Chapter 117: Preparing for the worst
"My brother and I were once lucky enough to catch a small one. The fragrance of the leg is one I can never forget. " Koss then turned his head at Ester and Lupa before continuing, "Did you three kill an Adult Mudcrab?"
[Koss is one tough cookie to fool. Well, he already knows your strength, so it's useless to hide your achievements.]
Vincent felt the Kazumi was right.
"Ester, Lupa. Can the two of you cut this into bite-sized pieces for all of us? Ester, you keep the remaining in your storage." Vincent ordered. He placed the leg of delicious jewel-like meat in Lupa's hands.
"*Gulp*... ok." The drooling Lupa tried her best not to take a bite. The side effect she felt from ingesting the last mudcrab meat allowed her to resist taking a bite. She didn't like feeling her heart race and being aggressive for no reason.
"Leave it to me. " Ester said with a light smile. She was happy Vincent depended on her. Then she turned her gaze at Tula and continued, "Tula, do you want to join? You can help us."
Tula looked at her father. Koss nodded with a smile for her to accept. The frightened and anxious Tula raised an excited smile and went to help.
"Thank you for having two caring women. I don't know how to help my daughter... fighting and training is all I'm good for. My wife the caring and emotional one. " Koss said to Vincent from the bottom of his heart.
[This is getting a bit sentimental. I'm not too fond of this kind of final thank you flags. Why don't you change the subject with the heroic story of how you killed an adult mudcrab practically by yourself.]
-You really want me to say the story, huh?-
[Your achievement is my achievement. We moved as one remember, hehe. Tactical Guidance for the win, yey!]
'I want to facepalm right now, but it would look strange.' Vincent thought as the tension and anxiety he was feeling disappeared.
Vincent proceeded by retelling the fight against the adult mudcrab while omitting Kazumi related parts. Despite Kazumi wanting to let the epic battle story be known, she suddenly felt frustrated for not hearing her name.
'She played herself.' Vincent thought with a slight smirk. He could hear Kazumi grunt from time to time.
"Haha! I had a hunch you were strong before we met, my boy! To beat an adult mudcrab by fiding its weakness on the first encounter is astonishing. " Koss smacked Vincent's back a couple of times while laughing. Koss seemed somewhat happy that his student was strong.
"Hara, Culo, heed this advice."
"Vincent is what you should strive for, instead of cowering in fear from ants. Train hard instead of thinking it's a chore. The Soldier Ants would be easy if the two of you joined the army intending to become strong, instead for money and benefits like most soldiers." Koss delivered a hard fact. He noticed a slight angered frown on the two frightened new recruits.
Such words lit a flame, removing the shadow of fear with anger, but for how long it would hold was a question Koss didn't want to know. Culo and Hara were at least somewhat angry that Vincent seemed to have it all. Respect, strength, and women.
[Koss... heh. He used you to boost the morale of Culo and Hara. I hope they will fight well and stop glaring at you as if you are their enemy.]
-I hope you are right. Fighting fear with anger is mostly what I have done until now. But it feels a bit strange to be the recipient of glares.-
[No one could get angry at you on Earth since you did your best not to interact with anyone because of the Deja Vu Sickness.]
[But this is a new world and a fresh new Vincent, so get used to this feeling since you have two gorgeous women soon to be wives, and a cute wisp watching your back twenty-four seven. ]
-Thank you.-
Vincent thought meeting with Koss was a blessing. Koss taught him basic CQC and about Blood Tampering. He was a reasonable person and thanked Vincent every time he, Ester, and Lupa helped his daughter.
"We are ready. Here is yours, hehe." Lupa rushed in front of Vincent and placed a large piece of adult mudcrab meat in his hand. She chuckled at the end of the sentence and winked.
[What a sly wolf and redhead. They gave you a larger piece of meat. The others have a smaller portion.]
"Thank you. " Vincent returned a smile when accepting the mudcrab meat.
Lupa returned to Ester while her tail wagged. She whispered something in Ester's ear with a smile stuck on her face.
"Attention! Only eat this in emergencies only. It will boost your stamina, but you will feel exhausted when the effects end. Use wisely, or your actions might make you a liability." Koss called for attention, then instructed on the use of the adult mudcrab meat.
Koss moved his gaze to Culo, Hara, and Tulip. Then he repeated, "As I said before. I will protect my daughter first."
Koss didn't miss the opportunity to mention that this daughter is his first priority, and the others needed to fend for themselves. Frowns soon appeared on their faces, but they didn't know how to change his mind.
