Is this really a Game?!

Tank nodded, understanding Reign's point. "True, but it's still best to approach cautiously. We don't want to start a fight if we don't have to."

Reign agreed. "Agreed, let's keep observing for now and continue getting more information before we approach them, knowing what exactly they are searching for will make it a bit easier for us to establish whether or not they are foes from the get-go."

The group settled into a routine of observing the mercenaries' camp from a safe distance, Shadow was the one that would often go forward, hiding his presence and doing his best to eavesdrop on the conversations the mercenaries would have. They noticed that the mercenaries seemed a bit on the edge and annoyed by something, their frustration mounting with each passing minute.

"It looks like they're quite annoyed by something, perhaps like us, they cannot find anything in the desert?" Mia said after a couple of hours as they watched another large group of mercenaries return to the camp, bringing nothing back with them, only their annoyance and rising frustration.
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"Yeah, from what I managed to overhear, I believe that they are looking for the enemy faction as well, some of them mentioned how their employer was attacked by hooded people about two weeks ago, and how his territory was being attacked by something."

"The vegetation was wilting, the monsters were getting sparse, but even then, the monsters that remained seemed to become more dangerous."

"Those are definitely signs of corruption, but who did they not notice it, the corruption leaves traces behind, it's not difficult for one to notice those traces, to notice its power as it starts corrupting everything around it." Reign said as Shadow sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I got no idea bro, that is all the regular mercenaries know, the stronger ones that are higher ranked in the mercenary group definitely know more, and their employer as well, but to eavesdrop on their conversation is much more difficult."

"Yeah, I know." Reign said with a sigh before looking at the others while Beast suddenly stood up.

"What if the enemy is using a different form of corruption, one that is not as powerful, but is much more difficult to detect, maybe that is why they don't know about it."

"Yeah, or it could be that their employer does know, but he just doesn't want to tell them or anybody else, after all, many would panic if they found out that a weird form of power is corrupting everything around them and taking away the life force of the vegetation," Wolf added from the side, prompting the others to nod.

"We should take both those possibilities into consideration if the enemy truly can utilize a different form of corruption, that might make the following battle against them more difficult."

The group continued to observe the mercenaries' camp, gathering as much information as possible about their movements and intentions. They noticed that the mercenaries were becoming increasingly frustrated and agitated, suggesting that they were facing difficulties in their search.

Reign and Shadow, having gathered enough information, decided it was time to approach the mercenaries and learn more about their situation. They all got up and made their way to the outskirts of the camp, where they were met with cautious but not hostile reactions from the mercenaries.

"Halt!"

"Who are you, what do you want?!" The couple of guards who were at the very front of the makeshift camp all start at Reign and the others with apprehensive expressions.

A group of 9 suddenly appeared in front of their camp, right when the tension in the camp was rising thanks to the fact they were unable to locate what they were tasked to find. They had been here for a couple of days now, and they found nothing at all.

All 9 of the people were wearing long robes and hoods, making it impossible to see their faces, but they all stood straight in front of them, the masks they were wearing reflecting the rays of the sun.

"We wish to speak to your leaders." Reign, who was at the very front of the group, spoke as he stared at the guards with a calm expression.

Their appearance didn't go unnoticed and more mercenaries appeared near the entrance of the camp, all of them fully alert and ready to fight if they turned out to be enemies.

"You think you can just approach our camp and ask to speak to them like this, who the hell do you think you are?!" One mercenary shouted as the others nodded and pointed their weapons at Reign and the others.

"Listen here, you are not welcome here, turn around and leave, or we will be forced to make you leave!"

"Leave, I don't think we should let them leave at all, what if they are an enemy?"

"Yeah, maybe we should just get rid of them right away!"

Reign sighed and shook his head with slight disappointment upon hearing their words.

"It is really annoying when one has to listen to so many people talking, how about you all calm down a bit, and shut up, alright?" Reign asked as he suddenly released a bit of his aura, causing the air around him to distort for a moment and the crowd to immediately turn silent, many of them freezing in fright upon sensing the immense aura coming from Reign.

"See, I and my friends here are all in the same Tier, if we wanted to attack you, we could have easily attacked without approaching like this."

"We mean no harm and wish to just talk, if we did indeed mean to bring harm to you, well, you should already know how simple that would be for us, right?" Reign asked, to which one of the guards responded by nodding his head a couple of times quickly while his body continued to shake.

"I – I'll notify the leaders, please – please wait a moment."

"It's fine, we're already aware." A calm voice spoke as a person appeared in the middle of the crowd, causing the mercenaries to quickly move and make way for him to pass.

"Sir, what … what should we-"

"Please, enter, we should speak in private, in our tent." The man told Reign as he glanced at Wolf and the others, slight apprehension visible in his eyes as he was well aware that every single one was his equal, at least in terms of level and Tier.

As for how dangerous each one of them was, well, his instincts were flaring up, screaming at him that every single one of them was more than dangerous enough to threaten his life.

"Many thanks, that is all we wish for." Reign said as he followed the man through the makeshift camp while the mercenaries all stared at them with fear and apprehension, none of them allowing themselves to relax for even an instant.

Upon reaching the main tent, they entered and quickly noticed how they couldn't hear a thing from the outside.

"A silencing array, we can't allow our men to know everything we discuss, nor can we allow anybody else to simply waltz in the camp without being discovered and hear what we are talking about." The man said as Reign and the others nodded their heads before glancing at the other people in the tent.

Reign was actually wrong.

There weren't three Tier VI combatants present amongst them, but four.

One of them, the man who seemed to be their leader, was standing with the rest of them, but his aura was contained inside his body incredibly well, so well that even Reign was unable to sense it from a distance and only managed to do so after they entered the tent.

The silencing array placed on the tent didn't only make it nearly impossible to hear what was being said inside the tent, but it also helped hide some aura that was inside, making it more difficult for people to sense how powerful the leaders of the mercenaries were.

Still, they were still not powerful enough to go up against the enemy faction, or Reign and his team.

"We believe you are searching for the same people that we are, we have come here in hopes of working together." Reign said as he glanced at the people present before removing the hood and mask, as did the others.

"So you have already collected information on us, huh?" One of the leaders said as Reign smiled and nodded his head.

"Apologies for that, it is impolite, but we had to know more about you before approaching, after all, you could have been the enemy we are looking for, but luckily, you are not, which means we can work together to find and destroy them."

"And why should we believe you, why shouldn't we continue working by ourselves?" Another of the leaders asked, to which Reign smirked.

"Because you don't have nearly enough people to defeat them, even we are not sure if we could take them down without casualties, and as you can see, we have many more Tier VI combatants than you."