The hooded figures seemed to blend into the forest. Every time Nathan was about to get a lock on them, they vanished from view.

Nathan let his harpoon drop and broke off into a sprint. He’d have to get closer.

Mara was directly to his right, a pistol in hand. Emi was trailing them. Chad tried to keep up from the rear. Bjorn, meanwhile, was dead last.

Mara came to a sudden stop and aimed her pistol forward. She squeezed the trigger in quick succession, two shots bursting through the air. For a split second, Nathan caught sight of the man’s eyes. They were cold like ice, so sharp it was like he saw through Nathan.

The man’s body blurred and disappeared before reappearing a foot away. Mara’s bullets hit a tree, bark and wood dust blasted all over the ground.

Nathan’s hand wrapped tighter around his harpoon.

Who are these people?

Those skills—they were all concealment based. If this were an RPG, they’d be rogues.

But that look…

Those eyes spoke of a level of hardness that Nathan had only seen in one other person—himself, looking into a watery reflection after his arm had been eaten.

He’s dangerous.

His feet pounded the ground. He was getting closer and closer. The other man looked back and cursed aloud. He reached into his pocket and threw something at the ground.

Smoke exploded out of the object. Nathan’s eyes watered and he coughed as his vision was completely invaded. It lasted for a second before a breeze kicked up and the smoke disappeared.

Nathan’s eyes searched across the forest.

They can’t have gotten too far. They have to be hiding using some kind of skill.

Nathan stiffened.

I can track things if they have water on them, right?

He shut his eyes. Water was summoned from overhead. He forced the shape of the magic out of alignment with a mental tug. It wouldn’t be a Riptide Grasp—it would be a Riptide Bomb.

He opened his eyes.

Water exploded across the forest from above Nathan’s head. If they were still here, then he would be able to find them thanks to Hunter’s Instinct.

That was surprisingly easy.

The magic was so simple to manipulate. Was this the power of cultivation?

Something tugged at his mind.

The right!

Nathan threw his harpoon, the movement as quick as a whip. It flew through the air and sliced into flesh and pinned the other man to the ground.

A harsh scream ripped through the air. The man flailed about like a dying rat.

Footsteps caught his ear. Emi and Mara.

“Did you get them?” Emi said.

“Second one got away,” Nathan said.

The dangerous one. Not good.

Mara walked over to the other one.

“Time for some answers.”

----------------------------------------

It had barely been thirty seconds and Nathan was already regretting all his life choices.

Why aren’t I stopping her?

Mara reached out her finger and poked at the edges of the harpoon wound. The man pounded his fist against the ground and let out a muffled scream.

“That looks awfully bad,” Mara said. “Do you feel like telling us about who you’re working for?”

The man took a few deep breaths.

“I’m… not telling you… shit!”

He spat forward at Mara’s foot.

She tilted her head, pulled out her pistol, and shot him in the kneecap before anyone could even say a single thing.

Nathan jumped into the air and glared at Mara.

This is sick.

The man screamed at the top of his lungs. “You bitch!”

Bjorn had come up at this point along with Chad. Chad’s face turned green.

“W-what’s she doing?” Chad said. “Are we supposed to stop her?”

“Stop her?” Bjorn said. “She’s clearly an expert. Let her do what she needs to.”

Okay, but how does one gain expertise in this?

Nathan was beginning to seriously wonder about his companion’s past.

“I’m not going to ask again,” Mara’s voice was sickly sweet as she spoke. “If you want to keep your other kneecap, then you should probably just tell us who you are and who you’re working for.”

He sobbed, his body shaking.

“It’s the Harrowed Hand! I work for the Harrowed Hand, damn it!”

“Were you tracking us on purpose, or was it a coincidence? How much do they know about us?”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

“C-coincidence. You were spotted by a scout, so we were assigned to check on you. I… I’ve heard rumors of you people. I thought it was all bullshit, but it’s true, isn’t it? You’re trying to wipe us all out!”

Mara shrugged.

“Well, you really pissed off one of my buddies,” she said. “I don’t really care much about it, but I think it’s kind of bad that you guys were killing people?”

