Chapter 21 - Revenge best Served by Others

Nate strolled casually along beside the river. His barrier was preventing the wind from blowing through his blonde hair, which was bothering him. He wanted to experience the forest and part of that was feeling the breeze wash over him. But instead his innate wariness forced him to keep the cylindrical barrier around him. He supposed he could still be attacked, for example if a bird decided to shit on him. That made him laugh which in turn made him wince in pain. Frick had reassured him with a Constitution of thirty that he would be healing faster. Roughly three times as fast as normal. But that still meant that if it would take a month for his ribs to heal normally, then it was still going to take ten days.

He had been alternating between cradling his right forearm and letting it hang to try and reduce the jostling of his wrist. He was pretty sure at this point that it was broken. Hopefully whatever civilization he found had some doctors or healers. Then there was his head wound. He’d recovered the quickest from that. Still, he wasn’t planning to go tumbling around and banging his head any time soon if he could avoid it.

Frick walked along beside him. The little goblin said he liked feeling the earth beneath his feet and it wasn’t like the minor drain on his Mana Reserve was causing any problems. The ambient mana in this forest was apparently enough to replenish his mana as quickly as he lost it, at least with Frick this close to him. He felt the dip further whenever the goblin asked him to lift the barrier so he could run off and look at some flower or insect.

There had been more than a few insects. They had looked pretty normal to Nate. Much like the kinds you would’ve seen on earth. Or so he assumed. He’d never really studied bugs much. But they came in a variety of colours from drab browns and greens to vibrant blues and reds. Some with stripes, others dots. A couple had wings. Those were the more interesting ones. It looked like they had four wings instead of two. He wasn’t sure if that was normal but one of them had been black with a vibrant red “X” through the middle. It had made him think of the old tales about treasure maps and “X” marks the spot.

He had an idea for an artwork that incorporated the insect that had looked somewhat like a butterfly. He intended to use multiple butterflies as false leads concealing the real “X” marks the spot which he’d make in a simpler colour. That way he could disguise the real “X” while creating a number of false leads. Some would look at it and see the obvious “X”s and that would be it. But a few would see the hidden “X” and that thought made Nate smile.

Pulling himself out of his daydreaming he meandered over to the river and bent down to take a quick drink. The water was cold and refreshing and left a nice coolness in his stomach. It didn’t make him tingle, like the lake water in the Dungeon had. That led him to suspect he had been right, the mana density in the water in the lake had been quite high.

Finishing another sip of water he walked back onto the grass and continued to follow the river downstream. Frick was chasing some new flying insect. It looked a little like a dragonfly, only larger. Its body must’ve been as long as his hand. He was pretty sure it was trying to sting or bite Frick as it kept swooping back at the goblin while he chased it around.

“Leave it alone, Frick. We’ve got places to be,” Nate said.

“What places? We are in the middle of nowhere. I might as well enjoy the journey! Now come here ya little bugger!” Frick responded, while continuing to chase the bug until it flew off into the trees. “Awww boss, you scared it off!”

“Pretty sure that was all you mate,” Nate said as he rolled his eyes at the goblins' antics.

He watched for a moment as Frick searched for a new bug to chase, the little blue goblin flying in and out of bushes. His thoughts strayed to his barriers and the Runic Intent Skill. He was considering whether he had enough control using his intent to turn a barrier into a glove to brace his wrist when he heard a familiar roar echo through the trees. That cat was back and apparently after something else as he heard the faint sounds of battle further down the river.

Nate stood still, debating whether to continue towards his ‘enemy’, or if he should simply wait here until he was confident the battle had finished and avoid the conflict. Most of his uncertainty was predicated on the idea of not putting himself in the middle of a battle between two monsters. On the other hand, if it was a person, then saving them was a way back to civilization. Even as he stood there, he knew what he was going to choose. At this point the risks he was willing to take to get back to the company of other people only seemed to grow with every passing hour. This seemed considerably less risky than what he’d done in regards to the final Challenge of the Dungeon.

Frick had flown back to his side when they had first heard the roar and as he glanced at his Familiar, the little goblins mouth opened, spreading into a wide toothy smile.

