Acclimating
Tuka had never expected to become a mentor. At least… this soon.
No, really, this was too sudden. She hadn't even completed her own training as a bard yet, and now she was going to teach Saderan to some–
And it was a human! Her father didn't even mention that he was human when he introduced him to her! And how was a human able to speak Ancient Elvish so much more fluently than her?!
It wasn't fair!
"Ugh…" She pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to calm herself down.
She shouldn't think of this– Davion– as a human from the Saderan Empire. He did say that he was from a far-off land… and it showed with his lack of knowledge of the Saderan language.
Though that doesn't explain how he knows Ancient Elvish. Perhaps he was from a distant colony of Elves that have learned to co-exist with humans?
…
It still didn't lessen her envy of his fluency.
"Are you alright, Tuka?" A soft voice called out to her, and she raised her head to look at who spoke.
A familiar worshiper of Lunaryur, the God of Music, greeted her eyes. Clad in a comfortable blue tunic with red and gold designs, a cloak of a darker shade of blue, and tan pants with shin-high leather boots, she carried with her an intricately carved violin strapped to her back.
"Eilonwy..!" Tuka smiled up at her as she took the songbooks and tomes off of the spot next to her to make space on the bench she sat on.
"Did you forget a line again and set the headmaster off? You know that mistakes are normal…" Her fellow music-lover raised a dainty brow as she sat next to her, setting her violin on her lap.
"No, no, I'm not upset because I got scolded. It's just…N-Nothing in particular."
"You know you can talk to me about anything." Eilonwy assured her with a gentle pat of her shoulder, giving a calm smile at the younger elf.
Tuka's smile grew ever so slightly at her friend's words. Eilonwy was, in many ways, her senior when it came to being a bard. She was the one that helped her get started in learning to use a lute and lyre all those decades ago.
"Seriously, it's…it's nothing." The bard-in-training reassured her with a small shake of her head. It was just her being jealous of her…student? Nothing worthy of great attention. "Anyway, I didn't expect you to return so soon! How was your caravan's trip to the Elbe?"
"Oh, it was quite uneventful, save for some interruptions by a Manticore–"
"Miss Marceau!"
Both elves paused and turned their heads to see Davion jogging his way over. The Red Rider was bereft of his titular crimson armor and was instead wearing a simple cream tunic with a brown vest on top, dark trousers, and leather boots. Without the armor, he looked quite the humble figure, if a bit rugged with the light 5 o'clock shadow and his firm build. And as ever, on his left hand was that jewel that he and his other two friends were almost never seen without.
It didn't take long for the brunette and his friends to seek out occupations to keep themselves busy in their stay in Kowan. Her father had translated the Red Rider's words to her and she understood that they didn't wish to be akin to leeches, being nothing more than freeloaders whilst living off from their people's generosity. So, the three, with the help of her and her father as translators as well as endorsers, had found themselves occupations to pass the time while they were in the settlement.
As he neared, the two women could smell the faint but distinct scent of smoke on him.
"Davion…" Tuka greeted him with a strained smile, barely hiding her surprise at his sudden appearance while she had been conversing with a friend. "Done with helping out at the forge already..?"
"Yes!" The brunette nodded with a happy smile. "Sir Vaul was quite pleasured at the pacing of my smithing-"
Eilonwy looked at her from the corner of her eyes and the younger elf's ears twitched.
"Ahem, it's 'pleased', not 'pleasured'." Tuka corrected her student's Saderan, trying her best to ignore the amused look her senior was now giving her. "And it's 'pace' not 'pacing'."
"Ah, forgive me." Davion rubbed the back of his head with an apologetic chuckle, cheeks warming in embarrassment. "I am still learning…"
"Learning, he says…" Eilonwy spoke up with a small smile, turning her head to look at Tuka, who looked away. "Tuka, why didn't you tell me that you became a mentor to one of the humans? I didn't even believe the rumors about the humans were real."
"...My father put me up to this." Tuka pouted, turning her head back to look at the older elf with a weak glare. "Don't laugh. He thought that teaching him Saderan would be good in exchange for him teaching me Ancient Elvish."
The bard's brows rose as she turned to look at the gray-eyed human who was watching them talk. It was somewhat obvious that he was trying to not listen in but couldn't help himself.
"You can speak Ancient Elvish?" Eilonwy switched to her people's old tongue experimentally.
