A snapping sound sounded to the right. 

Krow pivoted, quickly sending five bullets into the shadow in the bushes.

[You’ve eliminated a Lvl 12 bandit and gained four (4) silver serpens! 1/10]

They really were bandits.

He half-thought it was just the leader mocking him.

Then his eyes stuck on the last symbols.

Ten?

He only saw five.

Where were the others? 

.

A small crackle of dread bounced down his spine.

He glanced at the Map, expanded to a local view.

Tsk.

The spirit-bird must have only passed above. Enough to mark the group, but not the individuals.

He called the ghost-snake back. “Find the enemies nearby.”

The snake dove into the undergrowth.

A few seconds, and a red dot blinked into existence on the Map.

That worked.

Several more dots glowed into being.

The leader must really be confident in his people. He was still on the road with one of his group.

Krow had killed one.

Two more on the mountain.

One lower and the other was…

Krow dived behind a tree.

The hooked blade of the chain-sickle grazed his temple as it followed, drawing blood. The edge of the wickedly curved blade flashed. 

It buried itself in the tree trunk beside Krow’s head.

Eyes wide, he could feel his hair curl at the close shave.

Chain weapons were rare in Marfall Continent. They were more common in the islands of Amvard, the seafaring people there.

There was a player guide in the future that would mention it was a great secondary weapon for a Swordsbearer.

Krow pulled the sickle out of the trunk, strode the short distance to a small drop and jumped. He heard a grunt and a crash behind him as the bandit was dragged forward.

A double-jump upward and their eyes met. The other’s pupils dilated in shock, registering the revolver barrel aimed right at his head.

Krow emptied the cylinder.

[You’ve eliminated a Lvl 8 bandit and gained two (2) silver serpens! 2/10]

He landed beside the corpse, reloaded.

A sharp pain in his shoulder staggered him. He dropped, rolled behind a bush, pulled out the dart embedded into the scapular area of his back.

Minor Paralysis, his status offered.

Shkav.

He quaffed a Revitalit and double-jumped to a mass of boulders. Better cover.

The scout-marks on the Map hadn’t moved.

Gah, useless. It wasn’t tracking the enemy?

He called the spirit-snake back. “Track the enemies nearby.”

The snake slithered off.

The thwip-thwip sound of two objects cutting through air had Krow dodging. He studied the surrounding area. The other bandit couldn’t be seen.

Stealthy bandits? Whoever heard of stealthy bandits? Most stealth-heavy criminals stayed in the cities!

Or were there assassin bandits now? Weeping skies.

Most rural bandits were pillage and burn types, highwaymen, low-grade thugs. The Bloodcrows, being a larger and more diverse group, did have assassins.

Were they Bloodcrows?

Krow glanced downward, to the dead bandit. They didn’t dress the part, to be honest.

He inhaled, let out a long breath.

This was taking too long. He still didn’t know where half this group was.

The red marks on the Map flickered. Finally.

Krow oriented himself. 

He charged, leaped, twisted in mid-air, revolvers aimed upward at a mass of tree-roots under an overhang. He shot a single shieldburst first, catching the darts that flew at him. Then the darkspears. Four rounds, five, six, seven.

Nine before the notification pinged.

[You’ve eliminated a Lvl 15 bandit and gained five (5) silver serpens! 3/10]

The Paralyzing Mist was still dissipating when Krow strode out of it onto the road. Wordlessly, he began shooting.

He was well aware of the intimidating look of the dark on dark armor and coat, accented in white, coming out of the mist.

Looking slightly menacing, he found in his last life, worked wonders with a certain type of negotiations.

…if only people would stop commenting on the gangly frame of this avatar, shkav.

Everyone under Lvl 13 looked like they were in the middle of a growth spurt, alright? He was Lvl 14 already.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t been planning to come out of the mountain at all.

But once more, the enemies had moved from the last scout-marks the spirit-snake made.

Apparently real-time tracking was out on individuals?

How was that logical?

Fine.

That was fine. Even this much was incredibly useful. More than he expected when he chose Ghostcaller, really.

The two bandits on the road recovered from his hail of darkspears, because the leader came at him full confidence, like a hurricane.

Was it a player?

Krow deflected a mace from caving in his chest with his revolver, retreated to put space between them.

The leader’s form flickered as the other charged.

What?

He quickly drew his second gun, shot a shieldburst.

Two maces crashed onto the barrier. The leader’s form flickered again, hazy, and he was right in front of Krow.

A movement spell.

This was definitely not an ordinary bandit, despite the poor clothing.

Krow blocked again, tried to retreat, but the other locked his maces with Krow’s revolvers.

[Lvl 17 Bandit Captain]

[HP: 3200][MP: 821]

No wonder the man was spamming his movement spell, with that much MP to burn.

Not a player though.

The man smiled, almost welcoming. “You are the mercenary I hear the farmer village hired?”

So someone did notice him being the designated weapon bearer.

And hah, suspicions confirmed; this was an attack aimed at Cerkanst.

“And who hired you?”

He kept his voice low and even. Nothing at all like his brief role of Krow the bandit, king of the mountain, may he never live again.

“If you want a better deal,” the bandit hummed, then his eyes crinkled in humor. “Then I’d tell you.”

This was…a recruitment?

Bro, he just swore off being a mountain bandit, alright?

Krow grunted noncommittally.

“Your compatriots on the mountain are dead, and I assume, so are mine.” The bandit continued. “You get a treasure, I get a skilled subordinate. What do you say?”

…his ruse was that believable?

“All you need to do is give us the butcher and the village head’s daughter. Two people, one hundred drax.”

Oooookay then.

Haha.

Obviously the man hadn’t noticed the butcher knives sheathed on his left leg.

Thank you, Travelcoat.

He gave way, twisting his wrist to knock one mace out of alignment, freeing his guns.

“Too bad.” The bandit leader chuckled. He stepped back, a smirk forming on his face.

What?

A force crashed against his ribs. He flew sideways, wrapped around a tree.

[-8% HP]

Ow.

The last bandit!

He flipped to his feet, both guns out.

“Equip-one.”

Krow went cold.

Non-players were able to quick-change armor in the middle of battle. It was an ability specially seen in mid to high-level bosses. But that specific phrase….

That was player-only.