The Rovers or rather the bandits under their employ had cleverly placed two sentries at key angles in the cave system.

They were unnoticeable to anyone walking straight ahead as they were hidden in a small space dug into the rock where the tunnel took a sharp right turn.

But when I slithered past them they had the foolish idea to try and attack me.

Naturally they died, though it was a rather slow process as I had to unfurl some of my tendrils so that I could snap their necks.

Which give them enough time to jab me at least a dozen times.

No actual damage was done but it was quite embarrassing, which was why I opted to take a slower and more cautious approach afterwards, though my creator's infused soul fragments likely played a part as well.

By uncurling some extra tentacles and tendrils I was able to devote a good amount of them to snaking around the rough edges of the tunnel and I could worm them into small crevices and holes, just in case those were secret walls.

The result was that when I came across the next hidden sentry I only got stabbed twice and quickly shattered their ribs with a heavy blow before moving on, pulling myself over them and crushing them under my bulk.

The downside of this caution though was that by the time I reached the main chambers, there was already a small horde of pale faced soldiers arranged in a messy formation and ready to face me.

Slowly I emerged from the tunnel, watching as their scared faces went from terrified to hopeless.

It helped me to realise that the sentries weren’t brave, they were just idiotic. Or maybe they were actually the only brave ones in this bandit base?

As I quietly pondered on the best way to dispatch them all, more reinforcements started to trickle in.

So the longer I waited the worse it would get.

Oh well, there weren’t really a lot of options available to me, so there's no need to think about it that hard.

Carefully I began to move forward, stretching my tendrils far above my body so that they scraped the ceiling and created a hideous scratching sound as I got closer to the frightened ‘soldiers’.

My improvised terror tactic worked and while they were preoccupied with my outstretched tendrils, I knocked the ones in the front row off their feet with my tentacles.

The snapping sound of a few busted knees rang out in the chamber, startling the middle and back row bandits.

Giving me the chance I needed to surge forward the last dozen feet and dive into their lines!

I didn’t have to worry about a third of them as they had already been knocked down by me or their falling comrades.

But just as I started whipping my tendrils around and wrapping my tentacles around necks. The other two thirds broke.

Well over half of the Rover soldiers began to flee. Though calling them soldiers was quite a stretch, these humans just seemed to be basic and unskilled bandits.

Even their weapons were rusty and worn, unlike the first humans I had killed.

I probably didn’t even need to bother with terror tactics, I could have just charged them the moment I emerged and the formation would still have probably collapsed.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Well, my task just got a lot easier, killing enemies that were busy throwing aside their comrades in a hasty attempt to flee was infinitely easier than killing ones that stood their ground.

Quickly I switched up my tactics, going from snapping necks to bludgeoning people left and right with my tentacles in an attempt to slow down and halt any escape attempts.

I was also using my tentacles like whips. Trying to blind people with them was a bit difficult but it still helped slow them down since they had to protect their faces.

Not all of the bandits were trying to flee however, a few of them were busy hacking chunks of my flesh off of me or cleaving off a couple of tendrils.

And so I was forced to allow some of the bandits to escape.

Redirecting my attention to these brave idiots, I started to lift them up and rip them apart one by one. Throwing limbs all over the place and liquefying their insides.

The second to last bandit manages to avoid my attempt to grab them though and even slices off a huge chunk of one of my tentacles.

I swing a few tendrils around to grab them though and this time I succeed. When I drag them closer to me however they somehow wiggle free.

All the blood on them must have made my tendrils less firm.

Instead of backing off though, they rush me.

And with the power of adrenaline flooding their veins, they leap up towards me.

I try to swat them out of the air but they manage to swerve midair and dodge my swipe.

Sailing into my mouth and thrusting their sword directly into my eye.

The look of anguish on their face when their sword bounced off of my eyelid was so immense that it made me feel rather uncomfortable.

But they had just tried to stab me, so it's not like I was going to let them off the hook.

So while they were being dragged back down by gravity I slammed a tendril into their abdomen and started to drill it up through their stomach.

Slamming onto the floor must have hurt but I doubted it hurt worse than what I was doing.

After a long couple of seconds, I reach their heart and with gruesome brutality, I crush it while it's still fanatically beating.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see two bandits dart down one of the tunnels. One of them supports the other on their shoulders since they’ve got a limp.

I've focused too much on dealing with this singular bandit and its cost me.

Thankfully not all of the bandits still alive managed to escape. There are still a dozen or so bearing grave wounds and withering on the floor.

This battle was over, I had won.

All I had to do now was clean up duty.

So I simply strode around bashing in the skulls of anyone who was still alive and I even smashed the dead bandit's skulls into pulp as well, just to be safe.

Then, It was time to resume my exploration of this bandit base.

There are five tunnels that lead into this main chamber, each one likely leading to a different section of their base.

My first thought is to head towards the tunnel where the first escapers ran to. Since that was probably where more of the bandits or safe house of some sort was.

But what if that was the wrong choice?

The other two bandits had gone down a different path after all.

The first bandits had all gone the same way and so had the last bandits, the difference between the two groups is in the tunnel they chose. Logically I should choose the path that most of the bandits took but those bandits had been panicked.

They could have just been operating based on instinct and so they all went down that tunnel even though it led to a less secure area.

The other two bandits were more likely to have gone towards the most secure area since they both went into that tunnel while I was distracted and so they would have been less panicked.

Probably?

Oh well if I'm wrong then I can just go down the other tunnel.

With my decision made, I start to hurry down the tunnel the two bandits took.

At worse I will just add a few extra bodies to my kill count. At best, I can deliver a grave blow to this base.