The duo of bandits thought they had gotten lucky with two fools who had stopped and left themselves defenceless in woods they knew nothing about.
On top of having this misconception, they actually converged directly onto Edrick, and from there, everything happened quickly.
They got close, but not close enough to act before the giant of a man suddenly rose from the ground, pushing himself to his feet using his arms. It was like watching a vampire rise from its coffin, only faster.
With the surroundings illuminated by moonlight, and having tracked their movements by the sound of their footsteps, Anoteros knew exactly where the bandits were standing, even though his eyes had been closed less than a second ago.
The reaction of the two wood-dwelling criminals was one of surprise and fright. Rather than acting aggressively, they jumped back, not quite processing what had just happened, only registering the sudden movement as a threat. This allowed Edrick to take a good look at the two bandits.
Indeed, the intel Shu had gathered back then was proving useful. Although the bandits had not been given physical descriptions, they had been given nicknames that could allow one to infer a few things, and the ones from this particular forest had been called a ‘couple’, and indeed, they were made up of one man and one woman.
Without hesitation, the noble scion struck the man straight in his teeth, using nearly his full strength when not shapesifting--Which was still dreadfully high. Even when ignoring his pure muscle mass and knowledge of martial arts, which allowed him to make proper use of all that might, with the physique, even without transforming, he additionally possessed the might of a sasquatch. For the pitiful bandit cultivator, that amount of force was impossible to handle.
His upper and lower jaws were split apart as his cheeks ruptured, teeth accompanied blood as they came flying out or were embedded in flesh. The man was sent directly to the ground, choking on his blood and halfway unconscious.
Before his female counterpart could turn around and escape, Edrick reached out and grabbed her face, his large hand nearly wrapping all the way around her skull. With his other hand, he seized her wrist, preventing her from drawing a dagger, then lightly struck both her shins to send the female bandit to the soil.
“Shu, relight the campfire” he said in a calm tone. Soon enough, flames came to life, brightly illuminating the surroundings.
“Oh gods… He’s going to die…” the inner disciple felt like puking at the sight of the male bandit. His face was warped in a way that Shu had never imagined possible, looking like those distorted ghosts and monsters that were sometimes depicted with exaggerated proportions on a largely humanoid body, true horrors that evoked a sense of the uncanny.
The unfortunate bandit was simultaneously bleeding heavily and drowning in his blood. The force of the hit he had received had dazed him so thoroughly that he could barely move, struggling to even roll over to spew the blood clogging his throat.
“Indeed. Would you mind helping me check if she has any other weapons on her?” Edrick remained unfazed as he held the still-unharmed bandit against the forest ground.
“I… Are you going to kill her too...?” asked Shu, his face pale.
“Why do you ask like it matters? They are just degenerate bandit scum. Whether they live or die... It will change nothing- But since you are so curious…” Anoteros smiled, inspiring about the same confidence as a dentist promising that pulling out a tooth would not hurt “...If she can provide a proper apology, I’ll let her go alive” he stated. Shu’s expression worsened, one did not need to be a genius to know what Edrick meant by a ‘proper apology’.
“Did you hear that? You will survive as long as you behave, so don’t struggle” he said to the bandit before he reiterated for Shu to come and check if she had any more weapons, the inner disciple having been standing still until then.
Edrick patted his palms like a good job had just been done.
The still living bandit looked absolutely horrified by the scene, but did not dare to say a word at first…
“I… I sincerely apologise for what my husband and I just tried to do. We did not realise that we were dealing with superior cultivators… W-What can I do to appease your righteous anger?” she asked. A good quality of low-lives like those two was that when outmatched, they were always quick to submit and scramble to keep their lives. After all, no matter what was asked of her, as long as she was alive, there would be a tomorrow, along with many other days. But once dead, there would be nothing left, she was just a bandit cultivator who might not even match the strength of a strong farmer, so there was no chance for her soul, mind, or anything of that nature to persist and allow for the possession of someone or something else.
At best, she might turn into a vengeful ghost without a mind of its own.
“Shu, did you properly check her?”
“Yes…”
“Then let go of her. Miss Bandit is very eager to be forgiven, I am certain... So she will take off her clothes for our sake, that should be a good start” Anoteros crossed his arms, looking down on the bandit as she rose to her knees and weakly nodded.
She obeyed mmediately, not wishing to cause ire in the giant who could punch a grown adult to near-death with a casual strike. As long as she could get out of this situation with all her limbs intact and with minimal bruises, it would be a win in the book of banditry.
Provoking people you shouldn’t was the number one thing not to do, but the bandit couple had been blinded by greed. They should have realised that a duo of men like this was suspicious enough to warrant that they keep their distance.
“Huh… Edrick? Is this really…?”
“This is perfectly pertinent, Shu. I am showing you how things go down outside the sect, don’t question what happens, just go with the flow- And look at those melons, they are bigger than I would have guessed” the noble scion slapped Shu’s shoulder, making sure that he was watching the show.
Which didn’t last for too long, as the bandit didn’t want to make it seem like she was deliberately being slow.
“Alright, everyone knows what comes next…”