Bursting out from the trees into the open area that the stream was running through, Kaitlyn committed to a sneak attack, leaping up and slicing off one of the ogre's heads in one clean swoop. Now past the duo of ogres, having murdered their third member, Kaitlyn came to a stop in front of the three ogres, getting into a battle-ready position. Having sent a small cloud of dirt into the air as she came to a stop, Kaitlyn was close enough to feel the horrendous odor that wafted off of these ogres.
With a shallow breath to maintain whatever smelling capabilities she had left, Kaitlyn casted some basic body enhancement spells onto herself, raising her speed and strength before leaping back into the fray.
Inhale.
Dodging a club that slammed onto the ground, Kaitlyn stepped onto it, launching herself upward and to the side, dodging the second club before planting a sword in the chest of the ogre in front of her.
Exhale.
Twirl.
Channeling mana into her sword Kaitlyn sliced, letting out a sword slash of energy, shooting it towards the last ogre.
...
Thud.
Taking a deep breath, Kaitlyn was satisfied seeing the shock on the last ogre's face, still in disbelief that the rest of the group had died within a few seconds of each other.
Not bothering with detailed material collection, Kaitlyn cut off the right ear of each of the ogres, gathering the proof of the kill before running off towards the distant ass clappers.
Running through the forest with her swords sheathed, Kaitlyn stowed the ears in a small pack she was carrying, adjusting her route as she ran.
With the sounds of battle up ahead, Kaitlyn came out of the tree line only to watch Rachel land back onto the ground and brush a stray strand of hair out of her face, having just sliced the head and arm off of the last ogre.
Joining up with the group, Kaitlyn waved to them, getting their attention as they gathered the proofs of killing.
"I got three here," Kaitlyn delivered, handing over her ogre ears to Josephine who was carrying a larger bag to store their collected resources, "How was it on your end?"
"It was light!" Damien laughed, picking a throwing knife out of the eye of an ogre, "I could've done it in my sleep!"
Nodding in relief, Kaitlyn walked over, waiting for them to gather before setting off towards the larger settlement of ogres.
Walking through the undergrowth once more, Kaitlyn, having run out of small talk topics, decided to disclose the contents of the letter she received the night before, "So... I received a letter last night from an acquaintance and I thought I should let you know some of the key details, as they pertain to you all and our future plans."
"Who was the letter from? If we can know, of course," Oliver asked, walking beside Kaitlyn to learn a bit more about tracking from her.
"Ah, no worries, you all will be getting a notice soon enough from the Guild anyway," Kaitlyn nodded, a relaxed expression on her face as she pushed her way through a larger bush, "The letter was sent by the northern duchess of the Eustass Republic, Chelsea van Bastielian."
Seeing the flickers of recognition light up in their eyes, Kaitlyn continued, "She's the duchess of the northern territory in which a monster wave occurs every year. This year however, with the natural cycles, should be a stronger wave. To add to that though, we've recently received intel that the previous right-hand man of the Demon King, Nero the Nightmare Dragon of Betrayal. Or by other names, Nero the Black Nightmare Dragon."
"That... doesn't sound good," Josephine murmured, stretching her hands from the earlier fight, "With those titles obviously he sounds like a villain, but also... kinda sounds like whatever you got going on over there Damien..."
Snorting, Damien retorted, "My shadow dragon would never do anything like betrayal! Although in the darkness, my shadow dragon compliments the light!"
"...Anyway," Kaitlyn moved on, motioning them to come to a stop as the ogre nest came into view, "the guild is going to call all A-Rank and above adventurers to the northern territory, so you all will be included in that bunch."
Leaning down to whisper as they watched the ogres lumber around, 'patrolling' the area, Rachel asked, "First thing... Do you know how long it'll be until then? Second thing, do we just have to steamroll our way through there...?"
"For the first thing, it'll be about a month before we set off," Kaitlyn answered, keeping her voice loud enough that the others could hear, but low enough to not gather the attention of the ogres, "and yes we can just steamroll through these guys, guild info has let us know that no one has been kidnapped by the settlement yet."
"Yesssss," Damien hissed under his breath, a wide smile on his face, "Time to get this show on the road A.C.A!"
Pursing his lips, Oliver let out a stream of expletives before relenting, "I hate the name, but you do speak the truth..."
Doing a light countdown, the party of five burst out of the bushes all at once, charging forward in formation to kill the ogres. Their vanguard, made up of Josephine and Oliver were the first two to meet the ogres, followed by Rachel and Kaitlyn, followed up by Damien.
Meeting the ogres, Damien began by running off to the side, preparing to engage in hit and run tactics.
Melding into the shadows casted by the trees, Damien, when appropriate, appeared, using a short sword to deal clean blows to each ogre, then using the ogre as a foothold to leap back out of danger.
When not appropriate, Damien would slink along the sides, providing support by throwing knives, shurikens, among other support items such as odor bombs.
Pushing his hair back out of his face, Damien took a second to gaze at the others, only being able to think to himself, '... f*ck, Kaitlyn is so overpowered... please nerf...'