A group of seven transversed the land with haste under the watch of the sun while seated on horses.
At this moment in time, a voice rang out amongst them.
"Sir, we're almost there"
The man being addressed, the leader of the group, narrowed his gaze.
This was Sir Cavarl, a Master-rank Mage that had been dispatched on a reconnaissance mission to Windless Peaks.
He was rather slim, almost lanky, and had low brown hair. His face held up a pair of glasses and a staff was strapped to the side of his horse.
The image of a settlement came into view.
It was the outpost of Windless Peaks, and that made him frown even more.
'What happened here?'
Before he could ruminate even more, his ears picked up a sound, that of a marching horse.
A short man covered in a cloak arrived at the entrance to the outpost at the same time as Cavarl.
'Hmm'
They were both interested in who the other guy was, but the moment their eyes met-
"What rotten luck is this?!"
-killing intent began to gush out of their bodies like a dam breaking.
It wasn't surprising, as both men were familiar with each other.
They hadn't fought before, but it would be strange for you to not know your archenemy's subordinate.
"Hahaha, to think I'd meet you Cavarl. What brings another one of Evercroft's dogs here?"
"I could say the same for a Varent barbarian like you, Mr Grenald. Then again, with how short you are, I guess it is expected for brains to be awfully lacking as well"
Grenald: (╬⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾ Д ⁽⁽ ⁰ ⁾⁾)
Cavarl couldn't care less about what face Grenald was making as he pulled out his staff, which had an orb attached to it, in one smooth motion. At the time, Grenald pulled out a black ax that was twice his height and had a small golden skull attached to the handle out from his back.
It was clear as day that both these men were about to have a go at each other…if it wasn't for what happened next.
"Huh? Who are you guys?!"
The Expert-ranks behind Cavarl had long retreated from the moment it seemed a battle would occur.
But one of them quickly spotted those scavenging in the outpost.
Both men ceased their confrontation immediately as they looked to see the parties plundering everything they could.
They didn't rebuke them though, for they have also done similar things, if not worse, to reach their current positions.
One had to take all they could get their hands on in the warzone called Orion.
That said, the existence of a third party was very unsettling, but then again, the Empire hadn't told them that another person would also come.
Wasn't there a possibility that someone had come before them?
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom Alarms rang in their heads as a thought came to them.
It would be really bad if a Master from the third S-rank guild had already reached the manite mine.
Their killing intent died down rapidly. The situation at hand had a far higher priority than their guilds' squabble.
With haste and urgency in his tone, Grenald spoke…
"Has anyone gone further in?!"
His aura suddenly spiked, generating a pressure that almost gave the scavengers he was talking to a heart attack.
Luckily, the leader amongst them spoke out before anyone died.
"Yes, a group of people on horses just went into the forest mere minutes ago, I swear!"
No more words were needed. The moment their worst fears were confirmed-
*Neigh*Buggum*Buggum*…
-the two masters put their weapons away and hit their horses into high gear simultaneously, almost like they planned it, before blazing through the forest at a speed even faster than before.
Their squabbles would have to wait. Their road to higher levels of power was at stake here! They couldn't afford to miss it.
Such thoughts prompted them to increase their speed once more.
Everything became insignificant in front of their eyes as they moved at such speeds, not the destroyed forest or the dead snakes, not even each other!
All that mattered was the sight of what was ahead of them.
________________
-A few minutes ago-
*Rustle*Rustle*
At another part of the forest, two men were navigating their way towards the forest's exit while moving slowly and cautiously.
They were both wearing armor that had clearly seen better days. It was torn, bloody and dusty all over, and so were they.
It had been one of, no, the worst day in the life of these two men, Lahm and Gibs.
It had been the worst day of their lives…that is, until a few minutes ago!
You see, both these men were missionaries, and they were lucky enough to be part of those who survived till the end.
With the mercenaries and all the guilders gone, Loreta had allowed them to search and scourge the cave.
They weren't expecting much out of it, as they had been convinced that the first three parties would've taken most things with value. But they had been wrong, the sheer amount of mana crystals blew their minds as they found it to be in the thousands.
Joy crept up in their hearts as it meant they might get a bit out of it, no matter how small.
Then, as if that wasn't enough, Lahm and Gibs stumbled upon a treasure they had only heard about in books.
Since they had all spread out in pairs in order to make the search more efficient, these two were the only ones who knew of its existence.
It was a treasure that would set them up for life!
With a little quick thinking and a lot of greed, they decided to keep it that way.
Quickly, they dislodged the treasure from the mountain and hid it from wandering gazes, before giving an excuse to those around and getting out of the mountain as fast as possible.
Lahm kept the object with him, as it was thankfully small, and Gibs followed behind making sure to mask their tracks while they ran through the forest in the opposite direction from the outpost to avoid being seen.
They had to step in muddy soil, occasionally kill some beasts and, worst of all, because of the immense value of the item they were holding, their vigilance was at 120%.
Which meant that they reacted at even the smallest of sounds, only to discover that the culprit was nothing more than the wind.
Needless to say, it was exhausting, and it was even worse for these two who had already gone through so many exhausting tasks in the same day.
Nevertheless, they pushed on, because they knew…
'It'll all be worth it the moment we sell this thing'
And because of this, they couldn't wipe the smirks off their faces.
As they cut down the bushes in their way with their swords, Gibs looked to see Lahm, who was in front of him, stealing glances at something within his armor.
"Lahm, what are you doing?"
Lahm broke out of his reverie and replied…
"I'm checking to make sure it doesn't disappear. I still can't believe we actually pulled it off! Gibs, we're going to be rich! The gold is going to be Fashant! [1] I don't even know how I'm going to use it all, do you?"
Gibs laughed at his friend's silly antics, but he could understand how he felt…
"We'll figure it out once we sell the stone. For now, calm down and let's focus on getting out of this damn forest before anything else"
Lahm did as he was told while his heart calmed.
Both these men were already on cloud nine thinking about all the gold they would get.
They couldn't wait to get out of the forest. Now, it was only a matter of time before they rose to the top, or so they thought.
Only, fate had other plans for them.
[1] Fashant: A Orainian term for too much, too many etc.
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