Having made up my mind to investigate my new neighbours, i retreated back to my house and waited for night to set in. I spent the next few hours practicing my body control technique and as the first stars became visible in the sky, i had successfully furnished my home with a wooden bed frame and a hammock of vines making up the mattress, a table and a chair, and a few other weapons and gadgets including a bow and a remarkably sharp wooden sword and axe.
Though i could grow weapons at will, it still felt like a good idea to have some pre-made, especially the bow which needed to be strung by fifty or so intertwined micro vines that were quite tedious and slow to make. As all of my weapons were made of wood, i was quite certain they would be useless in any prolonged dual against steel or whatever alloy they may have in this future world. Along with my weapons i had also practice sending roots underground and creating a whip like vine. From what i had gathered, my range was currently about twenty meters before i lost fine control and thirty meters was the overall limit i could stretch any one limb.
Once night had sufficiently taken hold and the darkness had fully enveloped the valley along with chill breeze that swept across the water surface, i slipped off through the trees and worked my way as quietly as i could toward the structure i had spotted earlier. In short process, the compound entered the edge of my detection. There were far fewer people present than i thought there would be for its size and none of them triggered my alarm as strong enough to be of concern. I continued to approach while keeping an eye on the people inside and managed to reach one of the splintering walls without raing an alarm.
There didn't seem to be any entrance on this side and after standing in silence for some time i determined i was not going to be able to hear the people inside either. If i was to get an idea on who these people were and if i could safely ignore them, then I'd have to venture further in. I Extended my legs till i was around twelve fee tall allowing my eyes to just see over the top of the fence. The five people i could sense were inside two of the buildings. Good, looks like they can't see me from here.
I climbed over the fence silently and touched down inside the compound. Doing my best to remain behind the houses and out of the light, i made my way around the perimeter until i reached the first house with three inside. I ventured to raise my head to the nearest window to peek inside. The house was dark; there were no fires inside however with my vision and senses i was able to tell exactly who was there.
Two children had been bound and gagged and locked in the room. They were laying on the floor and appeared to either be asleep or unconscious. in the next room over was a woman who was likely in her twenties. She too was bound and gagged but was awake and sitting in the corner. Her face was bruised and clothing torn. It became immediately clear what sort of place this was. A feeling of rage welled up inside and i found myself walking with a little less care for noise, towards the second house with life.
This one was well lit. Peering through the window i spotted two men sitting at a table laughing. They were both of solid build, with dark brown hair and rough features hidden beneath their beards. A sword hung at the waste of each and their armour though not clean and shiny like the soldiers of Castle Holm, was solid and well enough maintained. They seemed to be in the middle of a card game I'd never seen before. The cards had strange symbols and letters that made little sense to me but clearly held the two men engrossed, as they drank and bickered over each play made.
"You bastard, you can't play for Vega, i just put down one, two turns ago."
"Screw you, that was three turns ago so i can play for whatever hand i want."
I sat listening to their conversation for a while longer in hopes of gaining more information, they couldn't be the only two bandits living in this compound. There had to be others and i wanted to know where they were. Fortunately, i didn't have to wait too long.
"What's the time?"
To my surprise, one of the men pulled out what appeared to be a pocket watch. Wait so they still have clocks?
"About 8"
"Couple of hours till they torch Surn then."
"Yeah, even if they don't know what happened to Vil and Sin i think the boss just wants to take whoever is worth something and be done with that village."
"Soldiers were roaming around on the road yesterday as well, they might have been done in by them... probably as good of a time as any to move locations. Plenty of prey on the lake."
The men chuckled and my stomach had dropped, there were bandits heading for the village, and i had no intention of letting them have their way with it. Time to collect some light.
While remaining outside the window, I notched an arrow i had just grown, drew my bow, and took aim at the man furthest from me. I'd fired a few practice shots earlier that evening and this time, only had to make a shot of a few meters. With a twang and the shatter of glass, the arrow flew through the open room lodging itself deeply in the neck of the man I'd not aimed for. Guess it was redirected by the window.
The bandit let out a gurgled groan, then collapsed off his chair, fingers clutching at his bloodied neck.
"What the hell was that? Oi, are you alright?"
The other bandit had tipped the table towards the window to block any further shots and dragged his struggling comrade behind it.
"If you're soldiers of Holm, we surrender"
I could sense the man had drawn his sword and in a quick motion plunged it into the heart of the dying man, killing his comrade.
"Sorry pal, you're done any way"
He then proceeded to sneak through to one of the other rooms and open the window as the now familiar light drifted into his torso. I had been following every movement and traced my way around the building, standing out of sight, waiting for him to climb through. His feet touched the ground and in that same moment, let out a loud scream that was muffled quickly by one of my hands. I had pierced both of his feet with sharp, pointed roots. Pit fall traps were a staple of guerilla warfare and firing two of my limbs upward was my version of this.
The bandit tried to swing his sword down on me but i has already restrained his arms with mine wrapped around them like vines. Panick had now flickered across his face as he looked onto mine.
"I'm going to uncover your mouth, and you are going to tell me how long ago your friends set off towards Surn"
The man nodded desperately and i lifted my hand from his mouth.
"They took off an hour ago. There is a treasure store buried here. If you let me live I'll show you and then you'll never see me again. I'll keep my mouth shut and disappear."
Nodding, i lowered my spikes out of the bandits' feet causing another scream, then told him to take off.
"Thank you."
The man shuffled slowly away from me leaching a trail of blood which slicked across the grass. In the meantime, i made my way back to the first house and gently entered. As i walked across the creaking floorboards the woman began to audibly cry. I tried to stifle my own emotions and carefully opened the door.
"It's ok, I'm not here to hurt you. The men who captured you are dead, or at least soon will be. I'm going to come and untie you now, ok?"
The woman nodded and i stepped forward into the moonlight from the window. She gasped slightly but wasn't as concerned with my appearance as some had been. After untying her and helping her to her feet, we pathed through the dusty cabin to the next room over and freed the children. Thankfully, they had only been sleeping and upon awaking, began to cry uncontrollably until soothed by the familiar face in the woman.
"These two are my younger siblings" she said in a cracking voice that held very little strength while embracing the two in her bruised arms.
"All of you follow me. I have a house nearby that is safe."
They nodded and we headed back out through the door. In the cool night air, the only sound that could be heard, was the choking of the Bandit from earlier. He had made it as far as the gate before dropping. His mouthed foamed and he clawed at his throat and gasped for air. The three young humans had spotted the source of the sound and looked fearfully towards the now deceased man as we passed and his life merged with me.
"Don't worry, i just tried out a bit of poison on that one."
[Skill acquired - Pit Fall]
We continued quickly through the trees back to my hut. I had picked the three of them up at this point as i didn't have time to waste. After setting them down inside the house i about turned and headed for the door once more. There was no time to settle them in. Surn was about to be put to the torch.
"Relax here for a little bit. I'm just going to take care of the rest of those bandits."