Chapter 74 Among Thieves

When the bandits woke up, they saw themselves buried to the ground up to their necks. Moving anything below that was impossible for them, so they panicked… they panicked even more when they saw Aion practicing firing earth bullets toward a nearby boulder. The power and speed of the projectiles were weaker than remembered since he reset the mage class, but each of those was cracking the boulder more and more. A single hit in the head would finish them off.

"Where I can find your friends?" Aion asked. "Don't try to fool me, I know that you guys operate in different areas in order not to get in the way of each other. To be able to do that, you should have talked with each other and reached some sort of agreement."

The bandits couldn't even look at each other, but they tried. Still, before they could pass any message to each other using their eyes, Aion fired a fist size bullet at one of the bandits, but he ended up missing. He almost smashed the ear of one of them, though.

"I am out practicing. I guess I will get closer," Aion said. "Let's try this: who speaks first will survive, and the others will die."

The bandits panicked even more… Aion wondered if those ten years changed him that much of if he always had been like that. He doubted that the second option was the truth since his previous job required him to risk his life for others now and then, and he admired his first father that much.

"You won't see us betraying our allies!"

Someone trying to be a hero said, and Aion frowned. The guy seemed fairly young since he didn't have many scars on his face and unlike the others, he was full with spirit despite their situation. He thought that honor among thieves was nonsense, but perhaps even they weren't completely scumbags. Still, that much was too little for Aion to feel any pity toward them. In any case, the brave and stupidity bandit had dark hair and brown-ember like eyes… perhaps Aion could use him.

"I see, so you guys really work together," Aion rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You operate in different areas in order to work more efficiently instead of getting in each other's way then… well, since you are so honorable, then you will have to die. The heroic leader will go down first."

Aion used his magic and enveloped the head of the bandit with earth magic. The bandits couldn't see much, but they realized that the boss of the group had grown silent. There wasn't much struggle either, so their blood began to run cold…

Regardless, Aion thought that something of that level would be enough to make the others speak, but it didn't work… they sure were loyal to their friends. Considering that his mother told him to bring them alive and make them work for the territory, he wasn't going to kill any of them, only silence them temporarily, but it was getting hard since his patience was running low.

"I guess a good shot in their heads and the sound of skulls splitting would work better to convince them to talk…" Aion thought. "Still, I can't become that cold-blooded yet."

In the end, Aion uncovered their heads from the mass of earth, and they noticed that they all were alive. Aion didn't give up on making them talk yet. He just needed to be a bit more patient.

Tamer Lv 08

Health: 14/14

Mana: 24/24

Stamina: 78/78

Strength: 06

Dexterity: 11 + 09

Magic: 11

Endurance: 01

Resistance: 01

Speed: 11 + 08

Status: 00

Whip Refinement Lv 06

Bonuses: Dexterity + 08, Speed + 08

Skills: Tame Lv 01 (Power Lv 15)

Passive: Enhanced Dexterity Lv 01,

Improvement Points: 60

Accumulated Experience: 00

Coins: 00

Inventory:

Absorption: 0/1000

Processing: 0/1000

Reset

Aion equipped the Tamer class while knowing that Tame didn't work on humans, only on animals and monsters. However, he considered the possibility that future skills would change that. Regardless, Aion would need a monster or animal to trace their scent back to their base and to the other bandits. In any case, he used the materials of the bows to improve the whip, and worked pretty well. They were of high-quality wood… the bandits probably stole them from some merchant.

"You guys have two options now: be nice and lead me to your base or wait for me to find on my own while you starve and thirst for water," Aion said and then waited for a while. "All right, starve, you guys will."

Aion emerged them from the ground using his magic, and they realized that their fists and legs had been handcuffed. After that, he began to move to the East since he knew that was the direction they came from. Since the handcuffs of those six were connected, they couldn't even turn properly, so the chances of them rebelling or running away were nonexistent.

After walking under the hot sun for a couple of hours, Aion could tell that they were getting really tired. They didn't receive treatment, so the wounds on their stomachs still hurt like a beach.

In any case, during that time, Aion considered many things. Why he didn't find any signs of monsters so far was at the top of that list. In any case, it didn't take long for him to find an area a few kilometers away from the nearest village that had several hills. According to Artemisia, that was one of the potential places that the monsters and bandits might be using to hide.

Aion walked around some of those hills and didn't find anything odd with them. If there were a hideout there, it would have been perfectly hidden… It was also hard to read the expressions of the bandits. For such low lives, they sure were well trained… Almost like…

Aion looked around and made the bandits stop. After some seconds of hesitation, he told them to get down.

"Don't move from here," Aion said and then began to run.

When Aion disappeared behind a hill, they began to move. Their hideout was nearby, and they could hide before Aion could see them. What they didn't expect was that Aion was already tailing them with Furtivity.