Human Hunting

I thought about my strategy to catch these kidnappers.

I decided to go see what Chloe was doing. She was sleeping in the other hut. I had just about finished organising my Minions for the day so I didn't have much else I needed to do. I made my way over to the crudely built and newly-repaired wooden hut which had previously burnt to the ground.

I knocked on the door.

"Chloe."

After a few moments, I heard a thump, then some footsteps before the door opened before me.

"Ah, you're awake already?" She muttered lethargically.

"Get ready, we're going to kill some people today."

"Hehe, there's no better way to start the day than hearing something like that~"

"Just hurry up."

"Okie~"

She closed the door again and began preparing some things.

I decided to take this opportunity to observe my new Elite Minions. I decided to keep them nearby since they were only useful for combat purposes. Beside me, stood my Rook, Bishop and Knight. Rook, which was my Advanced Warrior Minion, held a longsword in one arm, instead of the standard shortsword held by other combat Minions. It was a little bit bigger and slightly sturdier-looking as well.

After around a minute, Chloe came out of the hut and greeted me again.

"Ooh, did you get some new Minions?" She asked.

"Well, that's basically what happened."

"So, how are we going to find them?"

"I sent out some Scout Minions to search for them until I get a message, we'll just patrol the woods until we find one."

Chloe conjured her {Platinum Sword} and held it in her hand.

The two of us, along with my three Elite Minions made our way into the forest. I could explore as much as I wanted as I could always get my Minions to lead me back to the settlement. The only thing was that I didn't really want to wander too far into enemy territory.

Step by step, I made my way through the forest, making sure I didn't trip on the vegetation and unstable ground. It wasn't all that difficult to traverse, the branches of the trees sometimes gave a pretty good ledge to hold onto. It was quite dark, even in the middle of the day, only slight rays of light penetrated the dense, bushy leaves of the trees.

We walked through in a straight line, hoping we'd eventually find someone or something.

Somewhat in the distance, I could see the silhouette of a robe or maybe a cape. The person was also holding a large stick that looked somewhat like a staff.

The figure walked closer to me, their entire body was covered by some sort of black cloth, however, their face was exposed. It was a middle-aged man. His clothing looked pretty similar to the clothing of the previous kidnappers. Up close, I had a much better view of the staff he was holding, it kind of looked like a long wooden club covered by some moss with some metal, gem stuff attached near the top.

"Looks like we've got company~"

"You can take care of him, right? Just don't kill him, I'll need to speak with him."

"Haa, of course."

The man began taking steps backwards.

Suddenly, I noticed that he was lowering his staff towards me, and instinctively, I moved my head to the side. The front of his staff flashed white before a crystal formed and was shot out from his staff piercing the trees behind me.

"That was fast."

I noticed the sound of trees crashing to the ground.

The entire area suddenly was encapsulated in a greenish tint, like some sort of radar. Without a moment of hesitation he pointed his staff again at me, this time, it flashed red. The crystal forming at the tip of his staff was much larger with an explosive aura around it.

Chloe rushed forwards to engage the man. I got my elite archer, Knight, to raise its bow and aim at the... mage—well at least that's what his powers seemed to be like. Dirt scattered all over the place as Chloe's harsh footsteps pushed through the uneven ground.

Crap, this person was targeting me for some reason.

I didn't have a shield on hand so I would have to dodge his next attack. His attacks seemed extremely fast so I wasn't sure if I would even be able to make it out unscathed.

The red bolt was suddenly released from his staff. It travelled straight towards me at a very fast speed. I jumped to the side as fast as I could but the explosion of the trees behind caused quite a mess in the area. He almost immediately began charging his next attack.

Chloe swung her {Platinum Sword} at her and the man was forced to raise his staff in order to block the blade. The prismarine white blade crashed into the hard wooden staff, causing a dent. However, the staff was stronger than it looked and the man created more distance between the two of them.

After missing several shots, Knight finally managed to fire an arrow on target, hitting the man in the leg.

It wasn't enough to send him toppling to the ground and this time he aimed his attack at Chloe. His attacks didn't take very long to charge and after gathering some sort of energy, he fired it once again.

Chloe pulled out her {Diamond Shield} and the attack blasted into it. The shockwave sent both of them crashing to the ground alongside several fallen trees. However, Chloe regained her footing first and kicked the staff out of the man's hand. The wooden staff bounced around on the ground before landing a few metres in front of me.

Slowly, I walked forwards and picked it up off the dirt.

Chloe stepped on the man's chest and held her blade on his neck. As she disabled him, she looked over at me, waiting for me to make my way over.

I walked up to the man and looked down at him.

He looked up at me in fear as he lay in the loose dirt and scarce grass of the forest floor.

"So, I'll be expecting an explanation."