James and Lauren took a moment to interact with the family of otters they had inadvertently saved. The otters, seemingly unafraid, approached them with a curiosity that seemed at odds with their monstrous nature. James knelt, allowing one to sniff his hand before it playfully nudged him with its nose.

"They can sense we're not a threat to them," James mused, giving the otter a gentle pat. "Or maybe they recognize we're much stronger. Animal instincts, even in monster form, can be pretty sharp."

Lauren watched the scene with a soft smile but remained vigilant, her eyes scanning the surrounding area. "Let's not get too comfortable. We have a mission to complete."

With a last wave to the otters, they resumed their journey, delving deeper into the territory marked by James's previous reconnaissance. The swamp around them felt alive, an entity all its own, with the dense foliage and murky waters concealing both wonders and dangers.

It wasn't long before James's enhanced senses alerted him to the presence of more crocodilians. This time, it was ones he knew. The duo he had observed fighting the spider were nearby, their movements deliberate as they tracked something through the underbrush.

"We have an opportunity here," James whispered to Lauren, sharing his plan. "These two are pretty good. Removing them from play before we attack the village will mean we'll have a much easier time."

Lauren nodded, her expression turning serious as she melted into the shadows. Her ability to become nearly invisible in the dim light was a formidable asset to their efforts. James focused his mind, tapping into the well of power that his recent rank-up had granted him.

He positioned himself strategically, ensuring he had a clear line of sight to the crocodilians while remaining concealed. Then, invoking Mindforge Mastery to enhance his next move, he concentrated on the skill that had seen him carve a bloody path through the swamp: Soul Rend.

The psychic energy within him surged, amplified by the metaskill into something he would have never managed before. A torrent of power surged from within him, and he unleashed it towards the unsuspecting crocodilians. The invisible and silent attack was a focused wave of pure psionic force aimed at disrupting the fundamental structure of their minds.

For a moment, all sound stopped as if the wildlife knew that a great predator was among them.

The effect was immediate and devastating. The first crocodilian's head snapped back as if struck by an unseen hammer, his body going limp before it even hit the ground, the lethality of the attack granting no mercy.

The second was saved only by the sudden bright flare of an amulet around his neck, which cracked in half under the assault. He was stunned but alive. His survival was short-lived, however, as Lauren, emerging from the shadows like a specter of vengeance, closed the distance in a heartbeat. Her sharp daggers precisely found the soft spot between the scales and the neck, severing the life from the creature with surgical precision.

Of the two crocodilians James had observed the previous day, who he had considered a significant threat if allowed to grow, nothing was left. Only their cooling corpses remained, but even those wouldn't last long in the swamps.

Standing over the fallen bodies, James and Lauren shared a moment of reflection. The early morning light filtered through the dense canopy, casting a serene glow over the scene of their recent battle. The contrast between the peaceful surroundings and the violence required to survive was not lost on them.

"We've come a long way," James finally broke the silence, his voice carrying the pride he felt unashamed. "I doubt we would have handled these two so smoothly before our rank-up."

Lauren nodded, cleaning her blade on the mossy ground before sheathing it. "True, but we were never unprepared. Miss Walker's training laid the groundwork for everything we've accomplished." Her voice held a tinge of genuine gratitude for their absent mentor. "Even without her direct guidance these past months, her lessons have helped us."

James smiled, recalling their grueling sessions under Miss Walker's watchful eye. “I agree. Her work ethic, her insistence on strategy and adaptability… They are what sets us apart from anyone else in the same rank."

"I certainly wouldn't have been as far along as I am with shadow magic without her," Lauren murmured, gaze lost in the sky.

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"She set us up to win. She gave us all the tools we needed to keep growing even without her." James replied with a half smile before sighing. "She'd also be mad at us if we got distracted while in the middle of a mission, so let's get back to hunting, shall we?"

Lauren smirked in agreement and started walking away. They conducted another thorough sweep of the area, ensuring no other threats lurked nearby. James's senses, sharp enough to spread over a vast area without missing anything, quickly picked up on another crocodilian some distance away.

They made short work of it, again using their assassination tactic. The poor crocodilian didn't even have the time to realize it was being stalked, that it was dead.

"I have to say, I hope they won't all be as easy as these guys. I might get bored if this continues." Lauren grumbled jokingly.

James shook his head, "If only they could be this easy. But I think we just make a terrifying team. Especially when they don't know we are there. The village will be a different thing entirely."

With the immediate area secured, they turned their attention toward the village. Approaching cautiously, they found a vantage point on the eastern side that offered a clear view without exposing them to potential discovery.

