Chương 29: Base Camps

LANCE slept like a baby. He didn't know how long he slept but was pretty sure it was a full day or near to it. He woke during what he estimated was the mid-morning. No bandits were near and he was ready to tackle the new day. First, he opened his HUD and allocated, as his father recommended, five Boon Points into Magical Prowess. That brought his total up to [10]. It would also help him generate more mana overall and more mana faster.

Not that ten was very much compared to experienced Paladins, but he couldn't compare himself to such people, not yet — as it was said, 'comparison is the thief of joy.' His stat page read as follows: [Name: Lance Chaucer] [Level: 31] [Martial Prowess: 35] [Magical Prowess: 10] [Stamina: 25] [Unallocated Boon Points: 4] When he checked his Accomplishments sub-page, he saw an indicator that displayed, [Murder Island: 6/10 Accomplishment Unlocked]. He was getting surprisingly close to finishing the suite.

He wondered what Accomplishments were still left for him to do. Kill the Bandit King, of course, but what else? He shut down his HUD and prepared himself for the hunt. He had a small breakfast of what fruits he could find stashed away, then offered a small prayer to Cannabus. Then, he was ready. Incanting a [Search], he pushed about half of his mana into the incantation so as to allow it to cast a wide net over the small island.

He doubted it would give him insight into the entire island, but it should provide him with a starting point on where to hunt down the bandits who yet provided protection to their so-called 'king.' What the incantation provided back to him told him where several close bandits camps were located. If each camp was notable enough to be detected by the System, then they would be a good place to start in his renewed campaign against the bandit foe. He took off and dashed toward the first indicator on his HUD.

The first base camp was small. Maybe a couple of dozens of bandits milled within the camp. It was hard to tell what the purpose of the camp was... a simple strong point in the island's infrastructure, perhaps? Did they patron the interior for deserters or for assassins to their wannabe king? Whatever their purpose, none of the bandits looked threatening. A few had higher quality equipment, but that would not stop his blade from meeting their necks or guts.

Lance approached the enclosure and bellowed for all to hear, "Bandit scum! Repent now and take the oath of servitude or die ingloriously!" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. All the eyes turned to him. One of the bandit leaders yelled, "Repent? To you?! As if!" The battle that followed was fierce but fast. With so many arrayed against him, the bandits figured their victory would be easy. As their number fell, that belief fell with their horde.

Lance felt his sword effortlessly curve across, stab into, and slash against one bandit after another, each action a graceful dance for the blade which hardly stopped or the chain and ball which swung bloodily as the true King's justice. It took him only an hour and then some to slay all of the bandits in camp. A terrible loss of life when they could've lived, but oh well. Death was their decision. He offered one path and they took another.

Before he charged off to the next bandit encampment to slaughter, he was sure, another group worth of souls, Lance got an idea in him; it was a grotesque one, one that the bandits were just as likely to use as he, but if it resulted in saving souls, then was the end not justified? He willed his sword to morph into an executioner's axe. Then, one by one, he chopped the heads of the bandits off and strung them into a rope-line. During the next bandit encampment battle, he intended on showing his might.

That opportunity came early since the next camp was closer than he thought. He approached the camp and again bellowed for those who wanted salvation. This time, he tossed over to the bandits the rope-chain encased with the many heads of their outlawed companions. His idea was to terrify the bandits into submission. Did it work? Beautifully.

Some resisted and charged him but he ended them so quickly, even a few who had charged him near the back of the bandit line, had second thoughts and threw their blades down in surrender. These outlaws were done and so for the first time in his life, he led a group in a collective repentance. It happened so fast, he had a hard time believing it happened at all. Nearly three dozen bandits had the holy mark of Cannabus, bound to serve.

"Come with me," he told the ex-bandits.

"There remain several camps of your unrepented brothers. They cannot be allowed to stew in their sin." He chopped the heads off the dead, strung them in the rope-line, and traveled to the third encampment. This time, with both the horrible head-rope contraption as well as the former bandits to his back, the camp surrendered without hardly a fight. A few bandits' loss their lives, yes, but the majority had the good sense to join their repented brothers in a new, glorious purpose. And so, on it went.

Camp after camp fell to his blade and his new mini army of converts. Along the way, he even saw in the distance the Holy King Slime bulldozing lesser encampments like a force of nature. It was good he saw his familiar. With his holy 'bandit' army at his back and the King's castle no longer defended, it was time for the final assault.

As if to reinforce his conviction, the System confirmed as much: [Accomplishment Unlocked: Bandit Army Destroyed: You have proven to the lowest of social castes that you are superior to their crime-abiding ways. And what a way, too, Lance — chaining together severed heads in a rope? That's something I would expect from a follower of Ares-Ragnar, not that it is forbidden for a Paladin. Just... unexpected.] Lance smiled.

It seemed on the question of if the Accomplishments were personalized, he finally had his answer — yes, they were personalized. His deity, Cannabus, was watching him after all. Forging a connection to his familiar, he sent it a mental message: "Slime, it is time for the final assault. Join me outside the castle."