Chapter 136: Please don’t eat the bats!

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Alue screamed at the top of his lungs as he sprinted across the grassy ground, his arms flailing as several massive Vampire Bats swooped after him. Their leathery wings beat heavily through the air, and their mouths opened wide to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

Alue had only meant to survey the area when he stumbled across a herd of bull beasts lying dead, their bodies drained of blood. He had barely noticed the bats hanging from the trees before they all took flight.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!"

One bat dove toward him, its claws reaching for his back. Alue stumbled forward, nearly falling, and the bat was just about to grab him when a dark spike erupted from its own shadow. It pierced straight through the creature’s chest, sending it crashing into the dirt.

Alue spun around, panting heavily, and Lopis stood behind him, her twin daggers drawn.

"You’re welcome."

"I-I thought I was going to die!"

"You almost did."

More bats descended from the trees, and Alue’s face went pale. "There are more?!"

Lopis stepped forward, shadows spreading across the ground beneath her feet. Alue swallowed his fear and raised his hands, forcing thick vines and roots to burst from the earth.

The plants wrapped around one bat’s wings and dragged it down, allowing Lopis to teleport her shadows through its body. Another bat swooped toward Alue, but he ducked beneath it and sent thorny roots stabbing upward.

The swarm suddenly grew larger.

Then, a powerful blast of spirit energy tore through the sky and struck several bats at once. Kanan landed between them, his eyes scanning the swarm.

"Terin!" He shouted

A blur of wind suddenly shot overhead. "WOOOOOO!" Terin came flying straight through one of the bats, his spear tearing through its body as he burst out the other side.

"That was awesome!"

"Are you seriously enjoying this right now?!" Alue screamed

"Hahaha! Absolutely!"

Two flashes appeared beside them. Reda teleported into the swarm, knives already in her hands, and appeared behind one bat before plunging both blades into its back. She vanished again before another could strike her.

Fera charged in beside her and slammed her axe into the ground, raising a force field that wrapped around multiple bats and compressed them until their bodies were crushed.

With everyone present, Terin got even more excited. "Let them have it, team!"

The team attacked together. Kanan blasted bats from the sky while Terin sliced through them with sweeping wind attacks. Lopis’s shadows pierced their bodies, Alue’s roots dragged them down, Reda appeared and disappeared between them with deadly precision, and Fera trapped the remaining bats behind forcefields before smashing them with her axe.

Within minutes, the final Vampire Bat crashed to the ground.

Alue stood among the bodies, breathing heavily. "Are... are they all dead?"

Terin grinned. "Yep!"

Alue slowly lowered his hands. "Good. Because I never want to go through that again."

"Aww, little Alue was scared." Fera teased, rubbing Alue’s head

"I-I wasn’t scared! I was just...worried that those creatures would hurt one of you guys."

Of course, no one believed him. It was Alue’s yelling and crying for help that made everyone rush to his location after all. But they allowed him to have this moment.

Lopis knelt and examined the bats, unfamiliar with the type of beast they were. "What is this creature. I’ve never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I," Reda admitted, examining one as well.

"Come on, guys. It’s clearly a bird. You see the wings, right?"

Fera chuckled. "Then tell me, Terin, where are its feathers?"

"Easy. It’s right...hmm, that’s odd. It doesn’t have any feathers. What bird doesn’t have feathers?"

"Baby birds," Alue answered

"Come on, Alue, everyone knows that birds are born with feathers."

"Huh? No, they aren’t."

"Yes, they are."

"No, they aren’t!"

"Yes, they are!"

"No, they–"

"It’s a bat," Kanan answered, interrupting Terin and Alue’s knowledge-off

"A bat?"

"That’s right. A Vampire Bat, to be specific. They suck the blood out of their prey. Dangerous creatures." Of course, Kanan got this information from the system after touching the bat.

"I see. We have to tell the village about this. Wait, how did you know it was a bat?" Lopis asked

"Lord Nemean." Kanan loved his get out of jail free card. He could just say that he learned whatever he was talking about or whatever he was doing from Lord Nemean, and everyone wouldn’t bat an eye.

"Ah, that makes sense."

"Okay, let’s continue our journey."

It had already been two weeks since they had departed from the Village, the trek to the Helsik Tribe taking longer than normal due to the lack of proper transportation.

Kanan considered using his power to transport everyone, but not only did he not know how long the distance between tribes would be, but he also didn’t want to expend all of his energy flying just to encounter a strong enemy and not have any strength to fight it.

So, sticking to the ground was the best option. Horses existed, but they weren’t domesticated yet. This meant that they weren’t available to use for travel.

In fact, no type of cattle or herd animal was used for transportation as far as Kanan was aware. Nor was there such a thing as a carriage.

He made sure to add those things to his to-do list for when he returns home.

"Hey, Kanan, do you think we can eat those bats?" Terin wondered

"NO!" Kanan made sure to shut that down right away. "You don’t know what kind of disease these creatures are carrying. For all we know, you get sick, then pass it onto us, then we go back home, and BOOM, we all die."

"Kanan’s right." Alue said casually. "Even plants are the same."

Fera sighed and patted Terin on the back. "Sometimes, Terin, you need to dial it down a bit."

"Dial what down? I’m perfectly fine and normal." He said while stuffing his face with poisonous plants.

"Right."