Cecillia returned to her tent and there Blackie was awaiting her. The wolf’s large tongue lolled out of its mouth and its expression seemed to be delighted as its eyes fell upon its master.
“Hey Blackie,” Cecillia said. “Sleep well?”
She knelt down and gently grazed a hand against the fur on its nape. Blackie released a low, satisfied whine and snuggled into her touch.
“Guess you did,” Cecillia giggled.
Her eyes scanned the tent once before she walked next to the bed. She didn’t think that anyone would enter, but just in case, she slipped the pouch with the manacores underneath the pillow.
With that, she turned and left through the flaps. Cecillia let a hand trail behind her, guiding the wolf out. And once it had fully exited the tent, the massive Blackie was able to rise to its full height.
‘What if she grows bigger?’ Cecillia suddenly thought.
Her face darkened at the prospect, but Blackie seemed to be oblivious as it licked at her face. She muttered a curse and shoved the wolf’s head away. That damned dog was already big enough.
“You’re not a baby, are you?”
Squinting with her eyes, she hopped onto Blackie’s back. Even if it did get bigger, there was nothing she could do. She had to take care of the wolf after all, as per the contract’s agreement.
Cecillia led the wolf through the camp, steering the animal through the tents and choosing the route with minimal noise. The council may have approved of the dog, but the general consensus would be unlikely.
After a minute, they arrived at the camp’s entrance and she was able to see a familiar face. The youth from yesterday was slouched against one of the wagons and his head was gazing at the sky. Although, his eyes were closed and he was very clearly sleeping.
Cecillia commended the man. He had most likely been up the entire night guarding the entrance due to the empty bowl on the ground just inches away. Seems like Laen had completed his mission as well.
Cecillia prompted the wolf forward, and as they passed the man his eyelids fluttered slightly and his lips released a satisfied sigh. But other than that, the resting warrior was sound asleep.
The pair stepped outside the camp’s perimeter and were only able to go a couple steps further as Cecillia forced the wolf to pause. Like before, the air was cool and crisp. But at this exact angle, where the sun languidly illuminated the horizon, it was unlike anything she had seen.
The gentle golden rays overflowed into the valley, flooding it with a divine glow. The flowers—striking reds, brilliant yellows, deep violets, and delicate blues swayed gently in the morning valley’s breeze. The subtle fragrance of the flowers mingled with the earthy scent of its dirt.
Cecillia’s attention though, was placed on a small patch of soft whites. They were trilliums, and ten years ago, they were once her favorite type of flowers. Her past innocent self would’ve leapt into the grass, dancing with flailing arms. Not a single care in the world.
Yet now, her eyes were dull and cold. She silently glanced away and motioned Blackie towards the trail leading out of the valley. There was no time for flowers, or at least, she couldn’t bear them anymore.
“Let’s go,” she whispered.
As they moved away, the camp started to fade into the distance. Blackie padded up the trail and the Elendar Forest swallowed them up. The two left the valley behind, the golden light trickling away as they were replaced by the shadows of the trees.
Cecillia drew her bow and prepared an arrow. The forest was eerily silent other than the insects that buzzed about. However, the inactivity was cut shortly as a shrill roar entered her ears. The sound was distant, and a second unique screech soon followed. Based on what she could hear, the two creatures were probably engaged in combat. A perfect situation for her hunt.
Cecillia’s heart began to thump with anticipation and her eyes narrowed. The reverberations that shook the forest only grew louder as she neared. But instead of fear, a ghost of a smile graced her lips.
She felt Blackie growl and she forced its steps to slow. Another roar tore through the air, much closer now, and her wolf’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.
“Go into stealth,” Cecillia whispered.
Complying, a shroud of darkness surrounded the Twin-Tailed Wolf and spread onto Cecillia’s body. She glanced down at her finger, noting how it seemed to blend into the background unless she directly focused on searching for it. Such an ability might’ve been the reason why the wolf had gained its notoriety.
Soon, they came to a distance from the edge of a large clearing and Cecillia commanded Blackie down into a crouch. The wolf slinked along the tree’s shadows, each step placed with caution so as to not alert the beasts just up ahead.
The sounds of combat continued and as they approached, Cecillia’s eyes slightly widened. A heavy boom resounded through her body as one of the creatures was slammed to the ground. Air rushed at her, rustling through her hair as she identified both of the monsters.
