Lew Creek.

3:23 p.m. 17th Peniel 1091.

Seven men and a black direwolf stood on a hill overlooking a small town. Their leader, Kashi, was absorbed in thought on how to approach, troubled by the high activity he could make out from his position.

Kashi frowned and turned to look at his partners. "I thought the entire Delta had been taken over by pirates?"

"Yeah, but Lew Creek is the only town with waters deep enough to permit travel with anything larger than a rowboat," Iason said.

"If one wants to travel from any town in the delta to the north, they must disembark at Lew Creek. Only a rowboat can make it as far as Ranad," Jero stated.

"That explains the activity," Kashi mused.

Kashi led his men down the grassy hill to the town.

Lew Creek was much bigger than Ranad, its streets paved with cobblestones — opposed to Ranad's bare earth. Horse-drawn carts departed the town, headed towards the north. Despite the illusion of boisterous activity, the town choked under a thick air of oppression, made evident by the somber faces and downcast eyes.

Kashi eyed the people and noticed several men and women dressed similarly to the bandits at Ranad. The civilians avoided eye contact with them as they went about their daily business.

"What're you looking at?!" one such sentry yelled.

"Forgive me," Kashi said, bowing politely, ignoring the disapproving glares from his partners."I wish to travel downstream and would like to hire a boat."

The sentry scanned the strange group. His eyes lingered on Kira awhile before returning to the daeben. "State your business."

"Ah, I wish to acquire some ingredients from the geruk frogs that inhabit the marshes to the south," Kashi explained.

The sentry cocked an eyebrow. "You an alchemist?"

Kashi smiled. "Only in training, kind sir."

The sentry scratched his chin in thought. A moment passed, and he must have believed their tale because he said, "Go to the harbor and speak with Captain Twix."

"Captain Twix was it? I will make sure to speak with him. Here, for your troubles." Kashi handed 100 Syros to the bandit, who accepted it with a giant smirk on his face.

The sentry happily pocketed the coins then beamed at Kashi. "You take care now."

"Oh, I will," Kashi said and made his way towards the harbor.

"Coward," Hektor rebuked when they had added sufficient distance between the bandit and themselves.

Kashi shook his head. "There is a time for subterfuge and a time to strike."

Hektor snorted. "Yer jus' giving excuses."

Kashi shrugged. "Perhaps. You'll learn soon enough."

"Still, we would like an explanation," Jero said. His words were seconded by the others, confusion in their eyes.

Kashi looked at them and nodded. "My apologies. I am accustomed to traveling alone. Tell me, Jero, what do you see when you look at this city?"

"I see people who have lost hope, living every day praying it won't be their last," Jero said as he surveyed the common folk's despondent faces and lifeless footsteps.

Kashi nodded and then turned to Hektor. "And you, Hektor?"

Hektor spat. "Che. Buncha cowards. Can't stand up 'n' fight fer demselves."

"Hektor!" Jero yelled, but the teen was having not of it.

"Told alla ya ta fight dem bastards, buh y'all were too scar—" Hektor's tirade stopped as a pair of blades shone in the sunlight inches away from his neck.

"I will not permit any disrespect towards the elder," Jero warned, tightening his grip on the weapons with clear intent.

"Now, now. Everyone calm down," Iason called as he stepped between the two in an attempt to defuse the situation.

"This is so ugly," Paris said in disgust.

"Who're ya calling ugly!" Hektor shouted and made to grab Paris, but the older man nimbly hopped back.

"Huhu... for such an ugly child to try and catch me. Words cannot describe my amusement," Paris taunted with a dazzling smile that only set the boy off.

"I'll murder ya!" Hektor yelled and pounced on Paris, but was stopped mid-air by a pair of hands wrapped around his midriff. "Lemme go!" he cried and accidentally elbowed Iason in the face. He paled as he realized he had messed up. "Oh, crap..."

Veins bulged on the bald man's head as he gritted his teeth and slammed Hektor to the ground in a German suplex. The situation quickly escalated into a war of words and blows while Kashi, Kira, and the twins watched the exchange.

"Won't you stop them?" Alex asked. He had a light voice resembling that of a child's.

"Not yet. Let them tire themselves out," Kashi replied as he sat on the ground. "Care to join me? I have prepared a few snacks and drinks from the local plants."

"I would be honored," Alex said as he and his brother sat down and accepted a cup of steaming tea from Kashi. "Mmm... Most divine."

Fifteen minutes later...

"And why are you guys just drinking tea!" Iason angrily berated when he noticed for the first time since the bout began that a few members were missing.

Kashi looked up from his delicious tea, an indiscernible look on his face. "We were awaiting your bonding session to be over." There was something about the calm way he said it that doused all of the tension and made Hektor, Paris, and the rest feel sillier than little children. They let go of each other and turned to the elf, sharing the same thought. 'I'll kill ya.'

