Chapter 306 (1/2)

Thea dug her heels into Chrysanthemum’s sides, causing the bear to skid to a halt. It was strange but… the more they traveled forward… the more this strange, dull pain in the back of Thea’s skull grew. To her horror, when she checked her Status, her Health was also ticking down, albeit slowly.

Was this a power of the Raid Boss…? If it was, this boss was a nightmare for group battles. It could slowly rip away at the Health of the backline fighters, pushing them so far back that they wouldn’t be able to exercise their superior firepower. They would completely roll through civilians, without any effort at all on the monster’s part. Merely its presence would cause pain and loss of Health.

Luckily, it seemed that at this range, the effect was minor, and Thea was sure that right over the next hill was where the fighting was occurring.

David was strong, and true. Damn what the Board of Directors thought, he wasn’t a spy. Or if he was, he wasn’t…

Thea hesitated, trying to formulate her thoughts correctly. In the meantime, she prodded her partner, and the two began to trot forward, heading deeper into the influence of the pain aura.

He was a good person, Thea finally decided. When they had first heard about the Tier III Raid Boss, Thea had felt only fear. And then her second thought was that she could avoid this fight with this beast by continuing her mission of testing Simon and David by leading them on a wild goose chase in the South, seeing if they revealed anything, or became impatient.

That failed on two fronts of course. They found proof that the Wild Rider had been here recently, and also encountered a Raid Boss. Not exactly the idle circumstances to test either of them. Not that Thea was even sure what they were looking for, after watching David fight.

He was the real deal, 100%. Which should have made her feel better, but it just made her feel… as though this was a worse outcome. It was small mindedness and suspicion that drove the Executive Board to this decision, and it wouldn’t assuage their worries if there really was just a wandering person with this much power… Was David from Donnyton or Franksburg? Or even the solo Village, far to the East…?

One question at a time. Thea reached the top of the hill and looked down, and then froze. There was a creature sitting there, cross legged, seeming to regard what was happening below. A being she recognized. The Wild Rider.

“A friend of yours?” The Wild Rider asked, tilting their head towards what was occurring below.

The Wild Rider stood only about 1.5 meters, and was absolutely covered in furs. Their head was covered in a low hood, that only sometimes revealed a flash of lips. Mounted on top of the hood was a pair of elk horns, or perhaps they were coming directly out from the Rider’s skull. Either way, they stretched half a meter in each direction, giving them a regal look.

And when they spoke, it was as if 100 different animals were calling, and strangely, all of these came together for sound.

It was always hard to understand, this strange cacophony voice, and it was only after a few seconds that Thea realized the question was directed at her. The strange waves of pain that were flooding up from below were making it hard to think.

But after a few seconds, she nodded. The Wild Rider breathed a long sigh.

“He… has lost his way. Only by relying on his ala does he remain. And even that will not last long, unless….”

“Unless…?” Thea asked, her eyes glazing over as she looked down below her. David stood still, looking at the ground. He barely even seemed to breathe. In front of him, several small grey creatures, a large bronze skinned one, and an elegant seeming gold one lay, moaning in agony, rolling back and forth.

Of them all, the gold one seemed the only one capable of movement, and as Thea watched, it was attempting to crawl away, but its body wouldn’t obey its orders. Its arms gave out pretty routinely, and its whole body was shaking.

Thea could hear the smile in their voice. “Unless we act. Unless we teach this rider to stop ignoring his mount.”

****

Randidly coughed lightly, and then sat up, rubbing his eyes. Darkness. Deep, eternal darkness, and swirls of energy, calm and consistent. He knew this place. And-

“Ah, you’re awake.”

The unexpected voice caused Randidly to spin around, instantly raising his guard. Was it the Creature, once more trapping Randidly inside of himself?!?

But no, the figure that Randidly found when he spun around was far, far too slender and innocent looking to be the Creature. Besides that, she gave off a very different feel than he had ever gotten from the Creature.

The girl was only as tall as his shoulder, and appeared 12. She had warm brown skin, and short, dark hair. From underneath the unruly hair small protuberances of bone stuck out of the crown of her head, 8 altogether, giving her a strangely noble appearance.