Reuben began feeling anxious. Dealing with the opponent wielding the mace was already tough but another bastard tried to stab him from behind repeatedly. The angles were always tricky and he couldn't afford to make a single mistake.

This is annoying. The guy harassing me is weaker but he is causing me too much trouble. I should get rid of him first.

Making up his mind, he rolled to create some distance with the mace wielder and charged at the sword using bastard who kept on poking at him.

Casper hadn't expected the man to actually ignore him and go for Nathan. He had a lot of skills and good sense for combat. He lacked the real experience and had failed to keep up. Though he was surprised, he wasn't worried about Nathan. Having known the other since he was just a child, he understood Nathan's character perfectly. Others would try to keep the enemy busy so that he could deal a heavy blow from behind, but not Nathan.

*****************

Reuben was feeling smug. Just until a moment ago, he was suffering without being able to retaliate. But now that he had created some distance from the mace wielder, he was confident that he could take down the sword using pest in moments. Reinvigorating himself, he charged at the nuisance with greater energy. Little had he expected that the guy had no courage and ran away without exchanging a single blow.

"Zach, help me. Fast! The thief is trying to attack me. Hurry." The panic stricken voice echoed in the dim forest. Reuben was shocked. He had never come across such a situation in his entire life. Not only did the opponent not try to keep him busy in order to create an opportunity for the mace wielder, but he ran away without even looking at him.

"Do you have no shame? How can a warrior show his back to his enemy in a fight. Where is your dignity?" Reuben attempted to provoke the opponent into facing him once again. He had managed to create some distance once, he was certain that it would be nearly impossible to do so again. The opponent had already learnt of his intention and they wouldn't give him any more chances.

"Who do you think you are showing your back to?" Casper caught up immediately and made a big swing.

Reuben was prepared for the attack and moved away in time. His provocation didn't even net him a curse and he was back to square one. The mace wielder continued his wild flurry of attacks while the coward who had run away returned and began harassing him one again without any shame.

It was very frustrating but it looked like he couldn't break through by targeting the sword user. He had to defeat the mace wielder. It was the only option, but it didn't look achievable by normal methods. Not only did the breastplate nullify the effectiveness of his sword completely, he had to worry about the two people standing in the sideline and watching him carefully.

Gritting his teeth, he made a difficult choice. Instead of keeping his distance, he actively approached the mace wielder. He was willing to trade an arm to get out of this predicament.

Casper looked at the opponent who had finally stopped running away. His lips cracked open and a smile formed in his face behind the helmet. He had seen this coming and was prepared. Ignoring the thrust coming at his left arm, he swung the mace at his opponent. The mace connected to the arm that the man had raised defensively. The armor he was wearing did little against the attack and a huge force travelled to his bones.

Casper was certain that he heard the bone crack under the impact. A sharp pain followed shortly. A short sword had pierced his biceps. It hurt like hell but it also made his blood boil hotter. The pain only made him wilder. His left arm was pretty much useless for the rest of the fight but he didn't care about it. Comparing just the injuries, his opponent had it worse. The arm which had been used to block the blow had swollen to almost half a size larger. The blood vessels had burst as well and blue and purple spots had already appeared below the leather armor.

Nathan took this chance and thrust his long sword at the man's back. He had put all his weight and power behind the thrust, but even so, the blade only went in about three inches deep. The leather was far tougher than he had believed it to be, it managed to stop the blade from digging any deeper even though it was only meant to be good against slashing attacks. Nathan tried following up but immediately let go of his sword and jumped back, barely dodging the slash directed at him.

Reuben still had a lot of fight in him. His arms hurt like hell and he could feel his back being warmed by his own blood. The swollen arm was stiff and even the slightest movement brought about excruciating pain. He hadn't expected the mace wielder to be so bold. Judging by how the fight was going on, he had concluded that the mace wielder didn't have much real combat experience. He had been betting on the fact that an opening would be revealed. But contrary to his judgment, the other party was more than willing to trade injuries with him. He was already disadvantaged in both gear and numbers from the beginning. Now that he had sustained more injuries, he stood no chance at making an escape.

If I go down. I will take at least one of these bastards with me. Damn it! Just as I was about to make it big.

Reuben prepared to take his last stand. The pain and blood loss was making him feel a little dizzy and his feet got a little wobbly. Ignoring the weakness, he was just about to charge at the mace wielder when a cold sensation came from his back. Looking back, he saw an ice shard about half a meter long piercing the stab wound he got earlier. Ice Shard was a tier two spell and had considerable power. It's downside was that it was slow. He could have easily dodged this spell normally, but in his weakened state, he didn't even see the attack coming.

Spitting blood, Reuben slowly turned towards the direction where the spell had come from with what little strength he could muster. The image of a young man holding a magic gear had just entered his sight when a big mace covered the world. He fell on his stomach as everything turned black.

Zach approached the now lifeless body and exclaimed, "Casper, you bashed his head in. That's nasty."

Vincent approached the group too and looked at the body. The ice shard had broken when the opponent fell down and the gaping wound on the back allowed one to see the guts within. The part where the last mace strike had connected had been caved in. The eye and nearby parts were just one mangled piece of flesh and white liquid. It was a gruesome sight and it made everyone except Casper nauseous.

Nathan hurriedly turned away and grabbed the sack containing the gold bars. "Hehe.... we really hit the jackpot. Too bad we can't keep it. How much do you think we will be rewarded?"

"That will depend on the lord's mood as well as how things unfold today." Zach replied without the excitement that was overflowing in Nathan's voice. "Something feels off. I couldn't think much about it earlier. But this feels too easy. How did the guy not notice us at all?"

Casper lightly wrapped his injury and questioned, "Couldn't he have been too tense and overlooked us?"

"A silver ranked warrior who specialized in archery? I don't see that happening given our skills in stealth and camouflage. Anyways, we should get out of here as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about this."

The group decided to leave the scene immediately. Just as they were about to take off, the ground started shaking and four meter tall earthen wall erected itself from the ground trapping them all.

"Where do you think you are going with my gold?" A voice echoed from all around them. Though it the voice wasn't loud, it seemed to drown out all other noises. "I am sure you guys don't want trouble, how about handing the sack over to me? I will let you guys go if you give it to me. Simple right?"