Chapter 4: Bandits

Inside a small cave, a kid about 13 or 14 years of age can be seen sitting in front of a pit of fire

The kid has pitch-black hair and green eyes that seem to not have any emotion in them. In front of the kid was a skewered piece of meat that he was currently cooking

It has already been a whole week ever since Reif took shelter in the forest, particularly in the cave he was in

He survives by hunting magic beasts for food and heading towards the nearby river for water

Even after just a week, Reif's body already improves by a huge margin. This was because, for the whole week, he was eating a lot of foods and then he increases his metabolism speed so that more nutrients will flow in every corner of his body

Reif also nourishes his body with the use of mana. Although he was still not in the best state, his current condition is already much better than a week ago

Suddenly, Reif's body stiffened as he sensed a familiar aura causing him to look in the direction where the aura came from

It was an aura that Reif will never forget since the owner of the aura is the one that helps him survive!

It was the old book he found by chance that turned into a white-colored gem!

Reif didn't know where the gem went after he entered this new world. He wants to search for it before but he is still currently too weak

Who would have thought that he will suddenly sense the gem as if it was asking for him?

Reif immediately ignored the meat he was cooking and exited the cave. He needs to get that gem! It might be the item that will greatly help his future

"[Feather Light!]"

"[Leg Boost]"

Reif casts magic into himself and his body turned lighter than before but at the same time, his legs also received a boost in power

Without a warning, Reif jumped and landed on the branch of a tree before he quickly jumps into another tree

Instead of traveling down the ground, Reif traveled by moving between the trees in the forest. He met several magic beasts but he ignored all of them and went straight to where he can sense the gem's aura

When Reif arrives, he saw several men with bulky bodies surrounding a group of merchants. The aura of the gem was coming from inside the wagon of that merchant

Reif doesn't have money with him aside from the beast cores from the magic beasts he hunted. He doesn't know the pricing in this world and the merchant might not sell the gem to him

Fortunately, Reif found a way to get the gem. The fat merchant have five magicians as his guards

The strongest of the guards was only a 3rd circle magician. The rest only has 1 or 2 circles

Although not everything relies on how many magic circles a magician has, it would still affect their combat prowess

Not to mention, the bandits even outnumbered them. There were around 15 bandits in which two of them are 3rd circle magicians. Whether it be terms of combat power or number, the merchant was completely outnumbered

Reif seizes the chance and he arrives at one of the 2 circled magicians. The chains in his wrist wrapped themselves in the bandit's neck before putting enough pressure to break a human's throat

The sudden arrival of a kid like Reif stunned both the merchant group and bandits

Reif just killed a fellow human being but his eyes didn't even have a single ripple in them. It was like he just drunk some water and didn't commit a murder

"Hey, if I help you kill the bandits, would you reward me?" Reif asked directly to the fat merchant being protected by his guards

The merchant was still stunned at Reif's action as the latter didn't act like his age. Although with Reif's help, the situation still looks grim, the merchant will accept any help that will come to him

"I will! I will reward you handsomely!" The merchant answered while nodding furiously and that is already enough for Reif

The chains on the now-dead bandit uncoiled themselves and Reif's detached eyes stared at his surroundings

His indifferent eyes calculated the position of the bandits and guards to think of the best possible course of action

Fortunately, Reif's body has low EQ and doesn't mind murder at all. Well, this might be because the former Rhash was locked up from such a young age and he doesn't understand the implications of this kind of thing

This just benefited Reif. If the original owner of the body is a normal kid, he might felt sick in his stomach causing his combat power to weaken

"Kill that brat for killing our brother!" One of the 3rd circle bandits shouted and some of the bandits focused their attention on Reif

Despite just killing a 2nd circle magician, the bandits thought that it was just done through sneak attack and they were still looking down at him

Reif didn't say anything and just uses magic in himself

"[Windy Body!]" Green colored winds instantly appeared around Reif and he rotated his body at a fast speed

Reif suddenly turned into a human tornado and the chains in his wrist turned into an even deadlier weapon as they successfully hit some of the bandits

Reif didn't manage to kill them but he inflicted enough pain to hinder their movement

"Damn brat!" One of the bandits that were hit cursed and fiery fire suddenly burned in his fists. "Die!"

