5 Chapter V: Bandits *Edited*

The talk with the steward went relatively quickly, Proventus asked them if they were sure we could complete the bounty and gave them all the details he had on the bandits. They already mostly knew them from the notice board and general gossip so the group quickly came up with a very basic plan.

Bandits generally did their 'work' during nighttime so attacking during the day was the best choice available. Most of them would still be rested as a rotation was no doubt in place but any tired bandit was a plus.

Before heading out, Reyvin visited the famously annoying Court Wizard of Whiterun, Farengar Secret-fire but much to his great surprise the Court Mage greeted him with a polite smile and simply inquired "How can I help you young mage?"

Quickly hiding his surprise Reyvin explained "I am looking for some basic books and spells on conjuration, and also any lesser enchanted items you may have for when we return."

Farengar nodded approvingly "Ah, of course, the bandits, I heard they were getting very annoying recently"

"S'wits the lot of them" Reyvin nodded along "In any case, do you have any spell recommendations for an aspiring mage such as myself?"

After a cursory look, Farengar hummed and asked "Well you seem to be actively using a sidearm, so maybe a bound weapon? They need no maintenance so they are always a good choice."

Intrigued by the idea Reyvin asked "How does a bound weapon work in application, I can pay if that information is something valuable to you of course."

Farengar chuckled before waving him off "No need, it is a rather basic spell when starting out, essentially you learn to shape Magicka into a weapon, then make it take your preferred shape and as the potency of your Magicka grows so does the potency of your weapon, of course, the spell can be altered at later stages for added effects and can even be used as a medium for magic"

"Huh, that is actually far better than I originally expected." Reyvin muttered "How much for that spell book and any notes you might have on it?"

"Well my focus was never on conjuration or... alteration for that matter so I have just the basics, but you can have both for a mere 150 septims." Farengar offered "I don't mind helping an ambitious young mind, especially if they make my job easier by removing the surrounding ne'er-do-wells. As for enchanted items I mostly do them by commission so all I have lying around is a simple ring of restoration that was not up to the standards of the local healers you can have that one for a mere 50"

'This will wipe out all of my savings but that spell seems pretty good, the ring is a no go though a minor boost won't change much' Reyvin took all of three seconds to ponder before giving his answer "I'll take the books for now"

"But of course, good luck" Farengar sent him off with his new spellbook.

"Thank you." He said and walked back to his group.

Durrak seemed to be almost giddy with anticipation, while Morrigan seemed more nervous than before.

"You both ready?" Reyvin asked and received two nods. He clapped eagerly and started walking out of Dragonsreach "Well, off we go then"

The entire way to their destination Reyvin had his nose stuck in his new book, he knew there was no chance for him to actually manage the spell so quickly but any progress was good progress.

He absent-mindedly checked out his system as he walked.

[Str: 7][Dex: 9][Vit: 7.2][Mind: 15][Mag: 122]

'Huh all this walking does seem to be pretty healthy for me, and the magic practice is paying dividends, let's see the skills then'

[Destruction-novice 60%: Flames, Firebolt]

[Alteration-novice 35%: Oakflesh, Minor telekinesis]

[Restoration-novice 40%: Heal(self), Heal(other)]

[Conjuration-basic 20%]

[Alchemy-novice 70%]

[Enchantment-basic 90%]

[Swordfighting-novice 0%]

'Shanking bandits is actually pretty good for learning how to swing a sword, who could have guessed?' He thought sarcastically 'Although to be fair merely reaching the novice level means I won't remove my own hand mid-battle and not much beyond that.'

As they were walking he started explaining restoration to Morrigan who only knew some criomancy and alteration, he preferred if she knew at least the basics just in case he emptied his reserve and someone was wounded. The most basic restoration spell won't regenerate anyone but it will stop them from bleeding out.

They reached the ironhand camp sometime later, it appeared to be a cave that led to something of a balcony up top, where he guessed some lookouts should be. Surprisingly, or not considering these were a bunch of untrained ruffians with maybe one experienced fighter, there wasn't a single one up there. At the entrance, two bandits were sitting and drinking mead without a care in the world and completely unaware of their surroundings.

The three adventurers made a quick plan and started sneaking toward them, unfortunately, Durrak accidentally banged his spear on a nearby pot and startled the guards who reached for their weapons as fast as they could while stumbling over their seats.

