Back at the beach, just after Noah escaped with the main reward of the anomaly.

Victor gazed at Noah as he disappeared into the jungle. His teeth itched. Although he couldn’t see what the tamer had received, he knew deep down he had received the best reward, but there was nothing he could do about it.

It was peculiar. Victor didn’t know what kind of pathstones this ‘Noah’ had received, but they were either high rarity, or the man hadn’t stopped for a moment to build a lead. Most likely at the risk of grave injury and death.

It wouldn’t have surprised him all that much if he had a team of elites around him. But the fact he was doing it alone with just a pet was cause for intrigue. How long could he continue at that pace?

Victor clicked his tongue. His blood boiled. He was interested in the lone human. He was interested in what he could achieve. And of course, what he would find on his dead, cold body when he inevitably met his demise.

But more than that–he was annoyed at himself. Furious. He had suffered a minor injury, and because of that, he turned to find a group. Was this all he amounted to?

A roar blasted from the throat of a muscle bound man that had been chasing Noah. His face was twisted in anger as he slammed his fists against the shallow waters. He waded out without an item to be seen.

Fool. Victor thought. If the man wasn’t so hell bent in stealing whatever the tattooed human had received, he would have gotten something–anything.

Greed. It was something that plagued the pathetic human race.

The man’s fury filled gaze latched onto them, and their supplies. Bags, weapons, survival tools, and medicine. They had everything one needed to survive thanks to their new hunting output with Thraz and Victor.

Fight us. Victor’s blood boiled. His grin turned into a full blown toothy smile. With his hands clenching around his dual-sickles, the muscle bound man sauntered forward.

Victor wanted nothing more than to initiate the attack. To slice the fool’s neck open from ear-to-ear and watch as the blood flowed like the river of Neilroal. To smell the glorious stench of his fear as he begged for his life.

But Victor had to quell his noble instincts. He was locked into this goody savour act–for now. The faster he could integrate himself into this party of humans–and lone lizard–the better. It would allow him to act without being under suspicion. So he was forced to wait for the man to make a move, to threaten his group.

Only then could he steal the murder missions from everyone's grasp. After all, if one committed murder–they would be hunted by everyone else. Great rewards came at a dire price. Of course, that was unless there was a full frontal battle over a group's equipment, or a grievance.

Thankfully, the man truly was an idiot.

“Jake–” Declan said, then got into formation.

Cai the tank acted as the front wall of the group as he stood ahead of everyone, then Declan was just behind on the left, with Victor on the right.

Chloe was on the left side, acting as the protecting flank, while Jake was in the middle to provide cover fire whenever he needed to.

“Yeah,” Jake said. His voice was no longer as friendly as before their arrival. His eyes were the same. They glanced at Declan with a hint of dislike.

But it wasn’t just the muscle bound man acting on his own. The moment he started walking forward, his group ran to accompany him.

Birds of a feather flock together. Victor remembered the saying from his father and it seemed to ring true. They all seemed to resemble each other. Weapons were held in their hands, making it clear that they were no farmers.

Victor sent a glance Declan’s way. Letting an enemy get close was a grave mistake. Did he have what it took to live here? To survive?

“Back off.” Declan shouted a warning and raised his hand for Jake to pull back his bow. He wasn’t the only one. Those who had bows; stolen from kobolds, or granted by the System, aimed for the incoming man. Cai and the frontline crouched down, Victor as well.

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They weren’t the only ones currently on the beach. Other parties composed of humans, elves, dark elves, and humanoid beasts all watched in their direction. But some had obviously come out with items as they made a quick escape into the jungle.

The man sent a glance to his party. Declan’s eyes twitched.

They are going to attack. Victor thought as he brushed his tongue across his teeth.

“Loose!” Declan ordered.

Under the threat of being attacked, they had learned their lesson from Noah. They loosed their arrows the moment the order was given.

Jake’s arrow was the last to be fired. He activated a Skill and the surrounding area swirled with the arrow-tip at the centre. After a couple seconds of charging, he let it go. Although he was the last to act, it was the first to arrive.