James extended his senses, a now-familiar routine, seeking any changes since his last observation. The same crocodilians were present, their numbers unchanged save from the ones they had already removed, confirming no reinforcements had arrived from outside. The village was as he remembered, but with an added layer of tension, likely caused by the hunters' prolonged absence.

Lauren watched alongside him, her sharp eyes catching details James's senses might miss. "They seem unsettled but not alarmed," she observed, noting the absence of panic or hurried defenses. "Hunts must frequently extend longer than expected."

James nodded, focusing on the mystics' hut, where a gathering was taking place. The boredom emanating from the structure was palpable even from a distance, a mundane meeting discussing matters of little interest to those forced to attend. "The mages are all in there, discussing something they find dreadfully dull. We should strike now since the mystics are out of position."

Lauren's lips quirked up in a half-smile at the irony. "A boring meeting might just be the thing that tips the scales in our favor. They really aren't too different from humans."

James's gaze lingered on the mystics' hut, considering his next move. The structure, slightly larger and adorned with symbols that resonated with power, housed the village's magical defenders. Their concentration within a single location presented an opportunity too good to pass up. He could sense some wards over it, but they seemed more attuned to preventing spying and insects from coming in than stopping an all-out assault.

"Ready?" James asked, turning to Lauren. His voice was steady, and the intensity in his eyes made the Rogue hesitate before she nodded. She firmed up her expression, determination settling over her like a mantle. "Let's end this," she replied, her voice barely a whisper.

James took a deep breath, centering himself as he called upon Etheric Manipulation. The skill was a gift from his recent ascension in rank, and it allowed him a versatility in combat that he had only begun to explore. Now, he intended to use it to its fullest potential.

Concentrating, James reached for the ether around him, a subtle energy that permeated the entire world but almost never interacted with it. He opened up with his mind, gathering it, feeling its resistance and pliability under his mental touch. Unlike the raw nature of mana he was accustomed to, the ether was more subtle, more responsive, and significantly more dangerous if mishandled.

The ether, James had found in his experimentation, was similar enough of an energy to mana that it could be subbed in when necessary, but it produced different results. Mana was the actualization of the caster's desire - the weight they could express upon the world. The ether existed whether any living being cared or not. It was a transient energy that connected the dimensions.

James had once peered a bit too deeply into it and blacked out, being shaken awake by Mr. Julian six hours later with an admonishment not to be too greedy. Still, his forays had allowed him to recreate his mana manipulation with the new energy and even to push his constructs further, thanks to its sheer malleability.

The attack he was about to unleash was the result of those efforts. It was something that went the opposite direction compared to his corrosive mana. He leveraged the ether's bonding quality with all energy to remove any obstacle in its path.

Essentially, it's nothing too fancy. Just a giant fuck-you ray of ether. But I managed to find the right way of shooting it through a half-dimension. And that's not something these bumfucks know anything about. Good luck stopping something that's not even there from hitting you.

James began the delicate process of compression, funneling more than a thousand points of his own mana into the gathering etheric mass. The energy felt alive under his control, dancing and twisting as he forced it into a denser and denser construct. The power built within him, growing to a point where containment became almost unbearable. While it would travel through the dimensional planes to reach its target, the ether was still very much there when he was crafting it.

Lauren watched from the shadows, her eyes fixed on James. She had seen him unleash powerful attacks before, but the intensity of his focus now was unlike anything prior. He had told her that the blast would be massive, and thus, she was waiting in the wings for it to be over to swoop in and deal with any surviving mystic or to begin dealing with the warriors.

Finally, James could hold the ether no longer. With a physical heave, as if expelling the power from his very soul, he directed the condensed power towards the mystics' hut. The air between him and the target shimmered with heat, distorting the view of the village as the ether tore through the space between them.

The impact sent him staggering back. The hut and its immediate surroundings vanished in an explosion of silver light and sound that echoed through the swamp like the wrath of an angry god. The ground where the structure once stood was now a smoldering crater, the force of the blast having obliterated not only the building but anything and anyone within its radius.

James stumbled, the exertion of the attack draining him more than he had anticipated. Lauren was at his side instantly, her concern evident even as she scanned the area for any sign of retaliation from the village.

But the attack had been too swift, too unexpected. The crocodilians, even those with keen senses and battle-hardened instincts, were caught off guard. Confusion reigned as they scrambled to understand the source of the destruction that had befallen their mystics.

James and Lauren didn't wait to observe the chaos that ensued. Knowing that their window of opportunity was narrow, they moved to capitalize on the disarray. The plan was to strike hard and fast, eliminating key targets before the crocodilians could mount a coherent defense.

And as they moved together, a seamless unit forged in the crucible of combat, there was a sense of inevitability about them. They were the storm brewing on the horizon, and now, it was time for the crocodilians to face the tempest.