My name is Nathan Hale, I was born in an ordinary family of commoners. I lived with my family in a village till I was 16 years old without any problems. 

Then one day our village was raided by the bandits. My family was killed and I was forced to flee, but I could not even run afar when I was caught by a slave trader. 

The slave trader had many children both boys and girls of our age in cages. There was even a special cage with a single 15-year-old-looking elf girl locked in. 

The slave trader took us to the capital to sell. I did not at that time whether it was fortune or misfortune that I got bought by a noble when the other kids were sold as mine workers or prostitutes. 

The noble took me to his mansion which was a little far from the capital city. 

It seems the noble had only come to the capital for fun. 

After reaching the city, I was given a proper bed and food and was taken care of. I was happy, I finally found my saviour at least that's what I thought at that time. 

The noble gave me a 3-star Mana technique which was also used by other Knights of the household. 

He also gave me a 4-star advanced swordsmanship manual. 

With practice, I became a Class 3 Knight in 2 years. I always felt that I could have become a Class 3 sooner and that I wasn't that talented in sword but I wasn't in a position to ask. 

Since becoming a Class 3 in 2 years was considered above average, especially for a commoner like me, I gained the attention of the noble who bought me. 

The noble was one day taking a stroll near the training fields when he suddenly saw me and called me out.  He talked to me and was impressed by my quick wits and presence of mind and asked me to follow him. 

We went inside the office of the noble and he sat on a sofa while he asked me to sit on the sofa next to him. 

The noble was young not more than 20 years old and just a couple of years bigger than me. 

It seemed his father died from a heart attack when he was just 14 and he has been taking care of the household ever since. 

He told me, he bought me because he liked the fire in my eyes and told me that he would like to give me an opportunity. 

He gave me the list of names of some young knights who were newly recruited by the household less than a year ago. Most of them were in Class 1 but there were still some talented ones that had reached Class 2. 

There were even a few Class 1 mages on the list. 

He asked me to pick 10 people out of more than 50 on the list for a mission. 

He told me to find and kill each and every one of those bandits who attacked my village 2 years ago. 

He then gave me a bag with 20 gold coins in it and said that I only have 3 months to complete the mission.  

He told me that I had full authority over the matter and that I could use the 10 people I select and the gold he gave me as I see fit. 

The only conditions were that the mission should be completed in three months and not a day later. He told me that I may even get a prize depending on the time if I complete the mission early. 

The second condition was that out of us 11 ( one me and 10 recruits ) at least 8 should come back alive from the mission. 

I accepted the mission, it was my goal to take revenge on those bandits when I become strong enough even if I have to fight all of them alone but now I not only have 10 companions but also money to support my revenge. 

I had no reason to reject such a good offer. I accepted. 

I had 15 days for any to all preparations for the mission which naturally included the choosing of 10 recruits that will go on this mission for me. 

I went to the training grounds and started observing the recruits whose names were on the list. 

Even before coming here, I had already narrowed down the list to 19 people, out of those I had to select 10 people. I observed each of them for 10 days. 

On the 10th day, I selected the people. Two were Class one mages while one was luckily a Class 2 mage. The others were all class 1 or 2 Knights. Some of them were skilled in stealth while others were in damage or speed. 

We left on the mission on the 15th day with some disguise potions, swords, wands, poisons, sleeping powder, armours, food rations and other necessities. 

We all were dressed in commoner's cloth as we travelled through the kingdom to finally reach the place where once my village used to be.  

We followed the general direction from where I thought the bandits came from 2 years ago. There was a mountain range in the direction we were walking towards, far away from us. I guess the bandit's base is probably in the valley inside the mountain range. 

Since this is such a remote area, I highly doubt that some soldiers would have come to subjugate the bandits. 

We started walking and after nearly a day of walking, we encountered another village. Some of us used disguise potions and went to rest inside the village and to also ask about bandits. 

Nearly half of us went inside while the rest surrounded the village's outer perimeter for any suspicious movements. There was even the Class 2 mage among those who went inside since he was the best bet for us to escape the city in case of any suspicious activities. 

We were greeted by the village chief who was most probably in his late thirties. 

I confirmed that there really was a bandits base in the mountain range. The only reason the bandits have not attacked this village is because of the village chief since he is a Class 3 knight and there are some class 1 knights in the village. 

The bandit group is called the green snake. We stayed in the village for the night and left early morning the next day. 

Our group walked for a few hours before reaching the foot of the mountain range. 

We searched near the mountain range and found traces of blood and horse hoofs nearby. After following them we finally found the location of the bandits' base. We surrounded the base and began spying on it from afar. 

The bandits were careless and none of them was on guard. They have been in this mountain range for more than 3 years and no one has ever come to fight them.

And since today was the day they came back after raiding another village, they were all drinking alcohol and enjoying themselves. 

There were nearly 200 bandits and most of them were Classless. With a few Class 1 and class 2. Only the leader was Class 3. 

There were also the women caged up in nearby cages. It was clear what their fate would be if we left them. 

As I saw the leader, I was also reminded of my horrible past. He was the one who had killed my parents back then. I had to take revenge. 

We watched over for a few hours until it was evening. 

We watched over and saw that it was finally time for them to eat dinner. 

5 of those bandits went into a corner of the base where a large pot and other utensils were kept. It was like an open kitchen without a ceiling and walls. 

The 5 bandits quickly started to make food for everybody while everyone else was still drinking. 

It was the perfect opportunity. 

( To be continued )