Broken

Chapter 10

The Meadow instance was just as one would expect: a meadow. There were rolling fields of grass and flowers, a small pond off into the distance, and the area was dotted with small clumps of pine trees. Bordering the whole thing were more pine woods, and beyond them, snow capped mountains. If a person didn't know that there were dozens of murderous monsters hidden about, you might just think it was a prime spot for a picnic.

Instances like these meadow ones can be a little confusing, wondering were the borders were. Truth be told, they were not visible. While in cave like instances the boarders were obvious, here raiders eventually just ran into invisible barriers that surround the designated area for the instance. No one knew how to break through them, nor if the vast, empty scenery beyond them were even real, or just some elaborate illusion.

Perhaps there were scientists out there still looking into the phenomenon, but the vast majority of people collectively decided to put it into the 'that's just the way it is' category. We all had enough to worry about.

Then again, I wouldn't put it past Yejun to ask about it, even though it was outside his own field of research.

As for the raiders themselves, I admired their efficiency. Bradley was, indeed, a good leader. He also seemed to have a satisfactory understanding of both meadow instances as a whole, and the monsters living in them. Another plus for me was that, Blake aside, no one else seemed to have heard of me: the cursed raider. That meant that I was able to actively participate without having to force my way into the fight.

A few hours in and I had already taken out nine horned foxes all on my own, and four more helping Winter. I kept the horns of my own kills, and Winter and I agreed to split the ones we hunted together. Out of the three main monsters we had seen in this instance, the horned foxes we probably the easiest the tackle. The were small, and did not use magic. Their biggest claim to fame was their speed.

We also had to deal with Gale Ravens. These white feathered menaces always traveled in large flocks and liked to dive bomb raiders en massse. Like the foxes, they were small and agile, however, they had the added advantage of being able to cast wind magic. They weren't particularly powerful, but with their numbers and the fact that they could fly it made them a real issue to deal with.

As soon as a raider saw a flock coming they would shouted it out, and we would all sperate, causing the flock do the same. Then, we would have to pick them off, relying on archers and mages heavily. It didn't help that the ravens' white plumage provided good camouflage in this bright and sunny instance. They looked like a wispy cloud, right up till they were on top of us.

However, the biggest threat, so far, in the instance were the Flame Boars. Unlike the foxes and ravens, these monsters were huge. I would estimate them as being a big a beef cow with massive tusks, thick hide and an extremely nasty habit of setting itself on fire, right before charging us. These pigs had fire magic and more than a little talent in using it too. 

On top of the fire they spread like butter, they had insane strength as well. There was no way a single raider could handle one of these alone, and often it took half a raiding party to take down just one.

Still, all this considered, we were doing quite well. The raiders were mostly experienced, all of them (even stubborn Blake) seemed to have good heads on their shoulders, and even though many of us hadn't ever worked together before, our team work was quite effective.

"Blake! Get behind it!" Bradley shouted as we all tried to pin down one of these hell boars.

"On it!" Blake shouted back, running around behind myself and Winter, jumping over a small boulder, and getting behind the pig. "Pushing it your way."