Chapter 22: Camp of the Bandits

POV Cornelius

Another 3 year had now passed and we would all turned 15 in 3 month. Our training against the wild animals had shown the first results and we had improved significantly. Our coordination in particular has never been better. My physical abilities had also increased significantly. I could say that I was fitter than ever before. The second area besides combat that I had learned and improved was leadership and tactics. Both gave us numerous additional advantages in battle. With leadership, I could now give orders to others more effectively, further improving our coordination. I could now plan a battle in advance and pay attention to important things like the environment or logistics. This was helpful when commanding larger units. Tactics, on the other hand, gave a small boost in terms of speed and responsiveness for smaller units like our hero group of 4 people. It was also easier for me to keep track of things during a fight and react to unforeseen events. Additionally, I had recently discovered with friends that my influence on the female population has increased. I had always been proud of my beauty and cared deeply about my appearance. It has been my dream for a long time to build a harem, and achieving this goal was easier in this world than on Earth. Here, high nobility like me had the option of polygamy. So I diligently practiced my charm with the young ladies of court, especially with the emperor's youngest daughter. I had suspected for a long time that we should both be paired up, even though Alina is only 11. She seemed to respond positively to my flattery, so I felt I was well on my way to marrying into the royal family.

The success of their efforts was also evident in the others. Ansgar could strike so powerfully with his huge ax that he could easily cut off limbs. However, he has been lamenting lately that he was dissatisfied with the type of armor he wanted. Light armor only had a low armor value, but he didn't want to switch to heavy armor like chain or plate. They restricted one's own movement more significantly, as I found out for myself. But things would get a little better when you would get the advanced rank in it. We also knew from many of the knights in the bodyguard that the restrictions continued to decrease as you became an expert or even a master. Javier had further improved all six basic elements and soon upgraded the first two to advanced and was already thinking about which form of magic he should learn afterwards. Each of these types of magic was based on a specific type of specialty. Artifact wizards learned object magic, druids learned nature magic, and aura magic was used to conjure up improvements on the wearer with the help of tattoos. Familiar Magic was used to bind companions to your side, but animal companions tended to be forgotten in roleplay. Therefore, none of these four interested him much. Illusion and Gravity Magic were difficult areas because hardly anyone in the empire knew both forms of magic and, according to current research, Gravity Magic only had a few spells. Yet they were the only ones left for him. But I wouldn't be surprised if he stuck with the six elemental forms of magic. And Eleonore had now reached a level of light and healing that was impressive, even though she was only advanced. She complemented our group enormously and was an important part. She had put a lot of her training into these areas, so it's understandable that she had learned little of the rest. I just had to protect her. It wasn't clear to us at the time that we would soon have an opportunity to put these skills into practice.

POV Javier

One morning, a few weeks later, we received our first big mission, which was to take us out of the city. To the south of the city, a few days away near the great river in the forest, there was supposed to be a bandit camp in which deserted soldiers and runaway slaves lived. To make a living, they attacked traveling traders and passers-by traveling on the main road. The imperial court put together an expedition to pacify this area and capture the bandits. We should actively help and gain our first experiences in a fight against humans and non-humans. We should be ready because the expedition should leave in three days. If we needed any more equipment, we could ask for it. Since resistance was expected, we should be well equipped. We also learned on this occasion that we didn't get any EXP when fighting humans. We would get EXP if you fought non-humans. The amount seemed to be based on the EXP the opponent had earned in their life. Experts estimate it would be around 5%.

Our group had decided to go party again in the capital the day before we planned to leave. We had attended the academy over the winter and pursued our studies. A trip came at just the right time, even though the weather was still cold and wet. We left the palace in the early afternoon and went to the entertainment district. Ansgar and Cornelius in particular were in a good mood and were already planning our approach, although I should make it clear that Cornelius was planning and Ansgar just wanted to know how many opponents he would have to face tomorrow. On the way we also passed a building that we have only heard about before. It had three floors, a large, two-leaf, heavy entrance door and many bold-looking people in front of it. Loud chatter came from inside and the smell of unwashed bodies and alcohol hung in the air. That's exactly how I imagine the Adventure Guild. Because of our high-quality clothing, we stood out among all the adventurers and were viewed with suspicion. We just walked past the building and I was glad when we were out of sight. The evening was otherwise uneventful and we set off in good spirits the next morning.

The morning was cloudy but dry. Occasionally a few isolated rays of light reached us, which was always viewed as a good omen. Our squad consisted of a dozen warriors, all experienced guards, as well as half a dozen wizards and one dozen other people. This included a scout, caretakers for the horses and luggage, servants and other auxiliary troops. Most of us had a horse, while the entourage traveled on foot. So we followed the main road south and set up camp on the side of the road in time for the evenings. The three of us boys had a large tent, while Eleonore had a small tent for herself. Since we don't have any tasks in the camp, we were able to sleep undisturbed. The next day was equally unexciting. On the way we repeatedly met travelers, be they traders with a cart, couriers on horseback, all kinds of armed people, adventurers, carriages and also many who were simply traveling on foot. We had just set up camp that evening when we were called to a meeting in the staff tent. Inside was a large folding table with a map of the area. Besides us there was the captain of the guards, the leader of the wizards and two other people. One of them turned out to be our scout and the other was an inconspicuous man. The man was wearing simple clothing and was asked to speak.

“Very well, ladies and gentlemen. As I stated before, I've heard rumors that about an hour further south, just beyond the tree line to the west, there is a trail that leads to an old abandoned logging camp. I don't know how far the camp is from the road because I've never been there. The path cannot be seen from the road. Unfortunately, I don’t know any more, noble gentlemen.” <Man>

The man was then led out of the tent. As soon as he was gone, the scout spoke up.

“I checked the place and it is as he said. If you follow the trail for about two hours, you will come to a fortified camp. Size-wise, I would say it's big enough for up to 3 to 4 dozen people. The path is also used more frequently because many branches have been snapped. I couldn't make out how many people were inside the palisade. But the camp is clearly inhabited.” <Scout>

"Well done. Before the sun rises tomorrow we will surround the camp. At sunrise, when the Lord Lumos shows himself to us, we attack. Remember, we want to capture as many slaves as possible. But anyone who resists can be killed. Get ready, the night will be short.” <Captain>