One after the other, the cooked jewel-like meat was stored in pockets, bags, or pouches. The long intermission and planning ended. Soon, the group resumed their progress of exiting the ant territory.
One minute... ten minutes... thirty minutes... one hour...
Time felt like moving at a snail's pace. Their eyes rolled like a hawk while looking at their surroundings. Fortunately, Lupa seemed to be guiding them to the correct path. No more attacks happened over the course of an hour.
Lupa noticed the sound of an ant in the distance move from time to time. But none of them approached.
Koss, Vincent, and Lupa noticed the gazes of faraway ants with malicious intent. But none of them mentioned anything as the group's morale was very low.
'Thank the Dragon Heavens. My boy's woman is dependable. I can let Tula stay with her. But... let me take another peek.' Koss repeated in his thoughts multiple times as he turned his head back to smile at his daughter.
Koss wanted to stay level headed, but the worry of his daughter's safety made him take a peek and lose his focus occasionally. He could see Tula trembled while walking closely beside Ester.
A few minutes later, a thin fog surrounded them. Lupa stopped and started to wipe her nose as the fog had an unpleasant smell of something rotten. Her sensitive nose couldn't take it.
"I'm... I'm fine." Lupa shortly said after noticing Vincent and Ester approaching with a worried expression.
[We don't have a mask. Should we cover her nose with something?]
-...-
-I have an idea.-
.
[1x Large Bag (Multiple Items) (Common Quality) summoned. x0 remaining.]
.
Vincent summoned the large bag filled with many items. He pulled out a handkerchief and an Ani Banana from the large bag. Then he covered the cloth with bits of Ani Banana.
"How does it feel?" Vincent asked after wrapping a fragrant but sticky handkerchief like a mask to cover both her nose and mouth from the smell.
"*Sniff-sniff* Thank my mate. The smell is gone, and I can taste the banana whenever I want, hehe." Lupa joyfully said with a smile hidden under the sticky cloth mask.
[How thoughtful of you. Now she can taste the b...]
-AHEM!-
.
[1x Blood Bound Bag Of Holding (Unkown Quality) summoned. x0 remaining.]
.
Vincent then summoned the Blood Bound Bag Of Holding. It had enough space to store the large bag, but only Koss and Tula could open it.
"Why have you stored the large bag inside this bag?" Koss asked with a puzzled expression. He got used to asking Vincent for things that he felt this action wasn't needed.
"I wanted to split the resources because the fog is bizarre. We might split if we get attacked, or the fog becomes denser, so having another person with food and water will help." Vincent responded with a level headed take on their situation. Even Kazumi felt surprised by how clever Vincent was becoming.
"You... ok. I agree, but my daughter will keep the bag." Koss insisted. He wanted his daughter to become an essential person so that others would stay and protect her.
[You thought of a good idea since everyone protects their loved ones first. Koss protects his daughter while you defend your harem. The others can fend for themselves. They aren't on my good people book.]
Vincent placed the Blood Bound Bag Of Holding in Tula's hands and said, "Can you take care of this?"
Tula looked at her father, then at Ester. Both of them nodded with a smile giving Tula the answer to her unspoken question.
Tula felt less scared while holding her uncle's storage bag. It gave her a little boost to her courage.
"I will keep it in my safe place. " Tula responded. She placed the small red bag in her chest armor between her big plot. It was an action she saw her busty mother do many times. Her mother once told Tula it was the safest place to keep important things.
Vincent and Kazumi quickly took a peek at Ester. As they thought, a jealous frown was on her face. Kazumi laughed while Vincent almost let out a chuckle.
"As Vincent said, we might spilt if the fog gets denser and the ants attack. Stay together as much as possible, and move forward." Koss announced. Then he turned to Lupa and continued, "You can't guide us anymore, right?"
"Yes. " Lupa replied with her ears and tail hanging down. She felt devastated. Vincent and Ester couldn't depend on her anymore. At least the good smell of the mask eased her sadness by a bit.
The group of eight moved blindly forward without a guide. As the minutes walking accumulated, so did the fog's thickness. It became thicker, the smell worsened, and the visibility became difficult to see more than ten meters far away.
*Rustle*
Not long after, they exited a suspiciously bush infested area. It was an area that seemed to have many bushes that fall or tumble upon touch.
It felt as if they were to hide something. However, the fog made it hard to discern if it was a trap or not. They had to push forward and see.
A new view welcomed them, but it soon revealed to be a horrible one. The fog appeared to be less dense, increasing the distance they could see.
The smell wasn't as pungent as before. However, it wasn't a sight to feel relieved.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone