Jude spent the next couple of weeks solidifying his understanding of as well as linking several other skills.  The most useful so far were the link between and as it lasted much longer.  took the standard amount of mana for but added the effect of 30% less damage received.  The only downside was that the 30% less damage was lost when all the HP of the shield was gone.  What was even better was ; it took the top 10% of his mana but stayed in effect until he canceled it.  The amount of damage absorbed by the shield corresponded with 10% of his mana regen and had a max equivalent to half his mana!  A whopping 460 HP.

During this time, he also helped out with the recruits.  He didn’t train all their skills to Rank III, instead, he focused on the ones they used primarily.  He didn’t want them to become lazy or reliant on him, so they still had to train their other skills.  Wen was the only one that was different.  She got exactly what she wanted.  Jude couldn’t rank up all her skills, however, as his Warrior class was still too low.

He also set up a deal with Theodwin and Ellie to start equipping Heroic Retribution with better gear.  Ellie was more than willing to help and Theodwin a little less than so.  But since Jude had help out his apprentice and was helping him with his mission, he finally gave way.

Jude had also kept up with his other skills, although nothing had ranked up yet.  This surprised him as he had on almost all the time.  Apparently, getting Rank III on a skill the old fashioned way actually took a lot of time.

Jude was now preparing to go on a trip.  He had done everything he could to prepare his mercenary company for the upcoming troubles.  Now it was time for him to prepare himself.  He needed to gain some levels and inspiration on how to Rank Up other skills passed Rank III.  And Jude was pretty sure he had found just the thing he needed.

When he went to the Switch and talked with her, she had also given him a list of the places she had lost contact with inside of Longdale.  Jude had investigated these places with and found out that that several of them were in contact with a bandit group called the Wallowing Blood.

A Bandit could be one of two things, the second tier class for Thief or a spawned minion.  The spawned minions were much weaker and required a slave to be made.  This was what made Bandit class scary, they had a skill that could enslave people.  Those enslaved people would then be traded in the underground market or used as cannon fodder in the Bandit group by being turned into themselves.

Although the physical proof wasn’t there, Lord Merek clearly had connections with this Bandit group.  But if Jude could eliminate the group, he could kill two birds with one stone.  It would level up his class and create a setback for Lord Merek.

***

With Jude was tailing a group of thugs as they headed out of the town for their meeting with the Wallowing Blood Bandits.  Jude had two groups with him, formed of the best recruits, plus Krinn and Wen.

They followed them outside of town northward, away from Allur Forest, to a place that bordered a region called Valley Maze.  Valley Maze was well known for its slot canyons that joined together to create a maze-like structure.  There were many caves and mines inside the maze as well and over the years it had been exploited for its natural resources and monsters.

Right now, Longdale didn’t have the power necessary to clear out the area and use the resources.  So many bandit groups had taken up residence inside.  These bandits would harass not only Longdale but also the other surrounding towns, villages, and hamlets.  Since they resided inside Valley Maze, they were quite difficult to get rid of.

Many organizations like Jude’s Heroic Retribution were hired to protect convoys or populous area.  There was also a standing bounty for all Bandits, so it was quite profitable to protect convoy’s or just go out and Kill Bandits directly.  The Bandits by Class would respawn, but the spawned Bandits or would not.

Jude and Heroic Retribution waited at a distance as the thugs from Longdale meet with the of Wallowing Blood.  The trade deal was for slaves.  The thugs traded gold, liquor, weapons, and armor in exchange for a dozen slaves.

They waited for the two parties to separate before beginning their operation.  The thugs numbered six and the bandits were about ten, while Jude’s group was 12, not including himself.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” Jude said. “Krinn and Wen, I want you guys to attack the thugs and liberate the slaves.  I will keep tracking the bandits back to their hideout and do some preliminary scouting.”

“You’re going to attack the bandit base alone aren’t you?” Krinn asked.

Jude smiled wryly, “Just scouting, honest.  But if there is an opportunity, I won’t pass it up.”

“Don’t be cosh’ing stupid,” Wen said. “Even the are at least level 20.  Their leader has to be at least 30, otherwise, he wouldn’t be a bandit.”

Like all upper tier combat classes, one had to be level 30 of the required lower class to get access to the next one.  Since Bandit was the next level up from Thief, the Thief class had to be level 30.

