Double ambush

Norward Clemson, a regular merchant from Cloudgate Town, usually enjoyed his job, especially the part where he could profit from silly customers. However, at this particular moment, he was consumed by a sense of tension.

The lord of Cloudgate Town had personally tasked him with delivering a highly valuable item to Rockland Town. Despite the fact that the lord had provided him with a squad of formidable guards, to ensure their safety, he still had a feeling that something bad would happen to him.

It didn't take long and his unease proved right, when they were suddenly forced to stop because of a fallen tree, blocking the road ahead.

"Why does it always have to be me?" Norward muttered to himself, his anxiety growing. He looked around, eyeing nearby the nearby dark forest and he couldn't help but fear the worst.

Bandits! His expression darkened, when several more figures emerged from the forest cover. Norward nervously scouted through the bandits, until his gaze fell upon a familiar figure.

"Norward, what a coincidence meeting you here," the muscular man said as he drew nearer to the carriage.

"Four Fingered Dylon? You've overestimated yourself by coming here with your gang today! Leave now, and I won't pursue this matter any further," Norward snorted. With all the guards he had hired, not even the infamous Four Fingered Dylons will be able to rob him.

However, his confidence waned when another group of bandits emerged from the forest, and a sardonic voice echoed through the tense atmosphere. "I wonder who's overestimating himself," the voice chimed in.

"Two Faced Chevy? You came here as well?" Norward expressed his surprise, his anxiety growing with each additional bandit that appeared.

"Not just him, I am here too," another voice proclaimed and more groups of bandits began emerging from the forest and Norward's expression darkened at this sight.

Presently, about eighty bandits had encircled the carriage. The merchant had never imagined that these formidable bandit leaders would join forces to ambush him.

"Do you even know the consequences if you attack me now? Lord Swail will definitely not let this matter go!" Norward attempted to issue a stern warning, hoping that the bandits might reconsider their actions. However, his warning didn't achieve what he hoped for, and instead, Four Fingered Dylon erupted in laughter.

"Looks like you don't know the real value of the item you're transporting," Four Fingered Dylon cackled. "After we get this item, someone like Lord Swail won't be able to take revenge on us. But enough chatting. Go!"

Panic surged within Norward. His carriage was defended by nearly twenty 2nd-grade warriors, led by a 3rd-grade captain, a formidable force under ordinary circumstances. But facing this overwhelming horde of bandits, he wasn't sure by the outcome.

…

As the battle raged on, Norward's hope dwindled with each passing minute. Nearly half of his guards had already fallen, and the bandits still numbered over sixty. He clung to the slim hope of a rescue, but in such a remote area, it seemed unlikely that a force powerful enough to defeat the bandits would come to his aid.

Yet, just when he was on the brink of despair, a voice rang out from the forest: "Attack!"

Amid the chaos, many bandits turned their attention to the source of the commanding voice, only to be met with a barrage of flaming spears and a hail of arrows raining down upon them. The ambushers were concealed even further within the forest, and Four Fingered Dylon couldn't identify them.

"Who...!" Four Fingered Dylon's rage boiled. While there were some bandit leaders, who refused to cooperate with him, he didn't expect them to be shameless enough and ambush them during their ambush.

But what if they weren't bandits? He suddenly realized that the other force had a magician in their lines.

"Chevy, hold them back! We'll deal with this as quickly as possible," Four Fingered Dylon ordered in his desperation. However, his plan didn't unfold as he had expected.

"Sorry, Dylon, but I don't plan on dying with you here!" Two Faced Chevy declared. With profit as their main motivation, loyalty among these bandits was a fragile concept. As the situation turned against them, cooperation quickly ended, and Two Faced Chevy ordered his men to retreat.

With an unknown threat, Two Faced Chevy didn't plan to take the risk. There was only one treasure but several bandit leaders. It wasn't worth it.

With a quarter of their forces retreating, Four Fingered Dylon's frustration grew even stronger. They needed a different plan. "Warren...!" He shouted almost pleadingly.

Warren the Buster, the third strongest bandit, stepped forward confidently. "Leave it to me, Dylon," he replied, then charged toward the figure of the magician who had just emerged from the forest.

The situation had taken a dire turn. With less than half of their original forces, they were now hard-pressed to deal with the remaining caravan guards, and time was running out. It was a desperate situation for Four Fingered Dylon and his bandits.

…

Wain watched the bandits closing in on him from the forest, a sneer appearing underneath his hood. His plan had worked out well.

