Arthur spent three days observing the camp, learning its patterns, its weaknesses, and its hierarchy. It was a grueling test of patience, but he knew that rushing in blindly would mean certain death. He needed every advantage he could get.
The Ice Elves were not a mindless horde. They had structure, order, and discipline. The lowest rank, the Workers, were frail and barely armed, responsible for gathering food, maintaining the huts, and tending to the fire. They were expendable, but their presence kept the camp running. But even these seemingly weak Workers were still a menace in battle.
Arthur had faced these foes in battle three times now, and every time he was wounded.
Next were the Warriors, also called Hunters. These were the elves that usually acted in groups of at least 3 elves, those who stalked the frozen wasteland with deadly precision. They were skilled in battle, well-equipped, and worked in perfect unison. Their movements were swift, their attacks lethal.
Then there were the Commanders. Arthur had only seen one in this camp, but only this one showed Arthur that this rank was not something you wanted to mess with, the elf adorned with glowing silver etchings. Unlike the others, it didn't simply oversee the daily tasks, it trained the warriors, instructed the workers, and made decisions that affected the entire camp.
Commanders were also a whole level above all other elves in terms of strength and speed.
At the second day of Arthur's observing, one Worker started a fight, but as soon as the Commander appeared, the Worker froze in fear.
"So Commanders have the most Authority in the camp."
And if there were Commanders, then surely there had to be something above them. Arthur had no idea what that rank might be, but the thought alone made him wary.
By the third day, he had seen enough. He knew their routines. When they ate. When they patrolled. When they slept. And most importantly, when they were vulnerable.
He also compared his own strength to the Ice elf ranks.
He was about as, if not a little bit stronger than a Worker right now, so it will be hard for him to even win against a Warrior alone, but as far as he was concerned in this seemingly rather small tribe of Frost Elves, there were nineteen Workers, seven Warriors and the Commander.
"So let's start this little plan of mine, and hope for the best..."
Arthur crouched behind an outcrop of ice, gripping the cold orb of Ice Light in his palm. The sun had dipped below the horizon, and only the flickering campfire and faintly glowing weapons of the guards illuminated the settlement.
Taking a deep breath, he lobbed the Ice Light towards the camp's front gate.
The moment it hit the ground, the orb exploded in an intense burst of blinding blue light, brighter than even Arthur expected. The guards recoiled, raising their arms to shield their eyes, momentarily stunned.
Arthur wasted no time. He sprinted around the outer perimeter of the camp, his boots barely making a sound against the frozen ground. He reached the rear wall—less fortified, but still lined with jagged ice spikes. Gripping onto the uneven ice, he scaled the wall, moving swiftly despite his aching limbs.
At the top, he peered down. A Worker Elf stood just below him, hunched over a pile of supplies, completely unaware of his presence. Arthur didn't hesitate. He drove the dagger deep into its neck. The elf twitched, then went limp in his grasp.
[ You have killed a Common Feral, Frost Elf. ] sounded in his ears again...
Arthur dragged the body into the shadows, hiding it behind one of the huts. His breathing was steady, his mind focused. One down.
While he dismissed the Icy Orb again, which was able through just thinking it away in his mind, he heard it.
A low growl.
He froze. A Warrior Elf had stopped near the fire pit, sniffing the air. Its three glowing eyes narrowed, and it turned its head toward the exact spot where Arthur had killed the Worker.
It smelled the blood, that dripped out of the dead Frost elf.
Arthur clenched his jaw. He had only moments before the alarm was raised.
The hunt was going to start soon.
"No, this is too soon..." Arthur whispered to himself.
He dragged the dead Ice elf with him, luckily every warrior and nearly every worker was distracted by the Icy blue shining light that suddenly appeared in front of the gates.
"I got them got with that little trick of mine, hehe"
Because there was nowhere to hide, he crawled inside one of the small ice houses, that were pretty dark inside.
Arthur sure had a lucky day, because the Warrior that nearly saw him before, gave up on searching after him because he was called by the Commander.
A thought flew into Arthur's Head, and he smiled while sitting into a corner of the room with the corpse in his hands.
A few Minutes later, another Worker searched for his partner who was assigned to helping him with the food the Hunters caught.
He walked into his group's icy house, and looked around, suddenly he froze and took a step back.
Inside the house leaning against an Ice wall, there was a to him unfamiliar boy with black hair sitting, he had a look on his face that made even him shudder.
The boy held a blue arm in his hands, only then he realized that this boy sucked out all the blood from the body of his dear partner, that just ate some fresh meat with him this morning.
Just as he wanted to turn and run through the entrance of the icy house, the boy dashed towards him and threw a punch at his head, he easily blocked the punch.
A stream of blood flowed out of his mouth, and he coughed even more blood. As he looked down on himself, he saw that three small ice shards were sticking out of his abdomen, completely covered in blood.
He wanted to let out a scream, but another ice shard was already pushed into his throat, Arthur grabbed his head and swiftly pulled the Ice elf inside the hut.
[ You have killed a Common Feral, Frost Elf. ]
"Phew, that was close." He scoffed.
Arthur only was able to kill him so easily because he surprised the Worker and then used a feint.
But the most Important part was that he consumed all the blood from the first dead Worker.
It made him a bit physically stronger, he was now faster, stronger and more durable. Arthur was sure that he was able to take on two workers head on and survive now.
As he sucked out all the blood from the second dead body, he felt stronger than ever.
His Skill Blood Feast had to have a limit, but he had long not reached it yet, Arthur wanted to first get stronger before battling the Commander.
But that probably won't be possible, and he couldn't even get his hands on a weapon yet because he wasn't able to kill or even find a Warrior yet. Not that he wanted to fight them, but he had to.
Slowly Arthur stood up from the ground, and slowly walked towards the door of the small Icy hut.
His stealthily approach will soon fall, and then he will battle every single Ice elf and take over the camp.
But for now he won't make much noise and lie low.
With that he crouched along the outer walls of the house, and continued his slaughter in the cold...