Chapter 52 — Tracking Down the Zoot Den (Part I)

  The zoots kept their distance from the ants’ territory.

  Toren still loosed his arrow the moment he had a clear shot on the alpha leading the patrol.

  He barely finished nocking a second arrow before the rest of the squad was fleeing and clicking out that same danger sound that he recognized them using to warn others after the slaughter at the orchard.

  A flutter and rustle drew Toren’s attention to a branch above where the weaker of the two dead zoots lay. The level 17 carrion bird.

  Toren was tempted to loose an arrow at the bird, but the ants had taken notice of the noise.

  Instead, he rushed out, stowing his bow and grabbing the larger of the two zoots by an arm and leg. He swung it over his head to rest against his shoulders and kept running. He didn’t look back. [Mana Sensing] was enough to inform him that soldier ants twice the size and strength of the scouts were joining the defense of the hive.

  The path of least resistance through the undergrowth was the zoot scouting route and he followed it in a mad rush. There were simply too many ants to risk stopping to fight and getting overrun.

  It had been a long time since he’d seen an increase to [Running]. Was it the jungle? The recent influx of XP? Or, more likely, that he was using [Burning Blood] to empower the Skill-

  Toren skidded to a halt and spun around, braining a soldier ant with the zoot corpse.

  There were two more behind it. He was already unclipping the belt holding his war maul strapped to his back and swinging it around in time to meet the skittering charge, [Flurry of Blows] letting him precisely crush both.

  Maybe killing enough to buy time to evade the hive’s response was possible after all…

  The slower line of scouts followed the same trail and met the same end but didn’t yield XP, but the five soldier ants that caught up afterward did. Toren nudged the World Spirit to combine like notifications.

  The scent of death was finally giving the new arrivals pause and they lingered back diverting to either side at a safer distance.

  Toren took the opportunity to resling his maul and throw the dead zoot alpha over his shoulder one-handed this time as he returned to the widening zoot-made trail.

  [Mana Sensing] had saved him from injury or worse. The gorge Kota had mentioned was before him and was wide and deep enough that he could see why Harthol hadn’t wanted to attempt crossing it. Higher-level zoots could probably jump it or maybe use the trees? But he couldn’t see the large numbers of lower-level zoots doing the same.

  The trail made by far more passings than the recent zoot patrol held the answer to that question as it led down along the side of the gorge and around a bend to a tree growing halfway down the gorge, a tree that had fallen over to create a bridge to the far side.

  Zoot scouts were guarding the far side but they gave warning clicks and retreated when he drew close. Not good. Even though the ants were no longer following him, there wasn’t an easy way for him to head back without encountering the swarming soldiers and scouts, and leading the ants back to the stead wasn’t a great idea.

  Maybe it was time to track down the zoot’s den.

  Or maybe he was being reckless.

  Between the surging strength of [Burning Blood] and the speed of [Flurry of Blows], he was beginning to feel invincible and that was a sure sign to reevaluate.

  The problem was that he had already been spotted, and the scouts were unlikely to let him out of sight now that he was threatening their territory. The scent of blood from the zoot he was carrying might be faint enough to not draw too much attention but it wasn’t going to make things easier.

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  If a tier-2 or peak tier-1 showed up as with the fight for Levish’s Orchard, he’d be hard pressed to take it out alone.

  Safely searching out the den would require killing the scouts watching him and hiding for later retrieval anything smelling of blood that he wanted to take back to the stead. If he couldn’t do that, then he’d be better off just crossing and trying to find his way to the road as directly as possible without running into other threats and try again another day.

  Whatever he was deciding, he’d have to choose quickly. Two of the scouts had already run off to warn others and the two remaining had taken distance in opposite directions.

  The moss-covered trunk was slicker than he liked, and unlike the zoots, he didn’t have toe claws to secure himself with. Toren took a deep breath as he readied one of Yana’s knives in his free hand and let his pounding heart spread [Burning Blood]’s empowerment throughout his body. Up the angled trunk he ran, keeping the steps light and not looking down at the jagged split of black rock and white water below.

  His fear became reality as just past halfway, his foot slipped and he caught himself on a knee, burying the knife in the still living bark to keep from sliding off.

  One of the waiting zoots decided to be brave and made a running leap.

  Doing the only thing he could think of, Toren used [Flurry of Blows] to swing the zoot alpha in hand. As he’d practiced with his war maul, he lessened the momentum to swing faster and restored it on impact.

  Swung by the legs, the dead zoot alpha arced throught the air to meet the threat. Its oversized head limply whipped around like the head of a flail and cracked into the flying zoot scout, impacting with a sickening crack and sending the scout careening below.

  Toren kept his grip fiercely on the knife plunged into the bark, and held himself secure against the backswing of his zoot flail. A glance confirmed the alpha's crest was still intact. That was worth two credits!

  He laughed. It wasn’t like he couldn’t just kill two non-alphas for the same two credits. The higher-level core was worth a bit more than two low-level cores, though.

  Still, trying to carry it up the trunk at the risk of falling was ridiculous. Swinging the alpha around behind his back, he let it fly up and over the opposite edge of the gorge. He’d retrieve it later. Or not.

  Shaking his head, Toren tugged the knife free and resumed his scramble upward, careful of the spot he’d slipped on.

  Upward facing branches made the last few steps awkward but also provided safe handholds.

  His time was up. [Mana Sensing] warned him of dangerous reinforcements approaching. Slinging his bow around, he quickly nocked an arrow and fired.

  No XP notice rewarded his effort. The scout’s snout had pulled back at the sound of his bowstring. The rest of it was safely behind a tree.

  Clever one, this one.

  But it was still a chance.

  While out of sight, Toren made his move, ducking into a mostly dry gully and silently following it away from the gorge.

  ~~~

  『Name: Toren of Theravos

  Race: Human

  Age: 20

  Profession 1: Level 5 Burningblood Berserker (7800/10000)

  Mana: 96/96

  Strength: 16

  Constitution: 14

  Dexterity: 14

  Agility: 12

  Wisdom: 12

  Intellect: 8

  Will Power: 18

  Perception 15

  Appearance: 8

  Charisma: 8

  Luck: 10

  Attribute Upgrade Points: 4

  Traits:

  Sacrificial Guardian

  Abilities:

  Burning Blood (Rank 1) Proficiency: Mid

  Control Blood (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low

  Flurry of Blows (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low

  Ability Upgrade Points: 4

  Profession Skills:

  Severe Wound Recovery 5

  Focus Rage 3

  Combat Awareness 5

  Berserker Weapon Arts 1

  Pain Tolerance 5

  Physical Conditioning 6

  Intimidate 3

  Skills:

  Danger Sensing 3

  Stealth 18

  Mana Sensing 14

  Wilderness Harvesting 12

  Theravos Language 11

  Religion 10

  Meditation 5

  Bone Strengthening 3

  Divided Focus 2

  Hunting 20

  Archery 19

  Running 12 → 13

  Wound Binding 8

  Arithmetic 4』