Chapter 18: Garlneth

Snapping its unhinged jaw forward the [Giant Hypsiscopus (11)] went for the neck, wasting no time in its assault.

The prepared Leek took his glaive and slashed as fast as he could at the now airborne monster.

Before he felt the blade come back down to his control Leek used his momentum to follow up.

His body went to his right, and with this, he used the momentum to spin-off of his heel. His right hand extended and with the spin, he followed up in rapid succession. Again cutting at the monster.

Once his feet planted once again he braced himself to face the [Giant Hypsiscopus (11)]'s response.

Nothing…

When his eyes focused properly he noticed that the monster had been chopped into three large chunks. One being half of its total size, with the other two sharing the remaining portion of its body mass.

As he looked down at the deceased snake it began to decay rapidly.

[(+2)Scales: Weak/Common] | [(+1)Oral Glands: Common/Venomous]

-Leek: He had not anticipated the gap in strength. The Hysiscopus was the highest-level creature he's fought till now. "Holy…" 

When interacting up to this point Leek had only been using the crippled dagger and shield, for whatever reason forgetting to have switched them until this point.

A renewed sense of excitement went through his digital veins, pumping him up to annihilate more bugs who dared challenge him.

Instead of waiting Leek broke out into a sprint, heading for the distance. When he brought his mind to search he could feel the general location of a mob he wanted to hunt.

With no doubt, it was an unconscious activation of his [Coldening Feeling] skill. He exchanged parts of his sanity and fortitude for heightened perception.

Once he got within the vicinity of the [Large CaneToad (13)] he wasted no time, jumping into action with little thought.

His feet left the ground, effortlessly gliding with him as he gained height. Above his head was his readied glaive, which clenched with anticipation to fall through its prey.

With a hop, the [Large CaneToad (13)] rotated to face its enemy. "Grhrrgggh" it went, opening its mouth after doing so.

In little time a large mass shot from between its lacking lips, directly placing itself in the middle of the Toad and Leek.

A punch, Leek used this to counter the launched tongue. 

The gauntlet on his arm allowed his hand to remain unfazed from the attack. He did need to remove it from his glaive to do so, thus reducing the amount of force he could generate on the down-swing.

No damage from his punch was done, instead, the tongue retracted back into the [Large CaneTaod (13)]'s gullet. "Grhrrgggh" it said again.

Coming down from his jump Leek pulled at his glaive, putting his force downward to let his blade slit the body of the monster.

The length of his blade was not enough to pierce through its body cleanly. If it had been extended it would most definitely have been possible, as where it did land could not stop it from penetrating.

[(+3)Toad Legs: Common/Material] | [(+1)Toad Tongue: Common/Material]

Just as the Hypsiscopus had done after its flatline, the Large CaneToad became a sum of parts, fizzling away. Any blood that had been spilled also found itself dissipated after its death.

When his feet stood above the dead [Large CaneToad (13)] Leek withdrew his partner from its lying carcass.

-Leek: "Hmmph." This was his response. His eyes only grazed the sight of the fallen monster; turning his head to simply find his new plaything.

...

His mission came to head in no time. Leek needed not to worry for his safety as he went about hacking apart Large CaneToads with a nonchalant attitude, posing no difficult challenge.

During this endeavor Leek went about removing the threat of any [Giant Hypsiscopus (11)]'s, who attempted to catch his guard off its balance while he fought.

-Leek: "Now that was some fun… but I'm going to need an actual challenge." Living out a brief power fantasy was a thrill, but he did not join this game to simply bully lower-level monsters.

[(+47) Toad Legs: Common/Material] | [(+7)Toad Tongue: Common/Material] | [(+12)Scales: Common/Material] | [(+3)Oral Glands: Uncommon/Venomous]

He had killed approximately fourteen [Large CaneToad (13)]'s, and did the same for seven [Giant Hypsiscopus (11)]'s.

While he tallied his game a message notification popped up, instructing Leek about a message in wait for him.

~Light8lack_3232: "Hey. Why you at the guild capital? I'm here tho. The front gate."

An awaited message reached Leek's inbox telling him of Gray's long-anticipated arrival.

He stopped and chose to reply, "Coming. Gimme a little to head back, like three minutes max!"

-Leek: Standing idle, he let out his frustration. "He's pretty damn lucky. I was close to quitting like yesterday!" He closed the message tab.

'Eliminate As Many Invasive CaneToad's From The Fields Surrounding Faerilm's Base. | Kill 0<, Bring Their Legs For Confirmation|' [Completed]< p>

Technically the quest had been done ever since he killed the first CaneToad, though he hoped his efforts would be rewarded. The wording specified the legs, so the EXP likely scaled with the amount he had.

Going by the amount of legs would be best for Leek. In his killing spree rarely did he get a drop of only a singular leg, with up to four coming from one kill.

In the case he found the quest as disproportionately valuable he crossed his fingers at the possibility for him to accept it after submission. He was taking his shot at manipulating an arbitrage in the game economy.

Either way, he broke into a quick stride, his character taking a straight shot for Faerilm's gate.

Leek did not let up on his sprint to the gate. 

He got within eyesight, close enough to see the most recent caravan pulling into the city, disappearing past the dense walls from Leek's current point of vision.

And even in full panic, he could not ignore the serene beauty of the city when at half-day. The glittery shimmer, from the very light mist coming from over the edge of the hanging mountain, reflecting the sun's rays. It was an impeccable addition to its design.

From his closing distance, Leek could see the floating marker for Gray's character [Garlneth Toofargariyan (22)].

He did not fail to question the name of this indicator, as it directly conflicted with the username given to him. It was a blatant deviation. But when put up to scrutiny there was no other option.

it was located where Gray said he would be, there were no others on his friend list, outside of the mysterious Reighley, and the comical parody of the name was also an action Gray would throw out.

By now Leek reached the gate.

He walked just behind the caravan he watched enter the city. It was moving at a paced crawl, and coming to an even more gradual slow.

Permittance through the city's portcullis was conditional to Leek putting his weapons away/into a safe stance. His glaive was put onto his back, hanging with its head down, and sheathed with a covering.

The gauntlet on his hand was placed on his waist, tied by two thin strings coming from its inside.

The pulled caravan progressed far enough to have all the patrons abroad file out in number, all paying their fare before departing in their own interest.

Plentiful amounts of people did spawn beside the vehicle, not being visible while it traveled along.

One of the few who sat in a seat, not hidden, stepped off the wagon; it was a knight. The armor it wore was dark silver, beginning at the helm and stopping at the chest and shoulders.

Under this rigid covering was a green cloth accented with details of white, it draped down to just above the knee. The cloth's chest was designed with a brown, forming the shape of a long shield.

His waist, firearms, lower legs, and sections of the pectoral were layered with sturdy leather. These were all fastened by compiling silver buckles.

Between the main points of leather/metal covering, such as the biceps and legs, was a dark medium, a scale-like mail.

It covered any otherwise exposed areas with a more flexible material, giving his muscles more space for tension.

Above this specimen knight's head was an indicator, [Garlneth Toofargariyan (22)].

-Garlneth Toofargariyan: Its hand raised into a wave, stiffening with the increased range of motion. "Looky, looky. If it isn't the scarcest man on this side of the Stream!"

The sight of only a moving suit of armor gave him an uncanny feeling, even though he knew definitively that this was a person talking. 

A lack of expression on the visored barbuta helmet was the main reason for this.

-Leek: "Yeah, could say the same for you… Sir, Garlneth." This was said with a straight face but placed heavy emphasis on its undertone of sarcasm.