“Stay in formation,” Zhaire shouted as the knights conducted another field exercise. He was the point of the wedge-shaped formation, while the mages and ranged specialists were further back. They continued practicing this basic formation, Zhaire not being content until they could perfectly execute it on a moment's notice; if they couldn’t execute it flawlessly while practicing against air, how would it go during live combat?
After the formation had been executed to his satisfaction, Zhaire had everyone dismount. This allowed the knights to stretch their legs and gave the Starseekers a break from carrying the extra load, even if it wasn’t significant relative to their overall size. Zhaire also had the knights carrying most of the saddlebags while jogging to improve their strength and conditioning. The protests were somewhat muted whenever someone got a base improvement to either their strength or constitution, but it never stopped completely.
“This is not a fucking picnic. Move,” Zhaire shouted to Ravi, a level 11 champion, as he loafed through the jog. While Zhaire wasn’t making any friends with his hard-ass attitude, he didn’t care. He would gladly sacrifice being their friend to keep them alive.
They had left Celestia several days ago and were making decent progress traversing the plains. While they could have reached their destination far faster, Zhaire wanted them to be somewhat cohesive before being forced into a dangerous situation. So far, the only threats had been the occasional Umbral Tiger, though even that had been rare.
Gradually, the plains flattened out even further than they already were, making the terrain almost completely flat as far as Zhaire could see. An increasing number of small tributaries emptied onto the flat terrain, making the land into wet flood plains.
At first, this wetter ground was nothing but an annoyance. They would end their day covered in the muck that the Starseekers had splattered everywhere. However, on the fourth day, it became too much of an issue for the Starseekers, their massive bulk sinking dangerously far into the muddy ground.
Zhaire cursed as they were forced to traverse around the worst areas, which slowed their progress significantly. He also had the knights on foot longer each day just to reduce the weight of the dense creatures. It didn’t help much, as the riders and their gear only amounted to a small percentage of their overall mass.
The slow trudge through the muck further dampened morale. Gone was the illusion of gallantly riding to victory like a fairy tale, instead replaced with the mundane reality. Being a soldier was not glamorous; it was hard work, even for the elite units. Zhaire was almost certain Sylvi would have agreed with that sentiment.
In addition to the change in scenery, they spotted some new wildlife. By far, the most common creatures were massive rodents about the size of a large dog, with stout bodies and smaller heads. Despite being rodents, they seemed well suited for the environment and were almost perpetually covered in mud. They also tended to roam in large packs with dozens of the creatures present. Fortunately, they were almost exclusively lowered leveled, most being at levels 3 or 4. They also seemed disinterested in combat, instead preferring to munch on the strange seagrass, which grew even higher and denser in the marshy area.
The night was even worse. As they made camp, swarms of mosquitos buzzed around, slightly larger than the pre-integration versions but equally as fast. Zhaire was not keen on finding out what manner of exotic diseases these bugs transmitted, but there was little they could do, so they hurriedly finished setting up camp. They shivered from the wet and cold as they huddled inside the tents. That didn’t help the poor sentries who were forced to watch for monsters while constantly being harassed by the insufferable insects.
As they continued, Zhaire relented on the training, reading the proverbial room and knowing that morale was abysmal. Even he hadn’t slept well, and he had faired better than most with his skin's resistance, making the bugs unable to bite him effectively.
They continued through the wetlands, finding natural ridges that were slightly dryer as they were ever so slightly elevated. The land was so wet here that the lower elevation was completely submerged in water, the aquatic rodents swimming with ease.
The unit progressed slowly, carefully watching where they stepped lest they suddenly enter the water and sink to their knees in the insufferable muck. To make matters worse, a dense fog blanketed the lowland. While visibility had always been an issue with the persistent dense grass, the fog made it nearly impossible to see more than a few meters ahead.
“There is something in the water,” Eric, the unit's scout, shouted in warning.
Zhaire shouted for everyone to stop, trusting in Eric’s abilities. Everyone tensed up, drawing their weapons and scanning the surrounding terrain.
“What was it?” Zhaire asked the scout when the threat didn’t immediately materialize.
“I didn’t get a good look at it. I just saw a flash of movement and a splash of color before it disappeared,” Eric explained.
“Are you sure it wasn’t one of those rodents? They are everywhere,” Brad pointed out.
A scream of surprise from one of the knights confirmed that it was not a rodent. Zhaire looked in the direction of the scream. He noticed Ravi being dragged into the water and a glimpse of the creature, or at least a portion of it. It was a long reptilian creature, or perhaps the creature's tail.
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Zhaire didn’t hesitate, racing towards the escaping creature. As the last of the creature started to submerge with its victim, Zhaire dove into the water after it, reaching to grab the last of it before it completely disappeared. He managed to grab hold of the creature's tail, which was nearly as thick as his torso and held on with all his might. Fortunately, the creature appeared to be a bit weaker, and Zhaire managed to restrain it from escaping.
