Pov: ???

Ateehi dashed through the woods. He was dodging branches and bushes as he sprinted with the help of [Fleet Foot]. The woodfolk's racial ability added to his already minute figure meant that he was a born scout and explorer. Well, that's what he liked to think, anyway.

For a few years now, he'd been stuck on the outskirts of the Taette Dominion, forced to let his talents go to waste in this godforsaken wasteland of activity. That was, until now. A dungeon had sprouted. An odd dungeon, he admitted, as it was not a type he'd ever seen or heard about, but a dungeon nonetheless. This was bound to be the first step in his landmark career is the first woodfolk to ever willing work for a country. That was, at least, as far as he was aware.

"FUCK YES!" I yelled out into the woods, knowing that there was no one nearby. My lucky break just came. Haha. Take that Dad. I was a somebody. Well, I would be a somebody. As soon as the higher-ups heard this, I'd be set. A dungeon, and a new one at that. Man, was I golden. Trees dashed by me as I ran towards the nearest camp I knew of. It was only a matter of time.

What? I gasped and coughed as steel forced itself deeper into my back. "W-... wh- wha-...?" I stumbled and fell forward as I glanced back at my superior officer. Cold. It felt like I was getting sucked into a freezing abyss staring right back at me, uncaring, apathetic. A slight grin appeared on the human's face as he stared back at me, forced onto the ground by the simple messenger boy who'd been by his side. "Did you think bringing that tidbit back to me would give you something, boy?" His grin widened just a bit. "Hate to knock the wind out've your lungs, but you've just made me the best known man in the country for the next few days. Next to the king, o' course." He chuckled cruelly at me and looked aside. Pain shot through me as the messeger carved deeper. I hadn't even seen him move. How...? Darkness slowly pressed in on my vision as my thoughts gree cloudy... why...?

Darkness came immediately after, swifting away my consciousness and keeping me from ever knowing.

Pov: ???

The woodfolk kept bleeding on my floor. Poor sod, he was. Good riddance, though. I looked at my assassin, and said, "Clean him up. Make sure no one finds his body." The assassin suddenly disappeared along with the body, even the bloody stain which had been drained onto the floor of the tent had been erased. Creepy fucks, they were. You'd never even know they were there before you died. Well, as long as they were in charge anyway, and they weren't.

I reached under my desk, still facing the entrace of the tent, and pulled out a little bird in a cage. I pulled out a tiny piece of parchment and pulled an inkwell and feather from across the table. 'Found a dungeon, Northeast of camp C11. - Gregory Barker' is what I wrote on the tiny piece. I rolled it up and placed it on the leg of the pidgeon, attached with a piece of fabric. On top of that, I placed a little wax seal, with a rune inscribed on the wax using a stamp. Invisibility. No one would know this pidgeon was carrying anything. I set the cage aside. I'd let it out later, outside of camp where no prying eyes would see that I sent a message in the direction of the palace. In the mean time...

"Go find that dungeon. I want to know exactly where it is and how long it's been there, in the hour." I tapped the table with my finger, as the flaps of the tent flew open momentarily, and closed again just as quickly. Commander, huh? I'd never be satisfied with just that, you know? Any two-bit noble can show up, win a few battles, and just become a commander in the army. I needed more than that. I wouldn't be satisfied until I was sitting right there with the king and telling him where and when the army needed to move. Not the king, o' course, that'd just make me a target, but damn, chief strategist sounded nice.

I leaned back in my chair. This was perfect. Conquer a dungeon, present it to the kind on a silver platter, get promoted. This was easy as all hell. I let out a little chuckle. Counting my little army? 200 men in total. 30 would be more than enough to level that little dungeon if anything the idiot said was true. I'd just come forward as the one who discovered the little dungeon, and with no one to contest me? I'd double my rewards.

The pidgeon'd take a week or so to arrive, but in that time, I'd send another one telling the king all about the core of that baby-man-killer. After that? Level a few more targets under the king's command, assassinate the right people, use the money to repeat, until the king has me to rely on. I'd be out of this forgotten little corner of the kingdom in less than a month.

Back to reality, though. How to explain that the woodfolk had died? Well, ask around, make sure no one had seen him come in. Just explain it off as 'He never came back'. No one could complain if he died on the job. It was expected, in a scout's profession. They were all expendable little soldiers who could run a bit faster than the average man.

I straightened my back as another man came in. "What is it?" I asked, feigning interest in what he was going to tell me. Listening to the peasantry was tiring. "Sir! Fires spotted to the east!" I paused. East? Shit. They were going to take my dungeon! I stood up straight. "Get some people on it, then, soldier! March!" I ignored the fact that he didn't have the authority to do that, by quickly tossing him a token. It had my symbol on it, and was enchanted on the inside to make sure it was recongizable. How they did that? Hell if I know. It didn't matter. The vagrant ran out of my tent. FUCK. I would have that dungeon before whoever that was did. No one was supposed to be nearby, and I hadn't been notified, which meant whoever that was was not approaching with good intentions. I quickly wrote down another note about the danger and stuffed it in with the pidgeon. Time to send them to the king.

I took the cage and walked quickly out of my tent. I didn't bother to glance at the tents in front of me, merely turning away from them and towards the edge of camp. I walked a little bit away and let the pidgeon free, both invisible notices attached to its legs. Not bothering to see it fly away, I turned to the east. I could just barely make out the towers of smoke making their way in our direction, peeking out over the treeline. Things have gotten a little bit more complicated, but this is just trash in my way.

When I win this battle, I'll just get to say I defended the property of the kingdom, and a newly discovered dungeon. Who cares if they knew about it or not?

Soldiers organized in the tents, getting armed and ready for battle. Forest combat, was it? Not the best, but I could take advantage of that.