by Cobyboy
Handing over a pouch and a piece of parchment to Feihren, Zow added "He is a businessman within the city that handles weapons and types of equipment that are sold for adventurers. He has skin with a blue tone as he is of the Ice Troll race. His name is Mark. Please do hand over that pouch and letter to him for me." He continued before bowing humbly to Feihren as he stated this request of his.
"What about the other requests?" Feihren heard the "s" within Zow's words, so he immediately assumed that there would be multiple requests given. Zow nodded as he pointed towards the Spirit Wolf who was playfully barking at Feihren. A faint orange glow could be seen on its forehead, similar to the time Vera had 'talked' to him during the commotion within the forest.
"Do you want to tell me something boy?" Feihren smiled as he petted the Spirit Wolf which was licking his face. Slowly placing his palm to the orange glow, Feihren was suddenly transferred into some sort of dream plane.
Within this illusory place, he saw how the Spirit Wolves were abused back then... But something was different. The images within this plane were way beyond the past. It seems that this adolescent cub was the only one within the den as it was hiding due to fear. Outside the den were two large Spirit Wolves that were blocking of the path.
Around 20 armed people and a dozen mages were surrounding the two wolves as a heated battle ignited. Although the large wolves were definitely more powerful than the humans, the humans outnumbered them and used their weaknesses to their advantage. They used restriction magic when the wolves phased through their physical attacks using their spirit form, ultimately making them trap themselves. The wolves did not last long and were forcibly imprisoned by these men.
All in all, 8 mature spirit wolves were caught by these people and likely brought back to Sechua City. The adolescent spirit wolf cub could do nothing for them and had gone to the other dens to help the infant cubs who also lost their parents instead.
'Ah, so this is what happened... You want me to save your parents, little one?' Feihren returned to the real world as his eyes burned with eagerness... He was pretty familiar with one of the faces within that group of poachers. It was the same face as that coward who ran away, Myron. Although Feihren does not know his name, he is fairly certain that the man's hideous face would have nothing that could compare to it.
Feihren stood back up as he patted the wolf once more, confirming that he would return to this village with the parents of these wolf pups if he can. Looking towards Zow and Vera, Feihren inquired, "Anything else you want me to handle before I leave?"
"Uhmm..."
Vera, whose arms were clutching her abdomen, let out a quiet voice, which grabbed Feihren's attention. Within the next instant two snow tigers the size of a bowl appeared from under her voluptuous breasts as Vera carried them within her arms. Feihren's heart skipped a beat as he tried to avoid looking directly at the 'sun' to not burn his 'innocence' 'Damn, those snow tiger cubs were there all along? Those things are... handy?' Feihren tried joking within his mind to avoid blushing any further.
"Uhmm... Sir, I... I mean Your Majesty. I also wanted to request to you that, could you please send these snow tigers to Sir Mark, aside from that letter, would you hand over these beasts to him..." Vera shyly asked the third request from Feihren, Zow added,
"Yes, Your Majesty, Mark might be knowledgeable about the whereabouts of these beasts home as he is from the ice tundra himself. It would be of great help for these snow tigers to return to their proper habitat."
Feihren nodded in agreement as he took the snow tiger cubs that were silently sleeping while they were still being clutched in between her well-formed mounds. They looked so small and fragile that one would never believe that they would be apex predators when they matured.
Zow, Vera, and the Spirit Wolf then left Feihren alone so that he could prepare before leaving the village.
"And here I thought you were gonna ask if you could go along with him..." Zow giggled as he teased his daughter who was obviously blushing.
"Fa-Father! Not that... It's not that I don't want to... He's still gonna return one day, and by that time I will muster up the courage to ask him to take me to Wolfenstein... If that would be okay with you..." Vera replied while looking down, shy as ever.
"Of course it's fine... He is... the Chosen One after all" Zow smiled as he opened the door of the house, proceeding towards the center of the village, announcing that Feihren would be departing soon.
Chapter 49: Not that Invulnerable
"From Chosen One to some errand boy, huh?"
Feihren laughed as he thought about all the requests they handed over to him. He was not complaining about it though. He even thought that these three requests were much better than being burdened by such a sudden heavy responsibility.
Feihren had prepared himself for the travel as he decided to change the robes into his Assault Rogue armor for the meantime. It is not due to it being inferior or anything like that. It is just that it's so eye-catching that it would be weird to look at while traveling in the forest. It would sooner or later attract unnecessary trouble for him. Keeping the crossbow in his inventory, Feihren strapped the Demonic Carbine on his back for the first time since he repaired it, although the Ancient Demon Lord was still not uttering a single word. Feihren preferred to equip a weapon that would guarantee his victory rather than doing something careless like last time.
