Bab 54: This seems easy

/*Sorry for being MIA for sometime. Due to bad weather, the adapter of my laptop decided to die and ASUS refused to help even though I am on warranty period so have been dealing with it for sometime. The current laptop is very slow so please bear with me before I resolve the situation in a few days*/

Aric watched as Lyria ascended the tree with nimble precision. Roderic's eyes scanned the area, ever vigilant, while Elowen just looked behind, making sure there was no ambush. Minutes felt like hours as they waited for Lyria's signal. The forest around them was eerily quiet, the usual chirping of birds and rustling of leaves absent.

Lyria descended swiftly, her face serious.

"The trails lead towards the East," Lyria said.

"Alright, here's the plan. Aric, you stay close but out of immediate danger. Your job is to carry supplies and assist if needed, but don't engage unless absolutely necessary. Lyria, you take the high ground and provide cover. Elowen, be ready to support with your magic," Roderic said.

Aric felt a bit of excitement, not because he feared for his life, but because he would come across the magical animals once again. He kept his face calm, playing the role of the obedient bell boy. The group moved silently through the forest, each step calculated to avoid making noise.

They walked for a long time before they saw the bloody carcass of a deer. The deer didn't look magical and was just an average deer, or maybe for Aric, he wasn't knowledgeable enough. Roderic investigated the carcass for a bit and then continued on their path. Now the trails were fresher, and it would be easier to follow them. Lyria was the one to lead the group, and her sharp eyes were better than anyone's.

Soon they could hear some rustles. It didn't take a huge amount of thinking to realize their prey was near.

"Alright, here's the plan. Aric, you stay close but out of immediate danger. We don't want anything to happen to you. Use the knife if they come close. Others, you know what to do."

With a deep breath, Roderic stepped forward, drawing his sword. The clearing came into view, and Aric could see the hyenas—larger and more fearsome than he had imagined. Their eyes glowed with a malevolent light, and their fur bristled in the wind.

Roderic raised his sword high, and with a battle cry, charged into the clearing. The hyenas snarled and turned to face the new threat, but Lyria was quicker. Her arrows flew with deadly precision, striking two hyenas before they could react. Elowen muttered under her breath, and a stream of water shot from her hands, striking another hyena and sending it sprawling.

The hyenas were not to be trifled with either. Just like humans, these magical animals knew how to attack using magic. Each of them could move faster than humans, were more intelligent than normal hyenas, and could use wind magic, which was basically sending wind blades through the mouth.

But the name Eclipsian wasn't for show. It meant that they were quite powerful at night, and it was just an hour past afternoon. So these hyenas weren't at their 100%. The confrontation was quite brutal as the three worked in perfect sync with each other. Once they knew that their prey were these hyenas, they asked for enhancements on their weapons made to kill these hyenas.

These hyenas were incredibly weak to fire, and since they didn't have a fire mage, they put temporary runes on the arrows and the sword of Roderic. These runes would last for a day before getting wiped away due to the low quality of ink being used on the runes. Thus, each hit by Roderic and Lyria was so efficient unlike last time.

One of the hyenas noticed Aric and lunged at him from the side only to be sent hurtling away by a huge water bullet by Elowen.

"Thank... Thank you..." Aric said, to which Elowen just smiled like a very kind lady.

This went on for 5 minutes more before the three of them took all the hyenas down. The open grassland was now filled with streaks of blood and gave off a bad smell, to which Aric could only cover his nose to get away from. This made the three of them laugh.

"You need to get used to this smell, Aric, if you want to survive the forest," Lyria said with a cold voice. Aric nodded and didn't use his hand anymore as he didn't need to, because his nano armor had already worked its magic and made sure that Aric wasn't bothered by the smell. It couldn't exactly filter the air, but it definitely made Aric's experience pleasant.

For Aric, it felt like he was smelling wildflowers in the forest. With the help of a communicator, one could even customize the smell.

"We need to move fast," Elowen reminded. They immediately started to clean the battlefield. The eyes of Eclipsian Hyenas fetched a good amount of money, and thus they couldn't let go of it. The meat was poisonous, and thus the rest of the body wasn't very helpful for any kind of products. Roderic was swift with his work and filled his bag with as many eyeballs as possible, and then the whole group moved to a more secure place away from the battlefield. The smell of the dead hyenas would definitely bring many scavengers, and thus they needed to be out of this place.

Aric was reminded of his work and he started to arrange the things around for cooking. He had brought the utensils and dry sticks, which weren't hard to find.

Lyria helped him skin the hare and also showed him the way. Though Aric tried, he wasn't able to do so easily with the other one. This made the other two laugh and also made them think that this child was probably from a rich family as the children of the poor knew such nifty trades.

Aric was someone raised with at least a silver spoon in his mouth, and thus they were being very civil to him and even threw bits of compliments here and there. Aric noticed this while he was cooking for them, and he acted as if he was very happy to receive the small flattery.

And honestly speaking, when Aric was done with the meat and served them, they were genuinely impressed. Aric had brought some spices and a small bottle of oil from Echorysia, and this was enough to make the meat very savory.

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