A lone fagosin they had found, separated from its group as it went into a secluded corner to heal itself.
Fagosins were magical creatures that could heal themselves. Ruiki saw that for the first time — the lone fagosin spit silk from its mouth as it wrapped them around its wounds tightly, the wounds slowly coming to a close.
"Let's hurry, we've little time," Ruiki nodded as the both of them first went forward with Ruiki in the lead.
"Try to not attract the other fagosins," Rose warned, her eyes sternly fixed upon him.
Ruiki merely chuckled as he took out a small "token" he'd had found. It was the badge of the Order of Black Pits. A badge that signified that an apprentice was finally a Wizard of the Order.
Ruiki instilled some of his essence into it, making the badge glow purple. But since Ruiki wasn't the owner of the badge, his essence started to distort.
"Now," Ruiki threw the badge at the lone fagosin as its frequently moving limbs came to a stop, its eyes fixated on the badge before it.
The essence distortion that had occurred affected a proximity of about 15-20 feet, making Ruiki a bit worried, but his worries were for naught as the fagosin immediately ate the badge, fearing its peers might do so.
Greed's weed, Ruiki mused as he saw the fagosins eyes fix on him, its body involuntarily moving towards him as he ran in the opposite direction.
He had to lure it away from the rest of the fagosins, lest they came after him as well.
You don't want to share your food now, do you? Come now... Ruiki commented looking at the fagosin, a bit nervous.
Although he wasn't scared enough to fear for his life, fagosins were stronger, more agile, and more resourceful than goblins, although goblins had more intellectual abilities depending on their type.
The fagosin, confident despite it's wounded state, followed behind Ruiki with its horrifying legs slouching against the puddles on the ground made of blood.
Just as it determined that Ruiki was close enough, it prepared its momentum as it jumped on him.
Ruiki, stealing a glance back, froze as a massive shadow formed over his head, but he didn't stop running nonetheless, as Rose suddenly came beside him, taking a deep breath and slashing the greatsword at the giant creature.
The creature, having more limbs than her, used two of them to block the sword while the others tried to pierce her heart.
Ruiki, from afar, saw this as he threw the enchanted dagger at the magical creature and shouted,
"Doraemon...!!"
The next moment, Ruiki's eyes widened as the dagger's blade lengthened, holes in the blade exuding majestic purple flames as it pierced the fagosin's body, messing up its momentum.
Seizing the opportunity, Rose added more of her strength to her attack, swinging at the fagosin with all her might as the creature met the slash head on, suffering gruesome wounds yet saving its life.
"It's not dead yet," Rose shouted, seeing the creature crash nearby Ruiki.
Ruiki hesitated. The budget for this fagosin was low. He was only meant to use the dagger and not any of his scrolls while it would be Rose who'd finish it off.
Just as the fagosin started to stand up, a swoosh sound was gently heard as an arrow pierced the fagosin right in its eye.
Just as Ruiki's head turned to look at the proprietor of the arrow, a small explosion was heard.
Bam!
Turning his head, Ruiki saw that the arrow, accurately nudged in the fagosin's head, exploded, killing it and making a mess of its head.
"You okay, kid?" James came limping from afar, holding a mace in his hand that he had shifted into a make-shift crutch, waving at him with a bow hanging on his back.
Looking at the dead fagosin a metre or two next to him, Ruiki first thanked James as he asked, "Looks like the search went great, not just a dagger and an armor." Seeing him nod and grin, he asked. "Where's Ployer?"
"He's still in the place crowded by fagosins, he asked me to go ahead since 'he would be of minimal help.'"
What's that old man upto? Ruiki frowned as he saw Rose extract the blood of the fallen fagosin, not minding the mess of brain matter and eyes on its body.
Ruiki looked away, searching for the dagger along with James as he soon found it. But, it wasn't similar, though.
Ruiki picked it up from the ground, the dagger now having curved barbs portraying from its sides, its blade much fiercer and sharper, its handle now taking on a more blackish-hue.
The heck is up with "Doraemon" and this dagger? Ruiki frowned, looking at the now majestic dagger whose blade had turned into a shade of blue and purple, reflecting light.
"You keep it," Rose, who had come beside Ruiki, said. "Take good care of it though, it's precious to many."
Then why are you giving me this? Ruiki swallowed back his words, thanking her with a nod as he stowed the dagger away.
"We have all the materials we need, now, we only need to mix this poison amidst the Wizards' bodies."
