“This is my first time riding an airship,” said Brian. His face was full of excitement as well as amusement. His fellow guild members were equally excited and amused. They were looking all over the interior of the airship.
“Whatever you do, do not enter the pilot’s room back there,” Wiara warned while letting out a long sigh. It hadn’t been even an hour, and she was feeling like she was guiding a group of kids to a picnic.
“Madam, please step back,” a soldier guarding the entrance to the pilot room warned a woman dressed in a fancy robe. She was a fire mage like Wiara but was a full dedicated fire mage unlike her who was a warrior mage. She was a beautiful woman with long straight blond hair with sparkling jade eyes. She had a voluminous body to boot, and her rather tight-fitting dark purple robe showed her curves.
“I am just really curious,” she said charmingly.
“Hey, lady, come back here! Didn’t I just say not to bother the pilot section?!” Wiara dashed toward her.
“Amanda, don’t cause trouble with guys,” Brian warned with a chuckle.
“You are fine with me causing trouble with ladies then?” She, then, moved her attention to Wiara who sensed some danger and took a step back.
“Amanda,” Brian quietly warned.
“Fine, fine,” Shrugging, she complied and walked away from the spot.
‘What have I gotten myself into?!’ Wiara shouted in her mind.
The companions Brian brought along, almost all of them had rather colorful personalities. Amanda was just one example. This was a stark contrast from Kamil’s manor where everyone behaved, bar Lara who was the most unhinged person in his entourage. Even she seemed fairly tame compared to this group of adventurers.
“Say, Boss, you said we are going to the wilderness to find some ancient city or whatever. Do you know anything about it?” said a man whose physique was that of a hulk. He was a big man. One would expect him to be a warrior but, nope, he was not. He was wearing simple leather armor with short black hair and a cleanly shaven face. He had a very square face due to his broad jawline. The wooden chair he was seated on looked so small compared to his broad physique. Right beside him, there was a huge arbalest that was probably as large as Wiara. Yes, he was a crossbowman. Such a large arbalest would probably knock out multiple werewolves at once if lined up correctly. It could absolutely pin down a giant bear as well.
“Duman, I have no freaking clue. The only thing the duke told me was that the name was Ceres.”
“Ceres? The same name as ours?” he replied with one of his eyebrows curled up.
“Yeppers, the same. I think Laufeld’s was named after the city we are after. Isn’t that right, Miss. Wiara?”
“Just call me Wiara, no need for formalities,” she replied at once, approaching them. “And, yes, you’d be correct. I believe the duchess came up with the name. She has been translating ancient texts from Tantan.”
“Ah, the duchess, such a cute woman…,” Amanda said while tilting her head with her hand on her cheek. Ignoring her remark, Brian turned to a young boy.
“Faro,” he called out to which the boy stiffened up.
“Yes, sir.”
The boy had short blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing leather armor and had a short sword and a small round shield on his back. He was also wearing a large belt pouch.
“This will be your first real combat. Never under any fucking circumstances, are you to stand on front. Ya understand that?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Survive, kiddo. That’s yer job,” Duman added with a grin.
“We can’t let the boy die, at least not until he gets to taste a woman,” Amanda said with a charming smile. Wiara rubbed the bridge of her nose, sighing. She was not used to dealing with unhinged people. She now understood why Kamil sent her with them. Someone had to keep them in check and make sure that the mission would be carried out. While they may indeed be powerful individuals, whether they would keep their focus on the mission objective was questionable at best.
“You are letting a kid come along, Guildmaster Brian?”
“Just call me Brian, Wiara.”
“Fine.”
“This kid has been with us for some years now. We’ve trained him and feel he is old and good enough to taste blood for real.”
With a chuckle, Duman added, “Besides, he has suffered as a pack mule for long enough. This is his reward.”
She did not know that Faro was Kamil’s younger brother. In fact, nobody in the airship knew his connection to him. For them, he was just a random kid who simply joined the guild. Only Brian knew that he was a son of the Macomaco tea farmer who was pretty much treated as a noble within Ceres. Nobody really questioned why Kamil was very protective of the tea farm since it was one of the major sources of income for the city.