The man laughed hysterically as tears streamed down his face in rivulets.

“You idiots! Do you seriously think you’ll be able to take us on!? My partner’s going back for help at this very moment. Even if you survive, Vince will realize you’re real and he’ll send everyone after you. Not only that, but we heard you say where the Pandora is! And once he has that, he’ll become invincible!”

Mara held out her pistol and aimed it at his head.

The man stopped laughing.

She pulled the trigger and a bang echoed out. Red blood painted the grass in great big splotches, bits of flesh and meat scattered around like the aftermath of a butchery.

Emi shut her eyes. Chad looked away. Bjorn watched, unconcerned. Nathan winced.

“It reminds me of my bob-sledding days,” Mara said. “Good times.”

What.

Mara pulled one of her gun-cleaning wipes from her inventory and rubbed off her pistol.

“That was fun.” She looked over at Nathan and smiled, blood on her cheeks. “We should do this more often.”

What the actual hell is wrong with this woman?

“Sweet merciful Buddha,” Chad said. “I knew you were screwed up, but that’s just…”

Emi shook her head. “We needed the information. It… really makes me uncomfortable, but it had to be done.”

“She freaking executed him like one of Henry the Eighth’s wives, bro!”

“H-his death was inevitable.” Nathan’s eyes were unfocused. “We weren’t going to let him go and we weren’t going to carry him around.”

“That doesn’t make it right to blow his brains out—“

“There are more important problems than fussing about morality,” Bjorn said.

Nathan’s attention snapped back. “What?”

“We’ve got to find that camp and kill them all,” Bjorn said. “Right now. Every second that we stand here dawdling is a second that’s wasted.”

“Not you too!” Chad said. “Don’t we have enough psychopaths on this team?“

“Are you stupid?” Bjorn glared at Chad. “I am no blood-drinker. What I’m concerned about is someone like the leader of the Harrowed Hand ascending. We’ve been able to comfortably deal with their average fighter so far, but there’s no guarantee we’ll be able to survive an E-ranked being.”

“W-we don’t know that for sure,” Chad said. “Maybe Pandoras don’t do anything. Maybe this Vince guy doesn’t take the report seriously, dismisses it as some crack-induced hallucination.”

“Perhaps,” Bjorn said. “Or, perhaps he takes it seriously. I’m not willing to take that risk.”

Emi frowned.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with the orc,” she said. “This will turn even bloodier if someone from the Harrowed Hand is allowed to gain such power. This ‘Vince’ must be prevented from ascending.”

Mara shrugged. “I’m always in favor of a fun time.”

Everyone turned to face Nathan.

Why do they always save me for last, damn it?

“It seems like everyone’s in favor of taking out the camp,” Nathan said. “Nothing for it.”

Chad sighed.

“Fine,” he said. “Looks like we’re doing another camp raid.”

----------------------------------------

They managed to track down the camp surprisingly quickly. After all, it was hard to miss the dozens of raptors being used to lug logs and rubble around. Massive walls had been set up using the logs, and someone had even made a farm plot outside.

Nathan’s group was ducked behind the trees, peeking out to watch the action.

“Why are they so obsessed with these camps?” Nathan said.

“Why not?” Chad said. “They probably have no way to find the Pandora, so the only thing to do is grind and finish quests. No reason to live on the road if that’s what you’re doing.”

“Makes sense.”

“You’re missing something else,” Emi whispered.

Nathan’s eyes rotated toward her. Her expression was scrunched up as she watched the raptors move the logs.

“It’s an expression of power,” she said. “They’re making a point. The Harrowed Hand can bring order and safety, and these structures prove it.

“Why do they to do that?” Chad said. “Why is that so important?”

“It reinforces their self-image, firstly,” Emi said. “They can remind themselves that they’re the heroes. Secondly, it communicates that message to anyone who’s considering joining them.”

Nathan looked out at the camp with a new light.

“That’s surprisingly smart,” he said.

Emi nodded.

“It’s some kind of doctrine from the top down. There’s no way these camp leaders thought of it on their own.”

