In the midst of a forest, a petite girl in a hooded cloak was hiding behind a tree, holding her breath, while a small yellow-furred fox was cautiously approaching a small pile of crushed berries mixed with scraps of dried meat.
Although a bit peculiar combination to find in the wild, the smell of the mix was too enticing for the scavenging monster to pass.
That particular specimen's yellow fur was mellow yellow, and that, coupled with its size, made it seem like a pile of fallen leaves of the trees native to that region of the Emeraldios Empire.
It also happened that the fur of Dwarf Lurking Foxes in that particular shade was the most popular material to make expensive clothes - at least for that season - and was worth a lot if sold in good condition.
"..."
The girl gulped down her saliva, not even daring to brush off her black hair that stuck out from underneath her hood and fell across her face.
The Dwarf Lurking Fox was stopping every few steps, and its large ears moved around while his shiny black snout sniffed around for any potential danger.
Despite its cautiousness, the small monster didn't find the pile of berries and meat suspicious enough to leave. Quite the contrary. It approached it and began munching on it hungrily…
And that's when the girl acted!
"Stone spike!"
"Yiip-ghgh…!"
She timed her attack perfectly and activated her spell right when the fox opened its jaws for another mouthful - activating the small stone she enchanted beforehand and covered with berries and scraps of meat, making it turn into a needle-like spike that stabbed right into the monster's palette and brain, killing it without piercing all the way through its skull.
Which, of course, meant that not even a single piece of its precious fur had been damaged!
"Yes~!"
The girl cheered out, pumping her fists before stepping out of her hiding spot and approaching her prey.
She leaned down and picked the fox up, grabbing the stone spike sticking out of its open mouth and stirring it around, making sure that the creature was actually dead, and only after confirming that she pulled the spike out, and stuffed the dead fox to the bag she was carrying across her back.
"J-just two more a-and I'll c-complete the q-quest~!"
The girl hummed to herself, encouraged by the increased weight of her bag, and brushed off her black fringe while her green eyes were already looking for another good spot for another trap.
The Dwarf Lurking Foxes didn't refuse a meal, even if said meal was the carcass of their own brethren, so the bloodied spike could be reformed into a stone and reused. The berries and scraps of meat could also be used as bait, but the location had to be changed.
The reason was very simple.
Dwarf Lurking Foxes were solitary monsters and were on sight with the members of their own species.
Ironically, and luckily for the girl, those small monsters didn't have particularly large territories.
"L-let's see…"
Even so, she still pulled out a map of the region and studied it carefully.
"Th-that side borders w-with the K-Kirr Harpies's spawning ground, s-so I better s-stay away…"
She muttered to herself while peeking ahead before looking at the map.
"I b-better… Oh?"
The girl slid her finger across the map when she felt a sudden, characteristic mental tug, which caused her to instantly turn in the direction it came from.
"It t-triggered!? Please be another f-fox! P-please be another fox! F-fang hare is f-fine too!"
The girl gasped and blushed under her hood, hurriedly pocketing the map and stuffing the fox bait into a small pouch by her waist as she rushed back to the spot where she left a remote magic trap.
One of the reason for the rush, was the fact that despite being rather obvious for humans, there was always a possibility of someone stepping on it accidentally.
In the worst-case scenario, someone could be too busy fighting another monster to notice the suspicious pile of berries and meat and end up in actual danger, exposing themselves to an attack because of a stone spike piercing through their foot.
Any responsible person setting that kind of trap - whether a hunter or an adventurer - would make the same decision as the black-haired girl.
"Bu-hiii-ghiii-hii!"
She hurried back, spotting a movement in the distance. It seemed that a group of burly individuals was laughing at one of their members in pain.
"..."
The girl bit her lips.
At least no one died, but confronting the person who ended up getting wounded because of a trap was never a nice experience.
No matter how much one tried to argue that there was no malice and the fault was on the side of the person who wasn't paying attention, that wounded individual would never admit to it and often tried to argue for compensation.
Even so, dealing with things as fast as possible was better than letting the situation get blown out of proportion with the officials from the adventurer's guild or even city guards getting involved…
And that's why the black-haired girl…
"Bu-hii-hiii!"
"!!!"