The man’s eyes widened at the incoming barrage of arrows and leapt to the side.

Jake's high powered arrow scraped past his muscles bicep and continued until it plopped into the sand, scattering the grains in the surrounding area.

“Attack!” The man belted out a scream as his team listened with fervour.

They all sprinted forward.

The man at the front shone in an unnatural light. He had activated a defensive Skill. Most of the other arrows simply clinked off of his Skin–a testament to his current Level. The only archer that was able to penetrate the armour was Jake, but he was just one man.

However, the raging man’s team was’t so lucky to have a defensive Skill. Arrows penetrated their flesh despite holding shields. Whether they entered their legs, chest, or head. They were falling.

Arriving in front of Cai, the man hefted his great-axe. A shimmer of white light covered the entirety of Cai’s shield as the axe impacted against it. With a powered clang, Cai was forced back a few steps. Judging by the knotting of his brows, it wasn’t a hit he could take too many of.

Victor moved. He activated his Skill, his blade became surrounded by a red that was thicker than blood as he swung it towards the man in a wide arc. It tore through the air, but the man was clearly trained in close-combat.

He dodged back, then launched a kick straight for Victor’s chest. But Victor’s lips curled. He took an instant step back and clung to his leg with his other sickle. With a pull, blood splashed onto the golden sand.

Victor wasn’t finished. He was about to continue his attack when his team arrived. A spear threatened to pierce his throat. He dodged to the side, crouching down to the floor, he took a sudden step forward, and swiped his sickle across the spearman's legs. Blood followed.

He screamed in pain and fell to his knees. Victor was about to finish his kill when the leader swung his axe straight for his skull. Victor somersaulted back, out of the range of the screaming axe edge.

Glancing to the side, he noticed the mentally weaker of the group–Chloe–sink her blade into a young man's throat; she fought back tears. She gritted her teeth as the man sent out a dying thrust of his dagger–straight into her shoulder.

She growled and slammed her head into the man's soft face. He fell to the ground; silent.

Although the battle was quick, three or more died from each group in quick succession.

“Stop it you fool!” Declan’s shout erupted into a howl. “Even if you win, look to the side of you!”

Victor, along with the man, witnessed a few groups approaching closer every second. Greed was evident on their faces as they held their weapons. They were prepared for battle.

“Hound, he’s right,” A man said from the midst of his group.

Hound. It was obviously a nickname. Victor thought. No way someone would name their child that.

Hound looked to the side, then to the other. He tensed, then emitted a maddened scream.

“Fuck,” Hound’s eyes looked at Declan and the others with ferocity. “Next time, there won’t be any pathetic scavengers to interrupt us.”

“I was wrong, you’re not a fool.” Declan took a step forward, unafraid of the man's might. “You’re nothing but a pig swayed by emotion.”

Hound’s eyes intensified, then he broke out into a savage grin. “Remember those words.”

Hound travelled to the other side of the beach before heading into the jungle. Perhaps he knew they couldn’t win a fight against them as they were right now. Especially with Victor, Thraz, and Jake, helming the power.

“To so easily sacrifice his team, and for what? The supplies that we have?” Jake spat.

Declan shook his head. “Finding a reason within madness will only piss you off further. He’s a madman, no less, and no more.”

“But we should remain cautious. Even more so than before.” Victor crouched down and wiped the blood off of his sickles with a clump of sand.

Declan and the others nodded in severity. The fight was a reminder to them all that not everyone was peaceful. Noah might have acted out because they were trying to steal from him. However, the man nicknamed Hound purely wanted to take what was theirs with brutal force.

If blood spilled, so be it. Such a thinking was... right. Victor hid his smile.

He glanced at Chloe. She hadn’t moved a single step since she had taken the young man’s life.

Victor approached and nudged her arm. “Are you okay?”

“I–I’m fine.” Chloe looked down at the corpse. She bit her lip until red squeezed forth. She had taken a life.