Dunn finally reached his entry point.

The command tent was far in the back, not in the centre and that made things easier for him.

His eyes settled on one of the other infiltrators. Someone he could use.

His shadow element kept him hidden as he pulled out a boomerang from his pocket.

He refrained from using his spatial ring as the energy might attract others attention.

He waited until the patrolling Level 3 was far enough away... Then he threw it with all his strength.

The boomerang flew through the air, fast and curved high, arcing over the tents, before coming back down.

It smacked the Level Three directly on the visor.

*Clang*

The sound echoed across the camp.

Everyone in the surrounding area froze in horror.

Dunn smirked as the Level 3 turned toward the direction the boomerang had come from, his visor locking onto a location... Then he vanished.

He appeared behind the infiltrator Dunn had used as a scapegoat.

Chills ran down the spines of every infiltrator watching.

The fully armored Level Three reached out and grasped the man’s head.

The man struggled, his legs kicked and his arms flailing as he tried to break out of his grip.

It complished nothing.

Everyone watched in fears as the armoured man crushed his head.

Bone cracked and blood and brain matter exploded every where.

It dripped through the armoured man’s fingers.

The body went limp and the guard let go allowing the corpse to collapse to the ground.

And he did not stop there.

His fully covered head snapped toward the next person close to him. He vanished again.

This time, Dunn did not wait to see what happened next.

He turned and dashed toward his target.

He ignored the woman training with an axe. He recognized her as the spear user from earlier. She had switched weapons.

But he did not wait... He kept going.

He slipped into one of the massive tents.

Inside was a room filled with items used by rune masters. From brushes to powders to inks to half-carved stones and so much more.

Charts on the walls covered in symbols he did not understand... However he did understand the use of the room.

’This must be the room of the rune master whose identification was used to create the mission,’ Dunn thought.

Even though many of these items would fetch a high price on the market, he did not touch any of them.

Unfinished runes were unstable and anything could happen... A single touch could set off an explosion, signalling to the entire camp his position and painting a massive target on his back.

’Getting that woman would provide far more wealth,’ he thought as he turned and left.

He moved toward another tent. This one was closer to the command tent.

He opened the flap and found his target sitting in a lotus position.

A wide smile appeared on his face. Then it disappeared.

She was looking directly at him.

"I knew some of you would break the rules I set," Talia said.

’I am still in stealth,’ Dunn thought. ’There is no way she can find me. Unless... the opening of the tent flap.’

Even after suspect ing that he might have been spotted, he did not come out of stealth.

Instead, he moved away, trying to circle around her, but her eyes followed him.

’Can she truly...’

"Yes. I can see you," Talia answered his unfinished thought.

Chills ran up Dunn’s spine and he turned to leave Immediately.

It was common knowledge that if someone could see through your stealth, they were either far stronger than you or had a treasure that helped them.

From what he could sense, she was still Level 1. A treasure was possible, but she was not holding anything neither was she actively using mana.

He came to the worst possible conclusion.

She was stronger than him and she was most likely hiding her true level.

He turned and ran.

The moment he turned, he came face to face with the woman he had seen training with the axe.

His heart stopped.

She stood behind him, staring dead into his eyes, her axe a few inches from his neck.

’I did not hear her, he thought. How?... She is Level 1.’ He was certain of that.

He came to a final conclusion... They were geniuses.

That did not make his situation any better. In fact, depending on how you looked at it, it was worse.

Geniuses like this were often eccentric... It was a well-known phenomenon.

When you were far more talented than your peers, far stronger, far better at what you did, more often than not you developed odd personalities.

Knowing this he turned to beg for his life.

The moment he turned, he came face to face with his original target.

She was standing a few steps away too... Now he was boxed in.

"Please... I can explain," Dunn blurted out.

"Explain what? You are obviously trying to assassinate me." Talia smiled.

He did not bother denying it, that would only make it worse.

"Please... Forgive me for my foolishness. I did not know what I was doing." Dunn begged. "I promise. I will serve you for five years... No... No... No... For the rest of my life."

Talia scanned him from head to toe.

"The Morvath family does not need more servants," she said seriously. "Especially not such disobedient ones." 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Dunn’s face turned cruel in an instant.

He did not mind begging for his life but giving up just because he had offended someone was not his style.

A quick scan told him Talia was not much of a warrior so he moved toward her first.

His dagger appeared in his hand and he tried to stab Talia.

It was a feint.

He changed direction mid-motion and spun around.

He used his dagger to stop the axe coming for his head.

The axe struck his blade. Sparks flew.

Using the momentum, he pushed himself back, hoping to smash into Talia and throw her off balance.

However it did not go as planned.

Suddenly, overwhelming pain exploded from his chest.

He coughed up blood causing dark red liquid to pour from his lips.

He looked down at his chest and stared at the claws protruding from his sternum.

They were holding his heart.

He sighed.

This was the main disadvantage he had always faced.

He had awakened the Shadow Branch making his stealth excellent even almost perfect but he had not awakened a Body Path.

Not even one.

That meant he was physically far weaker than most other level 2s.

He forced his head to turn. He wanted to see his killer.

His eyes met red glowing eyes... Her face was scrunched up in disgust as she stared at him.

"Pest," she whispered.

’So this is my end,’ Dunn thought.

He closed his eyes and breathed his last.

Talia did not let his body drop. She activated Blood Absorption immediately as she dragged his body to what looked like a large bathtub.

She cut a few slits into his body then held him up and drained all his blood.

When he was empty, she carried the body outside and handed it to the Level 2 Thrall waiting there.

Several more bodies were waiting. Some alive. Some not.

She repeated the process. Draining their blood into the bathtub and handing the empty bodies back to the thrall.

Until finally, the last one.

She handed the body over and said, "You know what to do."

The thrall nodded. It heaped the bodies onto its shoulders and turned away.