Robert ran through the tall grass, almost invisible to even the trained eye. His Ranger’s Cloak skill is one of the best stealth skills for non-stealth-based classes, all the while it greatly improves his 5 senses, further cementing it as his go-to skill for missions like these.

Spotting a tree, Robert rushed towards it, climbing up to the top in two steps, and activated another skill: Farsight and began scanning the area around him.

There it is.

He spotted a large river to the north, near a sizable cave.

Huh, didn’t know there was a cave of that size around here. I coulda sworn there wasn’t one last I checked. Did that Enchanted Beast have a hand in this…?

Robert jumped down from the tree and began making his way towards said river, this time a lot more cautiously than before, casting Rank 3 Detect Beast once every few dozen or so yards. This skill let the user know whether or not a Rank 3 or higher beast, one that has either evolved twice already or who’s species is already that high up on the list. For comparison, a tylapera is only a Rank 2 beast, while a lupusgriff is Rank 3. The alpha is Rank 4, and humans are Rank 5. The higher the rank, the higher the intelligence and power, usually. Of course there are the odd few that have way too much of one stat compared to another, but those are rare.

This tactic of his may be very mana-expensive, but it’s better safe than sorry. Either way he’s here on a scouting mission, and scouts don’t exactly want to be engaged in combat.

So far, he hadn’t encountered any Rank 3 creatures, only the odd Rank 1 lizard or insect which quickly scurried away upon noticing him.

Coming upon the river, Robert fired off one last Rank 3 Detect Beast before standing up when the spell came up negative. He looked around, spotting nothing out of the ordinary, and let out a sigh of annoyance.

Damn Enchanted Beast… training these lupusgriffs was supposed to be our downtime, and now look at what it’s gotten us into…

Robert shook his head before turning and began making his way towards that cave he had spotted.

As he approached the entrance, he casted Camouflage on himself, becoming nigh invisible as he slowed his movement down so that the skill could be as mana-efficient as possible. Stepping inside, he noticed that this ‘cave’ was in fact a tunnel whose ceiling collapsed. Activating heat vision, he didn’t see anything creatures around, and Detect Life and Detect Unlife both didn’t turn up anything significant, with the latter turning up null.

Looking down at the rubble-cum-ramp, Robert noticed something particular sticking out of the ground. Kneeling down, he brushed away the loose stones around the object, revealing a large stone hand.

What the hell is this? Some kind of golem? Is it deactivated?

No mana came from the hand, so he assumed the thing was either out of juice or destroyed. The latter turned out to be true after he shifted away some more rubble to reveal a broken crystal at its chest area.

Robert stood back up, taking one last look into the darkness of the cave before walking out back towards the river.

I’ll have Sig bring a couple of his men down here to scout it.

Walking by the river, Robert didn’t spot anything out of the ordinary, and so began making his journey back to the others when he suddenly spotted something in the near distance out in the sun.

Is… Is that a feathered lizard?

Robert instantly dropped down, activating Camouflage and Farsight, as well as a smell masking spell as he observed the figure lying on a rock in the distance.

He slowly crept towards the creature, just close enough to cast Identify on it.

Gyaroraptor --- LVL 1 --- Rank 2

Current State: None

A… gyaroraptor? I’ve never seen or heard of something like this before… Is this the Enchanted Beast? I need to tell Sig about this shit.

After taking one last look at this ‘gyaroraptor’, Robert turned and began sprinting back towards their basecamp.

- - -

Siggard sat in his tent in silence, mulling over that scene of pure carnage he’d seen. If that small lizard was the Enchanted Beast that had killed and eaten its packmates, what would it have become now, after almost two weeks had past.

I don’t want to think about this shit anymore, urgh… It’s gonna be another pain in the ass to deal with, and the General chewing me out ain’t gonna help either…

Standing up, Siggard began pacing around his tent, his eyes drifting down to his halberd which he had placed, its axe head wrapped up, by his light plate armor.

He picked it up, feeling its weight and gazing into the red gem embedded into its hilt as he thought back to the Enchanted Beasts he had killed in the past.

