“How are we getting in? I doubt jumping over will work again” Lucas asked.

“No, we knock on the front door” Bruce said as they approached the main gate

“And they will just let us in?”

“Of course not, but we are not asking”

Lucas just cast a confused look, but decided to let it flow for the time being. Bruce still hadn’t disappointed him, but he was not going in blind. Everything they had was already safe in Lucas’s new ring, and he grabbed the handle of his sword. He wasn’t about to let himself be ambushed again, especially not by the same people that already did that. Arriving at the gate, Bruce hailed one of the guards. Troopers were startled in the moment before gathering themselves and sharply ordering them to stop and prepare for a search. One of the troopers left the parapets and with a rifle pointed at them, glaring intensely as if he was trying to identify them. Lucas seriously doubted he would be able to do that, expecting the unfortunate trooper to draw blank just as he did every time Bruce was his target of identification. Sure enough, after some fifteen seconds of intense glare the trooper backed off, shouting for them to lay down on the ground with their hands on their heads. Lucas was about to draw his sword when a prompt appeared

Portable ignition (Uncommon)

Potion prepared by the skilled alchemist. When the bottle is broken or any kind of pressure is applied, the liquid inside becomes fire.

Lucas realized what Bruce wanted him to do and he focused on the potion. It appeared from the ring in his hand and he threw it onto the parapets, drawing his sword immediately afterwards the deed. All three troopers on the parapets caught fire, while their fourth colleague pulled the trigger on Lucas. In response, Lucas activated “Dodge” and slid all the way to the unlucky man. He prepared his sword and Bruce shouted “Remember the plan”. Changing the attack mid-air, Lucas activated “Stinging cut”, leaving the trooper to thrash wildly with the pain that boomed form the gash in his torso. He then took a piece of rope from his ring, thanking Bruce for having an excellent foresight to always carry that with him. He tied up the trooper who still wasn’t back to his senses and with a quick stride he found himself on the parapets, where the troopers finally managed to put out the fire. Three “Stinging cut” later, they also found themselves tied at the ground. Without much celebration, Lucas gathered their arms, depositing them into the ring. While he was doing that, Bruce was explaining the four tied – up troopers their options. Just as they decided, there were only two options: Either they die right here or they take their chance with the world away from Camp Hearth. Predictably, every one of them chose the latter option and they were untied and send on their way, disappearing in the distance as they were in full sprint to get away from Lucas and Bruce.

“You know they will be back?” Lucas asked Bruce.

“And they will share the story. Everybody will be aware there is a way out. And they will also serve as a good example when we cross path again about what happens when you spit on the mercy given.” Bruce explained.

Lucas nodded his head, seeing sense in the words of the old Loremaster. Bruce was the strategist of this little expedition and so far everything went fine, not giving Lucas the cause to doubt the ability of the old man.

“Just a reminder, no mercy for Michael” Lucas spoke.

Bruce quickly nodded, knowing full well how serious the Lucas took his desire for revenge.

“Now, would you be so kind to carry me like you did when we ran from the prison. Speed is of the essence here and I’m afraid this old legs will just slow us down”

