Leo’s Hunter’s Scent ability was obviously meant for tracking. Once he picked up the scent of somebody or something, it would be nearly impossible to lose that scent. But the ability struggled when it came to just smelling the area around him.
Not that he couldn’t do it. He already learned just how well he could smell everything for miles. But Leo struggled with controlling it. If he wasn’t focusing on a specific scent, he would be overwhelmed with the scents of the world around him.
Leo focused on the patch of grass in front of him. All of his attention on a sole flower waving in the wind, making sure to push away any distraction. Then he focused on the flower just past that, using it as an anchor.
To the rest of the group, he just looked like a dumbass who was sniffing the air. But Leo was able to bounce using flowers as grounding points, getting himself used to controlling the direction his tracking went. In one final push, he pushed his ability straight ahead without any focus.
The complex twisting patterns of scent were so detailed that Leo could nearly form a vision of the area just from his sense of smell. The group controlled by Cordylia was nearly painted into his mind, only losing track of the finer details.
“There’s about fifty people in the group, and I’m sensing four giant creatures on the sides. I don’t know what they are, but each one is the size of a house.” Leo called out to the others. “I can handle the monsters, but the rest of you have to make sure none of the people run off.”
The others prepared themselves, each having a basic idea of their role. This would be their first time working together, so they would be lacking in experience and synergy. But Leo felt confident that they would succeed, even if Legrun kept getting distracted mid sentence.
Leo launched out from the small hill, faster than the others could react. He looked down at where he would land, seeing the group that they would be saving. It seemed as if an entire village had been used by Cordylia for weeks, their clothes bloody and torn.
They were accompanied by towering guards, giant beasts that tore through the trees in their way. Each one walked on dozens of thin legs, wiggling their way ahead and leaving a trail of slime. Their large mushroom heads were used as bludgeoning tools, smashing grand trees into nothing but wood chips.
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One of them noticed Leo’s approach, and it began to shoot out a mist filled with a thick fungus. It barely released enough to coat his legs before Leo crashed into it, causing a wave of spores to be shot into the air.
By the time the others were making their way to the fight, Leo was ready to strike again. The fungal beast that he had just decapitated was still alive, squirming and wandering blindly. His juggling ability wouldn’t be of any help when they could survive losing their heads.
Leo ran up to the headless fungal titan and filled his grasp with as many leg stalks as possible. While they were thin compared to the rest of the beast’s body, each leg had the thickness of one of Leo’s arms. Once he held a strong grip, Leo tried his best to suplex the monster.
Thankfully, the monster’s legs didn’t just rip off with the sudden pull. The monster was dragged through the air before slamming into the ground with a heavy thud. Liquid remains pooled out of the exposed neck, and it finally stopped moving.
While Leo focused on taking down the remaining fungal titans, the rest of the group went to work containing the infected humans. Koram caused vines to sprout from the ground, holding the people in place.
Sadly, not all of them could be captured with just one move. Those near the outskirts began to run in every direction, seemingly desperate to escape being caught. Legrun dashed after those who ran, knocking them to the ground and allowing Koram the time to catch them.
While this happened, Marem began to cast healing magic on the infected people. Once they were safely held, she would quickly work on healing whatever injuries they had. Even if Koram could remove any traces of Cordylia, he wasn’t able to heal the wounds her victims would be suffering from.
It took the group less than five minutes to finish their surprise assault. Leo finished off the last fungal titan by throwing it into the air and striking it before it reached the ground. He looked back to see that all of the civilians had been rounded up.
“Okay, what do we do now?” Leo asked while approaching the group.
“We’ll need to set up camp,” said Koram. “It’ll take some time to cure all these people, so it’ll be better if we set up a temporary base. I’ll have Legrun follow the path they were taking, see if we could intercept any other groups.”
“Alright, me and Marem will get things set up.”
The two of them set up camp in a nearby area, while Koram examined the victims of Cordylia’s influence. Leo hoped that they could at least get a few peaceful days where he could catch up with Koram.