Kashi could see the bloodlust in their eyes and leaked a wry smile. 'Why do my partners always want me dead?' Meh, at least they were united.

"You didn't tell us why you were so polite to the bandits," Narkis said. His voice was exactly like his brother's and Kashi hoped he did not start mixing them up.

"Ah, yes," Kashi said. "You all looked at the citizens and their conditions upon entry, however, you failed to take note of our true reason for approaching this town."

"The bandits," Jero muttered as realization dawned on him.

"What're ya talking about?" Hektor asked.

"Precisely," Kashi said.

"Oi!"

"Oh, sorry," Kashi apologized with a teasing smile. "I forgot some people are slower than others..."

"Huh?!"

Kashi chuckled, amused by Hektor's expression. Maybe it was petty revenge on his part, but he had not wholly forgiven Hektor for calling him a brat. "My apologies. What I meant to say was that there are several more bandits here than I originally thought, and to make things worse, they are spread out acro...!" His eyes widened as a plan formulated in his head. "Jero, you said you excelled in subterfuge?"

"Yes?" Jero answered with a questioning gaze.

Kashi pondered for a moment then asked, "Could you go around town and find out how many bandits there are in total, and their approximate locations?"

Jero's eyes widened as realization dawned. "I see. That is your plan, is it?"

"What're ya talking 'bout?" Hektor asked.

"It is good you are quick to understand," Kashi praised. "That will make things much easier."

"Stop ignoring me!"

"Then I will set out," Jero confirmed. "Where do we convene when I am done?"

"Oi!"

"There's a bar not too far from here," Kashi said, pointing at a signboard a little ways down the road. "We shall await your return there."

Jero nodded and then left the group. Exhausted from the fight and yelling, Hektor plopped to the ground, forehead furrowed in anger.

Narkis, noticing the young man's pale expression, kindly offered, "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, would you like some?" Kashi seconded, innocence in his eyes.

'I'll kill ya!' Hektor swore, but he accepted the drink. Unfortunately, when the cup was only a few inches away from his lips, Kashi suddenly jerked upright, causing him to spill its contents.

"Let us head to the bar," Kashi said. He looked down at Hektor whose shoulders shook with barely contained rage. "Is something the matter?"

Hektor's grip on the cup tightened until it shattered in his hand. "Nothing... nothing at all."

"Hmm, good." Kashi turned and walked to the inn, oblivious to the pair of burning pair of red eyes behind him.

Lew Creek.

7:54 p.m. 17th Peniel 1091.

Later that night, six men and a direwolf sat around a table in uneasy silence. An aura the color of despair mixed with hatred rose from Hektor, causing sweat to drip down the face of everyone it was directed at except the daeben.

Oblivious to the murky hatred, Kashi walked over to the bar. "Greetings. My name is Kashi."

"Whaddaya want?" the barkeep asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Forgive me. Just wanted to ask if by any chance a Lunette passed by this town?" Kashi implored.

The barkeep's eyes widened, giving Kashi his answer. "Why do ya wanna know?"

Kashi leaned in. "See here, let's make this quick. I've got silver, and you've got info I need. How about we swap?"

The barkeep's gaped, surprised by the sudden change in speech. "Yer a sly one ain'tcha?"

Kashi grinned. "Slicker than polished deck."

"Fine. Give it here." The barkeep accepted five small silver coins from Kashi. "That Lunette lass took a boat two days ago heading south. Couldn't forget her if I tried. Had the voice of an angel."

Kashi nodded. So the girl stealing his experience points for discovering new towns was a singer. "Thanks, mate."

The barkeep nodded. "Good luck ta ya."

Kashi turned around to see Jero walk into the bar. He had an air of laxness about him that impressed Kashi. No one would suspect anything of someone who looked as laid-back as Jero was. The daeben returned to the table as Jero joined them.

"How did it go?" Kashi asked.

"There were no problems," Jero reported. "There are currently thirty bandits in this town."

Iason whistled. "That's a lot."

"Hmph. Doesn't matter how many pests gather. They are still pests," Paris said.

"Did you observe their patrol routes?" Kashi asked.

"Yes. They have fifteen in the town and fifteen on a frigate docked at the harbor. They switch out every six hours, but the numbers are constant," Jero said. "The men in the town follow no strict patrol routes. They can go anywhere they please within a given area."

Kashi soaked in the information as the gears inhis head began to turn, grinding out his next course of action. 'Firstday is almost over. I only have eight more days.' He looked up at Jero."Here's the plan..."

8:30 p.m. 17th Peniel 1091.

"Please, sir! You haven't paid for that!" a vendor cried at the bandit munching down on some fried fish.

"Huh?! Did you say something just now?" the bandit shouted as his lips curled in a sinister smirk.

"No-no... Sorry, enjoy your meal." 'And choke on it, you bastard!'

