Perseus pulled out his sword from the last bandit's corpse. This was the 6 group of bandits they had found and still no sign of the bloody bandit bandana drop. It seems that the drop was much rarer then Perseus had thought.

There was some good news, Jack had been running around the forest for the past few hours and had found a large amount of the poisonous plants he needed. He only needed a few more plants and he would have enough for the poison. Now the question was how he was going to make it, but he would save that for later. Because as he got deeper in the forest more and more bandits appeared meaning that a camp was near them.

"Master I got the rest!"

Jack appeared conveniently around the time Perseus had just finished dealing with the bandits. Jack, since he was part of Perseus, would get EXP and since the bandits were getting stronger and stronger as they got deeper, Perseus decided to let Jack not participate in the battles. Both Perseus and Jack had leveled up a few times, Perseus was level 21 and Jack was level 11.

And now with all of the herbs needed Perseus just needed to find a way to make the poison. Thankfully Boops had given him information on how to make create it so he returned to the city to buy the tools required.

Sadly he couldn't get another bandit bandana so he needed to adjust his plans. Taking some of the money that he had earned from defeating the giant rabbit, he bought a mortar and pestle a bottle and a strainer. Yeah, that was it just, he just needed to grind them together until they became a liquid, strain out the pieces of plants, and bottle it.

While Perseus was following the steps laid out for him Jack was watching everything intently. Perseus had told him to watch since rouges were known for using poison in battle.

Jack soaked up everything like a sponge from the ingredients needed to the way the plants should be ground, everything was memorized, to Jack, this was one of the only times he was directly taught by somebody in anything and he was sure to pay close attention.

A few minutes later Perseus held in his hands a vial of slow-acting poison

[congratulations you have made a vial of slow-acting poison]

[slow acting poison: poison that takes from 4 hours to 1 day to kick in, almost always lethal to normal targets, (warning high level targets might be able to resist the effects)]

Okay, now that he had the poison he needed to sneak into the base disguised as a bandit. He grabbed the bandana and tied it around his arm. But Boops interjected before the two left to the forest again

'wait, wait, wait, Perseus you aren't going to sneak into the bandit camp, are you?'

Perseus confused about Boop's objection tried to clarify things

"Yeah?, I thought you knew that Boops"

Boops sighed

'Okay, I thought you were going to send in Jack, cause with your looks like your hair, you're bound to stand out.'

Perseus argued back

"he's a kid, how is he going to sneak in and poison the camp, he's not even level 15"

Boops countered

'but he's a natural rouge, is sneaker then you and most importantly he won't stand out like how you do with your model looks.'

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"B-but"

Perseus was about to protest when Boops cut him short.

'age doesn't matter Perseus, and you know that you're technically younger than him'

"shoot you're right"

After Perseus was hit by the realization that his pupil was older than him he faced looked at Jack and handed him the bandit bandana and the poison.

He looked at Jack straight int he eyes

"you know what to do right?"

Jack looked at the bandana and poison in his hands, he looked back at the bandana and then the poison. He looked at Perseus with a confused expression

"no clue master"

Perseus facepalmed but with the blatant honesty Jack showed he couldn't bring himself to retort at him, but instead started to explain.

"Okay, Jack listen, in the forest should be a bandit camp, you are going to sneak in and use the poison in the vial to poison their food and water. Immediately snake out after you did that, that bandana is for you to blend in...."

Perseus paused and started to think

"wait wait wait Jack looks like a ten-year-old wouldn't he stand out more than me?"

Boops was there to answer his question

'sorry Perseus, but child bandits are pretty common, they are usually the bottom of the ranks but they are still pretty frequent,'

"Okay, okay fine"

Perseus looked at Jack again and continued.

"you are going to blend in as one of them, ill give you an opening but you have to be the one who does the deed, you understand?"

"yes, sir I finally understand."

Perseus closed his eyes sighed and then opened them with his eyes with a new resolve and determination

"Alright let's head to the forest"

The two headed out of the gate, it was an interesting combination, a handsome blond teenager with a short dirty brown-haired kid who was wearing ragged clothes.

They crossed the field and entered the forest when they stepped foot in the forest both of them started running stealthily. They had plenty of distance to cover, but they both wouldn't get tired too easily. Especially for Jack, his entire body was suited for fast and silent running.

Perseus didn't know the location of the camp, but he did have a general location. The moment anyone of them spotted a bandit meant that they were closer to their goal. They would also kill any of the small groups along the way. Everyone needed EXP and Perseus wasn't going to let free EXP run away.

Jack returned to Perseus whispering to him that he found the camp. Perseus sneaked up to the camp. Looking he could see a simple campfire surrounded by chests and valuables they were facing a large cliff. Perseus desperately tried to resist the urge to just charge in and steal the valuables around the fire. Perseus looked around the camp at the people who were celebrating and walking into a cave.

[bandit level 23]

[bandit level 23]

[bandit level 21]

[bandit raider level 25]

Perseus only saw four people but judging by how messy the campsite was he was sure there were more people than just 4. Nobody was guarding the camp. But in the cave, he could hear many noises. Now the circumstance was a bit different then Perseus had thought, it would be much harder for Jack to sneak in. Perseus held his head in his hands in regret, he should have gathered more information.

Wait, the bandits were in a cave. A cave with probably only one exit. Looking around the cave he could see a few loose boulders and large fallen trees. Some of the trunks that the bandits used as a bench could also be used. Yeah, this could work. The problem was how he was able to barricade the cave without the bandits noticing.

Well, they were bandits so he was sure that they would leave eventually and do banditry things. Maybe Jack could infiltrate them at that time.

Perseus suddenly ducked behind a bush as did Jack, they silently watched as 3 bandits raiders emerged from the cave. The two were at a convenient position where they could hear the bandits and see them at a safe distance. The bandits were talking among themselves

" what were we supposed to raid again?"

"na, today we've got orders to just patrol the road, and rob the unlucky fellow who passes by for a few days"

One of the bandit raiders threw his head up and complained

"man what happened one sec were top brass in any bandit group and now all of a sudden were ordered around like dogs."

"relax, we get paid handsomely for whoever orders us around"

"heh, how I would love to get my hands on him"

"your funeral"

"hah, ill take you down with me"

The trio walked away into the distance, Perseus observed them for as long as he could and then returned to analyzing the camp. Boops, on the other hand, was shouting at Perseus

'PERSEUS YOU IDIOT, ONE OF THE RAIDERS HAD BLOND HAIR'

Boops's voice softened

'you know what to do right?'

Perseus smiled

"loud and clear Boops"

He motioned to Jack and the two started stalking the trio of bandits. Slowly stalking closer like how a hunter does with its prey right before it butchers it. The bandits were a few levels higher but Perseus was sure that he would be able to handle them, he and Arjuna could handle far worse. Perseus looked at Jack who was silently following him with a determined expression he gave Jack a small grin that he didn't notice, Jack was almost half as helpful as Arjuna.