From Radegart to the northern border, more than five hundred miles needed to be crossed. If the horses in the group were quick, that distance could be traveled in a little over half a month. At that time, the winter would still be cold, and it would continue to be so for a few more months. The army wouldn’t leave until they knew it was close to spring, so the Radegart Riders had plenty of time to raid the countryside of Hilzland.
In the kingdom of Hochland - and even the entire Desolate West - raiding was a way of life. Bandits raided, sects raided, merchants raided, and the kingdom raided. It was only fair that towns would assemble their own group of raiders. In a kingdom that was about to go to war, raiding the enemy kingdom was practically encouraged. In times of war, even bandits came out of the wilderness to help their kingdom. Sanctioned banditry was a dream come true for many bandits, and that was exactly what was happening between Hochland and Hilzland.
Andric personally despised stealing from the weak, but he wasn’t so virtuous as to push his values onto other people. Whether or not he came with them, the Radegart Riders were still going to raid the villages of Hilzland. As long as he was there, he would do his best to prevent unnecessary injuries. His gains from the Erfdag bandits were immense, and he wouldn’t need to earn more money any time soon.
The townspeople of Radegart were not the same. In their town, it was taught that raiding foreign kingdoms was honorable, and that everyone should fight for the glory of Hochland. Only a few people thought it was a mean thing to do, but they were in no place to stop a group like the Radegart Riders from forming. In many minds, the Radegart Riders were patriots.
The eight of them rode north, averaging a few miles per hour. Although their horses’ top speeds were close to thirty miles per hour, they couldn’t maintain that speed for long distances. Instead, they rode slowly, yet still faster than the merchant caravan Andric had traveled with during the summer. At the end of the day, they had gone about thirty miles from Radegart.
At night, the horses were tied to trees, and a fire was built in the center of a campsite. The Human realm martialists among the Radegart Riders needed to sleep every night, but Novice realm martialists could go without sleep for a while. At the very least, they only needed a couple hours per night. Farvald, Isbrand, Carlman, and Hagano were all at the Human realm, and they had a tough time staying warm, so they were closest to the fire.
Andric, Theudobald, and the two brothers were at the Novice realm, so a simple jacket was enough to keep them warm in the middle of the winter’s night. Andric had his armor sitting beside him, as he laid on the ground and chewed a stick of preserved meat. For the first time in a while, he didn’t use a spell to maintain his nutrient levels, and he ate meat that wasn’t freshly cooked. He had wine in his carry sack, but he decided to save that for later.
Traveling on horse was painful. Andric’s butt wasn’t accustomed to spending long hours on a saddle, but circulating his spirit energy could solve that. Andric’s true issue was with boredom. When he was with the merchant caravan, Andric could sit back and enjoy the ride. Now that he had to drive his horse, he couldn’t let his attention wander. Most of Andric’s frustration came from him knowing that he could use magic to fly and arrive in Hilzland in less than a day. Only an Adept realm martialist could match him with that kind of speed.
In the middle of the night, the horses began neighing uncontrollably, waking up everyone in the campsite. Theudobald was the first to grab his weapon and look around, but he didn’t seem to find anything. Andric also quickly scanned the area around the campsite. They were camped in a thin forest, where the trees are sparse. If a hostile force was nearby, there wouldn’t be anywhere for them to hide.
“It’s over there,” Theudobald said, looking at a particular spot in the distance. Andric looked over, but he couldn’t see anything notable.
Farvald and Isbrand left their tents and stood alert, and the two brothers had picked up their swords and also looked in the direction Theudobald was looking. Carlman couldn’t see anything, like Andric, and Hagano never left his tent.
There was no way for Farvald to not be scared. For the first time in his life, there was something unknown in the darkness, and he didn’t have the protection of his uncle or parents nearby. Sure, there were other townspeople with him, but they weren’t relatives that had built up an imagine of invincibility over many years. Farvald couldn’t feel safe with only the seven other Radegart Riders around him.
Isbrand circulated his spirit energy and readied his fists for battle. He had waited for so long to prove himself, and now he was waiting for whatever was in the darkness to reveal itself. Carlman was similar, and he had his sword half-drawn from its scabbard.
Andric stood up and slowly took off his jacket and put on his armor. Theudobald had been sleeping in some of his armor, and he didn’t put on any additional pieces, but Andric put on all of his armor, then circulated his spirit energy. He prepared to use Heaven Charging Spring and evade anything coming into the campsite.
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The wilderness of Hochland was full of wild animals, but most of the hibernated during the winter. Only a few hunted all year round.
Instead of wild animals, what Andric and the rest of the Radegart Riders needed to worry about was spirit beasts, which hunted all year round and were known for fearlessly attacking groups of humans. The reason towns like Einburg and Radegart had dedicated guards patrolling all day and night was to deal with spirit beasts, which might emerge from the forest, kill an animal or human, and run away.
