Roy observed the desolate encampment with curiosity.
"You said she was captured by goblins?" Roy asked the skinny man beside him.
"Yes, sir. We left the outpost around the same time and were supposed to meet up eight hours later to make sure everyone was accounted for," The man said.
"And she never showed up?"
"No, sir."
"Well, this is the only goblin encampment we've found near the area she went patrolling, but it's just a graveyard."
"Maybe it wasn't goblins, sir?"
"No, it definitely was. Goblins have been kidnapping unsuspecting women in Greenleaf Forest for ages. This is nothing unprecedented. Also, there are no other monsters inside the forest besides goblins, and beasts lack the intelligence to see any benefit in keeping their prey alive."
"Then what do we do, sir?" The man asked in a worried tone.
"Hmm, we should begin by-"
"Sir! We found something!" Another guard in the distance interjected.
Roy and the man beside him quickly ran over to the other guard.
"What is it?" Roy asked.
"Sir, just look," The guard said, pointing to a pile of bones below him.
"Hmm, these look to be… human bones?" Roy said, inspecting a femur in his hands.
"Sir?" The skinny man said, confused.
"Look. They're twice the size of the the other bones around, and-" Roy said, reaching for something, "Wouldn't you agree that this belongs to a human?"
The skinny man stared at the human skull with trepidation and nodded.
"There are two sets here in total," Roy said, carefully examining the ground.
"What about those, sir?" The skinny man asked, pointing to a pile of abnormally large bones.
"No, those aren't human. I'd say they belonged to a high-ranking goblin — probably a champion," Roy said.
"I see! You have a good eye, sir!" The man said with an enlightened expression.
"You flatter me, but more importantly, I can conclude that Raya isn't among these bones," Roy said.
"Really, sir? How?" The skinny man asked.
"It just doesn't add up. For one, why is there another set of bones? Raya was patrolling alone to begin with. Also, if she was captured, how could she be killed so quickly? You know how goblins are when they capture women. Furthermore, what happened to the goblins of this encampment. Who killed them?"
"What's your theory, sir?" The man asked.
"My theory? Hmm…" Roy fell deep into thought before speaking again, "I believe Raya was captured by goblins, just not by this encampment. I think these human remains belong to some other poor women — probably either hunters or travelers. At some point, this encampment was attacked and massacred. Perhaps by a rival goblin encampment."
"But why, sir?"
"Who knows? The mind of a monster is always impossible to understand, especially when it comes to goblins. Maybe they were hungry, so they killed and ate the goblins here. Or maybe they were just horny and this encampment provided the only human women in the area. My guess is as good as yours in that regard," Roy said, shaking his head.
"What now, sir? Do we keep searching the area?" The man asked.
"We have no choice. Return to the outpost and put up an assignment for locating goblin encampments. Go now," Roy said, looking at the skinny man.
"Yes, sir!" The man said, turning to leave.
After the man departed to follow his orders, Roy calmly observed the encampment littered with bones, a trace of interest appearing in his eyes.
'All the bones are centralized in the middle of the encampment. Could goblins really be capable of preforming such an organized task as to move corpses to one location? Or perhaps… there's more to this than I first thought? Maybe it's just my intuition, but I think there's a chance the wise beast is behind this,' Roy thought as his gaze fell on a one meter wide crater in the ground.
'A real good chance.'
--------------------------------
Zulu and Raya walked down a wide dirt path inside the tall oak forest.
'I have about two hour's left until [Corporeal Illusion] dispels. I'm okay for now.'
Zulu had immediately noticed the benefits of upgrading [Corporeal Illusion]. The Rank 2 spell consumed far less mana while maintaining his human form as though it were perfecting the most efficient way to do so. Now he estimated that he could use the spell for four hours straight — four times longer than before.
Zulu turned his head to the red-haired woman beside him before speaking, "Do you know how far out we are from the outpost?"
Zulu had asked Raya to lead him to a nearby town. He wanted to avoid large cities, yet needed to find a light mage. This was the middle-ground that he settled on.
Before that though, Raya had to meet up with her regiment at the main outpost in Greenleaf Forest to report her situation. Then, she would willingly lead Zulu to the town on the outskirts of the forest.
"Should be a couple more miles. We'll be able to see the outpost soon once the forest begins to open up," Raya said, looking at Zulu, "Don't worry, little sister, we'll be out of this place in no time."
Zulu simply nodded while he sighed internally.
'Just bear with it, Zulu. This is what you look like for now. You're just gonna have to get used to it.'
