Chapter 72: Rowan’s Decision

<POV: Zetez>

"You there! Put more strength in those arms and stop holding the sword like a toothpick"

I inwardly sighed, trying to keep my frustration from showing on my face. Nevertheless, I was getting fed up with these new recruits who don't even seem to be taking this seriously.

But that wasn't actually a surprise considering that most of them were chosen because of their affinity grades and not because of their skills and dedication.

Looking at it now though, they didn't have any skill to begin with. Worse, their equipment was D-rank, which allowed them to cut through the snakes nearest to the edges, which were, of course, the weakest at F-rank.

Each one was the son or the illegitimate son of either a Noble, a merchant, or someone with a profession related to magic.

So, even with such horrible lack of skills, these brats easily killed F-rank beasts, which in turn increased their vainglorious pride.

For me, Zetez Vidal, a C-rank hunter, to be doing this…I really felt like beating them all into a bloody pulp, but I remembered the captain's face and the thought melted like snow.

'Shit! Is there no way to get out of this?'

But as I thought so, my attention was called by something I hadn't noticed before.

The ground was shaking. Though subtly, I could feel it becoming stronger. So I took a look at my supervising partner, and sure enough, he also felt it.

"Hey, Rona-" I never finished my sentence, because the ground shook far more fiercely than before, knocking me off balance while the recruits immediately fell on the ground.

Now, even these recruits could feel it.

Before I could get myself together, a loud booming voice resounded.

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Rather than immediately complying, I narrowed my vision to pinpoint where the sound was coming from, and I finally saw it.

"What in Levantis' name is that?!"

I felt my body go numb for a split second as a cold chill ran down my spine.

What else was I supposed to feel when a man came running over with hundreds, no, thousands of snakes on his tail! Some were bigger than the rest and their aura didn't seem any bit lacking compared to mine.

The warning bells in my head were overloaded with only one message.

Run.

It was just as the man said, I needed to run for my life, and I needed to move fast!

Without even looking at the sorry excuse for recruits still lying on the ground, I said…

"Run!"

…and did just that.

*Woosh*

They could die for all I cared, I'll deal with the aftermath later. But I could only do that if I stayed alive, and it seemed the others had the same thoughts.

As I rammed into bushes and leaves without care, I found my supervising partner right beside me.

A little away from him I could see others ramming down trees without a care in the world, but…

'How's that any of my business?'

With such thoughts, I focused on what was in front of me and pushed my body to the limits. I didn't even have time to think about getting in the way of the others, which were competition, because I could feel the ground shaking more and more fiercely.

That meant but a single thing. Those snakes were almost here, and as if to confirm my claims…

*Sssss…*

*Ssssss…*

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The snakes along the way entered a frenzy and charged towards the spot we were running from while attacking anything in their way.

'Damn it!'

I was frustrated at the situation, but I didn't stop running as I swiftly unsheathed my sword and began killing my way through the party of snakes.

Unfortunately, I had now found out it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. Unlike normal snakes, these one's fought like injured beasts right from the start.

They totally threw caution to the wind and attacked me anywhere and everywhere they saw without hesitation. Worse yet, there was neither a rhythm nor even the semblance of patterns in their attacks.

If it were only a snake and I in a one on one battle, then this would be to my advantage, but in a situation where I couldn't stop running because of the increased frequency of the shaking ground, it was the worst!

The snakes were just attacking everything, including each other, as they slithered forward with all their might. Every time I had to face one, my speed would become slower as I tried to get away without fighting. My priority was getting out of this forest as fast as I could.

But the snakes never stopped coming, and more and more injuries kept piling up. My mana wasn't able to regenerate as fast as it was being used and my body kept straining itself.

So, in no time at all, my body grew exhausted. I had cut so many snakes that my hands were covered in blisters.

My legs were bleeding profusely from a snake's sneak attack, so I was staggering at this point.

A few moments later, I began to feel dizzy and, without noticing, my sword fell out of my hand.

'Ah' I realized at this moment that I had been poisoned. Where and when, I did not know. It took a lot of mana to stop it from spreading through my body.

But as I continuously fought, I had depleted it, allowing the poison to penetrate my veins with ease.

I was dying from the inside. My heart was beating slower and my vision had become too blurry for me to make out my surroundings.

I instinctively knew that I was going to die.

So I laughed and used what was left of my hearing and touch to locate a tree and then sat down.

It was at this moment that it really hit me. I reminisced as my whole life flashed in front of my eyes. Without noticing, a tear dropped from my eye.

'I don't want to die' I thought. But reality was cruel, for in the next instant-

*Sssss*

-a snake was already beside me.

"Ha-"

I let out a hollow laugh.

"-so this is how it ends."

At this moment, my vision turned dark.

'I knew these potions were effective, but isn't this a little too effective?' Fredrick thought as he jumped from tree to tree while swinging his sword at the snakes who were lunging at him like crazily.

The potions had a far bigger effect than he imagined and the snakes were now approaching from all sides.

So Fredrick knew.

'I can't do this for much longer'

At the rate things were going, he would sooner or later succumb to the endless swarm of snakes. And while that wouldn't kill him, it was enough to give him some injuries, something he could afford but wanted to avoid.

But that in turn meant-

'It's enough, no, it's more than enough'

-it was time for him to begin the next stage of the plan.

And so he did. In the next moment, he amplified his legs with mana, and then…

*Boom!*

He shot off the tree he stood in like a catapult toward a tree 90 degrees to his left.

