she needed to cast a barrier to cover the other two.

Time seemed to come to a crawl as the carriage continued. There were no shouts of warning, no warning shots. It was quiet besides the wheels’ rhythmic pounding against the dirt road and the steady breathing of four adventurers. At some point, the carriage began to slow down to a crawl. A voice of a young man shouted out an enthusiastic greeting that was cut short,

“Sir! You guys… are… back…Huh?”

I didn’t need to see to know what happened. The familiar sound of flesh being cut open accompanied by the shout of a surprised man. Ilme was already braced against the canvas before Silent and Dem made their move. She burst through the canvas with her war hammer at the ready which elicited a shout from whoever was on the other side. Alce was the next out and the second she cleared the carriage the sound of her arrow being released accompanied by the thud of a body falling to the ground could be heard. I followed close behind her and stepped out from the carriage.

The scene before me was how I imagined it. A young man wearing a makeshift gear similar to the other bandits lay in a pool of his own blood with a dagger sticking out from his forehead. Another bandit laid not too far from him with an arrow through his heart. Ilme, Dem, and Silent were already stacking at the door getting ready to breach. I could tell this wasn’t their first time kicking in a door. They wasted no time as with a shout from Dem, Ilme crushed the door down with a roar.

Dem and Silent followed close behind Ilme as they entered the farmhouse. I had a bad feeling so I made haste to follow them into the home. Shouts, glass breaking, and metal on metal rang out.

I entered the doorway and watched Dem finish off a bandit while Ilme clashed with another two. Silent was off to the side blocking a sword swing but my eyes shot to the corner of the room. I was glad I went before Alce because I just knew the three of them didn’t check the corner of the house.

Sure enough, a Human man was huddled against the corner of the home frantically trying to load a bolt into a crossbow. Thankfully he was failing miserably as his trembling hands struggled to guide the bolt. I just knew the three of them were going to barge straight into the home and attack the first people they saw. They didn’t even bother to check their corners. I guess everybody can get lost in their own bloodlust. Looks like even trained adventurers have some things to learn at this level.

The bandit looked up from his crossbow and our eyes met. His face contorted into one of despair as he noticed the orange flame come to life in my outstretched hand. A flare bolt slammed into the bandit’s chest with a thud. His body folded over as the bolt rolled onto the ground. By the time I looked over Dem and Silent had finished their bandits off and Ilme was choking the life out of the last one.

“Silent and I will clear the rest of the house,” Dem said quickly.

The two of them ran off to investigate the house while Alce and Anna funneled in slowly. With her bandit dead, Ilme turned to us and Anna moved to heal the wound on the Dragonkin’s face. It was nothing more than a scratch, most likely a wound from the dying struggles of the man she just killed. Dem and Silent returned shortly,

“The first two floors are clear. We just need to go into the basement and clear out the rest of these scum,” Dem said quickly.

“I’ll stay above ground and see if I can find any stragglers. Don’t think a longbow is going to be very useful down there. Who knows I might even pinpoint their escape tunnel if they have one,” Alce said while heading back outside.

“I suppose I will have to switch weapons as well,” Ilme huffed.

The Dragonkin rested her war hammer on the ground and unclipped a cudgel-type weapon from her belt. Swinging around that war hammer in close quarters would be impossible and Alce’s longbow would be severely hindered in the narrow passageways. I guess it was up to me to make up for the lack of ranged firepower, however…

“If I use a lot of fire magic down below I might end up burning all of our air.”

“That’s a thing, huh? Shit… just don’t go overboard and let us three take the lead, Voker. Keep your mana just in case they have a mage or if we need your help. Flare bolts should be good enough,” Dem suggested. “Now then let’s go finish these bastards off.”

The five of us made our way to the basement of the home and sure enough, against a back wall was a hole that had been dug out. The tunnel was unlit so I summoned a small ball of fire to use as our torch. We walked down the tunnel until we reached a three-way intersection. The farmers had told us the correct path was the one on the right. Not to completely trust the word of people we just met, Dem took the opportunity to investigate the left tunnel by himself.

It only took a few minutes for Dem to return and confirm that the left side was indeed a dead end. Not wanting to waste any more time we took the right path in hopes of finding the rest of the bandits. But something didn’t feel right to me.

“These tunnels are obviously new but do you really think bandits and a few farmers could dig all of this out in three weeks?” I said out loud.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Perhaps. The men said they were worked day and night to finish these tunnels,” Ilme suggested while ducking below an overhead piece of rock.

I shrugged. I guess it could be possible especially since people can use mana body enhancement. Most can only use their mana for a short amount of time but I suppose spread across multiple men over three weeks making these tunnels would be doable.

But seeing Ilme duck constantly as her horns scratched the ceiling made me for once in my life glad I was short. The Dragonkin was well over six feet and being in this cramped tunnel in full plate must have been a nightmare even for her. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be down here in my old body. But I wouldn’t mind having my old legs back. My armor would be nice as well.