Wiara looked up and down on Faro. His rugged hands showed that the kid had been through hardships, but his face was very mellow, like that of a scholar who stayed mostly indoors and did hardly any physical labor.
‘Well, it’s not my business,’ she concluded in her mind.
“Ohhhhh,” Duman wowed as soon as they exited the airship upon arriving in Tantan. “A port town. The first one I’ve ever seen.”
“Damn, it does look nice, ain’t it,” Brian added with clenched eyes to look afar. Faro looked speechless as well with his eyes wide and mouth agape.
“This is the perfect place for romantic nights,” Amanda chimed in with a sulky smile. It was the first time for Wiara to visit Tantan as well. She, too, was taken back by the beautiful and tranquil scenery for a good moment.
A town built right by a cliff edge came to their view. It was dawn, thus the ever-drenching crimson twilight sky added bonus scores.
“Welcome,” greeted a man with dark brown skin. Because it was their first time seeing a person with a darker skin, their eyes widened.
“Eh…, that’s a human, right?” whispered a muscular woman with a crudely tied dark red ponytail. Her name was Mezei, an earth mage slash shield fighter. She wore half plate armor with a twist. The midriff section of her armor was exposed, which was an unthinkable decision for any frontline fighter. The only reason she could do such was because she was an earth mage; She could cast stoneskin to harden her skin. Otherwise, such a decision would bring doom to a fighter in a close combat. She also had a giant tower shield on her back which was just as tall and wide as her physique.
The local man laughed off Mezei’s remark. “Yes, I am a human. It’s just that my skin is a bit brown. That is all. Anyway, welcome to our humble down. My name is Alban, the second son of Lord Weber.”
Startling, Wiara immediately leaned forward with her palm on her chest. “Lord Weber,” she replied curtly at once. The adventurers, meanwhile, showed far less respect as if they couldn’t care less about his status.
“It is going to be night soon. I will lead you to your lodgings. I was expecting Lord Fenchel however.”
“There was a change of plan. He decided to send a local group of adventurers along with me. My name is Wiara, one of the commanders in Ceres.”
“I see. I am sure he had a good reason.”
“He did indeed.” She turned to Brian and his followers.
“Guildmaster, you go ahead and rest. I have something to do here.”
He nodded. She was a government official which wasn’t part of his business.
“Lord Weber, could you just point me to our camp?”
“Certainly. Just go to the West. You should spot tents. Can’t really miss it.”
“Thank you.”
Alban led Brian and his nine followers to lodgings while Wiara made her way to the camp where Ceres soldiers were staying. Indeed, it was impossible to miss fifty tents with numerous campfires.
“Ma’am?” The soldiers recognized her approaching. “Does your presence mean the operation is about to commence?”
“Not quite. There has been a change of plan. Allow me to explain.”
After she finished her explanation, some soldiers looked mildly disappointed, but most seemed they couldn’t care less.
“I see. Well, we will stay here until this Brian guy comes along.”
“He may not be here for a bit. I think he is itching to set out for an adventure before anything else. So, you guys are going to be idling for a bit longer.”
The soldiers glanced at each other. None of them looked displeased.
“So, I was told that the food here is good.”
“Ma’am, it’s not just good. It’s AMAZING,” one of them exclaimed. “I don’t think I can go back to the bland food back home.”
Others agreed subtly.
“Veggie soup … should be banned.”
“Absolutely. That thing is a monstrosity.”
Wiara had yet to taste the cuisine, thus she had no idea what they were talking about. Fortunately, she found out soon enough a bit later on that night.
“Holy God of life!” She exclaimed, sparkling stars popping out of her eyes. She was in a small house near the cliff, overlooking the calm sea. She had a small dish of boiled shrimp with a sauce on a separate small dish.
“What is this texture?! This is … This is marvelous!”
She thought medium-rare meat steak was nice. But these boiled shrimps were out of this world.
“And this weird … red sauce… It goes so well with this thing…! What’s this called?! I’ve got to ask in the morning.” It was a red pepper sauce mixed with some vinegar. Of course, being from the North, she didn’t even know what vinegar was.
She realized why the soldiers were adamant that veggie soup needed to be banned. It couldn’t even be compared.
