It was yet another race to the dunes. This time, Owen had a larger force with him, but not all. No, the others had another mission. Everyone had a bell on them. Lome specifically was to go with them all the way, but there was also a new addition: Elena. Another powerful archer would prove vital in what awaited them.

Lome as the vanguard, reached the top of the dune first. As Owen thought, the orcen Lord wasn’t one to hold back. Lome engaged in battle the moment he crested the hill. Owen and the others joined him right away. It was bloody and violent and Owen was ready.

With the raw stats; 80 whole points of strength coursing through his body, met with one of the orc warriors in head-to-head combat. Before the orc even attacked, Owen had read it thanks to his devilish reflexes. He dodged the hulking blade of the orcs axe head, and slashed his arm with his blade. Owen pressed his advantage, hacking, slashing, cutting, until his blade’s edge bit into the orc’s throat, ending his life in a brisk move of his Fragment.

A projectile screamed through the air. All Owen heard was a scream behind him. He snapped his head back, only to see one of his new Hunter’s get impaled by the powerful arrow. The hunter was dead in an instant.

Owen raged. He knew that neither Draed or Elena could hit the orcen archer from where they stood. They had to get closer. Owen took in a deep breath, and screamed, “Now!” His voice echoed across the sands, and roughly 15 or so metres from the archer, the sand erupted. A wind blade cut upwards, and out came Cedric and Rehan.

The archer, shocked at the arrivals, fired at Cedric and Rehan. Eyes laser focused, Cedric conjured a wind blade and slammed it into the oncoming arrow. It didn’t stop it, but it diverted its path enough for the arrow to crash into the sands.

Cedric and Rehan were on him like bloodhounds. Owen couldn’t see what happened after that. He turned his attention to his own fight. The fight was bloody, and in the end, one other Hunter and Warrior on his side had perished. He just hoped this was worth it.

Owen, as the strongest, took the lead. He was inexperienced, his hand trembled, and he often missed his mark. But his power was undeniable. With Unlimited Plunder, his talent was inconsequential. He’d gain skill mastery slower. Would only gain one stat point per Level. But none of that mattered.

With the power of his plundered stats firmly bolstering his muscles, he swung his blade in a savage arc. His blade dug into flesh, lopping an orcs head off from its body in one swift motion.

An uncomfortable sensation welled up inside him. Perhaps it was only because of Battle Hardened he continued, unimpeded.

Once the fight had ended, Owen quickly stored all the corpses and rushed over to where Cedric and Rehan were. They were panting. Rehan was wounded, his arm sliced, but it wasn’t serious. The archer was nowhere to be seen. Owen squinted, and saw the powerful archer run across the sands in the distance, away from his base.

“Leave him,” Owen said. “He isn’t our objective for today. Let’s go.”

Owen ignored the archer as he knew that this mission shouldn’t take longer than an hour. Hopefully. Owen swiftly arrived to the left of the mountain, where his secret passage was located. Just as he left it, it was seamless. He Plundered the entrance, revealing the tunnels. Halfway through, was the staircase heading up. But his destination was straight ahead.

Rushing as quietly and as quickly as they could, they arrived at the other side.

“Ready?” Owen turned to Mirian. This next part was entirely up to her. She had to get in and out undetected. She’d come back, relay information about the camp, then it would be Rehans’ return. It all had to be done fast. Especially now that they didn’t know when the sharpshooter would arrive.

Mirian nodded. Owen Plundered the wall and Mirian darted through. It was still quite dark out, since it was dawn. But that would soon change. Soon, the entire desert would be illuminated in the oven-like sun.

Owen tapped his foot repeatedly on the ground. 2 minutes, 4 minutes, 8 minutes… she had yet to return. The only thing offering him solace at this time was the fact that there was no noise in the camp. No noise apart from snoring, idle chatter, and training.

At the back of his mind, was a constant, gnawing worry that the mission would fail. What if the orc had already detected this passage? What if he was playing right into the palms of the orc Lord. His nerves constricted taut as every second that passed by, his heart thumping.

His assassin arrived in the next moment, causing Owen to jump.

“They have a well located at the west of camp,” She said, her voice calm, as if she had done this hundreds of times before. “The food supplies are located close to the Lord’s tent.”

Owen nodded. He brought out a potion that Rizael had given him during the night. It was a poison. When they had mentioned it before, Rizael said he would look into it. And apparently it was a potent one, easily spread, a little went a long way.

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The next part of the mission was only Owen, Rehan, Draed, Mirian, and Cedric. All who had either movement abilities, or stealth Skills. Owen had Sand Camouflage and although it wasn’t perfect, did have some effect.

As Owen darted to one of the tents, Owen’s heart was thumping so hard he was beginning to feel nauseous. He heard the sound of snoring through the thin walls of hide.

Then they skirted around the village. Miran and Rehan had gone to the food supplies near the centre. As the stealthiest of them, it was their job to get in close, while Owen, Draed, and Cedric would poison the well on the border.

