Team Cookie Sandwich was by no means the first to arrive at the gate. Just about twenty bronze rank and two silver rank teams had been selected for the expedition, and a good part of them had already arrived at the gathering place before their team.

  Pieter, the expedition organizer, was standing upon a podium raised from the ground with Troy, the silver rank antimage, hanging around next to him. He was looking around with a pen and notebook in his hands, occasionally chatting or laughing with Troy about something Valar couldn’t hear.

  Valar’s team planted themselves next to the team of Jeremiah. The team’s composition was quite similar with a warrior, archer, rogue and some kind of mage hanging around the same area. Somewhat differently to team Cookie Sandwich, the warrior was a muscular woman with a mace and shield and their mage was a fire one. That composition was a much more common one as mages were hard to come by. Valar’s perspective was kind of skewed on that front, as their team had three…

  “Team Cookie Sandwich, is it?” Jeremiah greeted Rodrick and the others. “Rodrick already knows all of them, but this is my team! Our name is the Perfect Strike, and our leader is Pixie, our resident cutthroat!”

  Pixie was a rare case of an adult that was actually shorter than Carla. The dainty woman had tan skin and short dark hair, although not much was free for Valar’s eyes to see. Unlike Ciel, who needed space for runes, Pixie could cover herself with dark leathers almost fully, leaving only a few joints less protected. Less protected, not unprotected.

  Valar had never seen a bodysuit before, but that was the best way he could describe the garment. The black skintight cloth covered Pixie from the neck down, leaving anything otherwise bare covered. The short woman caught his eye and raised her eyebrow. “I’m going to assume you were looking at my equipment because you’re so young, but if for an example Arthur looked at me in that way, I would punch him in the mouth,” she said dryly.

  Valar blushed deep red and looked at the ground. “Sorry, I was looking at the clothing…”

  “Clothing, huh?” Pixie grinned. “You know the clothing is-”

  “Pixie, please stop,” Jeremiah sighed. “He’s thirteen, don’t tease him.”

  The slight woman turned to the archer. “But it’s so fun!”

  “Please don’t… The boy is as red as the sunset at this point.”

  “Hrumph…” Pixie turned back to the party. “We’ll probably work together on this expedition, so I’ll do introductions. Jeremiah, our archer, you already know. This wimp here,” she pointed at the fire mage. “is Lindon Wendir, our mage and the lump of meat here is Phonis, our warrior. Say hi, everybody!”

  “Hi, everybody,” a chorus of voices rang out, their notes ranging from flat to flatter to flattest. The flattest was Phonis, who was staring daggers at their leader.

  “Well then…” Rodrick started. “Hello to you too. I’ll introduce my own team members next. As you well know, Arthur is our archer…”

  “My condolences,” Pixie giggled.

  “And I graciously accept them,” Rodrick grunted. “Next up, Ciel, our rogue and dark mage. Then Carla, our ice mage and last but not least—that’s Arthur’s position—is Valar, our latest addition and healer in training.”

  “Nice to meet you all,” Valar waved shyly. He knew he was still blushing, but really, what could he do about that?

  Pixie’s grin was positively villainous.

  The two teams fell into light discussion as they waited for the expedition to begin properly. Introductions were made, Valar was teased, Arthur was bullied and potential co-operation plans were hashed out. Both Pixie and Rodrick were somehow already aware that their teams would be working together, and Valar in particular was warned that he would work as a healer for both teams, not just his own.

  “As long as we’re in close proximity to each other, healing any injured member of either team is valuable enough,” Pixie said. “We have a good stock of bronze rank healing potions, but if Phonis or I get hurt, we’ll be in trouble.”

  “And if that happens, I’ll send Ciel to cover for you,” Rodrick assured.

  “I’ll heal everyone, but do keep in mind that I’ll run out of mana at some point. Well, it’s not mana that I’ll run out of but I’ll pass out and-”

  “We know what you mean,” Lindon, Perfect Strike’s mage said. “Just say that you’ll run out of mana. I know it’s not exactly right, but most mages use it as slang.”

  “What he said,” Pixie nodded at Lindon. “Can Ciel hold on if one of us falls?”

  The dark mage’s dismissive harrumph drew a raised eyebrow from the other rogue, but Rodrick stepped in before any tension could build. “She solo killed a bronze rank forest troll when the rest of us were taking a break. I think she’ll be alright.”

  Now both of Pixie’s eyebrows were up, as were all the others’. The feat wasn’t exactly Herculean, like taking on an apex predator like a behemoth ursa or umbral terror, but it was still quite grand. Both Ciel’s value as a combatant and the potential danger she posed had just changed in each team members’ mind.

  “Now listen up!” Troy’s booming voice interrupted every ongoing discussion, and every gaze was turned toward the antimage. “I’ll soon pass the floor to Pieter, but I have a few words to say first! This expedition won’t be an easy one! The mere fact that I was brought in to assist the two silver ranked teams should tell you that the enemy resistance will be ferocious! We may have better fighters, but there are a shit ton of bandits in the Ronaheim forest, and we’ll be stepping into their home! Care for traps, stay close to your team and if you see a silver rank enemy combatant, run! We know of four, and every single one of them is scary as fuck!”

