I let the sentiment of the small, impactful moment stretch on for a bit longer, trying to let my companions enjoy it for all its worth.
But fate or the System or merely my own luck simply does not allow such peace to last for long these days, reality intruding with not a whisper or a roar but something much, much worse….
Bounding into the clearing, multifaceted eyes enraged by the smell of blood and the apparent free food lying around, the strangest Beast yet rubs its forelegs together vigorously as soon as it sees us in our battle stances with weapons raised.
{Preying Mantis, Lv.23}
I suppose we should expect some sort of attack, considering its level, but we are struck by surprise all the same when the forelegs emit not the expected chirp, but an ear-piercing, skull numbing, screech not too unlike nails on a chalkboard!
Horus, the most mobile of us, flaps away as fast as he can, keening weakly in pain as he does.
Artemis, whining softly, drops to the ground to cover her ears with her forepaws in an attempt to drown the blasted sound out.
Belina and I cover our ears as well, grimaces of pain locking our jaws into place as we struggle, stumble and hobble toward the Beast.
Belina makes it 3 steps before falling to one knee, head bowed and arms wrapped around her ears as trails of blood leak from them and down her neck.
I make it a further 5 steps, the noise increasing until I can go no further, held up by my sheer force of will but trembling head to toe in exertion.
Only then, as I stand mostly frozen a half dozen yards away, does the insect let up on the noise at last.
As soon as it does, all of us raise our heads with matching blood dripping from our ears and lock onto the Beast with furious eyes in near unison.
Instead of doing the smart thing and running off before we can recover enough, the mantis instead chooses to attack, thinking us suitably weakened!
Its great forelegs tipped by scythe-like blades come chopping down at me as it rushes in a blur towards me.
But we are not the usual prey…
As one, we counterattack!
I launch myself at the Beast as it draws near, tangling up its blade arms with my hatchet and some skillful dodging, landing crippling strikes with my off-hand when I can.
Meanwhile, my team uses my distraction aptly, Belina coming in from the right flank with the mother of all Shield Bashes leading the way.
Artemis comes leaping in from the left flank with both paws wreathed in icy-blue cold and poised to land perfectly opposite Belina’s.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Horus, last but not least, comes swooping down with talons of shining, burning light, aimed directly at those creepy, multifaceted and alien eyes.
I have the best seats in the house for what comes next.
Horus’ greater mobility causes him to arrive first, taking one eye and wounding the other with a victorious screech to the heavens as he wings away from a near strike from one of those wicked scythes.
The mantis, disoriented now, bobs and weaves like a drunken fighter, right into the landing zone of our other two Party members and their attacks!
Smash!
Their respective attacks land with crushing, punishing force, crumpling exoskeleton and the delicate organs underneath with a gross squelch of exploding innards and oozing viscera.
‘Maybe not the best seats in the house after all…’ I think wryly to myself, shaking off arms and legs as best I can, dripping green stuff falling off with each motion.
I wipe off my eyes as best I can, looking over to see a similarly disgusted Belina attempting the same. While Artemis just sends her acute displeasure over our bond, demanding I use my Wilderness Survival bonus immediately to find a water source nearby for her to wash off.
I promptly do so, then direct my companions to follow me, jogging off into the woods toward what my Skill says is a nearby stream that will suit our needs just fine.
As we depart the site of our battles, the notification for the kill filters in.
Congratulations! You have killed a {Preying Mantis, Lv.23} for a total of 10,000 XP!
Well, with XP like that, maybe killing the insect was worth it!
…
A half hour of scrubbing, a still very green furred dog that expresses her clear fury, and several ruined pieces of clothing used for towels later disabuses me of that notion regarding the XP….
At this point, I just tell Artemis to deal with it until we can find some soap or a better option, getting us moving again ever deeper into the woods, their scale aweing me each time I step around one tree and see even more beyond. Perhaps we should call it the Eternal Forest…
We take down several Beasts as we go, although none quite as powerful or worth as much XP as the mantis, before settling down in the exposed root system of one of the great trees, our lullaby sung by innumerable birds, insects and the softly creaking trees shifting in the wind.
Awakening bright and early the next day, the sun being a fairly consistent alarm clock after all, we continue our trek ever further, encountering Beasts, trees and more trees besides.
All told, by late morning my XP stands far closer to a level up than before.
Congratulations! You have killed assorted Beasts for a total of 103,000 XP.
115,000/204,800 to Lv. 13
Seeing how long this is taking as the required XP keeps on doubling, I realize it may be more difficult than expected to reach the next tier…
At least until we finally come across something different in a large clearing much like the one around our settlement.
In fact, this clearing holds a village of its own, though far different from ours in style.
Instead of longhouses, Eastern style architecture is featured with pyramid like terra cotta roofs, paper walls and sliding doors, and even a large Eastern gate of bright red complete with filigreed dragons doing battle inlaid into the finely carved wood.
From outside, the village appears deserted.
“What do you think? Could this be that clan’s home?” I ask.
“Seems like it should be, the style certainly fits and may explain the very fact they became a ‘Clan’ instead of some other group type.” Belina replies thoughtfully.
“Hmm, you have a good point there. Shall we investigate?” I ask, mostly rhetorically as, knowing my Party, we most assuredly will.
Belina, giving me a single, artfully-raised brow in reply, merely walks through the gates with Artemis ambling along at her side.
Smiling in satisfaction at being as lucky as I have been to find each member of my Party and how even luckier I am to have become as close to them as I have, I scurry to catch up as Horus flies up to circle in the air overhead.