Read DARKEN KEY :: The new pack ready to hunt

The carriage ride was tense. Lucenio sat in one corner, his eyes cold and distant, while across from him sat the man with the scar both warriors knew that the one accrosse of him is not an easy hunt.

The journey to the empire was long and tough because of the rough terrain.The carriages came to a halt, and the mercenaries were ordered to disembark. Lucenio stepped out, stretching his legs and taking in his surroundings. The air was thick with the smell of iron and smoke, a constant reminder of the ongoing war. They were led through the gates and into a sprawling courtyard where the empire's army leader was waiting.

"Welcome to the Verdaflo Empire" the representative began "You have proven yourselves to be the best, and now you will serve our great empire in its time of need. You will be divided into squads and assigned to different fronts. Each of you will play a crucial role in our efforts to secure victory." he then added "we will test your fighting skills and learn a bit about your abilities so we can assign you into teams so you will be ready the testing will take 7 days so show us everything"

The empire's officers pushed them to their limits, testing their combat skills, endurance, and ability to strategize under pressure. Lucenio found himself excelling, as if all this was a walk in the park. He was better than everyone else; the only one who came close was a man with a scar.

The nights passed in ease. They all sat around the fire, eating, drinking, and sharing stories of their lives—except for two who only listened: Lucenio and the man with the scar.

The next day the same man approached Lucenio. "Hey, today we will finish our training and start the war. Are you ready?"

"More than ever," replied Lucenio.

The leader than declared"We have divided you into groups based on your strengths. Now, for those who will fight, we need to test your skills and see the chemistry between each one of you. So, we will have a small tournament. The rules are simple: do not kill your opponent, and whoever gets out of the circle loses."

The tournament began, and as anticipated, Lucenio advanced to the final. His opponent would be determined by the next match, which pitted the man with the scar—known as Skar—against a burly warrior with a shaved head, who stood over 188 cm tall and wielded an unusual shovel-like weapon. This fighter went by the name Benter.

The fight started, and Skar initially seemed to dominate, skillfully dodging and countering Benter's attacks. With each successful hit, Benter was pushed back, struggling to gain ground. It appeared that victory for Skar was inevitable; it was only a matter of time before he would secure the win. However, as Benter continued to falter, he attempted to strike back, but Skar's intimidating presence made it clear that he was in control.At a crucial moment, just before Skar launched a decisive attack, his scar emitted a faint glow. Lucenio observed a noticeable shift in Skar's aura, indicating a surge of power. But then, the officer's voice cut through the tension: "The winner is Benter! Skar's leg has crossed out of the circle."

" My bad, I forgot about it. Good fight, Benter" said Skar. They shook hands, and he left, glancing at Lucenio out of the corner of his eye.

The final match was set: Lucenio versus Benter. As they stepped into the circle, the crowd of warriors gathered around, buzzing with anticipation. Lucenio knew he was far stronger than Benter.

Benter stood ready, his strange shovel weapon in his hands. Lucenio's eyes focused on Skar, who was watching from the sidelines.

The officer raised his hand, signaling the start of the match. Benter lunged forward, swinging his weapon with surprising speed. Lucenio sidestepped effortlessly.He countered with a quick jab, but instead of landing a decisive blow, he pulled his punch at the last moment, letting Benter think he had a chance.Benter's confidence grew as he pressed his attack, but Lucenio continued to evade, his movements almost lazy. It was clear to everyone watching that Lucenio was toying with his opponent, after a few minutes of this charade, Lucenio decided it was time to end it. Benter, breathing heavily, swung his weapon in a wide arc. Lucenio ducked under it and, with lightning speed, swept Benter's legs out from under him. Benter hit the ground hard, loosing his weapon.Lucenio stood over Benter, offering him a hand up. Benter, dazed and defeated, accepted. The officer announced Lucenio as the winner, but Lucenio's eyes were on Skar.

"So was this your test?" asked Lucenio

"What do you mean?" replied Skar

"we will both get our chances to show our true colors" said Lucenio showing a glimpse of his scary cold aura that was answered by Skar's also strong but surprisingly warm aura they were interrupted by the officer saying the teams

"great job everybody the 48 will be divided to 8 squads but lets say something real you will all be on the frontlines and report after each mission to representive of the army ,also the 8 squads will be divided to 3 main points two will engage in missions and direct battles the third point is doing side missions and assassination the blue red and greens"

he started saying the teams and each post "The first is the Red point the side and assassination mission Skar Reden Benter Selen Carla and Liam

{Important note Lucenio was going by the name of Reden as a mercenary to protect his Identity :)}

The officer started, "Listen up. The enemy receives important supplies from our previously owned lands. They support their armies through three supply lines, each operating on a specific day each month. We need to stop this by either destroying it or, if possible, steal the resources. The problem is, each month they choose a random day and a random route. Only the leader there knows the details, and he gets them the night before."

"How about we attack these lands directly and cut off the serpent's head?" suggested Liam.

"I don't think this is possible at this time, especially if they haven't sent the resources yet," replied Carla. "The guards will be too strong and we will open a new unknown front."

Lucenio (Reden) added: "We need to be smarter. If we can't predict the route or the day, we should find a way to intercept their communications. If the leader receives the details the night before, we need to get that information ourselves but without getting caught."

