"Take that Dwarf Warrior. Even though his shield has been repaired, you can still see where it was damaged by the tusks of a particularly large Elekk, and more than once. That proves they've done this quest many times. And that hunter's wolf has only just recovered from its injuries. It looks like it was wounded by an Elekk too. That can't be a coincidence."
Vanessa nodded with a smile. "Your powers of observation have improved, but they're still a little lacking. If you'd watched their footwork, you'd have seen how well they coordinated. They said they'd only just formed their party, so they're obviously up to something. I just don't understand what they want."
Vanessa was a legendary rogue and the leader of the Defias Brotherhood.
As a leader, she dealt with people at a different level, and even went alone when carrying out missions. Her worldview was completely different from that of ordinary adventurers.
Robbie stared silently at Vanessa until she blushed a little and snapped, "Could they have taken a fancy to my beauty?"
"Commander, you're overthinking it. We may all be part of the Alliance, but the different races have very different standards of beauty. What they're after is your Enchanter's Robe. Speaking of which, yours is genuine, right?"
As her personal bodyguard, Robbie knew perfectly well that the Enchanter's Robe was purely decorative, or rather, for showing off. Underneath it, Vanessa wore a suit of tight-fitting leather armor. She was so slender that no one could tell from the outside.
"Of course it's genuine, and it's no longer made." Vanessa was both pleased and proud. "There's one thing I don't understand. How are they going to steal my equipment? Pretend they can't hold the monster's aggro? Or attack me outright?"
"They can't attack you outright," Robbie reasoned. "If you sap someone from your own faction and get caught, you'll be sent to prison. I think they must have someone from the Horde helping them. That's right, an Undead rogue."
"What? There's a rogue?" Vanessa looked around. "Impossible. My perception is very sharp. I'd detect any rogue who came within a thousand meters."
"Actually, that rogue is thirteen hundred meters away," Robbie explained. "I can sense Undead, but he's too far away and in Stealth, so I can only sense his approximate location."
"So he's in the same line of work as me. Then I'll give him a proper lesson in how to be a rogue." Vanessa's competitive spirit flared.
"No, leave this to me." Robbie volunteered to handle it.
Now that Vanessa knew their scheme, she wasn't about to be polite.
"Split the bounty seven ways. I want three shares."
The Dwarf Warrior shook his head. "How could that work? There are five people, so you can only have a fifth. That's fair."
"Wrong. There are seven. I have two Followers here."
They argued for a while, but Vanessa refused to budge. The Dwarf Warrior pretended to consult the others, then finally "reluctantly" agreed.
The elf hunter suggested, "So we can all cooperate in good faith, I suggest we list the skills we've mastered. I'll go first. I know Tame Beast, Arcane Shot, Feign Death, and Misdirection."
Four skills was average for Lunarfall's three hundred commanders, and Misdirection was considered a fairly advanced one.
"My turn!" The Dwarf Warrior hoisted his shield. "I've mastered Charge, Shield Slam, Thunder Clap, and Taunt."
It was another fairly ordinary set of skills. But without Shield Wall, a protection Warrior couldn't become an Elite.
The Worgen Druid and Gnome rogue also listed their skills. Their abilities were unremarkable. Robbie was certain they were each hiding a few trump cards, but there was no need to worry about them.
Finally, it was Vanessa's turn. She grew a little smug. "Heal, Power Word: Shield, Prayer of Mending, Pain Suppression, and..."
Robbie hurriedly covered Vanessa's mouth, but the four of them had already changed expression at the mention of Pain Suppression.
Pain Suppression temporarily reduced damage by forty percent. It was the hallmark of a powerful Priest.
That skill alone was enough to earn someone a position as a main Priest in a large guild.
"What else can you do?" the Dwarf Warrior asked coldly.
"Cooking."
Robbie hurriedly answered, guessing that Vanessa wouldn't be willing to make them food or drink. "My commander has mastered Dark Cuisine. It greatly reduces primary attributes and slightly increases secondary attributes."
"Then forget it."
They didn't have many doubts. After all, Priest was a class that required arduous training, and every skill took years of practice. Mastering four skills, especially Pain Suppression, was already proof that Vanessa was a genius.
If she had been an elf or Draenei Priest, they might have thought more of it. Both races lived long lives and had far more time for arduous training than humans.
A large herd of Elekks lived deep in Shadowmoon Forest. Kurat was the fiercest of them, an unprecedentedly large specimen known as White Death. He had claimed the innocent lives of many adventurers and was a constant headache for the Draenei of Embaari Village.
The elf hunter skillfully used Misdirection and Feign Death, successfully pulling Kurat alone. The other Elekks yawned and continued chatting and grazing without moving from their spots. The Dwarf Warrior raised his shield and used Taunt. Once his aggro was stable, the others moved in to attack, and the battle began.
The Dwarf Warrior glanced at Robbie. "Why are you only using basic attacks?"
"Which eye of yours saw me using only basic attacks? I know Exorcism," Robbie protested.
"Forget it. Get behind him and stop getting in the way of my positioning."
Robbie moved behind the Elekk. The Gnome rogue was very short, and although he held two replica Chromatically Tempered Swords, he had to jump as high as he could to hit the Elekk's leg joints. He gave a shout each time, and his movements were quite comical. Robbie found it amusing and couldn't help laughing aloud.
