Chapter 20, Delinu forest

Three days quickly pass and I spend each day lazing on the wagon roof and soaking in the rays while chatting with Ari. Rolas comes by a few times to talk about different things or to just sit in companionable silence. He’s a good traveling companion that way as he’s comfortable to be around even without talking.

The adventurer party mostly keeps to themselves but I get to chat with a few of them when they are on watch duty. They probably use me as some sort of distraction to not fall asleep but I don’t really mind.

I spent the night before this morning working on my clothes as Ari suggested. I kept the design mostly the same and added a few golden decorations. The white crop top was left bare as its defining feature was accentuating my bust and I didn’t want to take away from that.

The work pants got a little work done on them as I made small adjustments here and there to make them fit a little better while keeping the freedom of movement. If it made the shape of my heart shaped backside even more pronounced I’m sure no one minded it. Well, maybe Miranda will mind it. She’s kept that hostility going without explaining herself and I don’t know if it’s the same story as with Julie or something else that has her glaring at me like that.

I also made some changes to the work pants fabric itself. As I had more mana to spend I decided to make the mana structure both sturdier and a little more comfortable while keeping the appearance of a fabric made to last and be used.

I also added a few straight and utilitarian looking gold trimmings to line the pockets. They look like reinforcements but are only decorations.

The boots got a much larger rework as I remade the mana structures for all of it. This time not using anything from before but making it from scratch with only some inspiration from previous designs. The sole is still black and rubbery but I put some more thought into the pattern of its grip. Making it better and less slippery on materials I previously had a little trouble with.

I also incorporated a matte black steel toe of a new arcane material specifically made for this and it will make my kicks much more devastating. The sole is also cosmetically enhanced with a golden line circling around it where it attaches to the rest of the boot.

The boot from the new gold line upwards is also reworked to fit even more snuggly and with better materials. I still went with black thick fabric for this but I reinforced it with another new black arcane material that behaves like cured leather. It gives the boot a sturdier look when you can't see the toes flexing under the fabric.

I also added golden laces. I will never use them as I manifest the boots directly onto my feet but it looks better this way. The boots still go half way up my calves, invisible under the work pants, and they're now the most protective gear on my body.

The next item to get reworked was my belt. I used the same arcane material as the fabric reinforcement in my boots as it’s the correct black color and has a leathery feel to it. I added a few decorative patterns in gold on it, drawing inspiration from the magical frameworks I’d seen on the waystone in the dungeon. It gives the belt a mystical look. I also added a black and gold buckle for it to actually look like a proper belt and not the leather strip it was before.

My socks and panties are comfortable and need no modifications as of yet. I only splurged a little more with adding a few golden decorations on my white thong panties. Even putting in a cute heart with ‘Ari’ written in silver inside it.

The look my clothes present now is both utilitarian, professional, alluring and quality work. It’s a good representation of myself as I can’t go and implement the ‘always aroused’ look onto my adventurer gear even if Ari thought it more accurate as I shared my thoughts on why I’d decorated it this way.

There’s only one thing that bugged me about this new look. The arcane daggers and arcane missiles. They didn’t fit with their azure light and Ari and I set to working in the golden color used in our celestial flames into them. It seems that the skills are flexible enough to accept our changes as they now both manifest in a golden, swirling mystical color.

It was highly amusing to watch the others in our caravan see my new outfit in the morning. Especially Rolas' reaction.

“Golden daggers?!”

“Yeah, I didn’t have time to incorporate them into my color scheme until now.”

“That’s so fucking cool. I wish I could do that. And the rest of your clothes too?!”

I twirl to give him a good look.

“Yup. You like it?”

“Oh yes. It looks so damn hot on you. The gold matching your eyes and the honestly amazing crop top matching your white hair, showing the perfect amount of cleavage with just enough hints of your nipples' outlines. And to contrast it with those black work pants that outline your perfect ass and thighs, even the black boots with gold details are a really good choice.”

I beam at him. He looks at my clothes and body with genuine appreciation and doesn't leer at all. I would let a guy like this stare as long as he wanted even if I wasn’t clothed.

“Thanks Rolas.”

I do a little bounce to give him an extra good look at my bust and cleavage as thanks for the confidence boost before jumping up to the roof of my wagon. This will be the day we finally enter the Delinu forest and I’m looking forward to the change in scenery and to hunt something for dinner.

