Chapter 3: Bandits and the Sleeping God of Thunder

The Forest of Sierra was vast, filled with ancient trees towering more than fifty meters in height. The deeper you went inside the forest, the thicker would be the canopies of leaves, until eventually, one would be unable to differentiate day from night.

For a long time, the Forest of Sierra had acted as a natural defense for the Kingdom of Altair against its neighboring Kingdom, Geneva. Although superior in military might, Geneva was unable to successfully conquer Altair. The numerous beasts and monsters lurking deep within the Forest of Sierra made it impossible to move a massive army. They had tried it before, and it resulted to numerous casualties.

Kelman, the leader of the merchants, ordered his men to light torches to guide their paths. It was middle of the night, and with the large trees blocking the moon above, everything was pitch black.

“This is scary,” mumbled one of his men.

The light of their torches created ominous, moving shadows.

Every now and then, the cold wind would carry rustling sounds, and most of the non-combatants could not help but panic from the sound.

“Don’t worry,” said one of the five mercenaries they hired. “Only Goblin Moles and Greyal Wolves inhabit this path. The Greyals are inactive during the night, so we’ll be safe as long as we follow this path.”

“W-Wait,” said one of the merchants, nervously. “What about the other one you mentioned?”

“Goblin Mules?” said the mercenary. His leather armor blended well with the night. “Those guys are extremely weak. The five of us will be more than enough—”

“—And here they are,” he smirked.

As he said those words, as though on cue, numerous rustling sounds were heard nearby. A few seconds after, over a dozen small creatures appeared from the shadows of the trees. Their bodies were that of a goblin, green skin and hardly surpassing the one-meter mark, and their faces were that of a mule. They held no weapons, but their long nails seemed sharp enough to cut through rusty irons.

The merchants screamed in terror upon seeing the monsters, and the mercenaries pulled their weapons out.

“Shut up!” snarled Kelman to his subordinates. “This is why we went to the trouble of hiring these guys. So shut your trap and protect the cargo! You damn useless bastards!”

“Y-Yes, Boss!”

“U-Understood!”

Kelman had been a merchant his entire life. To him, the things inside their cargo were worth more than the lives of his men. He would do everything to protect it.

Kelman said to the mercenaries. “You’ll be able to take care of these guys, right?”

They frowned for a moment after hearing it, but they eventually simply nodded regardless. The Goblin Mules started screeching, and to the merchants’ horror, several dozens more of them appeared from the shrubberies.

But the mercenaries seemed apathetic to the newcomers. They simply stood their ground, awaiting the charge of the little bastards.

The leader of the mercenaries channeled his mana to his sword. The air around him began to tremble. The Goblin Mules must have felt it too, and without warning, they charged at him in the numbers. The mercenary leader smirked.

“Small fries,” he mumbled. He swung his blade, and the air in front of him was split along with seven small bodies. The blood of the green monsters splattered on the ground.

After seeing that that particular human was strong, the rest of the Goblin Mules targeted the other people in the caravan. The magician of the mercenary group erected a thin barrier, and the Goblin Mules were unable to approach any further. Another mercenary fired an arrow to the sky, and it multiplied in several numbers, before piercing the bodies of the Goblin Mules on the ground.

The Goblin Mules screeched, probably from fear. Slowly, they took several steps back, before eventually scurrying back into the shadows of the night. Moments passed, and the tranquility of the forest was back.

“T-That was amazing!”

“As long as we’re with these guys, we’ll be safe even in this forest!”

The merchants were in glee. They had been living in a peaceful city, and this was the first time they saw high ranking mercenaries in action. Without doubt, they were several times stronger than the soldiers in the city.

“That’s not true,” said the mercenary leader. “We’re simply following the safest path. There are monsters within this forest that’s capable of annihilating an army on its own. We should pray that we don’t encounter one.”

