They retraced their steps, Luna leading the way, back to their improvised camp site. They simply dumped their bedroll on the ground for the night and started discussing their findings over some meat jerky and pickled vegetables. Luna related the conversation she overheard to Joan, who first cursed about their bad luck with not getting a good headcount, then started grinning like a maniac when Luna told her about the group leaving.

“This is our chance. We can wait for them to leave the camp, look how many are in the group and then follow them until nightfall. As long as we do not let ourselves get spotted we should be able to repeat our ambush and maybe find someone in the mood to talk to us!”

Luna nodded along, it was a good plan. The enemy splitting their forces worked heavily in their favor. Without an actual headcount they had no idea how many they were facing and if engaging the camp was feasible at all. They had discussed their options and had come to the conclusion that their best way of action was to scout the camp and then wait for their reaction. If they abandoned the camp and split up they had planned to follow a group in the hope of finding out more about their plans.

Luna went over the conversation in her head and stopped. “Joan, how rare are Class Tablets? How important is it that this base has one?”

“They are rare. They come from dungeons, like so many other rare things. As far as I know they have only been found in older, more dangerous dungeons. The kingdom had no need for new ones, but I am not sure what happened to them when the kingdom split. It could be that all the unused ones are now in the hands of the Zollan kingdom. But it is all guesswork at this point.” Joan replied, now a thoughtful look on her face.

“Then we should find out where they keep it and if we can steal it from them.” Luna suggested.

“No. We first have to find out how many enemies we face. I do not see how we can find out more without risk being seen.” Joan shot down the idea.

With a plan set for the next day Joan laid down to sleep while Luna took first watch. The forest was calm and without the freezing wind it was not too bad, but she was glad when it was time to wake up Joan for the switch. She exertion from the past days was starting to show and she quickly fell asleep.

They broke their camp when the sun was up in the sky and decided to carry the backpacks with them. If the last group had been an indicator they should have no problems keeping up. If not, then they could still drop the backpacks later. They set up hidden in the forest near the bridge and waited for the group of people to gather.

It was a good while after noon before they were all there, the slackers earning themselves a stern talking to by the group leader. In total there were only 5 people, all carrying a small pack and equipped with a haphazard collection of weapons, Luna even spotted a simple bow and quiver full of crudely made arrows.

[Diego]

Level 28, Human

“Now listen up. We have our own Hunter with us on this trip, that means when we camp in the evening we might even get some freshly roasted meat for dinner. Now let’s get moving, you already wasted enough time.”

Luna identified the Hunter, finding his level to match the pathetic gear.

[John]

Level 11, Human

They waited for the group to disappear between the trees to the south before she set out to follow them. They had planned to keep out of sight and follow the tracks left behind and only speed up to get a quick look at the group every few hours. Now they were basically following the stream back out of the forest the same way they had come. As predicted the group was moving slow enough for them to keep up, even with their backpacks on.

When they reached the edge of the forest the tracks turned south east, following the outskirts of the forest and avoiding the open grassland. They dropped further back at this point, the better visibility once again working against them. Traveling inside the treeline also meant that they started to lose ground on the other party, who had started to pick up speed.

When evening arrived Joan slowed down and let Luna take the lead. They had to be even more careful now, as the Hunter might be looking for wild game right about now. Luna thought it to be stupid to look where the group had just passed, but the low level of the Hunter warned them that inexperience had to be expected.

It was full night by the time they found the group camped around a fire, roasting a rabbit. The fire was easy to spot and Joan and Luna dropped off their backpacks just a hundred meters away behind some trees and set in to wait. The group seemed to have a heated discussion over dinner, but it was quickly ended by the leader and everyone settled down in their bedrolls.

They kept waiting to make sure everyone had fallen asleep and then simply walked up to the camp in the cover of darkness. Standing just outside the light of the fire Joan gave the command and Luna opened fire with Silent Shot and Sneak attack again. With only 5 people the fight was very short and not a single one of the unfortunate group managed to get up and grab their weapon.

Joan had started walking forward while shooting and when it was over she was already standing above the still alive leader, although the arrow meant for his leg had instead hit his torso while he was moving around and he was now bleeding out. Luna did the round around the fire to make sure everyone was dead and then joined Joan and their captive.

“You don’t look too good there Diego.” Joan was telling him. “I think we might be able to help you, but I am not sure I want to.”

“Please! Help me!” He was begging and Luna felt the bile rise in her throat again.