"Hey, will they care if I hide my appearance?" Zulu asked, "I'm rather self-conscious about my eyes."
Raya had asked Zulu about his strange eyes back at the goblin encampment, but he simply told her it was a birth defect in which he'd been shunned for his entire life. She quickly stopped asking about it, unwilling to resurface any bad memories within him. Of course, this was a lie, but what could Zulu say? That he was actually a beast in disguise?
As for why the goblins were turned to skeletons, Zulu explained it away with his fire magic. Raya was more or less convinced; After all, she was only a guard with zero experience when it came to magic.
Raya had also asked Zulu to demonstrate his fire magic, but he subdued her interest by claiming that he was low on mana after fighting the goblins; After all, he needed all the mana that he could muster in order to maintain [Corporeal Illusion].
Raya nodded in understanding, "Don't worry, you can hide your face. I've got your back if they ask questions," she said, tossing Zulu a thumbs up.
"Thanks," Zulu said, nodding his head towards her.
When comparing the heights of Raya and Zulu, they were much the same. Both were around five foot, seven inches tall.
A half hour later, a large log-like cabin appeared far off behind the trees. It was two stories tall and forty meters wide with countless guards surrounding its perimeter. The guards were all dressed in red uniforms with swords dangling from their hips.
"We're nearly there," Raya said.
"Awesome," Zulu said.
'One and half hours before it dispels. I'll have to find an excuse to leave for a bit during our trip to the village. Hopefully, she won't be too suspicious. The last thing I want to have to do is eat my guide,' Zulu thought.
After a few more minutes of walking, Zulu and Raya were approaching the perimeter of guards. One of the guards noticed their approach and unsheathed his sword; However, after seeing Raya's uniform, he quickly returned it to its hilt.
Then the guards eyes lit up and he hastily spoke, "Is that Raya? Guys, she's back!"
The rest of the guards around the one who spoke quickly diverted their attention to Raya and Zulu. Many shouts soon followed.
"It really is!"
"Raya's back!"
"She's alive!"
"But who's she with?"
"I don't know… Maybe a wandering vagrant?"
"Haha! Raya? With a vagrant? You must be out of your mind. I don't think she's ever shown any man attention, let alone a bum."
"Shut up Ross, you're just mad she rejected you."
"At least I tried Benjamin, unlike you, you damn coward. How can you even call yourself a man?" The man named Ross responded.
"Oh yeah? You wanna fight? C'mon, show me how I'm the coward!" Benjamin fired back, putting his fists above his face.
"They seem like a fun bunch," Zulu muttered.
"Ignore them. All those idiots know how to do is get drunk and hit on the female guards," Raya replied, "C'mon, I'll check in and we'll leave."
Raya and Zulu arrived before the first guard.
"What the hell happened, Raya?" The man asked.
"Got lost for a bit, but I'm okay now. My friend here helped me back to the road," Raya said, displaying a cheerful grin and planting a hand on Zulu's shoulder.
"Oh? That's good then. Hurry to report in and we'll send a notice to the captain."
"Alright. C'mon, Zulu," Raya said, tugging on Zulu's arm.
The guard moved aside and allowed the two of them to pass. As they walked, all of the male guards glared at Zulu with eyes brimming of ire.
'It seems I've ruffled a few feathers by walking with Raya. Is she super popular around here? Never mind, those jealous gazes are just too blatant. Well, I wonder how they'd react if I lowered my hood,' Zulu thought, following closely behind Raya towards the large log building.
It was no surprise that the men in the regiment mistook Zulu for a guy. His full body clothing concealed his smooth pale skin and hid his face. In addition, he was as flat as a washboard. One could not identify his femininity just by examining his chest. Thus, they all assumed that he was simply a short feeble man who got lucky. Though they were technically correct.
Before Raya and Zulu could enter the outpost doors, a pair of guards moved to block their path; It was Ross and Benjamin.
"What do you two morons want?" Raya asked, obviously annoyed.
Ross was a bulky man standing at over six feet tall. He had short brown hair and brown eyes. His face was square and fierce with defined lines on his forehead.
Benjamin was much shorter at only five and half feet tall. He had shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes. His face was smooth and handsome; He looked the type to be called 'pretty boy' by others. Due to his small stature, Zulu was actually an inch taller than him.
The two seemed to dislike one another, however, had nonetheless agreed to come together for some nefarious purpose.
Ross spoke first, "Well, we were just curious about our new friend here," he said, gesturing to Zulu.
