The camp was quiet save for some nightly noises made by the nocturnal insects, the place was calm.
Everyone was fast asleep in some hours time, except for the person on watch duty.
Oscar opened his eyes during this time and propped himself up slowly. He went over to Conn's side.
'I need to end this fast.' Oscar thought.
Oscar held Conn's neck and broke his trachea (windpipe) severing the connection of air to his brain. He then proceeded to apply some pressure on the neck, twisting it in the process.
'One down'
Oscar snuck out of the tent, making his way to Shareen's tent, he used fire to burn part of the entrance and squeeze his way in.
'I hope the flame wasn't noticable.'
The fire he used was minimal but it was still significantly conspicuous in dark areas.
This time he took a sharp weapon he saw in the tent and lodged it in her temple, killing her in her sleep.
"Hey Shareen, it's time for your shift."
Oscar heard Doron's voice call out.
'He is heading this way, I need to do something.'
Oscar, who had being operating with total discretion decided to do something else.
"Hey you!"
He ran into the forest.
"This brat"
Doron had no time to alert Rina or call anyone else, so he chased after Oscar.
****
"Hey! Brat stop running!"
'Do you think I would?'
Doron was hot on Oscar's tail, he had been chasing him for over seven minutes now. That was far enough from the camp, whenever Doron felt like he was catching up, Oscar would move faster breezing through the forest like he was one with the wind.
'How is this boy not tired? Isn't he a non-mage?' Doron thought to himself. Running was not his strong suit, he did have stamina but coupling that with a tall and bulky frame, he looked like a small house running.
'Conn you will pay for letting this trash free.'
Doron was livid, how could this boy escape Conn's senses and leave the tent?
Oscar kept running, using his compact frame to move around the surroundings while Doron just charged through everything.
"Once I get a hold of you!..."
Doron was so clouded by anger that he didn't notice how far away from the camp they currently were.
He didn't even think about anything being amiss, like what sort of strength the boy possessed to be able to outrun him and still not be out of breath or how Oscar ran out of Shareen's tent instead of Conn's while escaping.
'I think I've run far enough'
"Here should be fine" Oscar thought aloud as he decided to stop at a space that was a bit enclosed. At the left and the right were two huge rocks which made it a narrow pass, almost as high as the trees and close to each other. The space in between was only large enough for two people to pass through. It took almost twenty steps to get out of the narrow pathway.
"Haah...haah, You finally stopped." Doron spoke while trying to catch his breath.
"Here of all places, you cornered yourself." Doron looked at Oscar in derision.
Oscar stood in between the rocks, he position himself at the centre. It would take him almost ten steps backwards or forward to leave the middle of the rocks.
Smiling Oscar looked at him and calmly said one word.
"Come."
"Hehehe" Laughing in a manner that sounded devoid of joy as he adopted a sinister expression, Doron cracked his knuckles and went forth.
"I will paint these rocks with your blood." Doron spoke as he tried to grab and slam him to a rock.
"Hmm."
Seeing the large hand coming, heading for his shoulder, Oscar chose to grab Doron's arm with both hands, using his strength to pull and bend it.
"Huh?"
Doron was caught unaware, the result of his arm being pulled caused his arm to follow suit, his body also swayed to the side due to the change in momentum. Because the space was small, Doron's head hit the rock.
Doron felt his head go dizzy, the force he used to grab Oscar's shoulder was used against him.
'This brat, I underestimated him.'
'Wrist locks won't work on this guy, his hands are too large, that move won't work on him again.' Oscar thought.
"Who are you?" Doron asked, as he started to take Oscar seriously for once.
"It doesn't matter."
"It does to me." Doron retorted as he took a martial arts stance.
"You are a grappler, well it's not much of a surprise. With your low-body fat, large hands, and high muscularity. I think you throw things around for fun."
"There's more to you that meets the eye." If Doron was doubtful before, now he was convinced.
'This kid is not ordinary.'
"Well, too bad... I already won."
"Huh??"
Oscar stomped forward, not caring about Doron's reaction.
Doron tried to initiate a hold as Oscar got closer but it was parried by Oscar's elbow. Doron got hit in the solar plexus instead, he endured it and tried to get a hold of his opponent again.
His attack was blocked and he got kicked in the thigh.
'This brat is so close, yet so slippery. How is he dodging my attack at close range.'
None of his attacks against the kid went through but Oscar always made contact.
"You might be a martial artist, but you are still stupid." Oscar smirked as he made this statement.
"Hnngh!" Doron grunted, no longer concerned with defence, he used both hand to embrace Oscar.
'Once I grab you it's all over.'
He lifted Oscar up and then...
"Pak!"
He dropped Oscar right away and held his head, he was staggering.
When he took Oscar up, the boy used that chance to break Doron's jaw using his hands to hit the side of his jaws and dislodge it before following up with a headbutt to the chin, making Doron turn slack-jawed.
"Hoh!" The pain felt unbearable.
'This boy is a monster.' Doron's thoughts were in a state of turmoil.
"You know why lost the moment you began? Why you can't touch me?"
"Look around you, the space is only big enough for two. How do you expect a large person like you to move? What is combat without motion."
"The range of movement is vital in close-quarter combat. You lost a third of your strength the moment you restricted your motion."
Doron looked around, Oscar was right. The enclosure worked against him, he should have realized that when his head hit the rock.
'I need to leave this space' Doron concluded.
"Where are you going loose-jawed? It's either you or me, and it's definitely not me."
Doron ignored him and turned to leave.
'It now dawned on him that he was the subject of the hunt all along.'
Oscar jumped and attached his legs to Doron's neck, before the man could think Oscar already slammed down with elbow strikes straight to the back of his head.
Doron dropped to the ground, he wasn't dead yet, he was out cold.
Oscar went to Doron and twisted his neck, ending his life swiftly.
"Time to go back to camp and deal with the mage."
Leaving the area, Oscar went back to meet Rina. Once he was close to the camp, he saw a silhouette in the dark.
'It was expected, she is awake.'
"Who are you?" Rina questioned, the scene she woke up to shocked her. He was a non-mage and that posed no threat but she was still vigilant.
'Did he use a tool? Does he also work for the knolls?' Various thoughts went through her mind, but they all seemed improbable.
"My name is Oscar, heir to the Lane Ducal house." Oscar replied, staring at her.
"A Duke's child.?" Her expression shifted, scavengers sometimes stole noble kids. Children of barons, lords, at rare times the children of Viscounts. However, a Duke's child was off limits.
The power of a Duke's was second to the Royal family. So no one in the organization wanted that heat.
'I just kicked a mine but what's done is done.' Rina thought.
"Wait...Oscar? You were..." As if recalling something, her words trailed off.
"It seems you have also heard about me."
"Yes I have, but I didn't think there was a need to care. The day you were declared a non-mage, I cared less. But now, after seeing all this, knowing who you are, there is no way you are leaving here alive."
Rina's perception of Oscar had changed.
'Shareen and Conn are dead, I should consider Doron dead too. He killed them without using mana. Does he possess the flame power, they talked about? Either way I'll find out."
Rina drew out her aura, she was a syne-two mage almost as strong as a syne three.
"I'm not planning to pull my punches, so if you have any trump cards it's best if you use them."
Rina was incredibly vigilant, she considered Oscar to be a boy shrouded in mystery