"Yes. Though, it goes under a different name from where I come from." Davion answered in the same tongue almost instantly, his fluency causing the older elf to recoil a bit in surprise. He was even better than her in his diction, and she was supposed to be the bard! "As of the moment, Miss Marceau is helping me learn how to speak and read Saderan so that it would lessen the language barrier between ourselves and your people."
"...I can see why your father asked him such a thing." The older elf turned back to Tuka, whose cheeks were flushed red. "He's even better than Kerillian."
"I know…" Tuka sighed as she shook her head. "A-Anyway, Davion," She addressed the human in Saderan, who perked up. "Are the others learning as well as you?"
It was a bit tough to find teachers for the other two 'Riders', as Davion had called themselves as. Whereas the brunette had the advantage of knowing Ancient Elvish to better communicate with her should he have questions– or at least, she knew enough Ancient Elvish to understand his questions– the other two had no foundation to stand on. She had to find other bards who were willing to teach Saderan to what was basically someone that was uneducated.
It cost her some gold and a few favors, but all to help someone help others, she supposed.
"They are both learning quickly." Davion nodded with a wide smile. His cheer was almost infectious. The way his eyes seemed to glimmer with comradely affection towards the other two Riders was something that was almost permanent. "Ephraim working at the eating place helps him identify words for ingredients fast, and Ryo helping out at the herb house and meeting other bards makes him know more words!"
Well, that was good, she supposed. A bit surprising how fast they seemed to be picking up the language, but Tuka could attribute it to a dedication born from necessity. They were in a foreign land that spoke in foreign tongues, after all. Needs must be done to adapt.
"If you wish, we can check in on them." Davion offered, Tuka quietly noting that his ability to speak full sentences was slowly but surely improving. "I was looking forward to eating an early lunch after a morning's work at the smithy."
"Well," Eilonwy turned to look at the younger elf with a wry smile. "I suppose it won't be much of an issue. I've been missing some home cooked Kowan meals after being away for quite a bit."
"I…suppose we can…"
Entering the tavern, Eilonwy was met with the sounds deeply familiar to her as a bard. The idle chatter of people, the music played by her fellow bards that were either hired or decided to spice the day or evening up, and the scent of cooked meals filling the air alongside that of whatever drink was preferred served. Even better was that the scent of Kowan, of home, filled her so utterly after having been away on a caravan for months.
Faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, met her eyes as the three walked in, and she noted that half of the patrons in the tavern were humans. Most of them were black haired, with a smattering of blonde and brunette here and there. Their features were foreign, even for a far-traveled Elf like herself.
The elf behind the counter greeted them with a smile and offered the empty seats at the counter. A fair few of the black-haired humans seemed to notice the brunette and greeted him amicably in a foreign tongue, to which he returned with a jaunty wave and a warm grin.
Seems like he was rather well-liked among the humans. Then again, from what Eilonwy had heard from all the rumors and hearsays in the short time she had returned home, he was essentially the lynchpin between the humans and her people in Kowan.
In a sense, it would be logical for them to treat him as some sort of community figure.
As they sat at the counter, the aroma of cooked meats, freshly cut vegetables, and spices entered the bard's nose, and they mixed together in a harmoniously delectable scent. Turning her head slightly towards the side, her eyes locked on to the saloon doors that lead to, obviously, the kitchen.
"Welcome to Midsummer's Rest." The tavern keeper greeted them with a smile. "What will you have this fine noon?"
"I'll have a Rider Spread." Davion said to the elf, testing his Saderan, much to the elf's calm amusement. It quickly turned into an exasperated expression, one that was shared with Tuka, at his request.
"I'll have some bread and onion soup, please." Tuka requested, shaking her head at her pupil's choice. Eilonwy couldn't help but wonder why that was so.
"And I'll have some vegetable and meat stew with a mug of ale, if you have them, please." The bard ordered after some seconds of deliberating. She was relying on month's old information regarding this tavern's menu. Who knows what changed during her absence?
"Coming right up." The barkeep smiled as he wrote down their orders on a piece of parchment. He then walked over to the kitchen and entered it, leaving the three to converse with each other.
"So," Eilonwy turned to her friend and her pupil, who looked back at her in curiosity. "I hadn't caught up about the humans that entered Kowan. What's the story behind that? When did they arrive?"
"Just a little over a month ago." Tuka provided, sharing a glance with Davion before nodding towards him. "It was a shock to everyone, honestly."
"But how? And… why?"
