Well, the guard house is certainly a very hard place to sneak into. The main problem with the place is that it has been built like a miniature fort. Much like the place it has been built in, the guard house has a wall that is surrounding it.

  On top of this miniature wall, it also has a moat that is surrounding it. Well, calling it a moat is wrong. It is more like a channel that you are more likely to find at a farm than anything else.

  The purpose that it serves is also different from real moats. Instead of a line of defense the thing is meant to be used to make patrolling the place a bit easier. overall, it is kind of useless. I would say that this place is more like a glorified sewage.

  As for why I can tell this confidently I am right wading through this moat myself. The smell of the place is the only thing that would be deadly to a would be attacker.

  We began sneaking into the place about half an hour ago and we have spent a majority of the time Inside the moat. You see, there are no buildings that are surrounding the guardhouse. After all what is the point of building a miniature fort like this while leaving a potential spot for infiltration by having buildings right next to it.

  Well, they might as well have had something built, when they left a moat for us to hide in. While hiding in the moat is not particularly comfortable it is the only way that we would be able to sneak into the place.

  It is a pretty right fit, since the stream in the fort is barely capable of reaching my knees. The only way that we are able to hide ourselves in the damn thing is by crawling in it. I am sure that must sound almost impossible, but it is not that hard if you are trained for it.

  Most mages are capable of holding their breathe for hours on end. While neither Trevor nor me are capable of pulling that off, both of us can pull of stretches of few minutes quite easily. I think that I can push myself to do ten minutes if the need be.

  Well, I don't really need to push myself if I am being honest. That would have been a worry if the pirates that are doing the patrolling above me were any good at their job. Well, pirates already are not the most disciplined bunch.

  The fact that they are even willing to follow schedules like this is a surprise for me. they should not be willing to do that. If they were actually willing to do something like that they would have been a part of an actual army.

  Well, even if the vampires have somehow motivated the gang to act as guards, they are not particularly good at it. The patrols on this wall is a mess if I am honest. Every delay in a person reporting to his position means that part of the wall is unsupervised.

  That gives us plenty of opportunities to pop up and take a breathe. If this was the soldiers that the mayfires must have put here than this would have been more stressful. I might actually have to touch my ten minutes limit if they were here.

  Well, just because hiding in the moat is easy does not mean that it is pleasant. I was not kidding when I called this place a sewage. this place is basically being treated as a sewer.

  The moat is basically full of debris through under which we are moving through. Everything from the food that they have thrown away to their shit is floating in the moat. I can fell all of this slide across my back.

  The only reason that I am bearing with this shit (literally) is because this will allow us to sneak into the guardhouse, relatively undetected. As for how we are going to be doing that, we are doing that through the toilets of this people.

  As I told you, the people are shitting into the moat and the only way that they can do that is to literally make holes in the ground and shit through it. Trevor thinks that with a bit of creative climbing and sawing we will be able to sneak into the guardhouse undetected.

  That is why we are sitting here waiting in the moat. Right in front of us is the toilets of the guardhouse. Right now, we are waiting for the period in which a majority of the pirates up there are unlikely to make use of the washrooms.

  That time is something that trevor is going to decide. I could make the decision for the group, but then if somebody were to use it when we are sawing through it. Let's just say, we might as well forget about stealth then.

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  On top of that, the main problem is that I am going to be the person doing the work of sawing through the stone and with my sword at that. I can adjust staying inside this half sewer, but there are some things that are beyond even my limits of tolerance.

  I will therfeore leave the decision to trevor. After all he has been the one that has been scouting the place. I don't know what exactly is the man waiting for but it's shouldn't take long.

  Right now the remaining two members of my troop have been left in the sewers. having them will just increase the probability of us being caught and they don't really boost our combat strength by much.

  As I am recording this, trevor has been popping his head up to scout the scenario up ahead. He has been doing that every half an hour to decide if it is finally safe for us to continue our task.

