The Tailed Warrior of The Unknown Race
Chapter 5
So, an interesting thing I've learnt. You don't travel into unknown territory unprepared. I mean, sure, that's a common sense thing, but like… I've been doing the opposite of common sense for some time now, so I just had to remind myself for a moment.
It's been another week since I've been set free from that prison camp, making it a total of two weeks in the wild. Half a month of aimless wandering through a forest that never seems to end… gotta love it. Like two pioneers, Lapis and I trekked over fallen trees, steep hills, muddy grass, sandquick traps, and even more fallen trees. During all of that, we came across many marvelous creatures that could only be found in an isekai world, namely human-sized hornets and human-sized hornets…
…
… did I mention human-sized hornets? I don't think I've ever ran faster in my life.
Well, in other words, nothing eventful has happened. Pure survival never was an interesting sport; it was just… normal. And don't get me wrong, the normalcy is much appreciated, but… boring, all the same. Maybe the most interesting thing to have happened to me so far was the time I tried doing some light exercise, just to test out how much I've healed. And it was because of this small workout session that I realized I could do push-ups much easier than I could before… and it was oddly addicting. Hell, I nearly hit one-hundred push ups in one sitting, with barely any stretches beforehand. Only more proof that this body was insanely resilient, and the revelation entertained me for a whopping ten minutes before I resumed lamenting my boredom.
I've been learning a lot about this place in the meantime. Under Lapis's guidance, I am now able to differentiate between edible and non-edible fungi. And if I were to ever be doubtful of one, simply watch another critter eat it. But I've seen my fair share of pus-filled corpses to get a good idea of the randomness that the local fungi can have… so I'll be sticking to the fruits.
With all of that said, we've actually hit a milestone. As of right now, Lapis and I have come across the end of the forest. The border, where the trees cut off and made way for large hilly prairies. It was… yet again, a picturesque sight to behold. Vibrant green grass for as far as the eye could see, dotted with numerous colored flowers and a fair volume of flying insects. In the distance were some insanely large mountains, with the tallest one literally going several miles over the clouds. Like, the fuck? Who wouldn't want to know what's on top of there… even if, of course, I couldn't really go all the way up due to the lack of oxygen I might find.
And so, without much hesitation, I left the forest behind, making that very mountain my newfound goal. During my trip through the prairies, I got to see some actual normal animals for once. Wild prairies dogs, gophers, bison, and lots of horses. And when I mean lots of horses, I mean like well over two hundred from my poor head count. It's a pretty mesmerizing sight to see such a huge number of equines grazing idly; it's normally the cattle or bison that are great in number. Note, I say mesmerizing, not strange. This is, of course, an isekai world, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was something else going on.
As I had expected, they all pretty much moved out of my way as I walked through their numbers. I had no intention of scaring them and causing some sort of stampede—which arguably would be bad—so I avoided making any quick motions or running. One thing I did do, however, was shake off the prairie dog that tried to climb up my leg. Weird shits, if I'm being honest. I'm not sure why, but they seemed really drawn to annoy me. It's normally the opposite reaction from small rodents, but I of course can't completely use my normal standards with this world. In any case, they were the only real hindrance through my trip over the valley. Luckily, no mosquitos.
That leads up to now, where I'm currently about two miles away from a new line of forestry. This forest looked to be more northern based on the deciduous trees, though I couldn't really feel a distinct change in the temperature. The dark interior was really throwing me off, but judging by Lapis's unchanged demeanor, there probably weren't any creepy anomalies waiting within…
… maybe I shouldn't base my judgement on just her reaction. I don't think I've ever seen this fairy scared or something… hell, she didn't even react to the fungi corpses we saw all that time ago.
In any case, there was one thing that has kept bugging me, even before encountering this new forest. I stopped in my tracks, looking back at the wild horse that also stopped some meters behind me. It was the same horse that had been following me from its herd, which was now far off in the distance as dots. There was no coincidence at this point, this animal was really following me. For what reason... I'm not even sure how to reason anything at this point.
