Let's launch the secret attack! (part 1)

Donnie shifted on his feet uncomfortably, feeling some sweat go down his neck. This plan was suicidal, so why were they about to do it? He looked at the two in front of him. Both Hilda and Youngwoo were very calm and collected as they looked around Savi's estate. Hell, it looked like they both had that weird Calm Mind skill. He gritted his teeth a little. But, he didn't back down. He had promised Ieva not to.

They awaited for Savi in front of entrance to his home. Youngwoo and Hilda recognized the structure immediately: in fact, it barely changed from its appearance on 11th floor. They somewhat expected it to be renovated at least a little, but it seemed that no money went to upkeep it. The walls were a little cracked and pavement leading to the main door was missing a few smaller rocks. Still, it was presenting itself rather nicely, so perhaps this was the cause? Well, who cared anyway?

After nearly 45 minutes of awaiting, the front door suddenly opened. Savi walked through it, a bag on his back. His attire changed drastically. He now wore some kind of dark, rogue armor, covering his body whole, safe for his face. However, as he pulled up a shawl and tied it behind his head, one could no longer recognize him as lord of the estate. It was like a complete metamorphosis.

"Adventurers! You are here!" He exclaimed as he jogged towards him.

"Lord Mahoney. We're ready."

"Please, do not call me by my official name. Until we finish this matter, please call me Maxim."

"...alright, Maxim. We're ready. How about you?"

"All the preparation is done. We are free to set off anytime."

"Then, please lead the way to the bandit's camp."

"Very well. Follow suit, everyone." And with that, Savi went straight for one of the gates.

After speaking with the guards, they let them out into the fields south of Issar. The hour was afternoon, and there were multiple bodies laying around, not only bandits, but also people's defenders. Going around, there were some people inspecting the wall; Hunters were working around the clock to keep the defenses in top-notch shape.

As they passed by a few corpses, Savi stopped and knelled. Without a care in the world, he started praying:

"Oh, goddess of light, please let the souls of those who died into heaven. They weren't evil people, only misguided by evil." He finished his prayer quickly and they resumed on their journey.

It happened a few times on their journey to the forest south-east of Issar, but none of the three Hunters dared interrupt. After all, this was a matter of faith. Savi deserved to at least say a prayer for those who died in the attack, friend or foe. 'Truly, he has a very good heart.' Thought Youngwoo. He smiled inwardly; even in the Tower, there were people with very clear intentions. Intentions of peace. People, NPCs, who cared? So long everyone wanted peace, it didn't matter one bit to him who they were. In fact, Youngwoo was already looking at NPCs like people. Sure, they might've been constructs of the Tower, but that didn't mean they didn't have their history or feelings.

Soon enough, they reached the forest.

"Please, be careful from now on." Said Savi, no, Maxim. "There are multiple traps laid all around. And please remain as silent as possible. We don't want to drag attention to ourselves."

The three behind him nodded in agreement.

"How long will it take to reach the camp?" Asked Youngwoo.

"We will reach it by tomorrow. We have to go slowly, and sometimes, we'll need to avoid outposts scattered all around the terrain."

They went forward. Slowly, but surely, they made it a few hundred metres into the forest. And then, the first outpost could be seen.

It was in fact a small campfire with 4 people around it. 2 men and 2 women were sitting leisurely, not even wanting to eat anymore of meat that was on a spit above fire. In fact, that was all there was to this outpost.

Taking care of how they walked, Youngwoo's group nearly tip-toed about a hundred metres from the outpost, and walked forward.

On the way, they encountered a plethora of different traps. There were typical Trou de loup (holes hidden by layer of leaves and the likes), some traps that were designed to hang one by their leg high in the air, some that were designed to make a lot of noise. And there was one that almost finished the raid. Hilda was walking just after Maxim for now, keeping a safe distance of about 5 metres, Youngwoo behind her and Donnie closing the chain roughly 5 metres after them. And suddenly, she felt a string snap under her foot. Hearing something move above, she dashed at Youngwoo.

"Get down!" She almost shouted, pushing Youngwoo to the ground and laying on top of him.

