Final Squad

Kai climbed down from the tree, shaking his head. “I think there’s another village nearby, but… nothing else noteworthy,” he informed them.

As the sun sank on our second day in this world, we wanted to gain our bearing before setting up camp. After two nasty battles, we continued for a while until finding a suitable location to spend the night.

A few wolves appeared mid-meal, but by now we could dispatch those easily.

We were mostly worried now about whatever new unexcepted swarms of animals would come assault us next. These were clearly not animals that randomly banded together and just so happened to attack us. Maybe if they were all the same species, but with the variety… these were clearly controlled by One.

Probably with magic, like I surmised before. I really wanted to learn that spell.

How and where were we going to find him?

Well, it made sense. As a beast tamer, or however you wanted to call it, it was clear that the first of the three warriors couldn’t fight by himself. He might be hiding somewhere and sending these attacks at us.

In that case, although we wanted to defeat him and fulfill the prophecy or whatever, maybe we’d be better off escaping Harko Forest. Mana might already be dead anyway.

Few risked the trip, but according to the Elder the outer towns and cities were supposedly not being constantly threatened and controlled by One. He knew nothing about the other two, though.

I really wish I had something like a detection spell, too… but I designed the early version of this game without any support-based skills other than healing, focusing more on offense.

Well, not like I could have anticipated this sort of situation.

Our second night in this world had been no less bad than the first, what with us having to sleep outside. I never camped outside or anything close to it, so it was rather a nightmare. We also took turns watching over the camp and the fire, but no beasts appeared even though I could hear constant howling from all around, making both my shift and my sleep rather miserable.

It was therefore with less-than-optimal spirits that we continued on our way the following morning.

“…Are we there yet?” I grumbled. “I want to leave this horrible place already.”

Kai opened his mouth to answer—probably was about to reproach me or mock me in some manner—but the situation soon changed.

“…Something’s coming,” Saga suddenly informed us and stood with her sword poised. “Get ready.”

So early in the morning? Regardless, after seeing what Saga was capable of, I fully trusted in her instincts. Kai, too, nocked an arrow wordlessly.

They appeared then—a new wave of opponents.

Contrary to my expectations, this time it wasn’t a swarm of small critters. They were neither little and cute, nor numerous and flying. They were larger. Dangerous predators.

At a first glance they looked like saber-tooth tigers. Each of them as large as an adult person, they emitted heavy growling sounds from deep within their throats, their muscular-looking bodies clad in a short, brown fur and poised for action.

“HAAAH!” Saga called, taking the first move—by rushing straight at the nearest tiger.

This sent all of them into a frenzy and they lunged at us.

This time I was legit scared, feeling paralyzed by their mere appearance—but watching Saga fight so fearlessly did instill some confidence within me.

If a girl could do this, so could I!

I shot a few bullets of light at the nearest tiger and followed up with an electricity attack that numbed it enough for me to next burn its head.

Just like that, it was actually lying dead at my feet.

However, there was no time to celebrate over that result, since the next moment another one appeared from right next to me and I had to dodge. Unsuccessfully. It managed to open a rather nasty cut on my leg and lean toward me, its long fangs on full display and its warm breath all over my face, but the next moment a sword stabbed straight through the beast’s head.

Looking up, I could see Saga’s burning eyes as she finished off the tiger. She locked eyes with me for a moment, then withdrew her sword and left.

Around us there were now the corpses of five tigers. The fight was done within a few minutes.

“Haha!” Kai cheered. He was sporting some nasty-looking wounds as well, but wore a wide smile. “Did you see that sick move?”

“Hmm?”

His smile was more hesitant. “Really? I got an arrow straight through that thing’s gullet! It was the most amazing shot I’ve ever had! Please tell me you saw!”

“Err… I was busy with my own battle,” I mumbled, examining my wound. It actually hurt a lot.

“What… but…” He looked with expectant eyes to Saga.

“Hah. Good for you, or something,” she said coldly.

“Hmph.”

I tried using the healing spell again, but it took a lot of energy from me, leaving me only partly healed. I really had to level up faster so I could use it. It was too useful to not take advantage of.

Still, this fight was relatively easy (ignoring the fact I had to get bailed out by Saga… again). Big, dumb animals? No problem at all. It was a well-earned victory.

“We’re making good pace, I think,” said Kai as we continued on our path. “That being said, I might have overdone it… I barely have any arrows left.”

“How many, exactly?” I asked.

He grimaced. “Just three, in fact. I made it a habit to collect some them after firing… but some I forgot and some were too damaged. So yeah, only three.”

“Guess you’d better make ‘em count,” I said.

“Can’t you create more?” asked Saga.

“H-how? This isn’t a crafting game,” he grumbled. “Fine, let’s see how you make it without my support!” He huffed and stepped ahead.

I wanted to exchange glances with Saga and laugh at him, but the girl just ignored both of us. Annoying, but typical.

Eventually it became noon again, and the sun was blazing hot. Even with frequent resting, all these intense fights, and even ones that were less so, still took their toll on me. My legs were constantly burning and all my added wounds were aching.

“We’re running out of water, too,” I noted, feeling my waterskin was especially light.

“Hmm, I believe there should be a lake somewhere around here,” said Kai. He then proceeded to climb on a nearby tree—this was becoming his go-to role in our group—and soon climbed back down, looking happy. “Found it! It’s actually pretty amazing… let’s go check it out!”

The idiot actually started running off in a certain direction. What was he going to do if he got us into another ambush? And just after he complained about the lack of arrows.

After a few minutes of walking, we found an area mostly bereft of the many trees and plants we were used to—on account of most of it being water.

Clear, sparkling water contained in a lake that was about the size of a school gym.

The trees surrounding the spot created a cool shade and a soft wind blew between them. I could see these trees even bore some unfamiliar type of fruits.

“Would you look at that?” said Kai, smiling. “Food and water all in one place. Is this awesome or what?” Saying this, he started walking toward the lake.

“Wait!” I called after him. “There’s bound to be some flying piranhas or eels or something. You know I’m right.”

Kai snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. But sure, I’ll take a peek first. It’s not like those things can do us any harm if we stay out… of the… lake.”

His words trailed off at the end there as the lake’s surface began to bubble. I watched with horror as something emerged from within.

There were no piranhas, or eels, not even lobsters. This time, it wasn’t a group of ferocious animals—because there was simply no need for that.

A large, serpentine head came out of the lake, exposing a fanged mouth and unleashing a high-pitched roar.