Placing the pouch and letter in his Inventory, Feihren readied himself as he walked out of the house and into the village. Since he was carrying the two snow tiger cubs in his arms, Feihren could not wave his hands goodbye as he just nodded towards Zow and the other people who are bidding him farewell.
Feihren had passed the place that the 'animal rescue' occurred as he let out a faint smile. Continuing further into the forest, Feihren traveled easily throughout the entire day.
In his camp, as Feihren prepared a meal for himself and the snow cubs... He realized, 'Wait... these are still babies, they can't eat that much solid food right?'
Feihren was definitely someone who had never taken care of an infant in his life. He immediately searched within his Inventory a few times for any Consumables or Quest Items that could be of use in this kind of situation. It only took a few minutes before he found something... useful.
"Aha!"
Feihren had found the perfect item for these cubs' nutrition! 'Some [Milk] quest items from that quest I had forgotten to finish! I'm glad that I forsook that boring quest line. If I hadn't then these poor cubs wouldn't have anything to eat.' Feihren thought to himself to give justification for his laziness and forgetfulness.
"Eh?"
The snow cubs did not even attempt to lick any of the milk that Feihren handed to them. Instead, they timidly crawled towards the roasted meat that was still cooking as they both leapt towards it, toppling it down to the ground.
"Even at this size, they are already vicious meat eaters..."
Feihren was amazed at the fact that these tiny beasts were already capable of eating solid meat. He roasted another batch as he shared the other half of it the cubs and ate the remaining half before they all went to sleep.
...
It was early in the morning and same as always, Samael did the guarding overnight before he returned to his gem form. Feihren decided to skip breakfast as he felt bloated from all the food last night. It also seemed that the puffy cheeks of the two snow tigers were saying the same thing.
According to the map, it would only take about 8 hours before they could reach Sechua City, which would be early in the afternoon if nothing troublesome happened.
Feihren was pretty sure that something would definitely happen as he remembered the escaping poacher back then. Pathetic guys like those tend to take revenge no matter the cost.
Although Feihren himself was confident that he could survive any kind of surprise attack, he could not say the same right now as he was carrying two fragile creatures that were extremely vulnerable. He had to keep in mind that he was res
ponsible for the survival of this two for the meantime.
...
It took all morning before he felt the tingling sense of danger...
'It's still noon though, I would expect them to at least attack at night? Where's the surprise in this?"
Soon enough, a speeding dagger was sent flying towards him.
Carrying the two cubs with one arm, he caught the dagger with his fingers, pinching the blade between them. After the heightened reflexes from his crazily boosted attributes, pieces of equipment, and the raw sense of danger hardened from multiple battles he had gone through, doing such superhuman feats was a pretty casual thing for Feihren.
Feihren glared at the swinging object tied at the handle of the dagger that he caught...
*Poof!
A menacing green smoke exploded from that tea-bag looking object as Feihren inspected the surroundings for more upcoming attacks. Feihren prioritized covering the cubs to prevent them from inhaling the mysterious smoke.
'System Log: Abnormal status effect detected: [Sleep Powder]'
Feihren shook his head as he tried to power through the effects of the smoke while running outside its area of effect.
*Phew! *Phew! *Phew!
A barrage of arrows headed towards Feihren just as he was able to get away from the sleeping powder. Even though he was still tipsy from to the effects of the smoke, he was able to block 30 arrows due to the Assault Rogue armor's passive effect.
'System Log: Abnormal status effect detected: [Paralysis Arrow]'
A single arrowhead landed on Feihren's back. Although it did not pierce through, some weird effect still lingered and had immobilized Feihren...
Feihren struggled for a few seconds as he grabbed hold of Samael's gem...
"Take care of everything for me..." Feihren could only mutter those last words to the gem as he fell face first to the ground, and those two status effects fully kicked in...
Chapter 50: Thou Shall Not Steal
Falling onto the ground with a loud thud, Feihren went unconscious as he attempted to summon Samael. Two snow tiger cubs hopped on Feihren's back as they growled towards the people heading their direction. The red gem fell as it clattered a few times on the ground before stopping.
Over 40 men arrived at the scene as they surrounded the now unconscious Feihren.
Suddenly, there was an enormous 'wall' that was blocking them off. A gigantic red golem suddenly appeared right in front of them, glaring at them with glowing red eyes full of killing intent. The sudden shock made some of the men in the front trip and fall to the ground. This was the worst time and place for them to be immobile though... Two huge fists slammed towards them, squashing their bodies entirely!
Within a few seconds, 3 people perished as the cold glare from the golem grew brighter every second. Scanning the area, the giant remained unmoving as he shifted his attention towards the cubs and his unconscious master.
Arrows rained in their direction as Samael shielded his charges from all of them. The snapping of the arrows getting destroyed upon impact was heard continuously until the archers withdrew their attacks. It was obviously futile. A few of the melee fighters started charging towards Samael, attempting to use sheer numbers to take this construct down. There were around 20 or so of them and they had gained confidence from outnumbering their opponent.