…launched herself into the thickest bushes between the trees and dropped to the ground, recognizing the inhuman laughter belonging to no other than Boarkin orc.
And not just one.
The group that the black-haired girl thought of as adventurers or hunters turned out to be a gang of Boarkin Orcs - and particularly rough, robust, and dangerous looking to boot.
Each monster had full equipement, of course not a pristine set of armor - just makeshift pieces and afixed materials - but considering the inteligence and developement level of their species…
…something was definitively wrong; they were too geared up…
The worst part was that the area was nowhere near being close to the Boarkin Orcs territory!
At least according to the girl's map, that is…
"..."
The panicked girl did her best to catch her breath and calm down.
It might have been just the sheer size of those particular specimens, but for the girl, there looked like a lot more of them than the standard group of three.
They had to be high-level. Maybe even Veteran ones...
Monsters that were dangerous and lurking around so close to the city had to be reported to the guild and the city administration as soon as possible.
The luck seemed to be on the girl's side, the monsters were too busy laughing at their brethren trying to excavate the stone spike out of its hooved leg with its stubby fingers.
She gulped down her saliva and began slowly crawling back without taking her eyes off the Boarkin orcs and…
"B-hi?!"
"!!!"
The very next moment, another Boarkin Orc moved from behind the tree directly to her right and let out a shocked squeal at the sight of the creeping human.
"BU-HIIIIII!"
Its shock didn't even last two seconds, and the next moment, the monster took out a crude stone club and let out a squeal while taking a swing at the girl.
"Stone spike! Stone enchant!"
The girl cried out instinctively, shooting out a stone thorn at the mosnter's face while a protective stone armor was growning all around her body…
"BHIGH!"
"URGH!"
Both of her actions had an impact - albeit not that big…
The stone spike distracted the creature although more because it shattered agasint its forehead and sprinkled coarse shards into its eyes…
The stone armor was definitely a good choice. It did shatter from the already weakened strike of the distracted monster, but without it, the girl would have been torn in half or at least knocked unconscious instead of tumbling on the ground and throwing up a little bit.
"Sh-shit…! Stone spike!"
The girl spat out the bile mixed with blood and threw another spell at her opponent before throwing herself to the side, wobbling a little bit, and rushing the opposite way from the Boarkin Orcs without entertaining the thought of picking up a fight, even for a single second.
"BUUU-HIIIIIIIIIIIII!"
"...!"
The monster who attacked her let out a bloodthirsty squeal, but it only gave the girl additional motivation to run away.
The only problem was that Boarkin Orcs…
"Bu-bu-bu-bu-HIIIIII!"
…were born sprinters...
"Enchant stone! Stone spi-GYAGH!"
The monster caught up to her within seconds, taking another swing at her, and this time she barely had time to properly activate a single spell - making the best choice even in the heat of the moment and using the defensive one first, as she the orc's club send her flying in the middle of the second incantation.
"URGH!"
Her stone armor crumbled into fine gravel. She slammed into a tree, barely able to hold to her consciousness.
Run.
I have to run away.
It was the only sane thought that kept rattling around in her concussed head.
"Ghh…!"
She somehow managed to get back on her wobbly feet and began stumbling her way forward, with her vision too blurry and her mind too confused to even grasp her surroundings - not that she knew her way around the area without a map in the first place…
"BU-HIIIIII!"
"Bu-hi! Bu-hi!"
"BU-hi! Bu-HI!"
The squeals of the Boarkin orcs weren't helping in the slightest, either.
Most of them began to sound like an excited chant, but the girl couldn't be sure whether it was real or was it a hallucination from hitting her head too hard.
"Arghhhh!"
Suddenly, she felt a gust of wind passing her, and something stabbed into the ground on her right, almost shaving off her foot - making her let out a pained wheeze as she forced herself to change the direction in fear of the follow-up attack, nailing her in the back.
"BU-HII!"
"HII! BU-HIII!"
"...!"
The squeals of her pursuers grew increasingly excited, and it made the girl panic even more. Funnily enough, with the rush of adrenaline, some of her vision began to clear out, and her thoughts became less blurry.
Someone…
Anyone…!
"H-HEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
She cried out with hot tears streaming down her face as her muscles and lungs burned from the immense strain.