The group did not stay long in Tolus. After recovering from their travel fatigue and putting everything in order, they departed towards Tumma Forest. When they arrived at its border two days later, Liza gave her last reminder of what they could possible find inside.

“Just to reiterate, according to the information I gathered, we’re fine as long as we don’t go too deep inside. We should expect the normal hazards usually found in the woods: spiders, bears, insects and stuff like that. They also warned me that some goblinoids and orcs might show up, as some of them drift here from Kolmio Ridge. Any questions?”

“None! Let’s explore!” exclaimed Eliot in excitement.

“How deep should we go in then?” asked Fang Chu.

“I was told that if we enter from here and keep going straight for a few hours we’ll reach a clearing. That’s the place the locals used to do their own rituals and offerings, before things got too dangerous for them. I think that should be a good spot. What do you say?”

“That’s fine for me.”

“Off we go then.”

Liza led the way as they entered the forest. The trees were somewhat spread apart and between them the ground was covered with moss, bushes and other types of smaller plants and grasses. The air inside the forest felt cool and fresh, and their visibility was not that bad from the waist up, all things considered.

They progressed slowly. Liza opened up a path with her long knife, cutting any bushes and plants on the way. Whenever they came across a snake or any other venomous creature, she would ask Boro to take care of it.

An hour later, they began hearing a small hiss and some clicking sounds from time to time, like the ones done by serpents or some types of lizards. The noise seemed to be coming from all directions, making it very hard to pinpoint. This made Liza and Ben somewhat tense. They searched their immediate surroundings with care, but they found nothing in the end.

While the rest of the group pondered on how to proceed, Fang Chu closed her eyes and concentrated, feeling the flow of mana in a twenty-meter radius around her. From their group she could sense the beacon that was Eliot, the normal flame that was Liza and the void that was Ben.

At the very edge of her perception, she could sense a small creature. It would move in and out of her range, keeping tabs on them and hiding extremely well. The creature was really stealthy. It didn’t shake the foliage when moving around and barely made any noise, apart from the occasional hissing and clicking. It also wasn’t emitting an ounce of hostility, but Fang Chu knew it wasn’t because it was friendly, it just didn’t want to give away its position.

[Oh, this should be interesting,] thought Fang Chu.

Since they couldn’t discover the source of the sound, they decided to keep going and do periodic checks on their surroundings, clearing an area of around two meters from any foliage. Even an hour later, the sounds never stopped. Whenever Fang Chu concentrated, she could sense that the number of creatures increased. After this long, the constant hissing was starting to grate on Liza’s nerves.

[Should I’ve Ben distract Fang Chu and have Boro and Eliot go wild? I doubt we wouldn’t be able to find the source of the noise then!]

As Liza struggled with her decision, Eliot jumped and swung his sword to the right. He’d finally felt the presence of a hostile being and struck out immediately. A high-pitch screech soon followed his attack and a small creature was bisected in two.

It was a bipedal reptilian-like creature, around sixty centimeters tall. Its body was covered in small green scales and it was carrying a crudely made bone spear. Eliot grabbed one of the bisected halves of the creature and examined with interest.

“So, it was a kobold all along,” said Liza feeling relieved.

“Are they dangerous?” asked Ben.

“Not much. According to the records, their threat level and attack behaviour are very similar to goblins.”

“Which means… they don’t attack unless they have the numbers advantage right?”

“Right…”

As if prompted, numerous hissing and clicking sounds erupted in their surroundings. It was impossible to be sure how many there were, as it all blended in a cacophony of sounds.

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“Get ready, they’re coming!” shouted Liza.

The kobolds were small enough to hide in the low vegetation present throughout the forest, and they were very adept at it too. Now that they were attacking in a fit of rage however, the plants shook and swayed as they ran through, giving a clear indication where they were coming from.

Ben drew one of his knives and positioned himself in front of Fang Chu protectively. He was really scared, but this was one of those do or die moments he couldn’t run away from. Fang Chu watched the whole thing with glittering eyes. Though this was a farce to her, a mere play, she’d to admit she kind of liked it. This type of protective behaviour was not the one she was used to receiving.

Liza and Eliot closed the other sides, effectively putting Fang Chu inside of a triangular formation. Boro dropped from Eliot’s shoulder and slid on the ground until he was besides Ben. They’d just finished adjusting their positions when the kobolds began pouring on them.