No, that man did not deserve her pity. He was an outlaw, a criminal and going by his level he had been at it for it quite a while. Luna conjured up images of her parents in Creek Springs and normal village people. It was her task, her duty to take down the enemy. ‘And feed them back to the land’ a small voice in the back of her head seemed to whisper.

Banishing the thoughts Luna focused back on the wounded, most likely dying man. “I have a magic healing skill. I could use it to heal you, but first I want some information from you.” She told him.

“Ask! I will tell you everything.”

“How many people are there in your camp?”

“23, but more are coming.” he replied.

“Where is the Class Tablet kept?” Joan asked this time.

“In the house. The biggest one, where Nathan and Clarice sleep. Now please, heal me!”

“Not so hasty. Who are Nathan and Clarice? I have not seen any women in your base yet, who is she? How many more?”

“Nathan is our leader. Clarice was some girl from a caravan, she killed a wagon driver herself and joined us. There are two others, sisters from a village in Zollan. Please, I feel so cold!”

“What levels are they?”

“I have no idea. I don’t have the Skill. Nathan has some kind of magic class, something with fire. Once when he was drunk he told us he was a baker once, and burned down the shop. Please, I don’t know anything else. I was just the leader for this group.”

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Joan nodded to Luna. “Luna, do you want to do it or shall I?”

The wounded man looked up at them with hope until Luna whispered, “There is no other group coming to your base Diego.” and shot him straight in the chest.

“Not gonna waste my Mana and then lug around his wounded ass all over. All he would do is moan all day and then scream to warn his friends.”

Joan just nodded and kicked the man for good measure. “Noticed how he did not specify if the women from Zollan are part of the band and came willingly? I remember the last group talking about getting help for chores in the base. They were really starting their own little village here. A band of disgusting pigs and their ‘volunteer’ women to warm the beds, cook and clean.”

They looked over the items the group had with them, but decided to simply leave everything. After kicking dirt over the fire and stomping out some embers they left to get their backpacks and start on the way back. They set their camp for the night when they arrived at the stream they would follow back to the camp.

For once, Luna had no second thoughts and no dreams waiting for her, falling asleep as soon as her head touched the makeshift backpack-pillow.

Joan woke Luna up for her part of the watch and in the morning they made the trek back towards the base. They left the backpacks at the old spot and then circled around the village to the high ground. Getting up the hillside took them longer than expected and it was already noon when they finally arrived in a location that hid them well enough and offered good vision.

A good 150 meters from the base it was hard to make out details, but they waited and observed the activity in the camp. Groups of people were coming and going from the buildings, some dragging more tree trunks into camp and depositing them in a cleared area. What they had not seen at night was the smoke coming from small chimneys at two of the houses. Apparently not all houses were outfitted with their own fireplace yet, but all entered one of the buildings throughout the day. Joan guessed that the house was used as a central cooking and eating area. This was confirmed when two women, recognizable by their dresses and kitchen aprons were escorted out of the house towards what seemed to be a latrine, or sloppily built outhouse.

They were also escorted back and did not leave again for the rest of the day. At least now they could be certain where the women were and that their status as actual band members was highly questionable.

Counting the people on the other hand was a problem and they could not confirm the number 18 to be accurate. The constant coming and goings threw off their count and they were not even certain they had seen everyone yet. When night fell they discussed their options.

“I do not see how we could take out the whole camp with only the two of us.” Luna confessed. “I would very much like to, but I do not see how it is ever going to work against enemies of unknown abilities. We also have to try and keep the women safe, but any number of people could be in there with them at night.”

Joan had no better idea either. “You are right. There is nothing we can do right now. There are too many for a frontal attack, but if we do it right, we can still take them on. We will hit the lumber operation first. They are far enough away that they should not get help right away and it looked to me like there were two with axes and another four dragging or carrying the de-branched trunks. If we manage to take them out and make the bodies disappear, someone will come looking. If they do not come with all the people left, we can take those out too. It all depends on surprise.”

“Alright.” Luna agreed. “If it wasn’t for those poor women in there, I would have voted for waiting it out. But the risk of them simply being killed is too high..”

“Then it is set. Let’s go back and catch some sleep.” Joan ended their brief discussion.

Luna was getting used to sleeping in the forest and even with her being on watch she did not feel tired in the morning. The food was another topic, as she was beginning to hate the simple rations made of hard baked bread, as in combination with the meat jerky she had the perfect breakfast combination of hard, brittle and dry to chew on.

Leaving their campsite at first light they set up near the clearing where the spruce trees were being chopped down. They could have slept at least two more hours, as the crew took their time getting there. None of them were above level 20. Their observation from the last day turned out to be correct and two men started swinging their axes at a spruce tree while the other 4 removed a few leftover branches on one of the already felled ones and then proceeded to carry it towards the base.

