Chapter 8: Bandits

(Bandits POV)

Bandit: "Chief, I don't like this forest. It feels like something is always watching."

Chief: "Then you should finish your jobs quickly so we can get out of here right away.

I did not like this mission in the least. I wanted to get out of here as soon as possible after I received a letter from a certain someone.

The chief also had a family waiting for him at home. Since the war was over, the economy would recover, and he wouldn't need to be a bandit anymore.

None of the people here had proper classes to fight off beasts and undead. Most of us are pure lumberjacks and bandits who are good at stealing and fighting against other humans.

I can’t shake the feeling that if something attacks us, we’re doomed.

Chief: "Let's go and feast inside the tents! We'll forget all about this after we get paid and return to our normal lives."

However, none of them will.

Sleepy Bandit: "Hmm, what's that?”

What!? It felt like I was desperately gasping for air, but I couldn't. Is this it? Am I going to die here?

Mom…

A chilly sensation suddenly filled his body. Someone was choking him.

The pain was just for a moment; then, his life was no more.

(Idmon POV)

We found their camp just an hour away from our previous position.

Eight lookouts are guarding the camp. There are twelve tents total, so I believe their numbers should be around 60 to 70.

We are just 16, by the way. They outnumber us; we would not win in a straight-up fight.

Their equipment looks shabby, though. These humans look more like lumberjacks than bandits.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Maybe they are not good at fighting?

I ordered my men to get in position. We should not underestimate them, since they don't look like proper soldiers.

I sneaked up on one of the lookouts. I focused my negative energies on my hand.

. A spell I've always wanted to try out. Every skeleton soldier has this skill, as per the book I've bought in town.

I covered his mouth with one hand, and I choked him with my other hand.

Negative energies went from my hand to his face, and he went blue after a few seconds and went limp after a few more.

The others did their job well; they used the daggers we got back then and slit the throats of the lookouts. The lookouts must not have proper scouting skills.

I also trained the soldiers during the time we rested in our travels, so they have the skill.

Now, all we need is to kill the sleeping bandits. I thought it would be best to start with their chief, so we regrouped and headed for the biggest tent.

When we entered, we did not find sleeping bandits inside but bandits that were having a feast.

They were shocked and started shouting. The bandits hurried to get their equipment, but we pierced them first with our spears.

The chief got out from the back of the tent and warned all the other bandits.

Things got out of hand. I suddenly got an idea.

Chief: "Men! We got intruders! Wake up and kill the intruders!"

The chief rallied his men, who were around 60. The situation is starting to look bleak.

I got my men to stand close to each other. We did not bring our shields because we planned this to be quick and quiet.

They charged at us.

They are waving swords and clubs. We can take down some foolish people, but one by one, the clubs and swords stabbed my men.

They fell, and only I was left.

I took down three while dodging multiple attacks, and I took a stab to the chest, and I fell.

Bandit: "Chief, this is weird. I did not feel any resistance when we stabbed them. It was like stabbing the air!"

Chief: "Nonsense; this should teach the intruders’ leader a lesson. Okay, men, get back to you."

A dagger appeared in the chief’s throat. Someone had stabbed him from behind.

Chief: "What!? Ho-"

A spear stabbed the man in the chest who was talking.

The intruders, who now have swords and spears stuck to them, were still alive and fighting.

Though alive was the wrong word, we pretended to be dead when we were technically undead. The cloaks did their job of hiding our race from the enemy.

They underestimated us because of our numbers and the assumption that we were human thieves. A lot of them went out of their tents without wearing proper gear.

We tricked them into thinking that they had already won. Seriously, who would have thought that someone would be able to stand up after being stabbed or pierced by a weapon?

The bandits fell one by one, and because of the panic, the others just tried to run away.

I didn’t let them through. I threw spears and daggers at the escaping bandits, killing them.

A few minutes passed by, and all the bandits were already dead.

This battle seems like an excellent place to test out my skills. .

I used it on their chief, and suddenly skin and flesh fell off the body.

The bandit chief was now a skeleton soldier standing before me.

Not bad. I made more skeleton soldiers from the other corpses, but my energy only allowed me to raise eight bodies.

After collecting the equipment and the bones of the other corpses, we destroyed the tents and filled the carts that we used to carry all our stuff back to the forest.

The bandit chief was holding a great weapon, which I found on his body. It was an enchanted sword that deals poison damage every time it hits an opponent.

We also found pouches of gold coins and maps of the local area.

There is a letter in the chief’s tent saying,

"Roro, you should get as much lumber as you can. Something is about to happen, and we need a lot of strategic resources. Beware of the druid; don’t do anything more that could anger them. They can wipe out your group. I expect you to finish this in three days, as we are going to load this lumber onto ships and leave this continent. You should get ready to travel the seas."

Hmm, leaving the continent? Why, though? When they already have no enemies, why would they go now?