The officer nodded. "The leader receives the information through a teleportation system. A messenger teleports to a specific location because there's a barrier preventing them from teleporting directly into their armies camp. We can intercept the messenger at that location."

Selen volunteered. "I can sneak in and intercept the message. Once we have the information, we can plan our attack on the supply lines.

The team agreed: Selen, Skar, and Carla. They set their plan in motion, aware that the teleporter would soon arrive at a small inn.

The messenger, as usual, scanned his surroundings cautiously before entering the inn. But just then, he heard a girl’s scream—a clever ruse. Selen and Carla feigned weakness, while Skar attempted to harass them.

The man approached, and Skar pretended defeat, fleeing from the scene.

“Thank you, sir,” Selen said, moving to hug him. But he interrupted, “Nice performance, all three of you. And you, sir, are remarkably adept at hiding.”

Caught off guard, they stared until Skar emerged from his hiding spot. “You’re no ordinary messenger,” he declared, drawing his sword. The man responded, brandishing a medium-sized staff. The fight loomed, but Selen intervened, throwing herself over the messenger, begging for forgiveness.

Breathing heavily, the messenger relented. “Don’t worry. Take this and leave—the area is dangerous.” (he gave them some money thinking they were small thieves)

Back at camp, the officer asked about the information.

“Well” Selen admitted, tossing a small rock to the officer, “the plan failed. But I did find this rock.” It contained an image of crucial details.

“We can decipher everything now,” the officer said. “Prepare for tomorrow at noon. Cover your faces—expect the unexpected.”

the team started preparing the plan and went to check the root to use it to their favore the time finaly came everyone wore something to hide their faces lucenio prepared his sword and dagger

“Will I finally see them in action?” Skar asked.

“We’ll find out,” Reden replied.

Clara’s message arrived: “The carriages are approaching. Get into position.”

As the carriages arrived, Benter showcased his power, raising an earth wall separating the carrages. Sar, Skar, and Reden charged, while Selen provided cover from high ground, and Clara kept watch.

But when they opened the carriages, they were empty. “Where are the supplies?” choked Skar.

A voice interrupted—the messenger, flanked by a small army. “Your mimicry is intriguing,” he said. “But it leaves traces,now go capture them”

“Reden,” Skar proposed, “want to play a game?”

“What’s your idea?” Reden asked.

Skar sprinted toward five men, leaving a fiery trail. “Let’s see who can take down more soldiers—until one of us falls or the war ends.”

Reden (Lucenio) accepted, drawing his sword. “I need something to pass the time.”

The battle erupted. Liam unleashed his wings, Selen showed her archery skills, Clara’s hedgehog-like abilities struck, and Benter manipulated earth. Meanwhile, Reden and Skar fought only with physical enhancement.

On the other side the enemies also showed some powers till the messenger participated in battle with a swift move teleported behind CLara

"A good ability and a weak user"

with a swipe of his staff he took her down Liam lunged to her aid but the messeger intercepted him by teleporting above him :"ground fights are more fun" before kicking him sending him down.

He then engaged in a two on one fight with Reden and Skar

"You two are stronger than the others but you dont know how to work together"

He then tried to strike Skar after teleporting behind but the hit was intercepted by Reden

"Apparently Im wrong " the messenger stepped away

"Skar leave him to me go help the other Benter and Selen are overwhelmed"

Frustration etched on his face, Skar pushed aside his feelings and sprinted toward Benter and Selen. Meanwhile, the messenger and Reden engaged in a furious battle. The messenger’s attacks were tough—teleportations, swift strikes, and parries.

Reden held his ground then he noticed something what made him do a quick moves and sound of cracking was heard small things were shatered to pieces

"I saw this before, you put teleporters on this field so you can use it to your advantage reminds me of someone" said Reden wondering

Before Reden could catch his breath a chain hurtled toward him at the last minute he caught it with his sword but the messenger seemed to teleport kicking Reden a strong kick falling on the ground but still held his sword the thing he wraped his face some of it fell what made the messenger froze in place in an instant, he teleported back to hill “Step back!” Ordered the messenger “We must leave—take anyone you can. Hurry!” The retreating army surged, and a soldier snatched Selen away

"Leave her!" screamed Skar his own scar glowing and a spark went from it "Benter throw me !"

nervouse Benter with his shovel gave Skar's jump a great momentum "Soul slash" whispered Skar his sword burning as fire of hell and went directly to the soldier killing him to a degree the hit location made the soldier on fire suprisingly not hitting Selen the army flee the messenger took a last look before teleporting the remaining of his men away

"are you ok ?" asked Skar

"yes Im ok thank you"

"then you owe me a new sword" showing his sword half melt

"wow you have tremendous powers" said Benter

"what is this power ?" asked Reden

"it just a slash I use fire"

"you are also hurt?" asked hurting Clara

"yes i still cant control it very well' Skar's hand burning blood coming out Reden touched it you need to be treated immidiatly

"ouch just take your hand and I will be good you pressing hard" said Skar

Reden and Skar went to the camp followed by the othersd

"Skar is really strong and scary" said Benter

"you know what scarier?" asked Liam