The group entered the jungle at the first rays of dawn. The vegetation here was a lot denser than in the volcanic jungles north of Skyreach and Sovuln, the canopy only letting rare streams of light shine through here and there. There were vines and colorful exotic plants and flowers growing everywhere one looked.
Ihuarah gave Pareth directions, who slowly cleared a path with his machete of light, and at the same time, he explained some of the peculiar rules those who entered this place had to abide by, while the whole night had been spent only going over how to reach Sorrow’s palace and what to do when they encountered Ochiarans.
“We have to clear the path like this to scare off the webbers,” he explained, “they are giant crawling arachnids with advanced camouflage magic. Even with good mana senses, they are extremely hard to detect. Their presence is what makes flying here dangerous, as it makes you an easy target for their web-spit attacks. The webbers in themselves are generally not too strong, but the web they spit is hard to get out of, even for people of our level. Thankfully, they only hide in the bushes, and if we clear them they will keep their distance.”
Cinthia looked back, the group had only gone a few hundred meters from the encampment, yet it was already no longer visible. “The plants are already regrowing where we cut them down…” she noticed with an uneasy voice.
Ihuarah turned around, walking backwards to face the group as he spoke, “Such is the way of the jungle. Now that we have entered, we cannot stop. We must always press on.”
“How about our other movement options?” Sofia asked, looking at the canopy.
“Flying above the trees is suicidal,” Ihuarah explained, “steer away from any natural clearing in the canopy, we must be thankful for the trees’ protection, for the monsters living above are much more dangerous than the monsters living below. Teleportation is fine in battle but generally you want to avoid it because of the webbers. And similarly, going through the spiritual realm would be fine if not for the risk of encountering Ochiarans.”
“Walking is slow but it sure sounds like the safest option,” Everelle commented, “And also… I have to warn you all not to count on me too much when it comes to fighting…”
“Not the best environment for Sunless?” Sofia asked.
“No… It’s my class. It is good for defending a place, not so much for exploration. I can defend myself, but I’ll be weakened.”
“That’s it? Good enough,” Sofia concluded, “I’d say it’s best if you and Cinthia have each other’s back, and Ihuarah and Pareth can be our defense team. I have more than enough attack power for all of us. In fact, as long as we’re not running into a monster above level 300, Bookie alone should be able to handle even a swarm.”
“That… There are not many skeletons suited for the jungle…” Bookie lamented, from the side. He walked holding Sofia’s hand.
“I’m sure the Chimera would feel right at home,” Sofia reassured him, “but even without going there, how about summoning the fae and Crowie for a start?”
“Now?”
“Yeah, let’s have the fae be our rear guard instead of Everelle. Crowie can stay on my shoulder as usual.”
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The group walked in an almost straight line for the best part of three hours without encountering anything more dangerous than a mosquito, which felt quite strange, as even the woods behind the Orphanage is Skyreach weren’t that safe in comparison, with wolves and boars roaming around, which Sofia had to be extra careful to avoid whenever she went for her nightly expeditions to try to summon a skeleton. Ihuarah had warned them, however, that this was because weak monsters simply could not survive here. Even the most modest of the jungle monsters were above level 200.
Sofia finally noticed something, “Mana movements two hundred meters to our left, they’re keeping their distance for now, but moving in the same direction as we are,” she whispered to the group, “I’d say around ten to twelve creatures.”
“On the ground or going from vines to vines?” Ihuarah asked as he gave a hand sign for everyone to stop.
“Ground. They also just stopped moving.”
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Ihuarah breathed a sigh of relief, “Good. Just a pack of blood tigers. They will come toward us eventually. Miss Cinthia is the only one with blood here, we only need protect her, and the beast themselves are of little trouble.”
“Should I just send the fairy?” Sofia asked him.
“That might be the best way, yes,“ Ihuarah confirmed.
