Harassment Tactics

The sun hung high overhead, its light filtering through the sparse leaves and falling on the ground.

Dozens of tents stood in an open area beside the woods.

A few guards stood outside the tents, keeping watch beneath the blazing sun. They were clearly not taking their duty seriously. They slouched, leaning against the tents and sheltering in their shade.

They yawned as they chatted with one another.

No one noticed something seemingly dart past in the small woods nearby.

Even if they had watched closely, they might not have spotted it.

After all, Drew was moving under the effects of a superior-quality Shadow Potion.

With the System's help, Drew moved perfectly along the shadows in the woods. There was no chance of him being exposed.

Drew didn't leave the woods. With the Scanning System, he didn't need to infiltrate the enemy camp like a conventional scout.

He only needed to stay near the enemy and wait for the System's scan results. Beep. Scanning System activated. Scanning a radius of three hundred meters directly ahead. Estimated time: 452 seconds. 451, 450...

Need to scout the enemy? Shadow Potions and the Scanning System make the perfect pair.

There was absolutely no risk. Eight minutes later, Drew had gathered intelligence on the enemy.

They had 134 people in total: five intermediate-level professionals, thirty beginners, eighty-one apprentices, and eighteen ordinary people.

Professionals made up the vast majority of their ranks, while the ordinary people—just over ten percent—were all support personnel. These bandits really were an army of fighters.

By comparison, the town had three intermediate-level professionals, nine beginners, and thirty-four apprentices. The gap between them was enormous.

Fortunately, Drew could more or less ignore anyone below the beginner level.

The difference lay in their top-tier fighters. As far as top-tier strength went, Drew was confident he could take them all on by himself.

The key was figuring out how to prioritize the matchups with their strongest fighters.

After scouting their strength, Drew returned to plan his next move.

What tactics could he use to overcome the gap in numbers among the lower-level fighters?

Drew thought of an old strategy: guerrilla warfare, making full use of the mobility of superior fighters.

Harass the enemy and strike them. Hit once, then retreat, leaving them unable to lay a hand on him and forcing their strongest fighters to come out and deal with him.

But when it came to mobility, his opponents seemed to have the advantage.

How could Drew, a mage, outpace fighters from other professions? It looked like he would have to rely on his old trade: alchemy.

He remembered a Basic Agility Potion that could increase one's agility.

With his intermediate-level physique, he could use a beginner potion even though he wasn't an agility specialist.

There was also the Lightness Potion, which reduced the body's weight.

The enemy wouldn't arrive for a few more days. He would try to make both potions today, then go harass them tomorrow.

After a day's work, Drew had amassed several superior-quality Basic Agility Potions and Lightness Potions. He meditated through the night to recover, then set out.

These past few days, Kuang Tu—the bald giant who led the Hurricane Bandit Group—had been on the verge of going berserk.

He was a berserker, and berserk was one of his combat stances. But he wasn't about to switch stances and fight. The fury burning inside him was what had driven him berserk.

They hadn't lost many people over the past few days, but their supplies had taken a heavy hit, especially their tents.

Somewhere along the way, a sinister rogue had appeared, lurking in the shadows and making trouble for them.

He always struck while everyone was resting, setting their tents on fire. In just a few days, they had lost several tents, and a few unlucky men had even burned to death.

Now they had almost no tents left. Only the high-ranking members had spacious tents; the lower-ranking ones were crammed together in cramped shelters, while the ordinary people had to sleep out in the open.

And that was with half the group assigned to stand watch instead of sleeping.

That rogue was also unbelievably fast. He would vanish in a flash.

The day before, everyone had stayed awake all night, waiting for him. But he never showed. Their eyes were bloodshot by morning. The rogue had actually stood them up.

So that morning, Kuang Tu had no choice but to order everyone to stay put and rest.

Then the rogue showed up again. Since they had all been awake the previous night, everyone was sleeping soundly, especially the guards.

They had nearly been wiped out. When they counted their losses, they found that most of their supplies were gone. Their remaining forces had also been devastated: only five intermediate-level professionals, ten beginners, and twenty-five apprentices remained. Not a single ordinary person was left.

Kuang Tu couldn't help cursing that damn rogue.

If Drew had been there, he would have objected: he was clearly a mage, just one who had taken a potion and could run pretty fast.

He wasn't a rogue at all. His fire spells were simply so slick that they could burn down a whole cluster of tents at once.

Besides, he was an alchemist. He could make all kinds of things, from Combustion Potions to Sleeping Potions—and his potions were exceptionally high quality and effective.

Look at all those people. At least they'd finally gotten a good night's sleep.

The Sleeping Potion wasn't bad, was it? If you couldn't sleep at night, it was just the thing.

Of course, if Kuang Tu had heard him say that, he probably would have coughed up blood.

After venting for a while, Kuang Tu calmed down. Their situation was grim.

They had lost more than half their people, including a great many of their core forces: the beginner-level professionals.

The ones below beginner level were easy enough to replace; one move could take out a whole crowd.

But training a beginner-level professional was no easy feat.

Just thinking about it gave Kuang Tu a splitting headache.

Then there was the fact that all their supplies had been lost.

They couldn't do anything in this state. They had to find somewhere to resupply.

He considered what places nearby could provide supplies.

Lincoln Town seemed fairly close now. They could reach it in a day.

With all their baggage gone, they could travel at full speed and probably get there in half a day.

Kuang Tu immediately called the survivors together.

"Enough messing around. Everyone who's still alive, get over here!"

"Boss, what do you need?" His men obediently gathered around, though their faces were grim. They were all covered in dust and dirt.

"Leave the people and stuff on the ground alone. Little Wolf, tell us what we should do now." Kuang Tu looked over everyone and asked one of them.

"Boss, we've suffered heavy losses, especially since we've lost all our supplies.

"If we can't replenish them, we won't be able to get anywhere.

"I think our top priority should be to restock." Kuang Tu gave Little Wolf an approving look. He really was someone he valued. He hadn't asked him first for nothing.

"Little Wolf's right. Our priority isn't searching for supplies here and cleaning up the battlefield like a bunch of janitors. What are we? We're bandits. What do we do when we're short on something?"

"Rob! Rob! Rob!" The others understood, too: if they were short on something, they should go take it.

With morale so low, they needed a robbery to lift their spirits.

"Good. Everyone, listen up. We'll spend half a day marching at full speed to the outskirts of the nearest town, Lincoln Town.

"We'll find some woods and rest for the night. The next day, we'll take Lincoln Town. Once we've taken it, there'll be plenty of food, drink, and women. Move out!"