Side story (Part 2): The Search (Souta POV)

A few weeks pass by.

The group realized that entering the Deadlands was the easy part. Getting through it is the real challenge.

It's been two weeks since we started on this journey, but we never expected it to be this difficult.

We have already consumed 1/4 of our supplies. What makes it harder is that we encounter enemies almost every day. If we didn't have Alno on the team, we might have been lost by now.

Everywhere you look, there is sand and mist. Dark Sky, and you can't even see the sun. Roln set up the camp, and Lea stood at a rock to take watch.

Souta: "How far before the checkpoint, Alno?"

Alno: "A few hours only."

We sat down to rest for the sixth time today. We just came from a battle with some black goblins.

Souta: "You said that after we pass the point on the map, we won't have any information after that, right?"

Alno: "Yep, we don't have any roads or trails that we could follow, and we might encounter new enemies."

Lea: "Speaking of new enemies... Guys!" Lea suddenly shouted.

What is it?

A lump of meat was swimming in the sand. It looked like a whale.

Land Devourer: "Urghhhhoooo..."

A moan from the monster could be heard even from afar. It was still far from us, but we could see it clearly from here. It was huge.

Souta: "We got to move. Now!"

We left the camp in a hurry. We left almost half of our supplies to hide out in a nearby cave.

Souta: "Let's just hope we can still get those supplies. If we leave it there, we won't have enough to survive this journey."

We waited for almost 30 minutes for it to disappear, but the whale-type creature was now swimming dangerously near our position.

Lea: "If we don't do something, it will destroy the supplies!"

Souta: "I'll distract it."

Lea: "What?"

I'm a forest ranger, so I am the fastest in the party. This job is right for me.

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Souta: "You ready, Harry?"

A small spirit bear comes out of a spell circle that

Souta: "Let's go!"

I came out of the cave running, shooting arrows at the monster. Harry, following behind me, shot some spells at it to get its attention.

After drawing it away from the camp outside the cave, Harry and I split up and took turns luring it.

When it comes close to me, I will stop shooting, and Harry will start firing spells, and when it approaches Harry, then I will fire a lot to get its attention back to me.

After a few minutes of running away, I saw the party signaling that they had already gotten the goods.

Souta: "Now, we just have to lose this guy."

Harry: "Leave it to me, Souta!"

Souta: "Huh!?"

Harry: "Stupid, you can summon me again anytime."

Harry ran towards the whale-like monster and roared at it. It stunned the monster! I took that opportunity to run.

Unfortunately, the stun was only for a few moments. Harry got swallowed up in the next moment.

Make it; I need to make it! The party brought the supplies into the cave for safety.

Almost there!

I ran so fast; however, the Land Devourer was fast too, so it was right behind me.

The Land Devourer opened its mouth and started sucking everything nearby.

Ah! He's about to swallow me!

Then I fell into a hole.

.

.

.

Where am I?

Oh sh*t, I lost consciousness. How many hours have passed? I hope not even one.

I looked around my surroundings, and it seemed like I fell into a tunnel network. There were a lot of holes, and I don't know which one leads outside.

Good thing I had this scout skill. I hope they're still within range.

!

My skill detected three of them towards one of the holes. I chose that path and tried to close the way behind me by shooting the entrance; this should give me more time.

As I was proceeding down the path, I got into a room with a throne and an empty chest.

Souta: "A cloak!"

I saw a cloak on the ground. Idmon's group could've gone this way before. The Druid told me that all of them wore cloaks, so one of them must've dropped this.

Finally, I knew this journey was not in vain. I left the room and continued towards my allies.

.

.

.

When I found them, they were fighting against black goblins.

Alno: "Oy, there's Souta."

Lea: "Souta!"

Roln: "..."

Roln was quiet as ever.

Roln: "Get back here! We're going to move out."

Or maybe not.

I hurriedly went with them. Alno seems to know the way out. I released a few arrows, and Lea cast some to drive them away.

Souta: "Hey, once we get out of here, how will we know which direction is south?"

Alno: "Don't worry! I always had this handy magic compass."

It was an artifact that shows where the north, south, east, and west are.

I looked at Roln. Roln was the one who carried the majority of the items while we were running, and he wasn't even breathing heavily. What a great guy.

After running for a few minutes, we got out.

Alno: "Now, let's see. South is over here!"

It looks like he needs to channel mana into the artifact to make it work.

The lump of meat was nowhere to be seen, but we should be moving.

Souta: "You've been mapping, Alno?"

Alno: "Yeah, I marked the places where we have been. After a few days of

mapping, we will be able to determine how long the journey is."

It took us two weeks just to reach this checkpoint. Alno is still not sure of the distance, but I believe it's at least three times farther than the distance that we already covered. It's just a feeling.

Only a month's supply is left. We need to stay alert.