The merchants were speechless after he said that. They were well aware of the incident twelve years ago wherein the Kingdom of Geneva sent over three thousand soldiers towards the Capital of Altair. To the Kingdom of Geneva’s horror, their soldiers never stepped foot in Altair’s soil. They were all slaughtered by the monsters of the forest.

The caravan once again resumed it journey. The ground was blanketed by thick roots, and the carts would violently rattle as it made its way forward. Thankfully, the Mulkas were more than capable of pulling such massive carts despite the terrain. A horse would have been dead tired by now.

“Say, Kelman,” said the mercenary leader. He in the bowfront along with the leader of the merchants. “I’m surprised when you suddenly told me you’re leaving Altair. It’s too sudden.”

Kelman made a wry smile. He remembered the incident with the dragon. Most of his assets were destroyed by that legendary monster.

“Indecisiveness can kill a merchant,” said Kelman. He shrugged. “Well, honestly it was a painful one. But Galvar, my friend, I now have a daughter. She’s just three years old.” He sighed and looked at the rear. Though blocked by the thick leather veil, he knew that his wife and daughter were sleeping inside. His gaze was soft, a stark contrast to the ones normally seen by his men. “It’ll be hard for me, but a kid needs a safe play to grow up in. Altair’s no longer that. It’s too dangerous to live in a half-dead country.”

“Well, business will surely go well for us mercenaries despite that,” said Galvar, the mercenary leader. “We’ve been receiving numerous requests left and right. Lack of soldiers. And a lot of people are planning on leaving the city too.”

Kelman took a sip from the wine bottle beside him. “I know. Thank you for accepting this request, my friend.”

“Hahaha!” Galvar laughed with his deep voice. “That’s unlike you. Normally, you’ll be saying grumbling like an old man. So, having kids really changes a man, eh?”

The night in the forest was dead silent, and their conversation was heard by everyone. The other people in their group simply smiled as they listened. They knew that the friendship of the two were more than that of brothers.

“So, Kelman, what’s the plan?” said Galvar. He stretched his large limbs, creating rasping sounds against his leather armor. “You planning on entering the Merchant’s Guild?”

Kelman shook his head. “Not a chance. It’ll kill the business. You’ve heard of the Opilas Herbs, right?”

“What of it?” said Galvar.

“We’ve gathered quite a massive amount of that thing.”

There was silence. The rest of the mercenaries stared at the merchants. Judging by their faces, the merchants were well aware of what was inside the cargo. Opilas Herbs were miracle herbs capable of producing High-Grade Vitality Potions. Drinking one of those things could heal a deep cut within seconds. In a Continent enveloped in strife, it was a coveted item.

“D-Don’t tell me...,” said Galvar. He remembered the numerous carts behind them. “All of those are—”

“—Filled with Opilas Herbs, yes,” said Kelman.

Galvar could not help but sigh. He could not imagine the amount of money this group would make once they reached the city. “No wonder you’re able to immediately decide to leave the city. But Kelman, are you sure you don’t want to register with the merchant’s guild?”

Kelman made a mocking laugh. “No way. Those guys will take half the profit. I can easily smuggle this in the blackmarket. No traces. Money speaks, my friend.”

“Heh, you never change.”

“Of course.”

The two laughed, their voices carried by the wind.

And the magician in the mercenary group approached Galvar. “Leader, traces of mana. We’re being surrounded. Humans. Almost a hundred of them.”

Galvar frowned. “Bandits, huh?” He said to Kelman, “Tell your men to go inside the carts. It’ll be dangerous from here on.”

Kelman’s face twitched. He had known Galvar for decades, and judging by the mercenary leader’s expression, they were currently in a grave predicament.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Will you be alright?”

An arrow flew towards Galvar, and he grabbed it using his bare hand. “Of course.”

Kelman ordered his men to get inside the carts. Just five mercenaries protecting them all seemed inadequate, but after seeing how these guys killed the Goblin Mules before, they could somehow see a sliver of hope out of this situation.

After seeing that Kelman had retreated inside the cart, Galvar went down, unsheated his sword and shouted. “Show yourselves!”

