The bandits moved around the three friends, spreading out around them. Sinister grins plastered on their faces. Drake eyed the leader, who was looking at Chad. His hungry gaze on Chad's magic bow. It was clear what the man was after.
Drake, knowing they would need to act fast, lifted his hand; his focus was on the leader's chest. It was a wide target, which made it more difficult for the man to dodge. "Fireball!" he shouted. Fire formed in his hand, then shot toward the man. The man dodged the fireball. Instead of hitting him in the chest, it hit his shoulder. The man screamed in pain.
The fire spread. It moved down to his chest and up toward his neck. It was a giant plum of flames opening wide.
Chad shot his arrow and hit another bandit, hitting him in the head, killing him on the spot. The man burst into a cloud of light particles.
Chad turned, searching for his next target, lifting his bow, ready to aim for another.
{A member of your cohort has killed a level 1 bandit}
{You have received mana +1}
Drake's target was still alive. He knew this; the system hadn't said otherwise. Not to mention, the man was still screaming in pain from the fire.
As the man struggled, he screamed in pain as he tried to take out the fire that was quickly spreading. Drake used the man's distraction as an opportunity to burst forward, using the arrow he held tightly, and he slammed the sharp tip into the man's eye as deep as his meager strength would let him. The man screamed louder. His hand shot up to his face. It was out of instinct. Before the man's hand touched the arrow, Drake quickly grabbed it and yanked, pulling it out. The arrow came out of the man's head, his eyeball still attached to its sharp tip.
Knowing the man was occupied with the spreading fire, Drake turned his attention to another bandit.
Mike shot his bow, the arrow narrowly missing his target, hitting a tree behind him. He immediately notched another arrow. He knew he needed practice. Learning in a real fight to the death was not ideal.
Drake saw one of the bandits heading toward Mike from behind, who was occupied with trying to shoot the man in front of him. Drake lifted his hand. "Fireball!" he shouted. Fire formed in his palm and flew toward the man behind Mike. The man dodged to the side, grinning. With his hand still out, Drake shot another. "Fireball!" This time, the fireball hit its target. The man's head, turning into a torch.
Drake, turning to look at the bandit Leader. He watched as the man burst into light particles. Drake grinned.
{You have killed a level 2 bandit. You have received a new skill.}
{You have received: Level 1 plasma ball}
{You have received mana +1}
As the voice filtered through his mind, the second bandit burst into light particles.
{You have killed a Level 1 bandit. You have received mana +1}
Drake, looking over to Mike, who looked pissed. He had already shot three arrows, missing his target with all of them. Pulling the bow to his back, giving up, he football-tackled the man instead. If there was anything he was good at, it was football.
The man slammed against the hard ground, causing his weapons to fall from his hands. Mike started swinging, his fists hitting the man's face repeatedly. Blood splattered up each time Mike's fist made contact with the man's face. Mike was strong. He lifted weights nearly every day.
Finally, when the man fell unconscious, Mike gripped the bandit's head and yanked sideways, breaking the man's neck. The bandit suddenly burst into light particles and vanished. In its place was a shimmering sword.
The floated through Drake's head, not giving much time to remember what was said.
{A member of your cohort has killed a level 1 Bandit. Your cohort grows stronger.}
{A storm sword has been received.}
{You have received mana +1}
{A member of your cohort has killed a level 1 Bandit. Your cohort grows stronger.}
{A storage ring has been received.}
{You have received mana +1}
{Quest 'defeat the bandits' has been completed: You have received a new skill}
{You have received: Level 1 Energy beam}
Mike picked up the sword, holding it in his hand. "This will do," he grinned. His eyes were glued to the shimmering sword. It was not unlike the look Chad gave his magic bow the moment he saw it.
Drake watched Mike pick up the sword, then turned to Chad. "If you haven't already found it, look for a ring."
Chad circled where the two he killed burst into light particles. On the ground was an obsidian ring. One side of it was flat with a little hinge, indicating that it could open. It looked like a poison ring from the Renaissance era.
He tried to hand it to Drake, who shook his head. "It's rightfully yours since you killed the one who dropped it. According to my system, it's a dimensional storage ring."
This made Mike grin. "You have no problem with me keeping this sword, then?"
"That sword is called 'storm sword,' which means it can do something. If I were you, I would figure out what it can do, so you know how to use it against beasts. The fact that it's a storm sword suggests it has something to do with storms or lightning. It's your sword, so it's something you need to figure out for yourself. For the record, I have no problem with you keeping what drops from your kills."
Mike stared down at the sword he had received, his grin growing wider as he slowly walked to Chad. With one hand, he pulled the bow and quiver off his shoulder and handed them back to their owner.
Drake looked around, seeing the arrows stuck in various trees and on the ground. After retrieving them, he handed them to Chad as well. He still kept the one he had been holding. He was happy to see that the eyeball had vanished with its owner. He refused to give the arrow back. He had skills but no weapons. His mana was low; he knew he would be defenseless if his mana ran out in a fight. "You can put your bow in the storage ring to protect it. I'm not sure how that ring works. You will have to test it out for yourself. If you figure it out, we can store our water bottles in there. They're heavy, and it's a way we won't lose them."
Chad was staring at Drake. He hesitated before speaking. "Did you at least receive anything?" Chad was worried that Drake was left empty-handed.
"Yeah. I received a skill for killing the leader and a skill for completing the quest. I received a Plasma ball skill and an energy beam skill. No weapons. I think I will still have to be careful how I use my skills, though. It requires mana points, and assuming I counted right. I should have seven mana points. Since I don't have any type of screen or way to see what I have, I have to try to remember everything." Drake paused for a second before continuing. I think we can store our stuff in your ring so we don't have to carry it. Not just the water and your bow. We don't have much, and protecting what we have is important. Do you mind holding our stuff until we find another storage ring?"
Chad opened the small hinged door on the ring. With the intention of putting his bow in, he attempted to put it in. It magically vanished inside. A portal sucking the bow inside the small ring. Doing the same thing in reverse, he took it back out.
"I think I figured it out." He grinned widely. "Yeah, I can store our stuff.
Everything was stored in the storage ring, including they're backpacks. Drake looked around the area, seeing if the bandits had dropped anything. The sack that one of them was carrying was sitting next to a tree. All their weapons were gone. Drake picked it up and looked inside.
Inside were two loaves of bread, a wheel of cheese, and what looked like a large amount of beef jerky. He handed the bag to Chad. "Put this in your ring. There is food inside the bag. Bread, cheese, and jerky. Food is valuable to us since it's hard for us to get more of."
Mike looked troubled. "Is it safe?"
Drake thought about it for a bit before he answered. "I think it is. I noticed that all the weapons they were holding vanished. Even the weapons that were dropped by that guy when you tackled him. The only thing that didn't vanish was the bag of food they had with them. I can try to be optimistic and say that this dimension is feeding us on purpose. I can also say that we just got lucky. We may never know which is correct."
"I sure hope that's the case, because it will make it a little easier to survive here until we get home. Everything we kill vanishes, which means we're not able to hunt for meat," Mike grumbled. "If you're wrong, I think we're screwed."