As I stepped out of town, I caught the guard's eye, and he gave me a curious glance, clearly unfamiliar to me. However, his expression shifted to one of weariness when he spotted my Adventurers Guild membership card. It struck me as peculiar that he would check the ID of someone departing, but perhaps he was just intrigued by who I was. I learned his name was Roger, and he made it clear that if I stirred up any trouble, he'd have no choice but to send me back to the coven I crawled out from. It seems vampires aren't exactly his favorite company.
Along the gravel road, I came across several directional signs, one of which was a yellow arrow pointing toward the swamp. I decided to follow the path that led me there. As I walked, the air began to carry a faint, unpleasant smell akin to rotten eggs, and a thick mist started to surround me. I coughed, feeling a bit queasy as my stomach twisted. In no time, my eyes and throat were stinging from the mist, yet I was resolute in my decision to keep going. I would endure this and complete my task as fast as I could.
Ahead of me lay a vast expanse of water, shimmering with flakes of translucent green that resembled delicate shards of glass, interspersed with tiny white flowers that sparkled like crystals. The trees surrounding the area appeared to be crafted from green crystal, creating a mesmerizing and otherworldly scene. As I approached the water and the crystalline trees, the air shifted to a scent reminiscent of a spring meadow, a curious change that I suspected was linked to the trees' unique properties. I took out some dried meat, tossed it into the water, and then stepped back, shedding my cloak. With a flap of my wings, I ascended into a nearby tree, ready to see what might come my way.
Twenty minutes slipped by before I caught sight of a thin, spindly figure rising from the water. It had a fish-like face with green bumps, elongated and tall, with delicate limbs that resembled a human's but were made of twisted branches. Parts of its body were covered in long, shaggy green fur, and its eyes were slanted slits glowing yellow through the mist. The creature glided through the water with a lumbering motion, then swiftly dove beneath the surface to grasp a large fish, as if it were simply picking fruit. It lifted the struggling fish with its overly long fingers and opened its enormous mouth, which seemed to split its face in two. Inside, three rows of teeth awaited as it dropped the entire fish into its cavernous mouth.
I stood there, completely still, observing the creature as it walked past, ensuring I didn't make a single move that might alert it to my presence. The idea of facing it was unsettling, particularly since I was unaware of its full range of capabilities, except for its incredible reflexes.
After the creature disappeared from sight, a chorus of sounds filled the air—frogs croaking, birds squawking, crickets chirping, and countless other wild animals joining the cacophony. It was as if the swamp had collectively exhaled, releasing the tension that had built up while the creature was present.
Then, to my surprise, I spotted a strange being that looked like a chicken rising from the water. It had the shape of a chicken but was adorned with brown scales instead of feathers, and its eyes were on stalks like a snail's. It emitted a sharp squawk from its beak, its eyes darting toward me, wiggling back and forth before it focused on the dried meat I had left, eagerly gobbling it up while making clucking sounds.
"That's a weird chicken." I pondered my next move, realizing this was the peculiar version of a chicken in this world, no matter how strange it appeared. If I wanted more of these bizarre creatures, I could probably purchase some later. I let out a sigh, shaping my hand into a finger gun and rolling my eyes in exasperation. It felt so childish, almost humiliating. I aimed my finger at the snail-like chicken, raised my thumb, then lowered it and lifted it again. Suddenly, my eyes widened as a burst of blinding yellow energy shot from my fingertip, piercing through the creature with a clean hole. A laser shot out from the tip of my pointer finger! It collapsed, lifeless, and I found myself staring in disbelief. I had read about the power of finger guns, but seeing it in action was still a shock.
I scanned my surroundings to ensure there was nothing else to catch my attention before swooping down to retrieve the creature. Grabbing it by its peculiar chicken-like foot, I unsheathed my knife and searched for a mana gem, but found none. It seemed not every creature possessed one, which was an interesting discovery. Perhaps it was linked to their size, or maybe some simply lacked mana altogether. I skinned the creature and chopped it into pieces, then rummaged through my inventory for some rough clothing. I tore an old robe into strips and bundled the meat together with a long piece of fabric. Ascending above the swamp, I released the meat into the water.
It wasn't long before the surface began to ripple, prompting me to rise higher while keeping the meat in tow. A thrill coursed through me as I spotted the eyes of a toad breaking the surface, quickly followed by a wave of unease when I realized how enormous they were—each as large as a basketball. The water churned as a massive orange toad emerged, climbing onto a giant lily pad. This creature was about the size of a two-person go-kart covered in bumpy skin and had twin black stripes along its sides. Its lime-green gaze locked onto me, and in an instant, a gigantic purple tongue shot out, snatching the meat right from the cloth rope. The toad squinted up at me, wiggled its rear, and I barely managed to dart away just in time to avoid being caught as it leaped into the air.
A gust of wind surged past me, pushing me away as the toad squinted across from me and launched its tongue in my direction. I had no time to dodge the sticky attack, which splattered onto my robe and pulled me closer to its jaws. In a split second, I aimed my fingers like guns at the toad, blasting it with lasers from both hands. Just as I was about to be consumed, the toad fell over, struck in the head by my twin beams. They didn't go all the way through, but they were sufficient to end its life.
As it tumbled back, I moved in to add the toad to my inventory. While it wasn't the specific type I needed for my quest, it still had resale potential. Just as I secured it in my storage, a chorus of croaks caught my attention. I glanced up to find ten pairs of toad eyes staring back at me—orange, yellow, purple, and pink. I quickly ascended, retreating as their heads emerged from the water. There they were, the Pink Lovetoads! Five of them, along with two orange, one yellow, and two purple. I was clueless about their abilities, aside from some agile movements that resembled frogs. They couldn't leap quite as well as frogs, but they certainly jumped better than the average toad, and they loved to hide in the water, sporting stocky bodies and bumpy skin.
I soared higher than the toads could leap, then glided back a bit to make it tricky for them to snag me with their tongues. I set my sights on two toads: one hunter orange and the other a neon yellow. I had no clue what the yellow toad could do, but I recalled that the stone that had originally powered my finger guns was yellow, and I didn't want to take any chances with it possibly shooting lasers from its mouth. In an instant, two more toads collapsed, but that was just the prelude; the real battle was about to unfold.
Coming Next Time: Swamp Battle!