Chapter 5: Strongest in the Forest

It took the party less than twenty minutes to catch up with the scouts sent ahead. Several of the the scouts were already severely injured, including Andrew.

"What happened here Liam?" The baron was visibly angry as he asked Liam about the situation.

"We got too close to the fight and ended up in the crossfire. One of the mud trolls locked onto us and threw several trees in our direction. Andrew tried to block them with his earth magic but he couldn't do it in time. We were lucky the mud troll focused on the drakon again instead of coming for us."

"Both of you should have known better! Though a mud troll can't compare to a drakon, it's still a B rank monster. You need at least five people of the same rank to contend with any beast above D rank. You and Andrew are the only individuals in the group who are B rank. You and all of the men here could have been killed!" The baron was quickly losing his temper as he spoke.

'That was actually a far more passive reaction than I imagined. Though I suppose having to scold your own, grown son in front of your men isn't exactly appropriate in this situation. It definitely wasn't uncalled for.'

Before the baron could say anything else a bone chilling roar sounded throughout the forest.

"We will talk about this later." The baron quickly composed himself as he headed in the direction of the roar.

Every abled person aside from those tending to the wounded followed after the baron. after about fifteen minutes of riding through the forest, the baron gestured for everyone to stop a dismount behind a bunch of bushes.

As Martin tried to peek through the branches, he caught sight of a large brown human like arm on the ground several meters away.

Suddenly, a massive pair of jaws covered in dark green scales clamped onto the arm, and quickly lifted it out of sight. Mere seconds later a sickening crunch sounded, undoubtedly the sound of bones being crushed.

'My goodness that was terrifying.'

. "Silas take a few men and flank the beast from the right. Liam, I want you and Martin to go to the far side with your men. The rest of you will flank the beast from the right. Understand? When I give the signal, I want all of you to scream at the top of your lungs. The loud noise will confuse the drakon long enough for me to charge in and hopefully get a fatal blow. Now move."

All the men including Martin and Liam moved without any hesitation. Silence and stealth were key at the moment.

'Why are there so many twigs here? I feel like I'm in a minefield with a blindfold.' Martin was having a bit of difficulty getting around the trees without stepping on any sticks.

'Come on Martin. Your almost there, just a few more steps and you'll be good.'

*snap*

The drakon raised its head away for a moment before returning to its meal. It was not worried about a little rustling in the bushes or a twig snap. There were hardly any beasts in this forest that could pose a threat to it.

'Phew.' Martin let out a sigh of relief when nothing happened. So long as he stayed quiet he had no reason to fear.

[System Alert: Host has acquired skill 'Stealth lvl 1']

"Huh?" Martin stopped in place as he heard a voice similar to Aella's in his head.

"Martin! Get over here now!" Liam said just loud enough for Martin to hear.

"Oh, sorry." Martin shook his head and kept moving forward.

As Martin got to his position a thought occurred to him. 'According to what father said, you need at least five people of equal of rank are needed to defeat any beast above D rank. If I'm not mistaken the drakon is at least A rank or at the very top of B rank. If that's true, doesn't that mean father is likely at or even above A rank. Why the hell is he just a baron then?'

Just as Martin was getting deeper in his thoughts Liam tapped him on the shoulder.

"Focus Martin, Father will give the signal soon."

Moments later a loud whistle was heard from the other side of the drakon.

"Now! Raaaaaaah!" Liam quickly started yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Raaaaaah!" Martin joined in while holding his ears. 'Geez! Did you have to do that in my ear, you big oaf?'

As Martin looked up at the drakon, now that hiding wasn't important any more he could finally get a good look at the beast. It was at least fifteen meters long with armor like skin. Its front legs were as thick as tree trunks and it had meter long claws at the end of each toe. Its body was built for fast moving attacks. The drakon had a resemblance to Earth's Komodo dragon except it had a leaner build and a crown of three horns on its head.

As Martin studied the drakon a strange purple light lit up from behind a few bushes on the opposite side of the drakon.

