Chương 66: Journey (2)

As Lucas put the firewood into the box, Rowan turned towards Henry.

"Why do we need to bring wood with us? We're in a forest, aren't we?"

"The deeper into the woods we go, the older and thicker the trees get, which makes it almost impossible to harvest any wood from them," Henry replied. Then, in a softer tone, he continued.

"We probably had enough before I told Lucas to go off to get more, but he doesn't need to know that." Rowan nodded, pretending he hadn't heard the last part.

"That makes sense." Then, Eren clapped her hands, getting the entire group's attention.

"We're heading out now! Henry, you're guarding our backs. And, since we have Rowan here, who will be serving as the vanguard, we—"" What?" Lucas cut in, still putting the firewood he was carrying under his arm into the box.

"But he's supposed to be helping us carry things!" Eren nodded. Then, in a slow, deliberate, and clearly annoyed voice, she spoke." Yes, he is going to be carrying things. He's going to be doing both at once."

"What? But he won't be able to fight properly up there! Just—"" Enough," Eren snapped. Immediately, Lucas shut up, cowering beneath the woman's glare.

"We don't have time for this right now, do you understand?" Lucas mumbled something under his breath." Do. You. Understand?" Eren repeated. The man hastily nodded.

"Yes. Yes, I do."

"Good." She looked at the pile of carved wooden boxes.

"You know that we rotate roles, so if you want to be vanguard so bad, you'll get your turn eventually. But, if you keep acting like this, you'll be stuck carrying everything for the next week, you hear?" Before Lucas could even respond, she turned away from him and walked towards Rowan. Once she was closer, she began explaining the route he would have to take, since he was the vanguard.

Immediately, he began to regret volunteering to be in the lead, since he hadn't considered that he didn't know the route, but that regret faded a moment later as he realized how simple the instructions were. He just had to keep moving southeast. That was it. There were a few landmarks to help him keep track of the direction he was moving, like a boulder or a mangled tree. Apparently, not too far from where they were, there was a chunk of land in the middle of the forest where there were barely any trees growing.

In there, there were only a few landmarks, and once they'd passed them, he should be able to see all the way to the town, thanks to the lack of obstructions. So, marching through the woods ahead of the group, Rowan set forth. Behind him, the rest of the people either grabbed whatever they were supposed to carry or moved to their positions as Eren commanded them.

From what he'd seen before this, it had looked like Henry was in charge of the party, but it seemed that when they were traveling, Eren assumed the role of leader. And she was good at it. Rowan wished he could deal with annoying people as well as she had, but he didn't think he would ever get there. He shrugged. He'd just have to get powerful enough that even entitled pricks like Lucas didn't want to risk getting in confrontations with him.

Looking behind him, he couldn't help but smile as he saw the blonde man being relegated to carrying all of the blankets along with the firewood he'd just collected. — Rowan made his way through the woods just as he'd been doing for the past hour. It'd been fun to look into the wilderness for about ten minutes. Now that it had been so long, though, it all looked the same. At his waist was a sword wrapped in a crude leather sheath.

He'd entirely forgotten that the group had promised to let him look through their collection of weapons and take one or two, but they hadn't. Just as they were heading out, Eren had remembered and given him a few options and, in the end, he'd decided to just take a simple sword. He wasn't sure how it would complement his fighting style, but he would have to see, he supposed. Henry had run up to him just earlier and told him that it would be another hour before he would rotate to another role.

And while he hoped that it would break up the monotony, he didn't think it would be any different than being the vanguard. It was like when he would spend hours at a time wandering through the caves deep beneath the Tutorial. Except, somehow, it was more boring. Down in the tunnels, he'd had nothing else to do but walk through the caves, but now, he was on the surface! He was free! And yet, he'd spent the past sixty minutes just wandering through endless woods.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He knew that even though it was perfectly logical to have to spend some moments doing what he considered boring, even if he'd made it to the surface, some part of him still felt like he should be exploring exciting places, fighting creatures, and enjoying the feeling of not being trapped beneath layer upon layer of dirt and stone. With a sigh, he stretched his body. But then, he heard the faintest of sounds.

Immediately, he perked up. They'd been walking for long enough that they'd left the area the bloodspawn had razed, and life was beginning to pop up here and there. Most of the creatures he'd seen had fled immediately. But the sounds he was hearing now felt different. Like they weren't just another harmless forest creature but something else trying to sound like one. He wasn't sure how he could tell, but perhaps it was due to how his stats enhanced his hearing.

