404 Killer Bees (1/2)
Zero cast haste and a weight-reduction spell so that they didn't weigh as much on the mounts so that they count move faster. In no time, they were within the vicinity that Zero could identify the threats with his minimap.
It was slightly strange seeing so many red dots moving around in swarms. Zero didn't think that there would be so many enemies. In fact, whoever screamed should be dead by now with this many enemies. They were travelling a little further inwards towards Endow Hill on the road towards Smargdas and Truen had a bad feeling about it.
Zero heard the enemies before he could see them. There was no mistaking the low buzzing sound among the din of weapons and spells. The screams could still be heard but there were also shouts that Zero couldn't make out. The one time he heard the familiar buzzing sound was back on Endow Hill when Zero had to steal honey to make pills.
”Truen, these are killer bees!” Zero told his friend. The archer nodded. Although he did not have experience with them, the archer was able to survey the battle quickly to find out what they were.
”Don't get too close,” he warned Zero. ”Leave it to me. We will assist from a distance.”
Zero agreed. He wanted to save those people but he also remembered that it shouldn't be done for free. Adventurers knew the risks when they took on a quest. Their lives were always on the line and Zero shouldn't be the one taking care of people who were willing to put their lives on the line for money. If Zero was going to step up to an occasion and defend someone, it would be the weak who had no power to fight back against threats that they didn't sign up for.
The sand walkers stopped when they got very close to the battle site. Although they still couldn't see the killer bees or adventurers, Zero knew that he would be right next to them if he pushed past this patch of foliage. Truen and Zero left their mounts by a tree and Zero cast a protection spell just in case the killer bees attacked the sand walkers.
The archer climbed a tall tree nearby and Zero followed quickly after him. While Zero was technically a mage, nobody had seen him use any offensive magic during his journey. Truen liked to keep things that way. For now, he asked Zero to scout and send him an image from the minimap so that he could plan his tracing spells to take down the killer bees.
”There are at least a few hundred killer bees,” Zero told his friend who nodded.
”Don't worry, it can be done. Just let me have a look at the map. I'm not looking at taking all of them down, we just need to find out which is their commander. Once a commander is taken down, the rest of the bees can be easily dealt with by the adventurers.”
”Commander bee?”
Zero tried to find the commander that Truen spoke about. They had a good view of the battle but there were simply too many bees moving around. Even on the minimap, it was hard for the doctor to identify the commander.