"It was our only viable option, if I may be honest." Davion spoke up with a sigh and a slight shake of his head, switching to Ancient Elvish. "The people we had bought would poorly blend in at any other human village. And my friends and I simply could not make a village of our own at such a short time. So we decided to head this way after spotting something that we believed to be a place of interest."
"And that's when Father found them." The younger elf spoke up, picking up bits and pieces of what her pupil was saying. "It wasn't exactly hard to spot the carriages entering our forests considering how much our rangers patrol the area, according to him."
"It was tense..." The brunette shrugged, turning his head to look at the dark-haired humans that were glancing at him every now and again, smiling or waving whenever their eyes met. "We were surrounded and outnumbered, only six of us and a lot more civilians that we could not effectively guard. We were only saved by a stroke of luck that Hodor spoke Ancient Wyverian– I mean, Elvish– and I understood him that we were able to negotiate."
"After that, Davion here was asked to meet with Lady Celestine to further negotiate their stay, which she agreed and, some time later, here we are."
Eilonwy furrowed her brows slightly at the tale. So these other humans were most likely slaves that they had liberated. A vindictive part of her was glad that the Saderans would not get their newest batch, but another part of her was worried. The Saderans would not take the forced release of their slaves lying down, and she was sure that the area outside Koan Forest was more dangerous for her kind.
"And the influx of people…" The elf muttered before looking around the tavern. The humans were, obviously, congregated around themselves, but there were a few that interacted with the elves, though they communicated through gestures. Honestly, she expected worse. Kowan hadn't had any humans enter its walls, or even approach its walls in centuries. So to see that the two races were amicable with each other was a relief.
"One Rider Spread, Bread and Onion Soup, and a Vegetable and Meat Stew with a mug of ale!"
Turning her head, she was met with a large serving tray that was absolutely filled with food. She could see her order, impressively held stable, alongside Tuka's and–
'Wait, is that supposed to be the Rider Spread?!'
Her eyes widened at the whole roasted pheasant, platter of sausages, ham, and bacon, the skewers of meat and vegetables, a slice of cheese, some baked potatoes, and a stew of what looked like fish.
He was going to eat all of that?!
The blonde human carrying the assortment of food set it on the counter, seemingly without strain. He wore a cream tunic underneath a tan apron, leather trousers, and a pair of leather boots. He had a similar build to the brunette, so she surmised that this was perhaps one of Davion's friends.
The sight of the sapphire-like stone on his left hand only cemented that fact. It was held in a metal casing similar to Davion's, shield-shaped, but whereas the blacksmith apprentice had an emerald cut to his gem, the blonde's followed the shape of the casing, his stone having been cut in what some gem carvers called a 'Trillion'. There were engravings and embossings of clouds and lightning on his casing, which she compared to the brunette's carvings of mountains.
"Here you go." He said in accented Saderan.
Davion said…something to the blonde, in a language that Eilonwy wasn't familiar with. There were some words that almost sounded like Elvish in there, but it was lost amidst the unknown diction. The blonde's expression was set in slight intrigue as whatever they talked about made him stay, leaning against the counter as they conversed.
"Yeah, their own language is a bit unique." Tuka chuckled as she took her order from the tray. "You get used to them talking like this with each other."
Eilonwy said nothing, nodding instead as she took her own order and her mug of ale. At the sight of the other dishes on the tray, the blonde reached over and pulled the Rider's Spread in front of the brunette.
She watched as the blacksmith's apprentice ripped a leg from the roasted pheasant before tearing into it. She watched as he cleaned the skewers of their meat and vegetables, she watched as he supped on the stew, before munching down on the potatoes and sausages. She observed, in mounting horror, as he devoured the roasted pheasant, and everything else.
All in the span of five minutes.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and slowly turned her head to its owner.
Tuka smiled at her, a resigned expression clear on her face.
"You get used to it."
"Hey," Eilonwy turned her head to the blonde, who looked back at her before glancing down at her stew with his electric blue eyes. "Eat. I cooked that. Don't want it wasted."
Heat flushed into her cheeks as she ducked her head, picking up the spoon on the side of the bowl. Taking a small scoop of the stew, she blew on it to cool it before sipping. Almost immediately, a burst of flavors erupted in her mouth and she had to control herself from scarfing down the rest on the spoon.
"Another person caught captive by your cooking, Ephraim." Tuka's voice quipped beside her, but she was too busy trying to hold captive the blend of savory and sour in the stew. She could taste spices that she hadn't expected to be in Kowan, the last time she tasted something similar was during her caravan's trip to Alguna nearly a decade ago.