The Gnome rogue gave Robbie a contemptuous look. "With damage like yours, you're worse than the hunter's wolf. That fine-grade equipment is wasted on you. Are you getting by on your looks? Forget it. Stop getting in our way and go cool your heels somewhere else."
With that excuse, Robbie returned to Vanessa's side without a word.
Ironfist, on the other hand, dealt steadily increasing damage after switching to frost presence.
Robbie watched Vanessa's healing at his leisure and finally felt better. As it turned out, no one was perfect.
Vanessa was a good healer and had mastered many skills, but her attention was fixed on Kurat. She instinctively watched the Elekk's weak points, considering how to kill him in one blow.
As a result, Vanessa kept getting distracted, leaving the Dwarf Warrior on edge.
"The Undead rogue is getting closer," Robbie said in Vanessa's ear.
"Let's see what this rogue can do."
Vanessa pressed herself against a large tree, with Robbie standing guard in front of her, every bit the dutiful bodyguard. The Undead rogue circled them several times but couldn't find an opening to strike.
The Dwarf Warrior spotted the problem, so he backed away step by step, increasing the distance between himself and Vanessa.
Vanessa showed no intention of moving. Even when she couldn't reach him with her healing, she stayed where she was, behaving exactly like a bad-tempered, self-important noble heiress.
For his own safety, the Dwarf Warrior had no choice but to return to his original position.
But the delay had given Kurat's injuries time to worsen, sending the Elekk into a furious rage.
The Dwarf Warrior had some skill, and his shield was good quality, so he wasn't under much pressure.
But once Kurat died, their scheme would fall apart, so the four of them all slowed their attacks.
The Dwarf Warrior frowned as an idea came to him. He actually began edging toward Vanessa.
The despicable, shameless bastard. The Elekk had an area attack, so Vanessa had no choice but to move around behind the tree. Robbie naturally followed, ready for battle.
Just then, the hunter suddenly used Misdirection on Ironfist.
Vanessa lived up to her origins as a rogue, reacting remarkably quickly. As soon as the hunter used Misdirection, she understood what he intended. She promptly cast Power Word: Shield, Pain Suppression, and Prayer of Mending on Ironfist, then began casting Heal.
Kurat turned and launched a deadly attack at Ironfist. Thanks to Vanessa's foresight, Ironfist wasn't hurt. He was a little slower to react, switching to blood presence only after he was attacked.
"Hunter, what do you think you're doing?" Robbie demanded loudly.
"Sorry, my fingers slipped."
The hunter hurriedly apologized, and the Dwarf Warrior used Taunt to regain stable aggro.
Vanessa had used up all her major skills, making this the perfect chance for a sneak attack. The Undead rogue drew closer, and a faint stench of decay hung in the air. But before he could sneak behind Vanessa, a light suddenly flashed beneath his feet, revealing him from Stealth.
The ambushing rogue froze. He was probably trying to remember how long it had been since the days when Retribution Paladins had the Consecration skill.
Robbie was also slightly surprised, because the figure before him was a sleazy male Night Elf in a black Fangs set, wielding two barroom weapons. Though surprised, Robbie didn't stop. Whatever his race, he had dared to ambush Vanessa, and Robbie absolutely couldn't let him off.
The Cursed Torch came swinging down. Fist of Justice, Judgment, Exorcism...
The combo broke many of the rogue's bones. He couldn't take much punishment. Once he came to, he quickly used Sprint and fled. Sprint really was a powerful skill: both his leg bones were broken, so he replaced them with the bones from his arms and still ran at tremendous speed.
Even in the middle of everything, Vanessa didn't forget to throw a Pain spell at him.
Robbie and Vanessa had planned this long ago. They couldn't kill anyone here outright, or there would be no evidence left.
"My Pain is only level one. I'm afraid it won't kill him," Vanessa whispered to Robbie.
"Don't worry. We still have Weldon, don't we? If he can't even stop a badly wounded rogue, I'll dismiss him as soon as we get back."
With a large tree between them, the four party members hadn't seen what happened. They had only heard some commotion.
"What happened?" the Worgen Druid asked.
"There was a big rat. We've chased it away," Robbie said, making it up.
The fight had ended so quickly that the four of them suspected nothing, and the battle continued. Kurat was on the verge of death, and they finally couldn't hold back any longer. Kurat was their long-term meal ticket, so of course they couldn't just kill him.
The Dwarf Warrior secretly opened a health potion and poured it into his mouth, pretending to spit out a mouthful of blood. He shouted:
"Priest, you're terrible! Your awareness is awful! I can't tank him anymore! A noble heiress really isn't cut out to be an adventurer. Go home and do some embroidery!"
The Dwarf Warrior made a great leap, then used Charge on a small animal, leaving the battlefield.
At the same time, the Worgen Druid escaped in travel form, the Gnome rogue vanished into Stealth, and the elf hunter jumped backward and used Feign Death. But he forgot to call back his pet. Kurat stamped down hard, reducing the poor wolf to a bloody pulp.
Vanessa's awareness was excellent. As soon as the Dwarf Warrior shouted, she used Leap of Faith to pull Ironfist over.
How could I let you get your way? Robbie sneered maliciously.
Come on, mass repentance. Repent for your crimes.