The caravan that Hektor is escorting totals to about 6 carriages filled with supplies. A family of merchants who need the help of mercenaries for the bulk of their journey. A total of 10 mercenaries were hired, most of which were peers that Hektor encountered during his short stint at the town of Gallum.
"Stop!" Hektor called out as the caravan came to a halt.
"Monsters coming in from the west!" He warned them and soon enough the other mercenaries braced themselves.
Bi-pedal lizards, similar in size to a dog. With razor sharp teeth and talons on their feet, these reptiles were deadly foes but their defenses were lackluster.
"RAPTORS! Get behind us, NOW!" Ordered Teksar, the strongest among the mercenaries that were hired. With a few swings of his battle-axe five of the raptors dropped.
[Mana Bolt]
The blue orb flew from Hektor's palm. "Blind them." He commanded as the birds under his command flew down and distracted the raptors. Some were accurate enough to actually aim for the eyes.
Without skipping a beat, Hektor thrusted his spear.
[A soul has been added to your collection.]
Hektor jumped into the fray along with the rest of the other mercenaries.
The monsters common to this side of the kingdom varied greatly from the green-skinned orcs and goblins of the north. Beasts such as the raptors and the rock-skinned baboons are common threats to the travelers in the area. With the occasional bandit or two here and there.
Souls: 60
Among the mercenaries hired, Hektor only bothered to remember the name of the two strongest ones. Two that also gained the acknowledgement of his highness the prince. There was Teksar, the axe-wielding hunk of muscle. He practiced the Markluzian Axe Technique along with an axe technique that comes from a dojo, if he were to rejoin the military it would be to no one's surprise if he reaches a rank higher than captain.
Then there was Lufan, while proficient enough with the sword to use the basic One-handed Sword Art of the Markluzian military this was not his main technique. If anything he only learned it to protect himself, he was an Archer through and through coating his arrows with aura whenever he needed to. Rumor has it that he trained under a powerful master who runs a dojo in the capital.
Teksar and Lufan are the main leaders of the current team of mercenaries and the others were happy to follow these infamous sell-swords.
During his free time, Hektor meditated to regain his mana and summoned more birds. He had around 36 of them now, not counting the two that he left with Eliza.
"I'll take first watch." Hektor offered.
"Be my guest." Lufan replied. "It's the two of us for the first three hours."
Hektor munched on a dried piece of meat while his birds fed on some seeds that he tossed to the ground.
"I've been wondering Lufan, how did you end up as a mercenary?" Hektor finally decided to strike up a conversation.
"Likely the same way you did." The long-haired archer replied before puffing up a white cloud from his cigar.
"Teksar and I come from the same batch of orphans about a dozen years ago." He took out his sword. "I was forced to use a sword, I didn't know what my real talents were."
"Most of our original batch died in battle, we were up against the merfolk from the eastern sea." He pulled his left sleeve up revealing a large gash. "They sent us off to die, luckily an old man saved our asses."
"The same one who taught me how to do this!" With a quick motion he shot at something hiding behind one of the trees.
The birds began to squawk. Causing a few of the others to wake back up, it's only been an hour since the two began their watch.
"We have company, EVERYONE WAKE UP!!" Hektor shouted out.
Out from the woods, walking corpses welcomed them.
"Undead, Oi BOSS." Teksar patted the merchant's back. "I don't suppose you have any holy water with you, no?"
The merchant shrugged and showed him his wares, which were mostly weapons and clothing.
"…thought so, it'll be all right." Teksar raised his axe. "the three of you, protect our employers." He pointed to three of the other mercenaries that appear to be shield-bearers. Those that were fit for the job of guarding the civilians.
"The rest of you, with me. We'll clear the trash."
Undead, a large group of them. Carrion Feeders, skeletons and a few ghouls. Skeletons and Carrion Feeders were the easy threats to deal with, but the ghouls on the other hand were quite nimble with enough strength to dent metal.
If Hektor was alone, then the only option he had was to run. With this many aura users along with Teksar and Lufan, Hektor knew that the odds were in their favor.
But something else ticked him off. No matter how many he took down, the familiar ring of the notification screen never came. Which led him to his conclusion. 'They don't have any souls.'
"I hate fighting the undead." He sighed out right after piercing through the skull of another skeleton.
"It's quite the chore for sure." Lufan commented. "The miasma's rather thick, a more advanced monster likely summoned this small horde."
Lufan continued to shoot from an elevated position, staying behind the backs of the shield-bearers.
"Then we need to find the bastard, Hektor." Teksar ran forward, bashing a skeleton in two. "Order your birds to look for a shiny red mana source."
"On it." Hektor nodded, he then whistled to call back his birds that were still outside of reach.
"I need all of you to look for the source, disperse!"
With the birds now mobilized, Hektor was free to practice his spear once more. The night was still young and his heart pumped harder. 'I'm not gaining anything, yet I can't stop myself from getting excited.'
Squawk! Squawk!
"North East, the birds found it!" Hektor called out.
"Lufan, do you have a shot?" Teksar asked with a smile.
"I always do."
With a loud clunk, the undead figures began to fall.
"A Skeleton Necromancer?" Teksar asked.
"Yeah, the magic orb it uses can be sold for at least a couple of hundred coins." Lufan rummaged through the monster's remains. He managed to find the shiny red orb in just a few seconds.
"We can split the money when we sell it." Teksar stated while he ordered the others to look around.
"To think that this is only our second day on this journey." Hektor thought out loud. "I can't wait to encounter more."
Souls: 60 -> 25