GR 19: Unchangeable (1)

#Unedited 

3rd PoV 

“Hey! You sure they’re headed this way?” A middle-aged man holding onto what seemed like a big axe asked his two comrades as he walked in the forest.

“Definitely. Even if I’m not sure. The boss went to such length to even use a tracking hound. You know the dog’s nose is worth even more than our heads.” 

“Why is the boss so stuck up on that blue haired slave- Ow!” Even before he was finished, the man with a mask on his face punched the middle-aged man with the axe. 

“Insolent! Who are you to question the boss’s decision? One more word from you and I will personally chop off your tongue and put you to the Black cage, got it?” The masked man who seemed to be the leader of the team of three threatened his subordinate. 

“Got, got it leader…” The mean looking middle-aged man cowered and meekly replied. 

“From the direction they’re headed, it seems like they are planning on going into the small village a little away from the forest.” The other man among the three spoke as he predicted the targets movement. 

“Good, we’re changing directions.” The masked man took the lead and disappeared in the other way into the forest.

“Wait, team leader!, wait for us!” The axe-carrying man clumsily followed after the masked man. 

The man left behind let out a sigh before following afterwards. It was obvious the leader would lay a trap for the target after he found out about the target’s destination. However, he is a little uneasy because of this damn idiot.

He’d never would have thought that he and the leader would be stuck with an idiot teammate. 

He had been working as a dark mercenary with his leader for over 3 years now, mostly taking on any and all kinds of jobs from anyone who’d pay enough money. Killing, asassinating, murder, theft, and mostly kidnapping, the life that he very much enjoy living amidst the thrill. 

This time it was a job from one of the team’s regular clients, whose name only the leader knows. That is why he and his newly recruited teammate only called him boss. The only thing known about the client is that he is a slave merchant. A fairly well-known one at that. 

The man with the axe was such an idiot. They only recruited him because he had decent skills and bloodthirst matching that of the leader’s taste. If they’d known that he was such a blabber-mouth, the leader would have made do with only two people.  

Fortunately, the mission this time is not that difficult. They only had to escort a slave from one of  the bandit groups near Esteral. Who’d have known that the bandits were so useless as to let the slave get away. 

The leader was so angry he’d killed quite a few of them before he used the hound to track the scent of the escaped target. He didn’t know what the boss told the leader before handing him something so expensive such as a tracking hound but it seemed like the slave who escaped this time would fetch an astronomical price. 

He is very curious. Just what did the slave look like? He’d heard it was a girl, so he wondered whether the boss would mind if the good was just a little damaged. His heart pumped excitedly as he imagined the scene of torture.

A little distance from where the team of three had been just now, the branch from a nearby tree moved before the silhouette of a man could be seen. The man was slender as he crouched on a tree branch with his eyes shining with a green light. 

As the team of three disappeared from sight, the man slowly got up to his full height, jumped down and ran to a spot not far from the tree he’d just been on. 

*step* 

“How was it?” The anxious voice of a woman was heard as soon as his feet had landed. 

“They changed directions.” The slender man answered as he pulled his hood down showing a stunningly beautiful countenance with light brown eyes and ash blonde shoulder length straight hair. 

If the man’s voice wasn’t low, one would think that he was a girl. 

“Why would they change directions? Could it be that Miura isn’t heading this way?” The girl asking sported reddish brown hair and dark navy irises. She was wearing a well-fitted leather armor and a sword strapped on her waist, the get-up of an experienced adventurer.

“No, I don’t think that is the case.” Her teammate replied before he continued: “It seemed like they had a tracking hound point out her scent, so the direction couldn’t be wrong.”

“But why would they suddenly shift directions?” The girl mumbled slowly before catching up on something as she quickly moved towards the same direction as the previous three. Not before saying to her teammate: 

“No matter what, it’s best to continue following them.”

“Right, or we might lose them.” The slender teammate who had been acting as a scout also disappeared towards the same direction. 

1st PoV 

On the other side of the forest, me and Miura was continuing on our way to exit the forest. By now, I was growing tired of the scenery of only trees, rocks, and grass. The slow pace we’re walking in is also not helping at all. It couldn’t be helped since we have to travel this way since both I and Miura are not in the state to run around this dangerous forest carelessly. 

We have to take care to not catch the attention of monsters so once in a while we had to stop on our feet and wait for the monsters to pass by. I can’t appreciate enough how much Miura being able to talk helped. Just like right now.