“Give 'em hell, boss man. I’m going to hide in the Contract in case it's another person. Best not to reveal all your cards. We can communicate mentally when I am in the contract so you’ll still get my undeniably superior opinion on everything,” Frick finished, the blue goblin streaming in a rainbow blur into his chest as he filled the Contract between them.

Nate, holding his arm carefully to minimise how much he jostled his broken wrist, started jogging towards the sounds of battle. It was easy to make out what was going on, with the occasional roar and the sound of something large impacting the ground. It took Nate less than a minute to arrive at the site of the battle and what he found was not what he had expected. He’d been convinced it would be two beasts fighting. Instead he found his old nemesis, the cat, or, he supposed he had his Identification skill now and quickly activated it.

Juvenile Black Scaled Razorlash: Level 16

To say he was confused about his feelings at seeing that line of text was an understatement. To find out his old enemy was only level sixteen was both good and bad. He’d built the monster up in his mind so much that seeing its level even lower than his own was underwhelming and a bit anticlimactic. On the other hand, he was incredibly thankful as he’d barely escaped it in their first encounter and a higher level would’ve left him as food for the creature.

That however was only half the picture. The cat, or Razorlash he supposed, was battling a young woman. Nate didn’t want to trust his judgement too much but he thought she looked around his age. A few years older maybe. She was dressed in pants and a long sleeve shirt with a wrap around her neck that he thought might be a cloak. The entire outfit a mix of browns, greens and blacks. She looked like a hunter. Her brown hair was held at the back of her head in a bun and in her hand was a bow, maybe a little more than half her own height.

But the best part Nate thought, was where she was standing. Three metres off the forest floor she balanced on a branch as she drew another arrow from a brown quiver on her hip, nocking and drawing it to her ear in one fluid motion, before releasing the bowstring with a twang. The offending arrow was deflected by one of the Razorlash’s two tails, the metallic tip of the tail knocking the arrow away as it roared and spun to face the archer. He wasn’t sure but it looked like the tail had sped up at the last moment. A Skill he wondered?

Thoughts fled a moment later as the Razorlash seemed to notice him. Bunching its hind legs it leapt at where he stood, framed between two trees. In less than a second Nate had flooded his second barrier rune with mana and formed his intent. The barrier sprung up between the two trees, separating Nate from the Razorlash. He’d even anchored the barrier to the gigantic trees and the trees showered him in leaves as the trunks shook from the impact. The Razorlash however looked dazed as it slowly stood, not having expected the impact it hadn’t braced itself and gone into the barrier head first.

The archer wasted no time and Nate watched a second arrow fly free of the bow. This one had a faint sheen over the tip and he saw it punch through the scales of the Razorlash near its front left leg. The beast leapt to its left, using one of the trees as a springboard, before launching itself up at the archer. Nate moved forward to help, dropping his barrier as he watched the archer leap from her perch. It was exactly what the Razorlash had clearly wanted as its two tails flicked out to the side, slicing towards the archer. Nate knew his barrier wouldn’t be quick enough but he was calling it up anyway. A useless hope in his heart to save the first other person he had seen since his last night on Earth.

Mid-air the archer suddenly crouched as if landing on a platform, before launching herself in a different direction, expertly avoiding the tails as she sailed above the airborne Razorlash. He watched, eyes wide as the archer inverted herself, drawing her bow back as shadows gathered around her arrow, unleashing at the peak of her arc straight down at the head of the Razorlash below. The arrow seemed to ignore the beast's scales, passing straight through the top of its head and shooting out the bottom before it planted itself up to its feathered tail in the earth below.

The Razorlash went limp, crashing into the branch of the tree the archer had vacated, before tumbling to the forest floor with a resounding thump. The archer however finished her arc, once again stepping off seemingly nothing in the air and doing a somersault before landing in front of the dead beast. She performed a bow that Nate thought looked a tad awkward before smiling at him, blue eyes filled with mischief.

“How awesome was that?!” she yelled, at the same time Nate felt something pass through him.

Fricks voice echoed in his mind, “Identify her, you dumb Dead Realmer. She just identified you.”