“I can’t even explain this taste.”
At this point, she didn’t feel bad at all about the soldiers idling. If they were consuming this sort of food every single day, they wouldn’t have any issues staying here, doing nothing. Of course, she was about to be shocked once more in the morning where she was served oysters. The oysters were thoroughly cooked with spices. It had a very refined taste which she couldn’t, again, explain since it was her first time experiencing sophisticated tastes.
“Why isn’t … this known to others?!”
The answer was simple. Before airships came along, there was no way for people to reach Tantan without bringing a small army to fight monsters along the way. It was only very recently that their cuisine culture was beginning to spread. Even then, only Kamil and his entourage would taste such via Gojar. Of course, even they couldn’t eat seafood in Ceres. She had newfound respect for the town from just two, but marvelous, meals. And, when she met up with Brian and others, they also had dreamy expressions on their faces.
“You … ate the stuff, right?” She asked Brian.
“What… the fuck was that?” He complained in a good way.
“I don’t think I can ever eat veggie soup ever again,” Amanda said.
Brian had a deep expression on his face after crossing his arms. He was in thoughts for a moment before speaking up.
“Guys, I am thinking of purchasing an airship and begin importing the seafood as well as chefs,” he declared, sounding completely serious.
“Boss…? Duman called out doubtfully.
“I am serious. You know what I thought first when I tasted boiled shrimps? I felt that the taste was fucking illegal.”
The other members subtly agreed, including Wiara herself.
“And I thought to myself why this hasn’t spread. It’s not about making money. I want folks back home to taste this. Veggie soup should be banned.”
Her soldiers said the same thing: Veggie soup should be banned. The soup was made by throwing vegetables into boiling water in a pot, plus some salt to add a taste. It was frequently the staple food for the common folks, including Wiara herself. It barely had any taste and was hardly nutritious but it filled stomachs and was easy to make. A more expensive version was essentially throwing in better quality vegetables. The poor would use vegetable scraps instead. They had no way to improve the soup itself if one could call it soup to begin with. After all, it was simply salted water.
“You are serious,” Wiara said. He looked determined as if the whole experience changed him.
“I am. Anyway, that’s my personal business. Let’s get down to our business, shall we?”
As she expected, he showed little interest in training the soldiers, saying that the duke’s request took a higher priority; He wasn’t wrong although she knew that the guy was just itching to set out for an adventure. He said so himself during the short journey in the airship. To be fair, she could see where he was coming from. An adventurer rarely partook in an adventure indeed. He was rightfully so excited about the prospect.
“Alright, men. You know what to do. Let’s move out!” Brian shouted to his nine men in front of him. His group had an interesting setup. Three of his members were exclusively pack mules. In addition to the massive backpacks they carried, they also pulled a small cart, full of supplies. Only one person pulled the cart at any given time. And six, including Brian himself, were combatants. Brian and Mezei were a fighter and a shield earth mage respectively and therefore were the frontline fighter. Duman was a crossbowman with a giant arbalest. Amanda was a fire mage. Cvetko was a slender man in a robe with gray hair, who was a wind mage slash scout. Finally, there was Roseline who was a water mage slash healer. Finally, there was Faro who was seen as more or less an apprentice. His job was a backup fighter and a guardian for the pack mules. In her eyes, the group was well balanced and, by having three people dedicated to carrying supplies, extra weight was off combatants. Faro used to be one of dedicated pack mules until very recently. Since people like Mezei and Duman could not carry backpacks due to their gear setups, perhaps this arrangement was required.
“Hey, kiddo, remember what I told ya! Don’t be a hero!” he barked.
“Yes, sir!”
Then he looked at Wiara. “Miss, what role do you wish to take? You are a warrior and a fire mage, yeah? Do you want to fight in front or be a support?”
She considered her options. Given the composition of his group, she felt that she should stand in front. He had two fighters and four supporters.
“I will stand alongside you as a fighter.”
“Alright, folks, let’s go!”
And, thus, they set out to the wilderness west of Tantan.