"Hey, Lapis," I decided to whisper out to Lapis. She glanced over to me with a tilted head. " You know why this horse is following us?"
Lapis simply shook her head, her own confusion present. Not really much of a surprise… I'm beginning to become numb to the novelty of this place. Some shit I've seen so far is crazy, yeah, but it's not like the craziest stuff I've seen. So, whatever the hell this horse was doing… it should be best to ignore it.
In any case, seeing that this forest was the only thing blocking me from the mountains, I eventually decided to enter, oblivious to what awaited for me.
Midday, Ivory Outpost
Repairs had been underway since the incident of the colossal creature. Tedious work has been done to salvage as much of the valuables from the outpost as possible, but the efforts were in great vain. The monster had left nothing but total destruction in its wake, with ginormous footprints situated where structures once stood. Just the sight of these craters alone left fear and distraught amongst the number of soldiers in the vicinity.
However, a slimmer of hope was present in their numbers. A man sent by the renowned martial arts master of the Crane School himself was crouched next to one of the crater footprints, examining the waste the monster had left. He was the detective who could potentially provide answers to this unsolved tragedy.
The captain of the soldiers—a scarred man with dirty blonde hair—stepped forwards with a pensive yet controlled look. "What do you make of this, Mr. Yangshinhan?"
The Crane man stood up from where he crouched, towering over all in the vicinity by two extra feet. His stature was broad, bulked, and showed off many years of hardened training. He wore a long, dark green cloak trimmed in red and with a large kanji of "Crane" in the center. A purple sash was thrown over his shoulder, carrying his meager travel belongings. The most notable feature of this martial artist , however, was his face. Being bald as he was, there was no hair to obscure the third eye on his forehead, which glared narrowly at the captain with as much intensity as his other two eyes.
"My name is Tenshinhan," the now-named Tenshinhan scowled, unappreciative of the mispronunciation of his name, "or Tien, as most tend to abbreviate. Don't get my name wrong."
"O-Of course, my apologies," the captain apologized quickly, a nervous sweat forming as he cowered in front of a man whose strength is worth hundreds of men combined.
Tien gave no response, returning his gaze back towards the large footprints. "There's not much to make of this. It's footprints, alright… more closely aligned to an ape, if anything."
"An ape?" the captain's eyes widened, as did the rest of his men. Murmurs began to spread across the troops. Could these really originate from a primate? There were no known records of any apes that could grow to these sizes. "Speculation is that these originated from a new breed of dragons."
"Those speculations are wrong, a dragon can't make these sort of footprints," Tien corrected, giving the captain a scrutinizing look, "much less could a dragon leave behind this sort of chi residue. It's something else… something that has the ability to use chi."
The captain nodded, even though some of the terminology didn't make sense to him. "So then, what should we do? I've had my scouts follow the trails, and they stop at a specific hill for some reason. It's almost as if the monster disappeared entirely."
Tien contemplated the captain's words before slowly grinning. "... hm, if that's the case, then I think I know what's going on."
"Do tell."
"The monster didn't just disappear. If the trail ended wherever you found it, then the creature must've shifted from its large size to something much smaller," Tien explained, "in other words, this monster of yours is more likely a shapeshifter. It would at least explain the usage of chi… there could be no living beast that could freely use chi like this."
"I see…" the captain nodded slowly. Neither him nor most of the soldiers really understood Tien's words, but the implication that this unnamed beast was in fact a shapeshifter added a new perspective to the situation. It wasn't something that attacked their outpost, but rather someone.
Tien sighed, making his way away from the site. "I'll contact a brother of mine who could help trace your culprit. This whole ordeal shouldn't even take long to complete... a complete waste of my time."
"We are grateful for your assistance, Sir Tenshinhan!"
"Hm."
(Sean's POV)
I just knew that this new forest would be unsettling.
