Bandits and Conflict
The night quickly passed. Uneventful. The light of dawn cast a soft glow over the wilderness.
Feng Ye awoke from his makeshift bed and sat up. He blinked and stretched to get rid of his remaining sleepiness. He stretched his arms and shoulders, rolling his neck to loosen up.
He pulled out his water skin from his inventory and splashed it over his face. The cool water ensured that he was fully awake. Slowly, he walked to the entrance of the thatched cottage and removed some furniture barricading the entrance. He surveyed the area.
Everything was silent. No signs of intruders, no strange creatures lurking nearby.
With a deep breath, he retrieved the yellowed map from his inventory and unrolled it under the soft morning light. The parchment was ancient, its surface worn with age. Many of the original lines had long since faded, and parts of the text were smudged beyond recognition.
Still, Feng Ye was able to make out the general layout of the land.
The map depicted three countries, each one bordering the others. The structure reminded him of the warring states era from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The division of land between three factions mirrored the struggles of Shu, Wei, and Wu in ancient China
A massive body of water surrounded the continent, cutting it off from whatever lay beyond. Besides these three countries and the outline of the body of water enveloping the three countries, the map doesn't show anything beyond.
Using the system's translation feature, he deciphered the names of the three regions:
Northern Abyss Territories – A cold and isolated region, the only country located entirely in the north.
Westwind Province – The central landmass, sharing borders with both the north and southeast.
Radiant Kingdom – Positioned in the southeast, bordering the Westwind Province.
Scattered throughout the map were city markers, though none contained detailed information.
However, one specific mark stood out, a distinct symbol positioned near the southeastern border between Westwind Province and Radiant Kingdom.
"Is this my location?"
Feng Ye suspected that this marking might indicate his current location.
From the names and layout, this world felt more like a Western fantasy setting rather than a wuxia-inspired realm. The existence of monster cores only reinforced that assumption.
He spent the next few minutes memorizing the map and layout. A river connected the three countries, branching through each one like veins. If he needed to travel, the river would be the most efficient route. Though, it might be dangerous as many others might have the same idea.
As he traced the lines of the map, a sudden disruption shattered the morning tranquility.
Feng Ye's head turned toward the direction of the sound.
A few kilometers away, distant shouts echoed through the bamboo forest.
"There's a conflict just a few kilometers north."
Due to his increased sensibility and awareness, Feng Ye had an increased hearing range. He could hear the heavy clash of metal, the sharp cries of battle, and even the faint tremors in the ground.
"A conflict. Should I take a look or should I avoid it?"
His modern instincts told him to stay far, far away. But this wasn't Earth. A forced execution loomed over his head. He needed to grow stronger, and opportunities often came in the form of risk.
"High risk, high reward. In danger, there's opportunity."
Feng Ye steeled his resolve. He grabbed his bamboo bo staff and attached the rusty dagger to his belt under his cloak.
Feng Ye exited the temporary shelter. His journey northward meant following the lakeside, slowly leaving the bamboo forest behind.
The closer he got, the clearer the battle sounds became.
A variety of different shouts of anger can be heard. He heard shouts of anger along side screams. He could feel the ground tremble occasionally. The terrain changed as Feng Ye continued to move towards the origin of the sounds. The bamboo quickly became towering hardwood trees with thick trunks.
He also encountered a variety of large ferns and tall grass which had started to obstruct his path.
He would need to take a detour through the forest.
The moment he stepped into the dense underbrush, he heard it.
Footsteps. Rapid, uncoordinated movement.
Then he can hear voices.
A group of five individuals emerged from within the forest. They were dressed in dark linen robes and ran towards Feng Ye's position.
Their faces were hidden by their cloak hoods, but the daggers in their hands made their intentions clear. Each carried a variety of items in cloth sacks either with one hand or strapped around their backs.
The group spotted him immediately.
"Unknown native encounter already. Looks like bandits." Feng Ye knits his brows and gets ready to engage the enemy.
Feng Ye is no stranger to fighting. He enjoyed the modern era of technology, however, as a city dweller he has had his fair share of street fights and street brawls. Under a capitalist society, the gap between the poor and the rich only continued to widen. Many times Feng Ye had to be involved in street brawls. The difference now is that Feng Ye's attributes are higher than the average human.
One of the bandits in the lead shouted to the others, "THIS WAY, kill him, and let's continue south!"
