Chapter 80

The landing wasn't harsh for Soi and Mignon, as both of them landed safely, while Irian hit his head and blacked out. The fallen wagon provided at least some initial cover, and none of the Bonewolves went for him to secure the kill. Soi left her bow behind, fists clenched and claws ready as she dived forward. She quickly found Nicole and hurried to her friend. Mignon, on the other hand, wasn't brave enough to follow. Instead, he grabbed Irian's bow and quiver and jumped onto the side of the overturned wagon. Mimicking the way he had seen the weapon being used, he started shooting monsters down, however missing most of the time and not even earning much of the Bonewolves' attention.

"Just how many are there?" Soi asked, panting, as she joined Nicole's side and turned around, both covering each other's backs now.

"Less and less every minute, at least." Nicole smirked, her spear piercing another beast's lungs.

Rakk's strong arms and big warhammer were sending wolves flying with each powerful swing.

Vaeltira was on the other side of the battlefield, her giant sword keeping regular beasts at bay while seeking openings to strike down the giant black Bonewolf. Neither of them managed to land any meaningful strikes on each other, stuck in a stalemate.

Annie was helping the cowgirl from above. Even though the bolts of her two crossbows were doing almost no damage to the black bone armor, she had hoped that they could at least act as a distraction. Yet soon, the girl's ammunition started running out, and after releasing the last of her bolts, she took out Nicole's gift - the curved blade with no handle and edges all around it. Concentrating her spores on its flat side, Annie left Vaeltira and flew down enough to have the Bonewolves within reach while still staying barely outside of their jumping range.

"Ha-! Ha-!"

She moved her arms as if guiding the blade to slice through the enemy, shouting whenever another one fell dead. Annie was grinning like a child playing with toys, and in her excitement, the girl hadn't noticed that she had lowered herself down just a bit more. One of the wolves immediately used the opportunity, jumping high, its teeth clamping down on Annie's foot and dragging her down.

"AAAAh!"

"ANNIE!!"

Both Soi and Nicole reacted at the same time, running to help. Soi, with her feline grace, was first, quickly disposing of the Bonewolf.

"Are you alright?!" Nicole asked as she approached, deflecting the furious swipe of another monster.

"Agh… K-kind of, I think." Annie breathed through clenched teeth but quickly rose up into the air, her boot slightly dripping with red blood. "But I am not done yet! You're gonna pay for that!" Frowning, she grew more serious in her fighting.

Fighting together, the swarm of Bonewolves was slowly coming to an end. Many of the creatures, seeing that most of their pack were dead, started backing off and running away. Vaeltira was still in a tight fight against the black Bonewolf.

"Alright, I am done with you." She muttered after another exchange of blows.

Vaeltira threw her shield aside and took the sword in both hands.

"RRHAA!"

With a shout, she charged forward.

Swinging like a madwoman with all her force, she ignored her own wounds as the black Bonewolf clawed at her arms. She didn't stop her run and collided with it, both falling to the ground. After a short struggle, Vaeltira came out on top of the monster. Holding her sword horizontally like a guillotine above the beast's throat, she slammed it down with a wet sound of meat being severed and bones crushed.

For a few seconds, she was sitting there, breathing hard, before she stood up and looked around. By this time, the fight was over - Nicole and the rest were finishing off the remaining Bonewolves.

"Oh damn." Nicole said, looking at Vaeltira. "You alright?"

The cowgirl was all covered in blood, both hers and that of her enemies. Her clothes, already in bad condition before the fight, were now absolutely destroyed, barely holding together as scraps of cloth. Her back and arms were slowly bleeding, painting the ground underneath her dark red.

"Y-yes." She nodded slowly. "Just give me a bit."

Vaeltira sat down on a fallen tree trunk.

"Don't worry about anything." Soi smiled softly. "I will go get Iloe and Pietus dust to patch you up. And Irian, too."

The catgirl ran off to the wagon.

"Oh fuck, right! ILOE, YOU OKAY IN THERE?"

Annie flew up, transferring her spores from the blade and herself, lowering herself to sit on the ground and helping to get the wagon into a proper position, but it was still too heavy.

Suddenly, Mignon and Krughan appeared together, Mignon riding on top of the boar. Somehow, they seemed to cooperate as he led Krughan to use its tusks to help. Together, they succeeded, and a muffled "Ahhh!" came from the inside before the door was unlocked and Iloe stepped out.

"Ouch, my head… What is even going on?" She looked around, stunned. "Oh wow… That's a lot of dead Bonewolves."

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Soi seemed to shine. "Grab Pietus and bandages, we all need to be patched up. Though, start with Irian."

She pointed at the bunny guy lying unconscious, though his breathing was calm. Soi found her previously discarded bow, fishing it out from between the wolf corpses.

"Here you are, buddy."

While Iloe was applying first aid to the rest, Soi was strangely restless, walking around from side to side.

"Are you feeling good? You didn't get hit in the head, right?" Nicole asked with a smile, half-joking.

"Probably leftover adrenaline." Annie chuckled.

"Nah, it's alright." Soi approached them before freezing. "Wait. Can it be?"

She closed her eyes shut for a few seconds.

"I have this buzz in my chest. And I feel not just alright, I feel great! Like I could defeat anyone!"

