Battle in the Oakwind Strath (1)

On the northern border region of Grens Province lay a vast swath of forested wilderness that claimed a good tenth of the frontier province's land. On the southwestern edge of this woodland ran a wide river that carved a valley into the earth, flowing into the forest after making a curve from its origin to the west, a mountain in an adjacent province after flowing dozens of leagues and passing several towns and villages. The Broadhead River, a valuable location for trading, transportation and local resources, had been travelled enough times to have been mapped out down to its depths. However, after the woods of Grens Province appeared in any sailors sights, they cast their anchors or began to backtrack. The reason was simple to those who were in the know, and even simple villagers could give anyone an answer: the Oakwind Strath.

The Oakwind Strath, the river valley in the forest, was said to be home to countless robbers and killers. Very few sailors ever returned from following the river, and those that did would refuse to speak of what they'd seen. For this reason, for several years, the loss of the river for transportation through the forest made contact with the Wood Elves, who resided several days journey down the river, much more difficult. As numerous failed explorations of the valley had caused the Valarion Kingdom to forgo an expedition to clear it, the Oakwind Strath became infamous for being the death of travellers.

With the information Luca had brought to the city of Bristol, the provincial army discovered the full reason why the valley was deadly: it was the home of the reviled Mammoth Bandits. It had been suspected before, but military officials had determined it too risky to assume without definitive proof. Now, however, more than two thousand soldiers and two hundred cavalries, all equipped with E-grade equipment, marched north from Bristol to exterminate the bandits. Following along were hundreds of professional adventurers ranging between D-rank to B-rank, and close to one hundred mages, a fair number of which were Lv. 3. At the rear, the Grens Provincial Army Commander, the Lv. 4 Halberd Warrior Zackariah Shale, rode along with the two present leaders of the local guilds, the Lv. 3 Swordmaster Lydia Satel and the Lv. 4 Dual-Affinity Water and Lightning Mage Austin Nicholas. With close to 3200 men on the move, a full-force subjugation had begun.

It had been three hours since the army had begun to move, but it had been four since the scout troupe, along with Luca and his partner, had set out ahead. Within that time frame, the scouts had taken up the task of scouting along the forest edges of the valley, scoping out the area and neutralizing any potential dangers from above. After three hours of risky but fruitful work, a scout had begun to backtrack to the army with their gathered intel, while the others kept an eye out for any changes.

Laying on his belly on an outcropping near the entrance to the Oakwind Strath, weapon trained on the bandit hideout, a white-haired lad kept his eyes on their foes, restraining his desire to pick off the targets immediately. Behind him, hidden in the shade of the trees to dull the shine of his scales, was Arcturus, who had the responsibility of defending his partner. As the forest wasn't good for horses to traverse, the scout troupes horses, Thunder included, had remained outside the forest in a location that was out of sight of any wary eyes, with a pair of scouts in charge of handling them. After Luca had asked the stallion to take the scout to the Commander, Thunder proudly carried his charge on his mission. This was good for Luca and for Thunder since the former wasn't likely to end up in close combat. Having the stallion join the main force would be for the better. A cavalry warhorse was better served with an army than with a lone boy.

As the scouts of the kingdom had their own codes and methods to communicate between each other, not far from Luca was one such scout who was in charge of relaying between the boy and the commanding scout leader. At the moment, he was having Luca use his weapon's long-distance scope to identify targets of importance. So far, Luca had found the remaining Lv. 3 vice leaders, a Warrior and two Rogues, each bearing their own Double Copper bounty, while he was in the process of locating the leader, the Lv. 4 Battleaxe Warrior Vincent of Bloody Gold, so named for all of his gains coming from several murders and robberies. Though he had not been spotted yet, Vincent was most certainly within the hideout, as Luca used the System to read the lips of several bandits for confirmation.

"Still nothing... how long until the army arrives, Reed?" Luca grumbled, shifting in place in order to keep his muscles from locking up due to stiffness.

"It's been about half an hour since the last time you asked, and it was an hour when I answered. Thirty minutes, give or take a few. If you can't find Vincent, don't put yourself down. You've already done better than most of the scouts in the Provincial Army would from such a distance. Besides, Vincent will show up once the army begins the assault, so that would be the best time to find him." The blonde scout surmised according to the available information, his estimate being close to perfect for such old-school methods of gathering intelligence. He also wasn't wrong about Vincent's appearance during the attack: an accomplished bandit leader like him would stand out when his crew was under attack.

"He's the target of highest priority, so I have to find him before the army arrives. If he moves out, the leaders will have to get involved to handle him alone, leaving only the adventurers to handle the three vice leaders. Hopefully, I can take him out before the battle really starts. I might only be good for one shot, so I have to make it count. If my one shot can take out the biggest threat, even if I collapse, it'll be worth it." The young mage was determined to bring down Vincent at the first opportunity he could get.

As the boy finished talking, a combination of whistles and animal noises came from the distance, mimicking those of the forest-dwelling critters. Reed, the scout, heard these and interpreted them before responding with his own coded sounds. He then relayed to Luca, "The army picked up the pace and are arriving in about five minutes. Right now, just keep an eye out for Vincent and don't push yourself too far."

"Can't promise that when everyone else is in battle with their lives on the line while I'm high and dry up here."