A few hundred kilometres from there, Jack's wife had just finished buying some gear for herself. The dark leather armour she bought, in conjunction with the two daggers strapped to her lower back, hid her actual age well.
Margarett was close to Jack's age too, being fifty-eight years old herself. But when dressed well, and pampered up, she could easily pass off as a late thirties woman.
And right now, with her equipment on, she looked like a mature man-eater assassin.
Since her husband had warned her about the possibility of monsters out of their capabilities around the starting zones, she played the safe card, and looked for a party of gullible… Ahem… generous youngsters that would take her along.
She positioned herself close to the village's exit, making herself look in distress, and waited for her charms to do the rest. It took around ten minutes before a young man walked up to her with an enormous smile.
"Hello, miss. Are you perhaps waiting on some friends to adventure with?"
With the widest smile she could muster, Margarett replied.
"No. I'm alone. Me and my husband decided to play together, but he was put in another town, a ways away from here. I was waiting for him to come to get me, so we can head to a city called Aravelle."
The young man extended his hand to her.
"We are heading to Aravelle ourselves! Do you want us to escort you? That way you can save some travelling for your husband."
'Hook, line, and sinker,' Margarett thought, flashing a surprised look.
"Would I not be a bother for your group?"
"Of course not, miss…"
"ShadowFang. I know, it's a childish name. I wanted it to sound cool, like you youngsters say."
"Miss ShadowFang. It is no problem at all. My party would gladly help you reach Aravelle."
"Then I'll be in your care, mister…"
"Blazing Heart. But you can call me Blaze. It'll be our pleasure."
The full-plated young man brought Margarett back to his party, introducing her to his three friends. The party was composed of a Knight class, a Sorcerer, a Hunter and a Priest.
The party of four were IRL friends, and had begun playing New Eden a few days before the update, and were now ready to head to Aravelle, now that the update went live.
Their levels were all around ten to twelve, and they promised to keep ShadowFang safe on the way there. The four young men all looked no older than twenty years old and were as gullible as young men could get.
The woman showed smiles and gratefulness, all the while thinking she would ditch them as soon as she could. Their over-friendly attitudes already falling on her nerves.
They left the small desolate village, which the four young men said didn't use to look like this before the update, and headed into the high grass plains around it.
"Be mindful of your steps, miss ShadowFang. The monsters around here are all small, and jump from the grass, often being in groups of five to ten," the knight, Blazing Heart, told her.
ShadowFang had pulled out her daggers, holding them in a loose grip, making her look like a total amateur.
"If we get attacked, just stand next to our priest, Light of Hope, and we'll guard you," the Hunter, Hidden Arrow, added.
"I can help, if needed," ShadowFang said, gripping her daggers a little tighter.
But the four boys shook their heads.
"We'll be fine on our own, Miss Fang. This zone barely has monsters over level five, so we can handle all the fighting. Just make sure you don't get killed," Blazing Heart said, flashing a confident grin.
"Okay then," ShadowFang replied, smiling sheepishly.
'These young bucks are too easy to manipulate. It's like dealing with children,' ShadowFang thought to herself.
She would let them do the heavy lifting, since they had invited her to a party. She would get Exp, regardless of her combat contribution.
Might as well use their bravado, for now, and keep up the act of the toothless damsel. But she had a hunch this wouldn't last, since she could already feel they were being watched, and she seemed to be the only one to feel it.
'What a bunch of amateurs.'
Soon after their conversation ended, a group of ten Honey Badgers charged at them in a straight line, disturbing the tall grass as they went, foregoing stealth.
Their levels varied between one and five, and they seemed pretty weak. The four boys surrounded ShadowFang, taking defensive stances, with Blazing Heart at the forefront, shield raised.
The Hunter, Hidden Arrow, was already shooting his bow, missing every other shot, while the Sorcerer was launching pebble-sized stone bullets at the incoming enemies, also missing a few shots.
'Their formation isn't bad, but their aim is terrible.'
Once the badgers were close enough, Blazing Heart smacked his sword on his shield, shouting out, and all the enemies suddenly focused their gazes on him.
'A taunting skill. At least he knows his role well.'
ShadowFang was analyzing their every move, with eyes containing a breadth of experience that contradicted her previous attitude. But the four boys were too busy concentrating on the fight to notice.
The combat was over in less than a minute, but ShadowFang was still snapping her head around.
'This is wrong. Those monsters were running a straight line. That wasn't an ambush. They were fleeing.'
Lowering her stance, ShadowFang reversed her grip on her daggers, her eyes still darting around.
Her actions alerted the four boys, and Blazing Heart was eyeing her suspiciously. The air she gave out was totally different now than a few minutes prior.
"Are you alright, Miss Fang?"
She didn't bother looking at him before responding.
"The fight isn't over. We're surrounded."
The four boys looked around, but couldn't see any enemies, with their eyes or their mini-map. They were half tempted to laugh it off as unease from the newbie woman, but her aura was making them nervous.
When the first attack came from the hidden enemies, it was already too late to retreat.
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