Jacob dismissed the boxes and warily stared at the forest, the corpse by his feet had been loud back when they were fighting and Jacob knew that his shouts undoubtedly would've attracted the nearby bandits. Not to mention the sounds coming from the impact of his sword strikes against his barrier were loud as well.
His eyes scanned the trees, wary for anything that might let him catch movement, 'The upgrades can wait.' He thought as he threw his panic into submission. Was he scared? Undoubtedly, yes. There were a lot of bandits in that camp and now that the known leader is dead, the only one left to guide them is the mage and Jacob's sure that the guy is smarter than the battle-manic man he just killed. Which means that he's gonna have to expect an ambush.
Minutes seemed to tick as Jacob considered his options, more than once, he considered disregarding the current target of his [Locate] spell in favor of the bandits but thought better of it, he might run into his traps and get caught if they decided to chase him instead of him doing it to them. It wasn't worth it, not unless he can fight back somehow and things were looking grim enough that he's sure even the extra 8 Amp he got from his new stats wasn't enough to fight the bandits.
Left with no other choice, Jacob focused on his traps and ran off to the nearest one, hoping that the bandits didn't follow him.
They oddly never did. Even with their superior numbers.
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Yavneck gasped in relief once the [Great Mage] decided to leave instead of chasing after him. Somehow, the man refused to walk away and instead kept looking out for his presence, the way he looked around showed that he didn't know where Yavneck actually is but that doesn't mean he wasn't aware of Yavneck's presence. The thought of that got cold shivers to crawl up Yavneck's spine, what if the mage decided to chase after him instead of leaving? What would have Yavneck done then?
Nothing, that's what.
"Come on, I think we're safe," He said to the bandits around him, they'd been prepared to fight alongside their boss earlier, and now that they saw how the mage effortlessly took care of their boss- and casting four [Shield] spells all the while, - they realized that maybe they can just sit things out and wait for the victor to emerge before either finishing the job or helping Galavan.
And when they saw the mage lead their boss to his trap while seemingly turning his back from it? Well they thought that maybe it was better to stay away from the man as far as possible, lest they fall more to his traps and die.
"You sure he wasn't a Wizard, Yavneck?" He shook his head.
"Not as far as I'm aware." He'd read about the fools who loved nothing but to stay in their towers all day, content on talking with Horos and doing nothing but studying the world or any spell they thought were interesting at the present. He was sure that the mage wasn't that, and the fact that the lay traps is also proof of that, no self respecting [Wizard] would even think of doing physical work, let alone set up so many traps that they get the [Sense Trap] skill that most thieves and hunters possess.
"Then what is he?" Asked the man again and Yavneck felt his patience run thin.
"A [Great Mage] and [Hunter]." He said ominously, the implication that their enemy had used a Class Ball for another class didn't go unnoticed if he were to judge the way everyone went pale.
"You mean great mage hunter right?" Another one asked.
Yavneck shook his head, "No such class exists." he said, who can even hunt down [Great Mages]?
"[Vampire Slayers] and [Zombie Executioners] are the way they are because for one, they hunt down monsters - who, in turn, probably have classes like [Human Killer] or maybe the criminal class [Murderer]." He decided to explain before another one of the dumbasses surrounding him asked another question. "Now, don't talk, I think I hear faint rustling."
Everyone held their breath and Yavneck's spur of the moment words apparently decided to come true because the man came back to Galavan's corpse and without batting an eye, decided to loot it.
"Fuck." Yavneck cursed, Galavan had a lot of Gold on him! Enough that Yavneck actually wanted it for himself. He watched as the pouch of coins that he wanted to get got taken away by the mage, strap and all. In any other case, Yavneck would've carefully observed where the man put the pouch- a pocket on the bottom side of his vest, - and then follow them to till he can kill them at night and take the money for himself. Tailing them till they reach a village and pickpocketing them there isn't out of him, either.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
But will he risk it against the mage in front of him? The answer is a resounding no.
"Leave the gold." He grit out, he didn't know if it was meant for the bandits around him or if he was telling the mage a command. "We're not gonna follow him," he added, all but confirming that the mage and the bandits are not gonna clash again tonight. Safer that way, he reasoned.
