Chương 76: The next Outposts of Virtue Bandits

The shocked kidnapped bandit, whose name turned out to be Xhufan, still could not face the fact that his trap for me had failed. He had sent me toward a vicious student as a roadblock to reduce my impact on the Virtue Bandits' reputation. That attempt had failed miserably, since I was the winner, and we were now running towards potentially the next ones.

I roared at him, gloating about how easily I had beaten the Virtue Bandits student, with that having manipulated him into revealing the next station because he wouldn't tell me otherwise. While sprinting toward another part of the ashen region, my voice echoed across the misty volcanic slopes like thunder rolling through the grey clouds in excitement of my own prowess and how though the Virtue Bandits have to be for me to be a proper challenge.

With that he regained his confidence, as I glared at him with burning determination, taunting with my words how his bandits were going have give theirs beat to beat me and how he felt challenged by my callout. He now believed that I truly just wanted to battle them, rather than kill them or take this region in someone else's stead. So he pointed me toward the next one who waited at the largest outpost, as he was pissed at my massive ego and wanted me to feel the Virtue Bandits' next roadblock.

The one who controlled that area was a twenty-four-year-old female wind-attribute user, tall, with black hair that faded into brown from bottom to top. She wore her grey bandana proudly. A battle scar marked her left cheek from the day she had challenged the very man I had just beaten, for she had sought the higher Student position. She had fought well, but in the end she had barely lost, so she still turned out as the strongest female.

I asked him if, that being the case, why I should even fight her if she lost to the Suhhe Sang. The kidnapped bandit just grinned and refused to tell me anything further on that. With his help I traversed the thick mist and reached the big city that housed forty thousand humans. The place looked recently run-down and filled with filth, completely different from what I had expected. I looked at him, and he explained that they were blocked by several nations and this used to be the old capital.

With the volcanic ash bursting constantly around this place it was hard to maintain any outer appearance, but he told me not to pity them as everyone who looks like a ragtag drunkard was a powerful Bandit. Once I made it to the den I would see that even they still held beauty. So we jumped from building to building, avoiding bandit soldiers, until we reached the far end where a huge cliff stood. At the bottom waited the Steel Gate.

I wanted to break it open, but he urged me to use the emergency gate higher up instead. He pointed the way, so with him on my back I climbed the unknown terrain quickly, showcasing again how far my strides had come. We reached the hidden entry point, which was an air vent. I crawled inside with him following. In the halls I saw the active work of growing and processing the drugged plants they prepared for sale.

The reek of that enchanting smell nearly overwhelmed me in such concentrated form, but I persevered and pushed toward an exit point. From there I followed him closer. At the next stop... he wanted me to play the part of a bandit, so I would not cause too much damage, but that failed. I had no talent for it and got busted quickly. We reached the next station, a side room where four stronger bandits stood guard. All of them wore the same grey bandanas, clear marks of their loyalty and support for their female Leader.

I walked up to them trying to act the part, my voice coming out stiff and robotic.

"I am new recruit. Sent here for the plants of a new shipment needs to be made. Xhufan brought me. Everything is fine. No problem here boys. Just passing through to the Operator. Yes. Good work you all do. The ash outside is thick today. I like the bandanas. Very strong looking as you should know I am also strong. We are all bandits together here. Yes." I spoke far too much, every word flat and unnatural. The four immediately drew their weapons and pointed them straight at me.

One of them shouted, "Man, you were too awkward in your delivery. Your not one of us I mean just looking at your hidden face we still see your pale Hands buddy, now drop your weapon!" They attacked without another word, as i did not comply. I beat them down hard for it, fists and blade moving faster than their eyes could follow. Bodies hit the floor one after another. Behind me Xhufan facepalmed so hard the sound echoed off the stone walls.

One of the beaten men, still gasping on the ground, forced his fingers into his mouth and let out a sharp, piercing whistle. The alarm for reinforcement screamed through the halls the very next second. More and more came in support to stop me advance forward. I quickly decimated them while walking toward the Operator room. The two guards who stood there were much more powerful, yet still not enough to force me into Vestuto. I beat them down. Once my partner in crime stepped inside with me we found no one present.