“I know, I won’t take any unnecessary risks,” said Jude nonchalantly.

“Like the time you went to Grimwar Caves?” Krinn added.

“You’re not helping,” snide Jude.  Then he added, “Look, the thugs are going to get away if you don’t move.  So do as your Leader tells you!”

***

Jude followed the bandits to the slot canyons of Valley Maze.  Valley Maze wasn’t controlled by a spawn system, so any animals or monsters here were tougher and smarter; but also much rarer as well.

Jude’s had followed closely behind the group of bandits.  This allowed Jude to remain at a safe distance without getting lost.  By now, Jude had compartmentalized the view from to be like a monitor in his vision rather than adding to it.  This allowed him to keep his eyes open and move while still operating the .

The slot canyons themselves were an interesting place.  They were foreign but still full of beauty.   Little Vegetation grew at the bottom, but up above it was plentiful.   Small trees were occasionally visible and vines would hang down every now and then.  Some areas were dry, some had a small stream and others had raging water.

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But the most dangerous part was the layout of the walls.  They were smooth and billowed back and forth.  They limited visibility and created hidden nooks.  But now that they were in the maze, Jude quickly shortened the distance between him and them so that he could use the Ghost Commanders Eye variant of .  While this didn’t give him a good view of the maze, it would give him the exact location of anything that could attack him.

The bandit’s hideout was surprisingly deep into the maze and Jude was thankful that he brought paper with him to keep track of all the turns.  It was dark by the time that they reached the bandit's hideout.  The canyon opened up, however, the top remained just a small crack.  If it had still been daytime, it would not have been bright.  Now that it was night, it was truly dark!

They entered a cave through a hidden crevasse.  Now Jude was finding the Ghost Commanders Eye less useful.  So he created a normal infused with the Spectral Vision variant to allow it to see in the dark.   Then he sent the eye out to explore the cave.

As soon as the eye entered the cave it winked out.  Jude was confused, he was sure no one had seen the eye.  The eye was about the size of a fist, but in the dark, it should be hard to see.  He also didn’t see anyone before it went out.

Cautiously, Jude made his way towards the cave.  The last thing he wanted to do was get ambushed, but perhaps there was another explanation as to why his went out.  He was now using the Spectral Vision variant on his own eyes so that he could see.  But he couldn’t find anything that might have taken out his eye.  Nor did he see any indication of a hidden spot for sneak attacks.  It wasn’t until he fully entered the cave that he got the notification.

You have entered the Blightwing Caves of the Wallowing Blood Bandit Gang.

Apparently, this area was a dungeon or like a dungeon and that cut off his connection with the .  He would have liked to have tested it, but it was too dark to be here without his sight.  Creating another would remove the Spectral Vision variant from his eyes that he was currently using.

With a smile of anticipation, Jude headed forward.  Was it dangerous? Yes.  Was it stupid to go in by himself? Probably.  Would it be awesome and exciting if he did? Absolutely!

The first part of the cave was nothing special.  Except for the stalactites and stalagmites, they were quite nice looking.  But as he went farther in, a glow of light started to shine.  The closer he got to the light he noticed that the stalagmites were being cleared.  This made the cave go from that natural cave like atmosphere to something more man made.

Peeking into the first room, he saw that even the walls were carved out to give them a squarer feel rather than the natural jagged and smooth curves of a cave.  There were three bandits sitting at a table playing cards with a couple braziers lighting the room.  In the corner of the room where the ceiling still had its natural cave appearance, hung a large bat.  It was big enough that it could probably carry off a dog with no problem.

Three and a .  They are all about level 20-24.  I’m not sure if I can sneak attack them with the bat being around, but since I have time to prepare a it might go pretty easy.

I’ve needed a real target for a while now.  Let’s try it out.

Jude took a minute to prepare the and instead of trying to launch a sneak attack he directly stepped out into the open.

“!” He said.

Eight spectral swords burst out in purplish blue light, then they flared red as the power from converged inside them.  The combination skill was very hard to control and even harder to control against multiple targets, so Jude ignored going for critical hits and instead focused on hitting the targets.