"Haha, thanks for the meal." The bandit laughed as he left the vendor. 'Man, this job is the best! I get free food and money and loads of girls. Maybe I should kill the cap and take over... huhuhu.'

Whoosh!

A figure darting into an alley caught the bandit's attentio". "Hey, who's there?!" he called. When nobody answered, he drew his sword and ran into the alley. It was eerily dark, but he edged onwards, fueled by bravado. He heard the sound of shuffling feet and something metal hitting the ground.

"Found ya!" the bandit shouted with excitement and struck down. Clang! The bandit paled as he realized his sword had been stopped mid-swing. Two glowing red orbs appeared in front of him, hovering in mid-air. He noticed the dots in their middle and realized they were eyes.

The owner of the red eyes had stopped his swing with his bare hands and now gripped the sword's blade. Try as he might, the bandit could not pull the sword loose. His efforts counted for nothing in the end, as barely a second later, he dropped to the ground, choking on his blood.

A torch lit up a translucent soul as it rose from the corpse and began to reduce to petals and returned to the Circle. Kashi and Jero watched the leaves ascend into the sky.

"That's the fifth one," Kashi whispered.

"Ten more to go," Jero said.

9:41 p.m. 17th Peniel 1091.

"Che.. wat's takin dem so long?" Hektor complained while he impatiently tapped on his forearm.

"I don't think assassinations can be finished in mere minutes," Iason pointed out. "Besides, something else has been bothering me."

"Wat?"

Iason's brow rose as he looked at Hektor's minimalist outfit. "Don't you get cold?"

Hektor snorted. "No. This is all I need."

Iason shrugged. "Don't come crying to me when you stub your toe."

Hektor snorted and challenged the older man, "How 'bout I stab you here, right now... Baldie?!"

The moon reflected off Iason's head with a sparkle. "Hehe, you're really asking for it, brat."

Sparks flew between the two, and they would have resumed fighting if it had not been for the timely return of Kashi and Jero.

Hektor perked up immediately as the two men came into view and eagerly asked, "Ya done?"

"Yes," Kashi confirmed. "All that's left are the fifteen on the boat and around the harbor."

Hektor's eyes sparkled with excitement. "So, we c'n go all out?"

"As much as you want," Kashi replied.

Hektor grinned, and his grip tightened around his ax's handle. "Jus' wat I've been waiting fer." The young man excitedly led the group to the docks, where two bandits halted them.

"Come back tomorrow," one of them said, and Kashi recognized him as the one he had spoken to earlier. "The captain is not meeting guests right now."

"Ah, dat so? Well, then..." Hektor grinned and swung his weapon with brute force into the guard, crushing him beneath the blow. Blood burst out of the heavily injured guard and showered the young man in red. A set of white teeth eerily gleamed within the red as Hektor taunted, "Guess I oughta convince 'im ta meet me, den."

The second bandit tried to let out a scream, but Hektor grabbed his throat. The young man squeezed, choking the life out of the bandit and then slammed him onto the ground. Hektor followed up by jumping into the air and brutally stomping on the bandit's face. The bandit's skull caved in, sending blood and flesh splattering in all directions.

The first bandit struggled to crawl away, but Hektor bludgeoned him continuously with the ax until he died. He turned to Kashi, who watched the slaughter with detached interest. "Well den, how's about we go finish dem up?"

Hektor grinned as they ran through the docks and jumped onto the frigate's deck. They were not surprised to see that several bandits awaited their arrival with drawn weapons.

"I leave this to you," Kashi said as he and Kira jumped onto the bridge.

"Huh?!" the six men cried in shock.

"If I see you require aid, I will assist you," Kashi promised.

"Who do you think you are?!" a bandit cried and lunged at the daeben, but he nimbly dodged and tripped up the pirate. He watched as the bandit stumbled and crashed into the bulwarks.

"If you choose to battle, then I will slaughter you without mercy." Kashi's eyes carried in them a threat that rung so true that the bandits abandoned any notion of fighting him.

"We'll kill you guys first," the bandits chorused at the remaining men.

"Huhuhu... Ya bastards c'n try!" Hektor roared in defiance.

"Perfect," Iason said. "I've had a lot of pent-up rage anyway." He spun his lance around him as his eyes focused in on his targets.

"You are all ugly. I will grant you the honor of a beautiful death," Paris said, brandishing a magnificent rapier.

"Irritated," the twins chorused as they pulled out their swords.

"W-what's up with these guys?"

"They're not normal!"

"Kill them!"

The bandits charged at the Warriors of Ranad, but surprisingly, the first to land an attack was Iason. He extended his lance, stabbing the closest in the abdomen, and then rushed forward until he impaled the bandit on a mast.

Iason pulled the weapon free from his victim, butted an attacker, and then spun around, only to see a bloody pile where the attacker had been. The twins stood there, swords bloodied from bisecting the bandit.

