Book 3: Chapter 20: Captain's Resolve and Curiosity

Book 3: Chapter 20: Captain's Resolve and Curiosity

As the merchants were busy arranging the wagons and carriages into a circular formation to defend from all sides, Lone had used the Blood Clone floating around in his veins to fly above the makeshift battlement directly above its centre.

He was sitting in a cross-legged position while Breena and Sophie were at his side, both of them standing on a barrier Sophie had conjured. The Blood Clone assigned to protect Sophie floated around her head peacefully and it was ready to block any and all attacks made against her.

Breena, instead of looking apprehensive and perhaps scared as Lone had expected, appeared to be excited and almost worried as if she might miss a coming opportunity.

"What do you plan to do when the stampede arrives? It is only 4,000 metres away now," Sophie asked.

Lone pursed his lips. "Hopefully, nothing. Call me paranoid, but I'm worried this may have something to do with Zel. I don't see why he'd resort to using such weak animals against us unless it was a diversion."

Sophie frowned. "It is not paranoia. Until he is dead, it is safe to assume any threat originates from him and we would be wise to treat them as such."

He nodded. "Exactly. So, we'll do nothing. If anyone is about to die, I'll step in or you will if I can't save them in time. My only viable ranged attack has limited uses so it'll be on you to do that, if you don't mind. This only applies if you haven't figured out if something more is connected to this like mind magic or something."

Sophie wore a reluctant expression. "For the sake of the quest, we will do so. We would rather not waste MP on nobodies if we can avoid it, but we will do our best to prevent any lives from being lost."

That was all Lone could ask for. "Thanks. Oh, and if you don't sense anything out of place, grab two F-ranked monsters and bring them to me, will you? For Breena."

The young teenager's eyes widened in surprise while Sophie sighed. "Fine."The initial instance of this chapter being available happened at N0v3l.Bin.

A few more minutes passed before Roderick retrieved two metal plates from within his own spatial treasure - a simple wooden bracelet of some sort. These plates were covered in what looked like enchanted runes to Lone's untrained eyes.

The Flint Wolfkin's face was filled with resolve as he retrieved a dagger from his belt and cut the palm of his hand open before smearing his blood over the plates. They then flared to life, creating two overlapping bubbles around the carriage and wagon fortifications.

"That's cool. Defensive enchantments that activate with the user's blood? Reminds me of the idea of formations from cultivation stories," Lone wondered aloud as he peered at the top of the barriers that could be seen only a few metres below his own position.

His eyes then drifted to the all-female adventure group, the Downtrodden Dancers. Seven of them were D-rankers, one was an E-ranker and two were C-rankers. They were positioned just outside of the formations like he and his group but they were obviously on land and were facing the direction the monsters would be coming from.

Two of them were doing something to the ground. Maybe they were using magic to make traps. Sophie likely know with her Mana Sensing but Lone didn't care enough to ask given she was busy looking for signs of Arch Devil Zel.

"I wonder how they plan to deal with the stampede. Won't they all die without our help? They'd need to kill over 30 each to beat it. Unless these barriers beneath us are more than just defensive," Lone wondered aloud. "How far now?"

"2,000 metres," Sophie replied. "You might be able to see them in the forest if you focus."

Lone squinted his eyes and slowly nodded. "You're right. Yeah, these adventurers are fucked if we don't step in. Let me know the second you're sure Zel isn't involved, at least as best as you can."

"Just our luck," the leader of the Downtrodden Dancers, Isley, grumbled to herself. "The biggest monster stampede I've ever seen in my life and we somehow have to fend it off ourselves since that mad fucker is just floating up there."

Not only was she justifiably pissed, she was also jealous. Any skill that let the host fly like that was bound to be powerful and hard to master, let alone earn.

"You think he and his partner won't help us?" the only other C-ranker of their group asked her.

Isley laughed. "As if. They seem the type to do a job and nothing more. They're getting paid to protect the convoy. Maybe they'll only stop any monsters that try to break the barrier. They have no obligation to fight the monsters off like we plan to."

