Only when the sun had risen could the students know how tragic the situation was. Seeing the corpses littering the ground, many of them began retching, others crying.
The guards did not stop to take a break, but gathered the dead guards for cremation. The bodies couldn't be carried back to the capital, they'd definitely rot along the way, and they also couldn't be buried in case some monsters or necromancers came across them.
Regis, who was covered head to toe in blood and viscera walked over to Eris. She recited a spell, and all the gunk peeled away from him, as if he was shedding a skin.
Regis thanked Eris and asked her "How many did we lose?"
Eris frowned when thinking about the number, "One hundred and twenty".
"Damn!" he swore. The first day of travelling and they'd already lost 1/20th of the guards. It's not that they weren't expecting such an outcome, but this was only one day out from Etrida, which was unimaginable before. Even worse, was that it was a fruitless battle. The beetles only advantages are their number. None of their parts are worth much, which makes groups that stumble upon these monsters choose to avoid, rather then confront.
The husband and wife looked towards the depths of the forest, wondering what was going on in there, so as to rile up the monsters on the outskirts.
However they knew they wouldn't receive an answer, so after resting for the morning, the team chose to depart, hoping to reach the next city as quickly as possible.
Fortune seemed to favour them, as the next week passed mostly peaceful under the strong vigilance of the group.
The convoy marched it's way to the gates of Arqin, one of the two cities between Etrida and the capital. Relief showed on their faces after noticing the city walls, but as they approached they noticed that outside the walls were a large number of people.
Unlike the usual hustle and bustle, the people here were in an agitated state, trying to push their way into the city. The obviously larger amount of city guards were shouting to maintain order.
Seeing the impatience of the group of people, Regis and Eris who had vast experience knew what the problem was.
Regis was clearly the hot headed one, "Can we not catch a break? We just encountered a horde, and now we caught up with another one".
Eris rubbed his arm comfortingly. She also didn't expect the trip to be so difficult.
The city guards had obviously experienced this situation before, so after calming the restless crowd, they began to allow the people outside to enter, in an orderly manner.
Regis could only thank the gods that this city lord was dutiful. Otherwise if they were trapped outside with a monster horde, the trip might be for naught.
The convoy of the academy obviously surprised the city guards. The captain sent one of his deputies to the city lord to let him know.
The city lord was in the study of his estate, looking at the reports of the going ons of the city, when a knock came from the door. He didn't even look up before saying "Enter".
The butler led the breathless deputy into the room, he stepped forward and saluted the city lord "Master, a deputy from the south gate has come to report".
The city lord looked at the deputy and calm said, "Speak".
The deputy reiterated what the captain had said.
"A team from the Larsille academy? They did pass by here a while back. It seems they were unlucky enough to catch up with the monster tide". The city lord mumbled, he thought for a moment, then told the deputy, "Okay, head back to your station."
The deputy saluted before leaving the study.
The city lord looked towards the butler, "Send someone to invite the leader of that team. We'll see if they're willing to help Arqin through this matter".
"Yes Master" the butler saluted.
The convoy had a much tougher time here than in Etrida. The streets were packed with people, that had fled from surrounding towns and villages. Most weren't rich enough to stay in hotels, so they could only brave the weather and make camp on the streets. But it seemed the city guards still had restrictions, so they couldn't block the road for the passing carriages and carts. However even if they didn't block all of the road, there was only enough space for two carriages to pass. Which was designated as one going each direction, slowing down the convoy exponentially.
Isla and Sila sat in the inner corner of one of the carriages, slightly lifting up the curtain of the window to peek out of. Seeing the numb faces of the people on the side of the street, although the two didn't know the reason for the situation, they still guessed that it was a very dangerous one.
Snuggling up to each other, the two whispered, "What do you think it is?" Isla asked.
Sila's eyes were on the crowded street, "Something that can cause panic to all the villages and towns is probably a horde".
Isla agreed with her guess. If it was a single powerful monster, they could ask the capital to send help, only letting the villages and towns in that area know the news, and move to other places further towards the city, but they wouldn't need to enter the city itself. Unless they needed the protection of the city's defences. The large army and the reinforced walls. What reason is there, other then a large amount of beasts?
Sila leaned towards Isla's ear, "Are we going to participate?"
Isla saw the desire in Sila's eyes, she didn't want to disappoint her sister, so she only said "Let's see what the academy does first. If they don't send us to help, then we'll sneak off, and we'll look for an easier spot to try out our new strength".
Sila knew her sister was the more cautious one, although it was their standard of caution, which might as well be reckless. Otherwise Isla would've directly refused, instead of looking for a less dangerous spot in what is essentially a suicidal endeavour.