"Hmph." There was a hint of pride in the blonde's huff, one that Eilonwy was somewhat familiar with. It was the huff of a person who was proud of his craft, one who had practiced it to reach a set standard, to reach perfection.
This man must be some sort of professional chef!
Or, at least, on the path to becoming one.
And before she knew it, she had finished her stew, washing it down with her mug of cold ale. She felt…full. Not in the physical sense of the word, but…She felt content. The warmth of the meal spread throughout her in a comfortable blanket as she let out a pleased sigh.
"My compliments to the chef." She smiled up at the blonde, who smirked. He made to respond when his sights flicked up from hers to the tavern entrance, his smirk turning into a neutral frown. A series of words escaped his lips, in the language that he and Davion shared, and she looked over her shoulder to see who he was talking to.
It was another of the humans, He wore an off-white tunic with a green vest over it, dark trousers, and a pair of leather boots. The green vest made her raise a brow, as it was essentially the symbol of the healers in Kowan.
A human being a healer?
But what got her attention the most was the jewel on his left hand, much like what Ephraim and Davion had. It was another blue gem– Turquoise, if she was correct– cut in a kite shape. Upon coming closer, she could see more details of the metal casing, the carvings on it reminiscent of swirling waves.
Well that, and the fact that he was wearing a white and pink mask with the visage of what seemed to be a fox on the side of his head.
She watched as the three Riders conversed, their expressions turning from casual to serious. The black-haired one pulled out a map, one that he rolled out on the counter, pointing to something on it…
'...Wait, is he…that's Coda Village..?'
Eilonwy spied how the green-eyed Rider seemed to point towards the village in seeming urgency. The blonde then pointed at Alnus Hill and made some hand gestures, to which the black-haired Rider shook his head. They each shared a look at each other before nodding, with the other two leaving Davion, who turned to them with a serious expression.
"I have to go." Was all he said as he stood up.
"W-Wait, where are you going?" Tuka asked him, which made him stop. He turned to her, his steel-gray eyes glinting with determination and focus, as he answered.
"A Hunt."
Living close to the Koan Forest meant that there was an abundance of resources readily available for Coda Village. From lumber to wild game, there was more than enough for the village to sustain itself that it didn't rely all that much on imports of goods.
However, living this close to a wild and untamed forest also brought about its own dangers.
Said wild game could be dangerous, as they could be common prey to predators such as packs of wolves that roam the forest, or the bigger and meaner beasts deeper within. There were also rumors of bandit camps, or even talks of forest people, those who made a living in the darkness of the woods away from civilization.
Lelei La Lalena wished that it was a simple bandit party instead of whatever it was she and her master were going to face.
"Will we be enough?" She asked him as they stood before the entrance of Coda Village that led to the forest, on the opposite side of the village opposite of the path that led to one of the main roads that connected the vast Saderan Empire.
"The wards had detected something big heading this way," Cato El Altestan muttered as he narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze fixed on the forest's edge several meters away from them. There was no sign of the weariness of age or of an encroaching senility in his eyes, only a steely resolve. "Something big enough that might damage the village severely. If we don't do it, who will? The town's guards had been conscripted into that ruckus over in Alnus Hill."
The blue-haired mage hummed as she thought back to all those overly-excited guardsmen running up to join the army that passed by, leaving the village dangerously undefended. It was only by luck that there hadn't been any risk of bandits or similar threats befalling the village.
"Perhaps this might even be a chance for you to practice your more offensive spells, my pupil." Her master chuckled at how her eyes seemed to twinkle. "Just make sure to not have them be aimed at the village."
"Of course, master."
Crash!
She snapped her head towards the forest as she tightened her grip on her staff. The ground shook as distant trees rustled and rattled, with a few falling as something heavy bore its way towards them.
Roaaaar!
Cato's expression turned steely as he held his staff before him, his frown nearly hidden by his beard.
"That's a Manticore's roar, and it's very very angry. Why one is this close to the edge of the forest is a mystery to me, but my student, this is going to be a dangerous fight."
Lelei had heard rumors and hearsay from the locals of Coda Village that Koan Forest hid all sorts of mysteries, but never had she expected to be facing off against a Manticore, at least this soon. The vile beasts were rare to come by, but there were records of it being an absolute menace that slew countless men before they were driven off.
Driven off.
Not explicitly slain.
So for one to be here, she was understandably nervous, even if her outward expression didn't show it.