Zhaire stood up and started pulling the creature back towards solid ground. It was difficult as his foot sunk deep into the muddy bottom of the wetland. He shouted for help and continued pulling. Suddenly, the creature stopped trying to flee and started to twist around, turning to face Zhaire, who was obstructing its escape.
That’s when Zhaire realized what they were dealing with. He hadn’t grabbed a tail but the last section of the creature. It was a truly massive snake, almost fifteen meters long and as thick as a moderately sized tree trunk in its midsection. It had earthy colorings, reminding Zhaire of the camouflage pattern soldiers had worn before the integration. A small section of it near the head had wrapped around Ravi, constricting tightly, suffocating the man. The head of the creature was equally as massive, large enough to swallow a person whole. A quick Identify failed to return any results, likely because the creature was at too high of a level.
“Oh shit,” Zhaire cursed as the head of the snake lunged for him with surprising alacrity, given the creature's size.
Despite the unfathomable power of the creature, Zhaire didn’t flinch. Instead, he planted his glaive into the ground, interposing it between himself and the lunging snake. The snake's speed worked against it as it impaled its mouth onto the waiting glaive. Zhaire pushed with all his might, ramming the glaive further into the creature’s mouth. It hissed in pain and shook its body, attempting to dislodge the toothpick-like object from its mouth. Zhaire was forced to let go under the creature’s thrashing about.
“Grab the back end of it,” Zhaire shouted to Brad as he faced the enraged snake.
Arrows from the ranged knights struck into the massive creature but did little more than annoy the snake. It hissed and spat a glob of something in the general vicinity of its attackers. The spit landed and immediately produced an audible sizzling sound as it burned through flesh and ground, eliciting a scream of agony from the knight it had impacted.
Despite the damage the snake inflicted, the momentary distraction likely saved Zhaire’s life. He drew his short sword and activated a Temporal Expansion enchantment. This time, when the snake struck, Zhaire had enough time to react, dodging the powerful bite of the creature. It attempted to rear back for another strike but found itself restrained by an unseen force from Veronica. Zhaire capitalized on its momentary restraints, sinking his short sword into the creature, barely doing any damage.
Zhaire abandoned his backup weapon and grappled the snake's head. Despite the creature’s immense size, it was still relatively weak. He held its head into the muddy ground, gripping it with all his considerable might. A moment later, Brad had its tail end held firm. With both ends of the snake restricted, it was unable to move.
Within moments, two more knights held it down, one on each end. Simultaneously, a pair of knights began hacking into the snake's midsection like they were logging a tree. The snake hissed and spat out another glob of acid, but it was futile as it couldn’t move its head to aim the projectile. With a few more strikes, the snake was split into two roughly even halves, and its struggling ceased.
Zhaire Reeves has reached Level 22 in Frenzied Berserker (2F) Zhaire Reeves has reached level 22 in Human (1E) Primary Stats Strength 167 (+1) Willpower 125 (+1) Secondary Stats HP 311 (+6) FP 238 (+2) MP 121 (+2) Attack Efficiency 314 (+5)
Una rushed to the knight who had been struck with the acidic spit, healing magic flowing into the injury. While the man was in agony, Zhaire knew he still lived, and with magic and potions, he would be fine within a couple of days. However, Ravi remained limp as the knights furiously unraveled the sections of the snake that had constricted around him.
The man’s body appeared to be broken in several places, the force of the constrictions having crushed his bones. Despite almost certainly having perished, Eric pushed everyone aside and began rescue breaths. He continued the process, checking the incapacitated man’s breathing every thirty seconds. After several minutes with no response, another knight took over. After five minutes with no breathing, Zhaire told them to stop.
In a fit of rage, Zhaire drove his just recovered glaive into the lifeless carcass of the snake. His skin sizzled as bits of acid from the bodily fluid landed on him. Even though his flesh was burning, Zhaire couldn’t physically feel anything. He wondered if there was a version that would shut off his emotions that he could never keep in check. It was the part of his brain that constantly told him he wasn’t good enough, that he would never amount to anything, that he was stupid and useless. The words his father constantly told him still stuck in his mind.
As everyone efficiently harvested the massive creature, it became clear this creature had been quite powerful. Its core was a level 40 and was tier 2, the highest level creature any of them had fought. They also harvested as much of the creature as they could carry, especially the acid gland and every one of its fangs.
Everyone had gained at least one level, including Zhaire, while others had gained 2. They were getting stronger despite losing a member. However, no one said or even insinuated that as they buried Ravi. They held a service for him despite no one having gotten to know him all that well. He had been Hindu, and no one knew their customs; all that mattered was that he was one of them. They all spoke from the heart and honored his memory in their own way.
There were now only nine of them. How would nine people be able to make a difference in the war? Zhaire had expected casualties, but not this soon, not before they had even arrived in the war zone. He wondered if he was making them go through this hell for no reason. However, there was no choice but to continue onward.