Battle in the farmlands

I reached a hand down and helped Lumia climb aboard the saddle behind me. She wrapped her hands around my waist, then held on tight. I signaled for the horse to begin moving, and it broke into a trot. Soon enough, it turned into a run.

We emerged out of the town’s gate moments later, desperately rushing to catch up to the farmers. We weren’t alone, however. Several riders rode up behind us, having answered the call to help. They mainly consisted of resident monster hunters, high level adventurers, and a few brave men and women who couldn’t stand by while other people were in danger.

The vanguard also included a good handful of guards from the temple—knights who were clad in armor and possessed swords, shields, and spears. Altogether we made up a company of up to twenty-one individual riders, and despite the fact that we didn’t know how many Widow Makers were attacking the farmers, I really hoped our numbers were going to be enough to at least drive them away.

“ETA to encounter is twenty seconds,” Rachel said in my head, updating me on the situation. “I advise you summon a weapon now before we arrive.” She brought up a blue menu screen listing my available weapons, making sure to keep it cropped in a corner of my vision.

_____

Available Weapons and Items

Bow

Arrows

Sword

Dagger

Gloves

Book

_____

“How many are there?” I asked Rachel while I decided on what weapon to pick. The Widow Makers were extremely fast, not to mention insanely strong and very, very durable. Each one was around level 40, with a bite force capable of breaking a piece off an armored vehicle.

I had nearly lost my life in my first fight with one of them, as I was taken by surprise and had no time to react before I was tackled to the ground and pinned down. Having no other option, I summoned my dagger, which I used to repeatedly stab it in the eyes until it gave in and left entirely. That’s how I knew their weak spot was their eyes. And just in case, I needed to let the rest of the vanguard know.

“Go for their eyes!” I shouted, briefly turning around to face the riders behind me while my horse continued to gallop forward. I caught a glimpse of a counter in the corner of my vision, and it simply displayed the number four. There were four of the creatures in the fields.

“What?!” Lumia asked, still clutching tightly to my waist. Her long crimson hair was billowing in the wind, and she leaned forward, a little closer to my back, to properly hear what I was saying.

“Tell the rest to target the eyes!” I yelled. “It won’t kill them, but it is the only way to get them to stop attacking.”

She nodded, then turned around to pass the information down the line by shouting to the others behind us. Meanwhile, I returned my attention to the road ahead.

“ETA is now thirteen seconds,” Rachel said, doing that thing where her voice started to go higher whenever she began to panic. I finally decided to go with the sword, but I was still going to summon the bow and arrows as well. The number four had disappeared from the corner of my vision, and an icon displaying my health had replaced it. I was at sixty-nine percent health, and I suddenly remembered what Rachel had told me.

I hadn’t fully recovered since I got to the temple four days ago, and according to my AI companion, there were certain parts of my body I needed to avoid putting strain on—mainly my left arm, and all of the bones on the left side of my chest. Even Lumia had told me to take it easy for a few days until I was fully healed. But since I had recovered enough to pick up a weapon and fight, there was no chance in hell I was going to stand idly by while people got slaughtered.

“Close window,” I told Rachel, and the menu screen displaying my list of available items disappeared from the side of my vision. As the farmlands on the outskirts of town slowly came into view, I heard the voice of my AI companion as she counted down the time to contact.

“ETA is now three… two… one.”

***

The moment the massive creatures came into view, I was stunned, taken aback by the sheer horrors the monstrosities had inflicted.

There were four of them, just as Rachel had indicated. With three long legs on either side of their bodies, great white shark-like teeth, and a giant tail that resembled that of a scorpion, the gray-colored monsters were ripping the place apart.

There were so many corpses strewn about the area—bodies of men, women, and children. Many of them had their limbs torn to shreds, while the majority had their heads bitten clean off. Some even had their torsos missing entirely.

A man trying to run toward a nearby wooden structure for safety was immediately pursued by one of the Widow Makers and struck through the back of his head by the creature’s massive stinger. Lumia gasped at the gruesome sight and gripped me tightly. The man died instantly.

Behind us, the vanguard screamed a battle cry, just as they came off the main road and made a beeline to charge at the creatures. I would have done the same thing, but two other factors stopped me from joining the fight at that very moment.

One was Lumia. She was still riding behind me as a passenger. I didn’t know how she was going to contribute to the fighting or defend herself if one of the creatures lunged toward us for an attack. I only knew her as a healer and that was it. I was starting to regret bringing her with me when I suddenly spotted the second reason that held me back.

There were people hiding in the barns.

Several barns stood on the far side of the farmlands, and people were hiding inside. Most of them appeared to be injured, so they were going to require the immediate attention of a healer.

“Lumia!” I called. “Can you see the people in the barns?!” I asked her while I directed our horse to keep running forward.

“Yes! I see them!” she replied. “We... we need to help them!”

I allowed our horse to continue galloping forward while I tried convincing myself that what I was about to do was not stupid.

“It’s not,” Rachel suddenly replied in my head. “I think it will work.” And just like that, I found the little confidence boost I needed.

“Alright! I’m going to need you to do something for me, Lumia. I’m going to need you to take over from here and circle around to help the people in the barns!” I shouted behind me, hoping that she was calm enough to understand what I was saying.

“What?! Take over, how?! What about you?!” she shouted back, but there was no time to answer all her questions. From behind us, I could see the vanguard had already engaged with the enemy, and they were quickly starting to be overwhelmed. I needed to join the fighting. Now.

“Just get ready!” I yelled back, and she let go of my waist to grip the sides of the horse.

“Now!”

I let go of the reins and rolled off the horse mid-run, dropping to a crouch on the side of the road. Lumia immediately reached for the reins as I jumped off, and when she regained control, she glanced over her shoulder to see if I had made it.

I stood up straight and gestured for her to keep going a little further before circling around to help the people in the barns. After confirming she understood what I meant, I turned around and began moving toward the fighting.

I reached down for a sizable rock, holding it tightly between my fingers. As I continued walking forward, I picked my target, then flung the rock as hard as I could at one of the creatures, hitting it square in the neck and pulling its attention away from the group. It turned. It was angry, blood and guts dripping from its mouth. Blood and guts from its victims no doubt.

I wiped my dusty hand on my trousers, summoned my gloves with a whisper, then stretched my arm out to the side. “Sword,” I said, and a bright flash suddenly engulfed my right hand before quickly dissipating, leaving behind a long broadsword which I held at the hilt.

Because my gloves weren’t weapons and were instead casual items, the four-minute summoning cooldown didn’t apply to them. However, now that I possessed a sword, I couldn’t summon another weapon for the next three minutes and forty-nine seconds.

The Widow Maker I had pelted in the neck with the rock immediately began scuttling toward me, its six long legs digging into the ground at a hurried pace. Choosing not to remain standing, I also began running toward it—reckless but cautious, sword in hand.

A level 3 Monster Slayer versus a level 40 monster. I was so going to die, wasn't I?