In less than an hour they found the first group of two barbarians. Ondra was able to track Parker's rapid march with his newly learned swift walk skill. The only downside was that he couldn't do anything else as he needed to focus on the terrain.
Ondra was glad that the first group was smaller and they could test their fighting skills and learn more about the power of the barbarians. However, he wanted to avoid a two-on-two battle, as it might strain them more than they could handle.
"We'll go around them and sneak up on the left", he whispered to Parker after surveying the area and barbarians. "The taller grass with some trees can give us some cover, then kill the first one before engaging the second barbarian."
Parker nodded silently and began to move. They reached their destination inconspicuously in ten minutes.
"Ambush ..." the first barbarian could not even finish his words and died under the sudden attack of the two warriors. Parker dealt the fatal blow in one swift.
The other barbarian was at a disadvantage, he was able to hold his own in an intense fight against Ondra, but in a two-on-one fight, the result was only one. He was also killed in 2 minutes.
Ondra was pleasantly surprised by the bountiful harvest. Although they killed only two barbarians, looted two swords, one bow with 20 arrows and leather chest armor. He kept the bow, arrows and armor for himself and let Parker replace the sword.
They tried to find the second group of barbarians, but to no avail. Instead, they got close to another Lord's settlement and they stood in stunned silence. There were only two people there and one of them was apparently seriously injured.
Ondra stepped towards the settlement after confirming that no one else was here.
"Halt!" shouted loudly the uninjured person, it was a demi-human, a bearman.
"Calm down, there's no problem. If we wanted to kill you, we would have attacked you long ago. I see it's just you and your wounded friend." answered Ondra in a soothing voice.
"We were attacked by barbarians, my comrade died and the Lord is badly wounded" bearman tearfully confessed the truth.
Ondra stole a glance at the panting and sweating Lord, it was a deep and deadly stab.
"I am sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, it seems that your Lord will die soon. I can leave you to your fate, but I think it's a pity. If you agree, you can join me, we can get him on the wagon along with the material. If he survives, you can decide your future, but if he dies, I would like you to join my settlement." it was a risky proposition from Ondra because bearman could kill him if he wasn't careful. "Don't worry, I won't do anything to him, on the other hand, I have a person with medical knowledge on my team."
They exchanged glances as if confirming the truthfulness of the words.
"If you promise to keep your word, I am willing to follow you." the bear stated after a moment realizing the situation.
Unlike Ondra, this lord decided to unload only the material needed for construction from the wagons. They are dedicated to put all on wagons as fast as possible, but they still pay attention on bearman.
While Ondra loaded the raw materials, Gabriel returned to the village.
He ran off to hunt some animals to eat or tame in the morning. The plains, the flatland around the settlement allowed a good overview of movement, but lacked the possibility of hiding. Gabriel had several years of experience as a farmer on the family's field and had joined his father fishing many times, but this was the first time he had hunted animals in the wild.
Ondra did not expect anything from Gabriel as a hunter, but the inability to hide combined with the missing bow revealed his uselessness.
He spent more than eight hours in the wilderness without any result. No trap worked. After this time he got hungry as he had no breakfast and left without food. It was foolish, but it bore the unexpected fruit of success. In an effort to end the suffering and return to the village with at least something, Gabriel got a risky idea.
On the way back, he encountered grazing cattle. A herd of at least 15 cows and a bull could seriously harm him in the event of a conflict. Looking at the meadow, he noticed a small obstacle, if the herd ran towards it, it could easily limit the movement of 2 or 3 cows.
It was necessary to approach them from the opposite side of the obstacle, to make a commotion not too close to the herd, but not too far. There was a danger that the bull would notice him alone and run towards him to protect the herd.
Fortunately, the plan worked out almost perfectly. The herd escaped and three of them got stuck in the obstacle including bull.
Gabriel was naturally cautious as he approached. Bull could attack him at any time. Fear for his life slowed him down so that each step was slower than the last.
Creepers from the bushes immobilized them and stopped them to run away. After five minutes, Gabriel got next to the bull and sit on his back. He overcame himself and after half an hour the bull was tamed.
It took another 20 minutes to get them out of the creepers. Now he could proudly go back to the settlement with the bull and the two cows that calmly followed the bull.
Although he spent almost two hours here, it was worth every minute without discussion. It was a real blessing in disguise for Gabriel.
Gabriel felt like a hero as he ate his first meal of the day and everyone in the village praised him for his catch.
By the time Gabriel finished eating, Ondra had finished loading all the material onto a wagon over 10 kilometers away. The other lord was not put on the wagon, he died a few minutes ago and was buried.
"Art, let's go. I'm sorry I can't do more for him, but you made a good decision to join me." Ondra instructed the bearman called Art, originally a hunter, but this artificial copy became a soldier with a crushing heavy ax.
When they got back to the village, it was an hour or two before sunset. Although there were only about ten people there, it was bustling with activity.
"Let's go..." ordered Ondra to the nearest subjects, but he was interrupted by unexpected information.
"People are waving at us outside," Charlotte shouted aloud "They seem to be from a other lordship."
Ondra looked them over, they seemed to be cultured, even if monstrous. The middle one seemed to be their leader, maybe even their Lord.
"Parker, Art, let's go meet them, I don't want them to enter the village" and Ondra moved out of settlement.