Lucas rolled his eyes and took Bruce over his shoulders. He quickened his step and let his passive build his speed, hugging the inside of the wall as much as he could to avoid the crowds of people that were clogging the streets. Even though he had to slow down once or twice to avoid collision with the crowd, soon they were out of the busy town and the entered the expanse that surrounded the Hangman’s row. The prison stood over them like a hungry vulture, its shadow hungry for new people for its insides. Lucas shook the uneasy feeling he had, focusing instead on the grisly business ahead of them. Arriving at the entrance to the prison, he braced himself and jumped over it, landing in a courtyard almost the same way he did a week ago. The guards were shell shocked and poor souls stood no chance as Lucas started maneuvering all over the courtyard, incapacitating them one by one. Bruce was left with the task of rounding them up and tying them and when all of them were down, Lucas and Bruce entered the prison itself. Interior of the prison looked the same as it was in Lucas’s memory and they enacted the first part of their plan, bee – lining to the wing in which Lucas found Bruce last time. Troopers guarding the place put up some meek resistance and Lucas was even forced to draw blood of one of the particularly stubborn guard. The woman simply refused to drop her weapon and that episode ended with a sword going through her eye and into her brain. Not dwelling too much on the incident, Lucas finally arrived at the door separating real scum from the political prisoners. One could argue that they were more dangerous to the regime, hence the isolated wing for them. He entered it, finding the lone guard who was in the process of killing everybody. From three cells blood was already pooling and flowing and Lucas activated “Infused piledriver”, ramming into him before he even registered what was happening. The sword severed his spine, dropping the man down. He then cell to cell, breaking lock on every one of them, not paying attention is the cell occupied or not. Dropping down on the second level, he repeated the process. Done with all of that, he returned to the main part of the complex, stopping only to drop every piece of arms and armor he found on the way. Bruce immediately started organizing the people they freed, instructing on what to do and how to do it. As they expected, some ten percent of the people refused to participate, opting instead to gather their families or belongings and run away from Camp Hearth. Bruce made sure to accentuate doors will never be closed to them after they finish the regime change, and then let them go. The rest of the people, twenty – two in total, armed themselves and they were off. Guards managed to reorganize themselves and they advanced tactically towards the wing they were in.

“Listen to me carefully now. Every one of you who threw down their weapon and surrender will be spared. The rest will be killed” Lucas announced to the guards. A moment of hesitation from the guards who remembered him from the last time and one or two guards even dropped their weapons and ran. The rest, however, simply advanced and started firing their rifles. People behind Lucas returned fire, but they were less effective as they lacked any sort of training. They soaked up attention, however, allowing Lucas time and space to maneuver effectively. He already downed two squads, dozen men fell without much resistance and he was already on the way to third one. Activating “Spin strike” he circled around the woman that was on point, striking her exposed back. Using “Punch parry” to deflect the butt of the rifle, he retaliated with a sword in the gut of the trooper that tried this attack. Another “Spin strike” dropped another trooper and the rest of the squad ran. Ripple effect led to massive rout and Lucas built his speed, incapacitating troopers where he saw the chance and soon returned to the courtyard. He positioned himself in front of thee gates that led back to the city, spinning and twirling his sword menacingly. The mass of troopers exited from the complex and collective cry of anguish was heard from the mass of people as they spotted Lucas already barring their way. Blind panic overwhelmed them and they turned to the far side from Lucas, climbing the wall that marked the exit from Camp Hearth and which Lucas also used when he escaped with Bruce last week. They continue running deep into the woods, their spirit utterly broken. Satisfied with what he did, Lucas returned to the inside of the complex. Bruce and their newly recruited prisoners were tying up last of the remaining guards and explaining to them what were their options. Once again, most of them choose the woods and wilderness. One who tried to bargain or refused the mercy offered were delivered to Lucas to act as executioner, a role he promptly fulfilled. The ones who choose the right option were sent to the courtyard and they received additional instructions to spread the offer to the troopers that ran before and, more importantly, the ones who went back on their word will be made an example. Lucas returned to the task ahead, glancing at the number of cells. There was a long day waiting for him, but with a sigh, he went right at it. Cell by cell, he cleared the worst of the worst that ever graced the soil of Camp Hearth. The disgust raised in him not just from the prompts he got when killing him, seeing what kind of deviancy was here, but as a physical reaction to the blood and grime. His arm was completely red and further he went the stiffer resistance inmates were giving him. Luckily for Lucas, they were locked up for a long time, making them rusty and slow to react. Final tally was one hundred and forty seven dead inmates and a prompt that almost made Lucas happy, before being drowned by the massacre he just committed.

“Congratulations! You are now Duelist level 41”

“Stat allocation in progress…”

“+3 Agility, +1 Perception, +1 Strength. One free point”

“Stat allocation completed”

Relived the work was finally done, he turned and looked for Bruce, ready to see how they should proceed from here.