The terrain of the area was steppe. While the ground was covered with short grass, it wasn’t tall enough for any grazing animals to survive on. There was also absolutely no tree of any kind as expected from steppe terrain. With no farming prospects, Tantan had to resort to exclusively fishing to survive and developed a unique cuisine. There were bamboo trees near the mountain range but not enough to be called a forest. It was their first time seeing bamboo, but they weren’t overly interested in some random trees at the moment.
“Coastal settlements are rare, aren’t they?” Wiara asked out of blue, surprising pretty much everyone.
“I am from the Siwen just like you, Wiara,” Brian replied. “Never seen the sea until today.”
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“The same here,” Duman said.
“Same,” Amanda chimed in.
“Same,” Wiara replied.
Cvetko spoke after, “Coastal settlements are indeed rare. Tantan and Kuka are the only ones I know of.” He looked to be a scholar type and he was really thin with sunken cheeks. He did not look malnourished however.
Mezei pointed out, “Is this really okay, though? We are trespassing into Atra territory.”
“The nearest Atra settlement is Broln which is weeks away by foot. There is nothing in between,” Cvetko replied.
It was indeed interesting that there was nothing between Broln and Tantan. A settlement should have been there to act as either a checkpoint. If anything, at least a fortress should have been there.
“So, there is a good chance that something used to be there at one point,” Wiara said.
“Possibly,” Cvetko replied curtly. “The distance is simply too vast.”
Brian said with a laugh, “That is why we are going out there to see. We are adventuring for the first time.”
The first day was quiet. In fact, the whole region looked eerily quiet. On the first night, they set up tents along with several campfires.
“Oh, Gods…, this is veggie soup, ain’t it,” Amanda complained upon seeing Faro preparing what was clearly veggie soup.
“I am sorry, ma’am, but this is what we’ve prepared,” the boy responded formally. They had brought meat jerky and dried up vegetables. This was a common setup, and she wouldn’t have complained if she hadn’t tasted seafood back in Tantan.
“I know, I know, boy…”
“That seafood was indeed something…,” Mezei said weakly with her mouth slightly open and was about to drool on top of it while making a weird smile. Even Wiara had a hard time eating the veggie soup. It was just salted water with vegetables.
“This is going to be a long journey,” she whispered. She wasn’t wrong.
image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/5338/ikiER2.png]
The journey toward whatever they were looking at lasted several days before they could see something of a note. They had reached a place where it was littered with small craters. During their journey, they had not run into any monsters at all. It was really, really, quiet. None of them liked the peacefulness since it usually meant something far dangerous was lurking somewhere.
“Craters?” Wiara said aloud.
“Lots of’em,” Brian added. “Looks like there was some sort of a grand battle here.”
“I am gonna have a look,” said Cvetko as he cast levitation and flew up. He circled around in the sky and came back down.
“There is a huge crater ahead. These are small compared to that one. We have to climb a short cliff, though.”
“A cliff, eh…,” Brian mused aloud. Climbing itself wasn’t an issue. But they had a cart and pack mules. They’d be too heavy to climb a cliff. “We will leave the cart at the bottom of the cliff. Mules will drop their backpacks and we will pull them up independently.”
Others nodded along. Wiara felt that it was a good decision because she had a feeling that they were at their destination and that they wouldn’t probably go further. The cart contained bulkier items such as tents and pots. They wouldn’t need it unless they planned to camp. After Cvetko secured a pair of ropes on top of the cliff, they climbed up in an orderly fashion. Backpacks were the last items to be pulled off. They left the rope as is since they’d be using it again on their return journey. Once they were atop of the cliff, they could see just how the whole land was littered with small craters.
“Just what in the world happened here?” Brian wondered.
“Whatever it was, something was here, probably a city,” Wiara added. “It was probably destroyed.” However, looking around, she found absolutely no trace of any civilization. It wasn’t quite as barren as the deadland but it was clear that the land couldn’t support life, let alone a city.
‘If there was a city here, then the climate would have been different. I get a feeling that it may have been an ancient city.’ she thought. In short, she felt that the duke was correct in his assessment to have sent somebody out here, for something was definitely here.
