Mud, Clare, and the man who's name it turned out was Frederick traveled west through the woods. Their movement through the thick underbrush was rather slow due to the injured state of the humans. At one point Mud offered to simply carry both of them, but they were unwilling to lie on top of the corpse of their friend for some reason Mud couldn't comprehend. After an hour of travel the sun finally dipped low and cast the forest into gloomy darkness.

Perhaps due to their recent trauma, both Clare and Frederick showed remarkable caution and observation skills. The two of them spun rapidly to every noise, and constantly scanned the depths of the dark forest. An attention to avoiding blind spots the golem could appreciate. They also stuck close to Mud's side at all times, a tactically wise choice.

"Do not yell needlessly. It might attract predators."

Both the humans redoubled their scanning efforts at the golem's reminder. Mud wasn't sure what looking around had to do with staying silent, but the thought patterns of humans often left it perplexed. Ignoring the strange antics of the pair, Mud fired another Force Bolt silently into the night, killing a Grey Wolf that was observing it.

[Experience Gained: 3]

Spooked by the display of strength, the remaining five wolves fled into the wilderness.

This had been a regular occurrence during the trip back to town. It seemed that monsters were attracted to the party. Perhaps the smell of the corpse or the wounded humans was to blame. Regardless of the reason, a steady stream of magical beasts had approached the group during their travels. During this time, Mud even saw it's first Kobold.

Traveling alone, the Kobold wore light but well-fitting leather armor. A combination of scales and patches of fur gave the short magical beast an unusual look. Its pointed snout held rows of razor-sharp teeth, and its movements appeared much more refined than those of a Goblin. When described to Almanac, Mud was surprised to find the Kobold that stalked the group was in fact an advanced member of the species.

Its abilities at stealth were indeed impressive. Mud had only been able to spot it due to its unceasing habit to constantly look in every direction, combined with its ability to see clearly at very low light levels. When learning about human anatomy the golem had discovered that their eyes functioned very poorly without enough illumination. In Mud's experience, that seemed to be the case with most creatures. Even the Kobold Scout seemed to come closer than was strictly necessary to gain line of sight, likely due to the oppressive darkness of the forest.

The Scout's escape ability also displayed itself when Mud tried to assassinate the peeper. Moments before the invisible Force Bolt struck, the Scout nimbly dodged to the side. A moment later, it vanished behind a tree and Mud lost sight of it.

Clare and Fredrick shrieked yet again and held each other at the sudden noise of the Force Bolt slamming into a tree.

Fredrick grumbled. "C-can't you light a torch or something Mud? This darkness is getting to me."

"No."

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Oh... well, how long until we get to town? It can't be far now, we've been walking for so long."

"At our current rate of travel, we will arrive at Geltheas in approximately two hours."

Both humans groaned and held each other tighter. Mud was again perplexed by the humans. It had expected them to be happy that they would reach town before they risked dehydration or exposure. Instead, they seemed upset. Putting their illogical actions out of its mind, Mud shifted its focus to the Red Deer in the distance. It wasn't a threat to the group, but it would provide Experience. The golem fired another Bolt into the darkness.

[Experience Gained: 1]

Over the course of the two hours, Mud picked off a large number of forest residents, unbeknownst to the oblivious humans. Partway through, it received its long-awaited level. This time, Mud chose to strengthen its soul. More hitpoints had been lost than expected against the Goblin General. Hitpoints would be vitally important until a way to prevent itself from being torn apart could be devised. Mud had an idea in that regard, but no matter what countermeasures it devised hitpoints would always be an important buffer.

[Mud Golem Species increased to Level 7]

What occurred after the latest level was disheartening, although not unexpected.

[Experience Gained: 0]

Every enemy killed after the latest level had granted no Experience whatsoever. Mud was not hopeless about raising its level, however. When the Goblin General had died, a large amount of Experience had been gained. It was possible that the General had simply granted an unexpectedly massive amount of experience, but there was another possibility that seemed more likely. The General had both a higher risk and tier than any other enemy Mud had so far killed. Likely, one of those aspects had negated the experience reduction. Or, perhaps some unknown third variable was at play. Regardless, Mud would simply need to fight more powerful foes in order to increase its power.

Eventually, and without any major incident, the trio finally arrived at the gates to Geltheas. Upon exiting the woods and gaining sight of the impressive city walls, the two humans had burst into tears and cheered excitedly. As they approached the archway, one of the guards hastily stood from her chair and jogged over to them.

"Hold it, what happened here?" Scanning the two injured humans, the guard's line of sight finally fell on Mud. Upon noticing the dead man strapped to his back, her eyes grew wide and she yelled back to the other guard. "Zeek get over here! We got trouble!"

The other guard, a demi-human with wolf-like features, after looking for a moment, sprang up from where it laid on the ground and dashed over to the group. "What's wrong?" Looking at the new arrivals, he added "oh, wow."

"Stop gawking and go wake up the healer on duty. Oh, and grab a stretcher and someone to help with the stiff." Turning back towards the group she added "uh, no offense."

Clare's face scrunched up, but she didn't say anything.

At this time, Frederick spoke up. "We were captured by Goblins on the road into town. This hunter rescued us, killed all the goblins too. He's young but really strong. He even carried Hale all the way from the foothills to get a proper burial."

The guardswoman looked down appraisingly at Mud. "Very noble of you. Say, have you ever considered joining the City Guard?"

Moments later, a childish yet strangely monotone voice appeared in her mind. "No, I have not."

"Well, give it some thought. We could use someone like you."

Mud immediately gave it some thought. There did not seem to be an advantage to joining the City Guard, so it would not do so.

While Mud considered its own lack of interest, Zeek returned from the interior of the city wall, followed by a grey-haired man in a rainbow-colored robe. The old man was forced to lift his robe with both hands in order to keep up with the jog of the much more fit Zeek, and huffed and puffed with exertion. Finally returning to the group, Zeek gave a sharp salute and stood straight. "Mission complete!"

The guardswoman rolled her eyes. "Yeah, good job Zeek." The demi-human smiled wide in satisfaction and stood tall at the 'compliment', tail wagging wildly. Turning towards the priest, she continued. "Heal up these civilians, they got attacked by monsters."

Producing a small brass figurine that resembled a snake with a lions head, the priest walked around to Clare and Fredrick and began channeling opalescent energy into their bodies. Before Mud's eyes, their wounds closed and their bruises faded.

The guardswoman turned back towards Zeek. "Where's the stretcher and somebody to help with the body?"

Zeek paled, eyes wide and mouth agape. After a frozen moment, Zeek turned and sprinted back towards the gate. "S-sorry sir! I'll get it now!"