Kayd opened his eyes and immediately turned to vomit up water, coughing profusely as he finished, taking a few moments to breathe.

“At least you didn’t die, we didn’t even finish our first mission yet.” Ishmael kneeled next to Kayd, drenched.

“What, happened.” He struggled to speak or even move, unsure of how long he was even underwater, just lucky that he was on dry land and not left there with that…Empress rat.

What was that voice talking about? And what ability did it speak of?

Turning to the other side, Kayd saw the rest of the team, lying down or helping each other get up and recover.

“Good job Kayd, you managed to get us out of there.”

Kayd tried to laugh, but what came out was just a hoarse exhale of air.

Can’t believe that plan even worked, and with us still alive.

Lia approached him with her bag of medical supplies, she patched up the puncture wounds with bandages and applied a mix of medicine and herbs, dulling the pain he felt.

“Thanks, Lia, but does your bag ever run out of medical supplies? We might need to ration it like your healing magic.” Lia shook her head, she didn’t look afraid or flustered, just blank.

Odd, that doesn’t seem right.

“Are you okay? Anything happened?” Kayd asked, but his words drifted off to the air without a response.

Once she finished, he pushed himself up with his scabbard, a single glance of the environment, he realized they were back near the entrance to that cursed den.

Looking down at the water, he could see a black hole in the riverbed.

The river quickly filled it up and didn’t seem to be changed much, interesting.

“Damnit!” Nearby, Mian knelt alongside another one of his teammates, unfortunately for her, she didn’t manage to survive the battle nor the flooding.

“You did this! You bastard!” He cursed at Kayd upon seeing him, a mix of grief and rage was painted all over his face.

Quellin and a few others held him back. Ishmael began trying to defuse the situation, trying to calm him down from what happened.

“He got us out of there! It was either we all died there, or only a few of us!” She yelled. Mian pushed her hand off him, taking a step back and looking at the ones still alive in his team.

“We stayed with you for long enough, let’s leave, we can fight that last horde by ourselves we just need to find more explosives.” With a death glare towards both Ishmael and Kayd, Mian and his team ran up the trees and quickly disappeared, one carrying their deceased teammate.

“He’s reckless, but I never took him for an overemotional person,” Ishmael remarked.

The sound of galloping horses from behind caught their attention. Just a minute after Mian left, the men Evelin left arrived.

“We heard the commotion and felt the area shake. What happened?” One of them asked in a gruff low tone through his helmet.

“We sealed the hole and cleared the rat den. Just as we said.” Ishmael replied. The two guards looked at each other before one of them nodded.

“Very well, we will get Princess Evelin to speak with you, in the meantime stay in place and rest.”

Finally, some time to rest!

Everyone was relieved to finally get to lie down or at least catch their breath. Ikari lay flat on her back while Kayd sat down with his legs crossed. They started cleaning their clothes and gear or getting their wounds patched, all to pass the time until she came to them.

—------

After a while of waiting, the knight arrived, this time with more soldiers and Princess Evelin in tow.

“I see you kept your word, you are what you say.” Evelin jumped off her steed, walking towards them with a smirk. Her clothes were bloodied and covered in light and deep scratches similar to rat claw marks. A stark contrast to the appearance she had the last time they spoke.

Did they get attacked too? Thought they were safe from these attacks or at least didn’t fall prey to them as much because of the walls they spoke of.

“We still need to seal a final rat den not too far from here,” Ishmael replied, walking forward towards Evelin.

“Ah that one, we were supposed to ignore it but scout reports made us change plans, we could use your support there too. Well done though on these dens.” After she spoke, a windchime noise rang.

From Kayd’s pocket was a scrap of paper reading:

Reputation: Apart from titles, reputation is a surefire way to make yourself loved if titles weren’t enough. Unlike titles, reputation aids in how factions and threats respond to you, as a benevolent helper, or a genocidal warmonger.

They also aid in lowering prices and allowing more products to be bought from stores and can even determine if the splendor seekers may be able to get a new title. With this in mind, it is imperative to have your reputation as high as your fame.

Stone’s Edge Reputation: Liked

Being liked? Interesting. I always wanted some fame and titles, but never really thought of reputation.

With that, the paper vanished. Evelin looked to the trees, looking at something beyond it. Perhaps the rat den..

“I also found that a certain amount of explosives were taken from a small building here. Did you have a hand in it?” Ishmael bit her lip and sighed. Unsure what Evelin’s reaction would be.

“Yes, it was us.” To her surprise, Evelin smirked and took out a few more bundles of explosives, tossing them at the team.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Have some more, you exceeded my expectations, so a little boost for the next target wouldn’t hurt. Without further ado.” Evelin got on her steed, unsheathing her sword.

“It’s time to end this threat once and for all.”

—-----

The two groups rushed down a path with the same destination in mind, filled with eagerness and a new rush of readiness, they managed to survive yet another seemingly suicidal mission and managed to survive, now with an army in tow why feel any more fear?

A unit of heavily armored knights followed behind Evelin while Pip and Ishmael’s team ran just beside them.

“Didn’t know someone from Stone’s Edge would directly interfere with Forest Ilk matters!” Ishmael laughed with a grin.

“We did, but these rats changed priorities, not to mention a few swam up the river and picked off a good amount of civilians, this became personal, as you can tell by my damaged clothing,” Evelin yelled back.