  Hearing the peak silver rank warrior call a few silver ranks scary brought some good perspective to Valar. This is the real deal, not like the earlier bandit attacks… Treat the enemies as fighters, not fodder.

  “Their leader, Edwin the Undying Horror, is legitimately one of the scariest silver rankers I’ve ever heard of,” Troy yelled. “I’ve been told that the fucker has created a network of prepared healing spells that allow him to regenerate from almost everything in seconds. Bronze rankers, run away! As for silver rankers, cut off his head or something! It’s basically the only thing you can do that will probably kill him!”

  “That sounds like a total nightmare!” one of the expedition’s silver rankers yelled.

  “And it is!” Troy shouted back. “That’s why he’s my target! Assistance is appreciated, but I have prepared means to keep the horror down. Just fight on and hope for the best! Now, Pieter, do you have something to say?”

  The bald functionary of the adventurer’s guild nodded to the warrior and stepped up with his notebook in hand. “Troy explained most of the risks pretty well, but do keep in mind that the Ronaheim forest doesn’t have only bandits within. Our goal is the bandits, not the beasts slumbering in the woods, so skip right past them if you can! One option is to lead the beasts to bandit camps, but as that is quite hard to do, going straight for the bandits is preferable. Now, I’ve paired every team and informed the leaders so that you can work in bigger numbers than usual. This is to even out the numbers game somewhat so that the large groups of bandits can’t overwhelm individual units with pure numbers. I hope you get along, but if you don’t, remember that you’re getting paid for this! Looting is allowed and even encouraged. Take everything you can! Let’s go cripple the Crimson Talon!”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He raised his fist to roaring applause and shouts of approval. If there was something that got adventurers riled up, it was loot!

  “Now let’s head out!”

  The eastern gate of Lyndale, just like the other entrances to the city, didn’t usually open fully even during the day. It was both risky and unnecessary, as even a partially opened gate could let even bigger caravans roll through. Today was an exception.

  The iron gates of Lyndale were dragged wide open, earth mages and soldiers working together to give the expedition a proper sendoff. Usually, this honor was reserved for the military, but the city had wanted to showcase its support for the expedition.

  The adventurers didn’t march out in even lines like the military. It was no march or war effort, but an expedition. Veterans, rookies and cutthroats alike streamed out of the city, laughing between themselves without any rules or etiquette. It was the adventurer way, and while some deemed it unruly and inefficient, for adventurers, it was absolutely perfect.

  Valar looked at the spatially expanded wagon in the middle of their formation, brought along to act as the base of operations for the expedition. It contained their attack plans, however loose they were, replacement equipment and alchemical supplies. They couldn’t bring the wagon far into the forest as the horses pulling it wouldn’t survive the terrain, but it could be brought relatively close. It could act as a fallback point and a meeting point for the Rhondell adventurers, if nothing else.

  The adventurers coming from Rhondell would be bringing a similar wagon with them, and that would be Valar’s team’s goal. The mission would be a sweep through the forest, hopefully in a way where they would hit the bandit headquarters in the middle of Ronaheim at the same time as the Rhondell troops.

  The whole plan, including information on the enemy powerhouses, had originated from Alyssa. Honestly, nobody thought about capturing a bandit and actually making a deal with them instead of execution? What a waste… Valar’s words to Viktor seemed to have started quite a movement.

  I guess when an onyx ranker like him vouches for an iron ranker, things start happening. Ciel should be thanked too… She took Alyssa as a hostage, even though no one asked for her to!

  “Ciel?” Valar asked as they jogged.

  “Yeah, what’s up?”

  “Why did you decide to take Alyssa as a hostage instead of killing her?”

  The pale rogue took on a thoughtful expression. “Honestly, I’m not quite sure. Arthur shot an arrow at her earlier during the fight and missed, but the girl didn’t seem like a threat. If she would have posed more of a threat, I would’ve slain her instead, I think.”

  “Wait, Arthur missed?” Rodrick asked, his eyebrows doing their darndest to reach his hairline. “He doesn’t miss often, and the girl was at iron rank!”

  “You’re making me blush,” Arthur muttered. “I can miss too…”

  “It wasn’t supposed to be a compliment,” Carla said. “I’m sure a 6-year-old would hit the same shots anyway.”

  “Excuse me,” Jeremiah coughed politely. “But Arthur is one of the best bronze rank archers I’ve ever-.”

  “Stop right there,” Carla raised her hand in warning. “His ego is too big even now!”

  “It’s not!” Arthur exclaimed.

  “You’re pretty egotistical,” Rodrick grunted. “Just last night, you started talking in your sleep. If I remember correctly-.”

  “And that’s that!” Arthur slapped his hand over Rodrick’s mouth. “We were talking about Alyssa, right?”

  Ciel, in an uncharacteristic act of mercy, grabbed onto Arthur’s lifeline. “Yeah, she was pretty pissed off when we caught her. I mean, her father died, but still…”

  “There’s not ‘but still’ there,” Rodrick said. “Her father died; of course she was upset! I’m kind of amazed she ended up talking at all.”

