Bandit Hunting

After that night in the forest, Shu had to participate in many more acts he would rather not have even known about in the slightest. For several days, Edrick took him on a trip away from the Myriad-Arm Sect and Oie. At first, it was just like the first time, with criminals and bandits who tried to attack first. In this way, Shu could at least try to justify what he did by framing it as retaliation against people who tried to wrong him.

He was aware that it did not justify the sort of things Anoteros would do and the things that, by extension, he participated in, but it was a good way to avoid being too consumed by guilt…

It was the day after another night spent in some small woods. Edrick had caught a small group of bandits that weren’t even cultivators... Just a ratbag group of peasants that had banded together, not so dissimilar from the people Anoteros used to lord over. They didn’t have any women, so after being beaten down, they were tied from their feet to branches or restrained against tree trunks.

They served as live targets for Edrick to practise his marksmanship on, or as punching bags. As per usual, Shu had no other choice but to participate, swinging at the defenceless bandits using either his Misericorde dagger or Karambit. He slashed into their clothes and flesh, leaving deep, bloody gashes and even gutting one of them with a swing of his curved blade.

Such acts of violence did not feel as filthy as what he had to participate in the first time. The inner disciple found himself horrified as it seemed like his weapon proficiency improved faster when used against people. The sensation of tearing into skin and muscles was completely different than against a dummy or simply swinging through empty air. It was tiring, but more rewarding to enrich his experience.

Unknowingly, he began to strike at the bandits more earnestly. Edrick didn’t even have to say anything this time…

For some reason, whenever someone was slain, Anoteros would take the body apart completely, like one would do when hunting wild animals. He would then make a trip back to the sect, seemingly unloading the remains directly to his residence. The inner disciple could form some guesses as to why, but did not want to be right.

Anoteros was already terrifying enough as is…

In any case, after this, they once again went into some woods that were rather far away from any real town or village. Only that this time, it was not bandits that they targeted. Well, although they might participate in reselling stolen goods and helped bandits, those people were not highwaymen who attacked carriages.

They acted more like middlemen, making money from cutting and selling wood for the most part.

It was just a family of three. Made up of a hard-working father with the sturdy physique of a lumberjack, a mature mother who tended to the few goats they owned, and a daughter who was still unmarried due to there being no one else around. So despite being clearly old enough to have her own family, she still lived with her parents and helped around the house.

It was a quiet, peaceful existence…

But unfortunately, due to their occasional dealings with bandits from time to time, they had ended up on the list Shu had previously made for Edrick. As such, the noble scion decided to target them.

Things were worse this time. These people did not make any move to attack. They were simply living their lives... That is, until Anoteros decided that their fate was sealed.

Once again, he framed it as an important lesson to survive in the cultivation world. At first, Shu had thought that it was all bollocks, mere ways to justify his actions, but quickly, the inner disciple realised that the Elt did not need to justify himself by making it seem like anything other than what it truly was. Edrick was merely demonstrating how he went about things.

Bandits were vermin that no one cared about, so you could use them in any way you wanted, be it for amusement, benefit, or both, without fearing repercussions or criticism. In fact, you could parade their corpses to the authorities and be rewarded for bettering the country.

Anyone who attacked first forfeited everything through those actions. They didn’t just expose themselves to receiving the same treatment, they were exposing themselves to anything Edrick might desire from them.

It was almost feral, like the noble scion did not view himself as a sapient living amongst other sapients, a member of a species that thrived on cooperation and unity, but as a wild beast that had every right to do whatever its instincts dictated.

This mindset, as Shu viewed it, wrapped into a giant frame, with a cunning, insidious mind alongside a powerful background, inspired nothing but horror to the inner disciple... At least at first.

He himself was too meek and wary by nature to be like Anoteros. He simply didn’t have the background, strength, confidence, or sheer lack of empathy required to imitate the noble scion.

But like he was already doing, he could hide in Edrick’s shadow like the rat that he was, benefitting from the stronger man by following his lead…

Today, however, Shu felt a knot in his stomach.

Even if he could convince himself that it was for the best to be a follower of the young noble, it was hard to get over such a reprehensible action.

Still, who was he to go against the flow of things?

Shu could only stand in the back as Anoteros strode forward with unwavering steps toward the man of the family.

The bearded man was busy cutting wood when a man several heads taller than himself suddenly appeared from behind a tree. How a man of such a wide frame had been able to sneak up so close to him was a mystery. But before he could even say or do anything, Edrick surged forward, using partial transformation on his legs to accelerate in an instant. Doing the same on his right hand, manifesting the limb of a mountain sasquatch. There was no need to go any harder than this.

As the palm made contact with the ordinary lumberjack’s face, his skull was shattered. Blood, brain, and bone shards burst as they were slung into the distance, the corpse slumping down to the ground in an instant.

Transforming back whilst swinging his arm, Edrick sent all of the filth away. It was a little trick he had figured out, preventing the result of his violent actions from sticking to his skin.

He turned to Shu, pointing at the small house with one thumb.

“What are you waiting for? There are two more bandits inside. Restrain them both so that we can interrogate them about the whereabouts of their contacts” Anoteros smiled, emphasising the word ‘interrogate’.

The inner disciple glanced at the body on the ground, blood still spurting out from where a head had once been.

“Of course…”