Ruthlessness

With a new moon in the sky, the mountain forest was pitch black. Lying by the edge of a cliff overlooking the area, Aaric's elvish darksight still allowed him to see better than most. The over two dozen adventurers that made up the small army behind him however were human. For now, he had to be their eyes in the dark in case there was a chance that an enemy patrol still lingered nearby.

Mateo, the human who laid low next to him as he watched the encampment for Arlan's signal with his spyglass, had assured him that all the patrols have been taken care of. As the two most senior adventurers, they were put in charge of the operation at hand and Aaric knew from experience that nothing should be left to chance even if you're absolutely sure. In an unknown wild like this, where the lay of the land was unfamiliar, caution must take precedence.

This operation was anything but cautious for him in the first place. As he was making the journey home back to Weiss, the Guildmaster at Wolf's Rest had asked him to stay for a few days in town. They've been having issues with a new bandit gang in the mountains here and an unlucky shortage of travelling adventurers to root it out. With the raider's numbers getting larger as more time passed, the Guildmaster was forced to request help from both Steiger and Haldin.

The moment she was getting ready to set up an instant communication line with both city's Guildmasters, a peculiar event occurred. A golem had walked through the door and claimed to be a part of the Adventurer's Guild, looking for work and rest. They had all thought it was some kind jest until he showed his Guild Card along with his [Status]. He had heard rumors from adventurers coming from Haldin that a golem had joined their ranks but he passed it off as another craftsman golem.

To Aaric's surprise, this Arlan could not only hold a conversation but had stats he had only seen from those in the B-Ranks even as the golem was ranked at C. Aaric himself was at the top end of strength at C-Rank but even he couldn't hold a candle to the golem.

When the Guildmaster explained to Arlan about the bandit problem he offered to go himself and clear out the fortress. Someone with his stats could easily take care of a small army of untrained highwaymen but she had insisted on taking us as well. The bandits had hostages of course. Brute force had the possibility of civilian casualties. Having as many hands to help with the operation will increase the likelihood of saving as many people as possible.

The golem obliged at least. He didn't seem to put off by the idea and was amicable to us but the elf stayed weary. An intelligent golem with the ability to fight was off putting. If this was true, he thought, then everything they knew about intelligent golems had to be reconsidered. And if they were all capable of achieving stats as high as Arlan, it would warrant much caution. The golem had assured him that he was the only golem in the world capable of this. When asked how he knew, he gave a vague explanation related to manufacturing costs and rarity of parts along with using terminology that the elf didn't quite understand.

It was at that point, he simply gave up. He wasn't in a position to argue, not while they were on a mission. When Mateo returned with the rest of the scouts, they had found out that the encampment was a miniature fortress tunneled out on the side of the mountain, surrounded by large wooden fortifications. Assaulting its defenses as they were now would be suicidal. They'd need a trained army to break through and a rag-tag team of adventurers like theirs stood no chance.

But as they all began to turn back to town, Arlan had come up with a plan. He wanted to use the common knowledge of intelligent golems against the bandits. He would strip himself of his gear and wander around the camp, waiting to be captured. Once he did, he'd wait inside until the time was right and let out a signal to know that it was time to strike while taking care of the bandits inside the fortress along with opening the gates. Without the fortifications protecting the bandits, this group of adventurers could easily whittle them down. The elf asked him where he'd be keeping his gear since his magic bag would likely be confiscated the moment they caught him but he had said he would hide it in a hidden compartment on his body. Aaric had a strange thought pop into his head and decided to not ask where.

Now all that was left was to wait for Arlan's signal, "Any word yet from our golem?" he asked Mateo.

Mateo shook his head as he looked through his spyglass, "None yet. I'm not even sure what this signal's suppose to be but he said we'd know the moment we saw it."

To think that they had the ability to make a fortress like this, the elf thought. This could explain how Mateo was able to find it so quickly. A bandit lair this large and well made shouldn't exist out here in the frontier. He wondered if they had raided enough merchants and sold enough bodies to fund themselves so well or if there was a possibility that they were being financed by a third party.

"Hm?" Mateo uttered quietly.

"What's wrong?" Aaric asked.

"There's movement over by the entrance of the fortress proper." the man replied.

Mateo reached into his bag to pull out another spyglass and handed it over to Aaric. The elf fiddled around with it in his hands until he had adjusted its view to see the cavern entrance in the distance.

Two guards were posted on each side of the cave opening. One was clearly daydreaming while another ignorantly slept at his post. A silhouette had emerged from the mouth of the cave as the conscious guard approached the golem who had come into view with a look of confusion on his face. The moment he laid a hand on the golem, a knife came into view and had stabbed the bandit through his windpipe. He had collapsed on to the floor as he held his throat while the golem moved over to the sleeping guard. In one quick motion he took hold of the man and snapped his neck with his hands. Arlan let go as the body fell motionless to the ground.

Looking around for a moment to see if anyone had noticed him, Arlan seems to careen his head towards the forest surrounding the encampment until he starts to look directly at them, waving at the two men to catch their attention.

Aaric let out a uncomfortable grunt, "The way he kills is unsettling..."

"Having sympathies for them, Aaric? Or did you not see the mangled corpses littered outside?" Mateo comments bluntly.

The elf looked over at him with disgust, "Of course not! But this is like watching an assassin work."

"What do you think we're doing? None of those men are going to see first light when this is over," the man sighs, "The Weiss think they're so 'civilized' compared to the rest of us..."

They moved their attention back to Arlan. He looked as if he was in contemplation before he held both of his hands in front of him. Red magic circles appeared in both hand as two fireballs came into being. Like toy balls, he tosses them both towards the gate. It was then that some of the guards began to notice that something was wrong. The soft glow from the flame orbs began to pulse behind the wooden gate as Arlan nonchalantly walked back into the cave entrance. His metal hands began to glow with magic once again as a wall of earth erupted from the ground and sealed in the cave with him in it.

It was at that moment a huge explosion rocked the base. The once study gate was now nothing more than splinters. Shouts of panic roared from the bandits outside and could be heard even from their position.

Aaric put down the spyglass, "I'm guessing that would be the signal."

"What the hell!?" Mateo shouted in disbelief, "If he could do that, what was the whole point of him infiltrating the base!?"

"Rescuing any hostages is one of our main goals, Mateo. A frontal assault would have been stopped the moment they brought out a hostage at knife point." The elf replies, "Looks like our golem friend has decided to take care of that personally."

Mateo begins to stand up, "And the earthen wall means no reinforcements coming from inside the fortress. Makes this a whole lot easier." he turns around to face the other adventurers who were in confusion over the sudden noise, "That was our signal, everyone! The front gate is open and those bandits are all easy pickings now! Let's move!"

Drawing their weapons, they all moved as a group down the cliff and began their charge through the gate. The highwaymen's shouts of warning of a sudden attack was mixed with their utter confusion at the sudden lack of an escape route the moment they noticed the wall that now covered the entrance back into the fortress. They were now sandwiched between a mountain and a small army of adventurers.

As they began their attack, Aaric thoughts went to Arlan and whatever he was planning inside the fortress. He hoped deep down the golem's cold demeanor didn't extend to the hostage's safety.