Rudra continued to fight the bandits , only enough to cripple them but not to kill , when the leader of the bandit group the level 60 chief , came out to the fight with his axe.

While dodging his first attack , Rudra quickly realized that this guy was trouble , trying to parry him with bare hands was akin to asking for a quick death.

Rudra immediately summoned elven sword , and started to parry the enemies attacks. Sword hit against axe , metal hit against metal as sparks flew everywhere. Rudra was fighting a intense battle as not only did he have to parry the chief at full concentration , but also dodge the other bandits incoming attacks without retaliating or killing them.

Slowly but surely , Rudra was getting frustrated , as this fighting was taking much more time than he expected. Fortunately , the chief made a mistake . He tried to slam the axe to cut into Rudra's legs however Rudra jumped , causing the axe to hit the ground .

Rudra stomped on the chiefs hand as a result , and cut the axe's wooden handle off . Rudra then landed a kick , square to the Bandits face.

BAM! he was sent flying.

The kick caused him to bleed , as blood dripped from his mouth. The chief was hurt , as he staggered to regain balance.

This was exactly the opening Rudra was looking for , running straight in towards the chief , Rudra jumped and hit an elbow straight to the top of his skull , the powerfull hit to the temple caused him to loose consciousness.

The troublesome chief went down!

Rudra then turned towards the rest of the bandits , who were sweating buckets now , most were already battered by Rudra's bare fist attacks by now . With their chief down , they understood that they were hardly a match for the man infront of them , who was not even using his full strength to fight them.

Rudra repeated in a deep voice

" It doesn't have to be this way , surrender , surrender and answer to your crimes , I will personally put in a good word to reduce your sentence. Live a life of honor , where you can hold your heads up high , the way you have chosen is wrong . Pillaging and looting from others will only make you hated and despised

".

One bandit sneered

" YOU DON'T KNOW HOW WE GREW UP ADVENTURER , DO NOT TRY TO PREACH US RIGHT AND WRONG , we steal because we have no food , we pillage because the merchants from whom we steal can afford so , without their family starving . We do no wrong , we provide a stable environment for the kids to grow and the women to live in peace. It is you who is disrupting the peace of our settlement adventurer , go away and WE will let this slide

".

Rudra shook his head , as he said

" If you have no food then you do hardwork and earn money , stealing to live can be pardoned once if it is the case when you are starving and dying , but it cannot be a way of life , no matter how u place your words bandit , I will never be sympathetic to men like you who have no backbone for hardwork. If you donot want to come by choice , then you will be taken by force!

".

Rudra sprung into fight again , and the bandits roared to fight him back at full spirits. However they again found out , how they were no match for Rudra , who was absolutely mauling them.

Within 10 minutes all 17 bandits laid on the floor , unable to move.

Rudra removed a large piece of rope from his inventory , and started to bind the bandits .

The women who were silent watching the fight uptill now , now began to scream and cry , at the scene , some fell on their knees and started to beg Rudra to let their husbands go , while some threw kitchen items at him.

It was a difficult position to be in , even for Rudra , even while knowing that this is just a game , the heart-wrenching scene of the women crying for their husbands made him feel like he was the villain here.

The elderly of the village took up swords , as they thought about fighting Rudra too , but Rudra just glanced at them and said

" Please do not sir , you have done no wrong , and I donot wish to hurt you , but try fight , and you will make an enemy out of me

".

The elders also started to cry , they were despairing at being soo useless , they knew they were no match for Rudra and that it was pointless.

It was at this moment that a woman covered in tattoo's came out of the biggest Hut in the settlement. By the way everyone started to bow towards her , Rudra knew she was someone important , either a shaman or the village chiefs wife.

She looked at Rudra and then at the fallen chief , as sadness could be seen in her eyes. She then said

" adventurer , without the men , this settlement will not be able to last , we cannot fight against the wild beasts and we cannot protect the children from slave traders , you taking them will spell the doom for us all . It's better that you kill us all here !

".

Murmurs could be heard around the village , the other citizens had started to get agitated .... This was bad.

Rudra trying to regain control of the situation said

" Here , this is 10,000 gold ! , It is enough for your settlement to last atleast a year in food , I will personally talk to the incharge of the village of Tolaknagar to take in your settlement as a part of the village , then you can be assured about the safety of the village , if he does not agree to take you in , I will personally take you all in at Purplehaze city. I am the mayor and I have many running employment schemes , job , food , security I assure you of all three

".

The woman's eyes widened in shock , she did not expect the adventurer to be soo generous , he was also the mayor of Purplehaze city , and his promise carried weight.

The others in the settlement already started to consider Rudra's words seriously , maybe this could be their new beginning .

Even soo the woman had regret plastered all over her face , she said

" the chief is my husband , and I cannot let him go to jail . I accept your other conditions , I personally promise that we will leave the life of pillaging , and start fresh . Please let the men go.

".

Rudra shook his head ,

" Not possible ma'am , if you do crimes you must answer for them , they won't be executed , community service or jail time will be their punishment , you will see your husband again in a maximum of three years time

".

The chieftess still had a sad look on her face , then she silently lifted her skirt , to reveal her long legs as she said

" You are a man , I am sure we can discuss the terms for their release ....

".

This was a point in the quest , where many undertaking the test failed , their resolve wavered and their primal instincts took over. However Rudra was not one of them.

Rudra said

" I'm sorry ma'am , but I am a knight , such conduct is unbecoming of me , I have said all that Is needed to be said , I will free the hostages and take the culprits to the local authorities now , do not try to stop me

".

Saying soo Rudra cut the two hostages free from their binding against the tree , the two of them looked at Rudra with reverance and respect . As they thanked him for saving them.

Rudra smiled and asked them if they needed food or water? And then about accompanying them to the nearest village . However they refused the offer and chose to be on their way.

Rudra tried to score as many brownie points as he could , as he kept praising the honor of the knights , and the valour wether it worked or not , would be reflected in his evaluation.

Rudra then mounted his direwolf mount , as he guided the 17 men tied to a rope , towards the village of Tolaknagar.

What was usually a 20 minute sprint on the mount , took over one and a half hour at the slow walking pace to cover , but Rudra finally reached the village boundries.

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/ Dear readers , yesterday I had the worst economic day for the book in over 2 months , my income is down by 40% .

Instead of taking it lying down , I am prepared to fight back today and get back up strong, as today will be a mass release day , as many chapters as I can write , I will publish . Do support!

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