  This time is different from the few times before as he gestures me to come up with him. Well, here it goes. As I surface up, the stink of our present location hits my nose like a bull.

  Well, let's hope that I don't need to transform in this mission or things could go really bad. Almost as soon as we have leave the moat, we are on the wall.

  The wall is smooth, built by clearly skilled masons. There are gaps between the individual slabs of stone used in making it, but they are thin enough that I don't think that am ant could get though it.

  Well, that is not a problem as I channel cycle my vital mana. Then I begin to climb the wall, my hands entering into the wall. Well, right now it feels like somebody is crushing my fingers between two rocks (considering what I am doing that is not far from the truth.)

  Well, I can't take too long doing this. Trevor is looking at me. That I what I tell myself as I climb the damn wall. Well, the holes in the wall are a bit of an risk but at the moment this is the only way that we will be able to get up there.

  We absolutely cannot fail now. if we do that, we will be leaving a clear proof of the plan that we are following. As I am recording all of this, I have finally reached out target.

  Trevor is right below me, making use of the holes that I have left to climb behind me. Well, he will be poking me with the butt of his sword to indicate when I have to start sawing. To prepare for that, I start by removing my sword first.

  The instant that I do that, I can feel the weight of my body in my left hand. It is dull throb, something that I should be able to manage for now.

  I feel the pressure in my legs as trevor tells me to begin my work. Well, I begin by cutting into the wood in the ground. The way that they have built these toilets is by removing a few slabs in the wall and covering it all with wood.

  Right now I am cutting into this wood to create a hole large enough for the both of us. As I begin to saw into the wood, I can hear the noise of this like a drum.

  Right now if anybody were to hear this, then we would be in a pretty helpless position. I can already feel the ache in my hand grow steadily. That is why trevor is keeping an eye out for other people while I focus on sawing.

  As I am recording this, trevor pokes me again. That is a sign that somebody is out there. Right now trevor has a very good view of the wall, as he is just a bit under its top. I am parallel to the top of the wall, so I can't see anything up there.

  Well, I stop my sword hoping that this does not drag on for long. Already the pain in my arms is like a fire slowly and steadily taking over all of my thoughts.

  I can feel the sweat forming on my body, both from how much I am pushing myself and the situation. It feels cool in this weather. Not that I can feel my grip in the stone become loser due to my sweat. Almost in panic, I grasp the wall even more tightly as the pain in my hand grows a hundredfold.

  The pain is so great that I almost ignore the footsteps echoing in the empty hallways. Somebody is walking through this part of the fort.

  The wave of fear is almost enough to overpower the pain in my arms. I can feel my hand quiver under my weight as I try to keep as quiet as possible. these echoes seem to continue for almost an eternity as I wait for a head to pop up from above us. (Don't ask me why they thought that a toilet should have a window in it.)

  The only consolation that I had was that with the way that we were positioned any person taking a dump woulld do it right at trevor. If we are going to die, that is going to be a pleasant revenge at least.

  The echoing of footsteps finally stops, as trevor finally pokes me to continue my work. I start sawing the wood, each movement of my sword a drumbeat in my ear. frankly put, I honestly don't care how loud I am being. I just want the fucking burning in my hand to stop.

  Every movement of my sword is bringing a fresh wave of pain in my hand. The pain is still fine. I know how to handle it. (Though even that is reaching the edges of my tolerance.) It is the fact that I can feel my arm grow weaker that scares me.

  Right now I am doing all of this on as little of my vital mana as possible. the more vital mana that I use the more I risk discovery. I could cycle a bit more vital mana. It would not help me with my pain, but it will at least make sure that I will not lose my grip.

  As I am recording all of this, my sword has been sawing into the wood. I almost don't believe it as I complete my task. I pull out the damn block of wood as it falls to the ground.

  A new wave of pain almost makes me open my hand as I sheathe my sword back. As my now free hand grasps the floor of toilet, I almost sigh in relief as I pull myself into the guardhouse.