Chapter 12: Expedition

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“Alright, we’ll be resting here for today! Everyone set up camp!” A loud voice could be heard

“While we set up, I need range players to watch out for any attacks!”

Hearing the instruction Hime set off to the nearby hill with Amy following along.

It had been 6 days since the group of 100 players set out to the north of Roden. So far they haven’t met anything dangerous and was proceeding smoothly between the mountains taking detours to avoid climbing.

Reaching the top of the hill, Hime scouted the area for any stray monsters that could surprise the expedition.

“Hime, are you sure we should’ve come along on this quest? The difficulty rank for this one is B.....” Amy asked

“If we want to keep moving forward it’s necessary.”

The quest they had joined was a special quest given by the city of Roden. It’s goal was to establish a route between the Eastern edge of the continent to the region North of it.

Even though ‘Tales of a New Land’ contained a massive world currently they were separated from other regions.

Players from different regions had no choice but to do special expedition quests to connect each region so they could travel from their initial area.

“We’ve been in the East for more than 5 months now. If we can just complete this, we’ll be able to go to a new region!” Hime said excitedly

“I know that... But what use is there.....” Amy complained

“I know that it could be dangerous, but being able to meet players from different places is a chance to find a way out of this game!”

“Then wouldn’t it be fine to leave it to others? We should’ve just kept doing normal quests in Roden instead of risking our lives....”

“Amy I know that you’re worried but if we just do nothing than we’ll never leave. Beside’s the players here are all the best in this region. We can’t have any player joining and getting them killed.”

“Hime, sometimes you’re just too nice.” Amy said and sighed

“No... I just have to get back.”

Hime thought of her brother that was now alone. What would she have done if it were Haruki that was trapped? She would have been heartbroken. Imagining what her brother felt drove Hime to find a way as best she can.

“check status”

Status[quart=Name,level]Hime,62 [/quart]TitleLady of the Bow [quart=Health,Mana]4370,3370 [/quart][quart=Strength,Dexterity]140,213[/quart][quart=Vitality,Agility]89,201 [/quart][quart=Endurance,Intelligence]76,15 [/quart][quart=Luck,Wisdom]74,26[/quart]

Hime’s current level was 62...

It was among the highest in Roden as she did many quests and killed monsters to grow stronger in order to survive

As she used a bow she focused her stats on strength, dexterity, and agility while mostly ignoring the other as they were a lesser priority for her style.

“Hime, I think some monsters are coming.”

Activating her ‘hawk eyes’ skill she focused her eyes on the small dots closing in on them.

“It’s another band of orcs, 4 this time...” Hime told Amy

“Can you take them?”

“Not yet. I’ll wait till they get closer.”

Drawing her bow she kept focusing on the monsters. The bow was a beautiful light blue color as it emitted a weak aura.

It was a Hime’s special bow with wind enchantment to boost her range and damage. It was out of harpy bones as the arrows in her quiver had feathers from the same creature.

Preparing an arrow she pulled back at the string and took a deep breath. She aimed at the orcs that were still 400 meters in front of them.

Slowly realizing the her fingers the arrow flew at an amazing speed impossible to achieve in the real world.

*Zlep*

The arrow had met its mark between an orcs pair of eyes as its comrades scattered because of the unseen attack.

Quickly drawing her bow she let fly 3 more arrows each hitting the chest, neck, and back of the remaining three.

“Muu, even though I keep being assigned to the range group I never get any action.” Amy pouted a little

“Hihi, can’t be helped right? None of your spells can snipe that distance.” Hime smiled mischievously

“Yes, yes I know.. I’m just a lowly mage focusing on healing spells and rarely do any damage!”

“Aaw, don’t be mad. I was just kidding, Amy!”

“Hmph, nest time you get a stomach ache from eating some wild fruit, I won’t heal you!”

While looking at each other the girls burst out laughing together. Though they had only met after the death game started a close friendship had already formed between the two.

“I guess it’ll be six months soon...” Amy said

“Uh-huh, time sure flies by here. I guess it’s 2 months in the real world?”

“Haah, sometimes I wonder if we’ll ever leave...”

“That’s why we both have to do our best.” Hime tried to lift her spirit

“Yep, I figured you’d say that. I mean you really miss your brother right?” Amy grinned teasingly

“Wha-, How do you know that!?”

“Oh. come oooon! You always call out ‘nii-san’ in your sleep! Took me a while to realize that it meant brother!”

“S-s-s-so what!”

“I’ve been meaning to ask for a long time Hime.... Could it be? You’re one of those sisters who have the so called ‘brother complex’?”

“What! NO!”

“Sometimes it feels like you’re calling out to a boyfriend rather than a brother.. Ah the flames of forbidden love!” Amy’s face brightened with soft tint of red

“Mo, moooo cut it out Amy!”

“Hehe, just paying you back for earlier! Seriously though what’s he like?”

“Nii-san is.... Truly kind, he’s diligent, smart, never complains, never gets mad at me, really cool, hands-“

As Hime was about to continue she saw that Amy was grinning ear to ear with an ‘I knew it!’ expression plastered on her face.

“Come on, camp’s probably ready. Let’s head back!” Hime walked as she frowned

“Okaaaay!”

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3 days later the entire group had emerged from the mountain range and found flat plains that reached the horizon. It seems they just had to move North in a straight line now!

“Alright people! Looks like we’re getting near our destination!” the expedition leader announced

“You hear that Amy? We’re nearly there!”

“I don’t know isn’t it kinda too easy for a B rank expedition quest?”

“Maybe the developers made it like this so players could access different places faster?”

