Strayebeasts surrounded us. They were akin to some breed of wolf—from what I could make of their silhouettes in the pitch darkness. Tursun crouched next to me and growled at the monsters nearing. My left arm dripped red as I held Zhongji Ruidao in my other hand. 

“Okay, what can we do?” My fatigue had been yanked out of my body. After the initial attack, I didn’t lose that much health. If anything that meant these were low level monsters. 

“I’m low on EP from building the hut… do you have any light skills to see their numbers?”

“Uh, I don’t have any skills…”

“What?! You don’t have any?”

I gripped my yedo sword and prepared to swing. “But I do have this.”

[System Announcement] Weapon Skill [Zhongji Ruidao] EP DOWN

10/15 >>> 5/15 -5

White energy burst from my weapon and lit the ground. Multiple strayebeasts became revealed as the AoE attack mowed through some of them. 

[System Announcement] Killed Lv5 [Strayebeast S] Exp. UP EP UP

+0 Exp.; Requires Level Cap UP 5/15 EP >>> 7/15 EP +2

 

[System Announcement] Weapon Skill [Zhongji Ruidao] Speed UP EP UP

+5% Speed (30 second duration) 7/15 EP >>> 12/15 EP +5

Some backed down while two of them lunged at me from the darkness. I planted my feet to run. But my legs felt much slower. Then I remembered the initial bite ‘Prey’s Curse’ that reduced my speed by ten percent. My eyes shut. 

Tursun slammed his fist into the wolf and sent it flying. “Fists’ll have to do. If you got that attack, Kawari, then use it. These monsters aren’t that big of a deal. Just nuisances to a good night’s sleep!”

He rushed in and snapped another strayebeast’s neck. Pinning more to the ground his eyes went narrow with his dog ears perked up. While Tursun delt with that I needed to check on the others. Sorah was fast asleep. I knew him as a deep sleeper, even from the first time we met. But Yuanyuan and Ruri… I couldn’t find them. 

“It’s so hard to see…” Even my night-adjusted eyes couldn’t scan my surroundings far. Something snarled at me from the side. I tried to sidestep again but my legs were slow to react. Then someone tackled me over. 

“Watch out!” Yuanyuan collapsed on me while the monster missed its mark. An arrow flew and pierced its head into the ground. “Your arm… it’s bleeding!”

“I know that…” I lifted myself up and she got herself off me. I hoped to deal with the ambush first and foremost. Ruri was awake? I thought she’d been knocked out after sleeping early. 

Zhongji Ruidao readied at my hand again. Another wave of strayebeasts swarmed around the plain. If I could get a bunch of them in one swoop then…

[System Announcement] Weapon Skill [Zhongji Ruidao] EP DOWN

12/15 >>> 7/15 -5

The wolves jumped out of the way of the energy burst. Did they adapt to my weapon skill already? I’d just wasted my own EP.  Maybe I should fight hand-to-hand? But I didn’t want to feel the pain trickling up my arm. I gritted my teeth and shook my head. I had to fight. My feet stepped forward into the next onslaught. 

A beast jumped at me. I couldn’t even process the speed. My hand thrusted the short sword in front and skewered it in the abdomen. The speared strayebeast squirmed and dragged my arm down with its weight. I stomped on its head over and over and over. Until it stopped moving. 

[System Announcement] Killed Lv7 [Strayebeast S] Exp. UP EP UP

+0 Exp.; Requires Level Cap UP 7/15 EP >>> 9/15 EP +2

Zhongji Ruidao’s skill didn’t activate. I guessed that I never killed the strayebeast with the sword, therefore it didn’t count. These monsters felt harder than the sankakujuu I faced in Waqwaq. However they were a bit easier than the sand golems in Kucha. Then a voice penetrated my thinking. 

“O light, appear before me, illuminate the darkness, and dispel the fear—Mazu’s Beacon.” 

Light interrupted the fight as everyone shielded their eyes. My sight filled with blinding white until my pupils adjusted. I turned behind me and saw Sorah casting his hand into the sky. Radiance split day and night from his fingertips. Even the beasts yielded back from his presence. He took out a kitchen knife from his pocket. 

Sorah rushed forward. He pierced a monster through the skull. Whirling around the blade grew ice. Mist enveloped the plain. The strayebeasts’ movements slowed as Sorah jabbed and yanked his weapon into them. Dark blood splattered onto his red headband and stained his face. 

I shook my head. Why was I spacing out? Sorah created light for us to see. I dashed to help Tursun and Sorah out. The mist slowed the monster’s speed so my blade would reach first. I extended my arm out towards the first strayebeasts I see. They hopped back in surprise. A few arrows whistled through the air and struck them in the chest. 

One of them flanked me and tackled me from the side. Just how smart were these creatures? I pressed onto the beast’s stomach as its legs dangled. The mouth flailed and nearly bit my hand. Saliva dripped onto my chest. I tightened my sword grip again. 

[System Announcement] Weapon Skill [Zhongji Ruidao] EP DOWN

9/15 >>> 5/15 -5

[System Announcement] Killed Lv3 [Strayebeast S] Exp. UP EP UP

+0 Exp.; Requires Level Cap UP 5/15 EP >>> 7/15 EP +2

 

[System Announcement] Weapon Skill [Zhongji Ruidao] Speed UP EP UP

+5% Speed (30 second duration) 7/15 EP >>> 12/15 EP +5

 

The wolf’s head exploded while I tossed the carcass aside in disgust. I flipped myself over to gag at the taste in my mouth. I never liked the sight of blood anyway. My hands wiped my face clean and dried myself with my sleeve. For a while we continued to fight off the pack of strayebeasts. 

