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Name: Celim Halim

Race: Human/???

Class: Battlelord

Level: 27

Name: Dabir Halim

Race: Human/???

Class: Fighter

Level: 19

3

Hijo de la luna

Their weapons allowed them to pierce Rory from a distance, but he had to focus his efforts more carefully. Right now, it looked like he was concentrating all of his blows on one of them who was barely able to stand. With Louie between my feet, I nocked an arrow and targeted the one with the lowest level. The moment Louie's own spell was launched, I triggered my Mighty Shot skill and loosed the mana-imbued arrow.

The fighter was surprised by our assault, meaning both of our attacks dealt critical damage. Rory shifted his feet and dealt the final blow as our target tried to turn around to find the origin of his wounds. The dwarf's sledgehammer hit the side of his neck, pushing it far enough toward his shoulder that his whole head hung limp to the side as he fell to the ground.

"Brother!" the already damaged battlelord screamed with what little power he had left, but he was immediately silenced by the spiky end of Rory's weapon.

With two of the fighters out, we now outnumbered them. It was only at that moment--just when I thought we'd made it through the dungeon--that I noticed something else moving in the dark in the far corner of the room. The dance of Rory's flashlight illuminated a figure sitting on a chair.

"Leo!" I shouted, and mentally sent a party invitation to him.

"Don't move or we'll kill him," one of the remaining gang said, moving toward him.

Rory was already busy attacking the other one and I was in the process of nocking another arrow. Louie, on the other hand, had just finished casting a spell and a sickly green aura enveloped the warrior threatening to hurt Leo.

"You think weakening me will give you enough time to save him?" he shouted, and lunged forward to stab Leo just as my arrow left my bowstring.

My attack was enough to make him stumble backward. But with renewed determination, he pushed his lance forward, straight at Leo's chest. Leo's HP was just above a quarter and I wasn't sure if he'd be able to survive the hit.

"No, but this will!" Louie shouted, and with a loud howl, his body lit up. The yellow healing light flowed from his short torso and showered over all four of us. Leo, who had accepted my invitation and was now part of our fighting party, had his HP start to replenish just as the spear pierced him.

His HP dropped again but the attack gave me enough time to switch weapons and rush at the asshole who hurt my friend. Rory was almost done with his enemy and Louie cast his quickened healing spell on Leo, bringing his HP back above half.

"No, please," the man next to Leo said as he took a step backward, throwing his weapon to the ground. "I surrender, please."

"Too late, you bastard," I raised my swords up above my head as I reached him.

"Please let me leave. I was just doing my job," he begged, falling to his knees.

The sound of Rory's enemy hitting the ground made me pause, as I realized this was now the only person who might know where we'd be able to find Abrathion.

"Where's your boss?" I asked, putting his neck between my swords as if they were scissors.

"Mr. Halciu?" he asked.

"Yes. Him."

"I don't know," he said, the worry on his face intensifying. "We were just tasked to come here and do the--"

The man thrust his leg toward me, but I wasn't about to let him off my grip just because of a kick. I tensed my thigh to absorb the hit and only when it was too late did I realize that the toe of his shoe hid an expandable blade.

"That's for killing my brothers, you bastard," the man yelled, his face distorted in anger.

The knife plunged into my leg. The pain was intense, but I wasn't about to let him run back to his master. Especially not after what he had done to Leo.

I thrust both of my swords forward fast enough to cut deep into his neck. His angry expression turned to shock, and he made a gurgling sound as the last of his breath escaped. I retrieved my blades, and then closed them together as tightly as I could--the force wasn't enough to decapitate the man but he was dead before he hit the floor.

The terrible silence that seems to follow a death only lasted for a couple of seconds before Leo started making sounds through his bindings. I threw my swords to the ground and stepped behind him, removing the rope that kept a small piece of cloth in his mouth.

"Thank god you guys came with Rory," Leo said as I tried to untie the ropes on his wrists. "I was worried it would be just the two of you."

"Is that all of them?" Rory asked him.

"I only saw the four brothers in here and two more people outside."

"Then we're done," Louie confirmed.

"What the hell, man? How did they even kidnap you?" I asked, sitting down on the floor and letting him untie his feet by himself. "Aren't your family members, like, level sixty or something?"

"They jumped me while I was out for a run by myself. I guess they must have been watching me."

"Since when do you go for runs?" I asked, trying to make him smile, but also curious because I'd never seen him show any interest in training his body.

"I started recently," he said, looking slightly embarrassed.

"So this whole trade thing was just a sham?" Rory said.

Louie cast another healing spell on Leo, bringing him back to full life. The relief he felt was obvious, but something still didn't feel quite right.

"Let's get out of here and we'll talk about it on our way back. Please," Leo said in a tone I had never heard him use before.

He was always confident, no matter

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