[Troll - (Level 15-30)]
[Lesser Aohr - (Level 25-50)]
‘That’s interesting.’
Her identification skill returned a different result than last time. For humans, or more likely, sentient beings, it would give a general description without a level. But for monsters, it would provide that data.
‘It’s probably because of the level gap.’
It wasn’t surprising that it would turn out to be like this. The rough estimate was more than enough for her to gauge its strength. And based on how the fight was going, she assumed that both were around the level thirty mark.
She prodded Blackie closer and stopped just short of a tree. Peeking around, Cecillia was able to catch a clear picture of the monsters within the direct sunlight. Each of them were massive and made Blackie seem tiny in comparison as the Troll stood at a towering four meters.
As she leaned forward, Cecillia recoiled slightly. Its flesh was a sickly brown, covered in wart-riddled skin that oozed with a foul smelling substance.
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‘Is that its blood?’
Scores of wounds covered the troll’s naked body, each dripping with the disgusting black liquid. Its arms were bulky, almost as thick as the tree trunks which ended in giant clawed hands. Jagged teeth, jutted from its square jaw and its sunken eyes glowed with a dull, malicious red light. Hair that was more like thick rope, pooled down its shoulders and its image almost resembled human.
The other creature, the lesser Aohr, was somewhat similar to the nightmares plaguing her former planet. With a multi-pedal form, the monster’s height was only around two meters. Though, its length was far longer than that at an estimated six meters. The creature resembled an elongated turtle with its carapace-like shell and overlapping muddy scales. Its head was like a turtle’s too as it had the same sharp beak, but it couldn’t quite be called one as its dozens of legs chittered in perfect synchronization.
The Aohr’s clawed feet raked deep furrows into the clearing as it smashed into the Troll head-first. The tall creature was forced several meters back and one of its legs collapsed, causing the monster to kneel. Screeching, the Aohr bit at the Troll’s flesh and its tail, ending in a curved talon, whipped around. The appendage slammed into the Troll and wrapped around its leg, threatening to throw the monster off balance. But before anything happened, the humanoid monster formed a hammer with both its hands and released a deafening roar.
Its fists smashed into the Aohr’s shell and the ear-splitting sound of fracturing bone echoed from the collision.
Cecillia felt the wolf tense beneath her, but she only patted the wolf softly.
“Not yet Blackie, just a little longer,” she whispered.
If the two of them were to engage at this very moment, it was likely that the creatures would turn on whoever had interrupted their fight. And there was the fact that they probably wouldn’t even win in the first place. It was lucky that they had encountered such creatures when they were locked in combat.
Cecillia gripped the bow’s wood tighter and blocked out everything other than the battle. She only had a single chance if she wanted to land the killing blow on both, and that meant having to wait for the perfect moment. Even if she couldn’t, she was determined to score at least one.
Watching as the combat continued, the two creatures had ended up a distance away from her position. She spurred Blackie closer, making sure to keep a distance of twenty meters.
Cecillia hoped the Troll would win. Its height would make it difficult to kill in a melee combat, but with a bow, nothing would be simpler. As for the Aohr, its armored body would prove a challenge either way.
However, things didn’t go as she wished as the troll fell backwards. Its body slammed into the ground and shook the very earth. Dirt kicked up into the air and its limbs struggled to push it into an upright position. The aohr was on the beast in an instant, gouging chunks of flesh from its abdomen with its beak. Screams of pain thundered from the troll’s open jaws, but Cecillia didn’t flinch away.
Instead, she nocked an arrow, drawing her hand back as the feather grazed against her cheek. Everything became still and her breathing halted. The rushing sensation of adrenaline roared inside of her, but that too was soon extinguished. Cecillia closed an eye and the tension within her fingers was released.
Viscous, steaming blood exploded as her arrow pierced through flesh and the aohr shrieked. At the very last moment before her attack had punctured the creature’s eye, its pupil had shifted onto her being. Yet her reflection contained the calm essence of a demon of war.
Cecillia’s heels dug into Blackie’s flank and the wolf’s shadowy figures rushed along the treeline. The troll didn’t hesitate to capitalize on her distraction and a fist barrelled into the aohr’s shell. Its onslaught would not stop there as booming cannons continued to echo like distant thunder. Cracks only grew larger within the monster’s carapace and another quick arrow stole away the rest of its light.
