Chapter 3

Now that I've decided to risk my life for loot, how do I do this?

First things first, I scout my prey. All of them have no helmets, perfect. They are also very relaxed, probably because they just did a successful job at looting that carriage, that'll make it easier to ambush them. They are wearing leather armor, with some gaps exposing skin, though my priority should be the head as it's the easiest target so far.

"Aight, time to lock the fuck IN."

First I grab the heftiest looking rock I can find on the ground. Then I get moving as sneakily as I can, I watch my every step so I do not end up stepping on some fallen branches like a side character in a horror movie. I slowly move closer to them... Then, just when I am around 10 meters away from them, I hide behind a bush, leave an imprint, then move as quickly as I can.

I only have 30 seconds before my imprint expires. This will be the greatest challenge I'll be doing in this world. I move in quickly while maintaining stealth until the last minute. I target one of the bandits that's leaning on a tree close to me, I sneak behind him, grip the rock in my hand, then...

WHACK!

The bandit crumples like a sack of potatoes. And before the others can turn around to look at me, I disappear. I find myself back in the bush with a bloody rock.

"One done, two to go."

This is the hardest part, the other two are now alarmed and are on guard, I've lost the element of surprise, this is where I need to start outsmarting these bastards. I need to maximize my resources and make do with what I have.

"Rock and Echo Trace, decent enough."

I wait for the drawback to end while I keep hiding as the other two bandits are shouting and looking for the one who attacked one of them.

As the drawback ends, I sprint between the trees and draw attention to myself.

They see me and start shouting and chasing. Perfect.

I leave an imprint beside a tree while they run after me, I move as far as I can from the imprint and wait for them to follow me. I hide behind a tree, and when they pass me, I jump one of them and smash the rock on their head.

WHACK!

By the time their friend realizes what has happened, I am gone.

Now, last but certainly NOT least. The last one now knows my tricks, they saw me disappear in front of their eyes, their companions are either incapacitated or dead. They now are super wary and aware of my tricks somewhat.

"I can still work with this."

I wait for the drawback to end, then I sprint back to the first guy I killed and take their axe. When I ran here, the last bandit must've heard the noise and came running here.

A few seconds later, they are now in front of me. Yelling and shouting at me.

"You fucking bastard! You killed my friends!"

I can understand them, I can comprehend their words. Which is great but not a priority right now.

I leave an imprint where I stand and back away slowly, I grip the axe in my hand. It's do or die now.

They slowly approach me, yelling some more and brandishing their sword, after they get close enough to me, they raise their sword to swing it down at me, thinking they finally got me. But the fool fell for it, hook, line, and sinker.

I activate the imprint moments before my untimely demise. I find myself behind them, I was waiting for them to pass my imprint so I could teleport behind them. Now, even with the drawback and 20% of my speed gone, I still have an axe and gravity on my side.

With their sword meeting empty air, they stumble as they placed all their strength in the swing. This gives me the perfect opportunity, and I take that moment when I swing my axe with all my strength at their head.

CRACK!

Their head splits open. I just killed three people and I didn't even flinch one bit... Okay maybe I flinched once or twice, but they kinda deserved it. They were bandits and had just killed a whole carriage's worth of people. And who knows how many times they've done this.

The first thing I do after I kill the guy is run. Where? Well to the other two bandits of course. I hit them both with the axe to finish the job and make sure they are 100% dead. Then I loot their bodies and take their leather armor for myself. I wear the best ones and leave the rest beside the carriage.

Then I rummage through their pockets and backpacks. I take one of their backpacks and empty it out. I find some copper coins and what I assume are silver coins, and then store them in the backpack. I keep two daggers that I find, place them in the backpack and leave the rest also beside the carriage.

Then I loot the rest of the bodies. The ones that the bandits were looting before I killed them. I take all the jewelry on them because they're definitely valuable, I store them in the backpack with the exception of a simple gold ring I find on one of the dead men around the carriage. That one I wear on my right, ring finger. For the extra drip of course.

I also pilfer the coins of these bodies and find some silver coins, then I check the carriage. And holy moly did I hit the jackpot. I see a cool ceramic vase, which I can't carry which makes it useless, I see a cool sword which looks like a falchion with a gold handle and an embroidered sheath. Yoink, mine now.

At the center of all these items though, most which I can't carry because they're paintings or other heavy stuff, is a small decorated chest. It has a small padlock on its latch which I easily force open with the axe I have, via hacking it to bits.

Now, what does this chest contain? A magical item? A powerful elixir?

Just as I opened it, I am blinded by the golden color of... Gold.

"It's gold."

Which is cool, because I'm now rich. Which is actually really good now that i think about it.

The chest contains a little over a hundred golden coins, adorned with intricate details, with a simple crown as the centerpiece. There are 137 gold coins to be specific.

"What do I do with all this now?"

Well the important thing now is that I can understand the inhabitants of this world, as evidenced by me understanding the screaming bandit I was fighting. This means I can trade and buy stuff!

I stash all the gold coins in my backpack, as well as all the light jewelry I can find, then I leave the heavier items such as the vases and paintings behind.

Now that I'm decked out in leather armor, with a cool sword on my hip, aka the falchion. And with a backpack full of wealth, I am ready to embark on my journey to finding civilization. Now extra rich and with the confidence that I can talk with the people here in this world, I am so going to live my life here to the fullest.

"That's one small step for me, and another giant leap, also by me."

Onward, to civilization!