The Record of Unusual Creature

Well…with that said, the three giant rock monsters were finally defeated. After all things considered, the journey was going rather swimmingly.

Truly, knowing one’s enemies makes defeating them easier. The rock monsters may have looked almost insurmountable at first, but after discovering their weakness, they did not seem all that threatening. With just brute strength alone, with the right orders, even an idiot like Lily managed to take out those lumbering giants. Granted, this only applied to the unusual creatures around Hao Ren. For mortal men, these rock monsters were a stone wall too high to surpass.

Looking at the shattered remains of the rock monsters, Lily bounced about in excitement, her wagging tail was almost a blur. “Hehehe! Met your match huh?!”

Hao Ren poked his neck out as he grumbled. “Stop gloating there and give me a hand would you?”

Only then did Lily realise that Hao Ren was buried halfway into the ground and quickly scampered towards him. Using her Frostfire Claws, she started to dig him out, her tail wagging happily as she dug. “Thank you so much, Mr. Landlord. I almost died there. Never thought those rocks would be pretty smart.”

The rock monster had intended to smack its back against the wall to turn Lily, who was clinging onto him, into fine paste. The werehusky did not realise her predicament until it was too late. If Hao Ren did not rush in at the very last moment to knock the rock monster off balance, Lily would surely have become nothing but blood stains on the wall. Hao Ren himself would have paid dearly if not for his Steel Membrane Shield and enhanced physique. The stomp had planted him almost half a meter deep into the earth…

“That was rough…” Hao Ren shuddered as Lily pulled him out of the ground. Massaging his almost broken arm, he jested, “My bones must’ve been dislocated from that stomp. Seems to have set itself back somehow…”

Sounds of clanking armour soon came from the side. Looking up, Hao Ren saw the leader of the mercenary band. The approximately forty-year-old man was decked unlike your regular frontline soldier. His chainmail was splattered with blood, and a stream of blood was flowing from a gash on his forehead all the way down to his neck. As the leader limped towards him, Hao Ren could tell that his wounds were rather severe, but the only thing on the man’s face was the exhiliration of surviving the ordeal, and gratitude. “…How can we ever repay you for saving our hides… I really thought we were done for. Please, do let me know if there’s anything I can do. As long it’s within my ability, I’ll—”

Hao Ren waved the man off. “Oh, it’s alright. Just happened to be in the neighbourhood. Say…how’s your company looking?”

The captain turned back to look at his fellow mercenaries. His face was grim. “One dead, and a few severely injured. Probably won’t be able to lift a sword any longer. Others are coping somehow.”

The surviving mercenaries had little to say, and they were obviously downcast. For them, this was an almost pyrrhic victory. An adventure to the Blood Lake gone awry. They had not even reached their destination when they were decimated by the roving monsters there. Almost half of their force were in no shape to continue, and almost the same number would probably not be adventuring any longer. Such a sudden turn of events was more than anyone could take.

Becky also had a sympathetic look on her face. Being a mercenary came with such risks, and many were dead before they could even react to the danger facing them. These guys were the luckier bunch of the lot, at least most of them were alive.

Wuyue then came out from her hiding spot, clutching Hao Ren’s pot. After taking the pot from her, Hao Ren pointed her towards the wounded. While he had no idea how strong Wuyue’s healing magic would be, at this juncture, with the lack of poultice and medicine, anything was better than nothing. Vivian then threw a glance at Becky. “Didn’t you say the stuff on this mountain path was a cake-walk?”

Hao Ren then remembered that Becky saying something about the well trodden mountain path and that the path did not see monsters of such ferocity. He too glanced at Becky, only to find her shaking her head in confusion. “I—I don’t know… I never ran into these things before… There are monsters in the mountains, but most are earth elementals or gorge scorpions… The easy stuff. Say…do you guys have any clue where these rock monsters came from?”

