Chapter 184 - Helping Galva (Patreon)

The group had finished the meal, and now they were waiting for Galva to return with something. Staring at her plate, Hera had to admit, the brown soup was weird, but it tasted good. Nothing extraordinary, still, it was far more appealing than its appearance. After finishing the plates, Galva went towards a storage to look for something they would need to help him.

"Chicken porridge!" Runir announced.

"What?" Hera stared at him.

"That's what the dish tasted like, chicken porridge."

"What are you…. Holy crap, you are right. It tasted just like it."

"You two are crazy. How can it taste like chicken porridge? There was meat inside it," Blue shook her head.

"Ok, then. What did it taste like?" Runir asked.

"It felt like… rice, carrots, potatoes, maybe something like celery and…" Blue looked away.

"And?" Runir pressed.

"Chicken… It tasted like chicken. But it was meat! It had the texture of beef," she said.

"Well, so? Frogs taste like chicken too. Maybe what they say is true. Everything tastes like chicken," Runir said.

They kept discussing the flavors until Galva returned with four large wheelbarrows with two oversized barrels on top of each tied with ropes. Each cask was large enough to fit two humans inside. Eight small kobolds were struggling to help move the carts.

"Put here. Thanks. I give more meat later," Galva waved off his eight helpers. He was a good 10 centimeters taller than the ones that helped him move the barrows. Out of curiosity, Hera triggered her [Observe]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Galva – Kobold Chef – Level 8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh, he's level 8," she whispered to the group.

"All that? What level was Zudra then?" Runir asked.

"I forgot to check. I'll do it when I get a chance," Hera said.

"Friends. Here, what help. Water low, need more. Quick, quick, no time left," Galva pointed at the wheelbarrows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Refill the water supply – Galva's request.

Galva asks you to refill the water reserves of the camp.

Fill up the barrels with clean drinkable water. The more barrels you fill, the higher the increase in the camp's morale.

Failure condition, return less than 2 barrels.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Would two barrels be enough for the entire camp? How many kobolds are here?" Blue asked.

"500 according to the compendium," Bonnie replied while inspecting the barrels.

"500?! We need to kill 2 thousand with just 500?" Blue gasped.

"Yeah, I'm worried too, but I hope the traps do most of the work. Or at least I'm trying to focus on that," Bonnie replied.

"How are you all so chill with all this?" Blue turned to the rest of the group.

"I mean, we probably faced more than that amount during the rampage. As long as we have some traps and a defensive position, we are good. Besides, it's not like we even need to fight the army. We are just here to support," Alex said.

"I guess… but now I'm worried."

Hera patted her on the back and turned to Runir, "Can you make that water thing to fill the casks?"

"The water I make is not for drinking. It has some weird things to help clean the armors and stuff," Runir explained.

"Ok, how about your cold spells, Bonnie?"

"It can help, but I don't think I can fill all the barrels. Maybe if I had the entire day to focus on this, but we need to do more things, right? Also, isn't there a river behind the camp?" Bonnie turned to Galva.

"Yes, yes. River behind camp. You talk too much. Can't speak. We need many to go and back. If barrel full, can only carry one. You long leg. Move faster, carry more," Galva explained.

"Ok, so we just need to go to the river and fill this up? What if there is fish? We take them off?" Runir asked.

"Leave it. Fish good food. I make dinner."

Hera opened her map, "Right, if we move through the forest, we can reach the river. It's that one you're talking about, Galva?"

"Yes, yes. You smart! I take many hour to fill all barrel. Legs short. Arms weak. You strong, smart, tall. Move faster, bring water faster."

"I think we can do that," Blue nodded, testing out the wheelbarrow.

"Ok, then we will be right back," Runir walked towards another of the carts.

"Tom, grab the last one. Hera, you guide us, and Bonnie can be the lookout."

Having four people to move the wheelbarrows, they left the camp through a side entrance and headed towards the forest behind it. A large area was filled with stumps and even a few kobolds by the trees, cutting them down. By the looks of it, this was where all the wood in the camp came from.

"Everyone, keep your eyes and ears peeled. There was a single blue thing on the map we saw with Zudra behind the camp," Alex said.

"Indeed, we must remain vigilant in order not to suffer any ambushed from the enemy," Tom said.

"Are you ok, Tom?" Hera asked.

"I feel the excitement that comes with battle. I could not be better. Why do you ask, oh noble explorer?"

"You've just been quiet for a while," Hera said.

"Ah, I must confess that what you all said left an impression, especially after Zudra chastised her companion for his words. I abstained from speaking to avoid any confrontation since their language seems less developed than ours."

"Oh man, I didn't want to make you feel like you had to hide. Just speak normally," Runir said.

"I can do so in the heat of battle, but to speak casually as we discuss strategy is something I have trouble with. I decided that it would be better for our adventuring party if I took a less active role during the conversation with our new allies."

"We appreciate, but you really don't have to do that. We are a team. If they can't accept you, they can't accept any of us," Alex said.

