Belli Mundi - Chapter 42

An hour later, Sam only barely made it on time to be ready for the morning inspection with the rest of her squad. Luckily trainer Quincy had been delayed as well, else the entire squad could’ve been punished. Soon though, they were ready to go.

None of them had informed their trainer about their new goal for the day. Their orders to explore didn’t clash with their own objective to find this new dungeon they thought was there.

Even with their heavy equipment, it didn’t take long for the squad to move towards the forest to the northeast of the city. While this was a direction they hadn’t been to before, they did find more cats to the east than to the south. With a huge lake laying directly east, it was more probable that this new dungeon would be more to the north. Else they would’ve found more creatures that had aquatic features.

As soon as they entered the forest, they were on guard. Having been ambushed by the cats twice now, they knew to be wary about them. This slowed them down quite a bit, but they knew that beforehand.

Sam had taken up her place at the back of the formation once again. She had proven herself to be more than capable, but she was starting to like this spot. She was offered to rotate with the others, but declined.

When they were two miles into the forest, they still hadn’t found a single void cat.

“Are you sure this is the right direction, Jasper?”

“Well, yeah. We agreed that this was the most likely direction, didn’t we?”

“Yes, but what if the dungeon is to the southeast? I still think that that’s just as likely.”

“It is possible, but the lake goes a long way south. Towards the northeast the Hungry Basin lands begin. Those lands are already overrun with creatures from dungeons, so no one would’ve noticed it when another dungeon spawned some more creatures to add to the mix. To the south are some villages that would’ve sent word if there were new creatures to roam the land.”

“Okay, but still..”

Before Zach could continue, he was interrupted by Tia’s shout.

“CATS!”

This time around they had noticed the ambush before the cats could attack. Immediately after being spotted, a single cat leaped at the squad. As it attacked from the front, it was caught on the shields of the three fighters in that position. Only a minute later, the fight was over. Without its ability to ambush, the cat didn’t stand a chance. The enchanted daggers made short work of the cat after it was trapped by the shields.

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Immediately they set out to field dress their kill. The quartermaster had been adamant about them bringing back the cats, but after having learned about dressing their kills, they made sure to take out the innards of the cat. This made it a lot easier to carry.

While the archers were working on the cat, suddenly a second one jumped out from the bushes.

Even though this one had the advantage of a sneak attack, it didn’t fare all that much better against the fighters. Without a problem Erik and Deon managed to hold down the second cat, while Sam came in from behind.

Immediately after that, Erik dragged this cat back into the middle of their formation, while Sam and Deon took up their positions again. After dragging the cat back, Erik also took up his position, in case of another attack. Soon after that both cats were done, and the squad moved out again. This time with the two large bodies of the cats being carried on the shoulders of Steve and Jasper. With Tia being the smallest archer, and Zach somehow managing to convince the others that he couldn’t carry a cat, the other two archers were the ones to lift the heavy load.

When the next ambush happened, the squad wasn’t able to notice it before the cats attacked. With two of their archers encumbered with the bodies, they just weren’t as observant as normal.

Three cats though, wasn’t something they were all too concerned about. They were too used to the way the cats attacked. With only three cats attacking them, they were only attacked from the front and the two sides.

Swiftly they switched their formation, with every cat being targeted by two fighters. Sam moved out to help out Deon, and they were helped by Tia and Jasper. The last only after he had dropped the cat draped over his shoulders.

While Deon deflected the first attack from the cat, Sam moved over to flank the creature. Since it was deflected toward her, she engaged it with a bash to the head with her shield, knocking it back towards Deon.

“Hey, that looks fun, let's keep it up!”

“No messing around Deon, just finish it. You’re not a cat that just has to play with its food.”

“You’re just taking out all the fun from this, you know.”

Still grumbling, he bashed the cat to the ground as soon as it came in range. A quick stab to the heart made sure to make it a clean kill.

The other two cats were taken out just as quick, most before the archers and mages could help out.

Soon they had three more bodies to drag around with them.

“Now, who will help carry these? No way that Jasper and I can carry more than one cat, they’re just too bulky.”

“Well, I’d say Zach can help out. And maybe we can fabricate a sling or something for Erik to carry the other two? It would weaken our formation quite a bit though.”

While most of the squad were discussing how to take the cats with them, and the others making sure there weren’t more cats nearby, Zach was calmly walking around.

Without haste, he took a piece of cloth out of his backpack. Folding it open, it became clear that it was some kind of sack.

While the others were distracted, he simply pushed the head of one of the cats into the sack, after which he pulled on the sack until the entire cat had disappeared.

Then he went from one cat to the next, till they had all disappeared into the sack.

“Hey, look at Zach!” Jasper shouted suddenly.

Zach looked up after pushing the last cat into the sack, looking guilty.

“Where did you get the dimensional bag?”

“Uhm, this morning from the quartermaster.”

“Of course, but..”

“Hold on Jasper,” Steve interrupted him. “Tell me Zach, why did you let us carry those cats!”

“Well, it was kinda funny seeing you sweat to carry it.”

“I’m so going to kick your ass!”

As Steve moved towards him, Zach started to run.

“Hold on guys,” Jasper commanded, “Cat territory, remember. Stay sharp and fight it out once we get back.”