Jake concentrated as he flew with Miranda and Lillian in tow. It took quite the toll to keep himself moving fluidly and make sure that the two women weren’t tossed around by any sudden pulling. He couldn’t do the tactic where he just touched them with mana since it wouldn’t work on living beings, so he had to use the mana ropes.Mystie had just used her mana to directly affect the outer layer of the eight people’s bodies; it was an application of mana far above Jake’s own. He wasn’t even sure if it was a skill. But hey, the bird was D-grade; it only made sense.He already knew that the Mystsong Hawk had a larger mana pool than himself by quite a margin from the ritual. Once more, not surprising, considering it was a D-grade beast focused solely on magic. He did take some inspiration and visibly improved while flying, making the ride for Miranda and Lillian a bit smoother.Miranda looked like she was using every sliver of her willpower to remain calm, while Lillian looked relaxed, like

The inside of the keep was quite spacious, but what hit Jake first was how hot it was. The building was split into several sections, and he felt heat emanate from one of the side rooms he looked toward. The others also looked at it.Phillip explained with a bit of pride, perhaps just happy to feel like he was not “losing” any conversation currently. “Inside there, we have our smithy. Lots of talented men and women who focus on their professions have managed to create old-world technology with new magical means.” Then he led them into the room, happy to show off the good parts of the fort after walking through the terrible situation outside.Inside the smithy, Jake truly felt the heat. He saw several contraptions and worktables scattered around the room. It all looked somewhat chaotic, with the only real order being to split the furnaces and anvils away from the workbenches.Nodding his head toward one of the men sitting in the corner, Phillip brought their attention to a small, thin m

Phillip frowned as he yelled to the snipers to take down one of the bulls leading the charge. He used a skill of his to mark it, making everyone under his leadership instinctually aware of which one he was talking about—an instrumental skill for this kind of fighting style.Four loud bangs sounded out as the bull was hit. Two bullets struck its head, one its body, and one its leg. It immediately stumbled and fell, getting trampled by its comrades. Those that trampled it also ended up falling with the sudden obstacle in their way, creating a domino effect of cows tumbling over each other.The one saving grace of this entire shitshow was that the beasts in the daily attacks were stupid and didn’t have any proper fighting tactics. They would just charge until they got killed, only the Herd Leaders showing even a modicum of tactical prowess.Yet even their tactic didn’t go beyond having the weaker beasts make a ramp with their corpses. Phillip could already imagine tens of ways they could

Jake walked slowly toward his chosen prey’s direction. Mystie looked to be in internal conflict, so he decided to make it a bit easier for the bird. “It’s D-grade... clearly intelligent. I have no way to determine its exact power without meeting it, so it will be dangerous. This isn’t your fight, so I won’t drag you into it. Just go back and take care of things.”Mystie looked at him with a bit of concern, and he understood its doubts. To pursue an enemy of unknown strength wasn’t the safest or wisest course of action, and the two hawks had placed many expectations on him.“Relax, I’ll be able to escape even if things go south. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m faster by myself than with you or Hawkie.” He ended with a smile, assuring the bird.Jake saw it fly off as he turned toward the trail with the hoofprints, his smile gone.D-grade… he was sure of it. With the combination of his Sense of the Malefic Viper, Hunter’s Tracking, high Perception, and natural talents, he could sense the pr

Jake saw the creature disappear, but instead of attacking, the monster appeared inside the barn below. He wondered what the hell the Minotaur was up to.His Sense of the Malefic Viper made him aware that his poisons were being quickly eliminated, hinting at the creature having quite a lot of Vitality. Not so much Toughness, based on how easily his dagger had penetrated its skin.He didn’t follow right away but stayed up there, inspecting the remnant energies still in his head. Mental magic was some real mind-fuckery, as it basically implanted fake ideas, concepts, or signals. It made him see things that weren’t real while masking what was.But… it didn’t work on his sphere or instincts at all. He also could now feel how the energy implanted in his body was slowly being fought off passively, meaning whatever influence the Minotaur used on him was temporary no matter what. This also boded well for the girl he’d seen, as the energy affecting her should dissipate naturally with time.The