Ren and Lilith appeared in a soft rustle of displaced air, materializing in the shadowed boughs of a massive tree, high above the forest floor.
Thorn didn't move from where he crouched.
He had sensed the shift in the air a heartbeat before they arrived and glanced over his shoulder as they settled on the branch beside him.
"You're late." He whispered, smirking.
"We had company." Ren raised an eyebrow. "And why is everyone commenting that I'm late. I'm perfectly on time, thank you very much."
"Don't worry." Lilith nodded, her tone amused. "The reason we're late won't be bothering anyone else."
Thorn gave a soft grunt and turned his gaze back to the clearing below.
From their perch, they had a perfect view of the forest floor, where the final team, the eastern mercenaries, sat around a large flat stone, utterly at ease.
All three of them were still alive and unharmed. Each one cloaked in deep blue, faces mostly covered by fabric masks and hoods.
Despite the warmth of the light filtering through the trees, they hadn't removed a single piece of their gear.
They didn't look nervous. In fact, they looked… bored.
Thorn leaned back against the trunk and gestured downward with a subtle motion. "That's them. The eastern mercenaries you showed us earlier. They're the ones with the third fragment."
"And they won't be easy to take down. I've seen them fight and decimate other teams with my own eyes. They did it while looking like they were fighting half-heartedly."
He turned to look at Ren and Lilith. "Even if it's all a show, do you know how much effort it takes to make it look like you're fighting half-heartedly in a fight that could cost you your life?"
"We get it." Ren's eyes narrowed, studying the group below. "What else did you see?"
"A lot, Ren. A fucking lot." Thorn replied. "If I'm allowed to use that level up thingy you always talk about, these guys' swordsmanship would be at level 100."
There was silence for a few seconds as they all absorbed that piece of information. Ren had confidence in Thorn's knowledge. Even his own swordsmanship is only at level 98. If Thorn said they were just that tiny bit more skilled than he was, then they were.
But this was also good news for him. Unfettered Enhancement required for him to face stronger opponents to level up. If there was no pain nor risk, there was no reward.
Maybe he would be able to use them to finally complete the leveling up of his swordsmanship.
"Do you know what their powers are?" Lilith broke the silence, peering down through the leaves.
"That's the interesting part." Thorn muttered. "They haven't shown a single thing. Not a single power. They've already fought off two teams trying to ambush them, but they did it with just their normal skill and enhanced physicality."
Ren frowned. "No power at all?"
"None. No signs of elemental powers. No flashy moves. One team tried to flank them from both sides. Two people went down before they even realized they were in a fight. The third tried to run, but didn't even make it ten steps."
"Wow." Lilith tilted her head, intrigued. "That's quite the discipline."
"Or deception." Ren added, watching the mercenaries recline beneath the filtered sunlight like they were on a picnic.
"Since they took the fragment, they haven't moved from there. I think they're waiting." Thorn said. "My guess? They're betting on the other two ruby fragments coming to them."
Ren chuckled softly. "Not a bad idea. All three fragments are needed to pass, so sooner or later, whoever has a fragment will come looking for them."
"This means they either have insane confidence… or they're delusional. And we all know which one is more likely to be true."
A silence fell over them.
Below, one of the mercenaries unwrapped a piece of dried meat and took a slow bite, completely unconcerned. The others didn't even look around.
Ren's jaw tensed slightly.
"Still no clue what their Gifts are?" He asked. "Maybe it isn't inherently visible."
"None." Thorn admitted. "And I've been watching since the first fight. They're good at hiding it. Not just hiding it. I think they've been training to not reveal it."
Ren's eyes darkened. "So, we'll be going into this fight blind."
"At least they're also fighting us blind." Thorn smiled.
"One more fight." Ren said quietly. "One more fragment."
His eyes stayed on the mercenaries lounging in the clearing. They looked peaceful. At ease. But he knew better.
They were like coiled snakes. Waiting.
And he was going to step into the pit. Deliberately.
"So, what's the plan?" Thorn asked.
"We drop from above," Ren whispered, "split their formation. I'll take the one on the left—" Thiscopycomesfromcontenton*.
"Assuming they have formations." Thorn muttered, eyes narrowed. "We still don't even know what their powers are. We might be walking into a complete disaster."
"True," Ren admitted, "but we can't wait forever. We just need—"
Because one of the mercenaries below had stood up with a long yawn, stretching his arms overhead like he'd just woken from a nap.
From within his cloak, he pulled something small and red, the ruby fragment, and began lazily tossing it into the air and catching it again.
"Cocky bastard." Thorn muttered.
But before they could say anything else, a sharp rush of wind blew past them.
The fragment blurred out of the mercenary's hand mid-toss.
Down below, he blinked in confusion. His hand opened and closed twice, like he hadn't registered what had just happened.
Up above, Lilith stood casually on the branch beside them, one hand held out in front of her.
A faint shimmer of energy faded from her fingers as the fragment flew through the air and dropped neatly into her open palm.
She'd used her Pull resonance, the opposite of Ren's Push resonance!
Thorn and Ren stared at her, jaws slack.
"…Lilith," Ren began slowly, "tell me you didn't just—"
"I pulled it." She said simply, her tone light. "They were never going to give it to us. Why waste time?"
"You—" Thorn blinked, gesturing vaguely at the clearing. "We were still planning!"
"Well, now we're improvising." She replied with a shrug, already pocketing the fragment. "Besides, it feels good to stretch that muscle. I haven't used my resonance in a while."
Down below, all three mercenaries had gone still.
Then, with perfect synchronization, they rose to their feet. The one who had held the ruby cracked his knuckles. The second rolled her shoulders, adjusting the scarf around her face. The third simply turned and looked directly at the tree.
Three pairs of sharp, alert eyes locked onto Ren, Thorn, and Lilith.
The forest, which had been filled with rustling leaves and distant birdsong, went utterly still.
Thorn leaned toward Lilith. "Next time, maybe tell us before poking the hornet's nest?"
Lilith grinned, unfazed. "I am the hornet."
Ren exhaled slowly. "Well, I believe it's time to take our leave."
"Yeah." Thorn nodded frantically, not taking his eyes off the ground below. "Let's get out of here."