They knew- the bandits knew. At the thought of that, Jacob started to panic- he couldn't help it, over 9 people are going to start looking for him and it wasn't because he ran away to the woods behind his family's beach villa, instead, they wanted to find him and take his head. [Bandits] are the ones looking for him now, not the maids, the butlers, or the house's fucking chef(?).

Jacob wrestled control against his wildly beating heart by taking deep, calming breaths that made him want to puke. Once he thought he was calm enough to think rationally, he focused on the [Locate] and the various traps it anchored itself to. Seeing- feeling that his self made traps are out there, waiting to get activated by him gave him the tiny bit of reassurance that he needed to continue with what he's doing.

It also made him feel secure. There are over 12 of them out there, they used to be fifteen but then two of his rock traps took the life of a pair of bandits while he had to personally finish the other one using [Bolt] because he wouldn't stop screaming. That earned him a level in the spell, and with [Bolt] now at level three, he can feel a slight difference in how the spell functions, it's stronger now and the added triangles placed in a, well, triangle at the center of the magic circle is proof of that.

'It almost makes me want to accept the fact that I just killed someone.' He thought, resisting the urge to even remotely think about what he'd done to that poor man. The other two were lucky enough to fall to his rock traps, otherwise they wouldn't have just ended up unconscious and tied up. He was tempted to kill them too, simply because he knew that they were murderers.

With a shake of his head, Jacob pushed all the thoughts away by focusing on his breathing, 'No distractions now.' He thought- then quickly stopped as he went back to breathing manually.

"He's probably just over there!" A voice from the distance said and Jacob became suspicious, they also didn't have a [Locate] spell did they? Well- obviously not if they haven't found him yet. But... He shook his head, 'Better to risk it. Definitely.'

Either they do and he gets easily caught and ambushed or they don't and he does the same to them. Both are 50/50 in his case and he can increase his own chances to 100% by using his own [Locate] on the bandits to know where they are but then he'd be blind to his traps- a rather bad situation to be in if he wanted to use them to fight the bandits.

Jacob waited impatiently for the bandits, each second felt like a thrill and with each number that passed, his heart raced. He was hearing the loud thumps of his heartbeat repeatedly slam his head by the time he noticed the incoming footsteps- And if it weren't for the shadow cast through the pale moon, he definitely wouldn't have known that a bandit is in front of him.

Silently chastising himself, Jacob pulled out his flint blade and used his newly acquired skill, [Cut] to slice a rope lying in front of him. The sound of something whipping past resonated through the silent forest and then a yell-

Jacob stood up and showed himself to the bandit and he stared, "What the fuck are you?" The man asked and the fact that Jacob can understand him despite not knowing his language had already been discovered by him through that screaming idiot earlier. He was in the same position as this man, upside down thanks to a rabbit snare with his hands dangling past his shoulders, Jacob eyed his sword, then his eyes moved to the man's mouth- The man's lips curled into a grin and he opened it to yell-

A hand went up and a fully channeled [Bolt] split the man's head apart like a watermelon, blood and brain matter splashed behind him, raining down on the undergrowth and staining it in a dark crimson.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Sorry." Jacob muttered, was there any use to saying it? Hopefully, yes. 'If only to make myself feel better.' He'd hate doing it otherwise, he was always one for apologizing with actions rather than words after all. But sometimes, prioritizing the fact that I feel bad about killing and staying that way is more important than some personal ideal.

Bolt has leveled up!

Lvl 3 > Lvl 4

"Great fucking timing." Jacob cursed. "Because why not right? What better way to make me feel more inclined to kill and less guilty about doing it than rewarding me for doing it." The System's an asshole.

"Quick! I think I heard something from the south!" Jacob paused his step halfway, south? What? Who the hell is in south of him?

'Whatever,' He shook the feeling of oddity away and started moving again. The Bandits can do whatever the fuck they want and if they so happen to choose the wrong direction, who is he to judge?

Then a struck of realization came and he paused again, 'Wasn't south where I...'

Jacob didn't waste a single second and started running.

When he reached the place where he left the tied up bandits, he stopped running as his worries were proven right. In front of him, three bandits were standing worryingly close to his tied up captives, two were standing guard while the remaining one approached them cautiously, left hand held out as if looking for traps while the other had a sword between coiled between fingers, ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Jacob stared, all of them wore black, the clothes varied in what type they are, some had polos, others had T-shirts, and one had a vest but the color stayed the same. They had the same idea as him, well his [Crafting] did by using those blackberries to dye their stuff black because they wanted to blend in with the darkness, Jacob didn't need to do it with his jacket but his traps and his pants pretty much got the same treatment.

He's pretty sure he was blending in well enough that they aren't seeing him through the darkness and feeling confident in that fact, Jacob raised his hand and aimed it at the back of a bandit, he started channeling [Bolt] and silently waited as it ate up 6 amps, when it was full, he released the spell and a scream came out of the target's mouth as [Bolt] pierced through his back and out into his chest.

All of them immediately went aware and wary, their heads started to move around, turning to every spot as the two untied bandits started moving toward each other, "Come out!" Yelled the one who was about to free his friends, his words were followed by muffled sounds of agreement which, sure- 'let me just come out of my hiding spot and get myself killed.'

"We know you're there!" The sword in the bandit's hand wasn't shaking, if anything, from the way his fingers tensed and his elbow and shoulder moved, it looked like he was getting much more ready for a fight, hell, Jacob thought that the man was anticipating it. "Come on out!" Again, those words were followed by muffled screams, "Coward!"

Jacob scoffed, what's wrong with fighting in a smart way? Hell, if he wasn't so brave and desperate to not get ignored by the natives because he had no money, Jacob would be in the village by now, presumably talking to someone higher in the ladder about his [Energy Mage] class. With a roll of his eyes, Jacob raised his hand again and channeled another [Bolt].

The spell shot out, and the bandit was too slow to dodge it, causing the spell to rip his neck apart to the point that his head went limp to the side- and that direction is exactly where his body started falling in.

Jacob had no more amp, and that means the bandit in front of him has the upper hand. 'Unless I'm stupid,' He thought as he raised his hand again and threw in his remaining amp into the spell, it shot out and hit the bandit square in the rib, forcing air out of his lungs and distracting him with the pain long enough for Jacob to step out of the bushes and smack him in the head with his hammer.

The bandit fell down without much action, "Sorry." he said, but somehow, his words felt hollow. And watching the bandit who's head is now caved in bleed to death just doesn't feel the same as his first kill. At least then he actually felt guilty, not bad. And not that he's gonna let that apathetic feeling take over his own decisions, of course.

"Sorry." He said again to the two bandits tied up in front of him just before he left.