Year 2, Fall, Second Month, Third Week.

Toni stared at the Forest for a good ten minutes, he wasn’t ready to enter. The other team members didn’t know what he was waiting for, but they didn’t ask, everyone had to deal with their own hesitation. The pressure emanating from the Forest kept him from getting lost in his thoughts, why had they decided to give him this task? He wasn’t the smartest, the fastest or even the best at killing the beasts. He couldn’t find an answer but standing here wasn’t an option, the future of the village was now in his hands. Toni finally gave the signal to enter the Forest.

Once he passed the ring of unnaturally green trees that marked the beginning of the Forest, he felt the pressure of the high-density magic energy sweeping through his body, fortunately, it was considerably less uncomfortable than last time. The other members didn’t feel the same relief, for them, it was the first time experiencing the unrestrained energy. After an attacker hurt himself with his own sword, Toni gave the command to stop and familiarize themselves with the increased effects of the enhancements.

He also decided to use this short break to test the magic locator. The villager chosen and trained to operate the tool came forth and at Toni’s signal, she pressed the Activation Array. The tool shined before emitting subtle waves towards the four directions, both Toni and the operator watched nervously the magic wave reader. They would need to wait three minutes to confirm the result, which was the maximum estimated time for the wave to return. Fortunately, the three minutes window passed and the reader didn’t show any sign, indicating the presence of zero MT beasts in the two kilometers radius. Even so, the team would have to proceed carefully anyway, after all, LT beasts could also cause significant damage.

When they received the locator from the Alchemy Department, many questioned why it wasn’t attuned to also locate the LT beasts. The answer was that the number of LT beasts inside the Forest was too high, how would the tool help, if every time they used it the reader would indicate beasts from all directions? Since the number of LT beasts was this high, they just had to walk inside the Forest like they could be attacked at any time.

Other parts of their plan were also questioned by the hunters, like why didn’t enter the Forest with more teams if it’s so dangerous? Actually, the Council debated a lot about it, what was more dangerous, moving inside with smaller teams that would have to face danger alone or risk attracting the attention of stronger beasts, while not being able to retreat faster?

All decisions had risks, in the end, the Council decided that mobility was the best approach against their worse enemies, the MT beasts. However, one team wouldn’t be able to do all the work, so four teams would enter the Forest, one every two hours. The first team’s job was to mark a path and secure the location where the outpost should be built until the other teams arrived. The goal was to hold their position unless a MT beast appeared. The next three teams’ job would be moving on the marked path while protecting the workers, ten on each team. The second team’s workers would be moved directly to the outpost location to start clearing it. The third team’s workers would work through the path, cutting the trees to allow the cart to pass. While the last team’s workers would take as much usable wood they could carry in the toughened and lightened cart.

Toni’s team continued to move deeper into the Forest, after walking for one hour they stopped to use the locator and again, none of the waves returned, so they kept advancing. Unfortunately, their luck dried up when they met a large group of wild cats (feline beasts). As soon as they realized the presence of the beasts, Toni used the standard response, commanding the team members to tighten the three-layer circular formation and be prepared to engage with long-distance attacks at his sign.

At this point, the hunters could recognize and evaluate most of the beasts, so they quickly identified the wild cats, which brought a dose of desperation to their hearts. This type of beast was extremely fast and its threat grew exponentially with large numbers. Since the beasts were still spread through the trees, it was difficult to guess their numbers, but they couldn’t be less than 15. Toni looked around and saw that his fellow defenders didn’t hesitate to hold their position despite the danger, making him feel proud. In the old team, he was always respected by his fellow villagers, but when the hunting teams expanded, he started to notice many villagers looking down on defenders, the situation became even more clear when some defenders asked to change positions. Toni was very confident in his worth, but even so, the whole situation made him feel a little inferior.

Holding his shield tightly, Toni was ready to push the beasts away and defend his comrades at any cost. He checked one more time to be sure everyone was ready, they wouldn’t gain anything from delaying the confrontation any further. The signal was given and the archers shot. The beasts didn’t answer to the attacks right away, but when the arrows landed hitting two beasts, they also attacked. The 40 meters distance was covered in less than ten seconds, more arrows flew but Toni couldn’t see how many wild cats were hit.

The first line collided, all defenders held their ground, which was expected since the beasts weren’t too strong. But the true challenge came after when the beasts tried to pass the defenders. Toni yelled a command and all defenders pushed their enemies away before engaging other beasts that try bypassing them. The strategy was good and work for most. However, two beasts passed and engaged with the second layer of attackers. Toni pushed his worries away and yelled another command, the defenders answered by shifting their stances and pining the beasts to the ground. One defender faltered, he was too far from Toni, but Nemera was already on it.

The minutes passed, Toni tried to push the beasts back, he was holding two at the same time, but he was being successful. The only time he faltered was when he got distracted by a defender screaming at his side, which cost him a big cut on his right shoulder, but he quickly regained his ground and pushed the beast back. More time passed, and finally, the last beast was put down. Toni accessed the wounds, but fortunately, everyone could keep moving. This time, the outstanding performance of the defenders broke the initial charge and held the beasts back, allowing the attackers to put the beasts down easier. The pain from the wound was a small price to pay for the new confidence born in his heart, being a defender was awesome!

***

Toni painted heavily while looking around the place where their outpost was supposed to be built. Getting here costed more than he imagined, he lost one hunter and another one was being carried on a LC. On their way here, they had to face two more attacks before finally arriving at a place with the right landmarks. He looked up and estimated they still had four hours before sunset, even if the other teams didn’t face any problems they wouldn’t get here before dark, not all of them at least. By his rough estimations, they had walked almost 20 kilometers before finding a big clearing with a Contple Tree. Like Karl said on their first trip to the Forest, they can’t miss the tree once they see it. He was tired and his heart was pained by the life lost, but he couldn’t relax yet.

He directed the less tired hunters to form small groups of three and start checking their surroundings. They wouldn’t need to go far, only one kilometer would be enough to guarantee a safe perimeter. After giving the orders and checking on the wounded, Toni brought the operator and one archer to make his own checkings for MT beasts.

Half an hour passed and fortunately, all the small teams came back safe. Only one met beasts, but they scared the three grey wolves away without much effort. They looked too tired, but Toni couldn’t let them rest yet, he continued sending small teams to check the perimeter safety until another team finally arrived. When he saw the other villagers he couldn’t suppress his long sigh of relief, even with the markings, he feared the other team could get lost.

Now was finally time to start building their first home outside the Kingdom.