Chapter 3: Bandits vs Gym Rat
The rest of the bandits were now froze, seeing that their friend had been killed. Their face was pale but also angry.
One of them shouted in rage.
"No matter! He’s just one man. We’ll cut him down together."
Garion chuckled, hearing that. He cracked his neck.
"Do you think that numbers can save you from me? How laughable!
The bandits growled back in return.
"Bastard! Shut up! Men, attack him together!"
Two of them charged in, quickly swinging their swords wildly at Garion.
But to Garion, their sword movement was just like watching little kids swinging their toys.
He could clearly see their lines, the opening, and every mistake they made.
Garion quickly stepped in and slapped both swords aside from two bandits.
Before the bandits could react, he grabbed both the bandits’ heads and slammed them together.
Crack!
Both bandits dropped instantly to the ground, their head was drenched in blood.
Garion turned to the next one.
The bandit screamed and lunged toward him, but he sidestepped, hooked his arm under the man’s armpit, and flipped him over his shoulder.
The bandit hit the dirt hard, and right after that, Garion shouldered him in the head, hard. The man didn’t even get up after that one.
The fourth one hesitated. He still pointed his sword at Garion, but his knees were shaking.
Garion smiled as he walked to him slowly, cracking his knuckles.
The bandit panicked instantly and slashed clumsily.
Garion caught his wrist mid-swing, twisted, and drove his elbow into his gut.
The bandit gasped, bent over, and Garion, without hesitation, stomped on his head, hard, crushing his skull.
The last one frowned and tried to be brave, but he was just like the rest, sloppy.
He swung wildly, and Garion ducked under the swing, stepped in, and delivered a short punch in the stomach.
The bandit gasped, eyes wide as he knelt down, looking at Garion from below.
Garion didn’t smile at all as he reminded him of his own actions.
"Blame it on your own choices."
He grabbed the bandit and smashed his shoulder into the bandit’s face again and again.
Garion didn’t care at all as, after the third strike, the bandit had lost its voice and life.
Garion then released him, and the body dropped like useless trash.
Garion looked back at the bodies of the rest of the bandits.
He didn’t feel conflicted about this as he was a soldier too in his past life.
He had seen worse and done worse, so killing some trash bandits didn’t even make him feel bad.
---
Garion wiped his hands on the grass, scrubbing the blood away.
He then turned toward the girls, smiling.
"Sorry you had to see that kid, but you’re safe now."
But when he didn’t hear any response, he stepped closer, and how surprised he was to find the girl lying flat on the ground, eyes closed.
"Wait a minute... did she just pass out?"
He crouched down and waved his hand in front of her, and no response.
He even tried to poke her cheek, and as expected, no response at all.
"The hell? How can someone faint just right after being saved?"
He rubbed his chin, thinking for a moment.
"It must be because of the adrenaline. She was chased by the bandits after all. After being saved, she became relax and instantly passed out."
Garion nodded to himself, thinking his assumption was correct.
"She should be fine. She just needs to take a nap for a while."
He then looked back at the corpses and smirked.
"Well, since I’m the only one here... Let’s check if they got anything good. This was a different world after all."
He went from body to body, checking their belongings, and soon found a stack of old, worn books.
"These must be cultivation manuals, but looking as these were theirs... I doubt these were useful. But still..."
He quickly put them into his own bag.
"This is a new world after all. I could just collect them for reference materials."
He kept digging through their belongings and soon found a few small silver coins.
"So, the currencies used in this world are silver and gold, huh? Good, I’ll take this."
He put them into his bag and tossed out the dry foods that he got from them.
He wouldn’t stoop so low to eat the food from these bandits. It didn’t have the nutrition he wanted, and it must be dirty as hell.
When he finished looting them all, a new idea suddenly appeared in his head.
"Back on earth, I often dissected cadavers for study, and seeing this world didn’t have any or even know one..."
Garion began to smirk as he tied some vines around the bodies.
"I’ll just use these bandit bodies for my cadavers. After all, I wanted to know if the people in this world are the same as his or not?"
He dragged the bodies using the bodies, and he also didn’t forget about the kid.
He picked up the girl carefully and put her over his shoulder.
"Alright, kid. You’re coming with me. I can’t just leave you in this forest alone, can I?"
He also glanced back at the bandit corpses.
"And congratulations to you guys for becoming my first cadavers in this world."
Garion chuckled as he brought them back to his sect for further excitement in researching this new world.
---
Far from Garion’s place, a small bandit hideout was hidden.
A few men lounged around a campfire, sharpening their blades and chewing on dry meat.
Meanwhile, their leader tapped his sword in annoyance.
"Where are they? They’re late."
One of the underlings scratched his head in confusion.
"Maybe they went further. Lately, fewer people pass through this road."
The leader rubbed his chin, nodding slowly.
"I see. That makes sense. Still, go and tell them to return quickly. I don’t want them wandering too far."
The underling bowed his head.
"Yes, boss."
The leader leaned back, turning serious.
"These days, there have been too many cultivators wandering around. We are bandits, so we need to lie low for a while."
The underlings gulped and nodded. All of them were afraid of mighty cultivators. After all, they were strong.
The leader then sighed and muttered.
"Those fools had better not cause trouble."