Part Twenty-Two

“Come on Regis. Take the jerky sweetie. It won’t hurt you.”

“Kyu.”

“Pleeeeease~? It would make me very happy.”

“Kyu.”

“Michaeeeeel! Tell your fox to stop being mean!”

“Kyuuuuu! Ku kyu kyuuuu~!”

“I have literally no idea what the hell's happening here, but I want it to stop. This is both disturbing and irritating at the same time. Knock it off.”

I’d come downstairs to discover Kalia pleading with Regis to let her feed him. After being refused repeatedly, she began pleading with me to somehow convince him to eat her jerky? Again, what the fuck is this?

“Kuuuuu! Ku!”

“Okay, okay. Settle down you two. It’s too early for whatever the hell this is. Regis, eat your jerky or whatever and stop complaining. Kalia, just accept that he doesn’t like you. It’s only going to get worse if you keep badgering him like this, okay?”

“I refuse! I’ve never met an animal that didn’t like me! Even wild birds and squirrels would eat out of my hand if I talked to them enough. I don’t see why Regis has to be any different.”

“…Is this a fetish of yours or something? Because that’s the only way to explain it at this point.”

“F-fetish!? Michael you can’t go talking about stuff like that in the daytime!”

“………So it would fine if it was night?”

“NO! It’s never fine to talk about other people’s fetishes! Especially mine!”

“What’s this about Kalia’s fetishes? What the heck's going on down here?”

Oh great, comedic timing’s back. Alicia came down the stairs just as Kalia started screaming about her fetishes, and I’d bet good money on Gwyn and Gwen hearing as well. I sighed to myself, and scooped up Regis, who’d been about to eat the jerky Kalia dropped, then went to sit at the table for my breakfast.

“Kuu?”

“Nice try little guy. Next time, just accept the damn jerky when it’s offered to you. It’ll go a long way to getting you more. Also, you woke me up earlier asking for food because you were too damn impatient to wait a half-hour, so you’ve already eaten.”

“Kyu.”

Sensing that he wasn’t getting any more food from me than I’d already given him this morning, Regis went over to Alicia and tried begging for scraps, only to be turned away. He then went over to the twins, who’d just come downstairs, completely ignoring Kalia’s offering of the same jerky he’d almost eaten seconds ago.

I’m starting to feel like Regis isn’t actually a fox, but a spell made manifest that’s making a psychological attack against Kalia. Even I’d be affected if I got snubbed so many times by a creature I just wanted to pet and cuddle. Why’s he got to be a dick?

“Hello there, Regis. I’m afraid I don’t have anything for you, but I believe Kalia has some extra jerky if you’re interested.”

“Kyu. Kuuuu~.”

“…Michael, could you translate? I’m afraid I’m not as fluent in fox as I’d like to be.”

“Why does everyone think I understand what he’s saying? I’m not a fox whisperer. I just make guesses based off of his reactions and body language. It’s like when you ask a dog if they want to go for a ride and they start jumping around happily. Just…with a fox.”

“Okay, then what was his reaction to that?”

“Oh, he was basically annoyed you’d even suggest that. I still don’t understand what his problem with Kalia is. Oh, and he was begging for food at the end. But don’t actually give him any since I already fed him this morning.”

“Understood. Not that I would when Kalia’s still trying to offer him some jerky and he won’t even look at her.”

“Kuuuu~.”

“Yeah, not happenin'. If ya want more food, talk to Kalia. She’s practically itchin' to feed ya, so just let her.”

“Kuuuu….”

Having exhausted all his options, Regis went off to sulk in one of the darker corners of the house, all the while Kalia forlornly watched him walk away, jerky still in hand. She continued to stare for a few minutes, but finally settled down to eat since everyone else was here now.

Ahhh, damnit Regis. Why do you have to do shit like this? Now Kalia’s all bummed out, and it’s making me feel like it’s somehow my fault. I’m gonna have to get to the bottom of this somehow, but I don’t know how. Haaaah, fuck.