By now, the troll had realized that there was a third party and its demeanor had become much more cautious. The pummeling fists came to a halt and its head swiveled around the clearing. Beady eyes searched for the unknown assailant in the shadows, but with Blackie’s ability, it could find no such purchase.
Growling in frustration, the troll’s attention returned to the aohr. Its gnarled leg was still restrained by the other monster’s tightly coiled tail. The troll attempted to rip its leg free, banging on the aohr’s head but that in itself, was a mistake.
With a sickening crunch, the tail constricted and the limb was crushed. Bones snapped and ligaments tore as the leg hung uselessly. The troll roared in a desperate frenzy, arms akin to sledgehammers raining down on the aohr’s until the creature released its hold.
The troll let out a pained howl, scampering backwards in a panicked crawl. Its arms clutched at its injured leg—which now resembled pulp as the same black liquid pooled onto the ground. Every small movement it made, the creature would hiss in agony, and even Cecillia started to feel a twisted pang of pity.
Glancing at the aohr, she could tell it wasn’t faring much better. Its form breathed heavily, while its shell had splintered into jagged shards that had embedded themselves deep into its own flesh. Cecillia noted that underneath the armor, the skin was bereft of any scales and was like a baby’s skin.
“It’s time.”
For someone like her, talking to others was much more difficult than it might seem. It was a necessary task, but there was no enjoyment, only exhaustion. Yet a battle such as this, was a place that she could truly feel alive.
Some would say that it was a pity. How cruel that fate was that she had ended up like this. But Cecillia wouldn’t have it any other way. And a faint smile crept onto her lips.
“Go,” she whispered.
Instantaneously, Blackie’s claws gouged into the forest floor. Darkness streaked into the light of day as the troll’s eyes fell upon them. Its pupils shook as it recognized the arrows and the red lights flared with anger.
Pure excitement flowed through Cecillia as she grinned, drawing two arrows between her knuckles and slamming them against the string. With her body shaking above the wolf’s sprinting form, the troll would be hard to hit, but at the relatively short distance it didn’t mean a thing.
Both arrows blasted towards the troll and one pierced into the flesh just beneath its eye. The other was split in half as the monster’s jaws snapped around the wood. Hatred was prevalent within its eye as blood leaked down like tears.
Though Cecillia paid the troll no further heed, its death would await. Approaching the disoriented aohr, she slung her bow while Blackie’s legs tensed and they suddenly found themselves flying. Cecillia leapt off the wolf midair, at the same time unsheathing her dagger from the waist and slammed onto the monster’s back. Her knees bent as she landed and her dagger was already tearing through soft flesh. Blackie was just a meter away, claws dangerously gleaming with shadow as it too mimicked its master.
Beneath her, the aohr thrashed and screamed. Its legs rotating and stomping as it attempted to throw its assailants off its unprotected body. Yet it would soon find that it would need much more than that to cease its pain.
As the creature's blood coated her arm and splattered onto her pale face, Cecillia suddenly felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck sticking. Instinctively, she threw herself off the aohr’s back and hung barely by the embedded dagger just as the creature’s pointed stinger stabbed into where she once was. A second passed as the pain was transmitted before the aohr released a sound so loud that Cecillia was convinced she had gone deaf. The noise rattled her skull, and the ringing in her ears persisted, but somehow, she had managed to keep a hold of the dagger. Grunting, she swung herself back onto the aohr’s back, ripping the dagger out cleanly in the process as the points she put into strength proved far beyond their worth.
It was only a few seconds later that the aohr’s movements had ceased and a notification blared through her mind.
[Defeated (Lesser Aohr - Level 31)]
[For participating in killing an enemy twenty or more levels above your own, you receive bonus experience.]
[For killing an enemy with the assistance of one or more other beings, you receive reduced experience.]
[Congratulations! You’ve leveled up multiple times! Displaying levels gained…]
[You are now level 6!]
[You are now level 7!]
[You are now level 8!]
[You are now level 9!]
[Updated Available Stat Points: 40]
Cecillia ignored the backlog of system notifications and her cold eyes snapped onto the troll. If only the aohr had given it a minute longer it could’ve escaped, but its body froze as the mage without mana laid its blue exalted orbs upon its pathetic flesh. The beast was stricken by fear, to be looked down upon by an inferior human…
The girl held a single arrow, the air around her was diaphanous and carried the scent of death. She embodied the warped beauty of the reaper who stole away life, and as the arrow was let loose, the troll released its final breath.