Way of the Knights

---

There is a ward, probably set-up by the Hag, that prevents Vendrick's ocular technique from scouting the situation inside the home of the Hag. But in all honesty, he didn't really need to see it for him to know what's inside. 

That is a nest...an insect nest. The Hag's true form is that of an Insectoid. She's probably breeding all sorts of abominations inside. And knowing that she's been here for quite sometime, it wouldn't be a surprise if the abominations she created is just absurd as she is.  action

'Ugh, this is bad.' Vendrick groaned, 'I should probably go back. Staying here any longer would just increase the risk I'm taking.'

Telling this to himself, Vendrick didn't stay any longer. He silently retreated from the Hag's camp being just as careful as he was when he was entering, if anything he's even slower since he really didn't want to alarm this Hag right now. 

The good news, yes there is a good news, is that he got what he needed. Intel, that is. 

Vendrick now has a clear idea of what he was dealing with. An Insectoid Hag, probably one of the worst variant of Hags there is but it's something he has to deal with. 

Her territory isn't that large, at least on the surface. Since she's an insectoid, she probably focused on building a nest underground, so long as he could do something about that, then he would effectively cripple the Hag's prowess and make the battle easier for him. 

But sure enough, that sounds easy on paper. It would be extremely difficult to pull that off considering the fact that the Hag he's going to face is a cut above the rest. Hags are territorial as well, on top of not being kind to intruders, Hags places great importance on their homes. Destroying them could prove just as difficult as killing the Hag herself. 

Alas, Vendrick has to do it since that's the only way that he could weaken the Hag. Without her home, a Hag's prowess would drop by at least 50%, it could even be greater depending on the circumstances. 

Vendrick managed to slip away from the Hag's territory without triggering any traps or alarms. The moment he escaped, he felt as if a huge boulder was lifted from his shoulders. It was surprising how much he ignored the stifling feeling that the Hag's territory brought to its intruders. This is something he had to keep in mind. 

In addition to getting out of that place, Vendrick also decided to not confront any of the beast just in case. He just wanted to be extra sure that he made a clean escape. 

He also decided to not got straight to the tribe just yet. Instead, he searched for a place to rest first and clean himself. This doesn't just refer to cleaning his body but also cleansing any traces of the Hag's cursed energy if there were some that managed to infiltrate his system. 

Vendrick was already being careful enough to not touch any of the Hag's belongings, in fact he didn't even dare to breathe too much while he was in there and that wasn't a problem to him. Doing all of this reduces the chance of him being discovered and lessened the chances of him being infected by the cursed territory.

Still, when he meditated, he discovered that he had some infections. It was okay since being a Dragonborn gives him some resistance from curses, had he activated his scales he could've prevented this from happening but that would alarm the Hag so he didn't. Even so, cleansing himself off of this wasn't really difficult. 

The infection wasn't so bad to begin with, he just needed to spend a speck of his Dragon Aura and he effectively cleansed everything away. After finishing his cleansing, Vendrick was relieved and felt new. Now there's no way that the Hag could locate him. He could safely return to the tribe without risking them. 

---

"...okay, what the hell happened here?" 

This is what Vendrick said the moment he entered the tribe. The corners of his lips were twitching when he witnessed the strange scene in front of him, 

There were numerous stakes erected at the very center of the tribe, where the Monthly Exchange usually happens. In those said stakes, numerous people were tied, naked and afraid. People of all age and sizes. 

Their faces were pale, indignant and scared as the crowd stared at them. He could see the righteous fury burning on the eyes of the common folk. Some of them were even throwing dirt on the people tied on the stakes while others were spitting on them. 

Vendrick didn't need to think hard. He knew these people tied on the stakes the moment he saw their silhouettes. They were the Tribe Leaders and their spawns. All of them were battered and crippled, the Tribe Leaders looked absolutely wretched while their descendants suffered from despair and humiliation. 

It was also obvious who did this, seeing that he could see Arthur and Rosa sitting in front of a long table which littered with numerous supplies, distributing them to the common folk. 

"Oh, Vendrick! You're finally here." Rosa exclaimed when she saw him from where she was. Arthur also looked up and puffed his chest. 

Vendrick smiled wryly and started walking towards them. 

When the people around saw him, they instinctively made way for him to pass. Vendrick could feel their gazes and the emotions contained with them but he didn't care much. He kept walking until he got close to them. 

He looked at the two of them, then at the people tied at the stakes. He looked back at them and said: "You guys could've just killed them. No need for this." 

As the first sentence the people heard from him, it surely was ominous. And here these people thought that Vendrick was kind person due to his looks, apparently not. 

The people who heard him practically shivered in fright. Vendrick didn't care though, and it doesn't look like Arthur nor Rosa cared either. 

"Nah, you see killing them is the easy part but they don't deserve a swift death. They have to suffer first." Arthur replied while snorting at the people tied to the stakes. 

"But you guys were planning to kill them anyway." Vendrick replied. 

"True." Rosa nodded, "But like what he said, they don't deserve that at all. After all this time that they cheated us and caused us to suffer, they absolutely don't deserve an easy escape. We vowed to make them suffer as much as we did. We're not just doing this for us, we also doing it for them." 

Rosa motioned towards the people who were gathered around them. 

"I see what you mean." Vendrick nodded, he then glanced at the people tied on the stakes and commented. "These supplies should be the things you confiscated from them right?" 

"Yep." Arthur nodded, sounding rather proud. "They don't have a use for it anyways, might as well distribute them to people who could really use them right now." 

Vendrick stayed silent after that. He could feel some of them staring at him, waiting for what he would do next. 

Under their gaze, Vendrick started walking towards the people tied at the stakes. He paused just a few meters away from them, looking at the faces one by one. These people looked at him, garnering hopes while some were openly begging for forgiveness. 

Amongst one of the people were the same person who used to bully the old Little Tiger a lot back then. It's the Young Master Jin. 

Looking at his wretched appearance, a cold smirk appeared on Vendrick's face. 

"How the tables have turned, yeah?" He said to him. Young Master Jin wanted to say something but Vendrick beat him to it. "No need for words, Young Master Jin. You never needed one before whenever you decided to hurt me anyways so there's no use for them right now." 

He then took out a green liquid from his spatial ring and poured its contents to his palms. Using his energy, he controlled the liquid to form numerous strands the floated towards the glabella of all the people tied at the stakes. 

"This liquid is something I harvested from a Green Swamp Python - a Tier 4 Demonic Beast. This is its poison and if you got infected by it, you will suffer tremendous pain that would make you wish you were dead instead." 

"I initially wanted to end you guys swiftly since there's no use in torturing you. But my friends wanted you to suffer so I should respect their wishes." The sneer on Vendrick's face was thick as he witnessed their despairing faces. 

"If you guys continue like this, it will take days before you guys die. If I poisoned you, then forget about days, you'll die in 30 minutes. You all should thank me, really." 

Vendrick then waved his hand and infused the poison to their bodies. 

"If you guys can live after 30 minutes, well good for you. If you don't, then make sure you become a better person in your next lives. If you'll ever have one."