LRAB 47 – Moving Out
47 – Moving Out
I heard the discordant buzz of noises, the crashes, and the screams. I felt the ground heave and buckle, as if a lightweight blanket buffeted by the intense winds. And I saw Ed, his face grimy and sweaty—enough that I could make out the pockmarks of dust and dirt.
By situating my body in a manner that blocked his sight of the interior, I managed to hide the swaying bodies of my former teammates. And background noise worked to conceal the muffled noises that escaped through their blinds.
"Captain Aldrin is calling for you," he said, trying to peek over my shoulder. "And your friends."
I moved in his field of vision, blocking his view of the interior, and said, "Sure, we'll meet him at his tent. In five minutes?"
He nodded at my proposal and turned to leave, though I caught a reluctant energy in his steps. I closed the door, turned around, and frowned. "Guess we have our work cut out for us," I told the duo who shared my look.
Amara alighted her gaze upon the suspended bodies before shifting her attention back to me. "How many of those free points do you have left?" She asked.
"90," I answered. "You want me to use them?"
She nodded, gesturing at the bound people with her brows. I did and watched as my Spirit settled at 1365, higher than even Amara's agility. With that increase, her total attributes rose by a whole 265 points. Thanks to Moon's Blessing, her agility hovered closer to my own spirit attribute. With Spirit Call, her agility could easily rival that of an A-rank hunter who also focused on that attribute.
"What are you going to do?" I asked, intently watching as she undid the strings tying them.
Amara curled her lip, displaying her sharp fang, and said, "Blood Monarch."
It took me a moment to understand what she meant, and when I did, I looked on with renewed curiosity. As the bodies dropped to the ground, instead of screams of protests and flailing struggle, they twitched uncontrollably. Seeing their expression morph into ghastly shapes reminded me for the umpteenth time that I needed to learn to use Blood Monarch properly.
"This is that puppetry trick, right?" I asked, not tearing my gaze away from the writhing forms of my former teammates.
"Mm-hmm." Amara offered a thoughtful nod and then turned to me. "I will be honest, I hadn't expected our meeting and the subsequent happenings with them to be so... anticlimactic. The whole affair has that stale quality, as if dealing with dead clowns."
That was aptly put, I thought. In fact, I hadn't expected it to unfold this way back when I was still getting a grip on my changed surroundings. I had expected a lot more drama and even more action, but this...
Shaking my head, I said, "It's best if we just put this all to rest." Once and for all. "Let's go see what Aldrin has for us."
The vampire twirled her index finger in a spiraling arc, and the bodies stiffly rose to their feet. Although I wasn't afraid of making a show, I hoped to avoid the hassle, if only to protect the image. That was the only reason why I hadn't hauled their asses through the whole camp and fed them to some nasty monsters waiting outside.
We left the hovel, my companions walking right beside me, while the four trailed right after. The camp was empty this time, most of the fires extinguished. The roars and clangs happened at a distance—and though I could make out the sounds with startling clarity—I paid it no heed.
Captain Aldrin was pacing around in his tent, overcome by anxiousness. He caught our approach and greeted us with a put-on relaxed expression. "I really appreciate you accepting my request," he said, gesturing with his hand.
We filed into the tent one after another, with Amara having the four stay outside. "Well," I said, "what can we do for you?"
Seeing Aldrin adopt a pensive attitude confirmed half my assumptions.
"You must understand the circumstances our camp is facing," he said, addressing me before shifting his attention to Amara. "Monsters are swarming us, and even if we ward off another assault, we will be dealing with a high number of casualties. If the problem isn't resolved, before long, this whole camp will be reduced to a ghost town."
He finished his spiel and looked at us expectantly; I stared back with a touch of nonchalance. "And what do you expect us to do about that?" I posed.
Aldrin shared a look between us before he gritted his teeth and said, "We need your help. There's a B-Rank monster among the mob."
"While I understand your predicament, you must also understand that we as guilders are bound by our orders.
Captain Aldrin provided us with the information on the terrain and handed us some supplies. Even though our target was a B-Rank monster, we would have to cross a sea of low-ranked monsters before we could get even remotely close. And even then, the chances of us finishing our task were slim.
Of course, he didn't know that we had already scouted the monster's base the previous night. With agility over 1000, running back and forth along the coastline and even to the borders of Greystone County had been a breeze.