The Dreadlands

* * *

To the extent of my knowledge, Filchin City was a newer city in the west. One of the central gateways of trading between the State and other countries. I had read quite a lot about the place before. And father had been there many times on business, and I was initially confident that getting there would be as easy as his tales of his successful economic experiences.

However, being the antisocial kid that I had been, I had never been more than several steps away from town. So it was no surprise that navigating to a city 20 miles away was going to be a nightmare.

In only a few hours, I had already been chased off the main roads by a group of merchants. I spent the rest of the day getting lost in the forests, attacked by other dreadspawn, and becoming acquainted with the two skeletal town guards.

The skeletons weren't sentient. I was certain of that. They had their uses, but they were pretty much useless when it came to helping with directions. They never talked and didn't seem to understand normal conversation except orders. Instead, they just followed me blankly in circles, though I noticed they retained parts of their human traits and prowess.

The one that had only one arm left was named Leftan. Very creative, I know. But the system didn't seem to care anyway and renamed him automatically.

He was a dab hand with a sword, often leaving his horse to chase down a wolf that dared to attack us- even managing to take down one of the merchants' guards. I had thought handling any weapon would now be hard for him, but it seemed that having only his left hand left had actually increased the skill of his attacks. Even the system had given him a buff stat effect.

Beep. [ Special Effect: Unshackled Arm ]

[ Leftan loses his right arm and no longer needs to worry about it, causing him to be able to wield his sword more dangerously and recklessly. There are no blind spots and anyone in the vicinity of his blade can be slashed. ]

[ +3 Increased Atk Range ]

[ 360 Degree Area of Atk ]

The other one, Gunnar, wasn't quite as skilled with a blade. As his name implied, he was better with ranged weapons and still had the flintlock from the skirmish with the bandits, even though it was pretty useless with only one bullet left. However, that wasn't all. His potential seemed to lie more in experience and was a lot more well-rounded.

He was the one helping me to ride a horse and stopped me from falling off countless times. Furthermore, he was always the first to detect any signs of danger and either reacted accordingly or tried to move away immediately. That was also why I rode with him, in addition to the fact that he was a natural with horses.

I was quite content with their inability to talk, being a quiet person myself. However, that meant that they couldn't give me directions or tips. So even though I was finally sure I was heading west, I soon wandered into more dangerous parts of the forests. Further in the woods, the place would transition into deeper and denser forests.

The woodland borders, more widely known as the Dreadlands. They were a long line of wilderness that ran between countries and cities, separating the open fields with a dangerous leafy veil, though it was not necessarily always forests.

These parts made up almost a quarter of the continent and were anywhere without human civilization. It made life for travelers and explorers difficult, especially since the deep groves were infested with all kinds of bloodthirsty monsters, which only grew worse with every year.

Of course, the countries had attempted to reduce the ever-expanding trees, but with little success. Every time a tree was cut down, a few more would replace it. Eventually, the only thing they could do was clear out frequently used paths and roadways through the forests.

It was already bad enough until the system alert appeared.

Beep. [ New Territory Discovered ]

[ The Dreadland Borders ]

'This is bad.' I thought. 'Really bad. According to geography textbooks, the only Dreadland areas around the territory of Wruens was teeming with fierce reptilian creatures- mainly kobolds and their kind. An unusual reptilian breed of lizard-like dogs. Though kobolds were known to be weak, almost as weak as the average mud-goblin, they were dangerously ruthless in large numbers. Well organized kobold swarms could destroy even villages.'

And here I was, right at their doorstep of their natural habitat.

'Wait, this might not be that bad after all...' I suddenly had a thought. 'If my memory is correct, I remember every town guard needed to be able to clear at least a decent-sized group of kobolds on their own for their training.'

I instantly turned to look at Leftan and Gunnar expectingly, thinking 'This could be a good chance to strengthen my system. And my units as well, if this works the way strategy games usually do.'

However, we were talking about a whole forest of kobolds here. Not the usual small groups that raided villages. Would the skeletons be able to handle it?

I didn't have time to think it through further. The kobolds had already made the decision for me when they came flooding out from between the trees. Shrieks rose from all directions as short scaly creatures with murky yellow eyes charged from the bushes.

"Stay together! Leftan, defend!"

Several were instantly cut down automatically by Leftan, but the first charge's main aim was to alert every other kobold-kind in the forest. In a few seconds, their numbers had already doubled, rushing towards our horses in a frenzy.

The kobolds weren't the sharpest tool in the shed. Instead of setting an ambush which would've been ideal with the environment, they made a spread-out charge in a disorganized way, running straight towards the skeleton's sabres.

They used primitive weapons like shortswords and sharpened stones. Some wore ragged armor sewn from leaves and pieces of leather- though I saw a few waving around pistols and muskets and using them as fancy clubs.

Again, Leftan was doing most of the slaying. It was awestriking to see his actions through his view and even more so normally. He swung down fiercely from atop his horse, circling around us. Any kobold that his sword connected with was sliced through easily. Gunnar had his sabre out as well, though he was mainly trampling down the kobolds with his horse, mowing down the ones that Leftan missed.

The system was now beeping non-stop with kill notifications. However, it made no difference. The combat overview panel was just a sea of red enemy tags.

But the enemies were not to be underestimated. With every second, the swarm of kobolds just grew more packed. The kobolds may not have much intelligence or power, but they were unrivaled in terms of numbers. Even if Leftan and Gunnar could handle this, my soul mana would get exhausted eventually. I and the horses were in danger if we were overwhelmed.

"In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." I reminded myself, thinking of a quick plan. 'I only need a while to figure out if the system can do what I think it can. At the rate Leftan is reaping kobolds, I should be able to make this work. If it doesn't, we'll retreat the way we came.'

"Leftan, charge and divert!" I ordered. With the small formation, we were in, the kobolds could concentrate all their forces on this one spot and engulf us. Spreading their targets away should delay some time for me at least.

Leftan immediately jumped off his horse with a skeletal roar, his one arm furiously slashing through the lines of the scaly horde before dashing right through into their midst. A good amount of the kobolds now turned their attention to the undead skeleton rampaging among them.

I could see he was killing a lot more every second, now that he was off his horse, but his soul health was also going down at an alarming rate. Time was not on my side.