Those words made Cain freeze in his tracks as he recognized the voice of someone whom he really wanted to avoid at this moment. The voice reminded him of a certain wire-wielding lycan that made him move up his plan to abandon the former bandit village.
'Please, no. Anyone but him,' pleaded Bandit Leader Cain as he prayed to whatever deity that would listen to his prayers.
Sadly, it seems like they all ignored his pleas as he saw a familiar figure appear from around the corner, trailed by a few prisoners. Cain didn't even bother to stare at the captives currently bound by chains but instead focused solely on the man, er.... werewolf leading the group.
Upon fully recognizing the face of the figure he didn't want to see, Bandit Leader Cain clenched the hand holding the sword tightly before speaking through gritted teeth, "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you here, Lycan?"
Even though he asked thi
*Sits in the corner munching on bread*
It's been twenty minutes since Kirou's clone destroyed the barracks and armory. From Jackson and the others' perspective, the entire stronghold had grown a bit too quiet. It the group a minute or two to decide to check things out for themselves. After leaving their designated area, the group walked for a few minutes before they stood at the entrance of the stronghold. The group took in the destruction of the walls and gate of the stronghold for a few seconds before they crossed the damaged bridge. As the group passed the gate and surveyed the area, they noticed the various corpses thrown all over the place. This sight left each of them with complex emotions, especially Jackson. That said, this was the result of their request so they had no right to comment on the aftermath, nor would they. Instead, the group took it all in as they started walking deeper into the stronghold. After walking for
The twenty bandits thought long and hard about their choice. Everyone else was staring at them, each wondering what choice these bandits would make. The five bandit leaders wanted the twenty to choose the first option to not have to experience even more pain on top of their already slow and painful execution. The former bandits that followed Jackson wanted the twenty to join them as not only are they strong, their loyalty to their leaders was touching. As for the players, they hoped that the twenty would choose the third option and just leave. Just like the former bandits, they too found that the loyalty of these men was worth keeping alive and that they should be free to make their own decisions on their futures. As for the man who offered these options and the halfling lycan forcing them to make a choice, their thoughts on the matter couldn't be observed by anyone else in the area.
Kirou and Jackson took a few minutes to work out the finer details of the <Blood Oath> that they wanted Cain to make. During this time, Cain genuinely contemplated committing suicide multiple times. The reason behind this was that neither Kirou nor Jackson bothered to lower their voices during their discussion, allowing Cain to hear all of their depraved ideas to include in the oath. The thought of escaping entered Cain's mind multiple times, only to be dismissed almost immediately. Not counting the fact that he was injured at the moment, even if he wasn't, he still had to contend with the creatures surrounding him. And even if he could somehow get through those creatures, there was still a large group he had to fight through, not to mention both Kirou and Jackson. With those thoughts in mind, Cain resigned himself to the whims of the two bastards holding him captive. Both Kirou and Jackson could see that Cai
It's been a few hours since Kirou and his group, along with the recent additions, returned to the <Phantom Palace>. Kirou only left some instructions with the girls and Mistaken Fox for the former bandits while he invited both Jackson and Cain to follow him to the underground pier. The trio was currently sitting around a small table, Kirou drinking some tea while both Jackson and Cain stared at him in confusion. This went on for a few minutes before Jackson spoke up. "Young Master, would you mind explaining why you've brought both of us down here?" Cain maintained his silence, but he gave a slight nod in agreement to Jackson's words. Kirou only glanced at the duo for a few moments before turning his eyes to the waters of his underground port. As soon as he finished his tea, Kirou spoke, "I'll be leaving for the <Beast Continent> within the next two weeks." T
A few weeks have passed since Kirou had the discussion with both Cain and Jackson by the underground lake. Unlike the empty and somewhat desolate space that it was before, the underground lake was starting to look like a proper workspace for ships and people alike. More buildings had been constructed on the land area, with one side set up to properly reflect a shipyard and the other to reflect an underground harbor for ships. As for the water, multiple ports had been erected for both ship and civilian use. Hell, a few small boats were already making use of the new docking facilities that were recently created. As for how this happened, Kirou could only say that he got extremely lucky with his excursions outside the <Phantom Palace>. *******Flashback******* *Three days after the discussion with Jackson and Cain* Kirou was currently farming mining resources points.
After leaving the village, Kirou has been heading northwest for roughly two hours. During this trip, he made multiple adjustments to his heading after using his skill to investigate his surroundings. The downside of this was that he had to chug down multiple potions to replenish his quickly spent [MP] after each trip. It was at this time that Kirou slowed and silenced his steps. This is because the stronghold for those human traffickers was within his sights. Having stopped behind a tree, Kirou calmed his breathing and steadied his heart rate. After doing so, he peered from behind the tree, gazing at his targets going about their business in the large base. The base itself was an abandoned seaside village that seemed to have been occupied initially by dwarfs. Along with a few lodging houses, there were a few paths dug into the hill directly behind the houses. The houses themselves were spread out and made in a style similar to inns, but the size of the windows
While all that was going down back at the Seaside Village, Kirou was already making his moves in the enemy stronghold. It's now been fifteen minutes since Kirou initiated his plan. Stealth and subterfuge were the game's name, and Kirou had to make severe commitments to follow through on his plans. He started out by summoning two clones, which he then sent to specific places to hide until he gave the signal. Following this, he rushed back to the cave where the kids were being kept captive. Unlike his prior visit where most of his was spent searching for their location, this time he would be able to deal with them without as much trouble. That said, he remained hidden in a dark spot while watching the actions of the captors and their captives. As he did this, he silently retrieved an item from his inventory. It was a small canister-like object that almost anyone would recognize if they saw it. Besides the main body in this cave, his clones pulled out similar objects, a few of whic
Kirou was currently making his way back to the Seaside Village via the ships used by the pirates. He needed a secure way to transport all the women and children that were captured back to the village without injury and in a timely manner, and .... it's not like the previous owners had much use for these ships anymore. As for controlling and navigating the ships themselves, Kirou had no part in that as he lacked the necessary experience and skill needed to do so. Instead, this job was taken over by the captured women that were previously held captive in the resting area of the camp by those pirates. Apparently, they were part of a crew of sailors that got captured at sea. Their ship had recently gone through a bad storm and most of the crew got injured in the process. Those that survived the storm thought that things would be fine when another ship passed by in their time of need. Sadly, their hopes were dashed as this ship was filled with pirates. When the pirates found and boarded