17. Mana fiends (?)

Kai looked at the village chief. "Alden, how many people have disappeared?"

Alden's lips formed thin lines as he fell into deep thought. Kai could tell that he was counting, as his fingers started bending one by one on his side.

"Four," he said. "Though we generally have disappearances, most of the time, we find bodies as some people get killed trying to hunt monsters. This time, we didn't find bodies."

"What about the strange activities?"

"Some hunters reported seeing unusual shadows in the forest. Also, we hear noises at random times like someone crying or screaming. They also reported a weird smell coming from the forest when they were there. We sent a few people to investigate, but they didn't find anything and with the attacks, we are already short-handed."

Alden explained and Kai guessed that the noises were coming from the humans captured by the fiends. Getting corrupted could be a painful process as some types of mana fiends tended to torture people while doing it.

As for the smell, it might very well be from the mana fiends.

"L-Lord Arzan, may I speak?" A quavery voice of a woman came from behind and interrupted them.

Kai leaned to his left to see who was talking as Alden was obstructing his vision. As he did, he saw an old woman who used a stick to stand.

"Yes, go on," Kai said, walking past Alden and standing before her.

"My son is a hunter, Lord Arzan," she said, a bitter smile plastered on her face and her voice wavering. "He just… disappeared one day, and no one was able to find him. It's been over a month and there's not even a trace of him." She started sobbing as she spoke.

The chief of the village stepped forward as he heard what she was saying.

"Her son was one of the four who disappeared. Some hunters tend to venture deep into the woods and often get killed. I fear that he met the same fate. Zanma was someone who liked to show off the bigger monsters he had managed to hunt, he went after them often," Alden said, looking at the woman and Kai.

The woman scoffed. She rolled her eyes at Alden. "He's a skilled hunter, Lord Arzan, but not a fool who would lose his life. If you don't believe me, please, ask around. The chief is young and doesn't know my son well enough. But my son wouldn't die like that!" Her pain was clear from her reddened eyes as she spoke.

Alden sighed loudly. "I understand your grief, but sometimes the forest can be unforgiving. He might have met with an unfortunate fate… We don't know anything for sure."

The old lady shook her head, not believing a single word that came out of Alden. Her eyes pleaded to Kai. "No! He's experienced. He wouldn't needlessly die out there. Something else is at play!"

Kai raised his hand at Alden making him pause without saying anything more.

The woman clearly grieved for her son, Zanma and was in denial about his death. There might be a chance he was actually a good hunter and had just been unlucky enough to get captured by the mana fiends.

Though, if he was, then, he might actually be better off dead.

"Do you know where he used to hunt?" Kai questioned. "Was it in the west?"

"He used to go all over the forest and would have certainly hunted in those parts," Alden said.

"I can help you, Lord Arzan…" A man walked forward suddenly. He was one of the few who was listening to their conversation.

He was a fairly tall man with long hair and a shaved face. Unlike the others, he seemed to have survived without hits from the goblins and looked in good shape.

"I'm one of the hunters and used to go hunting with Zanma. He was a good friend of mine," the man said. "I mean, he's a good friend of mine." He corrected before the old woman could hiss at him.

Kai nodded. "Alright. What is your name?"

"It's Phillips, my lord."

"You will follow us to the western parts of the forest. Originally, I came to this village to investigate Vasper forest as I suspect there some foul creatures are hiding that might become a threat to the region," Kai declared, looking at the confusion on the faces of Alden and Phillips.

"Foul creatures?" Phillips asked.

"Yes, I will explain on the road," he said before turning to the old woman. "If your son is alive, we will find him."

She nodded and muttered a small thank you to Kai and the rest of the guards.

"We can head out after helping out to organise things here," Killian said from behind.

Kai agreed and watched the guards gather to help out the villagers. He however needed to rest to recover his mana.

Although he made mana pretty fast for being in the 1st circle, he still wanted to be refreshed before they made their way towards the forest.