Sofia raised her left hand, the fairy who had been flying close to the ground behind the group until now darted up to Sofia’s hand without a sound, softly landing on her palm. Sofia quickly tied a tiny bone token onto the fairy’s ribcage, and then gave the order.
The fairy turned invisible, and left Sofia’s hand as she connected her vision to the token.
Sofia heard the pained howls and screeches of rage of the creatures before she could even see them. The fae was like an invisible lightning bolt. Sofia’s vision was a blur, as the fairy flew at breakneck speed, constantly and abruptly changing direction without any regard for the conservation of momentum. Sofia could barely get a glimpse of the horse-sized blood-red beasts that looked like giant cats with prominent fangs before were riddled by fairy-sized holes, exploding in a shower of blood and gore.
Eight seconds. That was all it took. The midenicite fairy landed on Sofia’s palm again, its invisibility wearing off, blood dripping from its blue bones, it cleaned the gore between its tiny claws by rubbing them together.
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.230]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.221]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.218]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.244]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.212]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.242]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.210]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.208]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.202]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.234]’
‘You have defeated [Blood tiger - lv.239]’
Sofia cut the connection to the bone token, dizzy from the hyperspeed massacre she had just witnessed. She blinked as she looked at the fairy, then at Bookie. “You know. I think it’s really a good thing that we only summed it when Erredis was there. And that its original soul is gone.”
Bookie silently and furiously nodded in approval.
The rest of the group looked at Sofia in incomprehension, except for Ihuarah. “All dead?” he asked.
“Eleven blood tigers,” Sofia answered, “Obliterated.”
Everelle’s eye-pendant narrowed, “What. The. Fuck. I want a fairy Sunless now.”
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About an hour later, Ihuarah stopped the group once again, and produced a small pendant out of his storage ring.
Sofia instantly felt a connection to the item, and was able to guess what it was. Sorrow’s divine item, the location of which had been Ihuarah’s reward for completing Sun’s quest. The Locket of lost souls.
Ihuarah opened the locket, and the temperature around him dropped suddenly, some of the jungle plants even starting to freeze over. He looked around seemingly following with his gaze something Sofia couldn’t see, then he quickly closed the locket and stored it back.
“We must go fast, follow me!” he then said, rushing in front of Pareth through the jungle’s high bushes. The group quickly ran after him.
So whatever is going on, the webbers are the lesser danger… Sofia analyzed as she scanned the jungle all around with her mana senses and the heat-visualization function of her magic eye. I don’t see anything.
“We draw close to the first obelisks of Sorrow,” Ihuarah explained as ran amidst the jungle’s tall trees, “The merciful mother’s relic bestowed unto me the direction. However, the Ochiarans are sure to notice. Prepare for battle, we will make a stand at the obelisk,” he warned everyone.
Bookie couldn’t keep up with the pace so Sofia grabbed and carried him, “Be ready to summon the snake. We might also need the high priest, but only summon him if Cinthia is in danger,” she told him as she ran.
Sofia hear a violent boom coming from ahead, a skull-sized ball of sticky white web had just hit one of Ihuarah’s mana-weave shields head on like a cannonball, the sign that he had stepped too close to a webber. Ihuarah counterattacked by throwing a handfull of yellow and black powder in the direction the ball had come from without even stopping to aim, and the powder mix almost instantly exploded, engulfing that part of the jungle in a bright ball of orange fire.
Sofia’s priority as she ran was to ensure Cinthia’s safety. She knew Ihuarah, Everelle and herself could all survive a surprise attack, but the streamer orc could not. Sofia had sent the fairy to perch on top of the girl’s head, with the order to destroy any creature that would come close.
Shadows started rising in the jungle around the group as they continued their mad rush, some were Everelle’s Sunless drones, but some were not.
Finally, Sofia saw a giant pillar of black stone between the trees in the distance. She summoned the skull choir, with as many Destroyer skulls she could afford, started channeling the graveyard, and gave Bookie the order to unleash the snake.
So these are the Ochiarans.
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