Chapter 279-Adventuring on the grasslands (Patreon)

Adventuring on the grasslands

Deep within the grasslands during the night.

Lucy heard them before the wolves. The sun had set for only a few hours and she had drawn the first watch. Sitting with her back supported by the lone oak on the hill, the faint flapping sounded vaguely familiar. The beating came from the south and seemed to be circling to the east when it suddenly grew louder.

Narrowing her eyes, she cast aside her waterproof sleeping bag and walked out from under the high but leafy umbrella. A slow blink later, her golden eyes pierced into the darkness while she sniffed the slight breeze. The westerly wind neutralized her smelling ability but her eyes scanning the dark horizon soon fell on the source.

She now recalled why the beating sounded familiar. The shadows of three wolves materialized next to her with twitching ears and sniffing noses but Lucy moved on having already spotted the approaching danger.

"Bats! Bloodsuckers!"

Lucy delivered the warning as she loaded her crossbow. She then positioned herself at the side of the hill as the vanguard.

The response from the slumbering party cranked off slowly but then accelerated like a well-oiled machine. None of her companions slept without their armor nor lay far from their weapons.

"Dyna guard the horses. Lucy, how many?"

"I see a dozen, maybe more."

"Ming, help Dyna bring the horses under the tree. Chu, toss more wood on the fire! Here they come!"

Miki shouted as a swooshing but unfelt breeze arrived. It seemed to circle the hill with its eerie greeting while causing the horses to neigh and stomp their feet. Miki joined Lucy and Chu who stood near the fire.

"Space out!"

Her warning arrived half a second too late as three large shadows tore themselves away from the darkness. They lumbered clumsily in the air on flapping wings of skin as they bobbed towards their prey. The sonic wave arrived from three cardinal directions. Though expecting it, the screeching attack still managed to hit the pair.

As the night predators raced to sink their teeth into the skins of their paralyzed victims, Miki appeared and pushed both of them away. With the same momentum, the speed of the incoming bats slowed as she activated her ocular skills. A crossbolt zipped out towards the opening between the sharp incisors glimmering from the crackling light of the campfire.

Tumbling and rolling to a stop, she sprang to her knee. Ignoring the wounded squeals from the bat chomping down on a crossbow, she activated her vision on the two bats who swept past. Two flashes of sharpened iron gleamed and chased them as they missed their target. The hidden daggers embedded itself into the belly of a climbing bat while the other tore a gash on the thin skin of the other.

"Miki, roll left!"

The raven-haired girl barely moved when a screech concentrated its blast to where she once knelt. The incoming bat didn't gain the opportunity to follow its victim as the crossbolt from Lucy thumped into its furry chest. By the time it dropped on the grass, Lucy had already drawn her daggers and lunged at another.

Chu ignored the writhing bats on the ground and positioned himself with his back towards the fire. The bats did not appear to work in tandem with each other but their collective attacks poised a threat. He felt ashamed in making that rookie mistake which caused both him and Lucy to be captured by the sonic ability. Fighting them in the open sky differed from facing them inside a cave.

Spotting a shadow looming down from the sky, he cast his ocular ability. Seeing a slow movement, he fire his crossbow. Unfortunately, his aim fell short as the bolt sped past the creature. Cursing his luck, Chu draw his sword and used his ability again. Gliding down at about fifteen feet away, he saw the flash of the open jaws.

Immediately, he shifted a few feet to the left. When Chu exited his skills to the cooldown period, he stood outside the range of the screaming bat. Raising his sword, he cleaved at the confused animal swooping down beside its lost target. He felt his sword strike the target as he ripped a fatal gash across its back.

"Chu, duck!"

As the three fought together, Ming secured the horses and roamed between them and the horses while keeping an eye out for any surprise attacks. Surveying the overall skirmish, he shouted a warning to Chu before darting behind him. The sword flashed as Ming sliced the wing completely from the ambushing predator. Watching Chu recover, he retreated to under the branches.

On the other side of the horses, Dyna and her wolves alleviated the pressure on Chu and the others. Having faced paralyzing attacks like the Bitzers, this group resorted to fighting using their basic instincts and superior savagery. Tooth and nail tore and ripped into their adversaries.

A wolf summoned its terrifying speed and snatched a low flying bat casually from the air. While tearing it to shreds, two bats swooped down and paralyzed it with their screeching sound waves. Crashing into the broad shoulders, they tried to claw and bite past the thick fur. They did not even gain the opportunity to begin when a second wolf swiped and crushed one under its clawed paw while chomping and spitting out the other.

"Amarok, leave."

Another bat felt the pressure of the towering mountain decrease from its broken back. Crawling along the grass, it tried to flap its wings. A small shadow, frail, when compared to the brutal monsters, loomed over it. Narrowing her green eyes, Dyna removed her glove and pressed her left palm on its back. The sound like a large balloon bursting rang out.

Beneath her bloodied left hand, only a pair of mangled wings remained.

