One of the bandit lookouts of the cave, the human, eyed his fellow bandit companion with puzzlement who is seen to be clutching his head with both hands in deep pain.

"I, I don't know!" The lizardling bandit said loudly in panic as he went down to his knees and struggled to fight the feeling of utter agony that he is currently experiencing at this very moment, dropping his sword as a result.

Unfortunately for the lizardling, his efforts of willpower were a failure as something diabolic in nature entered his weak-willed mind, a dark sinister whisper of some sort, compelling him to perform an act of abysmal character.

The human could not help but feel something is rather off in his lizardling companion as the latter stood up from his spot and slowly faced the former with his head bowed down in an ominous stance.

"Alright, now you're just creeping the f.u.c.k out of me." The human bandit a.s.sumed a nervous sweat on his face as back off a bit by one step.

'Kill him.' The voice commands the lizardling inside his head.

In a sudden and quick motion, the lizardling conjured a dagger from his Inventory and tackled the human, sending both of them down to the ground.

With the lizardling on top, the human witnessed in unadulterated fear at seeing his companion's eyes glowing eerily with the color violet, filled with an ominous cold demeanor that radiates terror into the victim.

'Silent him.' Were the voice's additional order to the lizardling.

Before the human was able to scream for help inside the cave, he was instantly shut off as the lizardling covered the human's mouth with his left hand.

Of course, the human attempted to overpower the lizardling with his strength but the latter proved to be stronger and quicker in his efforts as the dagger on his right hand was instantly utilized in slicing the former's throat, weakening the human in the process.

The human bandit's cry of desperation and pain was m.u.f.fled under the lizardling's hand covering his mouth as he felt himself being incapacitated with his health points dropping rapidly. Each swift brutal succession of the dagger's blade sank into his neck repeatedly without any shred of mercy.

After the despicable act, the lizardling, with bloodstains all over his face, stood up as he stared with no traces of emotion at the now lifeless body of his former bandit companion with a b.l.o.o.d.y laceration on his neck. The dead body eventually shattered into pixelated pieces and reformed into the crystal corpse.

'Excellent work, slave.' The voice inside his head commended him. 'Now, do us a favor and kill yourself please.'

Adhering the mental instructions of his new master, the lizardling without any traces of doubt, stab his own throat repeatedly with the same dagger that he used in murdering his fellow bandit, ending his own life just like that and succ.u.mbing to the same fate.

***

Isamu definitely was stunned after witnessing the b.l.o.o.d.y horror being played in front of their very eyes.

"D-d.a.m.n." The cat-folk stuttered on his tone as he eyed Gray approvingly look at how he efficiently handled the affairs with quick precision. "That's one heck of a spell. Remind me not to p.i.s.s you off, hehe."

"Neh, I'll only use it to the ones who truly deserved it." The elf a.s.sured him with a smile. "Still, I'm glad that I managed to cast the spell successfully for the first time in being unrestricted without the seal. u003cMana Slaveu003e sure is an extremely useful spell indeed."

Gray felt pride as he read the spell's description in his Skill UI.

u003cMana Slaveu003e (Elharis Translation: Servus Mana) (Active) (Lvl 2, 79%) - The Arcanist forcibly a.s.sumes control over a single creature, diluting his or her consciousness to turn him or her into an emotionless slave unless the victim pa.s.sed a Willpower check. If the target resists, it is instead momentarily dazed off by the sudden influx of magic invading the mind, stunning for 4 seconds. Slaves can be issued commands via telepathy. Only creatures ranging at levels greater or lower than the caster by five can be controlled and certain creatures are immune. Slavery lasts indefinitely or until the caster dispels it willingly but its magnitude degrade with each pa.s.sing second, thus allowing the victim a higher chance to break off from its control depending on their Willpower. Mana cost: 994 CD: 3 minutes.

As per the skill description, the reason why Gray opted to order bandit under his control to kill himself is that he does not want to risk the bandit breaking from his grasp, and keeping him alive held no merit.

The resulting actions also allowed Gray to attain some XP points out of this, since the bandit was under Gray's control when he made the kill, thus benefiting Gray in the end.

Isamu and Selena attained the said XP as well, since the former is in the party, thus sharing the same benefits while the latter is Gray's Sentinel.

Overall, they received a total amount of 190 XP, 100 from the higher level bandit, and 90 from the lower level one.

Anyways, the trio decided not to waste their time any further outside as they approached the crystals to loot the bandits' remains.

Additionally, Gray used u003cGrave Robberu003e on the two corpses to recover some Mana before eventually disposing of them.

After waiting for Gray's u003cMana Slaveu003e spell to be off cooldown, they proceeded to enter the cave quietly with utmost caution.

***

After pa.s.sing inside through the narrow pa.s.sage from the entrance, the trio now found themselves at a part of a huge clearing of the cave where multiple torches are fitted to torch stands to provide sufficient light all over the place.

At the center of the clearing, multiple bandits, seven of them specifically, are gathered in a fireplace as they leisurely chat with one another while drinking ale at a small camp that they set up.