Either way, he prepared himself, forming a blade of energy in his hand. Then, he sent a trickle of mana into the single chain that wasn't occupied, carrying the two boxes on his back, extending. He didn't spend too much mana yet, though; he didn't know if there was actually a threat in the woods or if he was just imagining things. Then, almost faster than he could react, a form shot out of the foliage. Its body was a blur, but Rowan still managed to bring his blade up just in time to block a flashing set of claws.

They weren't powerful compared to the bloodspawn he was used to, but the creature was moving so fast that its blow still had enough force to knock him off balance. Before it could attack again, he leaped backward, getting a good look at his opponent. [Thunderous Jaguar - Level 9] The huge cat growled before launching itself at him again, forcing Rowan to dodge. Despite its low level, the cat somehow managed to move fast and hit hard enough to keep up with him.

But that could only mean one thing: the jaguar's other stats—including toughness—had to be low. As the beast began to circle him, he got a better look at it. It seemed like a normal jaguar, at least based on what little he knew about the creatures. The only thing he could see that was off was the creature's size. It was at least twice as big as it should've been, and while it was smaller than many enemies he'd faced before, it was still larger than he was. But there was still the 'thunderous' part of its name.

He didn't know exactly what it meant, but he remained extra vigilant for any abilities that the beast might have. Glad that something had finally broken up the boring walking through the forest, he felt a smile crawl its way onto his lips. Still smiling, Rowan threw the mana dagger in his hand at it, purposefully not putting his full strength behind the throw. The cat stepped out of the way with ease. Then, mid-air, the dagger turned and stabbed itself into the jaguar's side.

Just as he'd expected, the blade cut through the creature's flesh with ease, leaving a bleeding trail behind it. As he pulled the blade out to stab it back into a place where it could do more damage, the cat let out a cry and leaped away from the dagger, its eyes still trained on the floating blade. Taking advantage of the beast's distraction, Rowan began extending his chain once more, winding the end up to turn the steel links into a flail. Then, he swung. The ball of chains flew forward, aimed right at the cat.

But despite the fact that its eyes were still watching the mana construct, it noticed and leaped out of the way at the last moment. Still, it didn't escape the shockwave of the attack as it was sent flying backward, crashing into a nearby tree. It was injured, but it still didn't seem ready to give up as it began to rush toward him once more. This time, though, something was different about the beast's movements.

Rowan wasn't quite sure what it was doing, but he took a defensive stance and summoned his dagger back to his hand nonetheless, ready to block any attacks that came. After a second of neither side making any moves, he attempted to draw the sword at his side, but his opponent took that opportunity to attack. The cat soared through the air, leaving a trail of blood behind it. Then, as it neared him, it swung one of its paws. Just as he'd suspected, the attack was different from the others.

While it didn't seem any faster than before, there was more power behind it. Gritting his teeth, he raised his mana blade. It wasn't the most durable of constructs, but he thought it would be able to endure the attack, if barely. Still, in the split-second before the jaguar's claws struck his weapon, he infused as much mana as he could into the dagger, trying to reinforce it.

It was strange, blocking with his daggers, since he'd never really done that against the bloodspawn, but with most of his chains occupied carrying the boxes, Rowan had to try new things. The cat's blow struck his raised dagger. And yet, unlike what he'd thought, the blow didn't have much more power than usual. Instead, the impact caused a deafening bang. Almost like thunder.

It was as if all of the waves and force behind the blast had been channeled straight into his mana construct, as, just a moment after the bang, it shattered. The blade breaking saved him from having to endure the creature's attack with his arm, allowing him to remain mostly unfazed by the attack. The jaguar, however, didn't seem to know this. It swung again, taking a shot at his neck in a way that left its own body exposed. But the blast from whatever skill the beast had used hadn't affected Rowan.

So, smiling in triumph, he leaned out of the way and kicked the beast, sending it flying upward. The oversized cat landed with a crash before scrambling to its feet. Then, to Rowan's surprise, it fled, speeding through the forest even with its injuries. He shook his head. He couldn't let it get away, not after he'd put so much effort into fighting it. Unfurling the chain that he'd turned into a flail, he leaped forward. Except, rather than just using his dexterity, he launched himself with his strength.

The earth beneath him exploded, dirt flying in every direction as he shot towards the cat. Despite the speed of the creature, it couldn't keep up with Rowan's acceleration. As he sprinted towards the cat, his momentum dwindling, he swung his lone chain with all of his might. It whipped forward and, aided by [Chain Manipulation], looped around the jaguar's hind legs. Then, slowing down, he yanked on the steel links, pulling the fleeing beast back.

Before it could recover, he was upon it, a newly formed blade of mana in his hand. The thunderous jaguar let out a bellow and tried to use whatever strange sound abilities it had channeled through its claws just earlier, but Rowan just stabbed his blade through its neck, putting an end to the creature.