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The smaller demons felt uneasy ever since the four's arrival to camp in the mountains. They did not fail to make it a habit to keep a close watch over their surroundings, searching for signs that indicate the four's return. And they jump at the slightest thing, be it footsteps or talks among a group of adventurers.
But when they observed a subtle change in the atmosphere, they would scamper away from sight. On top of that, the pounding of hooves gave them the hint that the four are very close. They rarely ventured out until they were assertive that the four returned to their usurped mountain pit.
This time what these smaller demons saw were the four without Doppelganger. Baffled as they were, they still had to hide themselves from the three grand superiors.
The tall grasses swayed and flowers wilted when the three marched past the lower mountain terrains, heading northwards to their camp in the pit. Storm licked his lips when they ascended the mountains, his rumbling stomach only made him relish in the idea of grabbing more drainliars for his snack. With Doppelganger absent this time, he could munch on those red, furry bats without attracting the bitter face of the phantom swordsman.
After the four defeated the wizards and rid of the city, Doppelganger broke off from the four to head southwards, saying that he would return to the mountains latest by dawn the next day. Storm snorted, saying that "this picky swordie must've gone to get more 'fresh' air!"
Abyss and Death were discussing about the necklace, hardly knowing that Doppelganger went gallivanting. This strange wizard was beginning to intrigue the two greatly. Because of that necklace, the black robed wizard was spared. Abyss suspected that the wizard might be one of Dark Lord's subordinates sent as a spy, Death only agreeing to a certain extent.
"The Dark Lord might begin to suspect something from us. But what business has he with us? We did not cross him in any way just yet, neither did we announce to the world that we were setting our eyes on his Intelligence Trait," the great silver knight impugned.
"Might this be a message sent by him indirectly? The wizard came and cleared out mobs without too much effort. If he is indeed under the Dark Lord, I fear he wants to wage a war with us. We would be forced to abort our invasion over the orcs," Abyss responded with a serious look.
"By all means, we'd better take precautions then," Death said, dismounting Silver. He tied his steed outside the pit, ducking as he entered the small cave. Storm was already making his way to the back of the pit, his bestial face grinning with anticipation. Even though Abyss and Death were merely at the entrance, Storm's shouted echoed over the entire pit.
"What –"
"What happened?" Abyss shouted back.
"No more drainliars! Forget it, I'll make do with tarous for now," came the disappointed reply.
The two went back to the deepest chamber of the cave. The dank cave reeked of rotting matter, the stone walls crawling with weird plants growths and a chilling dampness. Storm sat, several dead tarous lay before him with the fur torn out. The blue knight, knowing that these rats tasted not as good as drainliars, decided to make them more appetizing by roasting them over a torch he took off from the wall.
"Get these away, Storm. I've got something to tell you," Abyss said.
"What? Ow!" Storm cried out, the over-roasted tarou scorching his tongue when he took a bite.
Abyss cleared away the tarou and doused the torch fire, demanding attention from the hungry blue knight.
"The Dark Lord is watching us closely. That leaves us to discard our plans to seize control over the orcs. But we would still do it nonetheless, and working separately is necessary. We'll split; one party will keep the Dark Lord and his brethren Baphomet busy, the other will go south for the orcs."
Storm tried to keep his stomach from rumbling, staring away from the tarous.
"Can I not work with Doppelganger? He spoils my appetite."
"You're not going to eat. Your objective would be getting hold of the Intelligence Trait, from both Dark Lord and Baphomet. By the way, you're working with me," Abyss replied with annoyance.
"The assassination of the Orc Lord shall begin after dusk the next day, since Doppelganger is away," Death announced. "The two of you shouldn't be procrastinating any further. We will all return to this pit exactly three days from now to report whatever we gathered."
Storm's face lit up when the discussion concluded. He set the torch ablaze, and began roasting other tarous, while he chewed on the one he had roasted earlier.
"Damn! Now it's cold and hard!"
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The lone swordsman prodded his sword hilt at someone in front of him. The lady screamed out in surprise, whipping him with her whip as she turned. The swordsman's shoulder bled from the whip, his face cringing in pain.
"Oops, sorry," she apologised to the young, blonde haired swordsman. "I thought a rocker was behind me or something. You all right?"
He scrutinized the scantily clad lady from head to toe, his mouth gaping open. Even in the night, he saw the dancer blushed, and he realized that he had been staring at her for quite some time.
"Oh I'm ok," he said, forgetting about his injury. "Erm… What's the nearest town from here? I think I'm lost, moreover it's getting dark."
The dancer took out a map, handling it to the swordsman.
"That might be useful. Anyway, the nearest town is Izlude. Just head east, ok?"
"Sure, thanks!" he smiled at her in gratitude.
The swordsman headed east as instructed, encountering more swordsman along the way, an indication that Izlude was near. He took a route around a hill, and the city was in sight. Izlude was almost similar to Prontera in terms of the structure and the way of construction. White cobbled streets, a fountain of Odin, brown walls, almost everything was identical. Being a 'branch' of Prontera, this city is much smaller, and it was where people undertook the job of a swordsman instead of acolyte.
He walked along a long, sheltered Z-shaped bridge leading to the city of swordsman. Merchants and blacksmiths were still occupied with the promotion of their goods, coaxing the passer bys to buy them while stock lasts. A group of swordsman assembling outside the swordsman guild house practised in exhaustion for night warfare.
The blonde swordsman appeared uninterested at these. What caught his attention was a ruckus over at the fountain of Odin. Crowds of people hurled abuses to a person, and that person looked like a knight, as far as he could see. He was lightly armoured, a helm held in the crook of one arm.
'This guy looks familiar,' he thought when he spotted two swords cross-strapped on his back.