“Can we just get this over with?” Davis whisperingly asked. His grimace and the violent shivering of his body showed clearly how uncomfortable he was.

“Shut up, and don’t think about it,” replied Veles. His hand placed on Davis’s shoulder released small amounts of blackish fog, which further spread across his whole body.

“It’s cold,” added Davis, his teeth clattering. “You feel this all the time?”

“Yes, and I told you to shut up. I can hide our presence, but not the sound,” Veles clenched Davis’s shoulder harder. “We got lucky earlier. Their scout almost caught us.”

Davis nodded, then looked at the small clearing upfront, where four individuals faced the quite dangerous beast.

They were the first ones Veles and Davis stumbled upon after two boring weeks of riding the wolf. Although Veles hoped he would find some messy band of thieves he could extract information from. This group in front perfectly fit all recruitment for his plan of easily entering their society. But there was also a tiny problem…

“Oh, they are getting serious. Look,” Veles commented, his finger pointed at the small gaps between the bushes they were hiding in.

“Zunna, shield!” yelled a robust-looking man, clenching his twin axes. Veins popped on his exposed arms, showcasing the strength of his bulging muscles.

Upon hearing his loud yell, the young girl wearing a baggy mage robe brought the book she held in her left hand and opened it. Her gaze fixated on the current page while her right hand worked dexterously, making numerous patterns and bringing yellow runes to life. Her hand movements were swift, showcasing hours and hours of practice, and her mouth never stopped producing quiet and incomprehensible murmurs.

It took her barely three seconds to finish. She didn’t even waste any time to check if everything was alright. Confident in her own work, she poured mana into the floating runes. Like having their fuse lit, runes flew toward Zunna’s berserker-looking companion. After touching his sturdy body, they dissipated into motes of yellow energy, making a barely visible yellow coat around his towering frame.

“What…” Davis’s astonishment made Veles narrow his gaze. This reminded him yet again how different those living west—Osvalenians—were. They had never used any runes outside the extremely weak formations and wards. But the more he saw this group fight, the more his confusion grew.

The berserker guy grinned widely while brandishing his axes, his gaze bearing down on Stage Four Lithe Porcupine—the beast’s height matching his. Dashing forward, he unleashed his killing intent alongside a loud maniacal yell, which gained the beast’s attention immediately.

Their team member—who previously used to distract the porcupine—backed away, dragging along his enormous shield. His every movement while carrying that giant shield displayed a very calculative set of movements, he perfectly backed away whilst still keeping sure to cover the mage-looking girl in case something unexpected happened.

As the barbarian neared the beast, it finally sensed overwhelming danger coming from a dual-wielding guy, the beast faced a new assailant, raising its body slightly and focusing weight on its back legs, porcupine intended to swipe the attacker with its claws. Unfortunately, that proved to be a terrible mistake.

When the claw neared the dual axe wielder, instead of tearing into flesh, claws scrapped a thin layer of energy. But that wasn’t the end. This energy condensed itself in the targeted place. Blasting with almost the double force that the claw carried, it recoiled the surprised porcupine away—making it raise its body even more, practically standing on just its rear legs.

This made for a perfect opening. Two axes tore the flesh of the porcupine’s upper abdomen. But the berserker didn’t dare to take another shot. He put all his strength into his legs and rushed back. While he ran, three arrows flew. Unfortunately, only two neatly pierced the just-opened flesh wounds, while the last one stuck itself into the beast’s skin, barely doing any damage.

“It’s coming, all behind me.” Yelled the one carrying the oversized shield. Berserker and Zunna stood behind him, half crouching. At the same time, the archer, already standing a much longer distance away, hid behind the tree.

As they predicted, sensing danger to its life, the porcupine executed its last move. Turning around, the beast flexed its back. Spiky hairs spread themselves, revealing rows and rows of sharp quills protruding from the beast’s skin. Mana surged through its body, concentrating on the roots where those deadly spikes grew.

With a final push, all the quills shot with great force, tearing through the air in all directions. But the group looked well prepared.

The one holding the shield had two sets of glowing runes on his forearm, and then the shield he held glowed in a faint metal hue. As the spikes hit it, nothing happened except a slight tremor the wielder experienced and the occasional zinging sound of the collision.

When the barrage ended, the shield wielder instructed. “Surround it and keep attacking. We will wait for the paralyze to take effect.”