Many spirit beasts had been killed by the guards of the merchant caravan Andric had traveled with, but he was usually on the inside of the caravan, so he rarely saw any of the battles.
“Yulll!”
A strange sound came from beyond the campsite, where the light of the fire couldn’t reach. Shivers ran up everyone’s spine, and they knew it wasn’t a sound that an ordinary creature could produce. It sounded like a large creature being butchered while still living. Isbrand and Carlman, who had come from livestock-raising farms, could feel the flesh being ripped from the bone.
A bloody scent enveloped the campsite. The horses panicked further, and the fire dimmed slightly. Isbrand went to put some twigs on the flame, but Theudobald quickly shouted, “No!” and stopped him. “Don’t touch the fire!”
Theudobald’s reaction had come faster than anyone else, and it might’ve saved their lives. If Isbrand really did put a handful of sticks on the fire, it would’ve caused the flame to dim even more, possibly allowing the creature in the darkness a better opportunity to attack. Andric only thought of this a few seconds later, and his outlook of Theudobald changed slightly.
“I have a fire element martial technique,” Andric said and walked closer to the side of the campsite where the hidden creature was supposedly at.
“Use it,” Theudobald said, emotionlessly, and Andric didn’t delay. He immediately used the Flaming Fist Technique to create a ball of flames on his knuckles, showering the forest with additional light.
The creature was revealed for less than a second before it retreated into the darkness. It stood more than eight feet tall and had the body of a human, but its back was horribly hunched over. Besides its silhouette, Andric could only see the creature’s enormous eyes that reflected the light from his Flaming Fist. It retreated backward, never facing away from Andric or the rest of the Radegart Riders.
The appearance of the creature shocked everyone, including Theudobald.
“So big,” he muttered, following the creature with his eyes.
Andric had the same thought. Although he from his previous life had been around the world and seen all the wildlife it had to offer, he had never seen anything like that creature. Certain bears could reach that size, but the creature wasn’t hairy, and it stood more like a bipedal animal than a quadrupedal one.
“What was that?” Carlman asked and moved closer to Theudobald. He kept a calm appearance, but he was anything but on the inside. It had been Carlman’s first time to see something so horrifying.
“Yulll!”
Just then, another sound of tearing flesh resounded throughout the campsite. Theudobald held back his reply, and Andric threw his Flaming Fist forward and immediately made another.
“Watch the horses!” Theudobald commanded. He turned around, locking onto the location the of creature, which was slightly close to the area where the horses were tied to trees. Another wave of bloody air came from that direction.
Andric activated Silent Gallop and took several large steps, while Filibert and Gerbold also ran in the direction of the horses. When he was only a few feet away, and used the Heaven Charging Spring Technique to launch himself into the air, then shot out several Flaming Fists into the darkness beyond the campsite.
The creature saw Andric’s Flaming Fists, turned around, and ran away. From high up, Andric reevaluated the appearance of the creature. He had earlier thought it was hairless, but he saw what looked like greasy matted hair covering the creature’s body. Judging from the scent of blood that came from the creature, Andric guessed that it was covered in blood, which broke whenever it moved too quickly.
Theudobald leaped toward the creature, and the two brothers chased it into the forest. Andric read the situation, then followed along. Carlman tried to follow, but his martial realm was too low to keep up with four Novice realm martialists.
Gerbold was the first to reach the creature, and he punched it in the middle of its body before Filibert caught up. As Gerbold pulled his fist away, Filibert slashed the creature with his sword, cutting off several bloody hairs and filling the air with an even thicker stench of blood.
The wound revealed some of the creatures skin, causing Andric to slow his advance. He couldn’t see much, but it appeared as if the creature tore hairy skin off other animals and stuck it to its own body. The flesh from other animals acted as armor, protecting the creature from Filibert’s sword slash.
The creature continued to run away, fleeing from Andric’s light. Andric attempted to follow the creature while staying in the trees, but the trees were too far apart and too small. He dropped the ground and activated the Silent Gallop Technique, quickly chasing after the creature.
The two brothers followed closely behind him, and Theudobald was in the rear. Carlman, Hagano, Isbrand, and Farvald stayed at the campsite, slowly adding wood to the fire.
‘If I could use my magic, I could kill this thing right here,’ Andric thought while using two martial techniques at the same time. He maintained his Silent Gallop in his legs and his Flaming Fist in his hands, continuing to chase the creature.
The creature abruptly stopped and turned to face Andric, and Andric thrust out one of his Flaming Fists. He punched at the creature, and the creature attacked him with its head. Andric dodged the head, but his Flaming Fist didn’t hit the creature. Again, the creature quickly ran away.