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I turned around, seeing where Zeph was looking.
“Ahead of us?” I asked, confused.
I then pointed my scope in the direction he was looking in and found the group he was talking about.
There were four people, all dressed in leather armor, with three of them having swords on the sides.
The two at the back had an uncomfortably big backpack, where they probably had water and food to last for days, while the other two had one similar to ours, which was small and easy to move in.
They were around five or so kilometers ahead of us, traveling in the opposite direction from the road, and were moving in a line. The guy in front, who had something that looked like a bow strapped on his backpack, instead of a sword, was looking around constantly.
I lowered my scope, noticing that I could still see them with the naked eye, albeit with some difficulty.
We were resting among a few rocks on top of the hillocks with a small tree growing between them that offered some cover from the sun. It was also a nice spot for looking around without being discovered, so I wasn’t too worried they already saw us.
Still, with enough Stat points in perception and a Skill for enhancing eyesight, one could see better than with a scope, so we moved to hide better behind the rocks, just in case.
“Who wants to bet they’re searching for the noble?” I asked the other two.
Curious that they came from the front, but this wasn't exactly a place that should attract that many tourists.
“I won’t.” Said Zeph, while Freya shook her head.
“Also, maybe you couldn't see that well with your scope, but they had a symbol on their chest. That’s one of the symbols of one of the biggest bandits groups in the kingdom,” he said, indicating the right side of his chest.
I cocked my head at that. “Why would a bandit put a symbol to recognize them on the chest?”
He sighed.
“When a gang gets big enough, there are benefits in having a mark to be recognized by — it gives them both internal and external perks. It will take a while to explain though, so I think it's better if we think on how to deal with them first,” he said with a troubled expression pointing in the direction of the bandits.
I didn’t see the problem.
“Can’t we just avoid them?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
It seemed the easiest thing to do.
“Sure, if they kept going in that direction without stopping,” he answered, then pointed at a hillock far from us that seemed to be in their path. “But what if they stop to check their surroundings?”
“Will they just give a quick look, or will they stay there for days? We don’t even know if, and when, someone will come from behind following our traces, so we can't waste time here. It will be hard to sneak past them if they stop there, though,” he said. “Even if we move at night, we’ll have to cover a lot of ground before we’re out of sight, and I don’t think we’ll make it in time.”
I thought for a moment.
“And attacking while they sleep?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No, I’m not confident I’d be able to sneak up on them. What if that guy looking around has a night vision Skill, and we try to close in while he’s on guard duty? Or what if they place some traps or alarms around their campsite? I don’t have a Skill for spotting those.”
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And I’m not confident about that, either.
I’d heard a story or two about how to secure a campsite, but hearing and doing were completely different things, and I wasn't sure if I could spot anything at night.
We’d also need a really wide detour to avoid their line of sight if they stopped up there. And that meant going backward for a while.
“Also, I’m pretty sure that those two with the marks are tier 4, so if we fight head-on with them, we’ll surely be killed,” he continued, sitting down to think while holding his head.
Tier 4?
“What does Tier 4 mean?” I asked.
He replied absentmindedly, “From level 31 to 40.”
It wasn’t a term I ever heard.
I guess that Tier 1 is from level 1 to 10 then, and so on. Well, it does make some sense to divide them like that.
There was a huge boost in power after passing the quest every ten levels. More than the previous ten levels put together.
I didn’t ask how he reached that conclusion, since it wasn’t the time. Instead, I just picked up the scope again to check our surroundings.
To me, it sounded like a fight was inevitable, and while it would be extremely risky, I was confident I could kill them in the right conditions. I just had to find the best way to do that.
I looked around the terrain, noting their speed and the obstacles on the way, and after thinking about it for a few minutes, I concluded I could do it.
“I found a method,” I said, in the end.
He raised his head.
“What method?” He asked, furrowing his brows.
I grinned. “Simple, an ambush.”
He looked at me incredulously as I handed my scope to him.
He then looked at where they were walking. “Where?”
I pointed at the hillock where he presumed they’d stop at.
“We’ll never reach there before them without being seen,” he said, shaking his head disappointed.
“Not we. I’ll go alone,” I clarified.
I then beckoned for him to move near the gap where I was looking from.
“I plan to run, circling around there so that they won’t see me,” I continued when he came close, while indicating the route I would take. “I should be able to reach the top of the hillock from the other side before them.”
He looked at the path I indicated and said, dubiously, “Even if you were able to reach the hillock before them, are you sure you’ll have the energy to fight after running that distance?”
He then turned towards me.
“And can you even win against four opponents even if it’s an ambush? Two of them should be in the fourth Tier.”
I suppose that it would seem impossible from his point of view.
“I have more than enough energy and if I reach there fast enough I will have time to recover some. As for being able to win… Probably,” I answered without lying.
I thought I had a good chance, but I couldn’t know. Even if I knew the Skills and exact level of each of them, there could always be unexpected situations during a fight.
It’s not like I ever fought with the assurance I would win. It was nothing new to me.
"I'm against it," he said, crossing his arms.
I shrugged. "Well, if you don't have another plan right now, I need to go. I don't want to wait here without doing anything, hoping they would just keep going."
He didn't say anything.
“You take a look at the fight. It should be visible from here, if we fight where I’m thinking. In case I win, you reach me there. If I don’t, then do whatever — it will not have anything to do with me anymore,” I said, moving away.
I looked at Freya — she was clutching her scope tightly and biting her lips. There was nothing in particular to say, so I looked away. I wasn’t one to offer false reassurances.
“Wait a second,” he said hurriedly, “Even if you can kill them, are you confident you could do it before they send a signal to someone else? Because if they fire a flare or use another signal, we’d find ourselves in a worse situation than before.”
I paused my steps and thought for a second.
“Well, I should be able to take out two of them by surprise. Whether I win or lose, or do it fast enough, depends on which of the four I can kill first. I’m willing to take the bet though,” said, then I turned around and started running.
I pushed myself to run as fast as I could. It was both an exercise in stamina and reflexes, since I had to be careful of where to place each foot.
The wind brushing against me made me feel good.
I kept accelerating until I felt I had to stop, or I risked tripping.
When I stopped, panting, at the base of the hillock, I hadn’t even consumed too much mana and didn't feel excessively tired.
I then unsheathed my sword, hid the scabbard, and carefully made my way up the gentle slope. I tried not to make too much noise and kept my ears up in case I felt them closing in from the other side.
Not hearing anything, I proceeded until I crouched behind a rock near the top, then waited as my mana slowly filled again, and my heartbeat slowed down.
I didn’t risk peeking out to see where they were. I didn’t know how good their eyesight was, so it was better to avoid exposing any body part. Nothing was impeding their ascent from the other side, so there should be no reason for them to circle around — I could only hope.
After what felt like an eternity, I heard them getting closer.
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