He aimed four swords at the weakest bandit, then divided the rest between the other two.  He wasn’t sure how much health the bandits had and figured that it was best to eliminate one right from the start.  The was farther away, so he couldn’t target it with the way he was using the skills at the moment.

The swords came into contact with the weakest bandit first.   The swords, once doing their full damage disappeared due to the combining them with .  However, it only took 3 swords to kill off the first bandit, the fourth sword meant for him ran straight into the next bandit as they were all sitting close together.

This next bandit was a higher level and survived three sword strikes, but just barely.  The last bandit lost at least half its health from the two swords that struck him.

The bandits pulled out their weapons and rushed towards Jude.  The bat as well took action and dropped to the floor.  Its wingspan was too large for it to fly inside the cave, so it scrambled across the floor like a horror out of the depths of hell.

The bandits and bat were fast but not as fast as words.

“!” Jude said as three bright missiles shot forward.  One more bandit was down as the missiles barraged the two bandits.

“SCREEEEE!” the sounded.  It wasn’t just a noise made by the bat, but rather a skill used to disorientate its opponents.

Jude momentarily paused, but with his high Spirit stat, he was able to resist the majority of the effect.  But it was long enough for the first Bandit to make contact with Jude.  He wielded a crude axe and slammed it down onto Jude.  But this was when the second , , kicked in.  The axe never made it to Jude as it bounced off his shield.  With the additional 30% damage reduction, Jude was surprised at how little damage the bandit could actually do.

“, ” Jude said.  He now completely ignored his defense and went completely on an offense.

“Arrrg!” The bandit yelled as spectral swords severed the last of his life.

The Bat came in to attack but was no match for the 8 spectral swords all by itself.  Now, instead of attacking, it tried to defend itself.  But it was all in vain as it too quickly died.

Jude smiled, he had forgotten this feeling.  The rush of a battle, even a weak one like this.

Against four, Jude was barely hit and won without using much mana at all.  He hadn’t even needed to use his new Healer class.  He was now full of confidence and boldly went forward.

Jude headed into the next room that was down a cave hallway.  This room had 4 and 2 bats.

Again, Jude smiled.  Staff in one hand and sword in the other.  revolving around him, he lifted his staff and pointed forward. “!”

Three missiles shot forth, followed by his eight spectral swords.  The room instantly burst into chaos.  Magic and death were flying everywhere.  The bandits did their best to defend themselves, but there was just too much for them to do anything effectively.  The bats were no better off, they tried the screech skill to little effect.  Jude already starting to become immune to it.

When someone came close, Jude defended with his sword.  Then his spectral swords would come in from behind, cleaving out destruction.  When they were farther, he would then unleash more to fight along with the .

Jude continued along to more and more rooms filled with bandits and bats.  Each one he would wipe clean of the infestation.  Then he would take the meager loot they had to offer.

The bats proved to be very useful for Ranking Up his skill.  It quickly got to Rank II.  He had set his primary class to Wizard and it too was leveling nicely.  It was already level 19, but he wouldn’t unlock a new magic until level 20.

Jude continued to enjoy his tirade through the bandits until he came to a new place.  It was not a small room filled with bandits and bats, but rather a large cavern with multiple slave pits.  Except for the slaves here were all dead.  Many were mangled and disfigured.  Others looked like they were in the process of being forced changed into something else, but then exploded in gore and blood.

Clearly, this was an area of testing.  But testing what, Jude wasn’t sure.  They were trying to create ether a gruesome way to kill people or trying to create a beast that would normally only exist in nightmares.

Jude decided to backtrack a bit and rest up before venturing forward.  He wanted to be at his best for whatever horror lied ahead.

***

Krinn and Wen successfully subdued the thugs and were back at the HQ.

“That cosh’ing Jude went into the bandit den all by himself!” Wen said angrily.

“Don’t worry,” Krinn said, “Jude can take care of himself.  The bandits should be more worried than anyone else.”

“I’m not cosh’ing worried about Jude!”  Wen lied.  “I’m more upset that we didn’t get to bash some heads in with him.”

“We are mercenaries.  We will get to bash some heads in at some point with Jude.” Krinn tried to comfort his sister.

“Don’t tell me you’re not upset that we had to babysit the trainees and slaves while Jude goes off to have fun?”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that…”