Everyone ran in a different direction, surrounding scared porcupines from all four sides, not giving any room to escape.

They looked assured of their victory. But the more they kept the beast on the edge with their weak attacks. The more shield wielder displayed his growing concerns.

This proved to be right. Porcupine turned its back toward Zunna. Yet again, stifling its back, revealing a couple of spikes not launched in the previous barrage.

When the group saw this, they panicked. The mage-looking girl especially so. She frantically moved her right hand, forming numerous runes. She was in the open, and there was no cover she could take to avoid this attack. The shield bearer watching this ran as fast as he could.

“Now,” said Veles. He removed his hand from Davis’s shoulder. Taking out his trusty daggers, he rushed forward, his body surrounded by the blackish fog.

Davis knew what he had to do. Positioning himself for a throw. He enchanted his body appropriately and threw his spear with full strength.

“Danger from the west!” The group facing the beast faltered, archer words making their situation even worse.

But then came a surprise. After a whooshing sound followed a painful cry of the porcupine, the group looked at the beast with a spear stuck to its side, wheezing in pain. Their eyes then turned next to it, fixated on the figure of a person shrouded in black fog.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Veles dashed toward the porcupine, reaching its head in an instant. He raised a dagger that glowed silver with tiny traces of greenish substance smeared on its edge. He then slashed, leaving a small cut on the beast’s cheek. But no matter how small, the effect was immediate.

The porcupine started trashing around like mad, and Veles carefully backed away. He finally revealed himself—there was no need to shroud himself with the fog anymore—and just waited…

As he expected, moments later, the beast froze. Its body fell down motionless. The effect of paralyzing arrow archer had shoot finally taken effect. Still not taking any risks, Veles neared the beast and stuck his dagger right into the eye—reaching the brain—and with the last twitch of its legs, the beast breathed its last.

Satisfied with his work, Veles looked around. Noticing how the group of four were looking at him with their jaws hanging. At this moment, Davis walked out of the bushes, spinning his right shoulder in circles. “That was a nice thr-” But same as the group looked at Veles, Davis stared at them.

And the reason for that was when Davis got a closer look. He was met with the problem Veles had already noticed. This problem was in the form of cat-like tails and ears that every member of this group had.

Veles flashed a quick glare toward Davis, reminding him of their plan and not to act like a country bumpkin. And feeling a sudden chill, Davis gently nodded…

Coughing to break a weird atmosphere, Veles addressed the group. “We noticed that you were in trouble and decided to give a helping hand. I hope we didn’t inconvenience you in any way?”

Davis rolled his eyes. Luckily nobody noticed this. But his reaction was well-earned. How Veles conveyed his words sounded like he was genuinely worried about a group of strangers… Not like he hadn’t waited for a perfect moment to intervene.

The first to take a step forward was a shield bearer. He moved his giant shield to the side as a sign of lowering his guard. “Far from it, your intervention saved our comrade’s life. If anything, our Nimble Fang Group owes you a great favor.”

Veles found their name funny, considering all of them are Catkin. But it was wiser not to comment about it. However, he was glad they showed no strangeness due to him and Davis clearly lacking those cat features.

Already in front of Veles, the shield bearer raised his hand into a handshake which Veles shook firmly. “My name is Fagor, and I’m the leader of this small mercenary group. Yet again, thank you for assisting us.”

“Veles. And there is no need to worry, Fagor. We observed your whole fight, and I must say, you guys impressed me. Your teamwork, readiness, and strength are all praiseworthy. I’m sure you would be fine even if we didn’t intervene,” Veles praised with a smile.

Fagor nodded with a smile and broke their handshake. He looked Veles up and down while trying not to be rude. But before doing that, he cast a judging look toward their archer, who served as their scout —the job he had obviously failed to do.

“Do not blame him. We have our ways to avoid the prying eyes,” Veles added. “However, I would like to give you a suggestion.”

He then pointed at the porcupine. “When using something to paralyze the beast. Make sure to add a reagent capable of causing immense pain to the mix. Beasts—especially mammals—have great capabilities of fighting off any poisons within their bloodstreams. But if you manage to put them under a lot of pain and stress, their blood pressure increases and the poison spreads faster because it faces less resistance.”

A second after taking his words in, the wide-eyed Fagor nodded in appreciation. “That is a very valuable insight. Thank you,” Then he paused momentarily, clearly uncomfortable about his following words. “It might be rude to ask. But where did you two gentlemen come from? I never heard of any human party venturing these parts, and your attire is not something humans tend to wear.”

