Victus awoke the next day, under the shade of a large tree in the forest. Warm, golden rays of sunlight peered through the small crevices of branches and leaves, washing upon his face. He sat up, wincing once overtaken by a splitting headache.

“Finally, you’re awake!” Alyza stormed over to him. “We’ve been waiting on you all morning.” A campfire had been set up near him, and the rest of his party was sitting around it. She crossed her arms, “Got anything to say for yourself?”

“Uh, sorry?”

“You better be! You had me worried sick, the both of you!”

“Hey, they started it-”

“And I heard you finished it! What’s it with you and picking so many fights? Once we’re officially registered as a party, I am not letting this violence go on any longer. Diplomacy is the best policy, after all, and with me as leader,” she kept going on, only making his headache worse. He was beginning to feel nauseous.

“Are you even listening?!” She leaned closer.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just..I don’t feel so good..”

“Oh,” she paused, concerned for him. “You poor thing. Here, drink this..” She reached into her bag, searching for a specific vial, then gave it to him. It looked a murky green color, and when he uncorked it the smell was wretched.

“Tryin’ to poison me this early on?”

“Just drink it. I swear, you’ll feel better.”

“If you say so..”

He lifted the vial up to his mouth and unwillingly drank its contents. It had a thick texture and tasted like various herbs, but he forced himself to gulp it all down.

“Man, what’s in that stuff..?”

“It would be best if you didn’t know,” Alyza handed him her canteen, and he took it, chugging the water. When he finished, he sighed in relief and handed the canteen back to her, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she capped the bottle and put it away.

“So where are we?”

“Just outside of town. Gunther said someone reported your festivities last night to the royal guard, so it might be best to lay low for a while,” Alyza seemed discouraged. “Maybe I really should just return home..”

He felt terrible once more. He couldn’t remember last night very well, aside from the beating he took and inflicted on all those goons. Part of him worried that he was always going to be so quick to violence. “Excuse me, but if I may interject,” Clyme approached them, smiling. “I know of a job down at the harbor in Kamren.”

“Kamren? The city to the south?”

“The one and only!”

Kamren was a diverse city within the continent of Virunia, to the south. The kingdom had relocated many humanoid citizens to Kamren, along with various races that hardly resembled humans at all. The royal guard’s presence was much more passive there, since the largest threat to the city was itself. Crime ran rampant, it was always rainy and muddy, and the people were constantly catching new diseases. Victus could hardly blame the people, however. He felt that the kingdom was well aware of these issues, yet purposefully chose to remain inactive.

The four arrived at Kamren in the evening, after a quiet day of traveling. They were a bit worn out, but they couldn’t afford to rest. They loitered on a rooftop near the harbor. Victus scanned their surroundings from the vantage point. “So, what are we looking for again?” He asked, turning to Jearicko.

“A meeting,” Clyme replied. “Between the Moonlit Raiders and the Manglyeong. Heard of them?”

“A little. Don’t they hate each other or something?”

“The two gangs have been feuding for years. Tonight, they negotiate peace over gifts,” his tail whipped with enthusiasm. “Valuable gifts.”

“Now you’re speaking my language!” Victus grinned.

“Wait, we’re stealing? Isn’t that illegal?” Alyza crossed her arms. “This sounds way too dangerous. Rival gangs? Why not just let them negotiate peace?”

“I couldn’t care less about stealing from thugs,” Victus replied. “Peace for them doesn’t mean peace for these people. They’ll just keep harassing innocent civilians, whether we rob 'em or not. Least we could do is make some money out of it.”

“That’s a very cynical perspective, Victus. What if we make matters worse for them and us?”

“Alyza is right,” Wolfe spoke up, agreeing with her. “It’s too dangerous. We should leave them be,” they were all surprised to hear him talk.

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The half-elf became frustrated by their responses, “Fine. You two wanna stay out of it? Be my guest. Jack and I got it covered. Don’t go whining about your share of the cut being smaller when we get paid.”

“Perhaps we should give the plan some more thought,” Clyme attempted to defuse the situation with a polite suggestion. It was in vain, however; the gangs were already arriving. Victus knew that it was now or never, but the others weren’t convinced they could pull off the job successfully.

“Guess we came all the way here for nothing, then,” he sighed. There was no way he could do this alone, but he didn’t want to be so authoritarian, “Let’s get going.”

The group nodded and began to leave. Upset, he lagged behind, letting them climb down the rooftop first. “I take it, you've brought what we asked for?” Victus overheard the gangs negotiating, and turned his head, peering over the edge of the rooftop to watch. He made ten men, no, eleven. Half of them were dressed in peasant rags and inconsistent, leather armor. The other gang wore baggy clothes stained with black ink, and metallic plating. A couple of them had theater masks on, to conceal their faces. These two held a chest, while one of the Raiders held a small box.

“Yep, got it right here,” he handed the small box to them. The Manglyeong opened up the small box, and inside, a familiar object resembling the shape of a pyramid.