It’s been almost two decades…

Siggard had been a soldier in the past. Now that he’s almost 40, his heydays are far behind him, but his skills have not rusted.

He, together with Robert, had been trained by his father, a veteran, to be a soldier from a very young age. By the time he had reached the age of 16, the age at which he could enlist in the army, he already had the skills and knowledge to become a capable general. His noble heritage helped a bit as well, but the fact that he was only the third son of a lowly count and because of the kingdom’s rampant nepotism he wasn’t able to rise above that of a low ranking commander.

SIggard grinned at the thought of that. He and Robert were some of the kingdom’s best, but were cast aside for the sake of pleasing nobles.

That was until he had slain an Enchanted Beast.

The Beast was an ogre, but unlike normal ogres, who were on average around eight foot tall and had a single pair of arms, this one was well above eleven foot tall and had an extra pair of arms. On top of that, the Beast had regenerative abilities on par with that of a troll’s. It was tearing its way down the southern countryside, and thus his unit was sent to deal with the creature with little to no information given to him.

The Beast tore his unit up. Spears and pikes, arrows and swords, fire and ice… nothing worked against the monstrosity. Physical attacks either bounced off of its thick skin, or left such a small wound that its regeneration healed it instantly. Although magic was a lot more effective on it, the mages were just not powerful enough to do any lasting damage.

Siggard himself was at the forefront, while Robert was at the back, doing whatever the hell rangers like he did in situations like these. Although they were able to hold the ogre back, Siggard was losing many good men, and morale was plummeting. He had to do something, lest the ogre breaks through and tears the archers and mages apart.

He lunged forward, spear in hand, for the nth time but still his attacks were too shallow, barely managing to draw blood.

Sadly, all this time being poked and prodded at by pointy sticks and small flames had worn the ogre’s patience down completely, and it began raging. In an instance, the ogre tore a hole in his men’s formation, causing the rest of his soldiers to break line and flee. Siggard panicked as the ogre began rampaging towards the backline, and charged towards the Beast blindly.

As he once more lunged forwards, a message popped up.

Because of your title ‘Precise Striker’, you have learned the skill ‘Heartseeker’.

He had earned the title, Precise Striker, back in his training days and really thought nothing of it, as it was a fairly common one, but now, as he felt Heartseeker activate, he grinned.

Heartseeker:

When activated, skill holder’s next attack will be aimed towards the target’s heart, increasing damage and accuracy. If the attack hits the heart directly, target will suffer from vastly reduced healing for a duration of time.

“GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The ogre cried out in pain as his spear slipped through his skin and muscles and stabbed right into its heart.

The ogre fell to its knees as a hail of arrows and magic poured onto it. The remaining archers and mages took this brief instance to do as much damage to the beast as possible, and little by little its defenses were whittled away.

Two more Heartseeker blows took the Enchanted Beast down.

They had done it. They had killed an Enchanted Beast.

He and his men were praised as heros, and he was promoted to captain and given a halberd embedded with the Enchanted Beast’s manaheart while the others were given a sizable monetary award. He is once again presented with a good chance of becoming a general, and achieving a lavish lifestyle.

But, as fate would have it, this promotion was all that he could get. For the next year or so he was paraded around as a hero and slayer of evil, but soon after with the memory of the Enchanted Beast slowly fading from the common folks’ minds, he too was thrown aside. And now, almost twenty years later, all he was assigned to were menial tasks such as patrol duty, and odd jobs, like his current one.

Damn nobles. Corrupt, every last one of them.

Siggard sighed, shaking his head and replaced his halberd.

He paused and cracked his neck.

“Robert, you know that I know you’re here.” he said into the room.

“Aww, c’mon, Siggy! Let me have some fun!” the air twisted and churned as Robert stepped out from a corner of his tent, Camouflage deactivating as he came into view.

“Cut to the chase, what’d you find?” Siggard grumbled.

“Found a nice river an hours walk from here. Also found a newly formed cave with a dead golem inside.” Robert stated.

Siggard’s ears perked up at this. “Golem?”

“Yeah.” Robert chuckled. “We’ll need to get a team down there to scout it out.”

