Azrael stared out across the sea of grass. A faint smudge of green at the base of the ever-distant mountains was the first sight he got of the End Forest. The first sight of home. There was an almost imperceptible tingle at the edge of his consciousness from [Lord’s Domain], which let him know he was heading in the right direction. He wasn’t close enough to summon the panel for [Lord’s Domain].

The faint tingle of the Skill, however, was completely overwhelmed by the pure excitement racing across the soul link. Alena projected it with as much force as the distance allowed, though Azrael also contributed to that collective emotion.

He’d been able to sense her since early morning, the excitement immediately flooding towards him the moment Alena noticed his surprise. Though currently only strong emotions made it across the link, it had grown enough over the day that he could sense a slight undercurrent of expectation mixed in, though that might have just come from him.

It was two-and-a-bit days since Azrael and James had left the village they’d camped besides. James was still tagging along, though the relationship between the two of them was more amicable than it had been prior to their talk at the village. It did not mean that James talked less, quite the contrary, but James had eased up on asking for a fight – if only ever so slightly. Which honestly, with the [Oath] now hanging over his head, was kind of a relief. Who knew if for some reason it decided to suddenly force him to fight, anything was possible if Gods were involved, or rather especially if Gods were involved.

It had been a fairly relaxed two and a bit days though, the two of them had had smooth sailing, or more accurately jogging, since they’d left. On the plain it was just the two of the, the local bison like creatures – Bullas – and a whole lot more travellers than Azrael had expected. One night they’d also had some creature come snuffling by their camp, but James hadn’t been inclined to go fight it. He’d kept an eye on it with [Search], but it never got close enough to worry.

Instead, it was the convoys of travellers that most worried Azrael, though so far none of them had stirred any trouble and Azrael did his best to stay as far away from any of them as possible. Just because he’d resolved to, maybe, allow more human interaction in his life didn’t mean that he would go seeking it out.

The convoys contained many motley crews, their attires being as diverse as their means of transport. Bards, tattooed warriors, archers, spearmen, monks and mages all travelled west, representing many people, ethnicities and fantasy races. Elves, dark elves, beast kin, cat kin, fox kin, wolf kin, dragon kin, rat kin, dwarves, humans and a singular goblin were but a few that he spotted at a distance. Their means of transport included wagons, horses, travelling on foot, a wolf and velociraptor type creatures.

It was good entertainment to try and guess people’s skills from their attire, as they were too far away for [Lord’s Insight] to target them. Briefly he considered asking one group that came close where they were heading, but decided against it. Almost everyone was moving more west than his north-west, meaning that they were unlikely to come near his forest. It would be a hassle to have people discover his village just as he returned home. Instead he appreciated the fantasy like entertainment that they presented.

The longer they travelled, the more unfounded his worries seemed. People genuinely all seemed to avoid entering the forest, earnestly heading west, like a hive mind. Morning turned to noon and noon to dusk by the time Azrael and James pulled up at the edge of the forest.

The soul link was active, as it hadn’t been in a long time, and far stronger than he remembered it. To stop Alena’s emotions overpowering him and giving him a splitting headache, he tuned it out as much as he could, supressing the link. He didn’t need it as a guide for the moment, as [Lord’s Domain] kicked back in. He would apologise to Alena for blocking her out later. Right now, he needed a clear head to think. He needed to lose James.

The big man was pleasant enough company and had grown on Azrael in a way he hadn’t thought possible. He wasn’t a NPC though and if there was one thing Azrael valued above all else it was his peace. A player was too much of a variable. Fortunately, he had an answer, though he wanted to avoid it.

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Azrael looked at the columns of smoke rising at the edge of the forest, a fortress having sprung up where the village used to be. Even from this distance it was visible, a looming hegemon on the otherwise empty plain. The large walls of stone and dirt rose up against the reddening sky, smoke from cooking fires signalling across the plains that there was civilisation here. With four large stone towers at each corner it really was an imposing structure. It was also enemy territory. Territory that Azrael had good reason to avoid.

He sighed. The things he did for a little bit of peace.