A large part of tree passed above them both, swinging with enough **** to kill an elephant. Had they both stood still, they'd both die. Maxim quickly turned around. Noticing what happened, he cast a spell:

"Pinpoint." And then, he threw a small knife at the rope holding the trunk. Just as it was coming to a halt, the tree piece snapped out of the bond of the rope, and fell to the ground with loud noise. Indeed, Maxim (Savi) might've been a lord of the Issar estate, but he was versed in combat as well. Actually, he hardly seemed like a typical lord in the first place, deciding to go on a suicidal mission with them. He was a different breed altogether.

"Are you alright?" Asked Hilda, lifting her head from Youngwoo's chest. In her eyes, Youngwoo could see a bit of concern.

"Yeah." He replied. "You?"

"I'm good." She responded, and lifted herself slowly, weighted down by her backpack.

Donnie ran up to them and helped her up.

"You alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She replied.

"That trap was well hidden." Said Maxim, coming back to them. "I didn't detect it at all. But, we need to get away from here, fast. They surely had heard this."

Without speaking a word more, the four of them got away quickly, not wanting to be seen. After making it a fair distance away (while being wary of their steps, of course), Maxim said:

"There's about 600 metres left until we reach the encampment." He declared. "I believe it will be best if we take a break here." He noted. The sky was turning violet, signalling the sun would set very soon. "We won't be able to move around easily during night, so I suggest we take a few minutes to clear a spot for where we will spend the night.

The three that were with him nodded lightly. After looking around for a bit, they found a decently-sized spot between a few trees that was free of any traps. Hilda quickly used EDA to create little bumps around the spot, making it harder to spot from a distance if anyone was in here. Then, Maxim and Youngwoo took their steps into the forest, intent on gathering some wood to make a small campfire; they wanted to cook some food.

Meanwhile, Hilda and Donnie were preparing a spot around the middle where the wood would to into. Seeing as the two has gained some distance from them, Donnie said:

"He seems nice."

"I guess." She replied. "He's fit to be lord of Issar."

"I was talking about Lee."

"...yeah. I guess he's nice too." She replied, without halting what she was doing.

"How'd ya two meet, tho?"

"...what does Ieva want?"

"?" He looked at her, a little surprised. "What do ya mean?"

"You think I'm dumb?" Hilda asked with a little daring tone. "I know she sent you here. If you came here to help people, you'd stay in Issar. You're here to watch over me, aren't you?"

"Well, ya caught me red handed here." Donnie rose his hands a little. "Fine, fine, Ieva told me to look after you."

"Why?"

"She ain't trustin' that Lee guy." He responded. "She thinks he might be working for Shadow Cult."

"...what?" Hilda tilted her head a little, as if she didn't understand the sentence. "Him?"

"Listen, it's just what she said. She said that the day he saved you in the park, he suddenly broke his typical routine. Instead of going to the Gate, he went to the park instead. It's like he knew you'd be there. Now wouldn't Shadow Cult be able to stage something like that?"

"..." She didn't reply initially. Thinking about it for some time, there were parts that did seem to fit nicely. However, there was another part of the story that didn't. "So what are you saying? What would Shadow Cult gain by doing that?"

"They could get closer to ya two through him."

"...no." She shook her head. "Ieva doesn't know everything. It was me who wanted to tag along Youngwoo. He didn't want anything from me for helping us."

"What if that was his plan? To make ya feel guilty for not giving him nothin' in return?"

"...I don't think that's true." Hilda responded. "Youngwoo had been trying to discourage me from going with him at first. It was because of my will, not guilt, that I spent my time with him. If I felt any guilt for not rewarding him, I'd at least heed his words and let him go alone to 11th floor." She stated firmly. Her calm eyes were piercing right through Donnie, making him feel a shiver.

"...Y'all need to understand that his change was too abrupt. Just think about it, too. Were was he the next day? Training at that same park. Doesn't it make sense that the criminal comes back to crime scene?"

"You're out of line here, James." Hilda stated coldly. "I'm not saying you're entirely wrong, but I'm just saying you don't know the whole story."

"Ya need to chill. I'm not accusing him. I'm just saying that he looks suspicious to your sister. She doesn't like him."

"..." '...But I do.' She thought. "She doesn't like you, either. And yet, you're basically friends."