Chapter 29: An eye in the dark.

Chapter 29: An eye in the dark.

We had made quick progress over the past few days, since traveling on horseback was rather quick compared to traveling on foot. I thanked Helios that I'd never be forced to walk for three days straight again, with Revan now being big enough to carry me.

I hadn't interacted much with the people around me outside of Garrett's party and Doran. Doran had similarly stayed quiet throughout the trip so far, although Garrett and the others seemed to know some of our accompanying hunters.

The two other tier 4 hunters, a man and a woman, both of average height, were a party of two that did quests together. They were both mages, one being a wind mage and the other a fire mage. They were wearing similar-looking coats that covered them entirely, giving them a mysterious vibe. One was an orange coat, the other a white one, signifying their respective elements. On the second day, I went over to introduce myself to them.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Arthur. Thanks for joining us on the journey to the Duke's palace."

The man under the orange robe took off his hood, revealing orange hair that was bordering on red and a similarly coloured beard.

"Nice ta meet ya laddie, oi'm Emer and me lovely wifey here is Cara."

I smiled in response, but had a hard time not bursting into laughter at his accent. I tried to stay polite.

"Where are you two from? I don't recognise that accent."

Emer had a jovial smile that seemed to be permanently plastered on his face. His wife tried to hold his enthusiasm back a bit by pulling on his sleeve. She seemed used to his antics.

"We're from the lovely green pastures of Iera, one o' the countries borderin' Roa. We moved here when we 'ad' some trouble with the hunters' guild back home. Been livin' ere ever since."

"Well, you made a good choice. Roa's a good country. At least, I think so. I haven't exactly had the chance to travel outside of it yet."

"Be sure to visit Iera when ya' get the chance! It's a lovely country with some of the most beautiful terrain in the world! Shame it's always rainin' though."

"Thanks, I will."

With that meeting done, I moved over to Doran.

"So what does the Duke's palace even look like? Have you been there before?"

Doran looked pensive as he rode next to me.

"Calling it a palace is not entirely accurate, though that is its official title, the Coldwater palace. I've been there a few times for family matters. I haven't been there in a long time, though. When I was there last, the palace looked like a large stone pillar raised out of the ground. The sides of the pillar had been carved-out and formed elaborate and detailed columns, spires, and arches. A number of large balconies jut out of the rock, which are used to welcome guests and the like. It is rather sparsely decorated, but I would not expect otherwise from the duke. He is a strict man."

The fact that even Doran called him strict scared me a little.

Garrett rode up next to us and chimed in.

"Aye, I've seen the palace from a distance before, one time. It's just a giant pillar with carved out rooms. Still, the carvings are beautiful. It's like a giant battle was painted on the mountain. Legend is that the duke carved it himself with his sword."

Now I was really starting to get curious. He had carved his own palace out of rock with a sword? This Duke sounded more and more like my kind of guy. If I ever got to make a castle, I decided I would carve it out with [Overload Aura]. If nothing else, it would make for good practice.

"So how far do we still have to travel before we get there?"

Garrett was the one to reply.

The other hunters capitalised on this turning of the tide to charge up a number of attacks alongside me, with even Doran lifting his sword to the sky and praying for a blessing.

A moment later, I released my orb together with the other hunters' charged attacks. Melinda shot a thick blue bolt of energy, Nestor launched a bright green beam of his corrupted light magic and the other hunters all had their own skills to add to the mix.

As our skills launched, Doran and the other tanks used a number of shield skills to enhance our defences and allow us to tank the blast our own skills would create.

The first attack to land on target was Melinda's shot, which pierced through the flame and caused the creature to screech. From there the other attacks landed, some eliciting more of a reaction from the monster than others. Finally, only my orb was left. As the fire abated, the creature broke free of its prison and tried to charge at us once more, despite its heavy wounds, only to be met by a small black marble touching its nose.

A moment later, the marble imploded, sending a wave of overloaded mana into the world. The blast impacted our shields strongly, causing nearby trees and water to be ripped out of the ground and pushed away, respectively. Even the monster was affected. The centaur reared back from the blast. It hadn't looked like I had successfully dealt any damage, but it was enough to surprise the creature.

Taking advantage of it being stunned, Doran charged up once more and slammed his golden sword into its face. This time the creature did go flying. The amount of power Doran displayed honestly shocked me. I had known he was holding back in our spars, but this was just ridiculous.

The large creature collapsed on top of some trees. I thought the battle was over and I was about to receive experience any second now, but I was sadly disappointed.

The creature stood up again. I was about ready to start shouting in exasperation, when the big centaur turned around and started sprinting the other way. It kept running until it was out of sight and we couldn't hear its booming footsteps anymore.

Flabbergasted, I tried to open my mouth and say something, but nothing came out.

Doran took charge of the group.

"Alright, find your horses and reconvene back here in five minutes! We're leaving as soon as possible!"

With my mind in a haze, I did as he said. I found my stubborn mule a few minutes away on foot, and reluctantly got into the saddle. Our group gathered again on horseback and rode through the swamp as quickly as possible.

About half an hour later, I rode up next to Doran to ask what the hell had happened.

"Hey, Doran, why the hell did that centaur leave us alone like that? Was it too hurt to keep fighting?"

Doran smiled ruefully at my comment.

"No, Arthur. We hadn't hurt it nearly as much as it seemed. The outer skin of a [Terror swamp centaur] is much softer and weaker than its inner skin. At the rate we were damaging it we would need at least another half an hour or so to kill it. We couldn't have won such a battle, and even if we did, most of our team would be dead. That's the cold reality of fighting above your tier."

It seemed I had been overconfident.

"But then why did it just run away?"

"That's because it is in their nature. Swamp centaurs that reach high tiers tend to pick their battles carefully. If you show them right from the start that you can hurt it, and gain the upper hand, it will typically turn tail and run. Most monsters aren't smart enough to see through that ruse. That is why I ordered everybody to attack, rather than defend. The only way to survive such an encounter is by showing them strength."

I nodded along. We had fooled a tier 5 creature into thinking we were stronger than we are. It left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth. It seemed I wasn't as strong as I had thought.

Pov: unknown

"Hmm, it seems that frog failed. How annoying. Well, at least I met someone rather interesting. I want him. Just stay put, puppet...

Mommy's coming to get you..."