“Wanna stop in the fort for the night?” Azrael asked James as innocently as he could.

“The drinks are on you”

“They, well, yeah… I guess. Ok. Drinks are on-“

James put a finger to his lips, stopping Azrael from finishing his sentence. His hand reached onto his back, where he carried his massive blade.

“Shhhh… they’re here.”

Azrael cast [Search], the skill returning with eight human signatures. One was James, while the other seven made a perfect circle around them. Without him noticing, they had been surrounded.

He locked on and spoke to the closest signature.

“Reveal yourself” he said.

There was no response, then a short sharp whistle. Six cloaked figures emerged from the grasses, or from behind trees. Their cowls hid their faces in deep shadows in the uncertain evening light. He observed all of them, both with his eyes and with his Skills.

All of them wore mottled brown and green cloaks, daggers in their hands. Though their heights varied he could tell that they were all human from the lack of other character traits. Furthermore, they were all NPCs. Not a single one of them held a soul spark. A final check with [Lord’s Insight] revealed all of them had [Scout], [Observer], [Informant] and [Knife Fighter] classes, or at least a mix of those. He didn’t recognise any of their names.

Still, nobody moved, James and Azrael surrounded by six silent sentinels. James casually held his massive sword slung over his shoulder and Azrael readied his mana. Ideally, he also wanted to summon a dagger, but the observers could take that as an act of aggression.

At an impasse, both groups stood there, observing each other. Their levels were all lower than his and he was confident that he could take them all on, and he had James, but there was something that was gnawing at the edge of his thoughts. It was like a massive elephant standing right there, except the elephant seemed to be cloaked with an invisibility spell and holding its breath.

Azrael drew on a bit more mana, spreading it out around them in a circle. If he willed it, it would burst into a ring of flames in an instant or cause the ground to become like quicksand. He was a bit undecided. Still, it would be enough against six opponents. Three for him and three for… Six?

Azrael cast [Search] again. There were eight signatures, excluding himself. If one was James, then there were seven surrounding them. Azrael began slowly turning his head, trying to find the last hidden person.

“Do you want to attack, or should I?” James asked.

He never got a reply, as a dagger flew out of the shadows of a tree. There was nobody visible, but both Azrael’s Skill and the weapon’s trajectory aluded otherwise.

Azrael dodged the first dagger, only just avoiding it by moving his head. The second thrown projectile he blocked with a hastily conjured stone dagger. Forced into action Azrael let the mana he’d built a circle with fade, wasting it. Not getting impaled was currently more important.

With a burst of [Wind] he leapt forward, letting [Search] guide him towards his hidden enemy.

A third dagger struck him mid-flight. The only reason it didn’t rip right through him was because he applied [Reinforcement] to his shirt. He’d been preparing to apply it to his weapon. The force behind the projectile would still leave a nasty bruise come tomorrow.

Guided more by instinct than any of his senses Azrael stopped a fourth dagger from finding his throat. This dagger wasn’t thrown though. A hand gripping it firmly and directing it towards a killing blow. In his free hand he summoned another dagger, pressing it against the throat of his opponent that had revealed themselves.

“Game over.”

He felt a sense of strong disappointment flash through the muted soul link. He looked at the figure in front of him.

“Alena?” He asked.

Very slowly and very cautiously the figure nodded, his dagger still at their throat. Azrael slowly removed it.

Alena peeled away from the tree she’d been blending in with and put her last dagger away. She bowed to Azrael, her hands already signalling words.

“Welcome home, Master.”

He reopened the soul link, feeling her shame and disappointment and not being able to best his, but also her pride, joy, acknowledgement and excitement.

Azrael turned back to James.

“James,” He said, intending to introduce Alena “This is…”

Around James six figures lay on the ground, clutching their stomachs. Meanwhile, James simply stood there, his sword still slung over his shoulder. James shrugged.

“They started it.”

Azrael looked at James and his victims. At least they weren’t dead.

“You know what,” he said. “Actually… nevermind.”

He turned to Alena.

“Let’s go home.”