Ivor had led the group to the suspected location. When coming to the area, there were some questions by the Wanderers as they noticed the place looking run down.
"Before the Lethal Bite Clan had made this city their base of operations, there was another clan that was here. A battle had occurred on the border, and the whole city was destroyed."
"What you are looking at now is what's left of the city. This is the old part. People aren't really allowed to live or stay here, but those that are unable to find a place to live, or have funds to pay for an inn, might come here from time to time."
For Raze, it sounded like the perfect place for people to escape to, or commit crimes if needed. He would frequently try to visit and find places like this.
"We are here!" Ivor raised his hand, and the group had stopped just outside the front gate.
"Are you stating that this is the manor in front of us?" Anna asked. "If that is the case, then shouldn't we have approached it from a more hidden angle?"
"Right now, we are standing in front of it. We have no idea how large the enemy is, their strength, or anything about them, yet we are approaching them head-on."
It was a clear complaint from Anna, which infuriated Ivor even more. He already didn't like the fact that he needed to do this and that she had passed.
"Yeah, shouldn't we do some scouting in this situation, maybe we could send someone who's light on their feet in first to get an idea of the situation," one of the Wanderers said.
The Wanderers were already starting to formulate a plan as they talked and discussed among each other. Although they had never done a task like this.
"Enough!" Ivor shouted as if there wasn't a care in the world who heard him. "This is why I thought it was best I came on this task with you.
"All of you know nothing about the Lethal Bite Clan. We are one of the top clans in the Dark Faction. We have great strength compared to the other clans."
"Just by mentioning you're a part of us, there will be those that will do your bidding just not to anger you, and you want our clan to do something like scouting, trying to attack the enemy from behind! How weak do you want to make us look!"
Frustrated would be too weak of a word to describe the look on Ivor's face, but Raze was ignoring it because what he could sense now that he was this close, was magic.
Why in all places would there be magic lingering out from the building? Things weren't looking good, and he feared that another situation similar to the Light Faction Elder might occur.
"But they have someone kidnapped, do they not?" Anna asked. "It's possible that they could use the hostage against us, making it difficult to fight."
"Not just that," Raze finally chimed in. "Aren't we the Dark Faction? I thought the Dark Faction's principles were to do whatever it takes to complete the task."
"We are not the Light Faction; it doesn't matter if we stab them from behind or throw sand in their eyes."
Listening to it all, Ivor just couldn't stop shaking his head before he finally answered.
"First, you're right; in the end, only the winner of this thing has say, but there are times as one of the top clans that we have to show our power. Show how we're different from the rest of the other factions that we don't need to resort to actions like those."
"As for the second point, whether the hostage dies or not does not matter. We are not here to save them, but to teach those that have done this a lesson so something like this can never happen again."
Ivor then jumped over the gate and asked for the rest to follow. The group was now making their way down the cobbled path straight to the large front door.
Bargo had been listening to things and kept his mouth shut because in this situation, he agreed with Ivor a lot. The clan wouldn't care about the hostage.
If the hostage was killed but so were all the kidnappers, he knew that they would claim it as a successful mission as well.
Walking up to the large manor, Ivor was standing at the front proud and confident. Thinking that anything that came at him he could defeat with the flick of his hand.
'I wonder what makes him so confident when he had just lost to Anna here?' Raze thought. 'Still, I should be careful if there is another mage.'
Reaching in, Raze then pressed his Alter scanner, turning it off. Not wanting any surprises if they were to occur.
Anna seemed to have caught wind as well and had done the same. When they had reached the large door, there wasn't even a stop in Ivor's footsteps as he continued forward and pushed the door open.
It swung with ease, making a creaking sound into the main reception. Upon entering, two large winding staircases could be seen heading up to the second floor.
Several doors on either side leading to different rooms, but most importantly, the inside of the place was relatively dark.
With few lights hitting from the windows that were on the sides.
When Raze took a step onto the marble floor, he could feel something hitting him, almost suffocating, tightening around his chest.
'Now, this is a new feeling,' Raze thought as he looked at his ring. His magic core, and his specially crafted ring that now helped him to wield the strength of all of his elements, it was reacting.
'The Dark Magic that reacts to death, this place reeks of it.'
Once everyone was inside, they took a quick look around, until Bargo turned to look at the door.
"It appears that we have been followed," Bargo mentioned.