It had nothing but evergreen trees and a forest bed that was almost as dry as a desert… like, the sort of uncomfortable dryness between wetness and actual dryness. And that's not accounting for the eerie silence… I haven't even seen nor heard any other forest critters in the past twenty minutes since walking here. It's… I dunno, it's just something precarious, if that's the right word.
What I'm getting at here is that I'm starting to not like this forest. I already was, in fact… I just have this feeling that something is going to happen. I'm sure of it, it's too obvious. And yet... why... ok, if I'm going to start doubting my decisions, I should probably get out before anything happens…
… or maybe not... I could just be paranoid for nothing like some kid walking down the stairs at night.
'Damn, make up your mind Sean,' I grumbled to myself as I crouched underneath a low hanging branch, just barely avoiding the steep slope shrouded by the leaves. My conflictions aside, if there was anything that my wilderness travels have taught me thus far, it is that I have to be beyond careful about wherever the hell I'm walking. This Pandora's box of turns, jumps, and crawls was nothing new, but it was all the more annoying and dangerous. It's just another reason why I should leave this place, I guess…
…
… and I should... because what the hell am I even doing?
I frowned to myself, stopping in my tracks. Yeah... why am I even doing this? Was this really what I needed to do? Hell... what was there to even do?
…
…maybe I've just been approaching this wrong. Maybe… maybe I needed to start from scratch. Forget trying to reach this mountain for whatever reason... hell, forget my original idea of trying to find a civilization. Lemme... lemme work on building a hut somewhere out here. That way… at least I'd have a base to call home instead of wandering aimlessly. It'll give me a sense of comfort... ownership... accomplishment... definitely accomplishment. For all the time I've been living in this world, I've accomplished nothing. Making actually coming into terms, growing some common sense, and building myself somewhere to live would change that.
'If that's the case, then I should probably make my base somewhere outside of this thriller forest,' I chuckled to myself, coming to a stop while scratching the itch on my ass. On top of building a house, yet another concern that I should also resolve soon is getting some damn clothes. I've tolerated walking around all commando and stuff, but eventually I'm gonna come across some sort of insect that I'd rather not have crawl up all over my di—
"GUOOOOOOOOOOOAH!"
…
…
What the fuck?
Warily, I glanced over at Lapis with a concerned look. "The hell was that?"
Unfortunately, she shook her head, unsure of whatever the hell that noise was. Even worse was the concerned look on her face as well, a stark contrast to her usual positive smile.
Shit… this isn't good. That noise was definitely something aligned to a predator of some kind. A giant beast, that's for sure. Yeah... and it would partly explain the absence of animals in this dead forest… a forest we've just been wandering around in like some dumbasses.
"Alright, that's it. Let's get outta here." There was nothing more I needed to say, and it was clear Lapis was also on board with the idea. And so we immediately trekked backwards, following our steps with just a little more mindfulness of the noises we made. Really, I should've simply trusted my guts from the very beginning. I've been moving like a fool for some time now, and we're lucky that—
"AAAAUUUUGH!"
'Fuck, don't jinx yourself,' I cursed to myself, putting a considerable amount of speed into my jog. Whatever the hell that creature was, that last roar was definitely louder. It's closer, and most definitely—
THUD THUD THUD
… Oh shit.
(Kael's POV)
It's been a week since we've left the port city of Arcumena. There really wasn't much that had actually happened there other than us simply restocking the food for the trip and a bit of sightseeing. Especially considering that at this time of the year there was nothing really happening festive-wise, the experience was overall casual. Kind of like those pit stops you take on a road trip… well, not kinda, it is literally that, but my point still stands.
Interestingly, since I am of noble descent, I was supposed to visit the nobles who govern that city, but since they were actually out on a trip themselves, I simply got a warm house welcome by their servants and other ranked individuals. I guess that could be considered the fun part of being in Arcumena… at least I got to see some cute maids.
