Galavan didn't really know why their boss wanted his troup to stay to the edge of the road, he never got it- not really. And it's not because he's stupid either, in fact, Gal knew that he's at least smarter compared to the average bandit out there, and his experience in herding cattle and all those animals back at his family's barn, he at least knew that the people sitting at the start of roads and the like were fast sprinters- it was similar to the tactics he and his brother used back then, where they would each get herding dogs but those at the front and back would hold the fastest out of all them so that when someone attacks, they'd know fast because the dogs would get to them quickly.
Gal's team had none of that, no, all he had were capable fighters, those that can kill but can never run. Sure, all of them have [Running] in their arsenal but what levels are they all in that skill at the end of the day? 1? 2? None of them were three, that's for fucking sure and it's precisely because of that that Galavan never got why they're stationed here.
At least the boss should've been kind enough for them to have some speed, like a steed or even a wagon didn't sound bad but they didn't have none of that!
"Everything okay? Gal?" Galavan faced his second in command (by their boss' decree, as much as that's worth,) and shook his head, "I see, but if you do, you can always talk to me? Alright?"
Galavan nodded, "Sure." He said quickly, choosing to cut the conversation right then and there. If he speaks again, Galavan would ignore him.
So, of course Yaveck would talk to one of the other boys sitting around him, "You know, I've heard that at some point, these woods were haunted. Filled to the brim with sprites and goblins and all that shit." Caer, the one who suddenly got spoken to looked up from his bowl of food and stared at Yaveck with eyes that showed how much he didn't want to listen. Yaveck continued anyways, "See that out there?" Yaveck pointed to the woods, past the trees and into the deep green where no human resides, there, no cleared out roads that they can wait in ambush in exists.
Surprisingly, Caer nodded, "Yah? What's up with that?"
"No- no you doofus." Yaveck laughed, "Not what's up with that." the rail-thin yet muscled man says, adding a further explanation, "But what's there." he corrected.
Galavan knew and reluctantly admitted that Yaveck was smart and educated- he's one of the few acolytes of the God of knowledge that their bandit group has, and because of that, he got more than just the standard education that the priest of the God teaches to young kids found in villages, the man is fluent with his words, smart.
"Well, wordings aside," the buff Caer grunted, "You see that right there?" He pointed out to the woods again and Caer nodded, "Spirits." he said simply, then shrugged, "Like I said, the place used to be haunted. There might still be more there. Who knows?"
Yaveck expertly moved the conversations as the night went on, and the man, knowing full well that his small troup didn't catch his mistake of setting the atmosphere just now- stupid compulsions to correct dumbasses does that, sometimes. - continued on with his words and again, captivated them with what he said. He may not be as strong as any of these fools, but he didn't care, he was strong enough and his level three [Dagger Wielding] is enough for him to get out while fighting.
Assuming he doesn't get caught, at least.
And not that doing so is necessary, everyone here isn't even suspicious of him, and even the leader of the group- bless his heart - is kind enough that Yaveck doesn't even think the guy knows Yeveck has plans to betray all of them. Again, not that doing so is necessary, Yaveck liked the stupid, muscle-brained idiots he calls his troup after all. And sometimes, idiots aren't good enough for anything but being loyal. And he personally liked that trait of theirs more than their ability to lift things with one hand.
And also, one of them is vital for his long term goal. Yaveck eyed a man thrice his size, sitting right next to Caer shows just how small he is compared to this group of muscled mad-men but none of that mattered when they accepted him even then. And betrayal would ruin that and his chances of using the large idiot and his level 4 [Holding] would go down the drain.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Integrating himself and collection friends in this bandit group would take years, undoubtedly, but Yaveck had time and if he can't use his education to become a [Baron] then maybe a [Bandit Leader] didn't sound so bad. He's been itching to ditch his [Scholar] class for some time now, but Yaveck assumed it'll take a few more years before he could do so.
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It was around past midnight that Yavneck noticed something strange- it had been his turn to keep watch then, both for caravans that think they're shrewd by passing by through the night as well as anything or anyone trying to threaten the bandits. It was the latter that distressed him, and he also believed that whoever's been killing the night watches wasn't an animal, no, of course not, the things that have been living here for the past few years have wisened enough to not mess with the bandits. Which means that his trope is either dealing with some upstart adventurer who thinks they're an easy kill or worse, an organized attack.
There weren't any screams in the distance, which means that it's either the latter or that the other camps have been taken out silently, either through poison- Yavneck stopped that train of thought, that was impossible, the scent of any and would be obvious poisonous gases were too obvious for the other bandits to not notice. And the scentless gaseous poisons were either impossible to create or that they were hard to spread through an entire area because of how light the gas that makes them up are.
If such a thing existed, Yavneck would've known about it.
Shaking his head, Yavneck stepped out of the empty tent of Pufa and back into the open camp- he hadn't woken up everybody to warn them yet, he just discovered that the latest night watch (and subsequently, the one who's overeager for the job. Damn nightowl.) had gone missing and is now presumed dead. A rather sad thing, considering that as eccentric as the evolved nightling was, the noseless fool at least had his uses.
Waking up the rest of the camp had been easy for Yavneck, all he needed to do was wake up Galavan and tell him to stay quiet unless he wanted to disturb the intruder but regardless, the man simply yelled and woke everybody up. Yavneck hoped that his shout hopefully echoed out far enough for the nearest camp to hear it and realize that they're in danger.
Cursing himself that he didn't get any skill that made him go faster, Yavneck fixed his neck a necklace: A shimmering little thing made with pure silver and augmented with a pale-white neophyte jade that swirled with blue veins, it was a protection necklace, and one that can allow him to cast a fully powered [Shield] spell once per day- which as a hedge mage, is a rather rare commodity given that not everyone can just throw fully powered [Shield]s as if they're water.
As a first circle mage, it is already a miracle that he can cast one fully powered [Shield] spell, others wouldn't expect him to cast two.
With a prayer to his God, Yavneck joined in with the rest of his troup and prepared for the counterattack against the foolish dumbass who thought he could just attack a bandit camp just because it's night.
Galavan already had a map sprawled out across the stump that acted as their table by the time Yavneck arrived, the leader nodded at him, he did the same. "Good that your necklace is ready, we have three missing bandits and I don't think the chances of us getting out of here alive is good." He said grimly, making Yavneck question everything he just planned.
"What do you mean?" The hedge mage asked, leaning closer to the map, only to then realize that Galavan merely drew red circles on some parts of it and called it a day. He did not understand it, nor did he plan to.
"Out of the three missing people, two were [Bandit Swordsmen] and the remaining one was a [Mugger.] he's probably a [Cutthroat] now though, it's been years since he'd consulted with the Gods after all."
Yavneck didn't care about that last bit of tidbit, no, he was too busy worrying about someone capable of killing two high level [Bandit Swordsmen]! And of course they were high-leveled, or else those idiotic fools wouldn't follow Galavan!
"Tell me," Yavneck growled, "Do you know who died?" Looking around, he already had an inkling as for who but it was better to confirm it with their leader.
"Tarpo, Yegan, and... Caer." Yavneck swore internally and for some reason, Galavan nodded, "Fuck indeed. Friend. We're gonna have to fight our way out of this."
Yavneck's blood ran cold enough that his brain didn't process the fact that he swore out loud just now. If there's anything that he considers as the worst kind of warning in this camp, it wouldn't be the shimmering silver dust that one can potentially see within the forest, nor would it be the pitiful wails of a traveling Blasbone. No- none of those would even have an inkling to Galavan's battle ready grin.