"Beat it. We've got things to do," Raya said in a cold tone.
'No kidding. I'm really on a timer here,' Zulu thought.
Raya tried to walk between the pair of guards but they quickly closed together, blocking her off.
"Well, hold on just a minute. We just want to talk to our new friend. C'mon, we're all buds here, right?" Ross asked with a smile.
"No," Raya said sternly.
Ross' face scrunched up at her answer, but a hand prevented him from acting out.
Benjamin quickly cut it, "How about this? Our friend here can just lower his hood and let us get a good look at him? We're super curious about the guy who could pull the campus beauty," He said, reaching his hand toward Zulu's hood.
However, a hand caught his arm before it could reach Zulu, "Piss off, Benjamin. For your own good," Raya said.
"Oh? Is that a threat? What are you going to do to us if we don't?" Benjamin asked, wearing a wide grin.
"Whatever, do what you want," Raya said, flashing a smile at Zulu before entering the outpost alone.
'Thank god. These guys were really starting to irritate me,' Zulu thought.
Ross face lit up at the sight of Raya leaving and he watched Zulu with malicious intent emanating from his eyes.
"Now that the ladies are gone. How about us men get to business?" Ross asked, looking at Zulu.
"Yeah, let's get down to business," Benjamin quickly followed up.
"Firstly, who the hell do you think you are trying to steal my woman?" Ross asked.
'His woman? Haha, this guy's kinda funny,' Zulu thought.
Zulu simply shrugged his shoulder, unwilling to reveal his voice.
"Wow! Look at this guy refusing to admit anything, Ross. We can't possibly let this stand, can we?" Benjamin asked, his grin widening.
"Yeah, you're right, Benjamin. We couldn't let such an insult slide. We're gonna have to teach you a lesson," Ross said, observing Zulu for any reaction.
Maybe Ross mistook Zulu's inaction for cowardice because his confidence grew as did the contempt in his expression.
Zulu simply shrugged again, curious as to what the two guards would try.
Ross begin to walk towards Zulu while speaking, "Alright, friend. If you wanna snatch my girl, you're gonna have to go through me first. You got that?"
'There's no better time to test out this body in a fight than now, I suppose,' Zulu thought.
Ross neared within a meter of Zulu before arching his arm back and hurling it forward. His fist barreled towards Zulu's hooded face; However, it only connected with air.
"What the?" Ross said, bewildered by his failure to punch the weak looking man.
However, before Ross could assess what had happened, a powerful force slammed into his chin from below, dislocating his jaw. He flew a couple of feet into the air before landing on his back with a heavy thud, clouds of dirt dispersing under his weight.
"How the hell!" Benjamin yelled, unable to believe what he had witnessed.
In the eyes of the spectating guards, Zulu became a blur and appeared under Ross before they could even react. The strength behind his punch was equally astonishing.
'A Tier 2?' Benjamin thought, 'We really fucked up this time.'
Benjamin quickly spoke, "Haha. Say friend, I was just joking, you know? Maybe we should just forg-"
However, before he could finish his sentence, an immense impact crushed his nose, throwing him backward and knocking him unconscious. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his nose was smashed inward, a stream of blood flowing down his face. Only Zulu remained where he once stood with an elbow held out.
'I'm satisfied. [Corporeal Illusion] does indeed transfer my bestial strength and speed. [Dash] also carried over nicely. Tier 1 humans simply aren't my match.'
Under the astonished gazes of the perimeter guards, Zulu calmly stepped over the bodies of the two guards and entered the building.
"Nice job. You really kicked their ass," Raya said with a smile.
"It was fun," Zulu said.
'Shame I couldn't eat them, though,' Zulu thought.
"Will it be fine, though? They won't try to arrest me or something, right?" Zulu asked.
"Nah, don't worry. Fights happen all the time between guards. If they try to create any problems for you, one word with the captain and they'll be dismissed," Raya said with confidence.
'Just who is this women? Did I rescue the president's daughter or something?' Zulu thought, interested in the identity of his companion.
"Thanks," Zulu said.
"Don't worry about it. I owe you my life, little sister," Raya said.
'If only she knew that I once considered eating her. I still do,' Zulu thought.
After Raya reported her safety and intentions to the headmaster of the outpost, she grabbed Zulu, and they set off.
'One hour left before [Corporeal Illusion] dispels. It'll be midday soon. I need to come up with a clever lie before then,' Zulu thought.
As the sun neared its peak in the sky, Raya and Zulu departed from the outpost and down the dirt path.