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But more importantly…it led straight to the Missionary outpost!

And that was exactly what Fredrick was aiming for!

It was time to break the big boss out of hiding.

"Hmm" Rowan furrowed his brow as he felt runes rapidly dying out, causing him to break out of his meditation.

His dark brown eyes opened to reveal a small room far more luxurious than any other in the outpost.

From the chairs, to the table, to even his dark green garment, all were above the standard quality.

A circle with runic inscriptions in it was etched into the floor and rowan was currently sitting in the middle of it cross legged.

Until now, that is.

"Ugh! What is it now?!"

His formerly peaceful expression immediately crumbled as it turned into a scowl.

He was so close to breaking through to the peak stage of Expert-rank. But no, it seemed even the world didn't want him to breakthrough at this moment.

So, with a scowl, he got up to see what it was that prompted his attention…but his attitude changed when he saw which of the detection runes were being destroyed.

Yes! Detection runes!

Why was it that neither Fredrick nor Cabrera quietly sneaked into the forest and immediately went to take their prize effortlessly? This was why!

As said before, all monster regions are a source of income for the ruling power. As such, they put up several mechanisms to guard their interest. Like the Missionary, this was one of them.

It is also part of why a sure-kill zone, or a nest, had Knights reduce the population by culling the beast to a sustainable level. After that, runes would be placed on intervals to detect a certain item.

The Adventure placard! This was the item it would detect.

This was why Cabrera, Fredrick and all others had to get themselves acquainted with the Missionary.

But like the Missionary, the runes weren't infallible. Far from it actually.

The runes were etched in the vicinity of the nest, and in this case, they were etched masterfully on the trees, making it hard for anyone other than a Master to detect and evade them.

And yes, Fredrick could currently do the same, but it wouldn't lead to the outcome Ezra was looking for. He could also be spotted when heading back, an outcome that had to be avoided at all costs.

The runes functioned by taking mana from that which the tree absorbed, but it also meant that, with the death of a tree, the rune would become useless.

So you can imagine Rowan's shock when runes began dying out in droves simultaneously starting from the east and west.

This was where Fredrick and Cabrera were causing havoc, but of course, Rowan didn't know that.

He sent his two guards to check on the situation. Trees being destroyed was a daily occurrence when you factored the amount of beast vs beast, man vs beast and man vs man fights that happened every day.

But…this was just abnormal! Especially in the west. Either hundreds of trees were dying every second, or there was someone that was erasing the runes using a wide area spell.

Whatever it was, his guards would soon bring him answers.

And with such thoughts, Rowan waited, only to find that the strange phenomenon did not stop or even slow down, but was instead increasing by the minute.

All of a sudden, the wave of runes that had been dying out from the west suddenly took a turn, and then the runes in a straight line began dying out.

Once Rowan looked at the point the pattern suddenly changed, he also looked at the curve at which the runes were dying out. And when he took his gaze a little deeper…his eyes widened in shock!

Whatever it was that was breaking the trees or erasing the runes…was heading right for the Missionary outpost!

He immediately took out an item similar to a pocket watch and infused mana into it.

No, he was about to do so…but then his hand came to a stop.

'There has never been any news of a B-rank beast in this nest…but if it turns out that whatever is coming isn't actually worth the trouble-

At this moment, he momentarily stopped and looked at the map filled with specks of light indicating the amount of runes.

The amount of beasts heading to the outpost would no doubt be considerable, but if it was just droves of D and E rank beasts, then calling for backup would be unnecessary.

-I will become a laughing stock'

As he concluded such thoughts, a visage flashed in his mind. And the next moment, he clenched his fists with so much rage that it popped veins as he thought…

'That bastard Reginald would never let me hear the end of it'

At this moment, a decision was made.

'I'll take on whatever it is myself' though Rowan as a cruel smile hung on his lips.

He, Rowan Everdust, would never allow himself to become a laughing stock. This was his pride as a man and as a member of noble blood.

Pride.

Oh pride!

The result of this action.

Oh! The result of this action…

Words weren't needed at this point, because within the period which Rowan contemplated on his next actions…the enemy had already arrived!

In the next moment…

"GET OUT OF HERE!"

"a-A WAVE OF SNAKES!"

"RUN! RUN AWAY!"

The few adventurers that were lucky enough to outrun the wave of snakes yelled with livid tones of fear and despair.

Their bodies showcased large amounts of cuts and bruises, which had blood leaking out of them. Their armours were severely damaged and most of them didn't have their weapons with them. They also spotted disheveled hair and worn out boots.

Yet, even with all this, they didn't seem to even notice their bodies as they shouted and kept running without another word.

The people within the outpost, that is, people still ignorant of the matters happening in the forest, were dumbfounded, but a few seconds later, some chased after those who were running to get information.

Nevertheless, the fact that the outpost was filled with people who were anything but ordinary was showcased as everyone quickly got ready for battle.

All those who just ran past weren't nobodies, some were very skilled for E-ranks. So, for them to look like that…something was coming!

The sellers immediately packed up their merchandise and closed their shops. The hotels immediately woke up any one within their rooms and noticed them of an incoming beast wave.

All the guild immediately sent scouts while the rest quickly wore their armor.

Not ten minutes had passed since the scouts were deployed…

"AHHH!"

A loud shriek was heard.

Then the familiar figure of Fredrick came running with blood leaking from self-inflicted wounds, and like before-

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

-he spoke his catch phrase.

What happened next could be defined in one word.

Disaster.

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