“I hope your right, Hime.....”

Amy’s worries were proven true when the group suddenly spotted dust clouds from the west.

“what is that?” Hime wondered as she used ‘hawk eyes’

What she saw was something that was really shocking. It was a large group of monsters forming a small army! Orcs, goblins, kobolds, even some beastmen were closing in on them.

“ENEMIES TO THE WEST! THERE’S NEARLY 200 OF THEM!” another archer shouted

The entire group immediately faced west and examined the monsters approaching.

“Everyone get ready for battle! Archer and Mages fall back! Melee form a line!”

The entire expedition rushed to get into formation but it was chaos. They had never experienced large scale battles before! The entire group found themselves nervous against the horde of monsters.

Hime quickly pulled Amy to the back and readied her bow. The range players were mostly calm. The problem was the warrior division!

Some were trying to stand behind others while pushing people in front of them.

“What are you doing! They’re just low level monsters! We’ve all fought them before!!”

Hearing the leader’s voice some players calmed down and started to get in line properly. Those with shields were at the front while swordsmen behind them.

As the enemy drew closer Hime started to sweat bullets. She tried to calm down and filled her lungs with air clearing her mind.

It was okay. Those monsters don’t stand a chance against the best players Roden have.

Aiming her bow to the sky she waited for the signal to let loose her arrows. After the enemy were 200 meters away it came.

“Bows, Fire!”

The 15 archers immediately fired raining down arrows on the enemy. Hime kept firing rapidly until they were too close to the melee line.

Now the mages started casting AOE spells engulfing them in flames while the earth swallowed some. The monsters were severely weakened but they still charged forward.

The battle then really began. Swords clashed with bone weapons while the shield users were trying to push them back.

Blood spewed from monsters as they were cut and stabbed to death by the players.

The weak mobs were no match for players that were regarded as the best from thousands!

Hime and Amy also started dishing out some damage. Whenever a monster turned its back and ran an arrow found its way to its spine while small boulders hit them in the head.

As the fight dragged on it was clear that the players were massacring their opponents easily.

Just ten minutes later the last goblin’s head was sliced open and the monster army annihilated.

“Great work! We rest for 30 minutes and continue!”

The group’s morale soared high after the clash. With no casualties the players grew confident that they would easily reach a city to the north.

What was once a battlefield had turned into piles of monster corpses stripped of any valuables.

“Hime, any injuries? I’ll heal you first.”

“No, I’m fine. Take care of the warriors.”

“Roger!” she saluted playfully and walked away

The battle was an easy one, but Hime knew that wasn’t the end.

They were still on the plains and were easily targeted.

Even more concerning is they didn’t have an exact location on the city they were looking for.

“Everyone time to move forward!” the leader stood at the front

As Amy had finished healing the injuries she walked back to Hime. She was finished rather fast. It seems that even the wounds caused by the monsters were nothing huge.

As they moved forward again they occasionally stopped and scouted ahead to avoid being ambushed again.

That day until the sun had set no more monsters were spotted and the players decided to rest until morning.

The next two days were also uneventful, but on the third another large group of monsters started appearing.

This time they weren’t all weak monsters. There were ogres and trolls mixed in with the common mobs while charging.

The group still didn’t encounter much difficulty during the battle but that was starting to change.

The day after the second skirmish they were attacked again, this time with a large minotaur leading the army.

The player army struggled to halt the boss’s advances as arrows and magic didn’t faze the bull creature.

The rampaging minotaur had crashed into the warrior line and struck a large hammer at the head of one of the shield players instantly killing him.

The expedition had its first casualty.

Following the death of a player the leader had ordered players to march non-stop without rest, the rest agreed to run away from the hordes chasing them through the plain.

The decision of course backfired!

With the players exhausted they performed poorly in battle and started to get picked of one by one.

First there was only one, but soon it climbed to two players dead and by the end of the week had reached 13.

Normally if on an expedition quest players that die would just respawn at the city the set of from.

But this was no ordinary game. 13 people had died trying to complete the quest,

Hime and Amy were still fine as they were always behind the front lines. But slowly as the warriors were killed and the defense thinning out they both had some close encounters.

Hime tried to shoot at every monster that came their way but as soon as the lines were beached they would run from the field and start attacking once they reached a distance again.

After another 3 days of running, the expedition force finally found their salvation.

At the edge of the wide plains they spotted a small village ahead.

As the group ran towards the settlement the ranged players took out the stragglers that were still chasing them.

Hime skillfully used her ‘rapid shot’ and ‘piercing arrow’ skills to kill the small number of mobs chasing them before she followed the group into the village.

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After a day resting at the village they had found with the others Hime and Amy were eating breakfast at a small tavern.

“Phew, we did it Hime!”

“I thought we were to reach a large city and establish a safe route?”

“Apparently some of our group had met players from this region! The city’s only a day away! It’s something called Prax I think......”

“Really!? Thank God....” Hime relaxed and slumped into the chair

“Yep, the quest update said that when we reach the city the duke of Prax would supply troops to secure the route to Roden.”

Hearing the good news Hime sipped her tea and gazed outside the window.

“So we have to go back to Roden, huh?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it’s just we’ll probably come back here,,, Shouldn’t we stay?”

“What are you saying? How will we get the reward if we don’t head back!”

“Right....” It seems Hime didn’t have a choice

“Anyway we’re moving towards Prax in a few hours. Let’s relax while we can! When we head back we’ll have to fight monster hordes again....”

“You’re right. We should prepare for that.” Hime nodded and finished her drink.

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