Fight? Count Me In
Is this a fight? Then I had to get in on it. Now that I knew there was a competitor, I couldn't just sit back and relax. The moment I secured a room at the inn, I headed straight for the Gourmet Deer habitat. It was quite far from Broke Village, but the journey itself wasn't difficult.
"Meeting like this must be fate, so I'll take care of guiding you."
"You came here to rest. Sorry for dragging you into this."
"We're comrades. If I can't even offer a simple favor like this, the name of the orc would weep in shame."
Arash pushed through the underbrush with practiced ease, his face glowing with pride. As he said, orcs were true specialists when it came to hunting. Long ago, in an age before the First Great Warrior was born and the era of upheaval had yet to begin—back when monsters ruled the North—every race in the region had cooperated to survive. If they didn't help one another, the monster that moved in next door would come knocking, and the housewarming gift would be your life. Cooperation wasn't a choice; it was mandatory.
Of course, there had been growing pains, but any intelligent beings who couldn't adapt to society were quickly weeded out and swept away by the monsters. The races that learned to work together divided roles according to their strengths. Dwarves crafted equipment with their exceptional craftsmanship, while elves and fairies created special gear using their unique arcane arts or hid people away. Elves excelled with their archery, beastkin with the raw power of the wild, and the physically robust orcs took charge of hunting.
It was a shallow alliance without a true central force, but with a common enemy, the bonds between all the races ran deep. And the one who ushered in the golden age of that alliance was none other than the First Great Warrior.
"Orcs revere martial might and practice brotherhood. To us, a warrior... no, an adventurer, is a profession that lets us express our orcish pride. And a warrior's pilgrimage exists to help those in need, doesn't it?"
"The orcs really do adore the First Great Warrior."
"Of course we do! The First Great Warrior is the eternal champion of all orcs!"
To the orcs, the First Great Warrior was nothing short of a revelation. To a people who worshipped the strong, he was an undying hero, a figure they could spend their entire lives trying to emulate and still fall short. Northern orcs considered carrying on his will the highest virtue. And in truth, he was a truly great being. Thanks to the legacy he left behind, the North was filled with races rarely seen elsewhere—fairies, elves, dwarves—and even the savage-like orcs and goblins lived together in harmony.
Arash, who had inherited this ancestral will, began recounting the hero's tale. "As you know, the First Great Warrior won living space for all of us northerners. A greatness no one else could ever replicate..."
But his explanation was cut short. Arash suddenly lowered his stance and scanned the surroundings. We followed his lead, looking around as well. It was the same forest as always—thick with trees, a wild land where letting your guard down even a little could invite an attack. As he studied the woods that barred entry to anyone below mana user rank, Arash muttered, "I smell it."
"Yeah, a really nasty stench."
I shared the same impression. The scent that unmistakably marked entry into their territory raised my tension. Neon, however, looked puzzled. A smell? What smell? No matter how he sniffed around, all he caught was the ordinary scent of the forest.
Adela explained it for him in her usual blunt way. "It's the smell of the wild. Unlike the comfortable territories of humans, this is a world that runs strictly on survival of the fittest."
"...So from here on, it's pure wilderness."
Neon's face tightened at her words. He had experienced the true wilds of the North before. Back when he still belonged to the Flame of Doom, he'd ignorantly trespassed into an adult Nepentula's territory and suffered for it. The memory lingered, so his expression stayed grim.
Still, fear couldn't make him turn back. To move forward, he had to overcome it. He swallowed hard and fell in behind the rest of the party.
Seeing Neon muster his courage and follow, I smiled faintly and gripped my weapon. From this point on, we could not let our guard down even for a second. In a place where the slightest lapse in attention could cost your life, we advanced while staying hyper-vigilant of our surroundings.
Yet staying alert didn't slow us down. The forest wasn't unfamiliar territory to me.
"Tweet tweet!"
"Did you find any traces?"
"Tweet!"
The birds I'd asked for help on the way began gathering one by one. They brought back strands of silver fur in their beaks. From the evidence, it was clear a Gourmet Deer was nearby. While I handed out nuts as payment for their hard work, Arash, who had been searching in the direction they'd indicated, suddenly perked up.
"This is its trail. Looks freshly made."
