Chapter 26: Taunting

It was like a beak biting down on a juicy worm, but this thing had two rows of black teeth. Blood sprayed from the creature's neck as it retreated into the darkness. Andric had narrowly avoided death, and now he hesitated to chase it further. The creature vanished into the night, and he lost sight of it.

Theudobald and the two brothers caught up with Andric, peering into the dark forest.

“What happened?” Theudobald asked, clearly pissed that the creature had escaped.

“I attacked it, and it tried to bite me,” Andric said, still scanning the area where he’d last seen the creature.

“And you let it get away? Whatever, let’s just head back to the fire,” Theudobald said, even more annoyed now. The four of them made their way back to the campsite, which was only a minute away. Andric kept his knuckles glowing with fire until they got back.

At the campsite, Carlman, Farvald, and Isbrand were on guard, while Hagano was lazily hanging around outside his tent.

“What happened?” Carlman asked without leaving his spot near the fire.

“The outsider let it get away,” Theudobald answered, taking a few more steps away from the others.

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Andric frowned but kept quiet. Theudobald had been hostile since their first meeting. The only good thing about him was how decisively he acted. Isbrand had also been rude at times but had taken the effort to teach Andric how to ride a horse, so Andric had cut him some slack.

“What was it?” Farvald asked, curious.

Andric wasn’t sure what it was. He’d heard plenty about spirit beasts from Instructor Hubert and his family, but none had ever been described as a monster that stuck the skin of its prey onto its own body. Many spirit beasts were good at blending into darkness, so that didn’t narrow it down much.

The horses had calmed down a bit but were still restless. The fire had only grown slightly since Andric and the others left, but it was enough to fully illuminate the area around the horses. Andric checked on them while Theudobald explained what had happened during the chase.

Out of all the Novice realm martialists in the Radegart Riders, Andric was the least experienced. His perception wasn’t as sharp as others’, even though his martial state was second only to Theudobald’s. Reading books couldn’t train someone to notice tiny details or develop a heightened sense of awareness. Facing death multiple times was what sharpened those skills.

Martialists usually trained in two key areas outside of martial techniques: killing intent and danger sense. Killing intent came from experience with slaughter, while danger sense developed from surviving dangerous situations. An experienced martialist like Theudobald had both, but Andric’s danger sense was weaker.

The Apprentice realm martialist Veremund had such strong killing intent that it could physically affect lower-realm martialists. Though Theudobald wasn’t that strong, he could still paralyze small animals with fear.

Andric might have had killing intent in his previous life, but centuries of existence had molded him into someone who didn’t fear or respect death. For him, killing was more like doing chores—nothing special.

Andric patted his horse’s head and said, “Hey, calm down,” but the horse was still jittery. As he was about to turn away, he noticed something moving in the darkness. He quickly looked at Theudobald, who hadn’t noticed anything. Andric glanced back at the forest, then went back to the fire.

“So, what’s the plan?” Carlman asked, having caught up on the creature situation.

“The creature is terrified of fire, which makes the outsider’s martial technique really useful. As long as he stays awake and keeps the fire going, the rest of us can sleep,” Theudobald said, casting a glance at Andric. Theudobald had been rude to Andric since they met, and he still seemed intent on making things difficult for him. Even though anyone could keep the fire going, Theudobald wanted to make Andric do it.

“Ah, Andric, we’re lucky you’re here. Without your technique, we wouldn’t be able to sleep with that thing around,” Farvald said, trying to sound braver than he felt. He was really worried about waking up needing to pee and getting snatched by the creature.

Filibert and Gerbold went back to their tents, ignoring the ongoing discussion. They had fought the creature and thought it was stronger than it looked. They were puzzled why it didn’t first go after the horses before attacking the humans. If it was smart enough to target the stronger humans first, it would be a real problem.

Carlman had hoped to lead the Radegart Riders, but Theudobald took over. Against the creature in the darkness, Carlman felt useless and couldn’t even be trusted to keep watch. He went back to his tent, sword at the ready, but without complaining.

Hagano and Theudobald chose to sleep outside near the fire. Hagano needed the warmth, while Theudobald didn’t trust Andric completely. Theudobald, being a Novice realm martialist, only needed a couple of hours of sleep a night. He wasn’t saying it, but he was using his danger sense to keep track of the creature.

Farvald and Isbrand calmed the horses and then returned to their tents. They were the least experienced and couldn’t help much with the creature. They were frustrated with their lack of strength but had no quick fixes. They could only keep meditating and practicing their techniques.

Time passed slowly. Andric used his Burning Palm Technique to light small sticks and threw them into the campfire, keeping it steady for over an hour. Only after everyone else had fallen asleep did the creature return.

The creature stood about eight feet tall, slightly over two feet wide, with black teeth like a beak, skin covered in stolen fur, and four legs. Andric hadn’t seen any arms, but the creature’s width suggested it might have something like arms or wings. It moved fast, barely staying in sight before vanishing.

The creature circled Andric, blending into the darkness with its spirit energy. It looked at him with deep black eyes, thinking, ‘I want to add his pelt to my collection.’ The creature’s spirit energy made it almost invisible, but it wasn’t perfect. Andric’s Silent Gallop Technique hid his sound, but didn’t make him invisible.

A minute passed, and the creature briefly appeared on the other side of the campsite before quickly disappearing again. Andric noticed it only when it moved away.

Thirty seconds later, Andric tossed a flaming stick into the forest and saw the creature between two distant trees before it fled. The fire on the stick went out quickly in the cold, and darkness returned.

Twenty seconds later, the creature revealed itself behind Andric, using its shadow to creep up on him. Luckily, it stepped on a twig, and Andric turned just in time to see it dart away.

Ten seconds later, the horses started acting up again, and Andric leaped towards them, spotting the creature just a dozen feet away. As usual, the creature bolted the moment Andric saw it.

The creature was getting bolder, moving closer to the campsite more often. Andric felt he was struggling to keep up. He used Silent Gallop to reach Theudobald and shook him awake, saying, “Get up.”

“What is it?” Theudobald asked groggily but quickly became alert as he sensed the creature nearby.

“Dawn’s coming soon. The creature will be more desperate if it doesn’t act now,” Andric said, scanning the forest.

Theudobald sensed the creature’s killing intent and locked eyes with it, but the creature vanished. Now that Theudobald was awake and exuding his own killing intent, the creature hesitated to come close.

Andric couldn’t tell the exact time, but he guessed there were about two hours left before sunrise. In summer, the leaves might have blocked the sun and given the creature more time, but with no leaves in winter, the sun would soon be out.

“Are we gonna kill it?” Theudobald asked, losing track of the creature.

“I will,” Andric said, taking off.

While awake, Andric had been planning a detailed attack strategy against the creature. He wasn’t entirely sure when to execute it, but now that the creature was getting braver and intruding more, he had a good reason to wake up Theudobald and make him keep watch. With Theudobald on fire duty, Andric could chase the creature into the forest without being seen.

The Flaming Fist Technique was a powerful weapon against the creature, and Andric could use it multiple times without draining his spirit energy. If he needed more energy, he could return to the campfire and meditate for a few minutes. Andric’s Perfect Circulation allowed him to gather and use spirit energy effectively, though it didn’t increase his energy storage.

Besides Flaming Fist, Andric also had Silent Gallop, Heaven Charging Spring, and various spells to use once out of sight of Theudobald and the others.

Once Andric decided to kill it, the creature’s days were numbered.