[Left] As I received her message, I turned to look at the left side and as expected, there was a monster under one of the trees. I signalled Miura to crouch down as I observed the monster as I hid behind a nearby tree. 

With canines protruding out of its mouth, and an outer appearance similar to a pig. It was without a doubt, a Warthog. However, it was undoubtedly a monster with its canines shining with a metallic sheen and terrifying red eyes. 

As I observed it while trying to recall its characteristics from its Earthly counterpart, I waited for it to move away. 

5 minutes

10 minutes

30 minutes

One hour 

F**k! This thing isn’t planning on moving away at all! It looks like it’s bent on swaying its butt and hanging around here, isn’t it? Isn’t it!? 

It is almost noon now. We can’t be wasting time here. I bit my lower lip as I considered my options. 

One, I wait this stupid monster out, and goes hungry for who knows how long while also delaying our trip into town. 

Two, I kick this ugly pig’s butt and get some delicious monster pig’s meat to skewer for lunch. 

Soon enough, my fighting spirit soared high as I readied my sword and moved to slowly lay some traps while signalling Miura to hide on a reliable tree.

As soon as the preparations were ready, I went into position and picked up a rock on the ground. 

“Hey, You ugly pig!” I threw the rock to the monster’s butt before mustering a taunting face as best as I could. 

“Not only are you ugly but you are also a dim-witted pig!” I’d heard that monsters might not be able to understand human speech- Woah! It’s really coming after me! Success! 

I turned my body around before running quickly to the trap spot. I guess although it didn’t understand what I was saying but the irritating intonation was still conveyed. 

As soon as my body sprinted pass a tree, I shouted to Miura: “Now!” 

*crash* 

Right on the mark, a potion was thrown right on the head of the warthog. The bottle broke and an unpleasant smell poured out right on the nose of the warthog. 

{Wheeeeee-  Wheeck} The monster let out an unidentifiable shriek. It’s probably one of disgust since the potion just now was one I brewed to paralyze the sense of smell of monsters.

Making use of the chance when it’s still confused. I went on the offense. 

*slash* First, the joints of its front legs, so that it can’t charge anymore. 

Then- I quickly turned my sword from a slicing angle into one of defence as the warthog attacked with its protruding canines. I know it was not the best decision upon impact. I could almost feel my sword and my arms cracking from the impact. If I had not used the force to jump back, I would have been trampled. 

*sigh*Just me and my sad life. Even a rank 2 monster, that rank D adventurers can beat without a sweat, is so much stronger than me.

My hands are still shaking, geez. I guess using force is no longer an option. Time to go to the next trap. 

I intentionally let my hands shake harder and feigned a tense look as I turned and ran. As expected, the metal-horned warthog followed in rage. It seems to have entered a frenzy as it ran while ignoring the pain on its legs.

At a reasonable distance, I triggered another trap. *snap* A part of the grounds underneath the metal-horned warthog suddenly turned gooey. 

Instantly, the monster got stuck in the goo. No matter how hard it swung its protruding teeth, nothing was hit. Instead, it just sank deeper. 

"Els Aqua…" I chanted a water ball spell as I quickly climbed a tree. "... Rouval" As I reached the top, I finished the spell and fired the waterball down at the warthog. The goo turned stickier with the water mixed in, trapping the monster completely. 

I looked down to confirm that it was really stuck before jumping down from the tree while concentrating mana on my sword with its tip pointing downwards. 

"See who's mad now!" *stab!* 

Making use of the force of gravity from the fall, I successfully pierced right through its head. The light in its eyes went out and it stopped moving completely. 

I panted as I jumped down after taking out my sword from its skull. I could feel my heart still beating fast due to the lingering adrenaline rush. I guess this is the best I can do now. With no particular cheats whatsoever, I was able to beat a rank 2 by myself. I have gotten stronger than before. I guess travelling on one's own gives me so much experience. I am now able to vaguely judge what I could and couldn't do. 

A smile broke on my face as I waved towards the little girl who was running here. 

"Miura! We are having a barbecue for lunch today!" 

Miura looked at the happy for a moment but then she tilted her head as if asking how we were supposed to take the carcass out of the goo. 

"Don't worry. I'm the one who made it, so I can also get rid of the goo." I said in a happy voice as I put my sword back on its sheathe. I hummed happily as I wrote lines of runes around the peripheral of the gooey area. 

"Barbecue, Bar, Barbecue, oh barbecue.." I hummed a random tune as I start thinking about the seasonings I should use for the barbecue in a good mood.