“What … the hell is that?!” Brian uttered at one point. They were at the giant crater Cvetko mentioned earlier. The crater was so much larger than anything else they had seen thus far. It was at least a hundred meters in diameter and about ten meters in depth. And there was something black right in the middle at the bottom. A giant bear … No, an enormous bear seemed to be taking its nap at the bottom of the large crater.
“That’s far bigger than a giant bear,” Mezei remarked.
It was at least twice larger, perhaps even thrice. Its black fur was very coarse and thick. Its tip of fur was red.
“A … fire greater great bear?” Wiara tried to give it a name since it was a monster she had never seen before.
“Should we … even dare fight that thing?” Amanda said while pointing at it.
“That’s why we are here, ain’t it!” Brian exclaimed, his voice was full of excitement. “Guys, we have a monster to take care of!” Standing on edge of the crater, he bashed his sword against his shield, making loud noises to wake up the beast. A loud and slow growling from the beast indicated that it was not happy to be woken up from its slumber. It stood up slowly on his hindlegs, forcing its towering body as well as frightening aura onto Brian and his followers.
“It’s huge…,” Wiara mumbled. In spite of being at the bottom of the crater, it stood tall still. Roaring, there was a growing ball of fire in front of its mouth.
“Fireball incoming!” she shouted to which Mezei responded by standing in front of the group. Dragging out her tower shield from her back, she rooted it in front of her and shouted.
“Elementals of Earth, heed my call! Grant me a wall of stones to protect my allies: Stonewall!”
Soils shot out right in front of her shield, hardening and forming a wall of stones. The wall was twice taller than her and much wider, essentially placing the entire party behind a physical barrier. Everyone gathered behind her and, soon, there was an explosion on the other side of the wall. The wall shook a bit, dropping bits of soils in progress, but it stood firm. Everyone dashed out except the pack mules and Faro. Brian and Wiara made their ways toward the beast while Duman aimed his arbalest at the beast and fired. The bolt made its way toward the beast but it bounced off.
“It bounced off, the fuck?!” he uttered. He couldn’t believe it. This was the first time ever anything had managed to bounce off its bolt.
While dashing toward the beast, Wiara cast energize. “Elementals of fire, heed my call. Awaken my inner fire: Energize!” Her body glowed red for a brief moment; The buff made her faster and stronger slightly. Since Brian and she were closing in from two opposite directions, the beast had to make a choice. It stomped powerfully which shook the ground in its immediate vicinity, unbalancing both of them and halting their rapid advance. However, before the beast could attack either of them, it was hit by a fireball cast by Amanda right in the face, but there didn’t appear to be any damage to his fur.
“I think it’s very resistant to fire!” she shouted to inform others.
“How about wind blades then?!” Cvetko cast wind blade spells, sending crescent-shaped green translucent blades toward its face which sliced off some of its fur. Otherwise, it didn’t seem to have done any damage.
“Brian and Wiara, back off! Don’t go into melee!” Amanda barked at them.
‘Yeah…, I don’t think melee is gonna work…,’ she thought, given the massive size difference. It was at least ten times taller than her. A direct hit from it would leave her crippled or even dead instantly. Both of them retreated back to Mezei whose stonewall was protecting those behind her. They’d come out to cast spells or whatever at the monster and retreat back for protection.
While Duman was loading his arbalest, he suggested, “Give me an opening, will you? Let it open its mouth. No matter how tough, the mouth is usually weak.” He could also aim for the eyes, but an open mouth was a much easier target.
Brian and Wiara nodded affirmatively.
“I am faster, so I will go,” she said to which Brian didn’t object. He was a shield fighter and was overall heavier. She was a swordswoman and didn’t use anything else. Additionally, she was energized.
“I am useless in this by the way,” Amanda muttered.
Cvetko shrugged with a crooked grin. “So am I. But I will annoy it in the sky.” Casting levitation, the man flew off while Wiara dashed out to see that the beast was looking for something. It eventually grabbed a boulder nearby.
“Hey! I think it’s gonna throw a rock at the wall! Watch out!” she warned.
“As long as I am focusing, it shouldn’t falter!” Mezei replied. However, Wiara’d soon find out that it wasn’t just throwing a boulder. It enveloped the rock in a flame and threw it. Her eyes went wide as he saw a monster displaying enough intelligence to mix magic and a physical object. Only she and Cvetko saw what was going on, and both of them shouted to warn them.