The five of us ate our meals in silence, with the occasional roar of monsters in the background. We usually just ate prepackaged stuff for breakfast since fighting on a full stomach wasn’t a good idea. Any actual cooking we’d do would be saved for lunch or dinner.

I could really go for a pizza right now. I like fruit bars and all, but they’re not exactly satisfying, even paired with fruit and water. Hm, do I dare drink a soda this early in the morning? My every instinct says no, but my heart says yes. Eh, maybe later.

***

Breakfast soon finished, and with everyone ready, we set out to hunt. Our plan for today was to move around the edge of the city, slowly making our way to the northwest, where we’d find another car and begin making our way back to our starting point. The trip back should only take a day or two, so we had about seven days here before we absolutely had to leave.

When moving through a monster-infested city, the idea was to try and attract as little attention as possible. This area wasn’t as bad as further in, but there were monsters on just about every block. We frequently had to cut through houses or alleys to avoid unnecessary fights.

Though that’s not to say we avoided every fight. Since our primary goal right now was to go unnoticed, we couldn’t afford to get involved in any fights that would take too much time or make too much noise. But at times, killing the monsters in our way was the ideal solution, as it reduced the number of potential enemies. Plus it was kinda the whole reason we were here.

There were also times when we had to fight, like when there was no other way through an area, or when we were spotted by monsters. Like the group of Goblins we’d just finished killing. This particular group had kept some wolves as hunting dogs, and one of them had picked up our scent, leading to the monsters chasing us down.

Granted, they’d died extraordinarily quickly, but the battle had still happened. And battles weren’t exactly quiet.

“Tch, we’ve got incomin’! Looks like more than a hundred Minotaurs!”

“Shit. Everyone into that house! We can’t fight that many in the street at once! Kalia, cast [Bless] and anything else you got! Move it people!”

With so many monster nests in close proximity here, it was highly likely that one battle would lead to another. And then another. And another. The only real way for us to weather such a storm was to either run, or to take shelter inside a defendable building. Eventually, more monsters would show up to distract the others, which would hopefully allow us to slip away unnoticed.

That’s how we’ve dealt with similar situations before, but they weren’t this bad. There’s gotta be two hundred of them out there. This is gonna be a bloodbath.

Once we were inside, Alicia ran upstairs to begin readying her initial bombardment. Considering the advances she’d made with magic and imbuement in recent days, I knew it would put a dent in the monsters' numbers.

Meanwhile the rest of us were barricading doors and windows to set up choke points. The only way into the house was the front door, and anything coming through would meet plenty of steel. We also made sure to seal off any other entrances so as to prevent anything from flanking us.

“”“”Mraaaagh!!””””

*FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

We finished up just as the Minotaurs reached our block and began to charge at the house we were in, only to run head first into a blast of flame, charbroiling a dozen Minotaurs. …is it weird that this made me hungry for cheeseburgers?

“Ooh, she used one of the [Fireball] ones this time. That’s definitely one way to deter them.”

“Mn, they’re all the more effective than her Grenade Arrows were, though they’re also a lot harder to mass produce, so don’t expect too many more repeat performances like that. Ah, see? She’s following up with regular Grenade Arrows.”

Explosion after explosion rang out, scorching dozens of Minotaurs. However, not only were Grenade Arrows weaker than the [Fireball] ones, but these Minotaurs were particularly tough. A direct hit would kill them, but most got away with just severe burns. And since Alicia had a limited supply of them, and that she also needed to conserve what she had, she couldn’t keep this bombardment up forever.

“Ah, there’s the [Spark Burst] arrow. That means it’s our turn to fight.”

“Good, let’s show ‘em who they’re messin' with. We’re havin’ steak tonight!”