Nicole smiled. Hah, reminds me of that one time I went a couple of days without sleep, running on canned coffee.

"I-I think this is it. I have reached the point where I can ascend my claws." Soi smiled wide.

"Are you sure?" Iloe looked up at the girl, wrapping a cloth bandage around Annie's wounded foot. "You know what can happen if you take the potion without actually being ready."

Soi brushed the worry away with a wave of her hand, grinning.

"I was waiting for this for half of my life. This is going to get me one step closer to becoming a master huntress."

Vaeltira's wounds were too severe to be healed immediately, so she and Irian were left to rest while everyone else fixed the camp. Nicole absorbed as much bone, fur, and leather as she could fit, and the girls moved the dead bodies into a pile outside of the camp. To save themselves from dealing with whatever could come seeking dead meat, they decided to burn the pile down, making sure to do it safely enough to not accidentally set the whole forest ablaze. The only Bonewolf left was the giant black one, left alone for Vaeltira as a trophy.

While Nicole and Iloe were making dinner, Soi rummaged through her bags.

"Nicole, can you make me an additional pot? I want to make the ascension potion as soon as possible. I always have all the ingredients on me and lack only a pot."

After a minute, Nicole handed her a small iron pot.

"This one will do?"

"Yeah, thanks."

Soi grabbed it and hurried over to the bonfire, placing it next to the one where stew for dinner was being made.

"Just don't throw anything into the wrong one." Annie giggled, flying over closer. "Can I look? I have to write everything down."

"Sure. It's nothing too complicated." Soi shrugged. "Just pour this, and after a minute, add this one and - "

A couple of minutes later, inside Soi's pot was some thick, gray mass.

"Doesn't look good and tastes even worse, hah." She smiled. "But I am ready. I can feel it."

After dinner, Soi drank the mass, everything in one go, immediately pressing a hand to her mouth to keep from puking it all out.

"Fuck, that was awful. I-I will go to sleep early."

By that time, Irian was already up, though still feeling weak from the blood loss.

"Here, drink this." Vaeltira handed the bunny man a cup of white liquid. "Should help you get better."

Taking it carefully, he took a sip while blushing a little and looking to the side.

"T-thanks."

"What's this?" Annie asked curiously, leaning over to catch a glimpse of what was inside the cup.

"Milk." Vaeltira answered simply.

The girl looked at the cowgirl for a second, processing.

"Oh. Right. Um, makes sense, you being partially a cow and all…"

Nicole chuckled.

"You should have seen my face when I first learned that locals milk themselves. They even have a tea to boost the production rate."

"Shomari milk is special, though." Iloe added. "It's pretty healthy in itself, but the best thing is that depending on what they eat, the milk can get some properties."

"Yes." Vaeltira nodded. "That's a part of Shomari racial ability. For a limited time after eating, we get stronger and, as your friend said, our milk gets a part of that as well. Before the battle, I ate some dried meat to boost my strength. Took a bit for the effect to start, since the stomach had to digest it first."

"Oh wow." Annie nodded along. "Have you ever tried eating Pietus dust? So the milk could get strong healing properties."

Vaeltira shook her head.

"I heard about someone trying that, but with no effect."

"Ow."

Annie's bright idea was shut down.

Nicole showed Vaeltira the black Bonewolf.

"You have any plans for this thing? If you are not interested in trophies, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on it."

"Trophies? No. But I am sure the guild will pay me well for such a thing."

"Tsk." Nicole sighed. "Fine."

I could use the fact that I hired her, so everything we get is mine, but no need to create arguments in our group, especially before getting the main mission done.

Later that night, Nicole switched the watch duty to Vaeltira. Earlier, Nicole had insisted on the cowgirl resting, but the tall woman didn't want to even listen. At the same time, Irian couldn't get any sleep, so seeing Vaeltira being up, he decided to join her.

As he sat next to her, she chuckled.

"The last night we guarded the camp together, we ended up fighting an army. You sure you want to risk it?"

"For your company? Sure." Irian said before thinking, but it was too late.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She turned slightly, facing him with a small smile.

"I-I… Never mind, forget it." Irian blushed and turned away. "Um, you don't smile often, I noticed. If me being here makes you smile, that's worth at least something."

"That's an interesting way to see things." Vaeltira leaned back. "And you are the strangest Zunthari I ever met."

"What? Why?"

She tilted her head.

"Come on. I can see how you are looking at me. Every time we speak, you get nervous. Usually, Zunthari are even more straightforward than the rest."

"Oh, so you noticed." Irian's voice got calmer, steadier, strangely. "It means there is no hiding it anymore."

He finally faced the girl.

"Yes. Usually I don't do this, but you may have a chance." She winked playfully.

"Wait, you don't mind…" Irian's eyes went wide.

"I said it's a chance." Vaeltira leaned closer. "But first, listen to me. I am looking for something long-term, not just for a night or two. Get a house and have a more peaceful life." She watched his reaction closely.

Irian nodded.

"I get it. Can't say I was really thinking about settling down, but… I can't miss this chance and then wonder if I should have agreed."

He moved towards her and caught her lips in a kiss. Vaeltira kissed back, her strong hand grabbing Irian's arm and moving him closer.