As soon as they were done with the introductions, the commanding general received dire news from the scouting parties that returned. Many villages in the surrounding area were either being attacked by drakes, wingless dragon descendants that resembled reptilic wolves, or about to be attacked by them. These monsters’ ranks weren’t small with the weakest one to be about peak D-rank.

 

The commanding general was worthy of his title as he quickly and decisively assigned adventurer regiments to certain key villages. Moss’s regiment was assigned to one that was a couple of kilometers south of the main camp. Not given even a chance to rest, the regiments set out to fend off against the enemies and save or at least salvage what’s left of the villages.

 

With Tranquil Shades’ party leader taking the lead, he formatted the regiment like one big party. Turmoil Lands took the lead as vanguard with Knee Busters taking the rear. Burning Light positioned themselves at the two flanks while Tranquil Shades nestled safely in the center. Without easing up on the formation, the regiment marched towards its destination.

 

In under an hour, the hasty regiment arrived at the outskirts of the village. Fortunately, it seemed that they had arrived just in time. The village was still intact, but not for long. Just as the regiment entered through the north entrance, alarm bells rang and the adventurers could hear shouting.

 

“Monsters! Monsters have appeared at the east entrance!” A leather-wearing guard repeatedly smashed a small gong while alerting the residents of the incoming attack.

 

Sure enough, a pack of drakes emerged from the eastern forests and bounded towards the village. Without feeling any resistance from the first-line of defense, the ten drakes barreled through the wooden gates and unleashed their cruelty onto the villagers.

 

Seeing the onslaught, the adventurer regiment rushed to provide aid. The experienced leader of the Tranquil Shades called out brief orders for each adventurer to do. Those with tank-like abilities were assigned to draw and separate the drakes from the defenseless villagers while those with healing abilities were assigned to help the injured and transport the civilians to safety. The tanks were also assigned to divert aggro whenever possible.

 

Meanwhile, those who excelled in melee combat would deal heavy damage while those who excelled in ranged combat would provide cover fire. Supporters were assigned to cast buffs on the allies and debuffs on the drakes. Everyone had his or her part to do. Once the adventurers acknowledged their tasks, they quickly got to work.

 

Bart and Clayton rushed towards the drakes as quickly as possible while Bri from Burning Light and Moss headed towards the injured civilians. Not delaying a single second, Clayton roared and taunted the drakes for having incompetent mothers and impotent fathers while Moss cast <<Mass Heal>> to aid the wounded.

 

As the drakes’ attention were directed to the big youth, Bart tossed some seeds imbued with his magic into the ground before the drakes. The seeds burrowed into the ground and, through magic, grew at astonishing rates. Thick green vines emerged from the fertile soil and entangled with each other, forming a wall between most of the drakes and the humans.

 

Unfortunately, the skill did not completely segregate the drakes as some had managed to cross over. Steven, who was in the front, raised up five fingers and pointed at the escapees. With grunts of acknowledgement, five warriors rushed past him to engage with the drakes.

 

Daniel unsheathed his two swords and placed them at his side as he rushed into the fray followed by the two macemen from Turmoil Lands. Kevin, the slowest one, lagged even further behind while Harold stayed back to fire some distracting shots. Being light on his foot, Daniel executed a <<Piercing Strike>> at the nearest drake immediately before landing a <<Cross Slash>> on an adjacent drake.

 

Both attacks from Daniel dealt damage but both were not killing blows. Unlike a pure-blooded dragon, the hide of a drake was tough but penetrable. As Daniel landed in a half-kneeling position from the <<Cross Slash>>, he managed to draw the two drakes’ attention. But not for long.

 

Once the drakes turned their bodies around to face the dual-wielding swordsman, they heard some shuffling from their rear. Before they could react, the two macemen had arrived. Each swung at the head of one drake, and each dealt a <<Stunning Blow>>.

 

The drakes saw stars up close for the first time. As they were mesmerized by the sight, their senses dulled as they did not realize the three humans running past them. Leading the three-person team, Daniel rushed towards another pair of drakes and unleashed the same <<Piercing Strike>> and <<Cross Slash>> attacks while the two macemen finished off with a flurry of <<Stunning Blow>>.

 

In mere minutes, all eight drakes were stunned. Before the first pair of drakes could regain their senses, Harold pelted them with arrows while Kevin cleaved off hide and flesh with his broadsword.

 

The drakes writhed with pain as Jon and Gavin looped back to continue dealing attacks. First, a <<Crushing Blow>> from Jon to break bones and tenderize hide followed by a <<Stunning Blow>> from Gavin to send the drake to the stars.

 

<<Cleave>>, <<Crushing Blow>>, <<Stunning Blow>>, repeat – truly a cheat combo. While Kevin, Jon, and Gavin busied themselves with the eight drakes, Daniel and Harold relocated to where the main fighting force was. Meanwhile, those who were knocked down or injured by the drakes were supported by Joseph and Henry. The civilians were carried out of harm’s way towards Bri and Moss who continued to heal the wounded.