Joan and Luna were lying flat on their bellies, bows next to them and waited for the team to get far enough away to not hear the bows. They still had to make quick and clean kills to prevent the lumberjacks from alerting the others, but they were confident in their chances with two bows for two targets.

On Joan’s signal they rose up, Luna activating the usual combination of Silent Shot and Sneak attack. The arrow flew true and hit her target mid swing in the back of the neck. She had been aiming for the chest cavity, hoping to get an arrow through the rib cage from the side and striking the heart. The miss did not cost her, as the man simply collapsed, the arrow burrowing straight through his neck, sticking out on the other side.

Joan’s target did not fare any better, with two arrows sticking from his back, both piercing through to his lung, robbing him of any air to scream. They rushed in and Joan finished off her target, while Luna made sure her’s was dead. They grabbed a body at legs and arms and carried it a few meters into the forest, then went back quickly to do the same with the other. After dragging them further in they hid them in some brush behind trees and then returned to their position. This time Joan was going to circle further around, cutting off the way for the group to retreat, in case they failed to ambush them as efficiently.

They only had to wait half an hour for the four carriers to come back and start wandering around in pairs yelling for their lumberjack companions. Luna was lying very still in her hiding place, Conceal Presence active and waited for Joan to attack. At the sound of the bow firing, she swiftly rose from her position, going for Silent Shot and Sneak Attack again. One man was already down on the ground, either dead or seriously wounded and the other three had their backs turned towards Luna.

Her first arrow hit the target straight between the shoulder blades and he dropped like a sack of wheat. The other two were just now realizing what was happening and started to run into random directions yelling. Luna hit one runner in the leg and he fell in the middle of the clearing, the other one ran directly away from Joan, having not yet seen Luna. Her two quick shots felled him only 10 meters away from Luna, while Joan finished the wounded man off.

Luna just grabbed the next best corpse and dragged it away, then quickly returned for the next one. By the time they had them dumped out of sight behind some trees they could already hear more voices yelling from the direction of the camp. Laying low Luna and Joan saw another group of three people enter the clearing, looking around. They quickly discovered the blood on the ground and one of them waved his arms and suddenly had small balls of flame circle around his wrists.

“We are under attack. Retreat! Go tell the others!” He yelled at his two companions.

[Nathan]

Level 33, Human

[Boris]

level 21, Human

[Holger]

Level 25, Human

Luna identified all three and checked their levels. The one with the flames was Nathan, the name tag not really necessary after his show seconds earlier. Boris and Holger both held simple swords in their hands and were wearing studded leather armor. So far neither Luna nor Joan had been seen and Conceal Presence was working overtime. The problem was that after the fighting and Skill use her Mana pool was getting low and she would not be able to keep the Skill up for very long.

Joan took away the decision what to do and suddenly sprang up and ran away from the clearing, away from the base. Nearly instantly two firebolts were flying in her direction, but missed when she weaved between some trees.

“Get her you idiots!” Nathan screamed at Boris and Holger, who had just started to move towards the base. Turning around they started sprinting after Joan, while Luna was still lying in the same spot barely 25 meters away from the fire mage. With the two fighters leading the charge Nathan followed behind them.

When all of them had their backs turned to her, Luna rose up from the dry leaves and activated Silent Shot with the last dribbles of Mana. She drew the arrow to the maximum and took careful aim, letting it fly directly aimed at Nathan’s back. It hit perfectly and the fire mage dropped. Luna quickly knocked another arrow and shot at the two fighters, who had once again turned around to react to a new situation. When they spotted Luna they screamed and charged at her, but never made it even half the distance, as two well placed arrows in the torso and back from Luna and Joan felled them before they could even scratch her.

The immediate threat gone, Joan sprinted over to the mage and rammed a longknife into his back to make sure he would not get up again. That done they quickly gathered the arrows and dragged the corpses out of sight.

Hiding behind trees Luna quickly sank to the ground gulping down water. “Well done Luna.” Joan complimented her. “I was not sure you would understand what my plan was when I started running. You handled it perfectly.”

Luna had emptied her waterskin and was now greedily sucking in air. Her Mana had been completely emptied and Stamina had taken up the slack to fuel her Skills. She had nearly drained the Stamina too and now needed to recover both.

“No Mana, No Stamina.” She managed to say between the labored breathing.

“Then we better get further away. If someone finds us now, then we are in trouble.” Joan replied and helped Luna up.