Plans were simple in theory, but as Owen and his team darted from tent-to-tent, one mistake would prove their last. If Mirian or Rehan were caught, they would all be surrounded in seconds.

Owen was about to turn a corner when an orc suddenly left the tent he was hiding behind. He caught his breath, literally, and paused, his free hand tightly grasping his Fragment. The orc cleared his throat, then spat on the compacted sand. He was approaching the well.

Shit, Owen thought. He brandished his blade and was about to step forwards when Draed pulled him back. He shook his head, then motioned towards their objective. Owen nodded and although he was confused as to why Draed had stopped him, he decided to trust his archer.

They forged on, finally making it to where the well was. But there was a problem. Two orcs were currently using it. Draed and Cedric gave the signal, and in unison, they worked together to silence the orcs. Cedric’s wind blade hardly made a noise as it tore through the orc on the left. The other orc wasn’t much better as an arrow bored through its heart.

Owen rushed ahead, brought out the potion Rizael had prepared, and was about to empty the contents within when he paused. Innocents would be affected. This was the moment where only savagery awaited them.

Taking a deep breath, Owen emptied the contents with a heavy conscience. It was kill or be killed. The moment he did so, he saw a chimney of dark smoke fill the sky. They had succeeded.

An orc rounded the corner of another tent. He looked at Owen then snarled. He roared, only for Draed to silence him with a well placed arrow to the forehead. But the damage was done. From the tents, emerged numerous orcs, already holding their weapons. One of the closest orc’s rampaged toward Owen, and swung his axe at his head.

Owen dodged, then plunged his blade into the green man’s torso, killing him instantly. He stored the corpse, then dashed back to Draed. Draed fired a volley of arrows. Cedric sliced any in their path. The cacophony of orc screams bellowed across the camp, all awakening.

Killing their way out, they were about to make it to the passage, when Owen glanced over his shoulder. He saw Rehan, and sighed in relief. But Mirian was nowhere to be seen. Rehan sprinted like the wind to Owen, grabbed him, and shoved him in the passage.

“Where is Mirian?!” Owen shouted.

“Not here,” Rehan yelled. “Close the entrance!”

Owen spotted her in the next moment. She was darting in and out of a crowd of furious orcs.

“She can’t be captured!” Owen said, gritting his teeth. He knew what would happen to her if she was.

“I can take her life,” Draed offered, but it didn’t make Owen feel any better. It only made him feel worse.

“Have faith, Lord!” Rehan shouted.

“Shit!” Owen spat, and just as he was about to block the entrance, he saw the orcen Lord. His massive, hulking figure stomped towards them. He shouted out like thunder, and if it wasn’t for Owen’s Battle Hardened Skill, he’d have been scared shitless.

He was like a stampeding bull on copious amounts of steroids. Black tattoos covered his muscular frame. Large tusks protruded from his mouth. He arrived in seconds.

Eyes open wide, Owen deposited a wall of rock right at the entrance, only for it to explode. Rock shrapnel fired into Owen, embedding into his flesh, slashing past his skin. But somehow, he remained calm. He placed more rock, and more. Rehan dragged him through the tunnel while Owen kept on filling in the cave.

The orcen Lord was like a humanoid excavator, blasting away at the mountain. Because it wasn’t completely solid like the mountain used to be, the Lord blasted through it like he had dynamite in his hands.

That continued until they appeared on the other side. Lome and Elena were waiting. The orcen Lord smashed through the last piece of wall.

“Fire!” Owen commanded, and his people listened.

Draed and Elena, along with other archers, fired their most potent Skill right as the Lord broke through. Elena’s was especially potent. Stars twinkled as her arrow blazed through the air. it slammed into the Lord, tumbling him back. Then the other arrows struck.

The Lord rampaged back to his position, only for more arrows to stick into his stalwart flesh. Then Lome met him in hand-to-hand combat. Lome moved like a battering ram, smashing into the Lord. But the orc hardly budged. Smiling bloody, the Lord sent a fist rocketing at Lome’s skull. It struck true. Lome was sent flying backward. His fingers embedded into the rock passage, crawling to a stop.

They engaged in combat for a few minutes, Lome losing his position. But thanks to the support of the archers, it was equal. Lome got a lucky hit located at his chin, sending the Lord reeling. But it didn't even result in a scratch.

The orcen Lord was far stronger than Owen. How was it possible?

“Fall back!” Owen shouted, depositing more rock behind him as they dashed into the open sands.

Then Owen felt something tug at his body. Something slammed behind him in the sand. He gazed at his shoulder, only to see a new, bloodied hole had appeared. He scanned the horizon, heart calm thanks to Battle hardened.

And there he was, the sharpshooter, smiling in victory at having finally hit his target.

It was short lived.

A hand holding a black dagger appeared at his throat, and sliced from ear-to-ear. Blood sprayed, his body fell, only for Mirian to take his place, grievously wounded.

Owen summoned Shelldon and ran like hell to pick her up. The orcen Lord was hot on their tails.