Nate activated the skill and the words floated past the edge of his vision quickly.

Human: Level 30

“That looked pretty incredible,” he admitted, his voice smaller than he expected. So much for projecting confidence. He sounded like a lost child. The fact that he was more like a lost adult really didn’t help.

“Thanks for the hand,” she called. “Not that it was needed but you definitely saved me some time! Who knew how long I would have had to wait for it to over commit like that. Still, it should be a nice extra windfall if I can carve out a few of the better materials.”

She looked at him with a pointed stare at that. “We’re agreed it’s my kill right?”

Nate held his left hand up, his right still limp by his side. “All yours, Miss. I wouldn’t claim I did more than defend myself.”

The woman laughed at him for a moment, a deep throaty thing that made her whole body shake. “That was so formal. You some noble or something?”

Fricks voice rang in his head again, “That’s not a bad lie. I’d consider leaning into it, boss man. Can’t go around telling people you’re a Dead Realmer. Most people wouldn’t even know what that is and the ones that would might decide you’re worth experimenting on.”

Nate just shook his head, not sure what to say to that.

She watched him with blue eyes that said she didn’t believe him. “Well, whatever you say. Though you better come up with a believable story in the future if you’re on the run. No ones going to believe there is a level eighteen commoner who is a Barrier Mage as their Primary Class. Those spells don’t come cheap, nor do mage tutors.”

With that said she pulled out a knife that had been camouflaged on the opposite hip to her quiver, and moved toward the beast's corpse.

“Mind if I watch what you’re doing?” Nate asked.

The girl watched him for a moment, then shrugged and waved him over with her knife.

“I’m Nate by the way,” he said as he approached.

“Kiri. Nice to meetcha,” she said with another mischievous smile.

Together they knelt down near one of the Razorlash’s tails and Nate watched as she began to strip the tail of both scales and meat. Inside was a cord that Nate would’ve thought was bone if not for the metallic sheen to it. He found it interesting that a part of the Razorlash seemed like it was actually metal. He had heard of some spiders back on Earth that did that. Incorporating metal into their fangs. But then spiders were relatively small back on Earth. This creature was closer to the size of a horse.

Kiri seemed to know exactly what she was doing, stripping one of the tails in short order before winding it up like rope and laying it on the ground. Nate looked around wondering what she was going to carry it with and caught her smiling at him.

“I dumped my bag when the Razorlash tried to ambush me. It’s over there next to a tree,” she said, waving a hand behind her. “Not that I will be putting these in there. The blood might ruin some of the herbs I gathered. I’d lose a day coming back out here to finish the contract.”

Nate perked up at those words. “Contract? Does that mean there is a town near here?”

Kiri gave him a funny look, raising one of her eyebrows. “Yeah, we’re maybe a day's walk from Helmfirth.”

Nate's face lit up at those words. “Could you take me to Helmfirth?”

Kiri let out a snort. “Yeah sure, I guess. I am headed there anyway to hand in my job at the Guild. But if I am showing you the way, make yourself useful and keep an eye out while I strip the other tail.”

Nate stood up and kept an eye out around the area, a smile stretched across his face as Frick’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Happy, boss man?”

“Very,” he responded.

*************

Kiri watched the kid out of the corner of her eye as she sliced through the flesh of the Razorlash. Level eighteen was kind of low to be out in Firth Forest on your own. A lesson the kid had clearly learned, if his broken wrist was anything to go by. It was a bit of an assumption that he got the injury while in the forest, she knew, but there wasn’t much nearby. He’d have to have travelled quite a distance if he got that at his home before fleeing to the forest. No, most likely he got it here, among these trees.

She might be more concerned about finding a lone kid wandering the forest. But his robe screamed nobility. Couple that with his level, and even if he was a Rare Classer, she was confident she could beat him, or at least escape. But he’d seemed friendly and polite so far, so she’d give him a chance. Besides, if he really was nobility it would be just like in the stories of heroes of the Kingdom. Maybe his evil Uncle had usurped his County and they could join forces to reclaim it. It would be nice to have a partner that could keep up with her. Though whether he could was yet to be seen.

She went back to cutting off the second tail with a small smile on her face.