Construction Mage - Chapter 6: Psychopathic Bandit

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“We can’t keep letting these foolish commoners gain power without restraint! It’s getting to their heads! Just this month alone, there have been over a dozen reports about robberies within the dungeon, and likely dozens more unreported. We need to put restrictions on who can become Delvers, while encouraging more nobles throughout the country to raise their levels. It’s the only way to retain our power over the masses!”

-A passionate speech by Duke Rainmere, during a royal assembly 

***

A red-haired girl with pale skin was carefully sneaking up on a camp during the early hours of dawn. She maneuvered around the plentiful amount of dried branches scattered all around the place, a skill she learned quickly after having been chased back to her party members several times during her first few days in the dungeon.

As she got closer, she was able to make out the silhouette of several small humanoid figures. Alara had been exploring the first layer of the Ravenhold’s dungeon long enough to identify them as either Kobold Workers or Kobold Sentries, common monsters found near the Mother Tree.

The little three-feet-tall monsters huddled around the campfire in a human-like manner, but Alara knew monsters weren’t ones to let their guard down. They literally needed no sleep or sustenance, and the idea of dropping their guard was completely foreign to them.

Still, she was confident in the skills she had honed for the better part of the year. At least—to deal with the rabble on the first layer. It didn’t take long for her to circle around the little camp and make her way back to her companions.

“Alara, welcome back!” a thin woman with midnight blue hair half screamed and half whispered upon seeing her return.

Her words caused the tall youth standing in plate armor to shush her.

“Quiet down. Do you want to be the ambusher or be ambushed? Anyway, what’d you find, Alara?”

“A camp, as we suspected, that is not too far out. There’s a path we can take where they shouldn’t see us coming until it’s too late.”

“Isaac,” the tall youth called out to another man similar to him in age, both around eighteen years old. “Go with Alara to attack the camp from the opposite direction. Ciana and I will cut off their escape.”

“What about me?” a broad man carrying a humongous backpack asked. 

“Hob, you’re with me and Ciana. Just make sure you’re ready to pick up anything valuable quickly in case more monsters show up.”

With their roles assigned, the party of five didn’t hesitate to put their plan into motion. The five of them were confident in themselves. They had to, after working together for so long. They were all youths who were eager to prove themselves and were willing to put in the hard work.

It came as no surprise to them when the filthy kobolds barely put up a fight after having been ambushed. Their equipment was subpar, just a few makeshift hatchets made of sharp stones. They had no armor to speak of, so Alara and Isaac’s arrows all did devastating damage. 

Even when routed, they had no hope of overrunning the athletic leader of their party, Thomas, who had trained to move around in a set of plate armor as if it weighed nothing. It was just as unlikely to outrun the speedy Ciana, either, who entirely relied on the quickness of her feet to stay out of harm’s way.

The party quickly found themselves rummaging through the camp for any salvageable items, which were all placed into Hob’s pack.

“Alara, look!” the young woman with midnight blue hair called out. “There’s a chest in this tent!”

The news brought the entire party together as they watched Ciana carefully inspect the chest in question.

“So? Any traps?” Thomas asked.

“Hmm, seems unlikely from what I can see on the exterior, but I can’t completely discount it either. This makes it quite unique.”

“U-Unique?” Isaac blurted out. “It must be something good, then!”

“What do you say, leader?” Ciana turned to their armored leader. “Should I open it?”

“No, Hob will.”

The stocky man in question sighed as he placed down his oversized backpack, as if he expected this to happen. After all, he was the only noncombatant in the party, whose only job was to carry things. That meant he was expendable. It wouldn’t hurt the party’s strength much if he got injured.

Resigned to carry out his task, Hob didn’t hesitate and swung the chest open in one go. He quickly jumped back, but soon calmed down when he noticed nothing had jumped out at him. Leaning forward over the chest, he found an old book bound in a leather cover sitting in it. His party members swiftly followed suit.

“A skill book! We did it again, Alara! Another skill book! This is like what? Our third one this month? And it’s all from the camps outside the boss room, too!”

Ignoring her antics, the leader of the party, Thomas, moved to pick up the book. As soon as he did, he shook his head and turned back to his companions.

“It’s a general skill and one better suited for mages. Unless any of you have connections to the nobles, we’re going to have to sell it to a middleman.”

“Which skill is it?” Ciana asked with the same fervor as before.

“Meditation. Speeds up recovery of stamina and mana when you—well, meditate.”

“That’s still decent! Maybe we can even use it ourselves?”

“Ciana, there’s still a bunch of skills we’re missing. We’re going to trade it in for something we definitely need rather than using something we may or may not need. We’re so close to being ready to take on the boss, we have to focus!”