Kayd wiped down his blade, heeding no mind to the wound he was currently suffering from. Thoughts ran across his mind, what would the next den look like? How big would it be? Would they need to throw more explosives this time?

Ishmael was next to him, standing at the front while taking in the air, happier than earlier while brandishing her hatchet.

“So, this is the last den we have to deal with huh?” Kayd asked.

“That’s what the overseer of that camp said, the last den, then we can rest and get a title back,” Ishmael replied, putting her hatchet back on her waist and crossing her arms.

“Know anything about this next den?” Ishmael sighed after he asked.

“It’s the biggest we discovered in this place’s history, should be the source of the majority of rat queens and rat hordes in general. We’ll need all the energy we can hold, and as many mercenaries or soldiers this place could muster. Thankfully Princess Evelin agrees too.”

“Anything else?” Ishmael took a moment to think.

“It’s not full of water like the second cave, nor easy to navigate like the first one. It’s the opposite of both and worse. A maze-like cavern system double or triple the size of that river den. Fortunately, you just need to make sure you’re going down. Further down you go the closer you get to the empress of it.”

So, dry and confusing. With the medical magic basically nearly lost, dying here is very likely. Luckily we learned enough to make fighting easier and dying harder.

“Mind becoming the vanguard of the team Kayd?” Ishmael asked.

“What do you mean?”

“A new formation I thought of was to make Ikari the frontmost, while you trail behind her in case she finds something. The rest stay in the middle and rear. Just a suggestion based on how i saw all of you perform so far, and quite well might I add.” The compliment made Kayd smile a little, his skills recognized by another authority figure, the rush felt similar to when Master Carwel was happy with his own accomplishments.

Wonder how being famed or having a title will feel?

—------

Pip came to a stop, and so did the horses, just in front of a massive clearing in the forest. Ahead was the den, a giant dark hole bored into the base of a mountain, alongside other smaller holes.

Fire, soot, corpses, but most importantly the large number of men and women standing in front of the holes with a mix of metal, wood, and leather armor. Behind them, crates for supplies and mini tents for any superiors.

Jumping down, they were immediately greeted by another familiar face, the camp overseer who gave them this mission in the first place.

“Ah, Captain Ishmael, how great to see you!” The two exchanged pleasantries for a few moments.

He wore thicker armor with a claymore on his back, the new weapon carried with it scars from previous battles.

“Finally, we can take the battle to these vermin, and finally seal them instead of constantly repelling their attacks.”

“What’s the plan right now?”

“Well-”

“We expect the rat horde to commence their first wave of attack any moment now, once that’s done we will seal the smaller tunnels and venture into the main one,” Evelin interjected, not giving the overseer a chance to speak.

He sighed, “What she said.” He muttered something beneath his breath before walking back to one of the tents.

“We also found a survivor from the cave, who seemed to be one of your teammates or at least part of your team in the river den. He’s held inside the medical tent right now.” Evelin remarked.

“Wait he actually tried to attack it on his own!?” Ikari exclaimed.

“Don’t expect much from reckless young greenhorns,” Ishmael replied.

“I’ll be in the tent guarded by a few of my knights, meet me once you’re ready, some of the crates have explosives and medicine inside them so feel free to get some.” After talking, Evelin walked away in a hurry.

“Organized neatly but it seems the soldiers are mixed, this may be problematic, but all hands need to be on deck in desperate situations,” Quellin remarked.

—---

They made their way to the medical tent. Dozens of leather beds were placed on the ground, and boxes of herbs, bandages, and medicines were scattered on the floor or on a sparse amount of tables inside the medical clinic.

A few injured soldiers were already being treated by healers, claw and bite marks on different parts of their bodies. One of them though was a familiar face. To Kayd’s surprise, the one from Mian’s team was the same person he saved from that giant rat in the tunnel.

“Hey, don’t stand too near to the injured- Wait, you’re the team they spoke of, the one that sealed the rat dens. Apologies!” He bowed his head before returning to patching up the injured man.

“Seems that paper was right, we’re getting recognized.” Ikari chuckled.

Ishmael knelt near the injured man. “Where’s Mian?” She asked.

“I-Inside…..Overrun….Rat horde…” He couldn’t speak any longer, the injuries and bandages across his body prevented him from continuing.

“This one was badly injured, found him while we were setting up camp, heard a scream, and saw him running out with a few rats in tow.” The healer explained.

Ishmael stood up, “Lia, get more medicine, the rest of you get patched up by the healers here then meet me outside. We’ll get more explosives and meet back with the princess.”

—----

An hour had passed of getting healed and replenishing their equipment. They were just in front of the Princess’ tent, guarded by a squad of soldiers with heavier armor and pikes.

They stepped inside, and the smell of old paper and soot of candles filled their noses.

A team of strategists and Evelin stood around a table with various maps, some old and some hastily drawn, seemingly brand new. They discussed with one another, and a mixture of conversations went on until they were silenced by Evelin, who saw the team enter.

“Ah, ready for the battle now?” She asked with hands on her hips with a serious expression on her face.

“Yes, now what is the plan, Princess,” She flashed a smirk before looking back down.

“Our plan is simple, destroy as many of the rats as possible above ground, venture down and find the rat leading all of this, kill her, then blow up the den. We’ll face hordes triple, or even quadruple in number compared to past hordes. The common rats may be deadlier though so be careful.” She explained in a confident tone.

“Very well, we can handle this, we just need your support to find the empress, and then we’ll destroy it.”

“Support you shall have then,”