Civilization

After letting the three of them create their new weapons, they came back holding onto two branches with sharpened rocks tied to the end with thin vines. Not only that, it seems Scott made some makeshift wooden armor out of several branches tied together by vines. Wrapping around their forearms and calves were this makeshift armor, and to see how sturdy they were I whacked them with the body of their spears. 

Satisfied by their prep I told them to follow me as we wander deeper into the forest, heading further south while keeping the river on my left. I had no idea if there were going to be any monsters this way, but I doubt that matters since I planned to head South anyway and scout out the area for myself. I could have left this job to Gewari or Stellar's Shadow, but where is the fun in that? Exploring is part of the game right?

"So, Ian… I was wondering but does your spider legs just like you know… Grow out of your back whenever you want it? It's a skill right?" - Terrance

"Hmm… Something like that. I can control if I want them out like before, or inside my body like how it is right now." - Ian

"That's so COOL!" - Terrance

"Is it hard to become as strong as you?" - Louis

"Uhh… Hard isn't the right word I would use, Louis. How strong you grow is determined by how much you push yourself in my opinion. There were several choices I made that ended up in me having this… Skill." - Ian

"Ahh… I see. Interesting." - Louis

"I'll get stronger Sir. Don't worry." - Scott

"Hahaha. I'm not worried at all Scott." - Ian

"So, do you know where are going, Ian?" - Terrance

"Hmm… Not exactly. It's not like I know where monsters will be, however, from what I can tell from the Fourth Event, that is taking place right now, there should be monsters if we keep going South. The river that is adjacent to us flows South for the most part, but we haven't explored too far down in that direction either, so we can't be sure where it leads us." - Ian

"We should be traveling relatively South, Sir." - Scott

"Why do you say that?" - Ian

"From what I know about rivers, they tend to flow North to South in a general setting. This is not accounting for terrain, elevated plains, waterfalls, and just general topography. It could be moving South-East or South-West if the river is traveling along a sloped terrain, after all, water still follows gravity. However, from where we are and where the river is, it looks like we are at a higher elevation than it. 

Everbloom is the same, it is situated above the river, and there is a sloped path toward it, which would mean that the river is in a sort of trough. Unless the terrain in front of us severely changes, then I would assume we are traveling in a Southern direction." - Scott

"Holy… Where do you learn this stuff!?" - Louis

"Ah… I just paid attention when my superiors talked about this kind of stuff. Nothing too fancy on the type of information though." - Scott

"No, that's still good information. It helps those that don't know about this kind of thing, like me. I didn't about that." - Ian

"Neither did I." - Terrance

"Wait… What is that?" - Louis

Louis stops suddenly behind us while pointing towards the river. Following his finger we all peek through the leaves of the bushes and trees near us. At first, it didn't look like there was anything but on closer inspection, in the middle of the river several dark green rocks were floating upstream. Whispering near me, Terrance asks the question that was sitting in my mind. 

"What are those? Rocks?" - Terrance

"Do you think rocks can move?" - Louis

"Or upstream for that matter." - Scott

"Alright, sorry. That was my bad." - Terrance

"A new type of monster? I haven't fought against a monster that moves in water before, so I don't know what kind of monster it will be." - Ian

"What do you suggest we do then, Sir?" - Scott

"Hmm… We can approach it slowly from behind. Wait for them to pass us and then move down to the bank. If we had ranged weapons we could attack them from here, but since we don't it's better to approach them. Plus, they shouldn't be that much stronger than skeletons or goblins, so we can work on your quests as well." - Ian

"Why not just fight them right now then? You must be stronger than them right, Ian?" - Terrance

"I could, but I don't know anything about them either. Just to be safe it is easier to ambush them than to attack them straight on." - Ian

"That does sound more reasonable. I don't know about you Terrance, but I don't want to die, especially to a bunch of swimming rocks." - Louis

"Hmm…" - Scott

"Something wrong Scott?" - Ian

"No… Not really. I was just thinking about what it could be. I've played my fair share of games with Terrance, and when you think of monsters in the water, you usually think about monsters in an ocean setting. However, rivers? Aren't they typically fishmen or lizard folk? Maybe frog monsters? Snake monsters? Crocodiles? Alligators?" - Scott

"Oh! You're right, Scott! They have rock-like heads right? Maybe lizard folk, snakes, or reptiles then." - Terrance

"In that case, we don't want to be too close to the water when we fight, or else they will have the advantage. Especially if one of us gets dragged into the water. We are definitely dead if that happens." - Louis

"Then we should fight now, Sir." - Scott

"Alright… Interesting. Okay, I'll make first contact and be the main tank. Scott, you will be right behind me, with Louis and Terrance behind you. The focus of the battle will be on Scott defending an attack from the monsters and then Louis and Terrance you are to attack the monster that he blocked. I'll hold the majority of the monsters away, so they don't overwhelm you. Note, that we have no information about the monster and their skills so be mindful of any changes in the situation." - Ian

"Understood." - Scott, Terrance, Louis

Activating Enhanced Agility, I dash down to the bank while popping my spider legs out. Cautious, I don't get too close to the mysterious rocks and make sure to stand a bit away from the edge of the river, while I hear Scott, Louis, and Terrance follow behind me hurriedly. As they were still on their way, I keep my eyes on the river as the rocks come to a slow halt. Their unmoving bodies seem to blend into the environment and if I didn't know that they were moving before, I would have been fooled.

However, I already their secret. They were some sort of monster, and I wasn't going to be fooled by them. Casting Steel String on a couple of pebbles on the ground, I start to spin them in the air until they were moving at a fast enough speed before releasing them at the floating rocks. Shattering upon impact, the pebbles merely become dust that floats down the river. 

Hearing Terrance's audible gulp, I ready myself as I had just made the first move upon these creatures. Prepared for battle, I lower myself closer to the ground while spreading my spider legs out in front. Suddenly, like a geyser rushing to the surface, a spear appears in front of my eyes, as the creature lunges out of the water towards me. The distance between me and the river was something close to 5 meters, yet this creature made that jump easily as it leaps out of the river. 

Just barely blocking the attack with the front spider legs, I grind the monster to a stop moving back far enough that Scott was hugging me. Desperately he jumps backward to give me space but crashes into Terrance and Louis who were behind him, causing the three to collapse to the ground. 

"Get me Scott!" - Terrance

"I'M MOVING! I'M MOVING!" - Scott

"OH NO! WE ARE SO GOING TO DIE!" - Louis

Taking into account the situation, I realize that there was something off about it. There was only one monster in front of us. The rest haven't left the river yet, and even if they did, I would have activated Extreme Speed to deal with them. Looking carefully at the creature as it expels its putrid fishy breath, I find that it was similar to one of the monsters that the others had mentioned, a Lizard man.

Different from a demi-human this looked more similar to a reptile that had stood up on two feet, while also growing to the size of a human, no. Even bigger. Its muscles were hidden by mossy scales, but I could see them budge out as it tenses its arms trying to overpower me, and its long pink tongue licks the air in front of me to intimidate me. Breathing out, as I push back I can feel that I am stronger than this monster on stats alone, and while it may have higher Agility, I feel like I can still deal with the monster.

However, the first thing I have to do is to control the situation with the three behind me. Shouting out loud, while focusing my attention on the monster before me, I call out to them.

"Keep calm! It's only one right now. The rest are still in the river. Stand up! Ready your weapons! This is going to be your test run." - Ian