Initially, he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to join the fight, as the bandits' force greatly exceeded his expectations. However, with the arrival of the merchant and his guards, he saw that their forces were somewhat evenly matched. While the guards had the advantage in terms of quality, the bandits compensated with sheer numbers.

Wain wasn't sure which side would emerge victorious, so he deliberately waited until both sides were exhausted and seeing the bandits were winning, he decided to make a move.

With his new strength and abilities, Wain was eager to test them out. 

He felt a lot powerful after the breakthrough and he wanted to test out his new strength to find the true extent of his abilities. However, he wasn't only physically stronger, his psyche also improved greatly and he was able to process information about his surroundings more clearly and quickly.

1st-grade spell, Flame Burst!

He sent a wave of flames, igniting several bandits. Although these bandits had a slightly higher level than him, most of them weren't trained and didn't even form a mana core yet, so his attacks were very effective against them.

The only downside of his plan were goblins. Although they were great in numbers, their levels were much lower than those of bandits, so they served mostly as a range support to scare his enemies. He definitely couldn't let bandits get close enough to find out his real forces.

"Come forth, skeletons!"

He drew out a card from his robe and upon activation, dozen of skeletons appeared around him.

[Skeleton] (Undead, No-grade)

Level 6

Hp 35/35

Upon spotting the skeletons, several bandits stopped, unsure whether to advance. Most of them never heard about magic capable of summoning undead and a few of them chose the opportunity to flee from the battlefield.

Even Warren couldn't help but doubt his decision, was the treasure even worth it? He grew anxious, since he couldn't tell the strength of his opponent. Despite wearing a tattered black robe, the cloth protected the magician from all of his attempts to learn more about his strength.

[Warren the Buster] (Human, lower 2nd-grade)

Level 51

Hp 436 / 1294

Noticing the bandit leader was hesitating, Wain used the opportunity to send several skeletons at him, while chanting another spell.

2nd-grade spell, Spears of Flames!

He unleashed a barrage of fiery spears at his opponent, while Warren was distracted by the skeletons.

As the spears closed, Warren ignored the skeletons and tried to block the spears with his sword, but to his surprise, these spears carried a great power and after successfully deflecting the first two of them, he didn't manage to block any of the other five, which pierced right through his chest, setting him in fire.

-34

-36

-33

…

Warren was drenched in sweat, partly due to the scorching heat generated by Wain's fire spell and mostly because of the overwhelming anxiety that consumed him. He didn't know whether he stood no chance against this mysterious magician, but he still decided to risk his life in an attempt to buy more time for the Four Fingered Dylon.

Compared to the other bandits, Warren had a special bond with Dylon, having been saved by him on numerous occasions. He knew this operation was really important to Dylon, so he wanted to pay it back to him this time.

"Aaar!" With a fierce roar, Warren charged at Wain, brandishing his shortsword, full of determination.

In the meantime, Four Fingered Dylon was madly butchering the guards disregarding his own life, when he saw the might of the magician. He knew that his time was limited, so he wanted to quickly get the valuable item and flee with it.

Unfortunately, the guards protecting the carriage were equally determined to keep the item safe, resulting in a tense standoff. As casualties mounted on both sides, a growing number of bandits chose to flee instead of dying in this place.

Wain's fight with Warren continued, and just like his opponent, Wain wasn't entirely confident about the outcome. The gap between the lower and middle realms of the 1st-grade was already so huge, then what about the lower realm of 2nd-grade?

However, his opponent was already gravely wounded, so Wain was determined to at least try.

1st-grade spell, Flame Dash!

He swiftly evaded Warren's charge, while dealing some damage to the already injured bandit, and ordered his skeletons to buy him some much-needed time.

2nd-grade spell, Spears of Flames!

Once the cooldown ended, he casted the spell again, sending seven more fiery spears at Warren.

Warren tried to raise his sword in an attempt to defend himself, but his injuries were too serious to put up any effective defense, so he helplessly watched as the fiery spears closed in.

"System: You have killed Warren the Buster obtaining 43 842 experience and 26 Chaos Points."

"System: Congratulations you have reached level 12."

"System: Congratulations you have reached level 13."

"System: Congratulations you have reached level 14."

…

In a while, Wain leveled up all the way to level 18! After reaching the middle realm of the 1st-grade, his required experience to level up dropped significantly and he could easily pass through several levels with the abundance of experience points he received from Warren.

However, despite his minor victory, this wasn't the end of the battle yet, as the most powerful enemy still remained standing.