No other term was more apt, as the kobolds seemed to come in endless waves. With each swing of his sword, Eliot would kill three to five creatures in one go, seven if they clumped up nicely, but more would soon follow after.

Ben was desperate, swinging his knife at anything that drew close, regardless if he hit it or not. The only reason he was holding out was because Boro was unleashing a slaughter at his side. The one worse off was Liza, who didn’t have Eliot’s superhuman strength nor Boro’s assistance. The short range of her knives were also a problem when dealing with such small creatures.

After watching the initial clash, Feng Chu pondered if she should interfere and help out. In her analysis, Boro would be fine, as the creature’s weapons didn’t seem to harm him in any way. Eliot would also be ok. He was killing the kobolds in a fast pace and would suffer a few injuries to his legs at most. Liza and Ben were the real problem though. If the fight continued at this pace for another fifteen seconds, they could be gravely injured.

Not wanting to waste time, Fang Chu closed her eyes and concentrated. She would gauge the number of creatures still remaining in her area of perception. If it was a number they could deal with, she would do nothing. Otherwise, she would have to lend a helping hand.

The black world in her mind’s eye was soon filled with flickering flames. Apart from the ones that represented their group, there were many small ones surrounding them and they filled the entirety of her perception!

[What?! This many? When I was checking periodically there was never this much flames! Guess I’ll have to act!]

Just as she was about to step out, the kobolds stopped their attacks all of the sudden and looked at one particular direction. Glad to have a moment of respite during that frenzied combat, the group followed the kobold’s gazes.

Through the vegetation that was swaying left and right, they could see what looked like the back of a large lizard-like creature coming their way. They couldn’t see any other characteristics from the monster at that point, as everything else was hidden by the foliage.

The kobolds soon entered in a panicked state and began running away in all directions. This prompted the mysterious creature to rush in and attack. It dashed out of a bush and stared straight into the eyes of a kobold that was attempting to escape.

The kobold stopped on the spot, one of his little feet stuck in the air as if he was paralyzed. Soon, to his horror, he started to lose the feeling on his legs as his scales and flesh began to turn into stone. His eyes were the last to transform, the despair in them more than apparent. Liza, who was watching the scene in a daze, felt her entire body go cold.

“A basilisk! Run!”

She tugged at everyone and brought them out of their stupor before running away. The rest of the group followed suit and they soon disappeared deeper into the forest.

The basilisk petrified another four kobolds before it gave up chasing the creatures that were scattering in all directions. It casually approached one of the five kobolds it turned into stone and chomped at it, breaking a part of the statue off before gulping it down.

By the time the basilisk began his meal, Liza and company were already out of sight. Noticing everyone was too preoccupied with running, Fang Chu let herself lag behind. After making sure they weren’t paying attention to her, she conjured a canteen out of thin air and splashed a bit of water on her forehead. She adjusted her breathing and used her fingers to press certain pressure points on her body. Her face soon drained of blood and paled.

The rest of the group was oblivious to what she was doing, as they kept running without pause. They only stopped when they ran out of breath and felt they’d traveled far enough already.

“Who the hell told you that it wasn’t too dangerous unless we went too deep? We should give him or her a few punches when we come back!” said Ben with indignation.

“It was the information available at the guild. Truthfully, it was a bit dated, that’s why I managed to get it for so cheap,” said Liza as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Under normal circumstances, kobolds wouldn’t be considered dangerous to us, but their numbers this time were abnormal. We probably entered their territory and unknowingly approached their lair. Their stern reaction to our intrusion was what must have drawn the attention of the basilisk,” she continued.

Ben looked over at Fang Chu and saw that her face was a bit pale and her forehead was wet with perspiration. He couldn’t help but feel that they’ve been unreliable bodyguards.

“Are you okay, Fang Chu? Were you hurt anywhere?” he asked.

“I’m fine. That was something else, huh?” she said weakly.

While the two conversed, Liza scanned their surroundings and probed her injuries with her hands at the same time. She’d received three puncture wounds, but thankfully they were not grave. She was cursing inwardly though; her gambeson was brand new and already had three holes in it. Gambeson was fantastic against slashing weapons and even against medium to low quality arrows, but the help it provided against spears and stronger piercing weapons was not that great.

However, her grievances were soon forgotten. Amidst the scenery she was scrutinizing for danger, she found a particular bush of emerald green leaves. The moment her eyes landed on it she recognized it instantly. It was one of the three plants they were tasked of searching the forest for: Dancing Sage!