It was nothing more than flattened grass, but it couldn't fool an outstanding orc hunter's instincts. Realizing the tracks were recent, Arash looked at me. "We're close to the prey now. What's your plan?"
"We'll drive it slowly. I'll set up a trap it can't possibly escape."
By then, summons of all shapes and sizes had materialized around me. They would be the key.
"Right, you had your summons. That'll make herding the prey much easier."
"I've hunted more times than I can count. The herders' abilities are more than sufficient, so no need to worry."
With confident expressions, we quickly sketched out a plan and began following the trail. Once we had the tracks, locating the Gourmet Deer wasn't hard. The silver deer drinking from a babbling stream created an almost dreamlike scene. Any artist who saw it might have fallen in love on the spot. Unfortunately, the only ones present were hunters.
"Grrrr!"
"Grr!"
Two Ikelos units burst from the bushes, threatening the deer. When wolves the size of bulls menaced it, the creature stopped drinking and stared at the wolves with indifferent eyes. On the surface it looked like wolves threatening a fragile deer, but sadly the deer's size exceeded three meters. And this was the North.
Boom!
"Yelp!"
The moment the Gourmet Deer stamped its foot, its three-meter frame blurred and slammed into one of the Ikelos. The tremendous impact scattered the wolf-shaped shards in every direction. The surviving Ikelos fled without hesitation. Watching it vanish into the distance, the Gourmet Deer's mood soured.
"Huff."
A light exhale sent a breath wreathed in intense heat rolling out. It firmly stepped on one of the scattered fragments, tensed every muscle in its body, then shot forward like an arrow. Since the other party had attacked first, it had no intention of letting them live.
It raced forward, slicing through the wind, and soon spotted the Ikelos that had fled earlier. The Ikelos was fairly fast, but it was no match for the Gourmet Deer. More than anything, the physical gap between them was overwhelming.
Crunch! Crack! Snap!
Every time the Gourmet Deer took a step, the trees in its path shattered. It charged forward without regard for how thick they were, pulverizing everything in the path of its antlers. In contrast, the Ikelos weaved nimbly between the trees, but the distance still closed relentlessly.
Yet the chase didn't last long. Before the Gourmet Deer's antlers could reach it, the Ikelos reached a clearing, spun around, and bared its fangs. The sight seemed to ease some of the deer's twisted mood. Yes, if you're going to fight, do it with the resolve to die.
Satisfied, the Gourmet Deer kept its speed and charged. The massive beast closed the gap in an instant and rammed the Ikelos—
"Gwoooooar!"
A pure-white Laserdon that had been hiding in the forest lunged at the Gourmet Deer's flank.
"Huh?"
"What?"
A deflating sound cut through the fierce battlefield, but the Gourmet Deer paid it no mind. Right now, the territorial battle with the monster challenging it was far more important.
While the Gourmet Deer suddenly found itself fighting the newly appeared Laserdon, we—who were watching the monsters clash from up close—could only stare in stunned silence.
"Is that the irregular Laserdon?"
"It is. I figured it was after the Gourmet Deer, but I never expected it to use us as bait."
More than that, I had no idea how something that big had stayed hidden until now. We weren't third-rate; we'd swept the area thoroughly and even used detection abilities, yet we hadn't found it. There was only one possible explanation.
"Don't tell me that thing obtained a Mystery?"
"It seems so. Laserdons aren't monsters specialized in stealth, after all."
"It must have gained a Mystery related to hiding."
Mystery didn't discriminate by race, so it could dwell within monsters too, but I never imagined we'd witness one actually using it—and using it quite skillfully at that. While engaged in a battle of presence with the Gourmet Deer, the creature glanced our way. It was as if it were declaring the prey belonged to it.
I let out a small laugh and stood up. "You think that's your prey? Sorry, but it's ours."
I'd originally planned to restrain it with a five-stack Gravity Field from the Rune Golem and beat it down, but the situation had changed. Time to adjust the plan. Whether we took the Gourmet Deer first or ended up claiming both, the decision was made.
"Wouldn't it be better to let them fight and jump in once one side wins?"
"You're telling me to run away after some beast stole the prey we already claimed?"
"Wow. Didn't expect that from you. Turns out you've got a weaker stomach than I thought."
"Neon. Are you scared?"
"...Let's go! I'll show those things exactly what a black mage can do!"
Since a fight had already broken out in front of us, retreating was no longer an option.