  The teams continued their discussion throughout the day as they traveled through the forest near Lyndale and into the wasteland. The goal was to camp at the edge of the wasteland and attack in the early morning, but for that they needed to make a good pace for the whole day.

  Fortunately for the expedition, attacks against the big group were extremely rare. The bandits that camped in the forest were smart enough to not attack the whole expedition alone and the beasts weren’t idiots either. If their instincts told them to say away, they did.

  Some adventurers at the vanguard of the expedition did see individual bandits running in the direction of their goal, but that was to be expected. Some would get through, and the enemy would be prepared anyway. That didn’t stop the archers of the expedition from trying to shoot them down.

  “Can I try?” Arthur asked, his golden eyes glimmering with excitement. “Five arrows, please?”

  “You can shoot one,” Rodrick grumbled. “It’s a waste, but I kind of want to see you try…”

  “Only one?” Arthur bemoaned. “Well, I guess it has to be enough then. Perhaps it will be a lucky shot!”

  Arthur grabbed his own bow, looked at it, then shook his head. “Jeremiah, can I borrow your bow for one shot?”

  “Why so? Even your smaller bow can reach that far.”

  “It feels luckier,” Arthur nodded firmly. “Your bow definitely seems luckier.”

  “Once again, I’ve got no idea what you are talking about,” Jeremiah sighed. “Fine, use my bow! You’ll have to use your own arrow though…”

  “That’s fine!” Arthur took the dark skinned archer’s massive bow and grinned. “Yeah, this seems super lucky…”

  Suddenly, the lackadaisical archer’s demeanor changed completely. His expression became steely and his eyes locked on the bandit scout running in the distance. Arthur’s eyes were like two golden beads, his pupils only gazing at the running woman’s back.

  The archer with golden hair drew the string, filling his lungs with air at the same time. Muscles that Valar hadn’t known even existed bunched up, clearly visible even through the cloth covering them. Then, the archer froze.

  He looked at the bandit’s retreating form, the head of his arrow following it like a hawk hunting prey. The bright sunlight glinted off his eyes and a grin grew on his face, “A roll of the dice…”

  Arthur turned his bow slightly to the left and shot. The arrow flew straight and true, but it clearly wasn’t going to hit the escaping woman.

  “Huh?” Jeremiah grunted. “Why did you adjust left? She’s-.”

  “Wait for it…” Arthur said, his tone almost a whisper. “Wait for it… Now!”

  Almost exactly at the same time, the escaping bandit dodged another arrow shot by some adventurer at the vanguard of the expedition.

  She dodged left… right into the path of Arthur’s arrow.

  Arthur roared with glee as the bandit collapsed to the ground in the far distance, Jeremiah and the rest of the team soon joining in. Valar couldn’t see where he had exactly hit the woman, but it seemed to be a killshot.

  As the joyous cries died down, he looked at Arthur. “How did you do it? Predict her sidestep, I mean?”

  “Huh?” Arthur seemed to snap out of his own thoughts. “What do you mean, ‘predict’? I just guessed!”

  “You… guessed?”

  “It was fifty-fifty,” Arthur explained with an exasperated tone. “One of the archers in the front was obviously going to shoot, and I felt that the left side was luckier!”

  “Luckier? I-.”

  “Don’t start,” Rodrick warned. “Good shot, Arthur. Let’s hope that scout was an important one.”

  Arthur smiled at his team leader and handed Jeremiah his bow back. “Thanks. Where did you get that bow, by the way?”

  “Thornton,” Jeremiah grunted. “Good shot.”

  Good shot indeed…

  The rest of the trip through the wasteland was blessedly boring. There were no stampedes, powerful beasts or bandit ambushes. That was for a good reason too, as nobody in their right mind would try to hide their group in the flatlands. They would be spotted easily from afar, and any ambushes would most likely fail miserably.

  That meant that they reached their campsite well before nighttime, and even had time to set up an adventurer barbeque. That being a barbeque made from purely the beasts of the surrounding area…

  Honestly, eating a longhorn ravager was a weird experience. Even though they were bipedal just like humans, their physiques were wildly different, but just the fact that they walked on two legs… It just put him off. That didn’t stop him from eating though. Meat was meat and he didn’t have to look at the corpses when eating. It wasn’t the tastiest meal ever, but any food was good food after a day of trekking through forest and wasteland alike.

  As they ate, the adventurers looked at the edge of the forest. It was a misty day and the visibility was low, but that would change soon. The following morning, they would be stepping into that misty forest to uncover its secrets, and that mist would fall. The Ronaheim, and by extension the whole kingdom, would be safer, and he would be part of that. It even brought a small smile to Valar’s face. A hero, just like in the old bedtime stories… Shame that the stars are clouded over. I would’ve gladly made a wish or two tonight.

  Soon, it was time for sleep. Luckily for the teenage boy, healers didn’t have to hold watch so he would be sleeping peacefully until the early hours of the morning. Then… they would set out to kill some bandits.

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