As we enter the forest I marvel at the sight. The trees are enormous, easily 15 meters wide and at least 90 meters high with gnarled brown bark and emerald green leaves in their canopies that seem to let through light. Their thick branches criss-cross between them starting at a height of 20 meters and they have even grown together at some points. The branches on the cusp of growing together squeak as they brush against each other in the wind while those free from their fellows only creak from their emerald burden.

We are following a well kept dirt road, slinking between these giant trees like a snake. Just outside the road grows thick lush moss with different plants and mushrooms sprouting here and there. There are bushes of all kinds, some with thin needle-like leaves that leave their twigs exposed, some with lush leaves and plumb green berries growing and even one bush that is entirely crimson.

There are different kinds of nests in the trees and on the ground. Some well hidden while others less so and looking abandoned. Strange animal noises carry on the miniscule breeze still able to penetrate between the trunks and a woodpecker is hammering away furiously at a rotten stump not far to our left.

The smell in the air is damp and fresh and in some places a little musky. It smells of a healthy forest teeming with life's cycle. All of us seem to unconsciously relax when the half shade covers us and it feels peaceful in a natural way.

We continue for the rest of the day without incident before setting up camp for the night. There is an extra-large tree a ways off the road that they have obviously rested at on previous trips to our destination. The ground isn’t destroyed but slightly disturbed. As if nature has begun reclaiming what it had temporarily lost.

“Are the elves really alright with us hunting in their territory? It seems like they keep it pristine.”

“I have no idea, Ari. Let’s ask Rolas since he told us that we could find food here.”

I find Rolas as he’s helping with setting up the pot and filling it with water. When asked he explains that the elves don’t mind us hunting when traveling through their territory but they won’t let us stay here. It sounded reasonable as keeping us from hunting anything at all would be a very unnatural thing to do and elves living in trees are usually all about nature and balance.

While the others set up camp and begin to cook their food I sprint into the forest to the east. It feels so good stretching my legs for real and not simply sitting still or walking. I lean into my speed and try to bottom out my capacitor as fast as possible with all enhancements Ari can provide me with. My [Agility] has to work hard to keep up with my movements and the uneven terrain.

I still have half my capacitor left and feeling like trying something new and possibly fun I coordinate my will with Ari to send me into a running leap as high as possible. I fly 15 meters into the air while keeping my speed going, missing my target branch by a few meters in height before continuing forward and almost collide with a tree face first. I underestimate my horizontal speed but with Ari’s quick thinking and my own reflexes I barely manage to raise my foot in front of me, absorbing the vertical landing.

I can almost feel my bones breaking from the strain of going from that speed to a standstill and the loud smack of my steel-toed rubber sole hitting the tree and leaving an imprint is quite telling of my momentum. I put a good grip on my soles but I’m not looking forward to sliding down the now 10 meters of height clinging to the trunk and I instead perform a simple backflip.

It might be stupid but I’ve got to know. The last time I’d dropped from half of my current height my legs had broken at a dozen places. How much have I grown since then? Ari makes a sound of enjoyment as we lazily spin backward while speeding towards the ground.

There is a thud on landing but nothing more. Sounds don’t travel far in soft moss and I feel stupid for even doubting that I could take this landing. I had just crashed into a tree at a ridiculous speed and absorbed it all with one leg.

“Yeah, Zel. We’re not that weak anymore. We are both more skilled and have doubled our physical stats since we tried landing like this last time.”

“The backflip felt nice at least even if we didn’t get to snag that branch I was aiming for.”

“We might be able to get up there from a standstill but we’ve got dinner to catch. Remember?”

I had almost forgotten in my distraction and am thankful for the reminder.

I get back to it and continue east for a little while longer before finally spotting dinner. It looks tasty but it doesn't seem to fit in this forest and I identify it while running full tilt at it. I’ll have to use my daggers this time to not create such a mess.

[Rock-hoofed Boar - Level 2]

As the boar turns in preparation to charge instead of fleeing I move in while pulling out my right dagger. There’s not much excitement as I just grab the boar by a tusk and slice its throat while holding the squealing animal in place before it drops dead.

I have no idea how to harvest animals but I figure Rolas might. It’s worth asking him to teach me and, hoisting the boar over my back while holding its legs, I make my way back to camp. I actually get the attention of everyone as I get back and it’s all for the same reason.

“Zelaria, where did you find your prey?”

“A few kilometers east of here. Why?”

“This is almost as strange as the wargs. Did you see any more of these when hunting?”

Gilbert seems concerned about something and so does the rest of the usual caravan crew. The adventurer party and I are seemingly the only ones in the dark about their worries.