I grew pissed because I had built excitement for a strong battle, but he looked around and discovered that the Operator was out on inspection duty. He made me follow while I continued beating the bandits who ran into us, as the Bandits now knew an intruder made it here all thinking i was someone trying to destroy the drug empire. When we finally reached a spacious area, more bandits waited to be beaten. The noise I created drew the Operator, the main target, out at last. I could feel it.

This person felt strong in her presence. I drew my weapon and looked like a maniac as I started the attack. The woman thought and was told many times I was a sent agent intent on destroying their business, so she tried pulling me away from the area, air-walking outside. My veins popped with rising anger. Everyone could air-walk except me. I climbed the rocks and followed her upward. once i made it to the top with a pissed face. The Operator asked, "Who are you? You look like a Suren, so whom do you truly serve?"

I answered with letting a huge sigh out, "Oh come on, I serve no one but myself. I just heard you are strong and I wanted to fight it out with you." She looked irritated.

"You did all this damage just for battling me?" I attacked her and replied, "Enough talking with a Bandit. It's a waste. I want to battle you, so we are battling!" And so she took out her two smaller arm chakrams from her back... deadly circular blades with razor-sharp edges and intricate wind runes carved into the metal, capable of creating devastating wind gushes with every spin. She was a wind-attribute user with excellent control of the air around her.

As the battle intensified, my base form began losing ground and i understood she is stronger with her ability improving her Animo difference greatly. I saw her wind ethereal body floating behind her, pushing her strength forward with every movement against me. I stopped the advantage just before I called on my Vestuto. The woman named Liufiana watched her bandana get cut cleanly in half by my blade on the last dodge of mine. Her irritation flipped straight into pure rage.

"Vestuto!" she snarled in return her Animo bursting now 20. 832. Her Wind Ethereal support surged inside her like it was combining itself in her body. She grew into a new armor a sleek, swirling plates of pale silver and turquoise that flowed like living wind currents formed. Her third chakram, the massive hula-hoop-sized one, materialized and floated up and down around her body with deadly spinning force, generating howling tornadoes with every rotation she made in her offensive style.

She rushed at me before I could fully activate my own Vestuto and beat me relentlessly in the ground. Her chakrams spun like crazy hurricanes, slicing the air and my skin with it. I bled from multiple cuts across my chest and arms as the wind gushes slammed into me like invisible hammers telling me, while they are weaker in power they do more damage, as she covers a bigger area better. But the pain only pissed me off more.

I let my energy rage freely and called out my Vestuto in angry response while lying on the ground getting beaten with chakrams as she sees my shift into Vestuto jumps back to assess the new situation. Flames exploded around me as my Cor Flamma Vestuto ignited with high heat. The sudden difference in power hit her like a solid wall. I answered in kind without holding back.

I swung my sword-axe down on her with such heavy force, yet the pain transferred into the chakram that carried a strange attribute that told me on offense it stayed solid, but the moment I attacked it the blade of hers turned ethereal. I could not land clean hit on it, and that vexed me greatly because it was the one dealing the most damage and i wanted it gone.

Even more enraged, I struck her with the axe-side of my weapon, yanking her up from the chakram attack she had tried against me in a mid-air position, and pulling her close for the elsa di fuoco. I wanted to unleash the same finishing move I had used before, but every time I even tried, she slipped into a safe position and nullified it.

Realizing this, I held her down with the axe head pressed against her back, blocking all escape routes except for one side, then I finally caught her annoying ass and burned her well as she lay on the ground-right before I intended to carve up her torso even more out of sheer rage. The bandit who had climbed the entire mountain top to reach us shouted for me to stop. She was already defeated.

Once I realized it, I de-transformed, caught her body, and set her down gently on the ground away from the big craters we both left behind. I turned and thanked the bandit.

"You, what's your name again?" He shrieked for a second.

"How can you not know? I told you plenty of times!" I recalled his constant talking and answered calmly while he did a little performance.

"I forgot."

"I am number one Virtue Bandit fan Xhufan. Remember it, this time!"