Hera smiled and looked at the map once more. They were still about 100 meters away from the river, but she heard something beyond the bushes. Making a motion for the group to stop, Hera tried to focus on her hearing.

To the right, heading upstream, she could hear some odd noises, almost like something sniffing. Hera remembered the sound well. It was the same sound that the kobold she faced during the test made when it noticed her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[All In] effects deactivated, the cooldown will now start
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hera pressed her choker, activating the transmission of the communicator, and whispered, "We got company."

Hearing her voice through the earpiece, they all exchanged a glance and quietly let go of the wheelbarrows. With Hera an the front, since she was the only one who heard the noise, the group moved through the forest. Hera moved her map to the side and kept using her pulse. After a few tests, she realized that even though the range was exceedingly short, the spell could work as a radar, and when a creature was close by, it would appear on the map. Her only worry was that some monsters were sensitive enough to feel when the pulse made contact. She already suspected that when facing the toad a long time ago, and Helena had confirmed her theory. Not knowing what would be around, she decided to focus more on her eyes and ears than the spell.

The sound of the river was the first thing they noticed. Not long after it, everyone heard the sniffs and small growls coming from their heading. The forest was very dense. Aside from the path they were using to reach the river, there was no place where they could travel with the wheelbarrows. Alex and Hera could move around the forest without making too much noise, but the rest of the group wasn't as well versed in stealth as the two. The biggest problem was Tom. His metal armor would rattle too much if a loose branch or something hard got in his way. To minimize the possibilities of that happening, Hera and Alex flanked the fighter to assist his movement.

Around five minutes passed as they crossed the forest at a snail's pace. The noise became louder, and when the thick greenery finally gave way, the group saw five small humanoid creatures covered in light brown fur. They had wolf-like faces and long, fluffy tails. Hera whispered for the group to stop and took a few steps forward to assess the situation. Of the five creatures, two had daggers on their waists, one had a short staff, and two had bows and arrows. The one with the staff was drawing something on a large rock.

"Careful, don't make the engraving too big. We must not let the lizard kin find out," a surprisingly deep voice came from one of the creatures who had daggers.

"I know, brother. However, magic must be treated with care. There are rules I must obey," the one with the staff replied in a similar voice.

"This is not right. We should face them in battle and not resort to such petty trickery," one of the archers said.

"Facing lizard kin in battle would be like fighting children. If a cub makes a mistake, we must teach them a lesson and not beat it senseless," the one with the staff replied.

"They are not cubs, but…"

"Silence!" the one with daggers that had not spoken cut them off and started sniffing the air.

"They got us, two archers and a mage in the back," Hera whispered in the communicator.

She had activated her [Observe] while the creatures talked. They were all level 4 canine kobolds, except the one drawing in the stone. He was a kobold mage level 5. They had numbers, but most of them were two levels behind her.

Hera rushed out of the woods with no time to waste, flinging two poison needles aimed at the archers. They were already on alert, but the surprise attack was enough to make the projectiles hit. She tossed her chakram to the side and pulled the thread. The two carrying daggers easily dodged the blade, but the target was the mage. Using the mana reinforcement on the weapon, a burst of mana made the chakram move even faster and slammed into the mage's staff, breaking it apart.

The two archers sent out their arrows, but one of the projectiles was met with a gust of wind so strong that it splintered the wood. Alex followed the wind with her new daggers already in hand. A kobold rushed at Hera, pulling both his blades from the belt, and started to attack. She defended with her handaxe, having trouble moving the weapon as quickly as before. The new axe was 1.5 kilograms, being three times heavier than what she was used to. Even after training with it for almost a day, she wasn't used to the weight. She pushed the monster back and slashed at the kobold, who blocked with both his daggers. The new weight helped Hera's strike breakthrough the creature's defense, creating a large gash in the middle of its body. The kobold fell to its knees at the same time that the chakram returned to Hera's hand. Taking advantage of the momentum, she pulled the weapon towards the monster, slitting its throat in one swift motion.

Alex managed to intercept the second dagger user, defeating it without much trouble, but the archers were in the back, firing at the rest of the group coming from the forest. The mage was still drawing on the rock, now even more dedicated to his task. Hera ran towards him but was stopped by an arrow that flew by her head, hitting one of her ear guards.

Bonnie threw two fire fists at the archers, and Blue used her taunt on the mage, making it stop drawing long enough for Runir to activate one of his debuffs. The archers were slippery, but with the attacks of Hera and Blue on one, and Tom and Alex on the other, they fell without dealing any damage to the group.

The mage watched his friends hit the floor and placed both his hands on the ground. Sparks of lighting started to gather around him. At the same time, a small storm cloud appeared in the sky. Hera looked up and saw the same pattern of electricity appear inside the cloud.

"Stay behind me!" she yelled, moving to the front of the group.

A massive lightning bolt came crashing down from the sky. Bonnie and Runir jumped behind some trees, and the last thing they saw was Hera moving one hand to the ground.