“No, I didn’t, but this was the first one I came upon. I simply went for it and slit its throat before hoisting it and returning. There may be more of them further east for all I know. Why are you looking so concerned?”

Rolas takes up the explanation.

“On the way back to White Rock last time we were assaulted by a large pack of wargs out of nowhere. They’re not native to this forest and neither is this prey of yours, Zelaria.”

“I see. Did they come from the east as well?”

“They did.”

It's the adventurer party's time to chip in next as George seems confused.

“Wargs I could understand you being worried about but these are just normal boars aren’t they?”

Gilbert snorts and shares a dark look with the rest of the drivers before explaining for their and my benefit.

“There’s only one place to the east that might have these mountain boars and wargs. It’s the Rhodolite Peaks mountain range south east of here which stretches further south. A pack of wargs might decide to migrate or just explore new hunting ground but these boars? No way. They’re practically evolved to live in those mountains.”

“Something must have happened in the mountain range.”

I finished the explanation for him.

“Exactly. Something big enough to drive out the native wildlife. One boar is not enough evidence to make this a certainty but we might run into more of them or even a stampede of them. We’ll have to be on the lookout and be prepared for it.”

“Should I go and scout further south east tonight?”

Gilbert considered it before shaking his head in the negative.

“No. We’ll need everyone here if there really is a stampede on its way.”

When everyone disperse and go back to their meal preparation or setting up the rest of the camp I approach Rolas with my kill still slung over my shoulders.

“Rolas. Do you know how to butcher prey like this? I have no idea how and usually just cut out whatever seems edible, leaving the rest for scavengers. It’s a huge waste and I’d like to increase my skill set.”

“Really? Sure I have some experience with it. I used to hunt a lot at one point. I’ll show you.”

Rolas walks me through skinning and butchering the carcass, pointing out parts that’re edible and parts I’d better avoid cutting. I put it all on a manifested silk blanket and am positively amazed at how much meat there was that I probably would have left behind.

Ding! You have learned the general skill [Harvesting].

[Harvesting]

What is edible? What is usable? What is harmful? This skill aids with tasks concerning harvesting of carcasses or corpses.

Ding! General skill [Harvesting] has leveled from [1] to [3].

Corpses? Like for cannibals cutting up their prey? That’s somewhat unsettling.

“Thank you, Rolas. Want some of the meat? I’d like to give you something to show my appreciation.”

“No problem. I’ll take a piece then to add to my dinner tonight.”

After Rolas takes his cut I press a finger to half of the meat and send it into storage. The time distortion isn’t good enough yet to keep it fresh for any real length of time but I’ll have some for tomorrow at least. Lifting the blanket with my meat I move a little bit away from the others and sit myself down with my back resting against a huge tree.

I manifest a small celestial campfire and a skewer before picking a piece of meat and start cooking it, well above the flame this time. No need for a repeat of the burned deer meat.

“This is it, Ari. Our second meal in this life.”

“Oh yes. I’m excited!”

When the meat is sizzling and dripping with juices I dig in. I do show some self control this time and merely stuff my face in an undignified manner instead of looking like a starved beast. It’s still unseasoned but it tastes like heaven to me right now.

“We’ll have to buy salt and seasoning in the future.”

“Definitely.”

It isn’t long before I’ve eaten everything except one last piece and I almost open my storage ring to take out the rest right here and now. Ari, however, convinces me that we’ll like to have something left tomorrow if we can’t hunt anything.

“Enjoying yourself, Zelaria?”

It’s George who asks. I’d been so focused on my food that I didn’t notice his approach. I manage not to start in surprise before answering.

“Hello, George. Yes, this is amazing.”

I finish my statement by taking a big slabbering bite of my last piece and dripping juices all over my previously clean white crop top.

“No one has seen you eat until now and it sure looks like you’re making up for lost opportunities. What is that golden flame though? There’s no wood.”

“That? It’s just my magic campfire.”

He looks away from the flames and to me with raised eyebrows before his eyes inevitably land on my stained shirt. Or my bust. Not like I care which.

“Don’t worry about my shirt. I’ll just throw it away and make a new one.”

He flushes slightly before looking away and coughing into his hand.

“Yes. Your shirt is a little stained but I don’t think anyone here will care.”

“No. I don’t think they would.”

George sits down next to me as I lick my skewer clean before throwing it away and dispersing it, being no more than azure smoke on the wind when hitting the ground.

“What do you think of Gilbert’s concerns regarding the Rhodolite Peaks? Don’t you think he’s overreacting slightly?”