“If other people are joining as a result,” Nathan said. “Does that mean we’ve been potentially killing innocent survivors?”

“We’ve offered them the chance to surrender, they never take it,” Bjorn said. “At that point, we can’t be blamed.”

Nathan sucked in a breath. After a moment, he let out the air, and the tension dissipated.

“There are two holes in the wall,” Bjorn said. “If the rogue is still here, he’ll have to go through one of them. That gives us an opportunity.”

“We can turn it into a chokepoint!” Mara whisper-shouted. “I know this one!”

“Mara can cover the front with a rifle,” Nathan said. “Chad, you’ve been putting points in Dexterity, right?”

Chad nodded. “Yup. Edited my min-maxing strategy a bit.”

Nathan looked over toward the second gap in the walls.

“Emi’s going to sneak in and see if any prisoners are alive,” Nathan said. Me and Bjorn will go on in and deliever terms of surrender. Chad will cover the back wall. Does that work for everyone?”

There was a quick nod.

“Let’s get this done,” Nathan said.

----------------------------------------

Nathan, like before, simply walked in through the front gate. Unlike last time, it wasn’t just humans watching. The raptors seemed to follow his footsteps with their eyes as well.

Nathan felt something rush down his spine. Everyone seemed to have their hands resting on their weapons.

“Something’s off,” he muttered.

Bjorn nodded. “We’ve already been made. The scout must’ve warned them of us.”

That’s fine. They’re not too dangerous. They’re underleveled.

Nathan’s limbs stiffened as he walked toward the leader.

“Welcome!” the leader said. “You said that you want to join our little camp, yes?”

“No, I’m afraid that was a lie,” Nathan said. “We’re here about a different issue.”

The leader’s eyes flashed. “Oh?”

“The Harrowed Hand is an organization responsible for the mass incarceration and murder of thousands of people.” A familiar fury started to burn underneath Nathan’s skin. “We’re here to make sure that everyone involved in that is duly punished. If you don’t want to die, lay down your weapons and leave this place.”

The leader gasped. “Really? Well, I guess we should listen to you.”

The leader pulled his sword out and dropped it to the ground.

Pardon me?

Around Nathan, everybody started dropping their weapons.

This is a trick.

A sudden chill went down his spine. On instinct, he bowed his neck.

A split second later, there was a loud swooshing noise, like a supersonic jet soaring overhead. Something shaved his hair and the noise became as loud as a freight train for a single moment.

The ground exploded in front of him, a black arrow embedded in the dirt.

Nathan turned his head back to see the rogue that’d been spying on them earlier. The rogue stared at Nathan, eyes cold.

“Plan A failed, switch to plan B, boys!” the leader shouted.

Nathan stumbled out of the way of a knife strike, barely dodging.

They had backup weapons.

He reached into his inventory for his fishing rod—another sword swing went for him, forcing him to jump back. He’d failed to get his fishing rod out.

A spear came for his side. Nathan slapped it out of the way, only for a pike to slash at his head. He tossed himself underneath the attack and tumbled away.

They’re coordinated!

They’d been prepared. They’d had a calculated plan, and Nathan had fallen right into it.

I just need to get my weapon out—

A grunt echoed to his right. Bjorn had a knife embedded in his leather armor. He pulled it out and threw it forward, sending it flying directly into someone’s head.

Nathan jumped out of the way of a strike and finally managed to pull out his fishing rod. He swept it around in a long circle, killing five people on the spot.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nathan saw the rogue pulling his bow back for another shot. Like last time, the arrow was an unusual pure black color, a malevolent aura emanating from its tip.

Nathan ducked down, dodging the arrow. It continued and penetrated directly into the heart of the leader, coming right out the other end.

The rogue dropped his bow and ran off toward the gap in the wall.

It was fine, Chad would stop him…

The Chad was currently surrounded by ten attackers. Nathan saw Chad’s eyes glance over toward the fleeing rogue—but he had to block an incoming attack.

They outplayed us.

Nathan rushed forward, his fishing rod swinging toward the rogue.

But it was too late.

He’d escaped.