“Alright.” Siggard walked out of his tent. “Carter! Gather everyone! We’re moving out!” Robert bent down and began the process of packing up his tent.

“Siggard, one more thing,” Robert crouched down next to him. “I spotted a creature I didn’t recognize a short distance away from the river.”

Siggard paused.

“It’s some sort of feathered lizard called a ‘gyaroraptor’.” Robert continued. “From the looks of it it’s most likely a predatory creature. It might just be the Enchanted Beast we’re looking for.”

Siggard stood back up and pondered for a few seconds.

“We’ll set up camp close to the river,” he stated. “If this gyaroraptor’s still there, we’ll take it out ourselves.”

“Gotcha.” Robert nodded, turning around and heading to pack his own stuff.

Siggard sighed before staring up into the cloudless sky, hoping they can pull through this day without losing too many good men.

- - - - -

Mmmmm~

Sunbathing…

Is so goooood~

I lay there, stretched across a very large and very warm stone out in the sunlight as I let my feathers dry. The warmth permeates throughout my body, dissipating the stress that I’ve built up over the past couple days.

This is the good life!

I roll over onto my back and continue soaking in the sun.

I just can’t stop!

It’s too good~

A sensation began trickling throughout my body. It almost felt as though thousands of small needles were being tapped all over my body, but that’s not something to worry about, right? This feeling’s making me more and more sleepy…

Mmmm….

No… wait…

Something’s wrong…

I groggily open my eyes and tried to get up but my entire body felt numb, and every time I try to move, that static feeling you get when your foot falls asleep shot through my body, making me stumble on the ground.

A…wha?

I groggily look around, but my blurred vision did nothing to help.

I can’t get up either. Every time I try, my shaky limbs gives out from under me, leaving me sprawled on the ground. All I could do was fumble about.

And… And it’s also getting a lot harder to think straight. It’s taking all my willpower to keep somewhat focused, but…

Urgh…

I can’t keeeeep it up anym…

Zzzzz…

- - - - -

“That was… disappointingly easy.” Robert said with a sigh, stepping out from the tall grass and undoing his Camouflage. Another person followed him, undoing their Invisibility spell to reveal a cloaked and hooded woman holding a staff.

Moments later, Siggard and a small squad of his soldiers walk out from a patch of tall grass further away, followed closely by the lupusgriff alpha.

“I’m surprised it detected my sleeping spell, but it worked nonetheless,” the woman spoke, removing her hood and revealing her short blond hair.

“Nice work Catherine,” Siggard smiled, relieved upon seeing everything had gone as planned. “Thank the gods it didn’t have any resistances to sleep.”

“Yeah, those claws look nasty!” Robert commented. “Are you sure this is the one?” He turned to the alpha.

The alpha growled, walking up to the sleeping creature and sniffed it. It growled again, nodding.

“Are sure sure?” Robert questioned the alpha. He nudged the supposed Enchanted Beast with his foot. “Seems too damn weak to be anything but a normal rank 2 beast…”

The alpha snarled and glared at Robert, who raised hands shrugged.

“I’m just saying… “ he mumbled. “What’d you think, Siggy?”

Siggard sighed as crouched down next to the reptilian beast and studied it, ignoring Robert’s attempts to annoy him. He has never seen any creature like this in his entire career, but it didn’t really surprise him. He knew that the world was indeed vast, and that he had only seen but a fraction of what it offered, but all he was concerning was the fact that a creature even Robert had never seen before suddenly showed up here.

“If the alpha’s sure this guy’s the one who killed one of the pups and the other lizards, it must mean that it has evolved, branching out to another tree, one that hasn’t been discovered before.” Catherine chimed it. She is Robert’s younger sister, and a pretty darn good mage. Though the two are close, Siggard is extremely thankful her personality was nothing like Robert’s.

“Hmm… That may be a possibility,” Siggard finally said. “A gyaroraptor… the name sounds close enough to that of a gyarian lizard. That’s probably what had happened.”

“So now what?” Robert chimed in. “Should we kill it?”