"Uak!" a bandit cried as Paris stabbed him in the shoulder. He pulled out the weapon and flicked it, spraying the blood on the deck. The bandit made to attack him again, but Paris quickly stabbed him in the other shoulder and once again flicked the blood onto the deck. "Disgusting."

"I'll kill y—" The thin blade thrust through the bandit's throat, shutting him up. The bandit fell to the ground, blood seeping out from the hole in his neck. The last thing he heard was the word...

"Disgusting."

Meanwhile, Jero parried the blows from several bandits and countered in kind, swiftly dispatching them with practiced movements that could have only been honed on the battlefield. A body hurtled towards him from the side, and he jumped over it, watching as it flew over the deck and into the river.

Jero looked in the direction the body had come flying from and sighed.

"Ora ora ora ora! Dat ain' nearly enough!" Hektor chanted as he bashed in the skull of a bandit and sunk his fists into the head of another. The bandits regretted their initial decision to surround him because he was the least dressed and youngest looking of the lot.

Hektor's ax smashed through a bandit's sword, shattering it to bits before slamming the bandit in question into the mast. A sword pierced through his abdomen from behind, and he looked down at it and then over his shoulder at the other terrified bandit.

"See? Ya c'n do it if ya try," Hektor teased with a demonic grin and then grabbed the bandit and lifted him by the throat. The others lunged at him, but he tossed their comrade at them. While the disoriented bandits struggled to regain their composure, he stomped on the deck with all his might, and a tremor rippled through it, tripping them.

Hektor crushed the fallen bandits with his ax, then turned around to the bandit he had left on the mast, only to find that not only had the bandit recovered, but he had picked up a sword off his fallen comrades and was charging at him.

Hektor once again stomped on the floor, but this time, he reeled back as shooting pain ran up his leg. He looked down to see a splinter from the deck cracking from his first stomp piercing his leg. Off balance, he failed to react in time as the bandit closed in on him. "Shit!"

Thwip!

An arrow tore through the bandit's head and pinned it to the deck. Hektor looked up to Kashi, who nodded. Scowling, Hektor pulled out the sword that was embedded in his belly and winced at the nasty wound. 'That'll leave a scar.'

When the last of the bandits were wiped out, Kashi walked down the stairs and rapped on the captain's quarters. "I know you are in there. Come out and face me," he said.

Kashi suddenly jumped back just as the door blew off its hinges and flipped across the deck.

"You bastards! Do you know who you just fucked with?!" a deep raspy voice threatened as a large man in an exaggerated pirate outfit stepped out of the room.

Kashi observed the flamboyant man with a sly grin. "Am I right to assume you are the captain?"

"That's right, fool!" the captain loudly berated in rage. "You will pay for your stupidity!"

"I will grant you fair combat. One-on-one, no interruptions," Kashi said, ignoring his declarations. "I will also grant you the option to choose your own rules."

"Hehe... cocky brat!" the captain spat and cast a wary glance at Kira. "How do I know your mutt won't kill me when you're dead?"

"No worries," Kashi said, patting Kira to calm her down. "She possesses more honor than you or I ever could."

"Good then. Hand-to-hand combat," the captain proposed with a confident grin. 'Heh, with a weak body like that, killing him will be a cinch!'

"As you wish," Kashi said as he removed his weapons. A light breeze brushed past, caressing his hair. Once it died down, Kashi dashed forward.

"Fool!" The captain roared with laughter as he drew out a metallic object, its barrel pointed at the charging elf.

A gun!

Kashi had far more time to process his shock than he should have as his worldview suddenly slowed to a crawl. He saw the discharge in the gun chamber and watched as the round bullet rotated out of the pistol and tore through the air, distorting the space around it.

This was the second time this had happened, but this time Kashi's body could at least move a bit. He bent low, and the bullet passed harmlessly through his hair. As if on cue, his worldview returned to normal, and Kashi dashed toward the surprised captain with shocking speed.

The captain attempted to fire off another shot, but Kashi jumped onto his chest and kicked the captain's chin as he somersaulted backward, simultaneously knocking the gun into the air.

Once he landed, Kashi kicked the still stunned captain on the right side of his head and then kicked his left to prevent him from falling. After several strikes, Kashi spun around and delivered a rising roundhouse kick to the captain's chin, which lifted him into the air.

Kashi raised his arm and caught the gun, which had just landed, and then pointed it at the captain when he crashed to the ground. "Perish!" Kashi commanded and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A black embodiment of pure malice tore through the captain's head and splattered his brain on the deck.

Kashi looked up from the corpse to Jero and the rest of the group, whose eyes held newfound respect. "We have a ship. Our next destination's Merswamp."

"Ooh!" they cried.

Even Hektor could not suppress the smile that crept across his lips.