Chapter 20 Preparations

Leo reached forward and grabbed the leaders left arm, "Now then, tell me where the rest of your bandits have set up camp or I'll take your arm off." Leo let his power flow into his hand, making it glow blue with power. 'This should scare him enough... Right?'

"NO! PLEASE! If... If I tell you, then the boss will kill me!" his eyes were full of fear and his teeth were chattering. The man had never been this frightened before in his entire life.

Leo let out a small chuckle, "You don't have to worry about that. Your boss will be dead before he knows you betrayed him."

Nobody present could believe how confidently Leo was able to say that. The chief was especially shocked, since he had been dealing with these bandits for decades, he thought they were invincible.

'Can this young man really destroy an entire bandit group alone? I've seen his strength, If he can... Then we will be free from their influence. We could finally start improving our village instead of paying off our earnings to them.'

The chiefs mood picked up, he was doing something he hadn't done in years. He was allowing himself to have hope.

"B-But... I-I C-C-Cant..." The man was clearly terrified of what his boss would do if he found out about him spilling secrets. Leo understood his hesitation, "Alright, then how about this. If you tell me, then theres a chance I fail and they come after you to kill you, correct?" the man nodded intensely.

"But if you don't tell me then you'll definitely die, because I'll kill you... and I don't plan on doing it quickly." Leo infused his other hand with energy and grabbed the man's other arm.

The man realized he had no choice, telling Leo was possibly a death sentence, but keeping quiet was definitely a death sentence.

​ " A-Alright... I'll tell you. Just, please... Don't hurt me! ." Leo let go of the man's arms, "You have my word."

The man told Leo everything he knew, where the bandit camp was and how many men should be there. He said that if Leo took a horse then he could be there in 3 hours.

'According to him, the camp is inside a cave that has only one way in or out, making it almost impossible to sneak in since they have only one place to keep guard. They should have 40 men in the camp tonight, that's certainly a lot but I can deal with them. He said they wouldn't find it suspicious that his group didn't come back until tomorrow. That means I have to wipe them out tonight'

Leo had left the jail after getting the information he needed, leaving the man unharmed as promised. It was currently close to noon and Leo was headed to the blacksmiths shop.

As soon as Leo walked in, he was greeted by the smiling face of the elderly woman who spoke to him last time. "Well if it isn't our villages savior. Have you come to collect your order from yesterday?"

Leo didnt like being called a savior, he didn't dislike it either, but it felt strange to him. "Yes I am, I'd also like to sell you some items if you're interested."

"Well that depends on what you're trying to sell to us. Why don't we take a look." Leo placed all the swords on the table, there were only 8 in total, since he smashed two of them.

The old lady looked at each sword individually, "Hmm, well most of them are in decent condition, but 3 of them are dented and chipped and can only be used for scrap metal. I can offer you 300 Ven for all of them."

Leo didn't care if he was being underpaid or not, he was just happy to be getting some Ven for his trouble.

"Alright, you've got a deal." The lady reached down and grabbed a pouch , she then handed Leo the pouch, which contained 300 Ven in silver plates. Leo took the pouch and held it in his left hand.

The woman spoke again "Now then, the items you requested." She turned and walked to the back of the room and ruffled through some stuff before coming back to the counter.

In her hands was a small cloth. She unwrapped the cloth and inside were two metal balls around the size of the stones Leo carries.

Leo put down his pouch and picked up the balls, he started moving them around in his left palm like usual. He was able to move them much smoother than the stones, making them move faster. Leo absorbed some energy from them to test how they were affected.

He was satisfied , "How much do I owe you?"Leo asked. "Only 8 Ven in total " she replied.

Leo took one of the silver plates out the pouch he just received and placed it on the table. She then placed 2 bronze plates on the table, which Leo placed in his pouch.

"Could you make another 20 of these for me?" Leo asked. The woman was slightly confused about what Leo would do with these matal balls. She saw no use in having them. "Certainly, we can have them done by tomorrow evening." she replied.

Leo nodded and left the blacksmith. As soon as Leo was out of sight, he placed his Ven inside the storage ring. He kept the metal balls out so he could absorb some energy before he left.

Leo walked towards the edge of the village, where a horse had been prepared for him by the chief. There was one person standing with the horse. It was the younger of the two guards, the one who's brother gave Leo trouble.

He spoke to Leo when he got close enough, "Your horse is ready for you to leave at any time, but before you go, I have a favour to ask of you." he lowered his head when he spoke, to show his respect to Leo.

"What is the favour?" Leo replied bluntly. The guard was very nervous, he was hoping Leo wouldn't turn down his request.

"Please allow me to accompany you. I wish to be of help if I can." the guard stated. Leo thought about it for a moment before speaking.

"What's your name?"

"It's Jason."

"Alright Jason, you can accompany me as long as you don't get in the way." Jasons eyes beamed with happiness. "I'll go get another horse then!" he turned to head into the village but Leo grabbed his shoulder.

"There's no need. You can use this one, I don't need a horse."