The slow crawl through the forest continued for a terribly long time, long enough for Mikhail to get the hang of moving without making a sound.
It was sort of like driving, where you had to look where you were going rather than at where you were… Moving with the path ahead in mind as he put his foot down to spots free of noise-making detritus.
Mikhail looked up from the ground for a bit, looking at the back of Glasha's head.
She was no bow-wielder, but she was at the front regardless. Her move would be the first, and if they were lucky, it would be the only move.
At least, that was how Mikhail thought…
Everyone else knew better.
Suddenly, Mikhail noticed something large move in the distance out of the corner of his eye. And, at the same time, Glasha raised her hand.
She had her index finger to her thumb, and the rest of her fingers were also brought down, forming an O. Mikhail didn't need Kegth to explain that hand sign, every body began spacing out to properly assume the formation.
It was a little awkward holding the formation through the trees, but the others were used to it, and all Mikhail had to do was follow Kegth's lead. Things seemed a little strange from his perspective though.
The formation seemed to fall apart, with the bow wielders splitting off in different directions, and the spear wielders doing the same. Only Glasha and the heavy hitters remained following their initial path.
Soon enough, the group Mikhail was in seemed to split off completely from the others.
Him, Kegth, and four others were seemingly on their own, but after a while of traversing away towards the southwest, they stopped.
"We should be far enough away, now," Kegth said as they came to a stop next to a random tree.
The other four turned to Mikhail with devious grins while Kegth looked past the edge of the large tree towards the north.
'I… Don't like where this is going…'
Mikhail took on the stance Yagnar had shown him earlier, not quite sure if he was doing it right.
"...Yeah, the stance is kind of like that, but not so crappy, lad," one of the four said. "Name is Burzol by the way. Try not to fuck up in the heat of the hunt, alright?"
"...Yeah. Sure."
Mikhail looked at them, feeling a little worried.
"So uh… Why did we split up so far away from the group?"
Kegth stopped peeking past the edge of the tree to answer him.
"When we hear the beast's roar, we're going to rush in. All of the spear wielders will."
Burzol spoke up after him, saying, "If we show off too many numbers straight from the start, tonight's dinner might run away. So, the small bow bastards will get its attention and hopefully fuck it up a little…"
"And then, we charge in and try to fuck up its legs to prevent its escape, and make the damage dealers' job easier."
Kegth scoffed.
"I'm going to go for the kill today. I'm dying to get an Architect's Apprentice Ticket, and I need more than a single mercantile trip to get it…"
"What's that?" Mikhail asked, the worry he felt from the strange looks earlier now dissipating.
"It's a ticket that'll give me the rights to not only learn how to build my own home, but also, actually build it."
Mikhail smiled.
"Sounds awesome, man."
Home ownership…
Something like that would've been considered a pipe dream back in his last life, even before the war started getting into full swing. The fact that someone his age was talking about it so brazenly…
It reminded Mikhail of just how different things were in this world.
Because, even if there was magic, even if he was stronger than before, and even though he was literally talking to an orc right now… He didn't feel all that different. Orcs were just as personable as any random dude could be.
'They don't feel fantastical. They just feel like people. Like the average Amy…'
Taking him out of his train of thoughts was a sudden high pitch roar that echoed through the surroundings.
"Let's go!"
Kegth led their group's charge, and they all saw a huge flash of light in the distance as they ran without caring about the sounds they made.
Within seconds, the beast came into view.
The creature stood on its hind legs, supporting a large body that had comparatively small arms. And, it had a long tail, a tail that was as long as its body and head combined. As for the head, it had a long yet narrow snout that came down to a rounded edge.
Its jaws were lined by viscous and sharp looking fangs. Its arms ended in three claws. On the back of its torso was a huge frill that doubled the creature's apparent height. And along both the frill and its spine were short spikes.
Mikhail looked at it a little strangely as they approached.
The creature they were approaching was almost entirely covered in azure scales, save for random streaks of white that seemed to permeate outwards from its entirely white frill. It also resembled a pin cushion, with all the arrows sticking out of it…
'Damn thing almost looks poisonous… So this is a Spinosaur, huh?'
"Mikhail, Slodagh, take its left leg! Burzol, Hugagu, to the right!"
Kegth gave the orders, and the other four immediately paired up together. Meanwhile, the man himself gnashed his teeth… The damned thing was looking away from them! He needed a good shot at the bastard's head!
"LOOK HERE, PRICK!"
The Spinosaur immediately turned, smacking away the other spear users charging at its head with a swipe of its tail. Mikhail paled when he saw a few of them slam face first into different trees, leaving behind a blood soaked indent in each of them before falling.
He also saw how there was a churning ball of azure water in its open maw.
Yet he couldn't fuck up now…
Steeling his resolve, Mikhail followed Slodagh's lead and ran to the side, ducking to avoid the incoming flash of light. And as he did, he saw something horrifying begin to happen in the corner of his eye.