 

As for the remaining drakes, they have been drawn in by Clayton’s <<Vicious Taunt>>. Diverting whatever aggro they had onto the large boy, the drakes charged towards him with pain and hatred. Although the drakes were bastards of the Lord of Fire and the Wolf Goddess, in their eyes, both parents were esteemed figures. No one could get away with mocking them…no one!

 

As if fueled with berserk fury, the drakes ignored the other humans and charged towards Clayton. The large boy smiled a toothy smile as he brought down his tower shield. Magic started swirling about him as he channeled them into the ground via the shield.

 

“Stone Wall!” Clayton roared.

 

Activating his recently learned spell <<Stone Wall>>, Clayton magically formed a wall of dirt and hardened it at an incredible rate. The drakes at the front, lost in their rampaging momentum, weren’t able to stop in time and crashed into the wall. Fortunately for the ones in the back, they were able to avoid the crash.

 

Taking advantage of their dazed state, Adara, Carolyn, and Hale bombarded the drakes with <<Fireball>>, <<Quickshot>>, and <<Piercing Shot>> respectively. Nair debuffed the nearby drakes with <<Slow>> while Thea debuffed them with <<Weakness>>. Meanwhile, the remaining melee warriors rushed in to deal massive damage. Lily stayed by the wall of vines to create a line of traps in case a drake broke through their assault.

 

But the drakes weren’t vegetarians. They enjoyed the taste of blood and human flesh. The dragonspawn howled and roared as they counterattacked. As they were descendants of the Lord of Fire and the Wolf Goddess, they were blessed with both parents’ affinities – one with fire and the other with wind.

 

Wisps of wind circled about their legs as sparks of fire ignited from their bristles. Enticed by the blood in the air, the drakes charged at the adventurers, speed nearly doubled with the help of the wind. Though taken by surprise, the skilled tanks managed to raise their shields up and formed a protective barrier between the monsters and their allies.

 

Though they managed to stop the first wave of attacks, the subsequent waves smashed through their defenses and dove into their ranks. In the midst of the chaos, the adventurers struggled to defend themselves. Unlike the drakes who had been a pack since birth, the adventurers had little teamwork. Yet, despite that, they were still able to hold on.

 

Suddenly, a scream pierced through the adventurers’ concentration. Heads turned as the adventurers saw Lily being dragged away by two drakes. Steven and Daniel, who were closer, tried to save Lily. Hale even fired some shots towards the two drakes.

 

However, it was too late. The hungry drakes tore into Lily, swallowing raw flesh and fresh blood. Lily gurgled as blood welled up and foamed in her mouth. Her eyes dulled in a matter of seconds. She was dead!

 

“No!” Harold roared in agony as he drove away the two drakes with a barrage of arrows.

 

The man collapsed to his knees as he scurried over to the mangled body. Trembling, he lifted the body close to his chest and cried tears of anguish and sorrow. Having grew up together, Harold and Lily were as close as lovers. But now that one of them was dead, the other did not know what to do with his life.

 

“Fuck you!” Harold bellowed as he charged towards the two drakes while emptying his quiver.

 

The archer was just about to rush over with just his bow when he was pulled back by Steven. “Harold, stop! You can’t do anything stupid! You’ve run out of arrows. Go back and regroup! This is an order!”

 

“Fuck you! Fuck your fucking orders!” The sad man turned his anger towards the leader of the Tranquil Shades. “Aren’t you supposed to be a swordsman? How can you suck at your job, you fucking moron?!”

 

“I – !” Steven tried to defend himself but was cut off by Harold’s nonstop ranting.

 

“Where! Where were you, you dolt? Weren’t you closest to Lily? How could you even let those drakes past? You murderer! It’s all your fault! It’s all YOUR FAULT!” Harold roared with bloodshot eyes as his anger begot extreme stress.

 

Without another word, he coughed out some blood and keeled over. Steven frowned murderously as he had never been humiliated like this before. But before he let his emotions leak out, he quickly ordered for two people to drag the man away from the battle.

 

Steven looked around him and clapped. “Okay! Get a hold of your senses people! We’re still in the middle of a battle here!”

 

Without another word, the swordsman rushed into battle and in a matter of minutes, the adventurers had eliminated the pack of drakes. The villagers who survived thanked them profusely and even offered them gifts of food and money. Some of the adventurers wanted to accept them, especially Steven; however, a few words from Moss stopped them as they embarrassingly declined the offers.

 

Steven glared at Moss as if to blacklist him before leaving with his party. While Bart and Gavin carried Harold, the rest of the regiment followed shortly after. Soon, the adventurer regiment returned to the main camp to rest and eat. As more regiments returned, they waited for the next assignment.