Infiltration

Getting out of the camp quietly was more worrying than Kurai wanted to admit. Sure there were two that had been placed on guard, but both had been fast asleep by the time they snuck past them.

Kurai almost hoped that one of the others had secretly helped them by knocking the guards out for a few moments, but when he asked the others once they were in the clear, they had been just as worried as he was because it hadn't been their doing.

It was only once they left the area completely that he realized that there were also no other signs of life in their surrounding areas.

Even as they made their way ever closer toward the mountain, they only found small traces of blood that looked fresh, but even the footprints simply stopped just before the traces of blood.

Kurai would have been worried that it had been some of those on their side that had been attacked, but Satoru pointed out that the prints were all coming from the mountain instead of their camp.

Most of their trip toward the mountain was met with no resistance at all, and they finally decided to make camp within in half-a-day's walk of the mountain's entrance once they stopped to rest.

Kurai was about to voice his worry about it possibly being a trap when a kunai implanted itself in the ground about a meter away from him.

Everyone jumped into action, expecting an attack, but Kurai merely allowed a puzzled sound to leave his lips as he noticed a note attached to the blade.

One or two of the others turned their attention toward him as he opened it, while the rest guarded their backs, but a relieved-sounding sigh from Kurai as well as the half-exasperated, half-amused expression on his face had them standing down.

He motioned toward the letter without really letting them read it, which was a little suspicious, but given that he was mostly an open book, they simply waited for him to reveal what he had learned.

They weren't disappointed, "It seems that a few eh-friends of mine had decided to make our trip a bit easier. They cleared the path all the way to the mountain, but we will then be on our own for the rest of the way."

Satoru's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "And these friends aren't openly helping you because…?"

Kurai shrugged awkwardly, "Apparently being the Heir to the Tachi clan comes with a few expectations. They cannot openly help me through the tests, but I guess they are allowed to remove minor obstacles that have nothing to do with my main objective."

It took a moment for a few of them to awkwardly realize that they had forgotten about his status as Heir to the guild as well, and by the look on his face, he hadn't really wanted to remind them of the fact.

Naturally, the realization that they were allowing Abbyssal Apocalypse's Heir to walk into a place that had a good chance of killing them all, without even throwing Zane's overprotectiveness into the mix as well as the fact that he was Zane's newly-found nephew, caused them to freeze in sudden apprehension.

Sure they were players in a world of NPCs, but given that they were currently stuck in said world of NPCs, well, it wouldn't do to anger some of the most influential people they knew.

The thought had Reese turning to Kurai, "You know, maybe one of us should take you back to camp while the rest of us retrieve Hozumi?"

Kurai gave them a pointed look, "And leave either you and your sister or you and Satoru to take on the enemies inside the mountain without even a healer as backup?"

The sudden sound of marching feet echoed around them and the group quickly hunkered down in the large bushes that grew around their campsite.

It had been one of the reasons that they had chosen the spot in the first place, and they now watched in worry as some of the grunt soldiers carried cages that seemed to have restrictive seals placed on them.

It was Taya who angrily whispered the thoughts that they all shared, "They are probably on their way to try and capture more healers. What do they need so many for?"

No one knew the answer to her question, and no one truly wanted to find out as the small army finally vanished from sight.

Kurai released his breath in a single exhale, not even realizing that he had held his breath, but he looked at the others with renewed determination, "Look, I may be new to this, but I do have quite a few tricks up my sleeve. I would also feel better if all of you went back to camp, but the reality is that I am going in there to save Hozumi, and I need your help to do it if we are going to have a higher chance to succeed."

They were silent for a while and Kurai almost started thinking that none of them was willing to help him anymore, but then Satoru simply squeezed his shoulder with a resigned sigh that was completely negated by the excited grin he wore, "I guess we have no other choice then, but if we do happen to get out of here alive, YOU will be the one to tell Zane all about this little misadventure of yours."

Reese and Taya grinned mischievously at the man's words and Kurai felt a sudden unexplainable shiver run down his spine, but he had no time to either agree or disagree as a strange echo sounded over from the side of the mountain and two guards stepped out to patrol the area.

For a moment, they thought they had been spotted, but the guards simply carried on walking on a set path before they suddenly vanished, much to Kurai's surprise.

The sound of an amused laugh behind him had him turning around, only to see that the two guards had already been disarmed and tied up by Reese and Taya, though he didn't know how they had done it so quickly.

The two siblings then promptly started undressing the two guards and Kurai was relieved to see that both men seemed to wear normal clothes under their strange leather-like armor.

He muttered to himself as he turned his back to allow the two siblings the privacy to get dressed, even if it was simply pulling it on over their clothes and Kurai had to admit that they somehow blended in perfectly once he got permission to turn around once more.

Meanwhile, Satoru made quick work of the real guards before dumping the bodies in between the bushes.

It occurred to Kurai that the man was way too calm while taking the life of another, even if it was in-game, but then his thoughts were cut off as they finally snuck their way into the mountain.

Taya and Reese easily steered them through the corridors, going by instinct alone, before it opened up into a huge cavern.

