ตอน 20: Hearing
" The usual raid plan of the mouse field is to clear all the mobs. There are …" Caspian proceeded to explain how they usually steal the kill and vanish.
The mouse field is a golden wheat field where the mouse the size of cats gather. They bite the ankles of the adventurers. Each bite inflicts a blood loss debuff, for their venom contains anticoagulants. After the factories were lost, mouse venom is the main source for heart disease medicine. Their pelts make the basic leather, their meat is edible as well.
This is the first and major part of the raid. After this part, all the mouse carcasses will be packed and taken away, along with a major number of party members. The remaining are the elite of the party.
This party engages the sixteen rabid mice, whose venom causes deadly rabies. The disease progression is extremely fast. On top of that, these rabid mice are the size of dogs, and just as agile. During this part of the fight, not a single hunter on the team will have the leeway to look away.
This was when the Reapers will teleport in.
" So, there's an insider who informs the time? " she asked, surprised at the revelation.
Wasn't that a traitor ? … Ofcourse, there are traitors. The base management is not always nice. Even in times of prosperity, there were such people, much less in these times of trouble.
" Yes, but the mouse field is very predictable in terms of schedule. So, we can go in without that information. I am capable of holding my own, you are capable of flying, so we can avoid the Rabid rats easily. " Caspian said.
She nodded doubtfully. Are they that strong ?
" We will go in when mobs are being cleared, and will remain in hiding waiting for the Reapers. I will bring back my comrade, and you will break his slave contract. Then we boot it out of there. " he answered.
" Wait ! you did not say anything about the Rat bosses. " She asked him.
" They are hard to kill, hard to steal. We will be recognized if we remain that long in the dungeon. " Caspian evaded.
…
..
.
" No. I need to know exactly what Reapers intend to steal from the dungeon. If we are going to be allies, I need complete disclosure. " Claire pressed on.
Caspian frowned.
He is not used to disclosing information.
Moreover, he had more than this place to stay. He just needed to gather enough resources here before he ventured out.
" Caspian ! What you know can hurt you, but what you do not know can kill you. I must have all the details If I am going to help you. " She declared.
The basis of cooperation must be set right from the beginning. She can not give in now.
" There's a golden rat boss, which is the size of a mouse, and there's an armored rat boss, which is the size of a car. The golden rat boss drops the sense enhancement, armored rat drops physical enhancement. While the team is fighting the armored rat, reapers will steal the golden rat. " Caspian told her.
" You mean each and every one of you has the sense enhancement skill ? " she asked.
Caspian evaded her.
If they have sense enhancement, how in the world is she supposed to fight them ? All her skills are in infancy, save for flash, and Zayne will not be there to support her. Caspian could just grab his comrade, and teleport him to a different dungeon right away. That leaves her with the Reapers, who lost an effective fighting tool. Worse yet, they will have a teleporter with them, so it will not be all that hard for them to catch her and teleport her out of the dungeon. In one stroke, Caspian will get rid of her, and save his comrade. But … he can not break the slave contract on his own.
" Mouse field is a trial for every one. Some succeed, some do not. " Caspian evaded her.
" The retainers are mostly those who have succeeded, are they not ? " She asked.
Caspian was silent.
" We need to hunt the golden rat first. " Claire decided.
Her plan was to dose a fishbone with knockout drugs, and prick in the back of the neck of hunters. However, the task will be ten times harder if the retainers possess physical and sense enhancements.
At this time she did not know that her perception already exceeded the sense enhancement the golden rat could offer.
" We will start from tomorrow, hunt through day and night, joining every expedition there is. " She told him.
Mousefield reset every day. The dungeon started at four in the morning, and lasted till four. If you finish early, you just come out early.
Most parties cleared it within eight hours, with six hours dedicated to clearing mobs, rest to kill the boss.
From her experience, such dungeons are cleared nine to five. They can go at four to get a good feel for the dungeon.
" Be ready at four. I will pick you up. " she told him, leaving him with an alarm clock. This one was mechanical, which she set time according to her watch.
From the dungeon, she went straight to check on Zayne.
He was awake.
The sight shocked her for a moment.
" Are you alright ? You are not hungry and dizzy, are you ? Shall we go home ? " the words came pouring out before she could think.
" umm. " Zayne nodded.
They returned home.
The children are asleep, save for Brea, who was waiting for Claire to return from wherever she was.
She rushed to Zayne to hug him, only to let him go immediately.
" Uncle ! You stink ! Don't tell me you did not take a single bath in three days. " she snarked. However, her face was beaming, as she whined about the smell.
" Go and freshen up. I will set dinner. Brea ! go to sleep. You have school tomorrow. " Claire shooed her away.
" Alright. Good night sister. Good night Uncle. Rest well. " Brea greeted me before going to the bedroom.
Claire brought the soup pot out, grilled a fish, and reheated rice for dinner.
Then, she brought her bag of knives from the paradise beach, started purifying them. She had been doing this for three days, a few each day. There was a great surprise in the form of an adamantine knife yesterday. After that, she made it her mission to purify these knives till the end.
Every bronze finger knife is twisted into a ball. The iron finger knives, she turned into a shuriken. The crab claws are cleaned, then she fuses four of them to make a chopstick. The adamantine daggers just the size of a palm were set aside, to be used by herself.
Zayne came back out, wearing pajamas, looking far more handsome than he used to.
He had fair skin, red hair, and hazel eyes that oscillated between green and gold. However, his skin used to be freckled, his eyes used to look brownish most of the time, his hair crumbly. His skin used to be sallow.
Now though, his skin is a fair gleaming like platinum gold, slightly shimmering when light hits it just right. There wasn't a shadow of a freckle. His hair is gleaming like fire, his eyes are more golden compared to before. Did he also grow taller ?
Claire was shocked.
He looked like a character straight from the anime who walked into her home. Even the filters do not look this shining shimmery !
" Claire ! ..Claire .. " Claire crashed into earth all of a sudden.
She blushed in embarrassment. To think she would be spellbound by the appearance of a person ! A friend at that ! she could not raise her head for a moment.
" Serve yourself. " She said gruffly, concentrating on the knife in her hands, which twisted into unimaginable shapes.
Zayne seems to be hungry. So, he silently ate, peeking glances at Claire, who blushed all the more fiercely.
She kept her eyes on the items she was cleaning, transforming them with faster and faster speed.
Zayne sat beside her as soon as he finished his dinner.
A nice smell spread in the air..
The smell of sunshine, she realized. Zayne smells like the sun.
Heat spread in the air just by him being near.
" Claire ! Can you look at me, Please ? " Zayne asked, his voice cracking a little.
That made me laugh at the absurdity, and just like that, the awkwardness is broken.
" What happened to you ? " She asked.
" That sword was meant to be inherited by a Fire wielder. It's called Ember. I was fighting the sword's ego in my innerworld. I can only wield it when I was able to defeat the sword aura. "
" Many things have happened since you slept. There was an investigation into the Paradise beach incident. We were questioned because we sold the fish to Percy. I informed the officer these fish are from your friend. We only had enough for a day, but we made the deal, because you went hunting through the forest. Also, tomorrow, I made an appointment at four in the morning for a rendezvous. We will refill our meat stores. If you are not tired, you can come along. If you are tired, just rest. I can manage. " Claire chose her words carefully, just in case they were being monitored.
" I will go with you. " Zayne told her.
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