Fagor’s suspicion was valid. However, it was what Veles wanted from the beginning. Acting all mysterious should be a perfect cover to hide their ignorance. He and Davis wore martial robes, which stick out like a sore thumb among all those medieval-ish leather trousers, shirts, and doublets. He even decided not to use any disguise. Meaning that alongside his clothes, his pale skin and eyes should add to the mystery.

And now, it was time to bullshit his way forward.

“You see. Me and my disciple…” Veles pointed at Davis, who was struggling to pull out his spear from the porcupine. “…Idiot over there. Have decided to seek new experiences by journeying through the outside world. As to where we came from, the only thing I’m allowed to say is that we come from further south.”

Fagor looked to the side in wonder. “Further south? Never heard of any humans living there…”

Well, he really had only three directions to point at—since the west was the forest. Truthfully this works in Veles’s favor. As long as he spews something remotely believable, everything would be fine.

But with a corner of his eye, Veles spotted their presumable mage—Zunna—suddenly growing pale. Which meant she knew something these brutes didn’t. This made him consider his next words carefully.

“It doesn’t matter, does it?” Said Fagor, making Veles toss his previous thoughts away. “I’m more interested in what are your intentions with this corpse?”

Veles raised his eyebrow in amusement. All this time, this guy was worried about the loot…

“Oh, I have no use for it, do whatever you wish. You did all the job anyway,” replied Veles. He then gestured for Davis to follow him. “If there is anything more, Sir Fagor. Do say. Otherwise, we would like to continue our journey.”

“Please drop the Sir part. Just Fagor is fine.” The catkin chuckled. “I would feel bad if you left empty-handed. Just thanks won’t cut it. Is there anything we can help you with?”

Veles spent a couple of seconds pretending to ponder. “Now that I think about it. Can you point us to the nearest town or a place where we can rest? Since we had already spent a week camping in the forest. A bed and a warm meal are all we need right now.”

Fagor nodded in understanding. What Veles is talking about is common for traveling groups. “How about this? Our quota is fulfilled with this kill. Once we stash the body, we will be returning to the town of Koria. If you are not in a hurry, you can come with us.”

Veles looked at Davis, who just shrugged, practically saying he didn’t care much. “We will take you on that offer.” Then he pointed at the porcupine corpse. “Need any help with that?”

“There is no need. We have our ways.” Fagor then started giving orders. “Valyo, Ulhe, help Zunna with her bag. We are leaving this place for good.” After a small introduction with everyone, of course, without Veles and Davis saying anything more than their names. The group went their way to store the corpse, and this was the process Veles found fascinating.

He was first surprised by the ‘classes’ they introduced themselves with. Apparently, Fagor class was called just Shield Bearer, Zunna’s Apprentice Enchantress, Valyo’s Earthen Berserker, and Ulhe was a Barvil Scout—whatever that meant. But analyzing their mana undulations up close, Veles noticed all of them were wielding mana differently— the same as he and Davis did.

But comparing them to those in Osvalen was quite funny. In Osvalen people had classic what they called practitioners— just swinging their weapons and throwing basic elemental spells. Honestly, Veles could barely compare the two sides. The more he learned, the less sense everything made…

He also had to admit that it would be interesting to see the two groups clash with each other. But he had this nagging feeling he hadn’t seen anything yet. He was stuck in that damned place for a very long time, and seeing this new interesting stuff kinda excited him…

For now, he kept his focus on a clever way this small mercenary group was storing the dead porcupine, which he found very interesting.

First, the three men in the group moved the beast into a fetal position, ensuring it didn’t take up much space. Then Zunna drew many runes around the corpse while following some manual. When all the runes were in place, she put the leather bag she was wearing on the specific rune drawn on the ground. Then the whole group proceeded to pour a good chunk of mana into the specific runes Zunna pointed at.

When the whole ordeal was done, the corpse was surrounded by greyish light. It then condensed itself, shrinking until it reached enough size to keep it in the palm. Then it zoomed into the bag Zunna previously placed…

It took them probably close to an hour to finish it. But even Veles was astonished by the result. On the first look, it was many times inferior to the storage rings. It also appeared to be made perfectly for those without deep pockets. And he could vaguely understand what logic it was based on. He only needed to check inside that bag to confirm, but he couldn’t succumb to his curiosity. At least not yet…