The skirmish soon ended. The four or so remaining bats scattered while screeching in failure. Chu walked around with Lucy as they sent any wounded bats out of their misery. Miki stood next to Dyna.

"And you say it can become more powerful...?"

***

"You know, sometimes I feel I should slap the teeth out of those bards who spin tall tales about adventuring. They conveniently forgot to mention being soaked in the rain, bitten by blood-sucking flies, and suffering from stomach problems on the open road."

Ming groused while riding. For the last two days, it rained constantly, causing them to look like frizzled fowls when sheltering. The humid atmosphere seemed to add to his griping belly.

"Stop complaining. You know as well as I do that you still like it. How come you didn't complain when Miki roasted those hares last night which she caught?"

"That and this is different. Did you know I found two scorpions trying to crawl into my sleeping bag at night during the rain? Adventuring should always be like the first few days on this trip. Sunny with a little breeze during the day, and starry and cool at night. This way you can travel in comfort and then relax on the meadows while watching the heavens twinkle... Why didn't you bring Ishara along, Chu?"

"You think this is a match-making voyage?"

Chu snorted at the boy riding on his left as they trotted along the grasslands. Lucy rode on his right while scanning the next rise in front of them. She looked towards her two companions before joining in.

"We don't have an idea of how large this convoy is and how many guards. If we decide to fight, chances are that Ishara might be discovered. In the event someone escapes and opens their mouth, then we might encounter danger when we travel to Frost City. Also, with Ishara on the farm, we can feel at ease with security."

"Don't waste your breath trying to explain to him, Lucy. Don't you know how he is? He already knows the reason but just wants to be a nuisance. Ahh! Keep your filthy hands away from me. Make sure you wash it with some alcohol before you eat with us. Like hell, if I want a healthy dose of food poisoning!"

Chu said while slapping away at the incoming hand. He reached inside his saddlebag and tossed out a small wooden flask of alcohol to Ming. Currently, during his travels, he now maintained a healthy stock of thin paper which served as bathroom tissues. To keep a level of cleanliness, he also carried a few bottles of home-brewed alcohol. This doubled as a sanitizer for both washing hands and disinfecting wounds.

With Ming occupied in washing his hand with alcohol and water, Chu withdrew a large thick scroll and then opened it. Reining in his horse, he frowned over it.

"Instead of heading into Karst and then taking the road to the south, we have cut across the grasslands like this. With Dyna and the wolves help and using the sun as our guide, I dare say we should meet the south road within the next three to four days."

"Will the caravan pass us before we find the road?"

Ming asked while rubbing the high smelling liquid on his hands.

"No, Doug message informed us that they would leave after gathering rations in Haven. If I compensate for the time taken to receive the message and our journey, we should yet meet them on the road."

"How will we approach them? What if they are not alone but have joined with other merchants along the road? It would be hard-pressed for us to attack a convoy like that."

Lucy added. With the flow of merchants trickling out for a late start after the Blitzer fiasco, the roads would soon become busy. Especially since everyone would now be hustling to distribute and seek out their wares and goods. Without aid from the wolves, attacking a combined wagon caravan of merchants, guards, and mercenaries proved a risky and near futile task.

The odds would only increase against them if Sersens hid among the convoy. Chu scrunched his brows in thought before replying.

"Our first step is to find the convoy belonging to House Gofart. We will make our plans from there."

"Hehe, the Heavens really smile on us, right, Chu? Isn't this House Gofart the House of that young master back then? The round belly noble who wanted to use us as bait? I've been itching for a payback since then. More so now that his family played a part in driving Elder out from Frost City."

"You'd better not do anything stupid. Don't forget you can't show your Sersen skills."

Lucy said on hearing Ming talk while he cracked his fingers.

"Now, now, who says I can't use my skills?"

Ming snickered as he reached into his own saddlebag. His gloves wrapped around a carved, wooden object as he then pulled it out. Holding it in front of his face, his eyes glinted from behind the oval openings. Chu scoffed while replying.

"You do know you can't approach the convoy first and then use a mask right?"

"Hehe, I know, but I can't wait to use it."

"Miki is riding towards us from the front."

Lucy said. Not long after, Chi heard the sound of a galloping horse before seeing the girl's figure ride over the little ridge. The excited eyes and upturned lips indicated to Chu that she was enjoying herself. Miki patted her horse as she rode up to meet them.

"We found the road, Chu. It's just over a few knolls at the front."

"Already? I thought you said a few more days, Chu? This cutting across the grasslands really worked wonders for us. How come others don't use it as shortcuts?"

Chu snorted while Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"You think wandering around the grasslands is a bed of roses? What do you think would have happened if we weren't Sersens when those bats paid us a visit?"

"Okay, I get it, I get it. So what's your plan to deal with this merchant. Hehe, I heard robbing a merchant of his gold is like tearing his heart out."

"Where did you hear that?"

Chu asked.

"From Lucy. She says you were like that when you had to part with some of your inventions..."

****