Chapter 34 — The Battle for Levish’s Orchard (Part I)
“Wha-! Why is-!?”
“Throw the bladder, mom!” Falma was already doing as she exhorted.
Seeing the views of the jungle suddenly gaining shape through motion was disorienting even for Toren who knew the position of each zoot thanks to his [Mana Sensing] and [Combat Awareness] Skills. He could only imagine how it must appear to Emina who had called out in panicked surprise.
“Pouncer, kill!”
“Yowls, protect!”
Horthal and Kortha yelled out commands to their hound pack-leaders and loosed arrows, each at a blur of lizard making use of long tree branches to run and jump at the expedition from above. Toren did the same—the ‘loosing arrows’ part anyway.
For defeating a level 6 Corvast Jungle Zoot,
600 XP Awarded.
Keep up the good work!
Amid the cacophony of dogs viciously tearing into anything that moved and angry hissing and screeching from the enraged lizards charging to their deaths, several branch jumpers made it through, but the situation wasn’t as bad as he worried. The zoot’s [Camouflage] Skill took time to adapt, and if they could keep the lizards in motion, they were easy enough to spot.
Toren swiped his bow at two which landed near him, catching one solidly in the head and the other mid lunge, punting it into the scrum of dogs.
Warnel, nearby, yelled out and slashed at a zoot that landed nearest him, cutting deep enough to sever the spine.
Returning his attention to the zoot trying to recover in front of him, Toren brought another quick blow to its head, and was rewarded by a pair of kill notices as he readied a new arrow.
For defeating a level 7 Corvast Jungle Zoot,
700 XP Awarded.
Keep up the good work!
For assisting in defeating a level 9 Corvast Jungle Zoot,
450 XP Awarded.
Keep up the good work!
Congratulation! You have reached level 3!
+1 Ability Upgrade Point.
+1 Attribute Upgrade Point.
Glancing around, Toren confirmed through his helmet’s eye-slit that Falma and Emina’s efforts weren’t wasted.
The scent of the bladders and their contents drew the zoots to chomp them mid-air and chase after the ones that missed, splattering the vivid berry-colored slurry in their attempts to get at the mix of tasty offal chunks and rendered fat inside. Whether the liquid dripped down from their snouts or scaly skin, it blocked the effect of the zoot’s [Camouflage]. Each zoot distracted by a bladder was one distracted from harrying the hounds.
He drew, aimed at an unmarked zoot crouching to leap at Laiya, and released. The moment the arrow bloomed from its flank and threw the lizard to the ground, three dogs pounced it and tore it apart.
For assisting in defeating a level 11 Corvast Jungle Zoot,
550 XP Awarded.
Keep up the good work!
A few smart zoots tried to grab the ruptured bladder or the larger chunks of offal and run back into the treeline, but they made easy shots for the brothers. Toren switched focus to the east side and loosed again.
For defeating a level 6 Corvast Jungle Zoot,
600 XP Awarded.
Keep up the good work!
Even focusing on the zoots yet to be marked, Toren’s new [Combat Awareness] Skill made estimating distances for arrow flights almost trivial.
The battle seemed to already be wrapping up, so he aimed for a particularly large one that was holding back, still in the treeline, watching.
For defeating a level 15 Corvast Jungle Zoot Alpha,
1500 XP Awarded.
Keep up the good work!
The fury of violence was replaced by a sudden quiet only broken by soft whines and pained whimpers. Worryingly, a pair of stragglers that had stayed out of sight, maybe hoping to scavenge scraps, did run off to the northwest once the ambush failed.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Horthal urgently hopped over zoot corpses to reach where half his hounds were gathered around one of the sources of whimpering. The hounds made room for Horthal to help their injured packmate, revealing a sight of a large horror hound laying in pain, lacerated intestines partially spilling out onto the road.
“Lurker’s Luck! Big Berta got sliced,” the older brother cursed.
“Ouch, that’s pretty bad.” Korta grimaced. “Do you want to try to save her?”
Horthal’s pack alpha, Pouncer, was nudging his head against the head of the injured hound, making worried sounds. The other concerned hounds were looking to the older brother for help and making whining noises.
