Shining down from above, the sun stood at its zenith. There was still plenty of daylight left when I first spotted the redeemer camp.

  I pulled the hood over my face and whispered to Iron, "Keep a lookout."

  He flapped into the sky while I climbed up a particularly large birch tree. From its crown I could see the entirety of their camp.

  "Woah," I mumbled involuntarily.

  Hundreds of black caped figures moved around the camp, performing their daily tasks. Seeing them made me feel silly for trying to push Tom and his entourage away. I should probably let Aubrey know before they get blindsided.

  Their camp was as large as a football field, but circular. Log walls, probably four meters tall, surrounded it with a gate standing in each of the cardinal directions. Each of the gates was manned by two armed guards. Inside the camp, buildings had started to take shape, with an almost finished longhouse in the middle of it all. I assumed that's where most of them slept and ate.

  If a group of this size attacked Aubrey's camp, the fight would be over before it even started.Granted, both camps were located hours away from each other, but such distances were crossed easily with a little determination, especially if there was a reward for doing so. Judging by my short encounter with redeemers, it seemed like they had as much to gain from killing us as we did by killing them, if not more. The swordswoman had made it sound like their lives were literally at stake. But then again, whose weren't?

  Pondering in the tree, I realized that I wouldn't be able to question them like this. My plan had been to scare the people I let off into telling me all they knew, but with this many people, I couldn't just walk into their camp, unless... I looked like them.

  Smirking, I climbed down and put on an act. I put as much swagger as I could into my walk and approached the gate, hailing the guards with a wave. They crossed their spears, barring my path. Both of them were men in their early thirties. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but no. They really did both have spiked hair and a red goatee. Twins?

  [Redeemer Sentry LV3]

  Even their classes and levels matched.

  "Remove your hood," they demanded in chorus.

  Definitely twins.

  Clearing my throat, I felt a trickle of sweat run down my back. Maybe this is a shitty idea after all?

  "Sorry," I chortled and pulled down the hood. "Been a while since I saw people..."

  They eyed me suspiciously. "Haven't seen you around these parts before. Where have you been?"

  I waved a hand and smiled. "Here and there." They didn't find it amusing, so I chuckled and said, "I'm serious. After waking up in the forest two days ago, I've been scrambling around trying to find others, but I just keep running into monsters and... less savory surprises." I shuddered at the thought of the Titan's knife digging into my back.

  The red-headed guards nodded in sync. "Ah, survivors then? I was wondering how you had managed to get a class without a settlement crystal."

  They can't get classes without one?

  I shook the thought off and nodded, happily clinging to the lifeline he presented. "Yeah, that's right."

  One of them stepped forward, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Must have been tough. My first kill was... brutal."

  I reached a hand to my eyes, still seeing the startled look on the teen's face when I closed them. "I didn't think it would be so... easy. You get me? One cut and it's all over..."

  He sighed and patted my shoulder. "I do. If it helps, I think the dead are lucky for getting out of this game."

  The other twin rolled his eyes. "If you have any information about survivor camps, the warchief has a standing reward of fifty contribution points."

  "Don't mind my brother, he's all business. No heart, that one... I swear." He shook his head. "Anyway, the name's Colt. I've got a feeling the two of us will be getting along. Step inside and head to the longhouse to get registered. We require all new recruits to go through a quick verification process, nothing big. The crystal sorts it all out in a moment."

  I took his hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you, Colt. I'm Jackson; my friends call me Jax. What's this crystal thing you keep talking about?"

  A jolt of shock passed through his face. "Where the hell have you been, man?"

  I shrugged. "Fell into a dungeon the first day."

  Struggling to keep his jaw closed, it seemed like his already high opinion of me grew even further. "That explains it. Haven't heard of any Summoner classes till I saw you." He looked around and leaned close. "Shouldn't be telling you this without verification, but the crystal is just what it sounds like—a large crystal. The warchief's the one who found it. Said he did so in a dungeon. It wards off monsters and boosts profession growth."

  "Woah, sounds great."

  He nodded fervently. "It really is. If that's not enough to convince you to join our camp, then I don't know what is."

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I raised an eyebrow. "Are there other camps nearby?"

  "Just one more. They're camped about an hour north of here, by a fork in the large river. Some military officer leads them. Bunch of lunatics if you ask me. Great fighters though. I'm glad we're on the same side."

  Rubbing my chin, I pretended to mull over his words. "Doesn't sound like I'd fit in there then—I'm not much of a fighter. Guess that's why I got a summoner class." I chuckled. "How are your preparations for the blood moon coming along?"

  "Oh we're doing alright, as you see. Gonna take more than a few monsters to break through our wall—"

  "Colt." The other twin interrupted. "It's high time Jackson verifies himself."

  Colt glared at his brother before turning back to me with an amicable smile. "As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point. Best get you sorted before I run my mouth too much."

  "Of course!" I exclaimed, then acted as if I just remembered something and patted my robe for effect. I groaned. "Sorry to put you on the spot, it's just that I've got my gear stashed away nearby. Would you mind if I went back and got it now? It would be a shame if a wolf or that damn drake found my stash of food."

  "Of co—" Colt began before his brother pulled him back.

  "Go get someone to cover for us," the less likable twin ordered Colt and put on a strained smile as he turned to me. "We'll join you. It's safer that way. We lost a patrol in the area yesterday."

  Scratching my neck, I chuckled. "Oh, you really don't need to."

  He creased his brow and clenched his hand around the spear. "Please, I insist."

  I accepted with a nod and a sigh. Colt returned with a new couple of guards who grumbled about having their break cut short. Smoothing it over, Colt promised them some of the twins' rations at supper. That managed to shut them up.