Aside from that bandit, there is also another one that fired a magic missile towards Reif

However, because of the pain in the bandits' body, they weren't able to move as fast as they can normally do and that gave Reif an opening

The chains in Reif's wrist moved again with the help of magic. The first chain sweeps through the ground causing the bandit to trip

Most people are used to magic with direct effects and they didn't expect that Reif will do such a dirty trick

The bandit immediately lose his balance but before his body can fall to the ground, the other set of chains also moves and wrapped themselves in the bandit's leg

Reif's skinny arm bulged as he threw the bandit's body towards the magic missiles flying in his direction

If not for the help of magic, Reif wouldn't even be able to do something like this due to how weak his body is

Blood gushed out from the bandit as four holes appeared in his body thanks to the magic missiles that hit him

"Y-you cunning brat!" The bandit that made the magic missiles cursed and five magic circles appeared above him

The magic circles release small ice needles. With their quantity, it can definitely turn a person into a human porcupine

However, Reif just continued controlling the chains and placed the bandit's body in front of him

The poor bandit was once again the one that receives the attack from his comrade causing his body to be filled with countless ice needles

His hardship doesn't even end there as Reif finally releases him by throwing him at his comrade

The bandit that made the ice needles was still shocked that he might be the one that murdered a fellow brother and he was not able to react on time

Thus, the skewered bandit collided with another bandit, and the latter felt severe pain in his stomach

At that time, another bandit decided to sneak an attack on Reif. This bandit has a fast speed and he was holding daggers coated with some black colored substance

This time, Reif uses his smaller stature to his advantage as he ducked down, narrowly missing the bandit's daggers

After that, Reif strikes the enemy's abdomen with his palm. If it was just a normal palm strike, Reif's physical prowess is not enough to deal a fatal blow

However, what Reif did is not a simple palm attack. The bandit's eyes widened in shock as blood starts dripping down his mouth

If one looks at the bandit's back, they can see that a sharp and thorny vine pierces his body

The bandit can even feel his mana was being sucked dry and they flowed into Reif's body

Reif is the descendant of the Spring Clan. A Royal Family that has a special talent for nature magic

The power of their nature magic is superior to a normal mage using the same type of magic. It was their innate bloodline talent and blessings

Reif's body is a descendant of such a special family and he even has the mutated [Nature Vessel] constitution. His nature magic is surely bound to be more special compared to other people

It's just that, Reif doesn't really specialize in nature magic in the past. But now, he can train it

The mana that Reif uses earlier was being instantly replenished by his [Drain] magic. A type of magic that absorbs the mana of the target

Normal people can only safely absorb mana equal to half the amount of mana they originally have. After all, the universe is fair. Magicians can't just continuously absorbs other people's mana so that they won't run out of fuel

The magicians with stronger bodies can absorb mana equal to what they have at their peak

For the Spring Clan, even the normal member can already absorb 1.5 times more mana than they have due to their bloodline

If that's the case for the Spring Clan, what more for Reif that is their descendant and also has a [Nature Vessel] constitution?

Even at Reif's weakened body, he can already absorb 1.5 times of mana he has. If his body was recovered to the peak, he can even absorb even more mana

After sucking the bandit dry of his mana, Reif retracted his arm and pushed the body away to another bandit carrying a sword that is running towards him

This bandit was more skillful than most and he didn't accidentally cut apart his comrade

"Sneaky brat! Die!!" The bandit raged. He continuously swung his sword towards Reif that can only barely dodge with the help of his magic

However, the bandit suddenly poured mana into his sword and its size instantly expanded

Reif was not able to dodge that and can only cross his arm in front of him while casting [Harden]

Even then, Reif's arm receives a huge cut in them. Fortunately, this body is also immune to this level of pain

The experiments that his abductor done on him were more painful than this. In fact, pain at this level doesn't even hurt that much anymore due to the hell he had experience

Reif won't waste his precious blood, all the droplets of blood his body shed bursts into a bloody fog

The sword bandit immediately cast a barrier that encloses his whole body and prevented the fog from hurting him

The other bandits focus in the fight with the still resisting guards weren't as lucky as him though

The bandits that were engulfed by the bloody fog instantly writhed in pain as their mouth releases some foams

The veins in their bodies became visible to the eyes and they all soon fell down at the ground as dead as they can be

This scene shocked both the merchant, the three remaining guards, and six remaining bandits

Only Reif was not shocked at this as he knew how potent the poison in his blood is

"Son of a bitch!" One of the 3rd circle mage shouted. A large magic circle appeared in front of him that releases strong gusts of winds

The winds blew away the bloody fog and even threw Reif's body away. His back hits several trees that broke down from the impact

If not for Reif using magic to at least protect his vital spots, all the bones in his body might have been broken already. A 3rd circle mage is already very powerful for the current Reif!