"Um… if I may ask you, Sir Kael," a gruff voice spoke from across me. It came from an elderly man named Relan, a man who had been living in the city's noble manor and had asked to travel with us. Apparently he had some royal connections of some sorts—which Seraphina had confirmed, somehow—and was unable to travel due to the lack of security to come along. It was a strange excuse, considering the city had a guild hub to hire adventurers, but I eventually let him come with us as I didn't see anything suspicious about him through my system appraisal.
"Yes, go ahead." I responded.
Relan thumbed his fingers together with a pensive yet curious expression. "What is your guild rank?"
"Hm?" I curled a brow at the out-of-the-blue question. There hasn't been many people who asked me these sorts of questions. "Rank C. Why?"
The old man let out a faint and inaudible exhale, though I caught it. "I see… I apologize for the personal inquiry. I was just recalling the words you said back in Arcumena of you traveling towards the academy. The average ranking for most students attending there is Rank F, and I was simply curious as to what your rank would be."
"...right…"
"Though, I must say, being Rank C at your age is quite an astounding feat," Relan continued, his wrinkled face stretched into a soulless smile, "I'm sure you're aware of how tedious ranking in the guild is. You'd have to do thousands of quests just to reach one star within your own rank!"
...Despite his blabbering, he's not wrong. The guild ranking in this world is very difficult to climb. You will, quite literally, have to do over a thousand quests per star in a rank if you wish to rank up the hard way… and there's a total of five stars per rank. Crazy as it sounds, it's common knowledge, and I'm still trying to figure out what this man is trying to say.
[ALERT!
Hostile entities approaching 1200 meter radius!
Activating Mana Efficiency IV
Activating Strengthening III
Activating Mana Foresight]
'...Uh oh,' I frowned at the notification I received from the system. Hostile entities… they must be a group of bandits. We've just entered into some deep woods, so it'd make sense. Mindful of this, I glanced over at Seraphina, who was busying herself staring out the window. "Sera, we've got some company."
Hearing this, her eyes widened briefly before closing as she began her own search using mana. It didn't take long for her to notice them as well. "Understood, I will deal with them without waste, Master Kael."
With that said, her form disappeared in a shadowy shift as silent as the wind. Partly startled from this, Relan gave me a confused look. "Ah... S-Sir Kael, what do you mean by company?"
"Probably some bandits," I explained coolly just as the carriage came to an abrupt stop. Seraphina must've told the coachmen to stop and stand on guard; this was nothing new, considering that this wasn't our first time being attacked by bandits. As for me… well, while I definitely could go out and help, I know my personal maid well enough to know she could handle a few street thugs.
"Bandits?!" Relan exclaimed dramatically, his voice pitched just slightly. "This… how dare they! Are they unaware of the family crest this carriage carries?!"
"Calm down, Mr. Relan, there's no need to panic," I said with an exasperated look, "just sit tight for a second. Sera and the others will have this done in a—"
BOOOM!
I was abruptly cut off from a massive explosion, one that had enough force to shake the ground itself. Alarmed, I glanced out the window, only to find the entire place obscured in smoke.
'Shoot, what just ha—'
[ALERT!
Toxins present in the air!
Passive Skill Toxic Relief activated
Passive Skill Fortified Poison Resistance activated]
[ALERT!
Ally Seraphina critically injured!
Teleport to your ally? (3 second Invincibility will be granted upon arrival) Y/N]
"Shit!" I stood up from my seat immediately, a cold feel running down my spine. I was too relaxed… too cocky. I didn't even bother to gauge the enemies coming our way. This is new territory from the one I'm from, I should've known to be more careful... and now it looks like they just threw out some toxic smokescreen.
But that's not something I should be worrying about right now. Seraphina is injured and she needs help now. I can't let her die!
Author's Note
I'm trying to patch up a few parts I left unattended in earlier chapters of this story. If you're still here, thank you, I promise things will get more interesting once I've fixed up these early chapters.