“The artifact?” Victus muttered to himself.

The masked men nodded at each other, then tossed the chest in front of the Raiders, “Here. For you all. Enjoy.” They left, and the group of thugs surrounded the chest. Victus watched intently, until Alyza lightly whacked the back of his head.

“Ow, what?” He turned and glared at her, rubbing his head. She knelt down next to him.

“You were taking too long. I got worried you went and did something dumb,” she whispered.

“How kind of you.”

The two heard the chest click open, and returned their attention to the thugs. They lifted the top upward, and peered inside. One of them asks, “What is it?”

“..It’s a girl. I think.”

“Ya think?!”

Victus stood up suddenly, and Alyza looked up at him. He stepped forwards towards the edge of the roof. “What are you doing? They’ll spot us!” She whispered. He stepped back, ignoring her, then dove off of the rooftop. The wind carried him towards the Raiders at great speed, while his coat flapped erratically through the air.

One of the thugs turned, “The Hel is that?” He saw a sudden flash of red, right before his head was slammed onto the muddy ground with a small shockwave. Victus slowly arose, side-eying the other Raiders. It began to thunder.

“Wh-What’re you all standing around for? Kill him!”

A Raider rushed Victus and swung at him, but he redirected his arm and trapped the man’s head, kneeing him in the chest a couple times before dropping himself backwards, force-feeding the thug a mouthful of mud. Quickly, he rolled back to his feet, examining his next four targets. The raindrops allowed him to focus.

One brute, two swordsmen, and an archer. The range would be his biggest obstacle, followed by the muscle. Still, this was doable as long as he didn’t stay in his head too long. He hurled his dagger at the archer, who was reaching for an arrow from their quiver. His shiny blade spun gloriously through the air, knocking the Raider’s hand before he could nock his arrow properly, causing the arrow to fly into his fellow swordsman's foot.

“Ah, fuck!” The man fell to the ground, holding his leg.

“Shit, sorry man!”

Victus dashed at him while he was apologizing, grabbing his bow and shoving it into his face hard enough to break his nose. He ripped the bow out of his hands while he was stunned, then choked him with it, until he fell unconscious. Next, the brute slammed his shoulder into Victus, hard enough to knock him over. Adrenaline pumping, he rolled away, charging up a swirl of wind in his fist.

“You little brat! I knew we couldn’t trust those Masks!”

“I’m not working for them!”

“Bullshit!”

He took out a tall mace, the ridged head splattering mud when it fell to the ground. The brute gripped the handle, glaring, waiting. This wager was a risky one, yet Victus had no choice but to take it. He clenched his fist tighter, then threw a major swing at the brute, making contact with the head of his mace. The wind shielded his hand from the damage and pushed his weapon back, but it wasn’t enough to keep the thug from swinging again immediately.

Victus quickly blocked with his arms and used up the last of his mana for extra protection, getting knocked into a nearby crate and shattering it. Alyza gasped. She made her way down the rooftop in a hurry, reaching into her bag of vials.

“What should I do with the girl?” The swordsman asks, near the chest. He looked scrawnier than the others, afraid.

The brute laughed, resting his mace on his shoulder, “Our boss will have lotsa fun with her! Just take her back to the hideout. I’ll finish off this pesky little shit in no time.” Alyza ran past him, recklessly, and he grabbed her by the arm forcefully, “What do we have here? Another gift?” He pulled her closer, grinning. He was missing most of his teeth.

She slammed a vial into his face, and a puff of smoke clouded his vision, causing him to cough and sputter up blood. He let her go, holding his throat, “You..bitch..”

Alyza had two choices: either assist Victus or take his dagger that was stabbed into the ground nearby. She hesitated, then went over to his dagger and pulled it out of the dirt, turning back to the brute. “Y-You stay away now, or I’ll..”

“You’ll what? Go ahead, do it then,” the brute, though weak, still gripped his mace, glaring at her. She stepped closer, tightening her grip on the fancy dagger. The blade had been lightly stained by blood from slashing the archer’s fingers. Her hands trembled, and she felt the hesitation truly begin to settle in.

“Get away from him!”

They both turned and saw the last swordsman holding the woman that was in the chest. She appeared to be young, with pale gray skin and dark purple tentacles for hair. He had his longsword to her neck in a threatening manner, though she seemed torpid. He shouted, “I’ll do it, I swear! I’ll slit her throat!”

“Esner, I told you to take the girl to the boss. Just get out of here already,” the brute coughed.

“I won’t let you die, man! I-I’m scared! I don’t know what to do!” His voice was shaky.

Alyza stared at him, then dropped the dagger. She slumped to her knees, unprepared for this situation. The brute took advantage of this, and raised his mace high into the air, grinning. It was then that the wind began to shift, flowing in the opposite direction. He turned his head to the half-elf he thought he’d defeated just a short while ago. A giant, green wolf stood behind him, emanating mystic energy that invigorated him.

“Let. Them. Go.”