"What do you think is happening up there?"
Landur asked as he looked up at the cliff.
They had seen Lake rush up onto the ledge before disappearing.
Everyone was also quiet. They were currently hiding while waiting for Lake’s signal.
Since he didn’t show any signal even after ten minutes had passed, they began to get worried and were wondering what to do.
"I hope he’s fine." Hana spoke with a worried expression.
"His position on the GPS still shows that he is moving so he should be fine."
"Besides, we all agreed for him to rush back if there were more than three enemies. Since he engaged, that means there were less than three up there. After seeing him fight last night, he should be fine on his own."
Landur and Jayce tried their best to ease the worries of both Hana and themselves.
Sending Lake up on his own was an especially risky move but they still decided to go through with it.
One part was that they trusted Lake’s combat prowess and had seen his professional conduct on a hunt. They knew he wouldn’t take a fight he couldn’t win.
The only reason why they were still worried was that Lake hadn’t sent any signal even after ten minutes had passed.
Although his position on the GPS was moving, he was only moving around the same area leaving them slightly worried that he may be engaged in a fight.
Gwen kept silent through all this. She kept her gaze firm as she stared at the cliff.
She only knew him for a short time, but something told her that he was going to be fine. Whether it was his profound strength that greatly surpassed those of the same rank, or the many mysteries that surrounded him, she didn’t know.
However, she was definitely going to unravel it all. This was both her mission and her duty as a member of the Silverveil Family.
As she was lost in thought, she suddenly saw a figure waving towards her from atop the cliff.
Knowing that it was their signal to move forward, the group didn’t hesitate as they rushed towards the valley.
As she ran in the lead with everyone behind her, Gwen couldn’t help but recall her family motto.
It was this same motto that allowed the Silverveil Family to rise up during The Disaster and become what it was known as today.
"Leave no secrets untold, no truths unspoken, and no treasures left hidden."
Lake watched as the group ran into the valley. He had already scouted ahead and confirmed that there were no remaining enemies guarding the entrance.
He also moved forward, running ahead of the group from the top of the valley.
After reading through the system prompt, he had confirmed that the creature hidden in the mountain wasn’t a threat for the time being which was why he signaled the group to move forward.
[Fur of the Night Wolf - The fur fell off during the Night Wolf’s transformation. Fur that has fallen off during the Night Wolf’s transformation is weaker than fur taken off while transformed, only possessing the defensive and durability of a Rank One creature. Fur that was taken off while transformed maintains the original defensive strength of the Night Wolf, a Peak Rank Two creature.]
Although Lake had no clue what the Night Wolf was or what the hell its transformation refers to, he at least learned two pieces of information from the system prompt.
One was that the Night Wolf was only a Peak Rank Two creature meaning that he wouldn’t have to worry about fighting it. Although killing a Peak Rank Two creature may be difficult for him, it was still possible and he could always run away if the situation proves dire.
The other piece of information was more speculation so he wasn’t going to fully trust it.
For now, he just kept the information to himself.
It didn’t take long for the group to rush deep into the valley.
After a few minutes, they arrived uneventfully in front of a cave. There were a few Lizardmen standing guard outside the cave.
Everyone remained hidden behind some large rocks a small distance away.
Lake was still on the plateau above the valley. Ahead of him was a small path that led down to an area a few meters away from the entrance to the cave.
Unfortunately, the Lizardmen guarding the entrance to the cave had the small path within their field of view so Lake couldn’t take it unless he wanted to expose himself.
Using his wristwatch, Lake communicated with his teammates before they came to an agreement on how to proceed.
With the plan in action, Lake took the time to stretch his body a little bit, before rushing down the path.
There were six Lizardmen guarding the entrance to the cave. Four stood outside while two remained hidden within the cave.
Even if Lake and the rest killed the four outside the cave, the two hidden inside would run deeper into the cave and alert the rest of the tribe. If that were to happen, even if Lake knew he could fight more than a dozen Lizardmen at once, he still wouldn’t dare to stick around.
That was because once the whole tribe came out, there would be no less than eighty Lizardmen swarming all five of them!
Taking a deep breath, Lake leapt onto the wall to the side of the path as he began to run across it!
None of the Lizardmen were purposefully looking up towards the pathway so no one saw when Lake rushed across the wall, almost reaching directly right above them!
At that moment, the group, who had been keeping an eye on Lake’s position, rushed out from behind the rock as they rushed straight towards the Lizardmen, crossing the distances in a short few seconds.
An arrow flew alongside them, spearing one of the Lizardmen through the head.
The other three Lizardmen who were outside instantly reacted upon seeing this as they rushed up to deal with the group in front of them as they camouflaged into the environment.
The valley was fairly dark so once they blended into the surroundings, it was hard to spot them.
Thankfully, their numbers were low and each of them kept an eye on one Lizardmen each, making sure not to lose track of them.
When the three fighters reached in front of the Lizardmen, they engaged in a fierce combat.
As for the two Lizardmen who were hidden inside the cave, from the moment they saw the three humans rush forward, they were already turning around to go warn the rest of the tribe of intruders.
The two Lizardmen had just camouflaged into their surroundings and turned around to step forward. However, before they could even take two steps, they were forced out of their camouflage as a bloody hand was stabbed into each of their throats.
Blood splattered everywhere as the two corpses fell to the ground.
Lake looked over to see that the rest of his team had already finished off the remaining Lizardmen outside.
Just now he had taken the opportunity to sneak in from above the group of Lizardmen while their attention was focused on his team members who had rushed forth.
Crawling atop the roof of the cave, he managed to sneak up on the two Lizardmen who were distracted and finish them off in one go.
"Nice work, first year! I have to say, among all of the Martial Artists I know, you’re by far the best assassin among them!" Landur spoke with a slight smile on his face as he walked into the cave.
"Hahaha, don’t forget to mention the most brutal one. I mean, what assassin do you know kills with his bare hands?" Jayce walked over as well, a wide smile on his face.
Although they spoke in a joking manner, everyone knew that each word they said was true.
Even Gwen, who had met the Shadow Lord, one of the few Martial Lords on the continent and the only assassin among them, wouldn’t hold a candle when compared to Lake in terms of pure stealth technique and assassination skills.
"It’s nothing. There are still a lot more Lizardmen inside the cave so we should still proceed with caution." Lake spoke as he went outside to grab the strands of fate before they disappeared.
In the eyes of the group, Lake looked like he went up to inspect the corpses of the Lizardmen they had slain so they didn’t question his strange actions.
"How does your scouting skill hold up inside the cave?" Hana asked with hopeful eyes.
"100% functioning. There is no need to worry." Lake answered briefly.
Hana felt slightly better after hearing this. Caves like the one in front of them were extremely dark and usually had many hiding spots that creatures could jump out of and attack anyone to the rear of the group.
Sighing, Hana slung her bow over her shoulder as she pulled out a dagger.
Inside the narrow halls of the cave, the chances of one of her arrows hitting an ally were higher than she would like so she usually used a dagger for situations , even if she was only somewhat proficient in close combat.
Once everyone was prepared, they cautiously walked into the cave. The sun had already begun to set outside the valley allowing the darkness to slowly envelop them one by one as they followed Lake deeper into the cave with Hana picking up the rear as usual.