Ruiki nodded, it wasn't a difficult task. He already knew how to do so, so did Rose.
"Your arrows explode now? That's great," Rose addressed James, who grinned, ever enthusiastic he was.
"They're gonna be a great help in the upcoming battle, can't wait," he rubbed his palms together, expression sinister as Rose sighed.
...
The trio retreated backwards, ready to instill poison into the Wizards' corpses, discussing the intricates' on the way.
Soon, the trio reached their destination where Ployer was waiting expectantly for them.
"Everything went according to the plan?" He asked, to which Ruiki nodded. "Excellent! Then all we need to do is poison many and kill a few!"
"We?" More like "us," Ruiki chided, nodding at the Baron.
Ruiki rubbed his hands, looking at the fagosins feasting upon the Wizards' corpses.
Now, all he had to do was create a big enough essence distortion, so that the Fagosins would come to him instead of the corpses.
Easier said than done, though. Although the process of mixing the poison on the Wizards' corpses was left to Ployer and James with Rose coming with him, he was still nervous.
In the worst case scenario that their escape failed, they'd have to face a horde of fagosins, death being the best option at that time.
After some rest, Ruiki was cheered by James as if it was his birthday, while the Baron said some uncomfortable words.
"I will be sure to inform your family, lest you die bravely here,"
His words ringing in Ruiki's head, he took a deep breath and headed ahead with Rose.
"Nervous?" Rose asked, her gaze ahead.
"A bit," he lied. Who wouldn't be nervous if they were to face a horde of monsters, being almost powerless to resist? Perhaps a madman.
Seeing Ruiki's almost carefree expression, Rose gently squeezed his wrist before letting go, saying sternly. "Don't be, there is no room for mistakes here."
Ruiki nodded, rubbing his wrist where the warm touch still lingered.
...
The both of them walked over to where the mass of fagosins had gathered, keenly observing them.
Ruiki had watched the fagosins' movements for a while, but that didn't make him feel confident. Atmost, all he noticed was that the Fagosins moved on their perception of magical essence, eating the corpses with the highest essence and fighting for it if another predator appeared.
If I could figure out so much about them just after watching them for a few hours, Ruiki mused. Then what use would the textbooks containing thousands of words be?
Although the school Ruiki attended wasn't of high nobility, it was still a decent school regardless. And even a decent school had separate books stowed away in their library for basic predatory creatures found in the wilderness.
Although he'd only learned about such creatures for a year or two, he had some basic understanding of them and a few tricks up his sleeves — albeit they were almost useless against a horde.
He couldn't really blame the education system though. Afterall, who'd expect an Apprentice to be fighting against a horde of fagosins'? Not the apprentice himself either.
Shaking out his reverie, Ruiki looked ahead at the horrid mass of fagosins, their mouths dyed red to the point it was difficult recognising them, their bodies battered and scathed in the numerous battles they had with their own kin.
Ruiki took a deep breath, kneeling behind a rock alongside Rose.
"Whenever you're ready."
Getting the confirmation, Ruiki infused his essence into another Wizard's Badge he took out from his Wizards' Robe, the badge glowing briefly in purple.
That, however, was enough to gain the attention of most of the fagosins as Ruiki got out of cover and threw the badge at them.
A pity, a thought crossed his head as he threw the badge. If it were a badge of higher calibre, I could've probably instilled enough essence into it to make the fagosins go mad when they ate it, if I had enough essence stored in it, ofcourse.
But the resources were limited and he had to make-do with whatever they had.
As the badge crashed against the floor, it drew the attention of the remaining fagosins, but the most horrifying part was that their amber-red eyes, instead of staring at the badge, stared down at Ruiki, their gazes peering into the depths of his soul.
Then, as if receiving a stimulus, all the fagosins rushed towards them — well, him — as Ruiki froze, his heartbeat quickening.
Rose pulled him away however, saving him from a fagosin that had lunged at them.
Many followed the example, jumping at him like cannon balls and crashing against the ground heavily when missed.
"Damned fagosins," Ruiki heard Roze mutter under her breath as he broke out of his reverie, taking out the enchanted dagger and then heading towards the escape route.
Rose followed shortly after, hacking and slashing at a few fagosins that were still crashed against the ground, managing to draw blood as the two of them headed towards the pre-planned escape route.
I knew instilling essence into anything would have a small leak, Ruiki mused as he ran, didn't think it would be this potent though. Albeit he could most certainly know from now on.