The wide-eared bandit raised an eyebrow, and carefully approached Verity who still had his head buried in the ground. “Seriously… what the...”

  But before he could get too close, Verity jumped up and took several steps back. Awkwardly, Verity cleared his throat and dusted off his clothes. He then looked up at the two guards in front of the wooden gates, and offered a clumsy smile.

  There was a long pause of confusion between the three of them before Verity finally said something. “...Are you gentlemen…bandits, by any chance?”

  A breeze blew through the mountain peak, and Verity mentally slapped himself in the face. ‘You couldn’t come up with anything better to say!?’

  Standing beside Wide-ears, the bandit with the eye-catching mohawk shook his head and raised his voice. “W-what are you doing here!!?? Who are you!!?” He demanded to know.

  Surely, his loud voice would soon attract the other bandits that lived here.

  Due to the outburst, Verity instinctively took a step back. In the civilized world, it was common to move away from the hot-tempered after all.

  However, as soon as his foot moved, Wide-ears suddenly pointed a curved blade at him. “Where do you think you’re going!? Answer us!”

  Verity let out a long, exasperated sigh. “L-listen. I’m here for… training. I was told to bring you all down by the end of the night…” he waved his spear in front of them. “Maybe we can go about this in a civil way?”

  Steam practically shot out of Mohawk’s ears. “Take us down!!?” He yanked a bow and arrow from his back, and pointed it at Verity. “Do you know what we do to runts like you!? You better answer our questions if you don’t wanna find out!” He said, his eyes filled with rage.

  Verity considered his options. ‘I obviously can’t run away, unless I want Master to beat me up, but I don’t think I can just attack either…’

  He then had a bright idea, or at least he remembered something he saw in a webtoon. Verity planted his spear in the ground and crossed his arms. He then puffed his chest, and shouted. “Bring me your leader! I am a wandering warrior who wishes to test his skills! Come out, if you dare!”

  Again, all that could be heard was the breeze howling through them. The two bandits exchanged glances, unsure how to respond, then turned their attention back to Verity.

  Verity’s cheeks reddened.

  Theirs did too, but for completely different reasons.

  The bow nearly snapped under Mohawk’s grip, and he knocked an arrow on its string. “Krieg! Let’s teach this brat a lesson!”

  ‘Damnit.’

  Verity immediately picked up his spear and met Wide-ears, or ‘Krieg’, head-on.

  This was Verity’s first real battle after he had started learning the spear. What his Master did to him were not battles, but rather… instructive beatings, and while there had been the spars with Doll, the magical artifact had been greatly limited in what it could do.

  Hence, Although he was confident in applying what he’d learned, Verity was a little nervous. All of that nervousness vanished when both of their weapons clashed, however.

  Perplexed, the young, black haired man could not help but raise an eyebrow.

  “...Are you going easy on me?” He asked.

  Krieg gritted his teeth, and pulled his back. “So you’re a little strong, huh?” He looked back at his companion. “Cover me!” He said before lowering his stance and closing his eyes.

  Hearing the command, Mohawk nodded and released an arrow which flew toward Verity at a blistering speed, but Verity simply tilted his head and avoided it.

  ‘....huh.’

  A few more came, of course, as rapidly as Mohawk could knock them onto the string of his bow, but it was the same result each time. Verity easily avoided them, or swatted them away with his spear.

  ‘Are these guys just…. Regular people?’

  Verity looked back at the darkness where he supposed his Master hid, not even bothering to care for the oncoming arrows, and shot her an accusatory glance which went something along the lines of ‘This is supposed to help me improve…?’

  But as soon as he thought that, Krieg, the swordsman, shouted. “I’m ready! Stop shooting!” And unleashed an attack. “[Double Slice]!”

  Had this been any normal attack, Verity would have blocked it with no issue whatsoever, but he had never seen this skill before.

  As if Wide-ears had grown a second arm, two attacks came toward him at once. One toward his abdomen, and another toward his neck. Taken by surprise, Verity managed to block the first, but was forced to awkwardly twist his body to evade the second.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Wide-ears stumbled back, eyes wide. “Y-you dodged that? No one ever dodges that…” Then his face paled.. “H-He’s an adventurer!! The guild has come– sound the alarm!!” He urged Mohawk.

  Verity softly pressed his fingers against his cheek, where droplets of blood flowed. ‘I see…’

  So this was what he was here for, to experience. These bandits were not strong, but who knew what skills or tricks they possessed. This kind of experience wasn’t something he could gain in Evangelina’s training room, hence why she had brought him here.

  Verity raised his spear, and stabbed Wide-ears in the leg, sending him tumbling to the ground.

  “AAHHH!!” The bandit cried out in pain. “S-Sound the alarm damnit!!”

  Mohawk stumbled as he reached for a large horn hooked onto the wooden gates.

  To be honest, Verity was unsure what Evangelina meant by ‘take care of them’, but he was not planning on killing them. Even though it seemed commonplace in this world, he still couldn’t take killing lightly.

  Still, someone who came at him with a sword should at least have been prepared to suffer this much.

  A loud noise resonated as the alarm was sounded and several more bandits rushed out.

  ‘Two swordsmen, one spearman, three bow-men and one with a large axe.’

