The way back (part 5)

"What do you mean...?"

The next day, right before the departure of the caravan, the leader of the escorting adventurers was asking the hunters about the monster activity between their village and New Herbal and ended up shocked by the answer.

"It's as I said, sir Gerard. Since we've spotted some markings left by the Stone Fang wolves, we haven't dared to move through the area."

One of the few men who didn't take part in the previous night's incident answered with an apologetic expression.

"But... wouldn't that mean that you haven't had contact with the other village in two... three weeks...?"

The adventurer inquired with a frown.

"Yes, but it's not nearly as odd as you might think, kind sir. Let's be honest, this is the wilderness, and even though both Little Barn and New Herbal were built on spawning grounds of low-ranked monsters, there are sightings of some powerful beasts lurking about. I still remember when almost a decade ago, a rank B Earth Tortoise Golem was migrating through the territory, and both villages had to remain cut off from the outside world for over four months. Three weeks is nothing."

The hunter shook his head and assured the doubtful adventurer.

"Yeah, but the Earth Tortoise Golem's migration was actually part of a kingdom-scale quest. My father and older brother both took part in it, but I was too low-level back then to be able to participate. What we are dealing with now is completely erratic monster behavior affecting this area... and spreading out all the way to Grand Herbal. We know too little."

The adventurer's leader sighed and pointed out, dissatisfied with the lack of valuable information.

"There are no sightings of monsters stronger than Stone Fang wolves, right? I am not going to lead my people into a region taken over by Iron Fang wolves or... The system knows what."

The adventurers' leader inquired, clearly not even wanting to mention the monster species he was the most worried about by name.

"I apologize, but if they are, then they are keeping themselves too far from our village for us to notice."

"...I see..."

In the end, the assurance that the adventurer wanted could not be given, resulting in a troubled sigh from both men.

With that, the caravan ventured forth to their destination without fully knowing what would await them there.

Everyone was tense and on guard – be it the escorting adventurers, the traveling merchants, or the young priest of death.

Zorey feelings were more on the worried side than the rest of the group because of the obvious reason of New Herbal being his home.

The black-haired boy was aware that when strong monsters start moving around, the safest thing to do is to lock the gates and stay home, praying for the danger to pass by, but even so...

The Earth Tortoise Golem migration that the adventurer's leader and the hunter from Little Barn talked about happened right about the time that he was found in the forest and taken in by his father, so he never experienced that type of isolation himself.

But the matter – or rather a person – that he was by far the most worried about was Vernlily.

She was a bound guardian knight of the New Herbal, even if monsters many times stronger than her would show up, with the colossal debuff she would suffer if she attempted to escape the region would result in her death.

She would literally be forced to fight.

...and she was barely level 12 when they last seen each other...

"..."

Zorey, sitting on the wagon, gritted his teeth while staring at the road from over his knees.

He certainly remembered everything that the burgundy-eyed girl told him, so he knew that she had much better DEF and MDF than normally possible because of quests she received while on duty, but still...

DEF: 25

MDF: 20

ATK: 14

Even with the 50% buff that being in the territory she was bound to, it would translate to...

DEF: 37 or 38 if lucky

MDF: 30

ATK: 21

And that's it. He didn't know how much HP she had or if she had any healing spells that could aid her HP regeneration while within the borders of New Herbal...

"...Check Status..."

[Name: Zorey

Race: Human

Class: Priest of Death

{Title: Challenger (hidden)}

Level: 22

HP: 51 MP: 26

ATK: 27* MAT: 26

DEF: 26 MDF: 26

SPD: 26 LUC: 26

* (Fist mightier than a sword) achievement's buff active

Skills: Appease undead (active) (level 11)

Lesser prayer (active) (max level)

Prayer (active) (level 8)

Pact (active) (level 3)

Staff proficiency (passive) (level 6)

Lesser poison resistance (passive) (level 7)

Mend (active) (level 6)

Unarmed combat (passive) (level 8)

Bullet punch (active) (level 7)

Piercing impact (passive) (level 6)

Lesser mana spring (passive) (level 4)

Patience (passive) (level 2)

Throw (passive) (level 4)

Gemstone creation (active) (level 8)

Pneumatic punch (active) (level 1)

Number of contracted undead: 0/3]

Zorey grumbled to himself and stared at the half-transparent Status Window that appeared in the middle of his vision.

Besides the Pneumatic punch, even skills like Pact that he never trained ended up leveling up thanks to being boosted by his overall level increasing.

With skills like that, even though Vernlily's defense seemed to be sufficient, she would stand little to no chance against Zorey in an actual fight.

...and there were plenty of monsters that had way better stats and Skills than the black-haired boy...

How long would she be able to fight against a pack of just-rank E Stone Fang wolves whose ATK could start from 38 and go almost to 50 even before they rank up and evolve?

Even if the villagers ended up banding together and backing her up, how long would their last?

Was there even a chance for them if the Stone Fang wolves were led by the Iron Fang wolf?

And what if it was the same level 29 one that the caravan encountered almost two months prior while taking Zorey to Grand Herbal?

And even if not, what if she ended up chasing after one of the monsters and stepping out of her territory and was hit with the humongous 75% debuff to all of her stats?!

The black-haired boy couldn't sleep properly because of anxiety, actually worried sick.

Even if she managed to fall asleep, he would end up having terrible nightmares about Vernlily calling out to him for help while he could not reach her.

The caravan didn't encounter any monsters during the next few days – but that only made everyone even more anxious.

There was NO MONSTER WHATSOEVER anywhere in sight.

No dwarf lesser rats, no lesser giant rants, no stone fang dogs, nothing.

None of the most basic monsters that people could settle next to in relative safety with proper safety measures.

Of course, there were no strong monsters in sight either, but that wasn't actually that good either.

If there was no danger around, how come, in three weeks, the hunters from the two villages never met even though it was supposed to be a rather common occurrence while chasing down prey...?

And even if there was nothing to hunt, wouldn't it be more obvious to contact the neighboring village to confirm whether they are facing a similar difficulty?

"...!"

"What in the System?!"

On the morning of the final day of the travel, mere few hours away from New Herbal, Zorey jolted up to his feet, staring towards the horizon with wide eyes, startling Powelialle, who cursed loudly and glared at the young priest of death.

"What are you doing, boy?! You can't just stand on the wagon while it's moving! Sit down, or you might fall and...!"

"... the black fog...!"

The brown-haired merchant scolded Zorey, but the black-haired boy didn't even seem properly aware of what was said to him as he muttered.

"What black fog, what are you... wait...! You can't mean malice or... fuck...! HEAD MERCHANT!"

Powelialle frowned and almost shrugged Zorey's words off but then a realization kicked in, and he shouted, making the entire caravan grind to a halt.

"What is going on?"

The head merchant left his wagon and approached Powelialle and the black-haired boy, who seemed almost in a trance.

"Kid. Kid! Tell us what's going on."

"...!"

The brown-haired poked the black-haired boy in the side, making him flinch and look their way.

"It's... Malice... or resentment... Priests of death see it as a black fog; the more of it and the thicker it is, the more dangerous it is and the greater the grudge that the potential undead holds. Although the power of the grudge doesn't translate to the strength of the monster, but still... There..."

Zorey gulped down his saliva and muttered a quick explanation in case the others weren't aware of the details of his Class.

"From this place, it looks like the whole New Herbal is engulfed in it. It all gathers over there, right above the treetops, but I can even see whisks of the black fog passing by us right here and now."

The young priest of death said in a trembling voice.