Tepo sneaked through the blood red forest. He made every step carefully, slowly advancing towards the rumbling sound.

But the young man grew anxious as he continued. He might have miscalculated. The rumble was further away than he thought.

As the sound of panicking warriors gradually grew quieter behind his back, Tepo decided to speed up a bit.

The red forest blurring around him, the young warrior began sprinting. Soon, his surroundings changed. Tepo arrived at a hilly landscape. Not far from him a mighty waterfall reached towards the sky.

Tepo’s eyes widened in shock. He buried his heels into the ground, stopping abruptly. A single drop of sweat ran down his neck as he turned his head upwards, seeing the edge of a flying island not far from him.

Gritting his teeth the young man could only take a detour. His legs pulsed as he climbed a tall hill towards the side.

But Tepo knew he was on the right track as the noises got louder. Soon, he reached the top of the hill, allowing him to view what was behind it.

Immediately the young man drew a deep breath and pressed his body against the ground. What he thought to be a hill was in fact the edge of a massive crater.

An extensive lake had formed within the crater. Its water was murky and dirty. At its center was a strange tree. It consisted of an amalgamation of multiple trunks intertwined.

The tree might be able to grow to incredible heights, but right now it was curled up on the ground like a snake. Its bark had taken on a sickly yellow color and small chips kept crumbling form it as it was affected by the fight going on nearby.

Tepo focused his eyes on the ongoing commotion. It was caused by a fight between most of the members of Seven Strikes and a big, heavily armored, four-legged beast.

Lendias took the lead in the fight. His massive spear kept pushing away the beast’s spiked tail, which looked to be its favorite method of attack.

A few other warriors threw their attacks against the beast, but they only aimed for its heavy armor, not trying to get to its weaker belly.

What are they doing? It doesn’t even look as if they want to kill the beast…

Water splashed, massive fountains sprinkling towards the sky. The ground of the lake was revealed, showing that the water only had a height of a few dozen centimeters. Lendias had just pushed the beast back again as his bored voice sounded out:

“Hey, Collam. How long do you still need?! The illusions won’t last forever. Hurry up!”

“Lendias, I’m doing my best here! Who would’ve thought that the water is this impure?! I need to readjust the potion!”

As Tepo followed the voices, his mind shook suddenly. He found a figure standing on a slightly elevated rock. She was working on a small cauldron, preparing all kind of herbs.

Until earlier this figure wore a hood pulled deep down, hiding her face. Since no one dared to take a closer look, this was enough. But now that she had put her black robe away, Tepo could clearly see her dark skin and the bone-like hair.

A ruw? Preparing a potion? What is going on here?! Are they trying to solve the dungeon?

Suddenly the ruw wrinkled her head. Her eyes wandered towards the hill. Tepo’s heart skipped a beat as he closed his eyes and laid motionless on the ground.

A few seconds later the ruw’s cauldron shook, drawing her attention.

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Tepo took a deep breath. He had almost been spotted right now.

Is this the intuition of stronger warriors? Really, you can’t underestimate anyone.

As he watched the team’s machinations, a strong feeling welled in Tepo’s chest. He frowned slightly, sounding out his own emotions.

I’m frustrated! It’s frustrating to be the weaker party! Others are openly plotting something, but I can only watch. If I was stronger, I could go down and question them. But currently this would be seeking death!

Tepo gritted his teeth. He had to admit that this was a hateful feeling.

The fight continued uninterrupted. The beast began controlling the water to attack. It managed to push back some of the team members, but Lendias was apparently a lot stronger than his friends. Rose petals flew, blocking attacks, and cornering the beast.

Finally, a shout rang out:

“Lendias, I got it. If you’re ready I can spill the potion!”

“Finally! Do it and let’s get out of here!”

Receiving the order, Collum jumped from the rock. She walked for a bit, distancing herself from the fight before digging a hole in the ground and placing a strange contraption. It was immediately filled with water as Collum placed the potion bottle within it.

Tepo was confused. He didn’t understand why they went through such trouble. But unfortunately, he couldn’t ask anyone.

After achieving their goal, Lord Lendias wore a satisfied smile. He waved his hand pretentiously:

“Good job everyone! We will leave here!”

Noticing the team’s movement, Tepo grew anxious. He knew that they would return now, most likely faster than him.

And as the first member left, the young man’s assumption was quickly proven correct. The bow wielding warrior dashed towards the crater’s edge. With two quick jumps he was already up on the hill.

The others followed behind him with smooth and agile movements.

The last to leave was Lendias, who swung his massive spear one last time, throwing the beast backwards before returning leisurely.

The Seven Strikes gathered together, dashing off towards the red forest, not knowing that a spy observed their every action.

Withholding his breath, Tepo avoided all attention. He knew that he might be in trouble if the Seven Strikes returned before him, but he couldn’t do anything about it.

Maybe it was a mistake to come here…

But now he couldn’t change his decision anymore.

The warrior averted his eyes from the team’s back and looked towards the dried-up tree in the crater. Now that he was here already, he at least had to make it worthwhile.

Coming to a decision Tepo slowly stood up. He remained careful as he began climbing down towards the crater.

Some rocks loosened from the small cliff, splashing weakly in the water. The beast not far away moved a bit but luckily it was close to unconscious from Lendias’ last strike.

Tepo breathed shallowly. As long as the beast stayed away, everything would be fine.

Finally, his feet landed in the water. He moved with extreme caution, barely causing any ripples, but the sight was still suspicious with his [Minor Stealth] activated.

Something invisible pushed through the water, making small holes, as it approached the place where Seven Strikes placed their potion.

After a tense minute Tepo finally came to a stop. He kneeled down slightly, trying to observe the strange device through the murky water.

But it was difficult. He didn’t dare to touch the device, afraid of activating any traps or similar. Thus, he could really discern anything.

But suddenly, a small change occurred. The odd device slowly pressed out a handful of drops. Tepo was able to get a look at them before they dissolved in the water.

It’s the same color as the potion. They are slowly letting it spill into the lake…

Tepo seemed to understand something. He pulled out a few bottles of his own and filled them with the water close to the device.

With the naked eye nothing could be seen other than dirty lake water, but Tepo was sure that something was mixed in now. He hastily stored the bottles and left the crater.

Tepo knew that he was in a difficult situation. When Seven Strikes returned and he was too far away it would appear suspicious. Hence, he had to hurry up, sprinting through the hilly area.

But suddenly he felt a vibration in one of his pockets. The young man took out his com. Immediately Yerive’s voice could be heard, suppressed to a whisper:

“Tepo! Where are you? Hurry up, everyone is gathering. You…”

Suddenly the call was disconnected. Tepo looked at his com with a frown and sped up again.

Soon, the young man entered the red forest. Steps already reached his ears.

Tepo’s thoughts raced as he looked left and right, trying to come up with ideas. He gathered some force and activated the mark on his neck, but this time he had no luck.

As the steps drew closer, the warrior could only deactivate his [Minor Stealth] spell and sigh inwardly. He pretended to stumble through the forest until a person appeared before him.

“Ahh, finally! It’s great to… ugh!”

Without any sign a fist landed in Tepo’s stomach. The golden armored soldier was too fast for Tepo to react. His breath stopped for a moment, pain shooting through his body.

“Why…?”

With a weak voice Tepo tumbled backwards, leaning against a tree.

But the soldier kept a disinterested face as if going about his daily business. He grabbed Tepo’s wrist, turning him around abruptly. With a click Tepo’s arms were locked in handcuffs.