As Edward was heading toward the forest, following in Appio’s footsteps, his bodyguards finally reacted. During the engagement, they hadn’t stayed too close to him because he was hard to follow due to his teleportation power. Besides, where would he flee, they were on a bloody island. Without any means of transportation, Edward wouldn’t be able to go far. No, they had to stay in proximity to make sure that he wasn’t getting himself killed rather than to prevent an escape from his part. The families needed his runes, and for that, Edward needed to be kept alive. However, with Murlocs as opponents, they weren’t worried about their task to keep him alive. That is until what happened a few minutes ago with the Murlocs acting unpredictably and the group splitting. Under those conditions, they couldn’t let Edward just go on his own.

“Hey! Where do you think you are going?!”, one of them shouted at him.

Edward turned back. “Killing monsters.”, he said as if it was obvious and the most normal thing to do.

Before the guards could do anything more, he teleported a dozen meters apart and sprinted away, chaining a few teleportations to prevent them from following him.

“This fucking moron!”, the guard swore. They were hesitating if they should put themselves in danger and go after him. Flavius didn’t give them a choice, however.

“What are you waiting for? From what I understood, this man is still somewhat important to our family. If he gets himself kill, you won’t survive long yourselves either.”, he told them with a cold voice.

Left with no other choice, Edward’s three assigned guards had to run after him while being greatly displeased.

“If he is important, shouldn’t we go after him to bring him back?”, Heraeus asked puzzled.

“He is only mildly important. If he dies, he dies this won’t be a great loss. It’s actually better for him to die than to be able to roam freely. Anyway, I’m not going to risk my life for him.”, Flavius answered dryly.

“Why are you so worried about the Murlocs anyway? It’s not like they are particularly dangerous.”, Heraeus asked trying to understand why Flavius was getting so cautious.

Flavius harrumphed. “Normally, yes. But recently one of the merchants we were escorting lost a full vessel to Murlocs in an expedition. Father berated the whole family about it. That’s also the reason this expedition was sent to cull the Murlocs.”

“A full vessel! How did they even manage to do that?”, Heraeus exclaimed shocked.

“Exactly,” Flavius grunted. “The guards were overconfident. They were lured away by a small group of Murlocs. Meanwhile, the merchants were ambushed by a swarm, they somehow managed to breach the hull, making the ship sink.”

“It’s the first time I’m hearing about Murlocs using strategy…”, Heraeus mused.

*****

Meanwhile, Edward had left the beach and the short grass area to enter the forest the Murlocs had fled into. It was already evening and the shadows were getting longer already. Edward teleported a few more times while under the cover of the trees to lose his bodyguards, he didn’t want to be forced to go back to the camp. He needed more monster blood to grow stronger, from what he saw, this would be the only opportunity he would have in this expedition. Hunting alone was more dangerous but also meant you didn’t have to share the loot.

Now, where did all those Murlocs go? There were so many of them before and yet I can’t see a single one right now.

Edward continued onward, advancing more slowly now that he had lost the guards sent after him. From what he saw the Murlocs were smarter than everybody thought, and they were clever enough to use tactics. He didn’t want to rush only to fall into a trap.

Although he didn’t see any Murlocs in his line of sight he noticed a trail left by their passage, he accelerated his pace to take a closer look at it. Suddenly, he felt something snap as if a small resistance had been broken through when he approached the trail. Before he had the time to understand what was going on, he felt with his aura something fall towards him at a great speed. He didn’t take any more time to think and teleported backward.

No sooner had he teleported, that three spikes had pierced the soil where he was but a moment before.

Holy shit! Did I almost got impaled?

Edward took a few breaths to calm down and digest the news.

I just told myself to be careful and this happen. I didn’t even sense this with my aura. Those Murlocs are not joking. I would have been seriously injured if I didn’t have my teleporting power or if I was a tad slower. It’s a good thing that awakens have strong reflexes.

He came closer to inspect the trap now that it had already been triggered.

What he had felt snapped was a very thin rope. This rope was linked to an anchor in the ground from one direction. In the other direction, the rope was thicker and run all the way along a tree, went over a branch, and to the wooden spikes. The spikes themselves were bounded to rocks.