Slowly, numerous men came out of the shadows of the trees. Some held bows, while some held scimitars. They were unshaven, and there were some who reeked of alcohol.

Judging by how at ease these guys were in this forest, it appeared that they had been living in this place for quite some time now. And if that was true, then a capable individual must be leading them, for it was impossible for such a large group to survive inside the Forest of Sierra otherwise.

“Hand over everything. Including the women,” said one of the bandits. “And we’ll give you painless deaths.”

It was a cliché line which Galvar had heard numerous times before. And from that alone, he realized that these guys could not be reasoned with.

He made eye contact with the magician of their group.

“Can’t feel any particularly strong individual within their group,” she said. Most of the bandits were licking her with their eyes, and she could not help but shiver from the sight.

“Good,” replied Galvar. He began to channel his mana through his entire body. “Kill on sight. These guys don’t deserve our mercy.”

“Understood!” replied his men.

And Galvar dashed forwards in a frightening speed. Without a sliver of hesitation, he cut the body of the bandit in front of him, cleanly splitting the torso into two. Blood had yet to splatter on the ground as his sword cut the head of another. The bandits were stunned by what they saw, and they realized that this mercenary group was probably a high-ranking team from the Capital.

“W-Wait,” shrieked one of the bandits. “I-Isn’t that Galvar?”

The bandits that heard froze in place.

“G-Galvar? You mean that monster that destroyed the Red Stone Syndicate?!”

“Y-You’re kidding, right?!”

One after another, the bandits were slaughtered by Galvar. His body moved at an unimaginable speed for humans, his sword cutting through the bodies of his prey as though they were paper. Some of the bandits tried to approach the carts, probably in search of hostages, but the magician erected a barrier, and they could not help but be trapped outside.

The archer released his arrows, and each of them struck their targets with a fatal blow. The rest of the members engaged the bandits, killing them one after another.

“T-This is impossible!”

“W-We should tell the boss!”

After a few minutes had passed by, almost half of the bandits in the area had been slain by the mercenary group. And slowly, the bandits began to retreat.

Galvar heaved a sigh of relief. Honestly, he was running out of mana. And it was taking his everything just to appear fine and strong before these savages.

“Leaving already?” a cold voice rang out.

And the head of a bandit attempting to flee was cut cleanly from his body. The head fell then rolled down the ground.

The owner of the voice was a skinny man, wearing a furred overcoat. His silver hair flowed down till the waist, and his slit-like eyes emanated an indescribable malice.

“L-Lord!”

“The Lord is here!”

“We’re saved!”

The bandits cried in glee. It was an amazing how their previously fear-filled eyes turned fierce and mocking all of a sudden. As though an absolute trump card had suddenly appeared, and they knew that the mercenaries had no chance of winning.

“I’ve been watching from a distance,” said the Bandit Lord. “Have some free time, you see. But I can’t let you slaughter more of my men. I’ll be needing their numbers later.”

The Bandit Lord chuckled, as though he had found an amusing prey. He approached Galvar, until the two of them were merely four meters away from each other. Galvar scrutinized him from head to toe. This so-called Bandit Lord held no weapons.

“A magician then?” Galvar had said his thoughts out loud.

The Bandit Lord chuckled. “Maybe?” He flicked a finger, and some of his men pulled out a corpse nearby. They dragged the body through the ground.

Galvar, upon seeing the corpse, turned livid from anger. His eyes were wide with rage, his body trembling violently. It was the female magician in their group.

“Melissa?” whispered Galvar, voice half-choking. He could not believe it. Just a few moments ago, she was alive, definitely breathing.

“Her barrier’s been interfering with my magic. Got to kill the annoying ones first, right?” nonchalantly said the Bandit Lord. He shrugged, then nodded at his men. “Do it.”

And without warning, they beheaded the female magician in front of Galvar.

“YOU FUCKERS! YOU DAMN BASTARDS!”

Galvar’s snarl echoed throughout the forest. A flock of ravens flew out of a tree nearby.

