Alex managed to get the attention of two Dream Invaders and started running back to the group. She zig-zagged through the woods, trying to confuse her enemies but not moving fast enough to lose them. After all, the whole point was to lead them to a specific place and not just lure them away from their starting location. Without stopping, Alex turned left, then right. She followed the markings she had left in the trees until she reached one with a large X on the side. This meant that the surprise they had set up was right in front of her. Alex vaulted over something hidden by the mist and kept running. The invaders were right behind her, but they didn't even consider jumping over the same spot since it wouldn't help them catch their prey.
When they crossed the area that Alex jumped over, they hit the strings that Hera had set up. She took about 5 meters worth of string and wrapped it around two of the trees, creating a tripwire coated in poison mana. The first monster fell to the ground and was met by an electrified storm cloud hidden in the mist in front of the trap. The second tried to jump away, but his feet got caught in the wire nonetheless. The monster jumped to the side and kept running after Alex, but Leo and Hera were waiting. They attacked the creature, emerging from the grass. Both of them used fire-based spells to burn the invader. Unlike the trees that would take a lot of time and effort to burn, the beast's fur was much easier to combust. With their combined attacks, the monster started to flail around, attacking blindly anything that it could, while the first one was still struggling with Hera's poison and the electricity coursing through the heavy cloud.
Seeing that, Alex spun around and pulled her dagger, activating the scabbard and letting a wind blade come out of her weapon. Her movement was similar to something called a quick draw, a sword technique that originated in Japan. Without realizing it, that movement was enough to grant her a skill that made the spell become even stronger. The blade of green wind came out of her dagger with a different glow. Looking at it was just like looking at something made out of pure jade. With a roar, the invader tried to brace itself for the attack, putting both of its hands up as if it was boxing. However, that wasn't enough. The new and improved wind blade managed to sink deep into the monster's forearms. It wasn't enough to cut the hands-off, but it was more than enough to make it unable to use its arms to attack. Seeing that, Leo used his spear, engulfing it in flames once more, and pierced the monster's head.
Hera broke off from that fight and went straight towards the invader on the ground. Raising her handaxe and slamming it where the neck of the creature should be. If it wasn't for her poison spell, she would have had some trouble finding the beast, but thanks to her perception of her own poison, she could sense where the monster was located. Even with that, it took a while for the invader to be killed. Hera couldn't finish it off in a single blow, and her handaxe was covered in fire mana. She had to almost saw the creature's neck off. Its fur was so thick that it cushioned the impact of her handaxe. If it wasn't for Blue's thundercloud constantly paralyzing the monster, the invader would have more than enough time to get up and fight back.
After killing that monster, Hera felt her poison disappear and told Blue to drop the spell. It was complicated to find the drop in the middle of the mist, but with some help, they managed to find the gold coins. When Alex grabbed the first drops, Hera thought it wouldn't be worth picking the coins. However, she quickly changed her mind when she saw how much each of them was worth. A single gold coin dropped by the invaders was worth 350 gold. That could seem small considering Hera's savings, but the value was ridiculous compared to what she used to earn before becoming an explorer. Just the four creatures they killed here were worth more than a full month of pay in her old life.
"I guess the trap worked," Alex looked around, checking if there were any other creatures around.
"Not just the trap. That wind blade was awesome. How did you do that?" Hera asked.
"Oh… I don't know. Well, I know why it happened just not how," Alex scratched her chin with one finger.
"You're rambling. What's the matter?" Blue turned to the assassin.
"It feels weird. When I was about to attack, I got a skill called Iaijustsu. It's a style of combat that focuses on the fast draw of a sword. I read about it a while back but only after getting the scabbard is it that I actually tried to make it work."
"Why is that weird?" Leo asked.
"Because it's too easy. I got the scabbard. What? Yesterday? And already got a skill with just a few hours of training," Alex shrugged.
"So? You got lucky, or you have a talent for the thing. Don't worry about it and just enjoy," Blue rolled her eyes.
"But getting a skill like that shouldn't be easy. I mean, Iaijustsu, it's a full fighting style. How can I learn it just by doing one thing?"
"Every skill starts somewhere. You figured out the first step. The skill will probably only rank up as you learn more things about it," Hera said.
"I guess… It still doesn't feel right," Alex sighed.
"Either way, we figured out two things. First, traps work. Second, magic seems to be better against them than physical attacks," Leo explained.
"Third, attacks with magic work, like your fire thing, but just a basic reinforcement won't do much," Hera added.
"I think that's because reinforcement just increases the natural strength of the weapons. It doesn't give it an elemental attack," Leo said.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Really?" Hera turned to the hunter.
"Yeah. Or at least, that's what people told me."
"… I guess I need to make some new spells then," Hera was staring at her handaxe. Creating the mana reinforcement was a lot of work. If she wanted to make something new, she hoped to be able to use the same structure as a base.
They kept going deeper into the forest. According to the visions, they shouldn't be far away from the location of the sprite. After about 100 meters, the forest started to open up, revealing some structures that were built on the side of a hill. Interestingly enough, this area didn't have the same type of mist as the forest did. The buildings were almost stacked on top of each other, following the incline of the hill. Everyone knew that this place was where the sprite was. However, they didn't have any clues as to where they would find it in the middle of that settlement. The only thing that Hera had to go off was that the house in question reminded her of a birdhouse. Unfortunately, all the structures looked like birdhouses. Large structures with a small round entrance a few meters above the ground, with a staircase that would allow one to reach the entrance.
