165 Ambush

A cold sensation ran through Emile after being called out. Should he run or continue his act hoping that they didn't recognize him?

Emile made a bold decision. He turned around started the conversation.

At worst, he would run away with seven or more bandits chasing after him. At best, he would get away without a problem.

"Yeah?" Emile said with a bold tone. He didn't want to seem weak amongst the other bandits.

"I haven't seen you around before. I'm guessing your new. Want to play poker with us?"

Emile felt a sense of ease after they said the last sentence.

"No thanks. I'll play another time," Emile said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

The men walked away looking for other bandits to play poker with them.

Emile let out a sigh of relief as they walked away. He walked around the tents and homes that they pitched up or built.

It was a small community. They all had strength so he didn't want to go on a rampage and get stopped within minutes.

Emile looked around for small groups of people. He didn't want to bring more than five at a time. He had to be cautious so that he doesn't accidentally offend anyone. A lot of these bandits were narrowminded.

He got lucky that the man who offered to play poker didn't take offense on his rejection.

Emile walked into a small tent and noticed a group of three sitting around and playing with cards. He identified the group and realized that there were two level 16s and one level 17 in the group.

The bandits noticed him entering the tent and gave him a look of questioning. Their face had a look of irritation when they saw Emile.

"What you need?" One bandit spoke in broken English.

"I found a place on a map with a lot of gold, but it's guarded by strong monsters. I need your help to coordinate with me and kill the monster," Emile spun up a story out of thin air.

"Oh. Gold, I like. How strong monster?"

"If the four of team up we can defeat the monster without too many problems. I wish I could defeat the monster by myself, but I can't," Emile replied.

"Okay! I go with you."

"I won't deny gold. Let's go!"

The third bandit nodded to show his approval.

This is easier than I thought. Emile thought in his mind as he walked out of the camp with the trailing behind him. They trusted him easily since he had a reason for asking them. No bandit would willingly want to share something unless they circumstances forced them to.

These bandits believed Emile had no choice.

Emile led them towards the valley.

"The gold and the monster is up ahead past the valley," Emile said outside of the valley.

They continued walking deeper into the valley.

"You guys should prepare yourself after we leave the valley," Emile said so that they would keep their guards lowered. He walked with ease and leisure which calmed down the bandits.

What they didn't know was that the valley was the ambushing spot.

They would lower their guards until they left the valley which would turn out to be a fatal mistake.

Emile walked past the party without glancing at them. They recognized Emile even with the red mask on and waited for the other bandits to appear in their line of sight. They secretly laughed on the inside when they first heard about what Emile planned with the mask.

The bandits talked casually as they walked into the ambush,

The party leaped out with an abundant amount of spells. These spells packed a punch.

The party and the adventurers overwhelmed the bandits and weakened them severely. They didn't want to kill these bandits since capturing them was the goal of the quest.

Emile walked back to the camp after they took care of the bandits. He walked back into the camp like it was his home. Nothing happened the first time he walked in, so he believed nothing will happen the second time he walks into the camp.

After some scouring around, he discovered a few more individuals. He initiated a conversation.

"Hey, I need your help. I didn't want to ask for people's help, but I'm forced to since I can't do it myself. I found a place that has lots of gold, but it's surrounded by loads of monsters," Emile said.

He spoke to three bandits sitting around and playing blackjack. They seemed like a small group so the party shouldn't struggle much.

"Seems sketchy." One of the bandits said without looking up.

"I guess I'll ask another group if you guys don't want to go," Emile said as he turned around.

"Give us more information. How much gold is there? How much gold will we get? Why do you know about this? How strong are the monsters? How many monsters are there?"

Emile ran into a tricky bandit. His attitude about questioning everything that he encountered would give Emile some problems. He couldn't be lax.

Emile lied without batting an eye.

"There are around 200 gold coins according to the rune engravings deep inside a cave I discovered not too long ago. I walked to the place with the gold. The monsters are only level 16 but there are four of them which is more than my plate can handle. I can't defeat four level 16's by myself. I have no friends, so I have to ask you guys."

"Why did you pick us? Also, you didn't answer how many gold coins we'll be getting."

"You guys are a small group. I don't want to split the money with too many people since I won't get a big share. We'll all get 50 gold coins if you guys go with me."

"All right. Give me five minutes to talk with my group."

The group of three walked a few meters away and whispered to each other. Emile stood around and waited. He looked around hoping to see his Lily and her clone but noticed no one that looked like that. It would be a problem if he could see them.

The leader walked up to Emile and spoke.

I'll take up that offer."

The bandit who questioned Emile was the leader of his group of three, so the others listened to his orders. Emile didn't know that the man was paying attention to everything he said. The bandit took his words with a grain of salt.

Emile led them out of the bandit camp and towards the valley.

"The first thing we need to do is walk through the valley," Emile said. He had to be cautious about the words he spoke. Anything unnatural could reveal himself to the cautious bandit.

The bandit put his guard throughout the entire journey. He didn't trust the things Emile said. Ambushing him would be slightly problematic.

Emile began typing in the party chat as he walked.

"I'm bringing them to the valley, but this group might create some problems. They're cautious about everything. I'll chill next to them without creating a huge gap between us. As soon as you see me pass the rocks, launch the spells without hesitation," Emile said.

Emile had a high chance of getting caught in the crossfire by doing this. He had to risk it so that they didn't get into an all-out brawl with individuals that are at a considerably higher level than the party.

Emile walked into the valley with butterflies in his stomach. The numerous spells that would come towards him made him feel some fear. The spells had a high chance of completely killing him since these attacks would deal a lot of damage. Emile hadn't suffered a true death in the game. The two deaths he had were from different tournaments.

The bandits could survive the spells since they were at a higher level than the players, so they took less damage than Emile and they had a lot more health.

Emile walked closer to the rocks. He took a deep breath as he stepped forward past the rocks.