The retreat wasn’t going as planned for Lucas and the party. No matter which direction they tried to take, a search party would soon intercept they path. With increased experience in fighting these blue – skinned human, they were able to take out six men without significant difficulty, a grand testimony to the strength and teamwork of the party. That fact made Lucas extremely proud, but there was a worrying trend starting to emerge. The squads looking for them started to become larger and twice now they were pushed back from their chosen path by a dozen warriors. Yet again, they heard unmistakable steps which they learned belonged to the invaders. The unnatural coordination between the parties and their godlike tracking abilities spoke that there were some guide that navigated them. But who it was, were it was and how does that guiding even work was still unknown to the party and that made them uncomfortable. Still, they trekked, staying to stay vaguely on course to Camp Hearth. Unfortunately for them, the force guiding the warriors looked like it was aware where they wanted to go and that direction was soon cut off by another party. Desperate, party once again changed direction, Maggie leading them back towards the shore. Confused at first by her intention, Lucas took steps forward to ask her what she is planning, but in the middle of his strides he realized that Maggie’s intention was to slip by their pursuers by staying near the shore, betting that the enemy almost completely emptied it looking for them. Once again that woman amazed him, her sharp thinking and composure under immense pressure adding to the overall impression Lucas had of her. He once again was lost staring in her direction, her comely shape striding through the forest like it was born in wild. He of course knew they weren’t, learning a lot of sibling’s history during months of training they had. They were born in some small village somewhere on the frontier of civilized world. Their parents escaped from more orderly places after the invasions were beaten back, incapable of leading normal and quiet lives anymore, their mind bodies yearning for more adventures. Growing up like that, both Ted and Maggie were destined to become adventurers in the spitting image of their parents. During their growing up, the place of their birth was slowly stopped being the frontier of humanity reclamation of Earth, as the border was pushed further. That left them with the choice to move with it as they parents once did or start traveling in more civilized places, acting as wandering adventurers and slaying left behind as pioneers and trailblazers constantly pushed the humanity forward into the wilderness. Their parents opted to move with the border and looking to get some independence, they chose the latter option. Their travels took them to Camp Hearth and their imprisonment after which they tied themselves to Lucas. Of the other two members of his party, Chen didn’t share much of his past. He was also imprisoned by the General’s unit and caught Lucas eye with the competence he showed during constant skirmishes with the troopers after Lucas and Bruce showed. The small Asian man, young with a clean shaven face and brown eyes and short black hair, he was guarded man with what seemed trouble past that he wanted to keep as private as possible. Lucas could respect the man’s wishes and never did his pry, enjoying the tales that the man occasionally shared of his previous adventures. He was also their source of information on the field, his knowledge second only to Bruce and in some areas even rivaling the old Loremaster. He certainly had learned and lived through a lot for a young man and Lucas had a feeling he wasn’t as young as his appearance showed, but he knew System could keep people young well beyond their age, especially if the will of the individual was strong and has preferences. Margaret, on the other hand, was young in both age and demeanor, in fact she was the youngest member of their little party, even though all of them were young. She was barely over twenty years old, and it showed, her face youngish, without a speck and even sometimes developing pimples, showing that even System enhanced teenagers still had the woes of their age show up. She was certainly pretty, her green eyes complimenting streaks of brown hair and her long stature, even if her curves were somewhat smaller than those of Maggie’s. Not that Lucas ever looked at their healer in such a way, in her mind they shared a bond similar to that Ted and Maggie had, a siblings bond. She was always cheerful and as Lucas learned during long months spent in training, only reason she joined the General’s troops were a sense of camaraderie and belonging, something she lacked in her early years, being an orphan. That was actually another thing that bonded her to Lucas and the fact that she put herself at risk to help him, exposing herself to the full frontal hit from an ten times stronger enemy, cemented that protective feeling Lucas had of the woman. Of course, she wasn’t some damsel in distress and she was fully capable of taking care of herself, as the rigorous training they all passed after retaking Camp Hearth had the most positive effect on Margaret, as she was the weakest. Not only her levels shot up, but she learned to weave through the battlefield to reach the party member in most critical state and even started developing some proactive skills that allowed her to be useful in a fight even when nobody was hurt, with shielding and barriers against specific types of attack. Lucas suspected she needs more levels to round up her proactive skills, but the way Margaret improved and progressed and the fact she enjoyed being in such tight group with the shared goals, left him with the impression it will not be long before she reaches that heights. The signals from Maggie pulled him from his thoughts, his still tender ribs flaring in pain as he pulled his sword. Their trek near the shoreline was uneventful, only rhythmic thundering of feet behind them marking that the enemy still knew their location. From the looks of it, the guiding force behind the blue – skinned humans decided to break the stalemate, as the sounds of the second search party was now in front of them, closing in. Maggie wasted no time, leading them to the cliff overlooking the shore, quickly finding the suitable path for them to descend onto the shore proper. Finding themselves on the gravel, they went into quick discussion about their next steps. Lucas was getting tired of being hunted and he said as much, proposing to take the fight to their pursuers. No time for some elaborate plan, Chen quickly made the illusions of them continuing to walk, while Lucas gently took alchemist from his back and hid him behind some stones near the cliff. They scrambled as best as they could and the search party that was in front of them. They spotted the illusions, deliberately slowed by Chen and with a mighty war cry from the woman in front that was probably the commander, they begun their charge. While the melee fighters, five warriors in total advanced, their ranged fighter, which included one caster stayed back and began pelting the skills. Chen send the illusions running, trying to buy maximum distance between melee and range fighters. After few more seconds, Lucas decided there was enough distance and gave the signal to attack. Maggie opened the battle with her signature skill, two arrows in quick succession which slammed at the opposing archer. The man shouted in pain while Lucas found the aura of the caster and activated “Aura severing”, stunning the man as he cut him off from his aura. Ted charged at one of the remaining axe throwers while Lucas took another, his passive skill enough to keep him fast enough to prevent the thrower to aim at him properly. When he got to the man, he activated “Soul – shattering strike”, stabbing the man. The man screamed in intense pain, sword piercing both his flesh and his soul, which left him stunned and helpless for the chained “Guiding strike” which pierced him through the heart, killing him. Maggie also finished the archer and Lucas spotted Margaret in the process of emptying the clip from her pistol into the head of the stunned caster. Ted was only one still entangled with his man, but by now the melee fighters figured out the ploy and were charging back. Lucas run to meet them and first swing of the axe he punched away with “Punch parry” and sending “Doom strikes” with other hand. He managed to land a hit or two before swings overwhelmed him and he felt a bite of the blade in his flesh, luckily managing to miss any vital part as axe struck him in the clavicle.