"Sooo…. Do we just search all of the houses?" Blue asked.
"I guess so. Unless someone has a better idea," Leo sighed.
"I might be able to see the sprite using my sensory net," Hera replied after thinking for a moment.
"What's that?" Leo was double-checking Tiger's wounds.
"It's like an upgrade for my pulse. This version can wrap around walls and stuff instead of wasting the mana to pass through them," Hera explained.
"Huh, neat."
The group started searching. Each house was very simple, a living room, a kitchen on the first floor, and a bedroom on the lower floor. They didn't even have a bathroom. Hera started using her spell to search through a larger area, but after using the spell for a second time, she had a better idea. Pulling Yarnball, she put two thousand mana into her relic and asked, "Where is the trapped sprite?"
As a response, the small hologram with the face of a die appeared with the reply 'Better not tell you now.' With a sigh, Hera continued using her spell to help the search. Forty minutes passed, and they were only able to check one side of the settlement. There were too many buildings around, meaning that a significant number of people should have lived here. Unfortunately, there weren't any identification marks in the area. All houses were the same, and even the furniture was nondescript. That is until Blue found a painting in one of the bigger houses.
"Hera, come over here," the controller called.
"Did you find the sprite?" Hera walked inside the house.
"No, but I found something. Come down here," Blue's voice came from the bedroom on the lower floor.
Hera walked over, and unlike all the other houses, someone had painted a mural in this place. It was the picture of a city inside a mountain, a city with many houses, a small orchard under an opening on the cave's ceiling. The people who were depicted there all seemed too short, almost dwarf-like. Among the crowd, Hera noticed a couple of guards walking around with a familiar black armor.
"Are those… the guards from Kul Dorul? That's the same armor, right? The same one that the guard was using during the hard mode," Hera turned to Blue.
"I think so. I called you here exactly because of that. Do you think this is where the survivors from Kul Dorul came after the city went to crap? I mean, Finlay talked about how they wouldn't risk crossing the forest, right?"
"They did, and let's face it. These houses look like the work of an architect who only makes concept houses, not actually usable ones," Hera looked around. Things didn't make much sense In these structures. The kitchen was right above the bed, and the wooden floors had some gaps. Anything that fell to the ground in the kitchen had a chance of falling down here. Not to mention that the ventilation was terrible. Upstairs it was comfortable and breezy. Down here felt like being stuck in a damp basement filled with still air. Not to mention the horrible job on the spiral staircase. Hera was sure that even a dwarf would have to lower their head to climb down.
After sharing their findings with Alex and Leo, the group continued their search. When they started to move to the other side of the settlement, they found a few Dream Invaders searching for something. Hiding from the creatures, the group pushed through, with Hera using her sensory net constantly to search the inside of the buildings. She was starting to get frustrated and decided to spread a massive net around most of the houses by using the mana from her earrings. This was enough to cover the entire north side of the settlement. Hera could tell that eight invaders were searching for something, and she found the sprite's location. It was hiding under a bed four streets down and five houses to their left. However, since most of the creatures were around that area, she was worried that going there would only attract the beasts. Instead, it would be better if they killed them off before getting to the sprite. Her plan was to use someone as bait to lure one of the invaders to a house for an ambush.
After ironing out the details, everyone agreed to the plan. Hera still had the string that she used for her tripwire trap previously and would reuse it to set up more traps, and, since she was the stealthiest of the group, Alex would be the bait.
Hera, Leo, Tiger, and Blue all hid inside the living room of one of the houses. Hera and Leo would be right by the door with the tripwire on the floor. Blue would be towards the kitchen, hidden with Tiger and ready to use a cloud to paralyze the creature again. Alex let them know that she had found a target and ran towards the house. The invader was right behind her, moving much faster than the ones in the forest. Alex dodged a couple of attacks before reaching the staircase and jumping over the trap. The monster came just a few seconds after Alex had entered and tripped in the string Hera had set up. Leo went straight for the monster's head with his spear, but the creature dodged to the side. Blue was late to cast the cloud, and when it started to form, the invader jumped up, only its feet being hit by the cloud, which wasn't enough to paralyze it. Hera and Alex both used their wind blades, although Alex's was much stronger thanks to her skills and items. Large gashes appeared on the Dream Invader's arms. Leo pulled his spear, and flames started to swirl around the tip of his weapon. Tiger grabbed the monster with its tongue as it was about to strike, holding the invader in place. The creature tried to move, but when it realized it couldn't evade the strike, it let out a loud screech that echoed through the city. What followed was a flaming spear impaling the beast's head and making it stop its cries. However, it was too late. Just as the invader fell to the ground and started to dissolve, several screeches roared throughout the city in response to the first one.
The group glanced at each other and got ready to fight. If they ran, they would have to deal with the creatures coming from all sides, if they stayed, this place would become a kill box, and there was no way to tell who would be the one dying. Whatever their decision would be, it would have to be made fast. By the sound of heavy steps, the monsters were already closing in.