So I’m not the only one who thinks that! Actually, I can’t imagine that Minotaur meat would be all that good. They’re so muscly that their meat would be pretty tough. Though maybe if I stewed it in a crockpot for hours, that might soften it up. Or maybe I could grind it up into hamburger. Hm, wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. They might not even be edible in the first place. Hm, but, hamburgers….

Deciding to put aside any thoughts of food for now, poked my sword out through a window and began to cast [Rot] as quickly as I could. Once the Minotaurs realized that the onslaught of fire was over, they’d resumed charging the house, though arrows still occasionally took a few lives here or there. Unfortunately, the projectiles [Rot] fired weren’t very big, and were thus only able to harm a single Minotaur each, though each one died, either from the spell itself or by being trampled by those behind it.

But that wasn’t enough to slow them down. The first Minotaur reached the front door and kicked it down, only to be cut down by another [Rot] seconds later. But more piled in past, sending things into a desperate melee. I drew the white sword and stepped in, both of my swords flashing through the air, cutting monster flesh as they went.

And I wasn’t the only one either. Gwyn was tearing the monsters apart just as much as I was, his waraxes lopping off limbs and taking heads. Even Gwen was getting into it, using the two of us as cover while she’d pick off any Minotaur unfortunate enough to show an opening.

“Mrrrraaaaaaeeeee.”

However, you might remember that there were an awful lotta Minotaurs. And with so many of them dying, that meant there was now an awful lotta corpses in the room forming into a pile. A pile that was blocking the door into the house. And something out there didn’t like that.

“Fuck! Back up now!”

A large upsurge of mana alerted us to a spell taking shape outside, though we only had a few seconds before the spell completed, and the front of the house, along with any Minotaurs too slow to run, were completely decimated. An explosion tore through walls and all the barricades, and the leftover force was enough to send me flying backwards through another door.

Gah! Sh-shit! That, that definitely broke some ribs. Ow, fuck, ow. Ah, and I can’t breath. Shit, I need to get up. They could come for me at any moment.

Human bodies were so damn fragile. Just being sent tumbling through a door was enough to break some bones, though it would appear that my arms and legs were fine. Seeing no other alternative, I activated Rapid Recovery so my bones would reset themselves, though I’d likely burn through much of my mana.

Several minutes passed before I could get back to my feet, but once I did, I immediately wished I’d been sent through the back wall and into another house. That would’ve been preferable to what I saw. And would’ve out more space between me and it.

The house was now an open concept, as the entire front wall was just gone, along with much of the floor. And while I worried about Alicia for a few moments, the monster responsible for this devastation made its presence known.

“MrrrrrrGrrrrEeeeeEeeeEeaaAaAaaA!!!!”

That creepy, creaky bellow came from something I’d call an abomination. It stood amongst the remaining Minotaurs, though it was also twice as tall as them. Instead of being covered in fur, it was instead clad in blood-red scales, making it appear to be reptilian at first glance. However, every thing else was the same. Its hooves, hands, horns and face were all very recognizable, which only made the contrast between that and the rest of it all the worst.

Draconian Minotaur

Rank: C

Description: One of the rare atavistic hybrids, Draconians are the product of Draconic DNA entering the gene pools of various monsters in ages past. Most are stillborn, but others occasionally grow to reach maturity. Any that do are regarded as highly dangerous, as they not only possess the abilities of their base race, but also those of their Draconic heritage.

FUUUUUUUUCK! WHY DOES THIS BULLSHIT KEEP HAPPENING!?

Not only were we facing an extremely powerful creature, but I didn’t know if anyone else was even alive. Gwen and Gwyn had both been caught by the explosion’s blowback, and they’d somehow disappeared in the time it took me to recover. As for Kalia, I knew she’d been hiding somewhere she could still see us, but I didn’t know where exactly. And Alicia, well for all I knew, she could’ve been caught in the blast. This was very, very, very bad. But it was about to get worse.

Just as I was contemplating running off, I felt something grab me by the shoulder….