Reyvin, long since suspecting that a heavily armored orc wasn't the sneaky type was already launching a firebolt at one of the bandits, the impact caused a small explosion to happen on the man's face, making it resemble a crushed watermelon before the charred bits spread all over the place.

The second guard, now scared shitless, was too slow to react to the armored orc ramming a spear into his throat with surprising strength.

"Whew, thank fuck there weren't more of them here or that could have gone badly" Reyvin breathed out in relief.

"We killed them easily didn't we tho?" Asked a confused orc now cleaning his weapon with his sleeve.

Smiling wryly Reyvin shrugged "Well yes, but imagine if they called the entire camp, we would have been completely and utterly fucked."

The orc merely shrugged back and started walking to the entrance.

The inside of the cave was covered in mismatched loot of low value, furniture, dishes, and the like.

"I am guessing the actually valuable stuff is upstairs." Reyvin remarked "Well, might as well keep going, never know when they might notice us"

Not long after they found another group, five this time, sitting around a table and were immediately noticed.

Following their previous plans, Reyvin immediately started tossing firebolts while Durrak charged, Morrigan was using her alteration to trip the bandits by way of summoning roots near their feet.

The first bandit fell much like his predecessor with a bolt of fire to the face, two of the bandits tried to gang up on the orc with their axes but his armor and reach advantage stopped him from getting overwhelmed stabbing one of them in the leg he managed to keep both busy.

Among the bandits one seemed to be armored fully in iron wielding a sword and shield, he charged at the elf that just ended his friend, who immediately sent a bolt his way. The bandit's shield saved his life, turning the potentially lethal injury into a mere stagger. Realizing he wasn't going to achieve anything by being cautious the large man rushed at the now tired looking mage with furious glee in his eyes.

'Fuck I didn't think firebolts would be this intensive, only 4 of them and I am almost out' Reyvin groused internally as he unsheathed his sidearm.

He tried to hold the bandit off with his saber, but the man was far larger and heavier than him and simply shield slammed him into the ground. Reyvin was gasping for breath when he saw his enemy go for the kill... and then get his face covered in a wave of frost.

'Damn that was close' he quickly got up and with all his remaining Magicka sent a wave of flame to the man that was trying to sneak up on the distracted witch. 'I might slowly be becoming a pyromaniac' The Dunmer thought absent mindedly as he looked at the burning man.

During this brief bout of danger, Durrak finished both his enemies, surprising his companions with his skill. The Orc noticed their surprise and smirked triumphantly "Told ya I was a beast"

Reyvin patted his shoulder like one might do to a child before sitting down nearby "Sure you are buddy now I need to sit down, throwing around this much magic is tiring."

They sat around for some ten minutes and decided to head forward, thankfully the reports on the notice board were wrong as there was only one bandit remaining, sitting on the balcony at the top of the cave, he was wearing steel armor and next to him was a steel warhammer, and most importantly a large ornate chest.

Sharing a couple of glances between each other the trio started walking behind him, but he simply sighed, stood up, and looked at them with disdain and boredom in his eyes "Now I have to round up some new fools to serve me, how will you repay me for that?"

The only answer he got in return was a snort and a sudden wave of fire blazing in his direction. Surprisingly he merely charged through taking almost no visible damage, but on the other side what awaited him was a spear aiming for him, he mentally scoffed thinking that there was no way they thought he would fall for that, when suddenly he tripped, the last thing he saw before he got impaled was brown roots holding his legs.

'Well that was anticlimactic, good thing there are three of us, he seemed strong' Reyvin thought in relief, he then spoke in a tired voice "Alright let's check what he was hoarding and get the hell out of here. I need a bed and some mead after this."

His companions agreed and started looking around the place. Inside the chest, they found some septims and gems, as well as some jewelry. The bandit leader's gauntlets seemed to have an enchantment that helps with great weapons so Durrak took that, and also his armor while he was at it, it might be too large for him but it can be fitted back in the city.

They spent about an hour resting and looting the place, finding some lesser healing potions and also a lot of mushrooms, which were pretty good for making said potions so Reyvin eagerly grabbed them. Morrigan finally deigned to mention that she was also a trained alchemist, not surprising due to her origins, what was surprising was the fact that she claimed she was even better than the elf which in his own words was not a great achievement.

Soon they were walking back towards the city, tired and battered yes, but also richer in both wealth and experience.