  Verity lowered his stance, and began circulating his Aura. He was still not confident in using Violence, so he settled for Limbo. He could have defeated them without circulating Aura, but he was here to train.

  The battle began, and Verity fought the seven bandits well. Of course, he did not remain unscathed for long. Their skill was subpar, and their weapons even worse, but dealing with skills was a lot more difficult than he’d originally anticipated. None of the bandits seemed to have a class, as all the skills appeared random, but most of them had already reached level 3.

  One of the archers could make his arrows curve in the air to hit their targets, even if they were cleaved in two, while the other archer could increase the force of theiri impact making blocking a perilous endeavor.

  As he fought the vanguard, Verity was forced to pay attention to which one of the two shot the arrow in order to respond properly, and having to divide his attention in such a way lowered his efficiency greatly.

  The spearman had a truly strange skill which allowed him to step on the air. He was a lousy combatant, and even lousier at using the ability, but it still made it difficult for Verity to deal with him.

  The two swordsmen appeared to both have an ability similar to Felicia’s, which increased the strength behind one of their strikes. This was the easiest to handle, as it was evident when they planned to use it. Verity could have beaten them in no more than three exchanges, if not for the archers, and that damn axe-wielder.

  He was the strongest of the seven, by a large margin. He too, appeared to not have a class, but he had an overpowered ability which allowed him to move at an extreme speed for a fraction of a second. Plus, each of his blows packed decent power despite his low level. Worse even, the other bandits heeded his every order, which increased the coordination and made the battle even more challenging.

  Verity quickly made a decision

  That man would be his first target. Taking advantage of a gap in the archer’s volley of arrows, Verity gathered Aura toward his arms and swung his spear with blinding speed.

  The man tried to block, but he’d just activated his skill, and his movement without it was too slow to do such a thing. So, Verity’s spear slashed him across the chest, and he fell to the ground.

  He took one pained breath, and grew still.

  [You have slain an enemy]

  [You have gained Exp.]

  Verity grimaced.

  On one hand because of the kill, and on another because of what he’d just attempted. A sharp pain coursed through his arms as he released his Aura. ‘Damn… ’

  He still had much practice to do.

  One of the bandits took advantage of the momentary lapse in attention, and sliced at Verity’s stomach. The blow surprisingly landed, and a shallow wound appeared on Verity’s torso.

  He leaped backward, and suppressed the tremors which were settling in his arms. He’d really messed up his use of Violence… or at least that’s what he convinced himself the reason behind the tremors was.

  He had a complicated expression on his face. “...I’ve…. defeated your leader. Do we have to keep going?”

  The bandits, themselves in no better shape than Verity, looked at each other, and one of them grinned. “He wasn’t our leader, idiot!” The archer then shot a special arrow in the sky which exploded in a rainbow of colors.

  Soon after, the wooden gates opened, and two figures stepped out. The first was a gigantic man in the image of a barbarian. He wore a cape made from the skin of a bear, and a metal helmet with two horns protruding from it. A large axe, even more so than the opponent Verity had just faced, rested on the bulging muscles of his shoulders. The man reminded Verity of the pictures of Vikings he’d seen a few times back in his world.

  Behind him, a much shorter woman came into view. She wore a dark robe etched with white patterns all over, and lustrous purple hair cascaded to her waist. Her face was pale, almost ghost-like. The only thing that betrayed its eeriness were her crimson lips which captured Verity’s attention for more than a moment.

  Verity frowned. These two seemed different from the bandits he’d just fought.

  The large man stroked his thick beard, scrutinizing Verity. “You an adventurer, kid? I’m sure the Guild and I had an understanding though…” He looked around, searching for others. “Ah, did you take the request from a villager without going through the Guild, perhaps?”.

  Unlike his appearance, the man spoke eloquently and his voice was quite soft.

  Verity grew tense, and prepared to engage at a moment’s notice.

  The man’s large axe then fell to the ground, and he grinned. “So serious…. Still, don’t you think coming alone is too bold? Especially against the mighty White Fang Bandits?”

  The woman behind him groaned impatiently. “Just kill him already! I don’t have time for this.” She crossed her arms. “I don’t even know why you brought me out here in the first place!”

  The man looked toward the robed woman with annoyance. “I brought you here for you to earn your keep.” He waved his hand toward Verity. “You’re going to kill him, you good for nothing mage.”

  A vein bulged on the woman’s forehead. “What did you say to me, you oversized sack of meat!!?” She shot him a glare. “You think I won’t turn you to ash where you stand!?”

  The large man chuckled, teeth flashing. “I suggest you do as I say, or should I remind you of yesterday, my dear Melinda?”

  Melinda froze, and she grit her teeth with so much force they almost ruptured under the pressure.

  Verity watched the scene unfold with confusion. ‘What’s even going on…?’

  The mage then turned to him, and Verity felt a shift in the atmosphere. “I’ll make you pay for this…” She closed her eyes. “Burning Fire, scorch the sky and raze the lands. Consume and devastate. Hear my call and obey my command --”

  Heat prickled against Verity’s skin, and his instincts screamed at him.

  Melinda opened her eyes which gleamed with something far more dangerous than anger, and pointed her open palm toward Verity. “- Inferno”