Clouded by his rage, Galvar pounced at the bandits that beheaded his friend. He struck at them with every ounce of his strength. But to his surprise, before he could even approach, he suddenly fell down his knees, body almost unable to move.

“What’s the problem?” chuckled the Bandit Lord. “Aren’t you going to avenge your friend? Hmm?”

Galvar wanted to shout in rage. He wanted to kill all of the bandits in sight, but his body refused to move. He could not even speak.

From behind him, Galvar could hear the cries of agony of the rest of his members. Blood slowly wafted through the air. Galvar realized that they were all dead.

“As expected of a famous mercenary,” said the Bandit Lord. He crouched and stared straight into Galvar’s eyes. “A normal person would have died by now. Look at you, still breathing. A truly amazing specimen, don’t you think?”

The Bandit Lord did not reveal the trick, but it was definitely poison magic.

Just right when Galvar was about to lose his consciousness, a familiar voice rang out from behind.

“Let him go!” said Kelman. Galvar knew that his friend must have been trembling in fear by now. He was no warrior, but a merchant. “I have a lot of money! I’ll give it to you! Please, just let us go!”

‘I’m really lucky, huh? To have a friend like you, Kelman,’ thought Galvar. Deep within his heart, he prayed to the Gods to spare even just his friend. It did not matter if he was to die here.

“Out of the question,” the Bandit Lord simply replied.

One after another, the merchants hiding in the carts were pulled out by the bandits. They were thrown to the ground, just right in front of the almost unconscious Galvar.

“Oh, what a beautiful woman,” breathed the Bandit Lord.

Galvar realized that he was referring to the wife of Kelman.

“Married already, huh?” said the Bandit Lord, after seeing the kid clinging to her. His hand rubbed his pointed chin.

“Don’t touch my wife, you damn rascal!” snarled Kelman. One of the bandits struck his stomach using the hilt of his scimitar, and Kelman fell down on his knees, vomiting.

“Interesting, interesting!” chuckled the Bandit Lord. “Then, let’s do this.” He said to one of his men, “Violate the wife in front of the husband. Make sure he sees everything.”

The bandit licked his lips upon hearing his Lord’s orders. “As you wish, Lord.”

“Don’t! Please!” cried the woman.

“Stop! Don’t touch her! STOP!” pleaded Kelman.

The bandit ripped apart the woman’s clothes, and the child next to her cried upon seeing it. He started licking her legs, not minding the cries of rage coming from the husband.

“YOU DAMN FUCKING BASTARDS! STOP! FUCKERS! STOP, GOD DAMN IT! I’LL KILL YOU! I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!”

Upon hearing this, the Bandit Lord maniacally laughed. Tears started forming at the corner of his eyes.

“Lord, that kid over there’s still sleeping,” pointed one of his men.

The Bandit Lord did not like what he saw. Indeed, one of their captives seemed apathetic of what was happening. He was sleeping, with drools dripping down his mouth.

“Stop,” said the Bandit Lord. And the bandit violating the wife, though dismayed, stopped what he was doing.

“Bring that kid to me,” he ordered his men. He felt an unpleasant taste in his mouth after seeing someone sleeping right in the middle of the grand show he was orchestrating.

They dragged the body of the sleeping kid towards him.

The Bandit Lord summoned a wind blade and grabbed it with his hand. He threw it towards the kid sleeping on the ground.

And to his surprise, it hit nothing but the ground.

‘Did he just move and evaded it while sleeping?’ He mentally shook his head. ‘No. Impossible. There’s no way that could happen.’

Under the watchful gaze of everyone present, the Bandit Lord once again summoned his wind blade, then threw it towards the sleeping kid.

And once again, it hit nothing but the ground.

“What,” mumbled the Bandit Lord.

And as though on cue, the kid started waking up. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, then looked around.

“Huh? Why am I outside?” he said. He sniffed the air, then his droopy expression turned grim and serious. “I smell blood.”

His gaze was fixated on the leader of the merchants.

