The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage: Wandmaker Vol.2

WM [42] Not a Mindless Animal

The hunters were not just running into danger haphazardly. In fact they would avoid any monster they could unless they saw a perfect opportunity to take it out quickly and with minimal risk. The horde was not their main concern at the moment. They needed to find the jeweled wing monarch before its evolution was complete. Fighting random monsters lost them the time and stamina they desperately needed if they were going to kill it before it was too late.

After the initial engagements with a few crawling stalkers and the now well acquainted thornmire they had successfully avoided further conflict. The groups were divided to cover as much ground as possible. They knew the general location of the monarch but needed to find it as soon as possible. Bjorn's group was led by Alfred because he was the most seasoned monster hunter.

Bjorn finally got a good look at Adelheid in her wolf form, which made her a few inches taller than Tanisha. She stood upright like a gnoll, although he remembered that werewolves and gnolls can both move extremely fast on all fours. Her brown and silver fur bristled beneath the once oversized hide armor, which had hung loosely on her human frame. In that form it fit perfectly and hugged the contours of her significantly more muscular body.

Bjorn noticed she didn't use any weapons; her hands had become formidable claws, each digit sharpened to a deadly point, ready to rend flesh. In fact, he had seen her do so against the first thornmire. There was a faint scent of magic that radiated from her arms and legs. It tasted similar to the wendigo ability mana muscle saturation but sharper and more focused. He saw that it made her arms and legs far more durable enabling her to block attacks with her forearms and shins as if the flesh itself was her armor.

"You see that right?" Bjorn said mentally.

"How could I not?" Failsafe responded enthusiastically. "I think if Tanisha ever gets over the, her family tried to kill us thing, she should see if she could learn that. We should see if we can learn that! We did lose the ability to harden our scales when we lost access to maya."

Bjorn felt a pang of frustration as he watched the others fight, knowing they wanted him to stay close to Alfred and save his magic for the Jeweled Winged Monarch. It made sense, but it grated on him. Every time Tanisha engaged in battle, his instincts screamed to be by her side, to be her backup. Instead, he had to place his trust in Alfred and Adelheid to keep her safe. His worries eased somewhat after witnessing their combat skills, but it was strange to be sidelined completely.

Alfred's fighting style was nothing like what Bjorn or Failsafe had anticipated. With a class called Prana Iron Netcaster, they hadn't known what to expect, but this was beyond anything they could have imagined. Prana, the essence of a person, was closer to one's soul than to mana. To Bjorn's senses, prana tasted uniquely like the person it belonged to, making Alfred's combat feel deeply personal and intimate. It was as if Alfred were fighting with a piece of his very soul, and in a way, he was.

The iron net Alfred wielded was a thing of terror. He controlled it with such precision and speed that Bjorn found it nearly impossible to track. The net could slip into the ground, seemingly teleporting beneath the feet of his enemies, ensnaring them before they had a chance to react. The dagger-like blades, each nearly seven inches long, were even more menacing. They moved around the ring that connected them to the rest of the net, each blade capable of independent action, slicing through flesh and bone with deadly accuracy.

"Everyone quiet!" Alfred said as he ducked down behind a tree. "Get down and don't move."

They all found cover immediately and lowered closer to the ground to make themselves a harder target to spot. The forest was noisy with incessant screams of monsters just out of sight. Bjorn could not accurately track any of them because of how many there were. It confused his sense of smell.