Dispersing my crop top and manifesting a new one back two seconds later, making George flush scarlet while staring at the now once again covered area, I answer.

“No, I don’t think so. I mean he’s obviously been doing this trip for a long time and I could understand why he’s concerned. I myself am honestly just excited about it.”

“Excited?”

“Yeah. I had been planning to go east after this posting was finished and now I have something possibly dangerous and thrilling to explore if I go a bit out of my way towards the Riverflow kingdom.”

“Eh? You plan on looking for whatever supposedly has the native wildlife of a whole region running for their lives?”

I look at him as if he’s the odd one. I simply can’t understand adventurers like him who don’t see the obvious adventure in doing exactly that.

“Well, yes of course. I’m an adventurer after all.”

He seems slightly abashed at what must have sounded like I was criticizing him or calling him a coward but I don’t really care. It’s true to some extent but I know that not everyone sees the world my way. Even if they really should.

I don’t think he’s as much offended as embarrassed or just socially awkward but he leaves me shortly after that. Letting me relax in peace and enjoy the feeling of my digestive flame converting the food into energy.

“Ari. Why am I still feeling full? There’s almost nothing left in our stomach.”

“Surprise! Like one of the modifications I told you about? We’ll now feel full and satisfied for a time after a good meal instead of just reverting back to our ‘not hungry and not full’ state.”

“I knew this meal felt better somehow! Gosh, I love you Ari.”

Giving her a big smooch and hug while sending her waves of happiness I manifest my pipe and settle in for a satisfied after meal smoke. It feels even better now on a full stomach and the rest of the night passes in comfort.

The sun rises in the morning, casting long shadows and slim rays of sun that warm the soft moss and making wisps of steam rise in their light. The god rays each morning have been my favorite thing to witness as they really bring out the most beautiful aspects of everything in nature.

After stretching and taking my spot on the wagon roof we set out once more. There isn’t anything new going on and we all simply enjoy the day in comfort.

Before we stop for camp however there is a strong vibration going through the ground. The caravan stops as we all feel it increasing in strength and I can hear Gilbert curse up a storm in the front. It seems his fears weren’t unfounded after all.

I jump down from the wagon roof and take off at a sprint to the east. There might have been a few confused shouts from the adventurer party but I didn’t stop to listen. We need information on what is coming our way and I’m the fastest as far as I know. It isn’t more than 20 seconds later that I see the stampede. Boars, a few bears and even no doubt predatory felines in the mix.

They are all followed by a few wargs and I guess that the wargs are hunting this stampede as much as running from the mountain range. Turning on my heel I sprint back using as much enhanced speed as I can while drawing on my capacitor. I make it back in 10 seconds and quickly shout what I’d spotted.

“Boars, bears, cat things and wargs taking up their rear. There’s at least a hundred of them.”

I join the defensive line with the rest of the adventurers. The drivers have taken out crossbows of dwarven design and stand on the roof of their wagons. Gilbert managed to cut down our side profile by getting the last 4 wagons to roll up at the side of the first. This makes our defensive line tighter as we don’t have as much length to cover.

Rolas is the first to attack, even before the rest of us set eyes on our targets he’s firing in rapid succession with his bow in between the trees, eliciting yelps and snarls as the stampede gets tripped up by their fallen frontrunners.

I grin in anticipation as Ari floods my body with power and I crouch into my stance with arcane daggers in front, the left reversed for tearing while the right kept for slicing. As the stampede comes into view and approaches us, a few falling to arrows from crossbows and Rolas, I start the slaughter.

My first target is a boar and I stab it between the eyes with my right dagger while simultaneously tearing the throat of another one coming up on my left. The next boar makes a leap over the first one and I jump into a spinning roundhouse kick that splatters its brains with the help of my steel toed boots.

Landing I lash out once more with my left dagger to catch one of those felines and tear out its side, spilling its guts through ribs and making it collapse after just a few more meters behind me. After the feline it’s just more boars for a while and as the corpses keep piling on I jump on top of them to not get blinded by the sheer mass of bodies.

The adventurers on my left and right seem to be doing alright themselves. Miranda is shooting stone bullets while guiding the stream of animals with walls of rock she’s erected. George and Melina are killing with practiced coordination, looking almost like they’re reading each other's minds in the way they leave opponents for each other and kill anything the other can’t reach.

Clive is bashing everything in reach with his shield and not doing much more than keeping them at bay while Tupon, not needing to heal as of yet, is using his dagger to finish off the stunned animals before they can overwhelm Clive.