“Elementals of fire, heed my call! Grant me a ball of fire to ward off danger! Fireball!” Feeling that Mezei’s stonewall wasn’t going to hold, she cast a fireball swiftly in desperation. Her goal was not the monster but the incoming projectile. She timed it just right to make it hit the flaming boulder to alter its trajectory. It veered off just enough to smash onto an edge of the stonewall which crumbled as the flaming boulder just shot through. Eyes of others, including Mezei, went wide as they saw the wall broken. If the boulder had hit its intended location, Mezei might have been crushed to death in an instant. However, they didn’t have time to be shocked because -
“Monsters!” Faro shouted in the back. “I don’t know what they are!”
He had only seen werewolves back in Ceres. They looked like giant isopods and were approaching them swiftly. There were tens of them.
“Where have they come from?!” Brian barked. They never encountered any monsters until this moment.
“The fuckers!” Sounding quite angry, Duman pointed his arbalest and shot at an incoming isopod. The bolt pierced through its head to the rear, killing it instantly. Blue blood was pouring out of a hole on its head.
“Elementals of earth, hear my call. Protect her from bodily harm: Stoneskin!” Mezei began casting stoneskin to Wiara first, then Brian, then to everyone, including Faro. Once she was done, she looked beat and was sweating. The only people she didn’t cast stoneskin at were herself and Cvetko who was flying around the beast to distract it.
“The stonewall is pointless now. Everyone will need to fend for himself,” she declared. The pack mules drew out their swords after dropping off their backpacks onto the ground. Gulping, Faro held onto his short sword tightly.
‘Those isopods… It’s got natural armor… Swords are not going to be very effective…’ Even so, there was no reason to say this out loud and dampen the mood. The whole situation was a bit bleak but not entirely bad because the beast, for some reason, was not moving away from its spot. Her eyes were eventually fixed at Faro who was shaking visibly. He probably didn’t expect to get into a tight situation like this. Sighing, he asked Brian the big question.
“Can we kill the beast?”
“The only hope is Duman’s arbalest. If he can hit its eye or the inside of its mouth, we have a chance. Otherwise, I don’t see how.”
That seemed like a long shot, given the situation.
He continued, “Wiara and Duman, focus on the beast. Cvetko is distracting it but he can’t keep distracting it alone. The rest of us will take care of those giant isopods.”
Mezei dropped her tower shield and drew out a warpick which was a welcome sight to her. A warpick was the perfect weapon for those isopods.
“Alright, let us do our parts to perfection,” Wiara said and others nodded with a determined look on their faces. She dashed out of the broken stonewall and Duman followed her closely. Meanwhile, Brian and others formed a sphere formation. Even Faro was a part of the formation. Despite the fact that he was told not to join the frontline, this was no time for such a rule. Everyone had to pull their own weight to survive. As she dashed toward the beast and was thinking how to kill it, Kamil’s hurricane arrow came to her mind. When he killed … or vaporized Gregor with it, it left a small crater akin to the one she was running down into.
“Lord Fenchel… could probably kill this beast easily,” she whispered. The fact that it wasn’t moving at all would make it an excellent target.
“What the? Hey, woman! Watch out!” Duman shouted.
“What?” She looked up and saw the beast’s eyes were locked onto her. It opened its mouth and began to breathe fire.
“Fire breath?!”
“Now’s the chance!” Duman aimed at its mouth and fired. However, the bolt could not make its way into the mouth due to the fire. It burnt off midway.
“FUCKING BULLSHIT!” He uttered out of sheer angst. Meanwhile, Wiara had to run her ass off due to fire breath. In fact, she could not approach the beast and had to go back out of the crater. Cvetko, too, had to fly back due to fire breath. He flew close to Wiara and Duman and told them to retreat and assist Brian.
“There is no way that we can kill that thing! Just not enough raw firepower!” he concluded.
She agreed. In her mind, there was only one person who could kill it: her lord. The image of the sky full of wind elementals came to her mind with an arrow enveloped by wildly dancing green flames. The image was burnt into her mind vividly. Of course, the aftermath was something else as well. She was there to observe it. The ground shook for a good five seconds or so, and it left a small crater which eventually became a small lake after underground water seeped in.
