Chapter 61 — Disaster Strikes
Relying on [Mana Sensing] had made him complacent! Toren shouted in his own head.
Seeing the shadow stalker, he could only think of the job listing for a tier-2 mated pair, and was already moving into position to protect Warnel’s back when the second stalker pounced the [Haberdasher] from the side and sent him sprawling, the giant clawed paws again swatting for the head.
“Haaah!” Pushing [Empower], [Burning Blood], and his weapon art to their fullest, Toren closed the remaining distance, [Flurry of Blows] guiding and speeding his war maul’s strike.
The stalker unnaturally twisted in a way Toren was becoming far too familiar with of late. Adjusting his strike to a crippling rather than killing blow, he managed to impact the feline mid-air with enough force to send it sprawling into the underbrush.
[Combat Awareness] and a spike of danger-sense kept him aware of the first stalker pouncing from above, and he met it with the maul, crushing upward into its neck just as its Ability-enhanced claws noisily scoured furrows in his helm.
Toren’s side-step with the completion of his swing flipped the stalker past him where it landed badly before rolling back upright, convulsing with strangled coughs.
Warnel, having avoided his daughter’s fate likely due to higher Attributes allowing him to dodge enough of the helmet blow, was back on his feet and moving. “[Sure Cut]!”
Filled with the [Haberdasher]’s rage and despair, the sword descended, separating the reeling feline’s head from its body in a mess of spraying blood.
Toren charged past the man to punt one of the soldier ants chomping into Laiya’s armor and kept going, stomping through and punting the ones rushing behind, trusting Warnel to get the one left behind.
Dropping his maul, Toren pulled out a glass flask, yanking the cork free and splashing the liquid in an arc in front of him. The liquid smoldered and poured out thick smoke, stopping the ant assault.
Warnel’s helmet quickly turned back to where the second stalker had disappeared into the jungle as soon as the remaining soldier ant biting his daughter had been dealt with.
“Don’t chase!” Toren preempted.
[Mana Sensing] told Toren that Laiya was still alive, and with these two stalkers tier-1 and not the pair from the bounty, there was no guarantee of only two.
“But-”
“She’s alive. Get a potion into her. Not too much. She might have broken bones that need to be properly set.”
That was enough to redirect the distraught father, and Warnel threw down his blade in his haste to unbuckle the helmet strap under Laiya’s chin.
Worried that a stalker would take advantage of Warnel letting his guard down, Toren used [Empower] to strengthen his eyes and ears and [Combat Awareness] to match every echoing sound with his surroundings.
These jungle cats had an Ability that let them hide from his [Mana Sensing]. Whether that Ability was awareness-altering like the [Assassin]’s had been or whether the large mottled black and gray cats could camouflage their mana similar to what the zoots did with color, he hadn’t figured out yet. With luck, any remaining stalkers would find the alchemical eye-watering smoke just as disagreeable as he and the ants did.
Was the wounded stalker lurking? Had it fled? Worrisomely, he still didn’t know. No… he was an idiot. [Control Blood] could give him the answer. Reaching out for all the blood around him that he could control, he paused.
Toren found that he was suddenly sure of not just the spilled goo from the ants and the blood from the killed stalker, but the blood inside Laiya and countless weak creatures in the trees and the ground. Warnel’s blood… access to that seemed to be stopped by the density of the man’s mana.
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The sensing range was the same as [Mana Sensing]. There was clearly a synergy between his sensing Skill and his [Control Blood] Ability, but now was not the time to explore it. Just like Warnel’s mana density obstructed his sensing, there was no guarantee that he would be able to sense sources of blood through whatever Ability the stalkers were using.
Instead, he went with his initial idea and reached out with [Control Blood] to lift all the blood he could.
“Toren?” Warnel’s voice was strained.
“It’s me. I’ve got an idea to keep us from getting ambushed on the way back.”
Once he had enough floating in the air, rather than condense it into a ball, Toren dispersed it into a fine mist and sent it out into the jungle around them. The dead stalker bled dry, and he could feel there was a rapidly approaching limit to how much he could control in this manner and how much he could disperse the blood. That meant he needed to keep the red mist somewhat close to the ground. Even so, he was satisfied. The information provided by the mist fed into [Combat Awareness], and other than something jumping tree to tree, he would know if anything blocked the mist—hidden or not.
To his relief, there was no sign of the stalker. It might be spooked by the mist just as Warnel was and keeping out of range, but even so, if he could maintain control of the blood long enough, they should have a good chance to return to the stead without further ambush.
After getting back, decisions would have to be made. There was no way he could leave something as dangerous as jungle stalkers near the stead. Hopefully, the one that had fled was the only one remaining. The way the ambush played out was unfortunate. Tracking such beasts would have been good practice for Laiya. Now he’d probably have to do it on his own.
Or maybe risk bringing Falma and the hounds along…
Keeping his awareness of the blood mist and their surroundings firmly in mind, Toren shed his pack and dug out two lengths of cord. He had considered just leaving the head, but stalker eyes had alchemical uses and the fangs could be ground down for enchanters to use. He’d let Emina sort it out.
“Laiya’s not waking up,” Warnel almost wailed, sending panicked glances Toren’s way, already having given Laiya several dribbles of potion.
“Carry her. I’ve got the cat. Get her helm back on, and let’s get her back to the stead.”
The [Haberdasher] nodded, his hands still trembling as he secured the helm with its chin strap. The man had enough awareness to grab and resheath his sword before carefully scooping up Laiya into a princess-carry.
~~~
Name: Toren of Theravos
Race: Human
Age: 20
Profession 1: Level 7 Burningblood Berserker (5700/14000)
Mana: 32/112
Strength: 16
Constitution: 14
Dexterity: 15
Agility: 13
Wisdom: 12
Intellect: 8
Will Power: 18
Perception 15
Appearance: 8
Charisma: 8
Luck: 10
Attribute Upgrade Points: 6
Traits:
Sacrificial Guardian
Abilities:
Burning Blood (Rank 1) Proficiency: Mid
Control Blood (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low
Flurry of Blows (Rank 1) Proficiency: Low
Ability Upgrade Points: 6
Profession Skills:
Severe Wound Recovery 6
Empower 4
Focus Rage 6
Combat Awareness 6
Berserker Weapon Arts 3
Pain Tolerance 6
Physical Conditioning 8
Intimidate 5
Skills:
Danger Sensing 3
Stealth 18
Mana Sensing 14
Wilderness Harvesting 12
Theravos Language 11
Religion 10
Divided Focus 6
Meditation 5
Bone Strengthening 4
Hunting 20
Archery 19
Running 15
Wound Binding 8
Arithmetic 4
