...the mantis hunts the cicada not aware of the oriole behind it....

Along one of the forest roads,a caravan of luxurious chariots move at a slow pace,the caravan had three squads of soldiers making up a platoon of guards. From the sword emblem on their White Grade armor,one could tell that they were from the Mercenary Guild and we're probably between level 0- stage 6 to level 1- stage 0.

The chariot were pulled by brown stallions. From the noises coming from the chariots,it was clear that the occupants were none other than rich brats from either the prestigious merchant families or the noble lineage.

As the caravan advanced,none of the occupants were aware of the fate that awaited them.

A hundred metres before them laid a ten fit dip by six by six fit hole concealed from normal sight.

Sinako and the two men that had accompanied him watched all this from an orb made of darkness. As they all swore never to close path with the beautiful dark elf sited in a lotus position before them.

She was one of the slaves brought by Sinako and she her profession was that of a Shadow Priest. Sinako didn't have an inspect skill but from the little information she told him of herself and her class, he could tell that it was a special one but still decided to head out with her and two others to test it out.

The lead guard suddenly found himself fall as his horse neighed in panic,before the others could react,a volley of arrows was shot at them from within the forest.

The guards captain was quick to react as he lifted his shield and ordered his men to do so as they moved as to surround the chariots.

These arrows were no threat to most of them since they were all common arrows.

The chariot occupants were all scared by the quantity of the arrows and some weak ones did wet their expensive pants out of fear. Those arrows that struck the chariot walls fell as the walls were made of uncommon black wood.

The lieutenant signalled two squads of his to move out and attack in different directions when the arrows subsided.

The soldiers whipped at their horses that now had several bleeding cuts on their bodies. Sinako had deduced that the attack early was aimed at not just overwhelming the guards but also injuring their mounts.

From the bleeding,the horses didn't have long to live.

The squads that dashed within the trees were quickly met by a second volley of arrows,but within this volley,Sinako saw a few glowing arrows. From their trajectory,he could tell that they were meant to pierce the guards limbs.

Its seemed that the bandits wanted the soldiers alive.

It didn't take long for the squad lieutenant to realize his mistake,he quickly ordered the chariot drivers to run round the trap but he was too late as fireballs descended from the tree tops lighting up the bushes and trees around them.

Screams could now be heard from the chariots as the horses neighed in fear. The lieutenant stilled his horse and calmly watched the bushes surrounding them rattle as bandits revealed themselves one by one.

There were more than a hundred of them,he knew well that even though his cultivation at level 1-stage 2 and the three sergeant's at level 1- stage 0,they couldn't take out the bandits before them.

He sighed as he looked turned and asked the chariot occupants to activate their return to town scrolls. The rich spoilt brats didn't think twice as they truly valued their lives and knew well what awaited them if they got captured.

Everyone had by now seen the green mamba emblem on these bandits armour.

The spoilt brats tore the expensive scrolls only for them to realize that the scrolls didn't work. It took a moment for them to realize that the bandits had set up a magical spatial blocking array.

Seeing that the scrolls had failed,Sinako gave a thumps up to one of his comrade,the tall lean young man was the one who had suggested they set up an array as the bandits were busy attacking.

To Sinako,he didn't want to risk it but after the other young soldier,not wanting to be left behind,pointed out that helping the bandits capture the learned chariot occupants would proof beneficial to them since they would acquired them after raiding the bandits dungeon.

After considering it for a moment,Sinako had pulled out four small stone pillars from his storage ring and handing one to each of his team members, and they all moved in the four cardinal direction within fifty metres of the bandits hiding spot before burying them and later retreating to their original spot.

The bandits weren't aware of this as six lieutenants and eighteen sergeants walked out of the forest to confront the remaining guards,the remaining squad couldn't hold on for long as there was a large disparity between their cultivation levels and numbers.

Binding the soldiers and the twelve young occupants of the chariots in chains,the company of the now rowdy bandits headed back. A platoon made up of two combat squads and a mage squad was left behind.

Sinako and his comrades watched from the orb of darkness as the mages used they earth and plant magic to restore the scene to it previous looks. The burned bushes and trees grew as all the ashes and charred underground disappeared.

As they retreated,they wiped out any trace of a battle ever taking place. Sinako and his comrades were amazed by how the rowdy bandits were quite efficient in both their attack and retreat.

He was happy that he had let his curiousity take the part of him as he realized that they would have all being wiped out or enslaved if they had attacked the bandits layer earlier on relying on the little information they had.

Sinako,had his team eat some bread with meat and a few fruits from his storage ring before they shadowed the bandits. If he didn't have the Shadow Priest elf besides him,he would have quickly stuck on the bandits back as they retreated but with her and her scary shadow powers,he wasn't afraid of loosing the company of bandits since he could still see them from her orb of darkness.

As the bandits marched back to their layer,they didn't notice of the four orioles behind them.