[System Announcement] Killed Lv14 [Strayebeast M] Exp. UP EP UP

+0 Exp.; Requires Level Cap UP 0/15 EP >>> 2/15 EP +2

 

A whole string of animal bodies littered the frosted grass. We finally finished off the last batch of monsters before the rest of them sniveled and ran off. Sorah’s skill ‘Mazu’s Beacon’ already ended and soon dawn surrounded us with first light. The sun finally arrived at the tip of the horizon and illuminated the mountain ranges in the east. 

I took a knee as well as a deep breath. Scratching my eyes, I hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night. Well, since I volunteered to guard I couldn’t complain. Every rivet of my legs made my joints scream in pain when I attempted to stand. Sorah gave me a hand and brought us to where Tursun and Ruri gathered. 

“Alright, everyone line up so I can check you all～” Yuanyuan waved while the rest of us got in line. She inspected each one of us for anything serious. She suggested this to Sorah during the fight, so now Yuanyuan acted upon it. 

[System Announcement] Skill Activation [Quick Heal] HP UP

31/40 HP >>> 40/40 HP +9

Even when she healed the gnash in my arm my body still wanted to collapse. I just wanted to sleep. This was how it felt to do a graveyard shift? 

“We should be departing soon,” I said with a nod to Tursun, “Yuanyuan, thanks for the aid.” 

“No problem! Afterall, this was my job at Doctor Yang’s clinic…” She scratched her head. When Yuanyuan finished with Sorah and Tursun, she realized Ruri didn’t take any injury. I hadn’t seen her at all last night so I concluded she was in a safe position. Tursun rubbed his hands. 

“Anyone knows how to skin an animal? ‘Cause we can take the beasts’ hide and use them, or sell them when we get to Koroné.” 

Sorah and Ruri stepped forward and affirmed. I also raised my hand, since the two taught me how back in Itogutshi. Although I was quite rusty and sickened about the act. Time to relearn again. I had to make myself useful. Belly up, privates, cut in half, remove organs and bladder… the rest was foggy. 

Eventually we skinned a good portion of them and divided the animal hides amongst our travel baggage. I still held the sand golem’s core and a few Hashara shells in mine so it felt particularly heavy. Once we packed up everything and erased the site of any evidence we’d been there, we continued our journey. 

The Nuovasperanza Steppe slowly came to an end. When I looked back to the sun, the mountains faded into view. The flatlands grew more rugged and uneven with trees and fauna. Grasslands turned into small ponds all around like giant rain puddles. Wild animals grazed over the local habitat. And with more wildlife, we spotted people. 

Many voyagers traveling to and from the steppe wore hoods and cloaks, some walking with flocks of livestock or mounted on dragonborne. Some pulled carts and others themselves, while a rare few traveled in groups more than three. 

“Nomads… we should ask them if they’ve seen my family,” said Sorah as he walked faster in front. 

Tursun shrugged. “I dunno if we should bother them—”

“It’s worth giving it a shot.” I stood with Sorah on this one while fixing the load on my back. “We did this when we were in Port Kohwan, right Ruri?”

“No doubt. Let’s get a move on and ask them real quick. I’ll cast Masking on all of us just in case.” Ruri put her hands together and cracked some of her knuckles. It seemed she recovered from her sickness. The five of us hurried along the common route to catch up to people moving along to and from the plains. 

The first set we asked shook their heads no. The second batch they ignored us and merely sped up past us on their dragonborne carriage. The third one couldn’t even speak Wawaqi nor Zhouhua. Even on the main continent teeming with many ethnic groups and diverse populations, monolingual people still existed. 

“Is Koronese a hard language?” I went up to Tursun since he himself was of Koronézuki descent. “If we know a few phrases then maybe we can get by…” 

He put his hand to his chin. “Hm… I’ve heard it spoken by my parents but never really picked up the tongue. And in the streets of Kucha it's pretty common to hear. From what I hear it’s quite the simple language in terms of grammar.” 

“Look! There’s another person! Perhaps fourth time’s the charm?” Yuanyuan pointed over my shoulder at two people in hoods walking along at the forest’s edge. All of us nodded, and so we rushed along the path. I decided to ask this time. 

“Excuse me!” 

The two stopped their stride as the taller one turned his head slightly. He stared at the large items we carried on our backs. “...”

“Uh…” I wondered if they didn’t speak Zhouhua and switched my brain to Wawaqi. 

“Merchants? We aren’t interested in trading or buying your products.” The man’s voice was deep and annoyed. He scoffed and turned back around to keep walking. His companion did the same. 

I clenched my fist. I couldn’t let them go with this misunderstanding. “Wait! We’re not merchants. We just want to ask you if you’ve seen someone. A man with his kids, all with silver hair. All Wawaqi. If you’ve seen them, then please…”

“...”

The tall man stopped again in silence. His companion, a demihuman with dog ears protruding from their hood, faced him and put their hand to their chest. “If they need help finding someone you should answer. I already know mine.”

He let out a sigh before looking behind at us. Wearing a black suit and a katana-like sword on his back, my mind went blank upon seeing his face. My heart pounded and shivered. As if I knew this person from back before. 

“You’re…”

“...Yes. I’ve seen two people that fit the criteria you’re looking for. A man with silver hair, and his child.”