“I’m worried about the blood attracting insects and more dangerous predators, but Pouncer would be devastated; I’d better give it a try. The hounds licked it mostly clean so at least finding the places needing stitching shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll need someone to keep her from moving.” Horthal was already squatting down and placed his hand against the wounded hound’s neck to give comfort. “Don’t worry, boy. I’ll fix her up.”
The older brother wasn’t wrong. The scent of blood in the air was strong, and Toren couldn’t imagine it not attracting something. “We’re safe for the moment, but whatever we’re doing, we should be quick.”
Korta worked a rough-woven sack free from his brother’s sled, and pulled out a clay jar. “Falma, Emina, can you rub this salve on the hounds’ cuts while Horthal and I help Big Berta?”
“Just rub it on?” Emina asked as she hurried over and took the hold of the jar, a queasy but determined-looking Falma following.
Korta was already hurrying over to assist his brother, but he called back. “There’s a numbing herb in the salve. If you have sewing skills, you could try stitching the larger cuts?”
“Okay, we’ll do that.”
“Is there anything dad and I should do?” Laiya asked, still holding her spear at the ready and scanning the underbrush and tree branches for additional threats. The blood on her spear’s blade suggested that the girl succeeded in getting her needed first kill. Toren must have missed the exact moment in the rush of the melee.
Similarly, Warnel’s blade showed a partial sheen of blood. The man nodded to Toren, also looking for direction.
Toren directed his voice toward the two brothers, “Korta, is the plan to secure the zoot corpses now? Or finish clearing the area first?”
The teen looked up from holding down Big Berta. His brother was dripping something in the hound’s mouth.
“If you could? Maybe tie them into bundles that we can secure to the sleds? We should probably leave a few for the saberbeaks, so they’ll be less likely to raid us later.”
A glance upward, confirmed a good number of saberbeaks gathering, eying the carrion, occasionally adjusting their wings, but not yet making a move.
“Sounds easy enough,” Toren grunted. Korta’s sled had loops of cord intended for that purpose. “Laiya, continue to keep guard, just like you’re doing. Warnel, if you could help me by collecting the crests from the ones too damaged to take with us.”
Warnel’s shoulders moved like he was grimacing under his helmet. “Ah, okay.”
Laiya nodded confirmation, her helmet continuing its scanning movements.
A cursory glance over the carnage showed the corpses in better condition than the earlier violence would have suggested. The hounds had gone mostly for the necks or legs and left them unmolested once dead.
Toren got to work. Binding up 30-ish corpses was going to take a while.
It was too soon to make assumptions, but overall, he was greatly encouraged by how well the fight had gone. Clearing the orchard was beginning to feel like more than just an aspiration, and another thing had become clear: fighting zoots was great XP! At the current rate, just clearing the orchard might get him to level 5 and his next Ability and General Skill selection even with his Profession’s absurd 100% extra XP required per level, further increasing their chances for survival.
~~~
『Name: Toren of Theravos
Race: Human
Age: 20
Profession 1: Level 3 Burningblood Berserker (2800/6000)
Mana: 28/43
Strength: 16
Constitution: 12
Dexterity: 14
Agility: 12
Wisdom: 12
Intellect: 8
Will Power: 17
Perception 14
Appearance: 8
Charisma: 8
Luck: 10
Attribute Upgrade Points: 2
Traits:
Sacrificial Guardian
Abilities:
Burning Blood (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low
Slow Bleeding (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low
Ability Upgrade Points: 2
Profession Skills:
Pain Tolerance 4
Severe Wound Recovery 3
Berserker Knife Arts 1
Spear 9
Club 8
Focus Rage 1
Combat Awareness 3
Intimidate 2
Skills:
Theravos Language (Speaking) 15
Theravos Language (Reading/Writing) 10
Religion 10
Meditation 5
Bone Strengthening 3
Hunting 20
Butchering 13
Archery 19
Stealth 17
Arithmetic 4
Foraging 16
Tree Felling 6
Running 12
Mana Sensing 14
Danger Sensing 1
Wound Binding 8』