"What is that?!" Martin was caught off guard by the sudden light show and stopped yelling.

Just as he was about to ask Liam what was happening a loud cry could be heard coming from the the purple light.

" A horse?" Martin questioned as there was no mistaking that sound. And just as he said this a six meter tall horse rose from the bushes and on it's back was a giant knight with white hair.

"You have got to be kidding me?! That is ridiculously awesome!" Martin shouted out loud.

Liam quickly pulled Martin down and smacked him upside the head.

"Do you want to get us both killed? The drakon is still there you idiot!" Liam scolded as he looked at the behemoths standing before them.

"Father hasn't been able to defeat the drakon before because Boulder's unique ability 'Gigantification' hadn't upgraded in almost twenty years. Now that his skill has upgraded they can fight the drakon head on. They're almost twice the size of what they were before the upgrade. To think Boulder would become so powerful. Father really lucked out taming such a monster." Liam looked on in admiration as the baron and Boulder faced the drakon.

Martin couldn't see his father's face due to his helmet's visor being lowered but he had already gained mountains of respect for the old man.

'It seems as time goes on my memories are becoming clearer and clearer. They're starting to feel like my own now. I don't know if this is good or bad.'

As Martin was thinking this the drakon finally made its move. At first it was startled by the yelling of the men and then the sudden appearance of this huge horse and human, but now it is ready to get out. The drakon raised its head high and opened its mouth wide. Even Martin who had never really felt magic before could feel the huge amount of power coming from the drakon's mouth.

'Am I really about to see the infamous fire breath that dragon's are known for. This is so exciting! Wait won't father die?' Martin couldn't help but worry after thinking this. Now he could almost feel a cold sweat coming down his face.

Before he could decide what to do next he heard what sounded like thunder in front of him. As he looked up he could barely catch sight of his father's horse charging towards the beast.

The baron raised his shield with one hand as he raised his sword with the other and bellowed a loud deep cry that skook the ground they stood on.

[System Alert:s under the effects of the skill 'Battle Cry'. Strength, Stamina, and Spirit will have a temporary one hundred percent increase in points.]

'Hm. This is what I heard earlier. I thought I had just imagined it. Sounds like one of those operators that used to answer pay phones back in the 90s. Interesting. This should be one of the gifts Aella was talking about before. 'Battle Cry' huh?

He attempted to decapitate the drakon in one move but the beast saw it coming and quickly dodged out of the way, trying to slash at the horse at the same time. The beast was successful as one of the horses powerful legs was cleanly sliced off. The drakon retreated a few meters away in order to regroup as did the baron.

Boulder seemed hardly bothered by the lost limb as he still had seven more. 'Tough old thing aren't you.' Martin mused as he watch the horse pound its hooves on the ground provoking the large reptile.

As time went on the fight had little progression as neither side were will to give an opportunity to the other. The baron would always make sure to charge whenever the drakon tried to charge up its breath attack and the drakon would always dodge and remain practically unscathed. The same couldn't said for Boulder as one could see blood stains all across his side.

"Boulders healing capabilities must be fantastic for him to still be standing." Martin accidentally spoke what he was thinking out loud. All the knights near him put on proud expressions as they all nodded simultaneously. Only Liam had a grim expression on his face.

"Father needs to finish this quickly, Boulder isn't going to last much longer as is."

Martin looked to Liam with a confused expression on his face. "What do you mean Liam?" Martin then looked to where Liam was facing and noticed that the purple light surrounding Boulder's body was visibly weakening as time went on.

"Boulder's unique skil has a time limit. He can only sustain it for so long and once it runs out he'll have almost nothing to defend himself with as he'll be exhausted. Hence father will also be defenceless as without Boulder's unique skill father wouldn't stand a chance against the drakon." Liam looked on with a grave expression.

"Is there anything we can do to help him." Martin said as watched the fight go on with a worried face.

"Not unless you want to get us both killed and hope father kills the thing as it chews on our bones. I'm an entire rank below that monster and you're still F rank with no talent for magic. We'd be nothing more than mosquitos in front of that monster."