“You took 374 points of damage”

He used “Dodge” to get away and Chen supported him, three of him landing in three different spots. The warriors, with the exception of the one Lucas stunned who was still laying helplessly on the ground, were confused just for a moment, enough for Lucas to find the aura of one of them and activate “Aura severing”, stunning the woman. He then activated “Blade spin”, his gladius beginning to spin and fly in the direction of warriors. They tried to parry and dodge the blade, but each of the two standing warriors that were still on their feet got struck and there was no hope for the stunned woman to avoid it. That bought enough time for Ted to charge them, Maggie supporting him from behind with her crossbow and Chen multiplying the arrows with his illusions. Margaret strolled to him and with her hands glowing green, she touched him, healing energies pleasantly going through Lucas’s body.

“You are healed for 200 points”

Lucas thanked the medic for healing, especially for the fact she used her weaker version that didn’t require him to heal it normally later. He had one of those in queue already and she was getting better at managing that aspect of her class. Of course, there was also a version to bring him from brink of death back to full strength, but luckily it still wasn’t needed, as it was horrendous to drop on a brink of death during normal day activities, when the feedback happens. He watched the battle, satisfied to see Ted and Maggie have already dropped one of the remaining warriors. Margaret sneaked away to one of the stunned warriors, the woman that was already damaged when Lucas’s blade hit him, her pistol already in her hands and aimed on the head of the warrior woman. The other melee fighter was starting to recover, which Lucas guessed was his signal to return to the fight, but just as he repositioned to face the recovering warrior, a strong wind started to blow. It brought cold that was felt all the way to the bone and soon transformed itself into a full blown snowstorm. Everybody was blown away, hitting the base of the cliff. When the snowstorms subsided, they could see the catalyst of it. A woman dressed in rich white furs. She was blue – skinned like the rest of her man and only thing different was the air of authority she possessed. Remaining warriors bowed their heads in deference, completely losing interest in attacking the party. The woman pointed at Lucas and spoke in language he could understand, which marked the first of these invaders who knew it.

“You and I need to talk” she said and Lucas nodded, stepping forward.