“Hey, you’re supposed to take me to the City of Lankan,” he said to him. “What’s this?”

Kelman, still enraged after seeing his wife almost fully violated in front of him, mustered a reply. “Forget the City, kid. We’ll be lucky just to come out alive of this place.”

The sleeping youth from before seemed displeased after being called a kid. He was frowning. He looked around, surveying the corpses littered on the ground.

“I see,” he mumbled. “And I thought I was lucky to find a caravan going straight to Lankan. This happens, huh?” He stared straight into the Bandit Lord’s eyes. “Is it you? The one who made this damn mess?”

The Bandit Lord did not like the arrogance and fearlessness within the youth’s voice. He mockingly replied, “That’s right. So wha—”

The Bandit Lord had yet to complete his statement when he was suddenly sent flying tens of meters back, his body eventually hitting a tree. Its trunk shook, and leaves fell down incessantly.

He groaned as pain cruised through his back.

What happened? He was formerly a high-ranking magician of the Kingdom. There was no way he would have not noticed the magic that had hit him. But one thing was sure – his instinct was screaming at him that the one before him was a monster clad in human skin.

“What are you doing! Go get that kid!”

After that single order, the bandits pounced at the youth one after another.

The youth sighed, and moments after, hundreds of orbs of lightning manifested itself around him. They twirled in place, before shooting through dozens of defenseless bodies. The smell of burnt human flesh filled the air as numerous charcoaled bodies fell limp on the ground.

Everyone that saw it could not believe their eyes. In a matter of moments, half of the bandits that surrounded their group were annihilated.

The Bandit Lord took advantage of the opening created by the deaths of his men. His body blurred, and he reappeared right in front of the youth. His wind blade shot unimpeded towards his prey’s neck.

But to his dismay, it hit nothing but an afterimage.

“Argghh!” screamed the Bandit Lord. He looked at his left leg, and his eyes widened when he realized that it was missing.

His instinct going on overdrive, the Bandit Lord activated the magic circle engraved on his chest. It was his trump card, and it had saved his life dozens of times now.

Forget about attacking the Capital. Escaping with his life should be his priority right now.

“I won’t forget this! Your face! I’ve engraved it in my memory!” he declared.

Slowly, his body turned into a green wisp, and mocking laughter echoed through the forest.

“I, the God of Slaughter, shall come back and take your life! Mark my words, kid! Mark my words!”

And his body merged with the wind. And he was gone.

“The Soul Morphosis spell, huh?” said Galvar. He was still unable to move, but for some reason, after the Bandit Lord disappeared, the poison in his body started to dissipate somewhat.

“Soul Morphosis? You mean that useless spell?” asked the youth.

Galvar simply smiled. “It’s not useless. It’s the most coveted of all stealth spells in the Grimoire Book. Basically, his body had turned into wind now. It’ll be impossible to capture him, moreover injure him. It’s useless. You need to destroy his entire body if you want to kill him. He’ll simply regenerate otherwise.”

Galvar coughed blood. “He’ll surely come back and take his revenge. Damn it.”

“So, I just need to destroy his entire body, huh?” said the youth. Slowly, mana oozed out of his body. The amount was so massive that even those that were not adept at magic could see it.

The ground rumbled, and the air itself trembled. Flocks of birds flew out from the ancient trees surrounding them in all directions.

A spinning vortex of black lightning manifested itself in front of the youth. The mana that was being gathered was so colossal that Galvar could not help but tremble.

“H-Hey, are you trying to destroy this forest?!” Galvar finally mustered the words out.

“That’s the plan,” the youth simply replied. His eyes glimmered for a moment. “Bingo. Found you. There you are.”

And the spinning orb of black lightning shot forward, instantly vaporizing the trees right before its path. Clouds of dust blew, and a shockwave shot through the spectators’ bodies. After the black orb of lightning finally dissipated, what was left was an absurdly long road of barren land – devoid of trees or any life.

Everyone that saw it was unable to utter a single word.