The cavern itself wasn't very busy, but it seemed that only the guards were currently out and about, and that left them with a problem until they noticed three more guards making their way toward them.

Satoru and Kurai quickly stepped back into the corridor and waited as Taya and Reese started chatting, and the men almost walked past them before the one in the middle paused and carefully looked at the siblings, "I don't think I've seen the two of you around before…what are your names."

Reese and Taya shared a look before they snapped to attention, "We only just arrived here, sir. We were told to stay in this hall and to observe how things are done so that we do not get in the way."

Taya nodded along with Reese before she motioned to her brother, "His name is Kyle and my name is Alex. Reporting for duty, sir!"

The man chuckled, though there was a dark look in the man's eye that easily revealed how much of a mask his current 'friendliness' was.

The man nodded in thought, "Why don't you stop by my office later, and bring the ones that had ordered you to simply stay here and observe? We have a strict way of doing things here and you need to do it right to be able to survive here."

Taya and Reese nodded quickly as the men turned to walk away, but before Kurai and Satoru could attack, the man paused and turned towards them once more, "By the way, what did you get thrown down here for?"

Reese and Taya shared identical devilish smirks as they saw Satoru and Kurai standing ready to drag the men into the darkness. Though it was Taya that answered, "Oh, you know, the usual…"

The man's eyes narrowed in suspicion and Reese's smirk became a full-on grin, "We murdered an official for trying to take advantage of their position."

The man didn't seem to understand for a few moments, but then his eyes widened in horror, but by then, Kurai and Satoru had already taken out the two guards that had flanked him and Taya made use of a little skill of her own to freeze the man in place before she leaned closer to whisper into his ear, "Let's take a walk, shall we?"

With that, she and Reese flanked the man and marched him right into the corridor when Satoru and Kurai were putting on the uniforms of the now-deceased guards.

For a moment, they didn't know what to do with the bodies, but then Kurai stepped forward and Satoru remembered the ability that he had shown them at the gathering point, "Would you be able to limit it to just their bodies?"

Kurai nodded, "I think so, but it would be safer if you took a step back, just in case."

They nodded and Reese motioned to a door further down the corridor, "Maybe we should interrogate this guy while you do that? It will save up some time."

Satoru and Kurai nodded and watched as Taya and Reese took the man into the room before he turned to the taller man, "Is it just me, or are they a lot scarier than their general appearances reveal?"

Satoru laughed lowly at that, "Well they are a part of the guild's strongest 10 so you would do well not to underestimate them. We should finish up here though, before someone else comes along."

Kurai nodded and quickly concentrated the required energy into his hands.

Once his hands were pulsing with the familiar feeling, he touched the bodies while trying to direct the energy into only affecting the bodies themselves and not the surrounding area.

Surprisingly enough, it actually worked and Satoru gave him a proud smile once the bodies were gone, "It seems you are getting the hang of it. Soon you will be able to take your cultivation abilities to the next level."

Kurai frowned in confusion, "The next level? What is―"

His words were cut off as two guards appeared at the end of the corridor and made their way toward them.

Kurai and Satoru immediately straightened up to stand outside the door just as they had seen some of the people stand in the hall.

The two guards walked right past them with barely a nod, but then the painful sound of a fist hitting skin, echoed from inside the room and the guards paused.

Thinking quickly, Kurai motioned toward the door and whispered, "Someone left their post early…"

This caused the guards' eyes to widen and they quickly walked to continue their rounds, and a few more minutes passed before Reese and Taya dragged them inside the room.

Their victim was nowhere to be seen until Kurai noticed a few blood splatters on the closest wardrobe.

He winced, "I guess whoever opens that is going to get one hell of a surprise…"

The siblings grinned before Reese motioned to a map of the compound that had been placed on the wall, "We are currently still in the cave system where they made their base. The healers have been taken to the deeper levels, closer to the new king, but no one knows why. If we want to find Hozumi and a few of the others, we will need to check the third floor."

Kurai nodded, "Then let's go-"

But Taya grabbed his arm to hold him back, "The king is more suspicious than we thought. It seems he's allocated different uniforms to the guards on each level and anyone that is found on a level they shouldn't be, is executed without question."

Both men paled at that and Kurai motioned toward the wardrobe, "Did he give any hints on how we would be able to bypass that?"

Reese and Taya shook their heads as Taya motioned to a strange purple puddle on the floor, "He killed himself before he could reveal anything else."

None of them knew what to say to that, and Kurai ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "Well, firstly, we cannot continue to travel in a group of four since none of the groups I've seen so far had four guards patrolling together. We will need to split up into two teams. One that stays here to monitor when that army comes back and the other to look for where the healers are kept."

Satoru, Reese, and Taya nodded, and it went without saying that Taya and Reese would stay together while he and Satoru grouped up.

Kurai really didn't like the idea of splitting up, but the faster they located Hozumi, the faster they would be able to return to camp.

He saw a glint of something dark in Satoru's eyes as they exited the room and made their way closer to the stairs that would take them to the lower level, but Kurai tried to convince himself that it had merely been a trick of the light.