The last part of Becky’s sentence was aimed at the mercenary leader. He too shook his head. “No idea. We were on our way on the mountain path, and just ran into those bastards. They just came at us. I also don’t recall seeing them in the mountains before during the many times I took this path.”

Even the experienced leader had no idea when Dragonspine Ridge had such dangerous monstrosities. Hao Ren felt things were much, much more complicated that they seemed. At the same time, Y’zaks voice rang out loud. “Over here, look at this!”

The group hurried towards Y’zaks. The giant demon was squatting by the shattered remains of the rock monster he took out moments before, his big finger pointing towards a piece of the rock. “Moss. Do you have moss on the rocks around here?”

“Doesn’t seem like a rock from this area…” Lily said as she looked around. Indeed, the area around them was rather dry. All of the rocks in their vicinity did not have any traces of moss on them. As such, the moss covered rock monsters quite clearly suggested that they originated from somewhere else.

“…Don’t tell me, they came from the other side of the mountain range?” Becky exclaimed as she scrapped some of the moss using a small piece of rock. As she squished the moss in her hands, she said, “Still looks fresh… Plenty of moisture left. Seems like they haven’t arrive here long.” Noticing Lily’s curious face, she continued to explain, “The Dragonspine Ridge has two vastly different climates on each side. The eastern part of it is very dry and arid, the western side is much more verdant as both the Beinz Water Network and the Little Chaldan River are close by. Furthermore, the Blood Lake’s mysterious energies have also spread to areas around the ridge, and as such, the rocks there are usually very mossy.”

Hao Ren had no idea if the rock monsters in front of him were actual living things or not. He could only nod at what Becky had to say. “So, you mean to say that these rock monsters came all the way from the western part of the ridge to the east? Does it mean that this has to do with the Blood Lake?”

“Who knows?” Becky shook her head. “But, I hope this isn’t the start of something worse to come… The loss of the Orb already sent the town into a panicked frenzy, and with this happening in Dragonspine Ridge…”

The mercenary lass frowned hard. Her worried look was plain to see. However, she was just a minor character, and this issue was way beyond her league. There was nothing she could do but fret.

On the other side, Wuyue had completed her treatment of a few severely injured mercenaries. Her healing mists slowly enveloped the wounded. It was nary a moment before the dying soldiers were once again awake and seated in disbelief, patting the parts that were supposedly injured to find them fully healed. Even those who had their limbs ripped off had grown new ones in place. Aside from a sudden feeling of weakness, all of them were fully restored.

A female mercenary decked in a hunter’s dress could not help but exclaim, “How did you do that?!”

“Healing magic,” Wuyue sounded very pleased as she got up. She did not participate in the combat earlier, but it was now her time to shine. The siren was feeling rather accomplished.

Hao Ren and the others were done inspecting the remains of the rock monsters by then and they approached the mercenaries after not finding any further clues. By chance, they overheard the conversation between the huntress and Wuyue. “Healing magic? It’s very potent by healing magic standards… and I’ve never seen such mist-like magic before. What school of spell-caster are you?”

“Uh… This is a siren’s special ability…” Wuyue sounded rather embarrassed after being showered with praise and gratitude. “Does this world not have any sirens?”

Becky gave Wuyue a blank look.” What’s a siren? A new school of magic?

Hao Ren and the party looked at each other. Vivian quickly signalled for Wuyue to stop talking. She then looked at Becky, “You guys don’t know what a siren is?”

“Nope.” Becky did not seem to be lying. “I’ve only heard of a female-only coven called the House of Witches… So, are you saying that the Sirens specialise in water magic? Seems like healing is your specialty.”

Hao Ren then realised something and gave a perfunctory smile. “Oh yeah, they specialise in water magic…but, this coven is based on an island and they are pretty reclusive. Perhaps, that’s why most landbound countries have never heard of them.”

Becky gave a nonplussed ,”Oh…” and simply nodded.

Hao Ren and Vivian looked at each other, clearly understanding what the other was thinking.

This place has werewolves, vampires and even elves…but, they have never heard of a siren?!