Meeting Genesis Lake Bandit Again

 "Looks like my attainment had reach a good enough level," Ryker muttered to himself before checking his communication token. A brief look revealed that Ina had returned to the capital.

 Seeing this, Ryker send a message to her, telling her he would be out for a little longer.

 "Let see what is the reason for the disappearance, shall we,"

-x-

 Since it was close, it did not take long before he arrived at the spot.

 'This is the place. I should be careful in case this is a trap,' he muttered. He kept his distance from possible place that could have formation. However, if he did not do anything, he will not find any answer.

 'In that case, let's do this,'

-x-

 Two figures soon walked to the road. When they get close enough to a certain tree, symbols appeared underneath them, causing the place to brighten up with the new light. Yet, it is not a comforting one, but instead a light that will drag people to their death.

 Chains emerged from the formation, binding the two figure. Soon, bandits come out of hiding, before looking at the figure in disbelief.

 "Boss! It's a dud! These are puppets!" one of the bandit yelled to their leader. The said leader looked a little familiar, but it was her voice that jogged his memory.

 "What?! Dammit! We spend a lot on the trap. Take it off and let's go another road. Adventurers might started sniffing around with how many we robbed and killed lately," 

 Ryker confirmed it. The leader of the bandit group was the one who chased after him and Mashia. Thankfully, her Soul Strength is not too strong, or he would be detected already.

 However, he could not account for the fact if one of her underlings had stronger Soul Power than her. Not planning to find out the hard way, Ryker take his leave, using the shadow to distance himself from the bandit group.

 However, luck was not on his side.

 "Boss, I sense a rat sniffing around," one of the bandit said, staring at his current location.

 "Is that so. It seem we going to get something after all," the boss exclaimed, her voice one of glee.

 Ryker only had one thought in his head at the moment, 

 'Crap,'

-x-

 "Search him! He ca-"

 "He's here!"

 *Boom!*

 "Where is he?!"

 "Maybe he travel underground, using the earth?"

 As one of the bandit suggested he used the ground to escape, the bandits began to unleash their strongest attack to the ground, blasting it into pieces and causing rubble to rain down.

 'I did good hiding here,' Ryker thought to himself. Currently, he is hiding by the shadow on a nearby tree. While he was undetected, he did not know how long it would remain true.

 His eyes turned toward the bandit who had found him during the first few time. He is the reason he was nearly captured, the man Soul Power too strong for him to escape his senses.

 And he is strong as well. From what he manage to detect, the man is at the Genesis Source Realm and at the late-stage at that.

 "I can't kill him. He is too strong for me. I shou-" his musing was stopped when he felt an attack coming his way. Barely managing to dodge it, Ryker hide into the shadow before moving elsewhere.

 "The person should be using a Technique to move in the shadow, boss," the Soul Cultivator bandit said to his boss, who nodded absent-mindedly. However, her thought was elsewhere.

 'Shadow? Is he the same person as before? And is that how he manage to remain undetected?' was what is going on in the thought of the bandit leader's head.

 "Spread out! I want the person caught and quartered or it's your limbs in the chopping block!" The threat send the other bandits running, trying to find Ryker, who move as far as he could while still doing his job.

 'A single Genesis Core as leader, about 7 Genesis Spring experts with 30 Genesis Source bandits. Then there is about hundreds of Genesis Core and Genesis Foundation,' he exclaimed in his head. The number alone would be enough to subdue many Baronies and some of the weaker Counties. 

 'This should be enough. I should make my escape,' he thought before moving as far as he could before coming out of the shadow. Once he come out, he put his hand to the front, the space around him twisting and turning, sending waves of spatial energy all over the place.

 Such action will not go unnoticed as the bandits sensed it and moved towards his location. However, by the time they sensed him, it was already too late.

 They could barely see a glimpse of his face before he disappeared, moving through space and away from them.

 The bandits were dumbstruck as they watched where he used to be a few sec9nds ago before their boss roared in rage, sending waves of qi all over the place. However, the rage was stopped in few seconds as she looked at her underlings.

 "What are you standing here for?! Get ready to make our escape! There is no doubt we will be compromised after this!" the other bandits' eyes widened in horror before they quickly flee, but not before grabbing their loots.

 As for the leader, she stare at where Ryker was moments ago while making a vow in her heart,

 'I swear boy, when we will meet again, I will make you beg for death,'

-x-

 Meanwhile, Ryker find himself near the capital during his first time using the Law of Space to move this distance. 

 "That was too close," he exclaimed, his hand holding his heart. He then grabbed something he had been collecting before his escape.

 "This should be enough proof," he eyed the projection crystal, one he put in a hidden place, allowing him to get their images and their strength. One of the reason why he did not make his escape right from the start.

 "I better get a large reward for this,"

-x-

 In the end, he get what he wished for. When they saw the number of powerful bandits, they immediately agreed to his demand for the increase in the rewards.

 In the end, from both missions, he was able to get as many as 300 Middle-Grade Genesis Gold, a large amount that will help him buy needed resources for his wives and lovers.