I don’t focus on the others much however as I’m having too much fun slicing and dicing the panicked animals coming straight for us. It’s almost like I’m back in the dungeon with the endless streams of rats. I brain another boar with a punch between the eyes before extracting my left hand from its cranium and stab a feline through the neck with my right dagger, slicing back and upwards to tear its spine apart. The head flops uselessly forward, connected to a thin strip of flesh and sinew, spouting blood everywhere.

Coming at me from up ahead is a black bear that the other creatures give a little room to maneuver so as to not get trampled by its superior mass. It stands at 3 meters while running on all fours and I ready myself and try to think up a stylish and effective way of taking it down. Ari comes to the rescue with an impressive idea and I gladly execute it with her.

Moving my right foot backwards and bending my left leg in preparation for a fast extension of that limb I reverse my right dagger for tearing and wait a split second to let the bear's skull almost reach me, opening its jaws as if to snatch me up before continuing forward.

Before it can sink its teeth into me I extend my left leg with enough force to dent the ground beneath me while kicking forwards and up with my right leg, hitting it straight under the head, removing the bear's forward momentum and making it lean on its hind legs, almost falling over backwards.

As Ari had planned I have more force left to spend in our upwards momentum as well as backwards rotation from the hard kick and I turn it into a backflip, piercing the bear's lower abdomen with my daggers while upside down and tearing its stomach open from bottom to top with my rotation before finishing my backflip with a solid landing where I had started the maneuver.

Gore is positively raining down upon me as the bear collapses onto its stomach. Dead as can be. It looked amazing as well and I’ll have to reward Ari for coming up with that kick ass move later. Kick chin move? For now though I get back to slaughtering and building my pile of corpses.

The stampede continues for another 2 minutes or so but they slowly start turning around our blockade now reinforced with their dead kin. Only the wargs at the back have no qualms about running headlong for us as the rest of the animals make their way past our sides.

The wargs are two meters tall at the shoulder and look like ugly wolves. With ugly I mean their proportions seem off somehow. Teeth too large, eyes too small, legs too long and tails too short. They're obviously monsters and I use [Identify] on the first one heading my way to make sure.

[Mountain Warg - Level 24]

That settled them as monsters as far as common knowledge is concerned. No mere animal reached that level. The warg seeing me in its path lunges forward with speed it didn’t showcase before. It’s enough to catch me off guard but not enough to injure me or get past. I simply have to abort the left leg roundhouse kick I had timed to its previous speed in order to brain it and instead stab it in the forehead with my left dagger while avoiding its jaws and claws.

There comes one more boar at me after the warg who had somehow managed to survive being in the warg pack and after killing it and braining two other wargs with left and right roundhouse kicks, adjusting to their lunges, the forest to the east is clear. We’ve killed everything that made up this stampede or it has already passed us by.

I flick the blood and intestines from my daggers before sheathing them and climb over the mound of corpses left behind us to check on the caravan. There seem to have been a few getting past at some points in our defensive line, even one boar at my position, but the drivers had easily put them down with their crossbows.

There’s guts splattered all over the side of the wagons facing me but no one is injured. It seems our defense was a complete success. The rest of the adventurers are covered in blood but I don’t think I look any cleaner and they pant from exertion while settling down on a corpse to rest.

“That was fun!”

I say it with genuine cheer as it really had been a boring journey this far. It had been interesting and all that with the information I’d gotten out of Rolas and the views on our way here but all in all, boring.

“Fun? I guess one could call it that.”

Rolas answers me as he goes about plucking arrows coated in brains.

“It was exhausting and dangerous! Don’t make light of it.”

Miranda decides to end her silent hostility with a snap at my cheer but I only ignore her. She isn’t worth acknowledging with that attitude.

“It went a lot better than I’d hoped when you reported their number and composition, Zelaria. I’m thankful you all managed to keep the caravan safe from it.”

Gilbert speaks next and he doesn’t seem to mind my cheer. He looks a little happy as well. No doubt thinking of how he can brag about this event to guardsman Pontus and everyone else who might be willing to hear it.

“It looks like I won’t need to hunt for food for a while. Care to help me harvest a few, Rolas? This cat thing might be edible as well.”

I kick the head of the feline I’d severed the spine of, tearing the sinew and muscle still attaching it to the rest of the body and it goes tumbling down the pile of corpses before hitting the ground with a wet thud.

“That is a [Cliff Stalker] and I’ve never heard of anyone eating them but sure. I can help you out.”

Rolas is such a nice guy.