Before long, night has fallen. I've set up camp on the driest possible place I could find. Man, druid spells would've come in handy in times like this. I could've easily cast [Shape Earth] and made myself a dry cave. Food's also a problem. Since there's literally nothing here, I had to resort to getting ingredients from my inventory.
"Ugh..."
The kid's been passed out for quite some time. He must have used a lot of energy on top of losing air.
"Hey, you're awake," I greet him as he groggily focuses his red, snake-like eyes.
Upon seeing me, he immediately scrambles to find his crossbow. However, I'm not that dumb to let him loose after that stunt he pulled earlier.
"Ow!" he exclaims as he hits his head on a translucent wall. Thankfully, his thick black hair manages to soften the hit.
"Ah, please don't move too much. I placed a barrier around you so you won't be able to go wild like before. Also, don't even think about using Aura in there. It self regenerates as long as I have Mana and trust me, you'll destroy the air in there faster than the barrier."
The warning calms him down but being a descendant of the Lizard race, he's still quite skittish. He's obviously still wary but even he doesn't wanna test if I'm telling the truth or not.
"So you're really the infamous Richard Demain?" he asks.
"Infamous? I don't remember doing anything bad enough to be labeled like that. Also, where did you learn such a difficult word anyway?"
I then approach him and give him a piece of roasted meat and a bowl of soup through the tiny hole I made on the barrier. He nods in thanks and takes them from me.
The kid's starving. It's clear in the way he wolfs the food down.
"After you eat, mind telling me what happened?"
Without interrupting his rhythm, he gives me a thumbs up. I really wanted to hear what's going on as soon as possible but he took three or four more servings before finally being satisfied. Then finally, when all of the food disappeared, he got to talking. I swear, this kid's got a black hole for a stomach...
The kid's name is Ned. Apparently, he was the one who reported the light from the swamp to Nick. Since I didn't investigate when he told me to, Nick assembled an [Explorer] party to check things out and Ned automatically became the guide. They noticed immediately that the animals and insects in the area has gotten fewer. After observing overnight, Cramer, who was leading them, told everyone to pack up and go back to ask for reinforcements.
That's when the creature appeared.
It started when they heard one of their comrades ask for help with something. Quite a mundane thing really and during that time, they didn't think much of it. However, when the guy who went out to help didn't come back, they suddenly realized that something was wrong. As they were searching for their missing comrades, they heard a scream that sounded like the second guy who went missing. Sensing danger, Cramer ordered them to ignore the scream and get out of the swamp as soon as possible but one of their guys couldn't handle his conscience and went for him. He disappeared too.
That's the moment they knew that they were being hunted. Using their comrades' voices, this creature intended to lure them to their deaths. The voices of their dead comrades haunted them everyday, calling out to them without rest. They decided to stick close together no matter what until they finally left the swamp. Now that they're not in the creature's territory, they thought they could finally relax. But when one went out to do his business in the wild, he disappeared too.
It was tracking them. Somehow, it managed to hone in on their location precisely.
Retreating here would lure the monster near the settlement: a situation Cramer knew that they must avoid at all costs. So, he ordered everyone to stand their ground and fight.
But his teammates were cowards.
One by one his men deserted him. The worst situation turned into an impossible one and all that's left was him and Ned.
"So? What happened next?" I ask impatiently when Ned suddenly stops telling his story.
"I think it's faster if I show you," he says and gestures at the barrier.
I eye him suspiciously.
"Fine, but if you try anything funny, I'll immediately kick your ass."
Then with a flick of a finger, the barrier disappears.
Unexpectedly, he behaves and leads me through the swamp. What's worse than walking through a swamp is walking through a swamp at night. Thankfully, my sharpened senses allows me to see quite well even in the darkness but it still gives me the creeps. Also, it's doubly eerie because there's not a single peep coming from the surrounding area.
We walk for quite some time towards the heart of the swamp. By the looks of it, it seems that I only managed to explore the edges of the swamp before getting interrupted by Ned. As we go deeper, there's less and less dry patches to step on. Ugh, I wish I had [Water Walk]: yet another spell that doesn't belong with the Archmage class. How pathetic. I can flip a literal continent if I wanted to but I can't make shelter nor walk on water using magic.
Thankfully, it doesn't take longer to reach our destination.
"Here we are," Ned announces as he points at a nearby pool of water.
[Divine Mind Activated]
Yep there they are. Through my heightened eyes, I could see the familiar demonic energy emanating from some sort of humanoid creature. Also around in the same area is a form of energy that I haven't seen before emanating from another person in there. Actually, it's enveloping both of them in a perfect sphere.
[Identify Energy]
[Detected: Demonic Aura]
[Detected: Primordial Energy of the First Frost]
Woah wait... That's fancy. I've been practicing with some of my skills and found out that I could specifically identify what kind of energy I'm seeing. But in all my time using it, I've never seen Primordial Energy before. How exciting is this!
"Is that Cramer down there?"
He nods.
"So what's the play here? I'm kinda struggling to see it."
Ned averts his eyes from me before answering, "He... told me that he would lock the monster in place so that it doesn't slip away."
"But did he have to freeze himself too?"
"It somehow ended up that way..."
...
...
"Are you guys stupid or what?" I ask, a little bit ticked.
"Sorry..."
Sigh... I guess I shouldn't blame them too much. After all, this entire situation happened because I didn't investigate the area myself.
"So? Why are you still here then? If Cramer neutralized the creature, why didn't you come back to ask for backup?"
"That's because before the Captain froze himself, he told me to deal the final blow. Even if I end up killing him in the process..."
"And let me guess, his energy is far too strong for your Aura to penetrate and you're hesitant to go back because if by chance the creature escapes, it'll beeline towards the settlement."
He nods meekly, almost about to cry.
What the fuck's Cramer thinking? Leaving it all to a kid to finish the job... How desperate was he?
Feeling some sympathy for the kid, I pat him on the head.
"Don't worry kid, you did the right thing," I reassure him. "I'll make sure to put in a good word for you when we get back."
Encouraged, he wipes his tears and pumps his fists in the air.
"Alright, so what should we do now?"
"Now?"
I crack my knuckles and stretch my limbs.
"Now, we sleep. We'll get the idiot out tomorrow."
"W-wait! But what if the creature escapes?"
"Look, kid. It's nighttime already. Do you really want to fight some stealthy monster in this darkness?"
After pondering what I said, he immediately realizes how stupid of an idea he was suggesting.
"R-right... Yes... That's really dumb," he says and follows me back to the camp.
"Do you have food left Sir Richard?"