  As I led them into the forest, the mood was strained. Colt tried time and time again to get his brother, comically named Holt, to just give up his weird witch hunt. Apparently he wasn't the most popular back at camp—too suspicious, Colt said, though I could see where he was coming from. Careful people tended to live longer, or so my parents used to tell me back when I was a kid. I'd taken the words to heart, though deep down I was still as wild now as I was then, just more thoughtful. Calculated risks, according to Brad.

  I bent a branch out of our path and nodded my chin toward the clearing where I'd found the drake the day before. "It's just up ahead," I said and ushered the twins through. Colt graciously accepted, but Holt refused to let me walk in the back.

  I sighed and shook my head. He just had to make this harder than it had to be.

  While Colt walked around, oohing and aahing at the broken surroundings, I cleared my throat.

  "About that group you lost," I said, scratching the back of my neck.

  Colt turned to me, concern softening his features. "What's up?"

  Holt, on the other hand, made no such effort. He shifted his grip on the spear, tip dipping toward me with a silent threat.

  I eyed the sharp metal tip and asked, "What happened to them?"

  Colt closed his eyes with emotion. "While on patrol, they heard monsters fighting and went to check it out, but on the way, they ran into a survivor and got greedy. If only they'd followed the Warchief's rules, then they'd all still be fine. Poor Millie lost her father... And Theo... man... He was just a kid." He shook his head. "Apparently, the guy was some kind of monster, like serious terminator shit. You should have seen the look on their faces when they limped back to camp."

  "Sounds like a nasty deal," I said.

  My eyes flicked to the gouged earth and broken trees at the edge of the clearing. There had been wolf corpses there yesterday. The drake sure didn't waste any time clearing them away.

  When I looked back to the two red-headed twins, I caught Holt staring. His eyes traced the path mine had taken. "You weren't just passing through, were you?"

  Colt looked at his brother's serious face and caught on. His soft features hardened, and he backed away, nervously fingering his spear.

  Holt snorted and looked back to me. "Called it."

  I raised my hands and deflated. "Ah, you caught me. I'm curious, what happened to the drake? When I last saw Millie and her friends, it was chasing them."

  "The crystal repelled it," Colt muttered, earning himself a glare from his brother.

  "Ah. I see... Must be a really powerful crystal, eh?"

  "Shut up already," Holt snarled. "We're taking you back to the Warchief. If you don't put up resistance, he'd be happy to take you as a slave."

  I lowered my hands and unslung my shield. "Sorry, but that's just not going to work for me."

  They walked in opposite directions, moving to pincer me between them. The rustle of their footsteps told me all I needed to know of their speed and position, even when I wasn't looking. My senses had improved massively since getting the class.

  My eyes flitted to Colt. "This doesn't have to go that way. And trust me, guys, you don't want it to. You said it yourselves, I'm on some terminator shit."

  He spat at my feet. "They didn't even have a profession yet."

  I raised an eyebrow and followed his every move with my gaze. "Would that have changed anything? I've got my class and all."

  "Don't look down on the Sentries," he growled.

  Leaves crumpled to my back. I whirled around with the shield tucked in close to my body. Holt was faster than I had expected but still far from fast enough. I struck out with my shield, diverting the stab with a wooden thud.

  Holt's eyes grew wide as he stumbled into the range of my blade. Just as I was about to cut him, Colt darted at me from my flank.

  I sidestepped to the right just as his spear was about to skewer me and let them crash into each other. Creating some distance, I grinned.

  I felt good today.

  "Last chance," I said and watched as they untangled themselves. "I don't want to kill you."

  "Then give up!" Holt snarled. "We need this more than you. You survivors can live on as slaves even if we win the tutorial!"

  I scoffed. "Not a chance."

  Moving as a pair, the two burst into a sprint at me. When they covered half the distance, they fanned out to catch me in another pincer. It would have been a troublesome tactic if I wasn't faster than them.

  Waiting for the moment when they were the farthest from each other, I kicked off the ground and darted at Holt. He furrowed his brow at my rapid approach and pointed the spear at my chest, securing its weight in his armpit. Slowing down, he planted his feet and braced for impact. Like a pikeman.

  Pity I wasn’t a horse.

  Ducking low, I dodged the spear and broke inside his guard. He growled and sent a knee flying toward my face. I met it with the metal edge of my shield and felt his kneecap crack from the impact.

  He howled and stumbled backward as I rose back up with a diagonal cut. Steel bit into flesh and silenced his screaming. Only confusion was visible on his face. He dropped the spear and prodded at the growing wound with both hands.

  His eyes widened as he looked up at his brother. "Colt..." he muttered and fell to his knees.

  "Noo!" Colt screamed, tears already pouring from his eyes, as he charged through the ruined clearing.

  The pain in Colt’s scream was almost palpable and made me grind my teeth. Why couldn’t they just have walked away?!

  Sighing, I heaved the sword up and down a few times, then stepped forward and threw it with all my might. It spun through the air with a metallic hum before slamming into Colt's chest. They hadn’t stood a chance from the start. His eyes grew wide as the hilt struck his ribs.

  Crumpling to the ground in a cloud of dirt, he heaved for breath and dug his nails into the dirt, crawling to his brother. I just watched with a heavy heart, and let him. He rolled over to his back and took his brother’s hand in his own, cradling it against his chest while staring at me. His chest inflated and deflated with raspy breaths. There was no anger in his eyes, no sadness, or accusation. Just understanding.

  I sat down next to him and whispered, "You're the lucky ones," as he took his last breath.

  followed, favorited, and rated, to do so. Or just tell your friends! Every little bit helps <3

  patrons (who are reading 10 chapters ahead) for the support,