As Jensen walked through the third mountain range he had been to today, he ignored all the beasts along the way to save time.
Suddenly, he heard Xal'Zyraeth's voice through the mind link, "Nice view."
His voice caused Jensen to freeze… Xal'Zyraeth never spoke randomly, even when he watched him have sex.
"This is a good location for my main base, isn't it?" Jensen asked, but he didn't receive an answer from Xal'Zyraeth, which was answer enough.
He was currently in the periphery of the Grey Mountain Range, and if the map was accurate, bandit groups were currently taking refuge in this place, although they did not dare to enter further inside due to the fear of stronger creatures.
He began his tour into the mountain range, and within a few minutes, he had begun to see clues of the bandit settlement.
His first clue was a set of footprints left behind with signs of failed alteration, and with the use of his senses, it was quite easy to follow their track from there.
Looking at the left direction which the footprints were pointing at, Jensen turned and took the right path that seemed to be covered by greenery.
The footprints had obviously been false and were most likely used to lead adventurers sent to hunt them into traps.
After walking for a little while longer, he found what looked like a camp with hundreds of tents.
There were traps all around and lookouts in the trees, although the lookouts were kept to a minimum.
Jensen couldn't tell if this was because of how incompetent they were as bandits or because their traps were that good.
Whatever it was, he really didn't care.
'This seems to be a relatively big bandit camp. I can't tell how powerful they are, so it's best I don't just enter, lest I get surrounded.' Jensen thought as he scanned the camp.
Although his senses weren't able to cover the entire camp, based on what he could sense, there were several Level 2s and maybe even a Level 3, although he wasn't very sure.
Jensen focused on the back of the camp where a huge tent was located. The high concentration of mana coming from the tent attracted his attention.
***
Cam was observing the surroundings with a bored face. As a lookout, his responsibility was to make sure nobody approached the camp without being noticed.
Although he wasn't very strong, he was still a Speed Path awakened that focused on stealth.
His previous job as an adventurer prepared him, and he was very skilled at his job.
"John, how long is left of this shift… this is so boring," Cam said. It was one thing to be very good at a job and another to enjoy it, especially if it was just staring at grass.
"Bro, just focus on the job… if something happens and the boss finds out that it was your fault, he will cook you alive," John said as he shuddered.
While it might have seemed like John was speaking figuratively, he wasn't. He had seen their boss cook someone alive on an open flame.
John turned to Cam and found him almost frozen. Although he was also scared, he still felt it was his responsibility to take care of his job.
"Relax, as long as you do your job right, he wouldn't do anything to you. Besides, even if someone manages to sneak in, they can only die when they meet the boss."
Cam immediately nodded his head and started to pay more attention to his surroundings with renewed vigour.
Suddenly, Cam felt something approach him from the back.
He was startled by the fact that someone had managed to come so close behind him and he hadn't noticed, even though he was paying so much attention to the surroundings.
Still, as a former mercenary and a bandit, his reaction time in a life-and-death situation was very good, as he immediately reached for his sword.
But before he could even take it out, a heavy punch landed on the back of his head, knocking him out.
His last thoughts were, 'Wait, where the fuck is John?'
***
When Cam finally woke up, he realised that he was tied to a tree, and next to him was John.
He tried to scan his environment, but nothing really came to him. Thankfully, not long after he woke up, John also awoke.
Before he could talk to his partner and try to figure out the situation, they heard someone's voice.
"Good that you are both awake," Jensen said. "I have some questions, and as long as you answer them, this will not need to get ugly... for you."
Cam observed the young man, if you could even call him that, standing over them.
He looked too young to be an adventurer, and he had one of the most handsome faces he had seen in person.
Although he had been scared at the beginning, the mixture of the immature face in front of him and his experience helped him calm down and start thinking of a way out of his situation.
'I don't think I can beat this boy since he was able to sneak up on me… but I should be able to intimidate him a little… especially with John's help.'
If Jensen could hear his thoughts, he would have most definitely found it hilarious… I mean, his first action after awakening was to kill his own father.
Cam made a subtle glance at John, and John immediately understood his intention.
"Listen, brat, you better release us and immediately apologise, or we will show you what true pain is."
"We have hundreds of brothers, and our boss is Level 3, and they will begin hunting you down the moment they find out we are missing," he continued.
He then looked over Jensen from head to toe before licking his lips.
"Given how pretty and delicate you look, we will take our sweet time with you."
While Cam was threatening him, John was observing Jensen's reaction. At least, he tried to, but all he could see was the utter disregard for the threat.
An awkward silence hung in the air for a few seconds.
'Did he not understand me, or is he simply frozen in fear?' Cam wondered.
He was about to speak again when the young man opened his mouth.
"I honestly don't know what you are trying to do…" Jensen said. "Just answer my questions, and I would grant you an easy death."
"But no… you try to threaten me even though I am obviously several times stronger than you," Jensen continued.
Jensen stopped as he chuckled for a bit. Looking at their frozen expressions, he explained, "I just find that so funny, you know, but now I have to make an example of you to your partner."
Jensen raised his left hand, and his claws slowly extended from his fingers.
He walked closer to Cam, and before he could say another word, his claws dug into his legs.
His thumb on one side and the other four claws on the other, and he slowly dragged down, splitting his skin open and leaving his bones exposed on either side.
Cam's mouth widened, and an air-splitting scream rumbled out as the pain assaulted his mind.
"Relax, I will not allow you to die from blood loss," Jensen said as he slowly stood up.
John watched in horror as Jensen lifted his leg and slammed it down just below the knee, turning the spot to pulp, successfully reducing the blood loss, although he couldn't even tell if that was a good thing.
Cam blacked out for a second and returned with an even louder cry.
Jensen turned to John, saying, "He is a loud one uhn."
Without waiting for a reply, Jensen turned around, and three corpses of Level 1 beasts appeared in front of him.
Jensen placed his hands on the corpses, absorbing their blood into his blood storage before turning back to Cam.
"Now let's shut him up," he murmured as he placed his hands over Cam's open mouth and released the blood he had just absorbed.
Cam tried to struggle, but he could not compare to Jensen's strength, and he could only stare in horror as his body reflexively swallowed the blood in order to prevent drowning.
This kept on for several minutes before Jensen was finally satisfied. His gaze slowly shifted to John.
"Now… let's try that again."