"Listen, I need to know. Are you really on board for this mission or not?" I looked her dead in the eye.

  She smirked, her glowing red eyes entirely unbothered by my anger. "Why? Am I not obedient enough for you, Mentor?"

  My jaw clenched. "This isn't a joke! We are descending into a Dark Cave soon. Lives are on the line!"

  "Are you terrified I might bail on you?" Her smirk widened into a wicked grin. She stepped into my personal space, her pale hands lightly tracing the hardened leather of my arm. "You’re strong enough to carry this little squad all by yourself, aren't you?"

  I grabbed her wrist immediately. "Stop playing around! I would rather expose you right now than risk their safety!" I glared at her. "So tell me, are you on board or not?!"

  Swish. Swish.

  We both froze. My ears caught the faint rustle of footsteps on the grass.

  Within a fraction of a second, Mathilda’s presence simply vanished. I silently scaled the massive elm beside me, vanishing into the thick canopy to scan the dark perimeter.

  Shadows were sliding through the tree line. I drew my dagger, reversing my grip. There were four distinct presences out there, creeping steadily toward our dying campfire.

  Thud. I snapped my head toward the source of the sound. Was it Mathilda?

  I leaped silently between the branches, closing the distance to the shadows. Peering down through the leaves, I saw four men already lying face-down in the dirt. They hadn't even drawn their weapons. They had been killed by precise strikes to their throats.

  That was definitely Mathilda’s doing.

  I squinted, observing their rugged outfits.

  They were raiders! Fuck! If there are scouts, there will be a main party.

  Before I could move, Mathilda was already crouching beside me on the branch. "I scouted ahead," she whispered, her red eyes glowing faintly. "There are twenty more of them heading this way. Those four were just the scouts."

  "Wake the others. Tell them to hide in the canopy. Grab only their weapons. We will ambush the rest when they arrive."

  Mathilda nodded. Her form rippled, morphing back into her human disguise, and she dropped silently to the ground to wake the squad.

  While she roused the kids, I jumped down, dragged the four scout corpses, and dumped them in a pile right next to our ration bags in the center of the camp.

  Good, with this, they’ll focus their attention toward the center instead of the canopy. They’ll be thinking we ran away.

  Seeing the bodies, the rookies turned pale and shocked.

  "Don’t just stand there. Climb the trees, fast. Surround the camp from above," I whispered harshly.

  Without a single question, they scrambled up the thick trunks and hid in the foliage.

  Once the bait was set, I climbed back into the canopy. I scanned the squad's positions in the branches above the clearing. They all caught my eye, returning sharp, ready hand signals. I caught Kenny's gaze and tapped my throat, pointing to Hoiler and Patrice. Kenny nodded, weaving a subtle, blue spell that enveloped them, silencing their movement.

  A moment later, the main group of raiders approached the camp. Six of them moved cautiously into the center of the clearing, while the rest hung back in the tree line.

  "Those are our scouts!" one of them shouted, spotting the pile of bodies. "There's no one else in this camp!"

  The rest of the raiders instantly drew their weapons, looking around warily.

  A large man wielding a greatsword barked orders at the group. "They already know we’re here! Keep your eyes open! You three, secure their rations and bags!"

  I quickly analyzed the group. Good. They’re just common bandits. I caught the squad's eyes, signaling them to pick the raiders off one by one, quietly.

  I dropped down silently right behind two of their rearguards.

  Stab! Crack! I drove my dagger through the first man's throat and snapped the second man's neck before either could even draw a breath to scream.

  Schluck! A black-fletched arrow suddenly materialized in the eye socket of a raider who had turned to face me. I glanced across the clearing. Mathilda had already taken down four of them from the shadows.

  BAMMMM! "They’re up here!" a raider screamed from Patrice’s position.

  Fuck! I dashed toward them.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I scanned the chaotic clearing. Patrice was already surrounded by three desperate raiders, swinging her heavy battleaxe to keep them at bay. But before they could close the net, Hoiler broke through the brush, flanking their blind spot and shattering their formation.

  I dropped my center of gravity, coiled my muscles, and launched myself into the fray.

  I struck the rear guard from the shadows. My dagger slid effortlessly into the soft tissue of his neck, silencing his warning cry into a wet gurgle. Without breaking my forward momentum, I planted my lead foot and whipped a devastating sidekick directly into the temple of the next bandit. The sickening crunch of bone echoed over the clash of steel as he crumpled to the dirt.

  "We're being flanked! Group up!" one of the surviving raiders screamed.

  The remaining bandits panicked, retreating from the tree line and clustering tightly together in the center of the camp to form a defensive circle.

  I stopped, a dark smirk pulling at my lips. Big mistake.

  I flicked my gaze up to the high canopy. Kenny was already anchored to a thick branch, waiting for my signal. I gave a sharp nod. Instantly, a violent, screaming vortex of sapphire mana began to condense around the tip of his spear.

  With a feral shout, he hurled the glowing weapon like a javelin, burying it directly into the dirt at the center of the tightly packed raiders.

  BAAAAANGGGG!!!!!

  The magical detonation was deafening. The shockwave leveled the surrounding brush, kicking up a suffocating, blinding cloud of pulverized dirt and ash.