The trap was already powered up, the victim cut the rope on its passage, and the spikes are let loose. The rocks had some weight so that the spikes have more power and speed. The only thing preventing them from falling was the thin rope that I broke while walking through it. It is very simple but clever in execution. I didn’t even notice the rope, without paying attention it looks like an ordinary vine climbing a tree.

It is easier for my aura to spot living things since they have their own aura. For inanimate objects, I’m only sensing their shape. This trap is made in such a way that it’s not remarkable with the forest background. That’s how I miss it. Though I should have projected my aura upward too, I should have been able to notice those spikes hidden in the tree branches.

Now that I think about it, the trail is probably a fake too. Nothing more than bait to make you come closer and divert your attention from the trap.

Edward felt cold sweat run along his back.

Murlocs are weak opponents. And yet, with a trap like that, they can easily injure or kill someone.

This is bothersome, the traps give an additional danger, but no additional reward since it’s not like I can absorb blood from them.

Edward continued on his way while being more careful. He spotted more trails but this time instead of rushing closer he instead stopped to inspect the surrounding with his aura, paying special attention to the trees’ canopy for any hidden rocks or spikes.

He wasn’t disappointed, spotting other traps like the one he had encountered with some variations. For one of the traps, he was even shocked to realize that the Murlocs had built something akin to a bow but larger. A big stretched rope with a javelin notched on it was facing the start of a fake trail. All that was needed for the javelin to let loose was to sever a thin unremarkable rope close to the ground.

Edward chose to disarm the trap, both for his own safety, if he ever backtracked, and for the safety of the people coming after him. He didn’t like the Gobéliard families but he didn’t feel like letting them die in a Murlocs’ trap, especially alone in the middle of nowhere.

Me disarming those traps is good and all. But with all of that, I’m not getting any closer to the Murlocs. With all those fake trails I’m not able to find where they really went.

If I was a Murloc where would I go…?

Murlocs need water. We are on an island so the water is not that far, but still, they flew inland and not into the sea. From the boat, I didn’t see any swamps or lakes. So maybe underground caverns are linking to the sea or some hidden creek?

In this case, I can forget about the forest. My best bet is the mountain and the coastal area. Let’s go to the mountain first, I don’t want to scout the whole littoral.

Edward left the trail and instead headed toward the mountain, it wasn’t that tall, but it was the highest landmark on the island so it was visible from any vantage point.

By the time he reached the mountain, the sun was starting to set, the whole sky was turning in diverse hues of pink and orange. Sadly, from where he stood at the base of the mountain, with it being inside the forest, he wasn’t able to see the reflection on the sea, but Edward was certain it was a sight that deserved to be seen. On his way, he had encountered several more traps but he had managed to avoid them now that he knew what to look for. The density of traps had increased this close to the mountain, which confirmed that he was in the right direction.

He didn’t see anything that looked like a cavern yet, so he walked around the mountain trying to see if he could find any. After some time spent searching, he finally found one. A dark patch at the base of the mountain was surrounded by growing ferns. The entrance was quite small for a human, but it was the perfect size for a Murloc.

I don’t feel like putting my head inside. I can easily imagine a Murloc ready to strike the first trespasser stupid enough to do that. Lowering one’s head to look inside a tunnel without knowing what is inside is a very bad idea. Let’s project my aura first.

Edward walked closer to it while still staying two meters away to be out of range of an attack. His aura didn’t pick any Murloc in the vicinity, but the cave was continuing to go deeper, and as importantly it was growing larger. After a few meters, it grew large enough for a human to stand upright inside.

Ok, if the tunnel had stayed this cramped I would have given up. I’m not equipped to crawl through a tunnel with possible enemies ahead.

This still sucks though. Tunnels will reduce the utility of my teleportation. Edward still decided to go in while grumbling aloud in the process. “What I have to do to grow stronger.”

He had to go on all four to fit inside the opening, his hand and pants getting soiled with dirt. After only advancing a meter, he had to rely almost exclusively on his aura, there was no source of light inside the cave, and the setting sun didn’t help. At least after another two meters, he was able to stand up again, even if he was still a little bend to avoid hitting the ceiling.

He continued onward, the tunnel growing bigger until he reached a huge cavern, he couldn’t sense the end of with his aura. This open space was accompanied by the soft lapping of water against the rock, and by the tip-tapping of countless feet. Edward had finally found where the Murlocs had hidden.