Speaking of camp, small tents and other canopies are scattered all over the place, where the other group of bandits is seen minding their respective business with some of them sharpening their swords with a whetstone while others are horse-playing around care-freely with high spirits.

It was certainly a huge gathering of bandits in one hidden area that's needed to be taken care of immediately before more of those outlaws gather and muster their strength here for reasons that can't entirely be good.

As Malic briefed them back at the guild, the bandits are quite significant in number, estimated to be around twenty of them as per the trio's continuous observations of their activities.

The trio, standing from a hidden corner, consoled with each other regarding what their next course of action will be.

"Hmm, charging in blindly may not be the best course of action in our part." Isamu deduced upon seeing the many bandits. "So, u003cImpersonationu003e then?"

"You got that right." Gray grinned at the cat-folk in agreement. "There may be a boss also lurking around who's in command of these bandits. If we don't deal with him, it may prove troublesome on our part. As such, allow me to impersonate as one of them, scout the entire vicinity, and perhaps, deal with the boss first, a.s.suming that there is one. If s.h.i.+t turns haywire for me, don't hesitate to charge right in and let loose as you see fit."

SPEECH CHECK: 29SPEECH REQUIREMENT: 15PERSUASION SUCCESS!!RECEIVED 50 XP

"Heh, we follow your lead, Paragon," Isamu smirked teasingly at the elf while Selena nodded. "Word of advice from a sneaky cat-folk, try not to interact too much with the bandits and make yourself as inconspicuous as possible, keeping a slight distance away from them."

"Noted." Gray nodded in agreement as he changed out his robes in favor of equipping the set of chainmail armor and sword from his Inventory, the equipment that he looted from the dead bandits at the entrance earlier. Thankfully, the bandits also possess a headgear of a mail coif from their loot, allowing Gray to cover his elven ears. Although his face is still in the open, as long as he keeps his distance as per Isamu's suggestion, then he'll manage. That and the cave is still significantly dark despite the lighting of the torches around, so it's one of the factors that'll a.s.sist him in this shadowy task.

"Be careful, Gray," Isamu told him in concern while Selena looked at him, feeling the same way. "Just shout for us and we'll come right at these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

Gray nodded once again in acknowledgment as he departed from his friends' company.

Walking around the bandit camp, Gray managed to not draw any attention thankfully as the bandits simply ignore him, thinking that he is one of their own as they recognize the armor he worn. The elf calmly toured around the clearing of the cave while maintaining his distance as he strived to find the boss or anything that'll help him and his companions in completing the task.

In short while, he was able to find what he was looking for as he spotted a muscular tall man emerging out from his tent. The man is clad in a black long hooded surcoat with a design of a wolf's head over his plate armor and an enclosed helmet that served as a protection in his entire face. One may a.s.sume that the man is a knight based on his appearance alone but such is not the case this time around. Upon Gray's investigation, he could see how respectful and fearful at the same time the bandits are whenever the 'knight' pa.s.sed and makes his inspection around the camp.

Gray then took a closer look at the man, just enough distance behind to see his status bar.

Bandit BossLevel 22Health: 3,661 / 3,661Stamina: 1,325 / 1,325Mana: 380 / 380

'Huh, I bet the b.a.s.t.a.r.d must have looted the armor from a real knight.' Gray thought with a frown at seeing the Bandit Boss' grand equipment. 'Also, his stats are actually pretty good. Hopefully the same can't be said about his Willpower at what I'm going to do next to him.'

Directing his magic, u003cMana Slaveu003e was cast once more but this time at the Bandit Boss, causing the armored man to be down on his knees while screaming

as he tried to remove his helmet to ease the pain in his head.

The bandits around the proximity all eyed at their boss with concern as most of them approached him to a.s.sess his concerning condition.

"Hey boss, you alright!?" One of the bandits who have gathered near their boss voiced out hesitantly as he approached him.

Then, the pain stopped as the Bandit Boss kneeled still.

'Kill them.' Gray mentally commanded the Bandit Boss mercilessly.

[+3 CHAOS]

Without any warning whatsoever, the Bandit Boss took out a bardiche from his Inventory and quickly delivered a wide circular slash in his surrounding area, dealing ma.s.sive amounts of physical damage as the polearm cleaved directly at the unfortunate bandits who were caught in the arc.

Fortunately but not for long, the bandits survived but are now in a critical condition as they were injured on the ground. Horror suddenly engulfed them all as they witnessed their leader with a terrifying glow of violet light seen from inside his helmet, staring at them menacingly with the cold intent of death. The hulking man laid his weapon intimidatingly on his broad shoulders with an aura of murder as he slowly approached his next victim. And the worst part is that the bandits don't even know what exactly is going on right now as they held both confusion and fear.

An amused smile of triumph graced forth on Gray's face as he simply watched the brutal proceedings of the bandit boss ripping a group of his former allies to shreds all by himself.

'Let the bloodbath commence.'