"Get ready." Cato intoned as he began to cast a spell, the runic arrays appearing beneath his feet and around his staff. "Let this beast not take one step past us."
The tree up ahead rattled and shook, and after a few tense seconds of silence, something big flew out from the canopy. Lelei's eyes locked on to the blur, immediately recognizing the large stinger and bat-like wings of the manticore. Her brows furrowed further at the sight of wounds on the beast.
Was it fighting something beforehand?
The manticore was flying back, in the midst of a backwards leap, and landed before the two mages. It turned its head, the primal intelligence in its eyes glinting at the sight of their glowing staves as it growled. It turned to them, its stinger raised in the air as the spikes on the carapace began to quiver–
Slam!
–and were knocked loose as an electrified wing smashed into its side, the draconic owner roaring its own cry of rage as the beast was beaten away.
Cato gaped at the demonic visage of the black and green dragon as verdant lightning coated its form. Baleful red eyes glanced at them with bestial intellect before they focused back on the recovering Manticore. With an angry snarl, the dragon leapt towards the beast, another wing coated in lightning ready to smash into its hide once more.
This time, the Manticore dodged the blow, leaping to the side before retaliating with a tackle.
BOOM!
Only for it to be countered by an explosion that sent it reeling, roaring in pain as its tough hide was decorated with new holes.
Lelei's eyes were locked on to the figure rising atop the dragon; she had been staring at him ever since he and his partner arrived. She remembered him, even after more than a month. She hadn't forgotten the intimidating sight of both him and his mount. Clad in the same black and green plate and scale, the rider of the dragon held his great lance high, smoke wafting from the end of it.
She didn't hear any incantations, so how was he able to fire off a fireball so fast?
Whump!
With a strong flap of its insectoid wings, the dragon leapt into the air and on to the manticore, biting and tearing into the writhing beast. Blood flew into the air alongside chunks of meat as the brutal dragon used the spikes on its wings to beat the manticore into submission, each pounding hit bringing about a resounding sound of burning flesh and bruised muscle. The rider on top of the dragon contributed his own attacks, the great lance of his stabbing and slashing into its mount's prey.
But despite it all, the manticore still lived, and its stinger shuddered as its quills began to stick up.
Recognizing that it was about to strike, Lelei pointed her staff and quickly chanted off a spell, a runic circle appearing before her just moments before the stinger darted forward towards the rider.
As if having intuited the attack beforehand, the rider leapt off of his mount just as the venomous stinger passed by where he would have been. Quills tipped with the same venom darted from the tail, but they merely harmlessly bounced off the thick plate and hide of the dragon.
Slam!
It was then where Lelei's wind spell smashed into the stinger, causing it to sharply twist and break off pieces of its carapace.
Landing on his feet, she watched as the rider did a sidestep, covering a couple of feet in a single leap before stabbing his great lance forward into the base of the tail.
Crack!
The great lance's blade dug into the space between the carapace plates, piercing into the soft flesh beneath, and causing dark blood to spill forth from the wound. With a roar of pain, the manticore thrashed, throwing off the dragon and causing the rider to take a short skip back, raising his shield to block the errant quills swung his way from the stinger-tipped tail.
Lelei watched as the quills, which were said to penetrate Saderan armor, bounce off of the shield.
With a snarl, the dragon repositioned itself to be beside its rider, just as the manticore got back on its feet.
Thud Thud!
Cato slammed his staff twice on the ground, the runic array beneath his enlarging to encompass the area. In the blink of an eye, several spikes of ice erupted from the ground underneath the manticore, the frozen constructs either breaking apart upon impact or finding middling purchase. With a roar of pain, the beast recoiled at the successive hits, rearing back and using its front paws to break the few spikes that did penetrate its thick hide.
Crackle–Zzzzap!
That brief moment of distraction was more than enough for the dragon to be coated in its green lightning, its wings, pincer-like tail, and crest all moving and vibrating at an erratic pace. Where once the baleful red eyes were, only a green glow remained as the creature seemed to barely restrain itself from flying into a maelstrom of violence. There was a glow on the rider's left hand that caught her attention, but she focused back on the fight, even as more and more questions began to pile up in her mind.
The rider then shouted something, and the dragon exploded into action.
With a mighty flap of its wings, it zoomed towards the reeling manticore before executing a flip, smashing its pincer-like tail into the beast's chin. The hit snapped the chimeric monster's head back, stunning it, and the rider ran forward, far faster than what she expected a man bedecked in heavy armor could.