"Okay, let's get to the next one." I picked him up and headed for the next location, the Border Control fifteen hundred kilometers from here, guarded by the man named Wuhliang, the thirty-nine-year-old bald-headed battle monk and rebel of the Monkian Sect. I increased my tempo and we ran hard toward the border gate to meet this battle monk. Once I made it to him, he was in the small hut near the border, protecting it from invaders.

His beads, which I felt with every step he took, were training props weighing sixty kilograms each ball. He had twelve of them hanging around his wide neck. His clean baby face and bald head looked wrong next to the age that showed in his eyes. His clothes were those of a monk in every way grey, brown, and orange in color with ashen residue on the shoulders. He understood my strength as soon as he checked my Animo with his reading eyes.

"Ohh, 8, 223. You look somewhat exhausted. Do you want tea, stranger?" A vein popped on his forehead. He did not really want to offer it, but he forced the courtesy he had learned from his sect. I declined. I went Vestuto to show him i am here for a showdown and you better duke it out with me.

"Now look at my power." He read my energy again, while taking the heavy beads down from his neck and the arm beads those balls each weighing twenty kilograms also from both arms, dropping them to the ground.

"You are strong, stranger. You get near thrice as strong when you Vestuto. That's borderline cheating compared to my fellow students… Like, your current Animo is 24, 303, and that's not even at one-hundred percent, as you already fought plenty for today. But that's hundred percent would still not enough against someone like me." As he activated his own Vestuto, his dark attribute unveiled his complete armor, transforming him into a monstrous red form with black outlines.

He looked like a beast in humanoid form with a flowing lion-like mane of crimson energy and a terrifying presence. His spirit level reached 31, 000. Each step pressed the ashen snow heavily beneath his weight. I felt excitement again. Of the three I had faced so far, this monk gave me the strongest presence, the deepest pressure on my instincts. It was going to be a good battle. When I took my sword-axe out he stopped his tracks.

"I see no malice in you, so let's do this, as i am someone who needs justification for a battle... how about rather than fighting it fully out. Let me see, if I can withstand your strongest attack and you can make me move backwards. If I can and do not move, it's my win. If you make me move from my spot, it's your win, since i will value it as not being able to withstand." He planted both legs with a strong release into the ground, shaking the foundation. His monstrous toes gripped the earth for proper holding.

He put one arm ahead and the other sideways. He breathed in so heavily that his stomach expanded twice its size, then nodded to show he was ready. I said with thrill to the challenge, "Suit yourself then. It's either way i am going for my win. I have to…!" I loaded my weapon with a great Elsa di Fuoco with every bit of power I had currently available to me, the same intensity the first bandit had felt, and released the strong fiery aura from the hilt in a blazing cut aimed right at the prepared monstrous man.

The fiery aura of Elsa di Fuoco shot forward like a blazing comet, the full force of my charged hilt-blaze tearing straight toward the target ahead. At first I thought I had lost, as Wuhliang stood completely unmoved. Not a single millimeter shifted beneath his planted feet. The roaring wall of flame crashed against his monstrous form, yet the damage seemed nowhere near enough to rattle him. His crimson mane whipped in the heat, but his stance held like an unbreakable mountain.

Then the truth revealed itself a bit later. Even though the cut across his body was not deep enough to truly wound him, the sheer overwhelming pressure of the attack had forced him to move. He later told me himself on the conclusion, it had been only two millimeters. Two tiny millimeters that shattered his pride. His face twisted in pure rage. He kicked the ground so violently and so fast that sonic booms cracked through the ashen air one after another, the shockwaves scattering snow and dust in every direction.

"I lost." He put his hand out as he calmed down. I shook it and answered, "You are powerful, if we fought you would have folded me." He replied, "Yeah, but no one is powerful enough to win against me currently or than master. That was still a great showdown." i agreed and went towards Xhufan and asked him "Where is the next one?" The asked bandit wanted to follow up with the answer, but the monk answered for him, "If you look for Thufue, he left for a sale, so I guess you have to wait a couple days."

I took the bandit into my arms.

"Then let's go to the boss." The monk wanted to stop me, but he knew the boss would win anyways, so he simply went and drank the tea I had declined.

"Ohh, you will be obliterated he will not even fight you. You might be strong, young one, but our boss… he is another world compared to your strongest, if you would fight it out," he said while slurping it.