"I'm bored. It's been three days since we left the bees territory and barely anything has attacked us."
"You should learn patience; besides you got to fight a charge boar yesterday. Wasn't that enough for you?"
"No, I like to fight at least once a day. Also, it has been nothing but trees and bushes since then. Nothing larger than a key deer has come across our path. I can't even find anything during my patrols."
This was the third time Chronos had complained today, and his companions were getting tired of it.
Sighing Sariah cut in "We are almost to the northern edge of the Dracon Fen; I am sure you can find something new to play with there. Until then try meditating or coming up with a new training method for the guards."
As the carriage quieted down Chronos decided to reflect on the guards training the last two days.
It had been going surprisingly well. All of them were improving including the Captain. Jeffery and Mike had even reached the intermediate weapon mastery realm. They might cause some headaches for the captain now that they were on the same level and close to the third rank like him but as soon as the captain acquired a zweihander he would break through to the advanced weapon mastery realm.
If the method you were using wasn't compatible with the weapon you had on hand it would often prevent you from advancing. This is due to most aura methods requiring certain weapons in order to make full use of them.
Very few methods were like the Guardians Steel method that could be used with any weapon, or even your own body, once you were trained to a high enough level. The downside to the Guardians Steel method and other similar methods were their high comprehension requirements.
As the day went on more and more small ponds started to appear as the forest gave way to a swamp.
The caravan would occasionally see a crocodile or a heron. A little further ahead there was a beaver dam forming a small lake at which many in the caravan cursed due to an abundance of biting midges.
Chronos chuckled as he took his half-beast form swiftly covering himself in fur that would help deal with the midges, especially if he used a thin film of aura to cover his fur.
This earned him several envious glares from other carriage drivers.
Claang "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Gregory asked as he turned to face Chronos "Ah you can hear a lot better in that form than I can. Whatever you are hearing is a good distance away."
Cocking his head to one side he tried to listen for that sound again. Clank. There it was and some muffled shouting too.
"It's a fight, a large one. I am going to get some men from the captain. Be back later."
Gregory grunted as he ran off to the front of the caravan while checking his equipment "Captain! There is a battle ahead of us almost 4 kilometers. I would like to borrow some men to scout ahead."
He scowled at that as he started shouting orders. "Understood. Take Jeffery and Mike with you, it will be much easier to move with just you three."
"Thanks." With a shout for the two of them all three left while the captain organized everyone else for battle.
As they closed in on the battle, they could hear shouting and see magic flying past shadowy figures. Mixed in with them were figures in plate mail covered in tabards with the image of five dragon heads.
"Dragon church paladins. There are a lot of injured in the back." Jeffery called out "I can't tell who, or what, they are fighting."
"Looks like living darkness." Mike said as they stopped to watch the fight for a moment.
Most of the paladins were struggling to cause permanent damage as the dark creature recovered from most blows in 30 seconds or less. However, some of them were taking serious damage from light blows that shouldn't hurt anything with even a slightly thick hide.
It took them a moment to realize that a blessing from the clerics was applied to the weaker paladins, and it was causing some serious damage anywhere that it was used.
Observing the battlefield Chronos noticed that the right flank closest to them was starting to break. He could see a group of ten shadows led by what looked like a bear was pushing to attack the clerics in the rear.
"The paladins are losing; we will attack the group on the right. Stop them from reaching the clerics. Whatever blessing they are using is needed for everyone."
Chronos charged into the fight aiming right at the bear, both fighters following a step behind him.
As he neared the enemy, he pulled out the echoforge maul and started charging it. 5 seconds later a maul with two echoes slammed into the beast's side. By staggering his aura he was able to strike multiple enemies at once.
Three dark wolves were thrown into the air where they disintegrated under the force of the blow. Four more turned to face this new threat while the bear and two others attempted to push through a pair of paladins.
Replacing his maul with a spear Chronos lashed out at two of the dark creatures, this time they looked like cattle. One of them tried to bash him with its horns while the other backed up, clearly preparing for a charge.
When the bull sidestepped to allow the other to charge Chronos sidestepped with it. While keeping the closer one between him and the charging bull he continued to thrust and slash at the closest bull.
Several seconds passed then the first bull fell to a thrust that pierced its brain. The other one took this opportunity to charge in an attempt to gore Chronos.
Jumping up Chronos cleared the charge only to land on its back. He took this chance to pierce the base of the skull, killing it in one attack.
Looking around Jeffery and Mike were doing fine against their opponents, but the paladins had failed to stop the bear.
Rushing past them Chronos reached it just as it reached the clerics. As it roared and swiped at a cleric Chronos used the butt of his spear to push the cleric out of the way, barely missing a decapitation.
He then lashed the shaft across the bear's nose to draw its attention.
Grunting it glared at him. Standing on two legs it was nearly 8 feet tall and looked like it would rip his head off if he made a single mistake.
"Rooaar." It swung at Chronos, but he dodged, barely noticing that it had torn a tree in half with that attack.
He thrust up into its ribs only for it to step back slightly. "Great. It knows how to fight better than thosebulls."
While dancing around the bear suddenly a flying purple claw attack shot out from its paw. He had to bend over backwards to avoid it.
For beasts in the first two ranks enhancing aura only increased their durability or strength. It didn't grant them an aura unlike humanoid races who had weaker bodies. But once a beast reached the third rank, they could emit aura like a knight.
This bear had just emitted aura through its claws; it was a third rank beast which suddenly made this fight much more difficult.
"Buy me a moment and I'll give you a blessing." Called one of the clerics.
Doing a full backflip from his bent position as it slammed its front legs into the ground trying to crush him, Chronos gasped out. "No save your magic for the injured. I can handle this beast." Then circled to the right.
Taking a deep measured breath Chronos's stamina replenished almost immediately. He was very grateful Uncle Bruar had taught him the Guardians Steel Breathing method. With every good breath his stamina would replenish making it nearly impossible to exhaust him in a fight. Add that to a werewolf's natural recovery rate and he could fight for a day or more without rest.
The only requirement was that he had to be carrying a metal weapon as the method would draw in the world spirit through his weapon in order to recover within a few breaths.
It was like switching out with a partner mid fight giving you time to recover while your partner fights.
Having recovered he went on the offensive and tried to pierce the bear's side. It jumped to its right once more avoiding an injury. It almost seemed like it was avoiding any injury while fighting Chronos but none of the other dark creatures bothered to do that against their opponents.
"Think about that later, stay focused on the fight."
Refocusing he charged in striking at its head but as it dodged with a smirk it didn't realize that Chronos head flipped the spear around. The butt of the spear waved in front of the bear's face as Chronos finished a feint successfully slashing at its feet.
Giving a roar of pain it lost its footing and stumbled. Taking advantage of this a paladin thrust his sword into the back of the bear. The bear only grunted before slamming its paw into him, sending him flying.
While it was distracted Chronos took his chance to thrust his spear through the bear's neck. Jumping back, he watched as the bear started to disintegrate just like the first few dark beasts he had struck.
This attack should not have killed the bear but right now was not the time to think about this. There were other beasts to fight and injured to remove from combat.
Taking a look around Chronos saw Jeffery nursing an injured arm while Mike wasn't injured yet and had moved on to the next beast. The paladins had not suffered much either, which made sense.
In order to enter the dragon church paladins you had to already have reached the soldier rank. And that would only give you the qualifications to be trained by them or go on simple expeditions around safe areas.
He wondered if this was a normal mission or if this area was more dangerous than he had been informed.