The acrid scent of burnt wood hung in the air as Kai sat back down in the corner and started breathing in and out.

As he focused on his breathing, he heard footsteps all around him as guards and villagers scampered around to fix the mess created by the goblins.

If he was at the 2nd circle, he might just be able to deal with the goblins far more quickly and even help around the repair with a few spells, but right now, he needed to conserve his mana.

After an hour or two, he opened his eyes and they scanned towards the rest of the village.

The boundaries of the village were marked by a palisade, and beyond that, there were the dried leaves, and twisted branches that marked the entrance of the forest.

"Lord Arzan," Killian walked up to him, breaking his thoughts.

"Yes? All set?" Kai asked back.

The knight nodded. They both looked back to see the villagers who seemed to be resting and were discussing what had happened a while ago. They were all in little groups in front of the few destroyed houses.

Fortunately, most of the houses in the village were saved and the ones who had burnt could easily be repaired.

Beyond that, the palisade would need more time to repair, especially the gate at the back that had only a few parts remaining with most of the wood either being burnt or smashed in.

"Yes, I think we should leave a few guards behind. Just in case they need help," Killian said and looked at the villagers once again.

He nodded. "Leave three men here and tell the villagers to prioritise fixing the gates. We will come through here anyway."

Killian nodded and walked back to let the guards know about their plans.

Kai stood up, stretching his body and feeling his Mana Heart being half full. That would do for now and he could charge it more on the way.

***

The sound of footsteps echoed through the silent, dense forest.

It was filled with trees all around. The tall, half-dead trees covered the view of the sky.

Apart from the tallest trunks, throughout the road they walked, they were met with other plants that were facing symptoms of wilting because of the harsh winter.

The dried leaves made rustling noises due to the cold wind that passed them.

Kai inhaled deeply. The earthly scent of the forest filled his lungs.

He was walking in front of the group. They left the horses back in the village as the western area where Zanma used to hunt was only an hour away.

With him, Phillips walked along with Killian right behind them. The rest of the guards walked in a formation with Feroy and Palman leading the rearguard.

"How many times have you hunted in this area?" Kai asked, looking at Phillips. He wanted to know more details about Zanma and the area around them.

"Twice a month with him, Lord Arzan. I had a hunting group with locations mapped out for easy prey, but Zanma was more unruly, trying to cover every part of the forest. I would join him to look for some larger monsters whose coats might fetch a good price."

"What type of monsters live around here?" The guy paused for a moment before responding.

"The area is dense with monsters, to be honest. Not every monster is willing to go to the dungeon to hibernate in the winter. Some of these are very territorial, Lord Arzan. From grey wolves to trolls, I have seen a lot of them. Goblins too, but I think the ones who attacked the village were the small clan of them that lived around here."

"They never stepped out of the forest before, right?" Kai asked.

"Not that I recall. We've been trying to trace the monsters, because we thought it would be a big one pushing them back to the village, but found little to nothing."

Kai fell into thought. It certainly seemed like something was pushing them out, but if they had found nothing, then that just raised more questions.

He had a few hypotheses, but nothing concrete that fit the situation.

If mana fiends are involved, then it's strange that monsters are running towards villages. They normally won't act like this.

He thought, his facial muscles straining.

"Could it be mana fiends?" Killian's curiosity-filled voice came from behind. He had been listening to the conversation and seemed to have attached the problem with mana fiends.

Kai wanted to say yes to the question, but after listening to everything, he sensed that something was wrong.

Mana fiends were known to capture territories owned by others, but they would hardly let monsters leave. Usually, they would corrupt and integrate them.

Especially if the monster was a goblin lord who would easily be a strong fiend.

At worst, they would kill them, but a whole clan of goblins and other monsters running away from them didn't make sense.

Kai shrugged. "It can be. Let's keep moving for now." His answer was curt and Killian didn't seem to have any follow-up questions.

As they walked, Phillips deemed it to be the right moment to ask more questions.