"He is just alone and heavily outnumbered, it shouldn't be that threatening, Attack! Get me those Snow Tigers, those things belong to me!"
Myron, who was the leader of this hired group of mercenaries, had immediately commanded them to engage the enemy together. Although they were here to avenge the shame that was caused to him, he wouldn't just let profit slip by. Sneakily flanking the red giant, Myron went towards Feihren's body as he grabbed hold of the two snow tiger cubs. Scratching and biting his arms didn't do much as the snow tiger cubs were slowly being abducted once again.
Samael, who was still busy with the heated battle, had an eerie sense behind it as it heard the pitiful growling of the cubs slowly getting further away. He immediately jumped towards the escaping bandit and grabbed hold of one of his legs.
"Tsk, you think I am afraid of you? Die you bastard!" Myron threw a bottle with red liquid inside towards Samael's face.
*Boom!
A loud explosion was heard as flames wrapped around Samael's gigantic body, before dispersing completely. It was completely ineffective... It only made the giant look shinier, and its body continued burning brightly from the effect of the concoction.
Part of Myron's body was also burning due to Samael still grabbing hold of his leg.
Samael tightened his grip as the cracking of bones could be heard. Myron cried out in pain as his leg was getting crushed. Exerting its great strength...
*Rrrrip!
Myron's leg was entirely severed as Samael tossed it towards the approaching people, knocking down a few of them. The force of the throw was enough to fling the broken bones within that leg and cause an effect similar to grenade shrapnel scattering on the bodies and faces of those rushing mercenaries.
Walking towards the one-legged man who was in anguish, Samael pinched his arms, breaking them off entirely as it forced them to let go of the snow tiger cubs. A loud scream was heard as the blood loss from the ripped leg slowly killed the treacherous man.
Gently placing the snow cubs atop his broad shoulders, Samael rushed back to the location of his unconscious master.
The people who were trying to stab and kill the unmoving figure couldn't help but freeze in shock. None of their attacks and weapons could even penetrate this incredibly 'thick-skinned' man as their useless attempt would only end up giving them dented blades or pulverized swords.
They could not do anything to this man besides leaving him be. But after all this loss, they would not go away empty-handed. Besides, the one that hired them seems to be dead anyway, might as well gain more profit to themselves. Without another thought, the remaining 30 or so people unanimously decided to flee as they grabbed the 'magic weapon' strapped to the body of this man.
The ground trembled as they noticed that the gigantic red golem was already done with his 'business' and was now after them. The figure of a giant running towards them made their hearts skip a beat as they had already witnessed the gruesome scene of its attacks.
Numerous smoke bombs were used as they covered the entire area. The group of mercenaries broke into a hurried run in order to get away. Samael, who was planning to give chase, discarded the idea as he carried his master to a much 'safer' place.
...
It was now late in the afternoon as the sun started to set. Within the thick forest was a clear patch of grassy plain. The figure of Samael could be seen slowly walking along. Carrying Feihren in its arms, it gently walked so it wouldn't disturb the resting cubs on its shoulders, which were barely clinging on with their claws.
As someone (or something) that was from the nature's core itself. Samael had a consciousness that could be said to be one with mother nature. Sensing the water veins under its feet, it carefully laid down the cubs and its master in the clean grass. Vigorous shaking could be felt as Samael started punching with all its might, destroying the topmost layer of the ground, revealing the softer soil. It started digging its way deeper, it was only a few more meters or so before a gush of spring water finally appeared and started flowing.
Scooping up the water that accumulated within the makeshift pond, Samael carried a gigantic-handful of water as it walked towards Feihren.
*Splash!
The cold spring water that was 'poured' on the entirety of Feihren immediately jolted his senses back as he gasped multiple times, having a really hard time breathing. It may have just been a 'handful of water' for Samael, but in human measurements it amounted to few gallons being poured out in one go, which was something akin to drowning a person! Feihren shook his head to disperse the excess water in his hair and on his face. Inspecting his surroundings, it seemed that they weren't in the same place a
s before he was shot senseless. It also seems that the snow tiger cubs were in perfect condition, as he could clearly see them resting well.
"Thank you, I knew that you are the most reliable ally that I could ever have in this world" Feihren thanked Samael sincerely as he patted the head of the leaning giant.
Feihren started checking everything to see if it was all A-okay. If it was then they could 'forget everything that happened' because it seemed that Samael did a great job in cleaning up the mess, and would thus make their travel towards Sechua City smooth sailing.
"Eh?"
Feihren suddenly felt vexed as to why his body felt 'lighter'? He immediately opened his status page as to check if there was another status ailment or a buff that was suddenly added, but to his surprise, there was none... Feihren pondered for a few more minutes before he had realized.