‘We have to make it out of here alive first,’ she thought. As soon as she made it out of the crater, she saw Brian and his men fighting against the giant isopods. Due to their natural armors, those with swords weren’t having much of an impact. However, Mezei and Amanda were very effective against them. The issue was that Mezei was sweating bullets due to having to cast stoneskin spells until a point of exhaustion. She cast a fireball to make an opening and joined Brian’s formation. Duman killed an isopod with his arbalest as well.
“Guildmaster! I suggest we retreat! Cvetko is distracting the beast but Iam unsure how long he could!”
“Alright!” He readily agreed. He was a veteran and kept a clear head on the overall situation. “Mules! Fall back, grab your backpacks!”
As three men fell back into the middle, Wiara and Duman stepped in to fill the gap. The latter had his arbalest placed on back and had drawn out a sword. While a slash weapon like a sword was largely ineffective against the giant isopods, Duman was making it work by slashing it with sheer physical force. He was essentially using a blade as a blunt weapon. The whole situation was a bit chaotic but no one was injured, probably thanks to the stoneskin spell. Once some of the giant isopods were slain, Brian barked out an order to alter the formation to a line. He led the line with pack mules in the middle. Wiara was at the end, and there was Faro in front of her who looked clearly shaken and was pale. Cvetko eventually joined them once they were far enough from the beast. The giant isopods also began to withdraw at one point.
“I can see why there is nothing between Tantan and Broln,” Cvetko remarked. “The land can’t support life, and there is a horde of monsters along with that … monster of a bear.”
The group wasn’t defeated, but that didn’t make them feel any better. They were sent to investigate. Their actual task had not even begun. But, with the beast in the way, there was nothing they could do any further.
“Boss…, I can’t even walk…” Mezei, looking completely exhausted, fell to her knees. Duman reacted swiftly and grabbed her in his arms after taking her tower shield off. “You’ve done good, girl. Let me carry ya.”
She did well indeed. It was her stoneskin spell that prevented any injuries. The spell would make someone’s skin as hard as chainmail armor, granting immunity to scratches, bites, and light slashes. The giant isopods attacked with scratches and bites. Her spell was mighty effective against them.
“Sorry, Duman…, but I am gonna….” She fell unconscious, dozing off.
“Faro, you carry her shield,” Duman said.
“Yes, sir.” In spite of saying so, he really struggled to carry the shield. It was as large as Mezei herself after all.
“I will carry it.” Brian intervened and took the shield off the boy.
The group safely made their way to the cliff where they climbed down via the existing ropes. They planned to leave the ropes there since they could well come back. Wiara, as the last person in the formation, was going to be the last person climbing down. While she was waiting for her turn, she heard a painful scream from the bottom.
“My leg…, I think it’s broken!” A pack mule cried out in pain at the bottom of the cliff. His hands slipped, and his leg took the full brunt of the fall, snapping in half literally. The extra weight from his backpack was too much for his bones apparently. Roseline, the water mage of the party rushed toward the man holding his snapped right leg, moaning loudly in pain.
“Elementals of water, heed my call. Grant me powers to fix this man’s life choice.”
Wiara almost chuckled. That was certainly a creative way to phrase the spell incantation. Given the fact that she was personalizing the spell incantation to such a degree, she was probably a very powerful water mage. His snapped leg slowly straightened up itself magically, and the guy let out a sigh of relief and thanked her. Given his calm reaction, it might not have been the first time he broke his bones.
“You can walk but shouldn’t carry the backpack,” Roseline declared. “Someone else will need to carry it.”
“I will carry it!” Wiara replied from atop of the cliff. “Just go on.”
The guy looked up, nodded, and stood up, dusting off his pants before eventually walking off slowly after taking off his huge backpack. She grabbed it and placed it on her back once she climbed down.
‘Wooh, this is freaking heavy! No wonder he broke his leg!’
Their return journey also proved to be quiet thankfully. At a campfire, Wiara happened to sit near the kid, Faro who was sulking.
“You okay, kid?” she casually asked.