“Something the matter, Voker?” Anna asked me from behind.

“No. Just… grumbling,” I responded a little too quickly. My voice cracked somewhat as well.

Anna giggled for a second but she stopped herself. I turned to look at her and she had a serious face on as she closed her eyes. Her ears were twitching slightly when she spoke up, “I hear voices. We are getting close.”

“Do they sound distressed? Preparing for us?” Dem asked.

“No, I don’t think so. Either they are pretending to be calm or they don’t know we are here yet.”

“Perfect. Hey Voker, I changed my mind. How many flare bolts do you think you can cast in quick succession?” Dem asked me.

“Mmm, enough I guess.” I said noncommittally.

I could probably cast a lot of flare bolts if I needed to. But I probably shouldn’t be giving concrete details about my capabilities just yet.

“That’s good enough. Ilme, once we get close enough to them, cast a barrier in front of us and let Voker thin their numbers. Then we go in,” Dem ordered.

With our plan set, I moved towards the front of the group and stayed close behind Ilme. Keeping up with the walking gaits of adults was already difficult for someone as short as me. Add on the fact that my calf is still an ever-present problem it makes things just that much harder. But at least we couldn’t move all that fast in this narrow tunnel.

Before we reached the group I retracted my spell and we made our approach in darkness. Another minute of slow walking and I could hear voices coming up from ahead.

Ilme slowed her movements so her plate mail didn’t make as much noise. I had to give it to her. Walking quietly in full armor is a difficult task but she is managing to do it well. Just goes to show that Ilme is a skilled warrior. If she fought as a mercenary in the last war then I imagine she has plenty of experience. However, I don’t think she would be able to sneak up on a group of Elven bandits. It was probably a good thing she fought for Tel’an’duth. But on the other hand, I imagine some unfortunate Humans had a really bad time against her…

—

An Unfortunate Bandit’s POV

Sigh.

…

Sigh.

…

Sigh-

“Can you stop fucking sighing every five seconds, kid? What is your damn problem anyways?” Blum barked at me while slamming his cup down onto the table.

“I’m just bored.”

“Bored of what? Sitting on your ass? You have good food, beer, and women. What more do you need? You could be sitting in one of Mutz's dirt holes freezing your balls off right about now. Waiting for prey that might not even show up. So explain to me how you are bored?” Blum said sharply.

“I just want to go do something that’s not this.” I gestured out my arms wide.

“Then go topside and mess around. Or go to sleep like everyone else,” Blum suggested.

The rest of our comrades were sleeping off the last few days of fatigue. He isn’t wrong. Sitting in a cramped hole for hours on end drains your soul just as much as your body.

“Better yet, slam some beer and go have a turn with the spoils? I swear, you kids don’t know a good thing if it slaps you upside the head. If you were sitting on the side of the road right now you would be begging to be down here,” he grumbled.

“I’m just uncomfortable today for some reason. You ever get those days, Blum?” I asked.

“Uncomfortable? What do you mean?” he asked while scratching his dirty beard.

“I just got a bad feeling is all. Can’t seem to shake it. Been messing with me since this morning,” I shrugged.

“A bad feeling, huh… Say it’s been a while since Kester came down, hasn’t it? You want to do something so bad why don’t you go check on him?”

“No… I don’t want to…”

Blum took a drink of his beer. He slowly set the cup down on the table and turned to me. “Are you… stupid or just pretending to be stupid?”

“No, I just-”

What… what is this feeling?

“Hey, you good? You are looking a little pale, kid. Maybe you should go outside…” Blum sounded concerned but I felt like he was getting further and further away from me.

The light from our torches didn’t extend all the way into the tunnel we used. From my seat, it just looked like a tunnel of nothingness. And right now that nothingness felt like it was getting heavier and heavier. I felt like my vision was being pulled into the darkness. I wasn’t sure how long I was staring but it felt like years. I blinked a few times and I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.

I wasn’t sure but I swear I saw a mask in the darkness. A mask made of gray metal with gold flowing designs on it. Almost like a river. But I don’t hear anything.

I’m just imagining things. Maybe I do need some fresh air.

“Kid? Kid? Wake up!” Blum shouted.

He was shaking me and he yelled loud enough to make the others stir in their sleep. Blum had a worried face as he looked down at me.

“What’s gotten- ugh” Blum didn’t get to finish his sentence before he fell over into me. He crashed into me and collapsed the chair I was sitting on, forcing us both to the ground.

“DRAGON DIRECTIONAL BARRIER!” An unfamiliar voice shouted from the tunnel.

I watched a barrier made of some kind of red pattern form in the tunnel. It was hard to see exactly what was going on since Blum was crushing me to the ground but I could hear the panic in everyone’s voice.

“WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!”

“MOVE! GET UP!”

“STOP-AGH”

I couldn’t tell what was going on but I could hear the grunts of my friends and the sounds of bodies hitting the floor.

