Chapter 69 - The Bandit Camp (1/2)

The watchtowers near the gate were primitive ones made of wood with a single bandit on top overlooking the plains for monsters or players. It wasn't like the stone ones near the Blackrock town which could have multiple personnel working in it. These were the first things that he saw before he saw the stockade around the lake

With a little care he could easily take care of both of them. But killing one of them would probably alert the other. If there was an option to kill them instantly and soundlessly, he would have. Sadly, this wasn't that kind of a game. Even though he was an assassin, he couldn't kill a bandit with a higher level than him without allowing the bandit to make a sound.

Humanoid targets like these bandits were extremely different from the beasts. Like the NPCs they were also metacognizant in sense they had a purpose, could understand and be aware of the things happening around them.

These bandits were covered in rags and wore weapons and equipment just like the player and NPCs. The guards held spears and the lookouts wore lenses with a crossbow in their hands.

These qualities made them a lot trickier to handle than the usual monsters. They tend to have strong safeguards, communication and management techniques which would enable them to know if any player has targeted any member of the group. These group dynamics made assassins a very vital commodity in handling such groups.

Assassins could use stealth enabling them to sneak in and note down their movements habits and how they are communicating. It is important to know whether the opponent has any leverage against us in battle and knowing their communication systems and chain of command. With these two things known one can make plans to cripple the strongest of the fortresses in the world.

The same applied for the game and assassins were the usual spies. Later, in the game assassins would even have the specialization of scouting/spy-craft which gave them better skills for the same.

Balthazar had learnt these things even in real life as a colonel to safeguard against any intrusions into his citadel. Although he had failed horribly in his past life in this regard, that made him more careful and observant. Moreover, staking out a place was the first part of any of his jobs in his two years as an assassin.

He also understood the typical behavior of the guards and lookouts. Although, the game made these characters' behavior as close as possible to real-life, they had some idiosyncrasies which he could always use. Even if, he couldn't be discovered in stealth by these guards, the lookouts stationed at these places tend to have higher perception sometimes.

{Bandit] (Elite monster)

Level 10;

HP: 4500/4500;

[Bandit Lookout] (Elite monster)

Level 10;

HP: 4500/4500;

Shadow knew that there was nothing like being too careful. He intended to use his shadow clone skill to confuse the guards. The only problem was that he couldn't have the guards see his clone disappear in a poof or they might realize it was a clone and continue to search for the real body.

Luckily, there were tall grass nearby. The stockade and the gate were around the lake and there was tall grass all around. The bandits cleared the grass up to a region about 10 metres distance from the stockade. They obviously couldn't clear all the plains.

He stuck in the grass as he came closer to the gate, created the shadow clone and had it move towards one of the watchtower ladders in stealth. As expected, the other lookout could see though the stealth, noticed the clone and started firing arrows at the clone when it was climbing up. The clone immediately jumped down and began to run away

The guards immediately ran towards the clone to attack it. Shadow made sure his clone wasn't hit by the guards as he had it evade and run into grass as quickly as possible. The guards at the gate followed the clone and the lookouts on the watchtower began firing at the clone.

After the clone get into the grass, all Shadow's clone needed to do was crouch and let it go into stealth and later disappear. The guards were quickly after the clone into the grass. The lookouts on the watchtower also were focused on the clone and a few more bandits came running hearing the shouts of the lookouts.

As soon as the guards started after the clone, it was the best time for Shadow to get into the bandit camp. He made his way into the interior of the camp in stealth. There were quite a few cabins inside the encampment.

For Shadow, it looked like a buffet. There are bound to be treasure chests in such camps. He felt sad that he couldn't deposit some of the resources he collected from the plains in the bank, so as to get more space in his bag.

The cabins closest to the gate were empty because their inhabitants ran out behind the guards in search for his clone. This was the best time for him to search these three cabins. Shadow quickly went into one of the cabins to search for anything he could find. It was best that he took whatever he could as fast as possible. Time was of the essence as he didn't want the bandits to come back while he was in.

There would probably items and tools in every cabin in the open. Most of them everyday items. A few coins lay around a board game and dice at the centre of the room. These were of no use to Shadow. But he still pocketed a few coins and began opening the cabinets in the room. Luckily, none of them were locked and he could browse them quite quickly

Most had food supplies and other things. He went to the other two cabins and the results were the same. He couldn't find anything valuable in any of them other than a crossbow. He immediately put it into his inventory and got out.

[Bandit Crossbow] (BlackIron Crossbow)

Level 10;

Requirement: Strength: 35; Perception: 20;

Attack Power +15;

Can shoot at a rate of 10 bolts per 20 seconds.

Durability 20/20;

The crossbow was a very useful secondary weapon that could be used by many professions. Especially close combat professions would use it a lot. It had a higher firing rate than the bows of rangers. The only disadvantage was that it had smaller range than the actual bows and the magazine had limited arrows before they needed reload another magazine.