Status Name:Lone ImmortusSex:Male Age:25Level:412 [+12] SpeciesFoxkinRank:B Race:Golden Foxkin HP:224,710/230,740 [+6,030]SP:138,000/138,000 [+7,010] MP:447,720/447,720WF:1,300/1,300 Basic Stats Strength:9,562 [+732]Vigour:13,800 [+701] Dexterity:7,512 [+408]Agility:8,441 [+576] Vitality:23,074 [+603]Luck:1,542 [+7] Secret Stats Charm:209Charisma:225 Magic Power:44,772

'Only 12 levels? Do levels need more, what, experience or something, stronger opponents or more vivid experiences as you rank up? Would make sense... Still, nice haul of stats,' Lone thought to himself. 'Gotta get Soph and Sophie to keep an eye out for more stampedes if this is a common thing, even ones not targeting our caravan what with gains like these. Can test my freshly unsealed and new magic skills next time too.'

"You ladies good to get to work on taking any of the valuables that are in the headless corpses out of them? You can have 20% of their value if you manage that and the storage for me. You can keep the bodies entirely if you agree to train with me and my companions when we have free time," Lone suggested to the Downtrodden Dancers.

The leader, Isley, didn't hesitate to reply with, "We're more than happy to train with you for such a profit but... why would you want to do that with us? You seem plenty strong enough."

Lone smiled. "Only a fool assumes there is nothing to be learned from someone who you can beat in a fight. Besides, it'll be fun."

"Fun, huh..." the woman muttered under her breath. "Thank you again for helping us and... I'm sorry for assuming the worst of you."

Lone shrugged as he walked past them towards the barriers protecting the carriages. "I did launch Mistress Fenlo and then it looked like I and my friends would just float up there with no intentions to help you guys. Lack of foresight on my end in the first one and a lack of communication between our groups in the second. Can't blame ya for either instance."

He kept walking, leaving the women and just as he was about to be within touching distance of the formations bubbles, they disappeared and whatever power that was keeping them active returned to the two plates at the centre of the fortifications.

Rodorick approached Lone, the magical plates in his now bandaged hand. "That was... messy."

Lone laughed. "Haha, I guess it was, huh? Didn't want to damage any organs though so cutting off the necks seemed wiser."

The wolfkin glanced at Lone's nine blood-covered tails before asking, "Are they still sharp?" Clearly, he knew of the Golden Foxkin's racial skill.

"Oh yeah. The skill lasts for 20-minutes. Don't worry though, I have perfect control over 'em. You know how tails work," Lone said, gesturing to the man's own fluffy limb.

Rodorick seemed to be mulling over something before he sighed. "I don't forgive you for what you did to my wife but... thank you. You're more than welcome as a guard of this convoy. I won't try to convince Fenlo to ask you to leave anymore."

"As if I would have ever agreed," the woman snorted as she approached while holding Little Rinrin. "Thank you, Lone. I knew you were the capable sort. The Downtrodden Dancers did very well too. I'll need to reward their bravery."

"You're more than welcome, Mistress Fenlo, and thank you for coming around, Master Rodorick," Lone said with sincerity.

It left a warm feeling in his chest to resolve the tension between himself and the leader of this merchant organisation. It was an honest mistake tossing the woman up with the carriage. If he'd been more attentive with his ability to sense a person's strength, he'd have seen Mistress Fenlo in there with his aura before he had performed his little show.

Forgiveness was not necessary but understanding he meant no harm and a genuine compromise that benefited everyone sure felt great.

Lone's curiosity decided to potentially make things awkward between him and the wolfkin man once more. "Can we talk about your daughter while everyone else prepares the horses, carriages, and wagons for travel?"

A serious and suspicious look entered the eyes of the couple as Fenlo squeezed the small girl in her arms protectively.

Before they could respond to his request, Little Rinrin spoke softly in an almost ethereal tone, "He has no bad intentions and only wishes to learn why it was I could convince you to trust him about the stampede."

"Fen, take care of her and the others while we have a chat?" Rodorick asked of his spouse.

She nodded calmly, seemingly having relaxed upon hearing her daughter's words. This only increased Lone's thirst for answers so he was hoping he wouldn't be told it wasn't his place to know anything.

With a world full of magical beings like Primals, djinns, dragons, demigods, Divines, Soul Oracles, Takers, eldritch horrors, and who knows what else, Lone could only speculate at what Little Rinrin truly was.