“Blum! Blum! Get off of me Blum! We have to get up!” I shouted.

But Blum wasn’t reacting to my words. His body laid lifeless on top of me and I peered into his eyes for the first time since he fell on me. The light had faded from his swirling green eyes some time ago.

With all my strength I forced mana into my arms and pushed Blum’s body off of me in a panic. I pulled myself up using the table and my eyes met a small child. At least I think it was a child. They were wearing black and gray mage robes that were a tight fit to his small frame. His ash-colored hair was short and a pair of High Elf ears sat on the side of his head.

But when I tried to look into his eyes I was met with a mask made of some gray metal with gold lines decorating it. I wasn’t even sure how the kid managed to see out of a mask with no eye slots but that was the least of my worries.

I felt like something was gripping my heart and threatening to crush it into a million pieces. I couldn’t see the face behind the mask but I knew it was looking at me.

“I missed one.” The voice belonged to the masked Elf.

It was a voice that was devoid of all emotion. He didn’t even bother to call Blum a person but just referred to him as a body. But I couldn’t get mad. I couldn’t feel anything anymore as he raised his hand at me. Is this child the one with this aura?

It doesn’t matter. I’m going to die here.

—

Kaladin “Voker” Shadowheart’s POV

“Well, that was lucky for us. Most of them were sleeping it seems. Good job, Voker, Ilme,” Dem said as he walked over from checking the bodies.

“My barrier wasn’t even needed it seems,” Ilme huffed.

“Ah, Ilme it was a good Dragon Barrier,” Anna said softly.

“Is your spell called Dragon Directional Barrier?” I asked.

Why not Directional Dragon Barrier? Sounds better to me…

“No, she just puts dragon before the name of all her barriers,” Dem chuckled.

Anna giggled and Silent had a knowing smile as Ilme turned away with her trademark huff. It felt somewhat odd laughing and joking amongst a room full of corpses but this was just how things were. People needed to stay sane after a fight regardless of the difficulty. It was like this even in my previous life. If you thought too hard about the lives you just ended it will only eat away at your mind. Besides, it’s not like these people didn’t deserve what happened to them.

“Now then… One last room, huh? Anna, would you like to go?” Dem said quietly.

Anna's normal smile was replaced with the serious smile I’d had seen on her before. It was the same look she adopted when it was time to get down to business. We didn’t need to say what was behind that door. We already knew who was behind it. The muffled cries of fear and the sobbing were enough. They were going to need Anna’s help.

Ilme stayed behind to act as Anna’s guard while the rest of us searched the hideout. It seems they were in the process of finishing an escape tunnel but had yet to complete it. Within another day or so, they would have finished. How unlucky for them.

Everything else was as expected. Loot from a few caravans was present, but most of their spoils were gone. These bandits have been active for months and have been extremely successful, so there should be more valuables here. But with how much they are moving around, these bandits must be selling off what they find regularly. But the question remained who they were selling things to.

I’m well aware that a black market exists but with the sheer volume of plundered goods, it should have shown up somewhere by now unless the City-States military didn’t release that information to us, which is even more unlikely.

Countries try to have a good relationship with adventurers. It’s not far off to say adventurers are just a well-organized group of armed bandits with a code of conduct. I mean, we even hunt people from time to time. If a country pissed off those armed bandits, they might start something or even just get up and leave. It’s the same reason countries aren’t allowed to conscript adventurers into their armies. The backlash isn’t worth it.

Besides, if a nation doesn’t have its fair share of monster hunters then they have to send in their military. And a military force that subjugates mutant wolves in a forest every day is a military force that can’t react to external threats. It’s a far better deal for these countries to burden those willing to hunt monsters rather than use their own manpower.

“Are we ready to go?” Anna called out into the room.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here. We grabbed everything we could,” Dem ordered.

“Okay, come out, everyone. We are going back up to the surface where your families are waiting,” Anna said softly.

A line of four women and two children followed close behind Anna. They were covered in pieces of makeshift robes Anna put together using some of the stolen goods. I’ve seen enough to know. Hopefully, reuniting them with their families would help them.

We grouped up and made our way back toward the surface. The walk this time was solemn. It was one thing to laugh and joke amongst fighters after a battle. It was another to do it in the presence of survivors.

We were nearly at the surface when Anna perked up first. Quick footsteps echoed off the tunnel walls. Their steps were light, but they weren’t trying to hide from us, and they were moving toward us rapidly. We prepared for a fight, but we relaxed when we heard the voice,

“Is everyone okay?” Alce asked.

She must have run the entire way but wasn’t even out of breath, as expected of our ranger.

“Everything is good down here. Hostages have been rescued, and the bandits have been taken care of. Is something wrong?” Dem asked, unable to hide the anxiousness in his voice.

Even though Alce wasn’t out of breath, she was alert and seemed somewhat strained. Her next words made the atmosphere tense,

“We have some problems.”