“I don’t know…” His voice was weak.
“Are you not feeling well? Go see Roseline if you don’t.”
“No, no, I am physically fine. It’s just …” It took him a moment to continue. “I don’t know. Maybe I am not cut out to be a fighter.”
She had observed him closely during the journey. As far as she was aware, he contributed to absolutely nothing. Even during the combat, he could not do anything to those giant isopods. In his defense, however, he was not certainly expected to be able to contribute although she could understand why the boy was feeling down. It was his first real opportunity. He might be fearing to be relegated to a pack mule role again.
“Faro, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“The strongest warriors come back home to his family,” she said to which he titled his head in confusion. “Did anyone die during this excursion?”
“No…?”
“It means they are good. You are included in ‘they’.”
“I … don’t understand.”
She held the warm bowl of veggie soup in her hands, gazing into the distance, into the darkness of the night.
“Ultimately, an adventurer’s job is to return home safely. And, to be able to return home, it’s not always about combat prowess. It often comes down to being cool-headed with a pouch of wits. If you are not able to become a powerful warrior, then polish your other skills. Of course, that is not to say that you should neglect your combat skills. My point is that being a warrior doesn’t necessarily mean being able to wield a sword masterfully.”
She learned swordsmanship to survive, not to impress others. This was in spite of her being a fire mage of affinity level 6. Being able to wield a sword effectively opened more career opportunities and more roles in a party, but she was never a good swordswoman. Perhaps, she was decent but she was absolutely certain that she would not win against any of the combatants in Brian’s group in pure melee. However, she was versatile and had quick wits. She literally saved Mezei from crushing to death in the heat of a moment earlier. Everyone had their roles. The boy had to find his. Patting his head, she said no more.
Once Tantan was within visible range, she reminded Brian of the secondary objective, which was to train the soldiers who were camping right outside of the town.
“Yeah, yeah, I do remember. Worry not, I will hold onto my end of the bargain.”
“You will have to excuse me. I need to go back to Ceres and my report to Lord Fenchel. Meanwhile, I forbid you to confront the beast again.”
Brian startled subtly as if she caught him doing something sneaky.
He retorted, “It has to be dealt with, doesn’t it?”
It was pretty clear that the man was going to attempt another shot at the beast. She felt that the risk was too great and decided to put a stop.
“I suppose so, but I will let someone else deal with it.”
“Someone else?” His eyes went wide because he didn’t believe there was any group better than his. He wasn’t wrong in that line of thought. His party was probably the best there was.
“Do you remember the incident in which the Laufeld lake was made?”
He froze momentarily before coming back to life.
“I see.” He looked convinced. “The flaming green arrow…” With fingers on his chin, he nodded repeatedly. “That could … certainly kill the beast in one shot. If that doesn’t kill it, I doubt nothing will.”
“Indeed,” she said with a smile. She was confident that it would kill the beast. He was pretty much in agreement. Anyone who saw the hurricane arrow first hand would agree and would hardly be able to forget what they had witnessed.
“Very well, we will stay put. I may need to go back to Ceres soon, though. I am a guildmaster after all. Can’t be away for too long. I do have something to do.”
He did say he wanted to purchase an airship and start importing seafood.
“Your business is yours. I won’t interfere as long as you heed my advice.”
Nodding along, he asked, “There is one last thing I need to talk to you about.”
“Oh? What would that be?”
“Mezei did have a point. We did trespass into Atra territory.”
Once the fever of excitement cooled off, reality struck him apparently.
“I wouldn’t worry about that now. For the time being, nobody will know.”
There were several aspects to think about. First of all, they were from Ceres, a neutral entity backed up by Egra and Estana. It was an interesting gray area they were stepping in. Atra, even if they wished to, would not be able to reach Ceres without provoking Egra. And, if Ceres was to be invaded, Estana wouldn’t sit back, either. In the worst case scenario, it would create a full scale war between three nations. However, she sincerely doubted that the matter would accelerate to such a chaotic scenario. Since the whole region looked seemingly abandoned, Atra wasn’t going to realize what was going on until much later. They could well be done by then. Bidding a good-bye to Brian, she proceeded to leave Tantan and make her report to Kamil.