“Cheh, fine. You’re the leader.”

“Now, now,” Alara placated. “We can talk more about our plans once we get out of here. Which we are, right?”

Thomas nodded.

“Yes, we got our prize. Time to leave before we accidentally drop it or something.”

“Okay, then. I’ll go scout out the way back.”

Without waiting for a response, Alara returned to the trail they had been following. The withered trees around her made for a boring background, but she remained focused. She had to. The dungeons were a place where great wealth could be found, but that came along with dangers. Dangers that weren’t limited to monsters but to other Delvers.

Bandits weren’t unheard of. It was an ideal place for them to operate. People disappearing within the dungeon were common. A place where oversight was impossible, it was hard for the knight order outside to distinguish if someone had fallen to the monster and traps of the dungeons or to bandits.

That’s why Alara became even more careful when she scouted the way to the exit. It was the perfect place for these bandits to lie in ambush.

Thankfully, her scouting proved uneventful. She regularly reunited with their party to check in with nothing special to report. Unfortunately, that didn’t last.

Just as the white pagoda came into view, albeit just a tiny speck in the distance, she spotted someone who set off warning signals in her mind. As a dutiful scout, she moved closer to investigate the anomaly, and that only raised more red flags.

She didn’t dare wander too close. Just enough to witness a large man wearing plain leather armor that blended well with his surroundings, casually walking around with a shovel over his shoulder. It was a sight she had never seen before in the first layer of the dungeon.

Once she saw enough, she backtracked the way the man had come from. She discovered a few smudges of blood on a few trees, with the signs of the soil being disturbed.

After seeing that, she saw enough and ran for dear life back to her allies.

“Thomas, we need to head for another exit, right now!” she said with an uncharacteristic urgency in her voice.

It spooked her party, as they quickly veered off the well-traveled trail as Thomas pulled the shaken Alara into his arms.

“Calm down and tell us what you saw.”

“There’s definitely a bandit up ahead lying in ambush!”

“How many of them?” Thomas immediately asked with a stern tone.

“One.”

“Hmm, just one? How do you even know he’s a bandit? Did you see him attack another party? He could just be one of the unfortunate newbies who had his party wiped.”

“No, he wasn’t some kid. He was too old to be a beginner. He’s wearing plain leather armor that blends into the forest, holding nothing but a shovel. From the way he was creepily grinning to himself as he strolled through the dungeon alone—he’s definitely one of those high-level lunatics we heard about, who kill for fun!

“Calm down, Alara,” Thomas said. “It could be one of the veterans searching for a prerequisite skill book. It happens all the time whenever they find any high-tier skills in the lower layers.”

“That can’t be it!” Alara frantically shook her head. ”I backtracked where he came from, just in case. I found traces of battle, but no remains of any monsters. A high-level Delver would’ve just left the remains of these first-layer monsters alone or skinned and butchered them properly if they were disciplined. Instead, I saw signs of the earth being disturbed. He must’ve claimed the lives of some victims already and buried them all together!”

Her words caused the party to fall silent as they continued trekking through the woods. They already changed their route, but they couldn’t help shivering at how close they had come to death.

“Well,” Thomas muttered. “Lucky we had you to scout the way.”

Alara took a deep breath and nodded.

“Let’s hurry. We need to warn the guards.”

***

As soon as Alara exited the dungeon, she immediately charged at the first guard she could find. They weren’t hard to spot, as there were always a few stationed near the white pagoda. They were there to keep the peace and accommodate the members of the knight order who frequented the dungeon.

“Understood. I’ll inform the town guards, but unfortunately, that’s all I can do for now. I can’t leave my post. If you happen to find the man, please report it to a guard.”

“That—I understand. Thank you.”

Returning to her party, crestfallen, Ciana quickly slapped her behind.

“Hey, cheer up. You’ve done your job. The rest is up to the guards now.”

“But the guards rarely get anything done. When was the last time you heard them capture a Delver? They’re too cowardly to do their job!”

“What else are you going to do, then? Find him yourself?”

Hearing the suggestion, Alara’s eyes glinted with determination at the idea. Without another word, she quickly went around the Delver marketplace to gather information.

To Alara’s relief, it wasn’t hard to track down the suspected bandit. Many people had seen the man she described. The culprit was just too distinctive to miss. A tall and fit man carrying a shovel stood out like a sore thumb when everyone else wore proper Delver gear.

Still, it took Alara all afternoon to finally find the man. He had led her on a goose chase around the city, heading out to the incomplete fourth ring and then back. She gleefully smiled when he saw the man cluelessly enter a store. 

All she had to do next was flag one of the guards. Then, she would’ve done the Delver community a good deed, protecting the innocent beginners from a vile psychopath!

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