  For a split second, there was silence. Then, a terrifying surge of crimson light ignited deep within the dust cloud.

  No fucking way. The air grew scorching hot. "Kenny, move!" I roared.

  Kenny threw himself from the branch not a millisecond too soon. A massive, crescent-shaped blade of pure red aura sheared through the dust, cleanly slicing the thick oak trunk in half where Kenny had just been standing. The top of the tree crashed violently into the forest floor.

  Shit. An aura user. And a high-level red aura at that.

  As the dust settled, the horrific aftermath was revealed. The raiders were dead, scattered like broken dolls. But standing in the center of the crater, completely untouched, was a massive man gripping a scarred greatsword. Without a word, he locked onto Kenny’s landing zone and charged with terrifying, explosive speed.

  CLANK!!!

  Sparks showered the dark forest as Hoiler intercepted him, his blue aura clashing violently against the greatsword. From the left, Patrice vaulted over a fallen log, bringing her battleaxe down in a brutal, gravity-fed cleave. The raider didn't even flinch. He parried both heavy weapons with effortless precision, his thick red aura absorbing the kinetic impact. Hoiler and Patrice pressed the assault, chaining their strikes together, but the veteran raider blocked every blow like a stone wall.

  I drew my dagger and sprinted in to flank him, but the raider sensed the shift in pressure. He planted his boots, drew the red energy deep into his core, and unleashed a concussive, omnidirectional shockwave.

  "HRAAAAHHHH!"

  The violent burst of thermal energy hit me like a battering ram, pushing me back into the dirt. Hoiler and Patrice were completely lifted off their feet, launched through the air until they slammed brutally against the surrounding trees.

  The raider raised his greatsword, dashing forward to execute the groaning rookies.

  Before his blade could fall, Mathilda materialized from the shadows. Moving with terrifying, unnatural Elven speed, she delivered a blurring strike to his waist. The kinetic force was staggering; the massive raider was launched completely sideways, violently snapping saplings as he tumbled into the brush.

  I pointed at Hoiler and Patrice, silently ordering Mathilda to guard them. She gave a curt nod, her eyes glowing in the dark. I didn't wait. I bolted into the brush, hunting the raider down.

  A searing wave of red aura came shrieking toward my chest. I threw myself into a vault, kicking off the trunk of a nearby pine to launch myself over the lethal energy wave. Suspended in the air above him, I twisted my hips and drove a punishing axe kick straight down at his skull.

  He caught the strike on the flat of his greatsword, the impact rattling his teeth.

  Using his own blade as a pivot point, I shifted my weight off my right leg and snapped a brutal left hook-kick directly into his jaw. He staggered, his balance finally broken—but his veteran combat instincts saved his life. Abandoning his stance, he channeled his red aura directly into his boot, let his body fall backward with my momentum, and drove a vicious kick upward into my ribs.

  I was launched horizontally through the air, crashing hard into the dirt. I gritted my teeth, a sharp, white-hot pain lancing through my side. Dammit. I touched my ribs. The hardened leather armor had completely shattered under the aura strike, but the bone was miraculously intact.

  The raider was already back on his feet, his greatsword raised. The air warped as his crimson aura flared to its absolute maximum.

  "HRAAGHHH!" He unleashed a frenzied barrage, sending wave after wave of searing red aura slicing through the darkness. I was forced to stay low, diving and rolling frantically through the mud as the energy blades carved deep trenches into the earth around me.

  The second he paused to draw breath, I found my footing. I exploded forward, closing the twenty-foot gap in a blur. Slipping beneath his guard, I drove a devastating, full-body punch directly into the center of his lower core.

  BAM!!

  The kinetic shockwave traveled straight up his spine. Instantly, the roaring crimson light surrounding his body sputtered and died. His aura was gone.

  I didn't give him a chance to recover. I stepped into his guard and delivered a crushing, heavy uppercut to his jaw.

  CRACK!!

  Blood and teeth sprayed into the night air. Without his aura to absorb the damage, the raw physical impact nearly took his head off his shoulders.

  He crashed to the dirt, choking on his own blood. Miraculously, sheer adrenaline forced him back to his feet. He gripped his greatsword, his eyes wide with panic as he desperately tried to reignite his core.

  I just stood there, watching him with a cold, mocking smirk.

  "Wh... what?!" he gasped, staring at his empty hands in sheer terror. "Why... why can’t I generate my aura?!" His panicked eyes slowly locked onto my ash-grey hair. The realization hit him like a physical blow. "Wait... Don’t tell me... You’re a Void—"

  Slaaaassshhhh. A spray of hot blood painted the forest floor. Mathilda stood directly behind him, a razor-sharp blade of wind aura dissipating around her bare hand. She had taken his head clean off his shoulders before the word could leave his lips.

  The decapitated body slumped to the dirt. Mathilda stepped over the bleeding corpse, her face an unreadable, emotionless mask. Her sage eyes were dark and hollow. When she looked up and met my gaze, she slowly raised a blood-soaked index finger, pressing it against her lips in a mocking gesture of silence.

  "It is our little secret, no?" Her hollow look melted into a chilling, triumphant grin.