"You think that he's gonna go up til he reaches Yarya's village?" Yavneck nodded, the last name of the chief of the nearest village all but familiar to him. "Then why don't we wait by Snake's Peak? Bastard won't even know what hit em."
"He's a [Hunter] ya dimwit. Guy has a skill or two to notice that, definitely." Another bandit thankfully said the words that Yavneck wanted to say to the dumbass suggesting that they fight a mage who can throw around spells as if they're water. The man's no [Archmage] but then again, they aren't [Kingpins] either. And even in their current state, Yavneck knows that they're not beating someone like that, even with an ambush. Best let sleeping dragons lay.
"Come on, we're leaving." He says as he stood up at the same time as the mage, "We're gonna loot the others." Come to think of it, did those fools even have anything other than clothes and weapons?
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'Going back and looting that bandit had been the right call.' Jacob thought as he tossed the coin pouch only to catch it again as it fell, he did the same with the hammer, only that it fell to the ground and stayed there, never to get picked up again. And as for the pouch, he already checked what was inside and was genuinely surprised that the thing even had gold in it, let alone 9. He didn't know just how much that is but since the amount is so little compared to all of the silvers- which pretty much make up the pouch's bulk, - inside, Jacob can tell that it's at least plenty valuable.
With a self satisfied nod, Jacob put the pouch into his jacket again and stopped directly right next to one of his traps, this one was nothing much, just a simple fall trap that hits anyone stupid enough to activate it in the head with a bag of rocks. Regardless, it at least gave Jacob a safe sense of mind. Enough for him to open his system and check the upgrades for his [Bolt].
Spell Upgrade- Sharp-Bolt
+Sharp-Bolt (Can be used in tandem with regular Bolt)
+Increases Penetration
Spell Upgrade- Blunt-Bolt
+Blunt-Bolt (Can be used in tandem with regular Bolt)
+Increases Impact
Spell Upgrade- Long-Bolt
+Long-Bolt (Can be used in tandem with regular Bolt)
+Increases Range
The three choices were... not much, Jacob admitted that much but an upgrade is an upgrade, right? And looking at them, it's not like they're the worst, either- they feel more like starter upgrades and Jacob can see the tiny hints of what he can potentially built out of them, if he wanted to go all out on the damage and potentially pierce through an actual tree with his [Bolt] then he can go for [Sharp-Bolt].
However, if he wanted to increase the power of his [Bolt] and cause it to spread around like an Area-of-Effect, then he can pick [Blunt-Bolt] for both hard hitting attacks as well as the ability to cause internal bleeding. Which, in his opinion is much more painful than bleeding to death. And debilitating too.
Finally, if he wanted to go the route of shooting far, then [Long-Bolt] is an easy option, with it, he can potentially snipe his enemies instead of getting close. Not that he's had a problem about that sort of thing before because he's never really gotten in a situation where he was forced to shoot far with his [Bolt]s. Not that he'd mind not doing that, of course. Distance is always good, it makes one safer.
'Damage, Damage, or Range.' The choices weren't hard to consider if he takes a look at it in a literal manner but from the names alone, he can tell that they're gonna have downsides, even if the System doesn't show them: [Blunt-Bolt] is gonna have less range but is gonna hit hard in exchange, [Sharp-Bolt] is gonna have less mass but is gonna be faster in the end, and [Long-Bolt] is gonna have less damage but in return, is gonna be the fastest and also have the longest range.
'Now, what to pick?' Jacob slumped against the trunk of the three he's sitting next to and started thinking, he can pick based on what kind of build he wants- bless you and your game addiction, brother. - and certainly, going for damage is the right call, which going by the options, seems to be the option that he is forced to consider- Does he go mild with [Long-Bolt] or does he go all out with [Blunt-Bolt]? Or, he can go in between with [Sharp-Bolt].
Thunder crackling in the far distance cut off Jacob's thoughts and with regret (he didn't feel any,) he stood up and moved away from the general area of his traps. And when he was sure he wouldn't encounter them in a straight line, Jacob disconnected them from his [Locate] and proceeded to target the nearest village that he knew about.
It was starting to rain and he didn't think he'd like getting poured down with water inside of this forest. So, with haste, Jacob made his way to the village.