Fear and surprise. That was what Aaron and Autumn felt as the creature stared at them.
It had sharp teeth, and stood on two feet, balancing with a large, feathered tail. It had a pair of airs, both looking like a wing and tipped with three claws on both ends.
'That thing is terrifying!' Aaron and Autumn both thought. Of course, if Roland was here, he would have a similar, but slightly different reaction. That creature they were facing looked just like a dinosaur from his past life. To be precise, it was a velociraptor. Larger than life, it stood 8 feet tall, looming over Aaron and Autumn and looking at them like they were prey. Its eyes gleamed, reflecting the fear on their faces.
"Run!!" Autumn, screamed, pulling Aaron out of his trance. Quickly, they both rushed through the ravine, running single file in the cramped area. Running around, they went through forks, crossroads, and long, winding paths. The ravine felt like it stretched on for miles! Suddenly, they ran into a dead-end!
A rock wall lay in front of them, blocking their way. The walls were too steep to climb and they could hear the monster catching up to them.
'We have to fight!' Aaron realized in horror. Although he and his brother could fight pretty well, he had read about this creature before. It was called a velociraptor and was a C-rank creature! Although Aaron had the same rank as it, to fight a beast of the same rank, a party of at least 5 people of equal rank was needed! However, they noticed something. The creature had sprained one of its arms in the fall, leaving an area where it couldn't attack and was undefended. Plus, it had a deep gash on the side of its leg, limiting its movement and slowing it down. Without those injuries, it probably would have caught up much faster and killed them already.
Resigned to their fate, Aaron brought out his spear and Autumn wielded his sword. Simultaneously, they charged at the prehistoric creature.
...
Thirty minutes later. Aaron and Autumn lay on the floor winded. The corpse of the velociraptor lay by their feet. Its body was riddled with holes, and it had large gashes all over its body. The feathers that covered its body were tattered, dotting the floor of the ridge. The two brothers were in much better condition compared to the carcass lying on the ground. Aaron had small wounds on his body, but nothing serious; they had already stopped bleeding. Besides that, he had a deep claw mark on his right arm, so he tore his shirt to make a bandage and gritted his teeth through the pain. There wasn't much else they could do. Autumn's injuries weren't as serious. Besides some claw marks that barely drew blood, he was fine.
Standing up, Aaron walked over to the corpse. He strained his arms, trying it get it over his shoulder. "Autumn, help me lift this thing!" He said to his brother. This corpse was valuable, and if it was sold, it could get enough money to rebuild the orphanage. It had long since been due for repairs. The wallpaper was tattered, floorboards were loose, and every window seemed to be broken in some way. Looking at it from the outside, the orphanage seemed like it would collapse at any moment.
After a while, with Autumn's help, Aaron dragged the dead velociraptor outside the ravine. Pulling themselves over the ledge, they looked around. The land was flattened. Trees had been torn down, bushes trampled, and giant footprints were left in the ground. Keeping the carcass over their shoulders, the two brothers slowly walked in the direction of the city.
However, they had to leave the carcass behind. They were too tired, and the strain of moving it reopened their wounds. The carcass would only slow them down.
Eventually, they heard the sounds of battle. They could hear the screams and cries of those in pain. The metallic echoes of claw and sword colliding, and the inhumane roars and screeches of the creatures as they fought.
Now, they could see the vast array of monsters. There were ogres, goblins, chimeras, giant golems made of stone and there was even a giant hydra with 9 heads, looming over the others. In comparison, Estaria looked tiny, but the city still stood proudly, even while besieged by an army of monsters. The blue barrier surrounding it flickered but didn't falter, and spells were constantly coming from the battlements of the outer wall of the city. Vaguely, they could see small figures, chanting and casting spells to fend off the horde of creatures.
Outside the barrier, there were more people, fighting with the creatures in melee combat. They dipped in and out of the barrier, resting inside to recover stamina and treat wounds, but otherwise, they went right back out.
"We need to help!" Autumn said anxiously, "They won't last forever!" Indeed, he was right. The barrier dimmed with every passing second, the once bright light slowly fading away.
"We can't get over there," Aaron said, conflicted. He wanted to help, but the Estaria was surrounded! There were monsters everywhere, and they couldn't just waltz through the army like they were back at the orphanage, where everyone viewed them with respect due to their high adventurer rank. However, he didn't want to abandon everyone at the orphanage. He thought of the old lady, who seemed mean but cared about them, unlike most others. He thought of the friends he made along the way. He thought of everyone he knew in the city. The baker that made his meals, the blacksmith next door, and everyone else.
However, the decision was taken out of their hands.
In the distance, they could see hundreds of small black dots appearing in the sky. As the dots got closer, they could finally see their shape. They were wyverns! His face paled in fear. Where were the city's reinforcements? Each wyvern was at least a C rank, and there were hundreds of them! Then he noticed something. There were people riding on the backs of the wyverns! To his left, he could hear Autumn let out an audible sigh of relief. The Dragon Slayers were here. An elite force of high-ranking mages trained from a young age, they were one of the most fearsome forces on the continent. Each of them rode a wyvern into battle. Of course, to call them mages was inaccurate. Although most people decided to become a mage, that wasn't the only thing you could do with mana. Of course, mages had the most complete heritage, so it was a lot easier to learn. The other professions like dual wielders and berserkers were less widely known and had incomplete heritages, so most things you had to learn yourself to grow stronger. The Dragon Slayers were almost completely made up of melee classes. They had a special heritage that was taught to their members. From rumors around town, those that were taught the heritage were called 'Slayers'. The main focus of the class was to kill. They had a special aura developed by killing that empowered their spells and special weapons that were made by some of the best Blacksmiths in the world.
As they watched, they saw the Dragon Slayers jump off of their mounts and land on the ground, sending up clouds of dust.