“No. We’ll take it to the general. Let him decide.” Siggard replied after a second of thought. “How long will this sleep spell last?”

“It should last at least another hour, but I can always cast it again.” Catherine responded.

“Good. Catherine, take a few of the men and tie up this lizard. You will take this beast back to our main camp. Robert, take the rest of the men here to that cave you found.”

The two siblings voiced their confirmations and began on their tasks.

As for me, a bath… I can finally relax a little…

* * *

Hey! Hey big sis Erica! Wake up!

Mmm…

Big sis! Wake up!

Mmmm…?

Big sis, it’s time to wake up!

Timmy…? Wha…?

A sudden jolt snaps my mind into consciousness. I look around mildly disoriented.

I’m… in a carriage? The fuck?

I try to get up, but ended up tumbling not-so-graciously down, making me realise that my legs and arms had been bound together. My snout had also been bound shut.

What the hell happened to me? I was sunbathing, and having a good ol’ time relaxing… oh! It must have been when I suddenly started feeling sleepy for no apparent reason. Did someone kidnap me? Oh shit, I’ve gotta escape as soon as possible!

My eyes dart around the insides of the carriage. There isn’t much in here, and luckily no one’s in the carriage with me. All there was were small windows near the of the carriage’s walls, and a large reinforced wooden door. I can probably escape undetected. First, I’ll have to get rid of these ropes.

I begin struggling, the sound of the moving carriage drowning out any sound I’m making, but it’s no use. Whoever did these knots sure knew what they were doing, and fuck are is this rope tough. Even with body enhancement I can’t even budge nor even stretch the rope my captors used.

Shit. Now what?

Can I burn them? But to do that I’ll need a flame nearby, or a spark…

Looks like I’ll have to attempt to make a spark with my claws again, this time while bounded…

I begin furiously scraping my claws against each other, trying to make a spark fly just like I did during my fight with the core, but alas nothing came of. My arms and legs are bound too closely together, and my claws aren’t the best at creating sparks either way.

As I continue my futile struggle to create sparks, the carriage came to a halt. I freeze, not sure what to do. Oh yeah, I have Enhanced Hearing, I can probably listen to what’s happening outside!

Concentrating on the noises outside, I hear the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the front of the carriage. There are four people, as far as I can tell: three with heavy footsteps and one with much lighter ones, and all four are, I assume, walking to the back of the carriage. I can hear them mumbling something as well, but I can’t make out what.

Sh-Should I pretend to still be asleep? Will it matter? I quickly lie my head back down and close my eyes, trying to seem as unconscious as I can. Seconds later, the wooden backdoor of the carriage opened.

“Harp, you grab the legs this time, Carl, you got the head.” I hear the deep voice of a man yell out, followed swiftly by two grunts. What the hell? I can understand them perfectly, but the words they’re saying aren’t exactly english. Must be some magic bullshittery going on or something. Still, thank god I can understand them. I doubt they’ll think of me as anything but a wild beast.

…

You know, on second thought being considered a wild beast isn’t really all that nice anymore…

“Miss Ravensburg, are you sure you don’t need to cast another sleeping spell on it?” The same man asked the fourth person there, a woman apparently.

“Yes, Leopold, there is no need for another cast. It should sleep for at least another half an hour, and by then I assume you’ll have already secured it in a cage.” This “Miss Ravensburg” answered.

“Yes, of course.” Leopold grunted. “Get a move on, lads!”

I feel two pairs of hands grab onto me, one pair around my neck and the other around my legs, as I am roughly dragged out of the carriage and begin carrying me to god-knows-where. Leopold and “Miss Ravensburg” are walking beside me, one on each side.

I activate Enhanced Olfactory while keeping Enhanced Hearing active, as I’d rather not risk opening my eyes for now. I hear the sound of steel on steel, and smell the stench of sweat and a tiny bit of blood. Are we at some kind of barracks for soldiers? I didn’t have much time to think, as soon after we enter a room. I am instantly bombarded by the smell and sounds of hundreds, no thousands, of other animals, along with the nearly unending sound of rattling cages. I can’t help but shiver slightly.

What the fuck is going to happen to me?