Chapter 24: The chase

Chapter 24: The chase

The forest was quiet, far quieter than one would expect from a forest filled with numerous beasts and even a hive led by an E- rank Mantis. There were no roars, howls or echoes of battle. No sounds at all, not even the sound of wind rustling through the trees.

One could be misled into thinking the forest was mourning the dead villagers with a moment of silence, which could be a reasonable argument if the Primordial Expanse didn't make it clear that it couldn't give a shit about the loss of a few humans.

'Maybe I was wrong about them? I can't believe I started acting so rashly and immature just from a few words from a random shopkeeper.' Alex thought.

Shaking his head, Alex kicked some rocks as he waited for Joanne to speak. She was the only one who knew how to track and she was currently inspecting the forest around her for any marks left behind by the Mantis beasts, while everyone else stood around staying alert, waiting for her to report back some good news.

Unfortunately, good news didn't come.

"We've lost them." Joanne sighed as she re-joined the group.

"Well we keep looking, sur-" Raymond started speaking but he was cut off by a voice snapping out of nowhere.

"I can't deal with it anymore! What the fuck are we even doing here!? For all we know Joanne could be leading us on a wild goose chase. I mean who knows if the hive we are looking for destroyed the village, it could have been a group of bandits!" Rotnam, the quietest of the group, suddenly lashed out. He had hardly said a word the whole time and now his sudden outburst shocked everyone. Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

"And you! You are the only one who can see these supposed tracks while the rest of us have blindly followed you this whole time!" Rotnam said again, pointing at Joanne this time.

When he arrived, everyone but Raymond and Joanne were leaning on the shrubbery, waiting in silence.

"Found anything?" He asked Brute, but extended the question to everyone else.

"Nothing." Brute replied and everyone else shook their heads.

"Let's hope Joanne can come back with some good news then."

'Speak of the devil.'

Right on cue, Joanne and Raymond were coming back from their directions at the same time and everyone shifted their eyes towards Joanne, she had the highest likelihood of coming back with good news.

"I found something, there is evidence of Mantis activity a couple kilometres ahead in my direction. However, it's getting dark. It's too dangerous to continue the hunt at night, we could be attacked from anywhere, and Mantises are notorious for their stealth attacks at night."

Rotnam showed displeasure at Joanne's suggestion to wait the night out before they set off again. They had been going around getting fuck all done for the last week and right as they find their target's trail they had to stop. It just didn't sit right with him.

But he complied. He would rather save his words and get the mission done than risk being kicked out and lose his chance at earning a beast core.

'What's one more night anyway? This waiting better all be worth it.'