Feng Ye was surprisingly calm. His mind snapped into combat mode, instincts honed through street fights and survival logic.
Either they die, or he does.
He felt more confident due to his increased attributes. He'll have to be careful though as if he gets scratched perhaps he'll have to deal with the very likely probability of being poisoned.
If he can't even defeat bandits, then he might as well just take the system's forced execution.
Feng Ye bolted to the first approaching bandit and effortlessly sidestepped that bandit's forward stab.
CRACK.
His fist pounded the bandit's jaw. He landed a bone-shattering uppercut which sent the bandit flying backward.
The bandit tumbled across the dirt. His jaw hung at an unnatural angle. He scrambled to get up and immediately fled into the trees.
Feng Ye was disinclined to chase, he had four more to deal with.
The remaining four hesitated.
"!!!" The other four bandits were surprised by Feng Ye's resolute head-on attack. They hadn't expected a lone traveler to fight back so aggressively.
One of the four bandits shouted, "Careful, spread out and kill him off."
The four remaining bandits quickly moved to encircle Feng Ye's four directions. Feng Ye had no time to waste. He could sense more individuals heading towards him from the northern direction. The massive conflict is still ongoing but it's getting closer!
He had to end this fast.
Feng Ye's grip tightened on his bamboo staff. He lunged toward the two nearest bandits, swinging his staff in a wide arc.
THWACK!
The two bandits that were behind him were knocked back by the bamboo staff.
His raw strength gave him an edge, but he knew he lacked refined technique. He needed to finish this quickly.
As the remaining bandits lunged, daggers flashing, Feng Ye ducked the first strike and countered - spinning his staff in a fluid motion and smashing its blunt end into a bandit's skull.
BANG!
Feng Ye's crushing blow pounded the bandit facedown into the soil as though he was a mole smashed in the Whac-A-Mole game.
Sidestep and slash! Feng Ye slashed the sharpened side of his bamboo staff at the other bandit. The bandit's dagger wasn't able to reach him due to the staff's longer range. He was slashed by Feng Ye's staff. Feng Ye spun the staff and used the butt of the staff to sweep the slashed bandit far away.
Using his increased speed, Feng Ye dashed toward the bandit that had fallen on the ground. The bandit expressed his pain loudly while on his hands and knees. Feng Ye took a fast step forward, his dagger flashed under his cloak.
Steel met flesh. The bandit's body hit the ground, lifeless.
The remaining two bandits that were originally behind Feng Ye and got swept in Feng Ye's first attack panicked and fled into the wilderness. They decided to abandon the other two. There was no loyalty among thieves.
Feng Ye quickly approached the bandit that he smashed into the ground with his crushing blow and used his dagger to finish him off.
These bandits weren't a match for him. But the conflict in the north continued to rage on and was getting closer. Feng Ye quickly searched the corpses. He pulled two steel daggers from the fallen bandits and looted their cloth sacks, storing everything in his inventory. With a sigh, he discarded his rusty dagger and replaced it with one of the looted steel daggers.
Inventory contents:
10x loaves of bread
1x water skin
3x children book
2x linen tunic
1x linen pant
1x map
4x low-ranked monster cores (grey)
4x bamboo staff (+2 attack)
24x bamboo stalks
2x steel dagger (+5 attack)
2x cloth sacks
--
Feng Ye found some cover and trekked deeper into the trees. He leaned against a tree, his breathing controlled. His stamina was noticeably better than before, but the fight had still drained him. If five bandits were this easy to deal with… what kind of enemies existed further north? Pulling out his water skin, he took a large gulp before opening his attribute panel.
--
Candidate 15864457 Information.
Name: Feng Ye (Candidate)
Rank: 1
HP: 100%
Mana: 25
Strength: 6
Agility: 6
Stamina: 6
Intelligence: 8
Charm: 4
Note: An average human (non-candidate and non-contractor) has standard attributes of 4-5. After accepting the contract and becoming a candidate, the
Talent: None.
--
"No changes." Feng Ye frowned. So killing enemies doesn't grant direct stat increases. It would likely take something more like a medium, a system reward, or absorbing something external.
"So much for free level-ups."
He may be a great match to 1v5 some bandits, however, if he were to run into individuals with attributes that exceed those of a normal human like potential nonhuman lifeforms or otherworlders then he might be in trouble.