The shoreline hadn’t changed much from the last time Lucas visited it. The sea was still vast, stretching all the way into the horizon where it touched the sky in what looked like a gentle embrace. The shoreline itself was a few hundred kilometers long, with the wreckage being the only thing that stood out from the same - looking environment. But now, just a kilometer from the overturned steel monstrosity was a new ship, an elegant ship made from ice, long and thin. What magic was preventing melting in this much warmer climate, Lucas still hadn’t been able to spot but he saw those blue – skinned humans that attacked them going from the ship, exchanging its place with another team who was going into the bowels of the ship. The shores were also crawling with the same enemy, at least dozen humans standing in front of the wreckage, probably waiting their turn for the dungeon.

“What do you see?” he asked Maggie, the resident scout of the group.

“At least twenty people, maybe more” she responded.

Lucas sighed. They were outnumbered by the enemies that seemed competent and strong enough to make that fact matter. Adding the fact they still hadn’t any idea why were they here, meaning they had little leverage for any diplomatic overtures made this situation nightmare. They could probably play the part of forests predator, ambushing group by group to thin their numbers a bit and hopefully learn something more about their intentions. Other path would be to return to Camp Hearth and bring reinforcements with them. Bloody battle certainly wasn’t something the settlement needed at this point, but the newly reformed Town guard could certainly use some experience. Weighing his options, he shared his thought with his party.

“I think we should push in. With a little luck, we can take out their leader” Chen was the first one to share his opinion.

“Or they can take us out. You guys know how to fight, but everyone can die” Margaret retorted. Lucas only guess old habits die hard, as the medic previously served in the General’s unit which preferred to outnumber and ambush their enemies, not meet them head on.

“I doubt it. They are still weaker than us and our last encounter showed that they are not big on rescuing one another” Chen defended his position. Ted and Maggie were silent, watching the argument between the other two with intent, probably weighing both paths. Lucas was still undecided, but he had to admit he was more inclined to the proactive course of action. If they caused enough mayhem, they could probably smoke out the leader of this band to confront them. He shared that much, which was enough for the conversation to shift from what to do to the plan of action.

“I expect every one of you will name your daughters after me, when I save your hides” Margaret said, sighing. The party chuckled, the medic never failing to lift their spirits, even when disagreeing with the action taken. After some deliberations, they decided to try and lure some of them, hopefully thinning their numbers. Chen took the task on himself, summoning an illusion of some adventurers going down the path towards the dungeon. One group quickly took the bait and four of their number separated from the people in the dungeon queue and started going to the illusionary adventurers. Chen made his illusions wave, as if greeting the other group, which spurred the four enemies even more, their eyes betraying their greed, thinking of them as easy marks. The one in front took out his war hammer and jumped, an opportunity Chen took by making his illusions run away. Earth shook when the war hammer landed and the three remaining humans launched their skills. This group didn’t seem to have a caster but had two ranged attackers, both the man and woman throwing their axes with glee at the illusions. Luckily, illusions weren’t real people, so they were able to bend in unnatural ways to avoid everything sent at them. Enraged, the warrior with the war hammer jumped once again, landing in the middle of the illusions before Chen managed to make them dodge. When the illusions come out unscathed, the warrior finally figured out he was being duped and started shouting something in his language back at his comrades. Lucas reacted almost immediately, “Infused piledriver” his thought command as he started spinning, the tip of his sword aiming at the chest of the war hammer wielding brute. The brute in question didn’t just stand there idly, his war hammer swinging to meet Lucas head on. Unfortunately for him, he was a breath short of intercepting Lucas’s attack, slamming his massive hammer into the side of spinning Lucas.

“You took 630 points of damage”

Only good timing on activating his “Bulwark of balance” left Lucas on his trajectory and his sword slammed into the torso of the warrior, shredding bone and flesh in equal measure. Pulling his sword and groaning in pain while doing it, his broken ribs squealing in protest of all this exertion, Lucas chained “Soul – shattering strike”, his gladius slashing a wide gash on the arm of the warrior. The groan was not proportionate with the severity of injury visibly, but Lucas hit also hit the soul with his attack, and those kinds of hits hurt a lot. The warrior was disabled now, so Lucas turned his attention to the three remaining warriors. Perfect opportunity for his “Blade spin” to do its work and just like that, gladius left Lucas’s hand and started flying toward the enemies. The axe thrower was hit first, gladius shredding his flank. Next was the warrior that stood in front of them, gladius stabbing him in the back before going for the axe throwing woman. She tried to dodge, but his skill was not to be denied and it struck her squarely in the chest, her scream echoing all over the place. Lucas wasn’t idle, ignoring the pain in his flank to move, grabbing his sword from the air in one swift motion and with a “Guiding strike” finding the back of the neck of the enemy in front of the axe throwers. His death was swift and Lucas pulled his sword and focused on the other two wounded opponent. His party wasn’t to be outshined, however, and two arrows pierced into the man axe thrower, downing the unfortunate man. From his left, Ted emerged, and from his right another one came just a moment later. He recognized Chen’s work and watch as the hopeless woman tried to defend from both clubs at the same time, her wound hindering her movement. Both of Teds turned out to be illusions as the real one strode and took his club with both hands, swinging it overhead. The club made contact with the skull of the woman, who was certain he was another illusion. With the sickening crunch and wet thud, the woman was down. He turned just in time to see the war hammer brute already killed, Chen’s dagger and a pistol Margaret carried doing the deed. They quickly retreated as the other blue – skinned warriors spot the commotion and their dead comrades, not keen to be caught out in the open with the number disadvantage. Seeing the aftermath of the battle that happened, warriors spread out and tried to find them, with one of their number running back to the ship, probably to bring reinforcements. Deciding to play it carefully, they retreated a little deeper into the forest but Maggie then signaled that more enemies approach from that direction. Caught between the rock and hard place, they froze and waited. Soon, the warriors from the direction of the forest showed in their sight, dozen of them. They looked frustrated and one of the men carried a figure on his shoulder. Lucas and the siblings recognized the man at the same time, hermit alchemist that resided in the forest. Lucas still hadn’t gone back after their spat from the last time, but the siblings went there a couple of times, Bruce true to his word about making the man being a little more cooperative. From the looks of it, these intruders stumbled across his hut and by the looks of it, that encounter hadn’t gone the right way for the alchemist. With a quick nod, the party set themselves into their battle formation, Maggie and Chen opening their attack. A cloud of arrows went towards the warriors, all but one an illusion. Panicked shouts came from the group and they scattered in all direction, evading the arrows. Lucas picked his target and with a sprint, he arrived in front of one of the warriors. Activating “Doom strikes” Lucas started launching powerful strikes at the man, making massive damage every time he landed a hit. The warrior was soon on his last leg, after about ten swings and Lucas took the chance and stabbed the man through the eye. That was enough for the kill, but that was just the first one. Maggie managed to down another, working in tandem with her brother, but slowly they were beginning to be pushed back. Lucas spotted the unconscious alchemist on the ground, the warrior carrying him probably throwing him when the attack begun. Running to him, he took him on his back and deciding that the battle was lost, he run back to the rest of his party.

“Retreat” he said before activating “Blade spin” his sword causing chaos as he chased his targets. Knowing that it will return to him, regardless of distance, Lucas urged the rest to use this chance to fall back. Chen summoned an illusion of smoke around them and then sent three more set of the same illusion of the party running in few different directions. Judging by the shouting, the warriors noticed it and without further ado started their return to the Camp Hearth.