An orb of green sparking energy then formed on the talons of the dragon, much to the increasing surprise of both mages.
This new dragon was able to harness magic?!
With a roar, the dragon stopped its flapping and dove down towards the staggering manticore, foot extended as the orb of energy clutched by the talons grew in ever increasing size. At the same time, the rider slid underneath the beast, the great lance pointed up high. As he passed, another fireball erupted from the tip of the weapon, straight into the underbelly of the beast.
Boom!
The explosion, that close, was enough to lift the manticore's rear half into the air. It hung there for a moment, almost stunned, as the human slid underneath and behind it.
CRASH!
And barely a split-second later, the orb of green lightning impacted its head, bringing the poor beast back down into the earth as the unknown weight of the dragon slammed itself into the manticore. A large wave of electricity arced from the orb in an explosion, and Cato and Lelei hastily conjured up makeshift earth barriers to protect them and the palisades of the village behind them from being fried.
Dust was kicked up by the resulting shockwave, and the blue-haired mage was forced to close her eyes from the flash. She could hear her master saying something amidst the roar of the wind, but she was too busy trying to not get dirt into her mouth. When she opened it again, and the earth walls sunk back into the ground, she saw no sign of the dragon and its rider, only the corpse of the manticore, its head having burst open with the flesh blackened by the sheer heat of the last attack.
Cato released a huff as he lowered his staff, shaking his head slightly.
"...That was too close." Her master muttered, walking over to the corpse, prompting her to follow. Now that they were closer, the size of the beast became more prevalent.
It was easily twice their height, almost three times, and was as long as a house. Its hide was littered with claw marks and gashes, both fresh and old. Blackened patches decorated the dark brown fur, clear signs of the dragon's electric strikes.
…What was that on the ground?
"To think they would have a powerful pair…" She heard her master mutter as she walked over to the rear of the beast, crouching down to pull something from underneath the downed tail. Wrapping her hand around it, she blinked as a warm sensation spread through her palm. Lifting it up into the air, she showed the metal cylinder bigger than the palm of her hand to him.
"Master."
"Hm?"
The two mages looked over the cylinder, the open end blackened with some sort of powder residue. Cato knew the telltale signs of combustion as he turned the item over in his hand. His mind worked with all sorts of thoughts as he hummed.
"Curious…"
"Where's the other one?"
Ephraim grumbled as he and Astaroth walked besides his other Riders and their partners. In Gurion's maw was a massive serpent, the decapitated head being carried by his Rider over his back. The Glavenus was dragging it along, leaving a light furrow in the ground, with Ryo and Sekken following behind.
The Mizutsune glared at the head of the snake, his head frills still somewhat glowing. There were black scorch marks on the scales of the Leviathan, and his Rider was doing his best to brush the soot off.
"It got too close to the village." The blonde explained with a clear frown in his voice. "Two of the locals spotted me. Both were magic users; they had staves, and one of them helped me out by hitting the stinger with a spell."
The three had been introduced to the concept of Magic by Lady Celestine's court mage. It was…enlightening, to say the least. They weren't exactly new to the idea of the more esoteric energies being present in the world– they had their Kinship Stones, after all– but witnessing the mage conjure flames from the very air without any catalyst was eye-opening.
"So you left the body there?" Davion spoke up, turning his head to him. "Didn't even carve or anything?"
"Like I said," Ephraim gritted out, the reminder that he didn't even get the chance to get anything from the Manticore stinging his pride. That stinger looked useful too! "It died too close to the village, and I wasn't staying around potentially waiting to be surrounded as I carved."
"It's a bit of a shame, but at least we stopped these two. That's all that matters." Ryo sighed, his voice rising slightly to stop the two from bickering. With each step of his, the Summoning Bell on his back jingled harmoniously. "Besides, we still have this giant snake."
The Astalos Rider looked at the headless body of the serpent, its length trailing behind Gurion a testament to how big it was.
"Well, at least we have a chicken alternative. I've been feeling bad about the dwindling food stock of Kowan ever since our arrival. Now though? Well, it would last us a month or two, if properly stored and preserved."
"As long as Gurion and Astaroth don't devour most of it, yep."
"So, do we agree that this was a successful Hunt?"
"Could've been better."
AN:
I live!
Yes, I haven't forgotten the update!
It's just that Project Ryo and I were swamped with academic stuff, more so on his end. Still, the usual, updates are going to take a while because of it. I don't want to needlessly distract him from lessons or studying for exams.
Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
This is Cipher, signing off!