"Who or what are mana fiends?" he asked.

"Mana fiends are creatures that possess corrupted or dead mana. They are pretty powerful and often corrupt areas or people. When they corrupt a monster, they'd turn into mana fiends, just like the rest of them. You know human fiends as mana weavers. There are other variations, but I won't go there. Just understand, they are more dangerous than normal monsters you would come across," Kai explained.

Phillips nodded. "They sound like shit creatures to come across," he whispered to himself.

Kai huffed hearing that.

"Keep an eye out. We are in the deeper parts of the forest now," Killian said aloud for the guards in the back to hear.

They continued to move forward on the game trail. Time passed like that as they moved and Kai kept an eye out for signs of corruption.

Normally, mana fiends would affect the surroundings a lot, but he didn't see any obvious signs of corruption. The ground and trees looked devoid of any and the ambient mana in the air was clean.

"We are in the area where I used to hunt with Zanma," the hunter said while gesturing to the road. "Just beyond these thickets, there's a clearing. It leads straight to the streams and a network of caves straight from it. Used to be my second favourite hunting spot."

Kai nodded. "Caves, you say? Any particular reason that your hunts led you both there?"

"Aye, the caves were a haven for elusive prey, and the streams teemed with life. Perfect for a skilled hunter to wait around. We'd track game through the clearing and follow the natural pathways to those caves before hunting them down."

Kai looked around the place. Compared to the opening of the forest which had more grass, this area was dense.

He stopped in his tracks to inspect it.

The rest of the group stopped after him and continued to stay silent without asking questions.

Kai walked around the place. His fingertips touched the trunks of the cold trees. Nothing. He bent down and checked for any subtle hint of corruption. Nothing.

"Can you guys check for signs of corruption? Mostly they appear as blackened spots on trees, grass and even earth. Also, keep a lookout for any strange sounds or smells."

The group nodded and started searching for any sign of corruption. Kai followed them along and reached a bit farther from where they were.

"The stream is ahead, right?" Kai asked loudly.

The hunter bobbed his head up and down in agreement.

"Did you all find anything?" He asked.

"Nothing, Lord Arzan. We found nothing!" One of the guards said, his voice thick with disappointment. Killian also shook his head.

"Let me check something then," Kai said and started moving forward. As he did, the guards followed him.

He soon halted as he heard the sound of water before moving again.

As he moved ahead, the sound got closer and closer. Kai jogged down the path to finally reach the stream.

It was a wide stream that seemed to be used as a water source by the village. Bending down, he looked at it carefully.

The water was pristine and seemed to be running as usual. There were no signs of any corruption around the stream too.

He stepped forward carefully, avoiding slipping on mud by the stream and took a sip from it.

As soon as he was hit with the taste of the water, his face scrunched up.

"It can't be—"

"What- what is it, Lord Arzan?" Killian's worried voice distracted Kai.

He turned around to see Killian frowning deeply. The rest of the guards were standing behind him.

"The water is normal," Kai said, calming the guards down.

"Why are you acting like that then? We thought something was off."

Kai scoffed. "Something is off. Mana fiends would often pollute water. It's not very natural to see there's pure water. It should have been filled with pollutants, but as you see, that's not the case."

He couldn't understand what was going on. If mana fiends were around here, then things didn't fit with their natural habits. It was already odd that they had let monsters get away from them and only pushed them away from their homes.

With the stream being clean, it posed additional questions.

Does that mean there could be something more—

Kai's eyes flickered in between his thoughts as he saw something shining. It was a quick twinkle of something, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.

His eyes squinted as he tried to take a better look at it. It was on the other side of the stream, in between the bushes.

"Guards! Killian! There is some—"

Before Kai could finish his sentence properly, something from the bush popped up.

"Argh!"

It was a skeleton.

A white fleshless skeleton with fire casting from its eye sockets. The skeleton lunged forward, in a swift motion across the stream at once.

Kai quickly looked at the weapon in its hand and frowned.