Chapter 54: Trap

Lucian turned slowly, his sights temporarily settling on Marko’s hands.

"I am, I thought you guys were posted on scouting ahead to Eric’s east?"

"Well well, the Young Master said to scout ahead then clear the perimeter," second retainer chimed in.

And he made to come over to Lucian’s right, feigning a glance around the nearby woods with growing unease.

"Those stage one beasts shouldn’t be much of a problem, but you know, they can mob you faster than you’d think if you’re sloppy," he said, gesturing cheerfully at a trail ahead that ran alongside the nearby cliffside, trying to divert the young captain’s attention from the trail on the other side.

At which point, Marko moved.

He shifted past Lucian’s left shoulder, making just enough of contact with the man’s cloak for the contact to be suspicious, and yet not enough for Lucian to immediately react.

With a practiced flick of his wrist, Marko’s fingers brushed against a hidden mechanism at the inside of his own palm, loosing a puff of fine, bright red powder into the air.

Crimson Beast Attracting Powder--

Within seconds, the tiny specs of red glittering dust had imbedded themselves in Lucian’s cloak pocket near his rear.

Any nose within smelling range would’ve been able to pick up the scent, but its potency, like many of its kind, has been crafted to be just enough to affect beastmen’s sensitive senses.

To humans, however, it was virtually undetectable, and within seconds it had vanished, drowned by the scent of pine, moss, and forest floor.

Marko continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"And so, we’d better get back or else Eric will be waiting forever!"

Marko took three quick backward steps and allowed his feet to stop mid-sprint, giving effect to an amused chuckle as he wiped his forehead

"Watch your back, solo hunter!"

And so, the two retainers turned, disappearing within the fog.

Lucian remained where he stood.

His face, as always, remained expressionless.

Save for the feel of suspicion curling on him since Marko left.

"Yeah, don’t get eaten!"

The second retainer began to laugh nervously.

They both gave no response and turned on the spot, sprinting away into the thicket, disappearing towards the frontliners’ safety.

Lucian remained where he stood.

But he watched the two men until he no longer heard their footsteps.

Only then did he allow a soft smile to curl on his lips.

Ever since when Marko came past him, Lucian’s eyes had been taking note of his surroundings’ movements.

From the tension in Marko’s fingers as he released the powder--

All up to where the powder itself had fallen on Lucian’s cloak.

In fact, Lucian could’ve moved half an inch to his left and the powder would’ve landed harmlessly on Marko’s boots instead.

Such was a clumsy act done with such intent to deceive--

"Crimson Iron-Boar scent..."

Lucian observed the fine grains sticking together on his sleeve, and with a flick of a nail sent a single grain flying away.

Hmph, amateur.

"Eric must’ve believed that a few level one beasts should be enough to clear up the mess," Lucian remarked, no intention to take off his cloak to get rid of the scent.

Without bothering to use his energy, Lucian began to fold his arms at the back of his waist-- continuing forward at a casual pace inside the overgrown valley.

A minute passed.

Another.

Within another three minutes, the sounds of forest had changed.

The birds had stopped their calls.

The trees had stopped their rustling.

Even the wind had seemed to hush, vanishing into silence.

Then, it came.

A thick feeling of oppression began to press over the valley-- surrounding Lucian.

A wild, violent aura had suddenly began to emanate from the forest, suffocating even.

Whatever the beastman had been reacting to--

It had apparently begun to draw the attention of the nearby wildlife, the coppery scent of the powder combining with the dampness in the air in spreading the odor within this valley.

Lucian’s eyes moved from the trees on the valley until he arrived at the thicket to his left.

From the deep darkness within the undergrowth, the gleam of four pairs of bloodshot eyes opened up, the growling noise emanating from their throats resonated low within the thickets.

Low growls began to erupt from the wilderness surrounding him.

Blood-Eye Wild Boars-

From the brush Lucian witnessed four First-Order stage two beasts come ambling forward; huge yellow tusks dripping with caustic saliva sticking to the ground behind them.

Their iron-hard hides bristled as they stampeded ahead, sending thick sprays of wet earth into the air with every pawing step, muscles twitching aggressively.

At the same time movement seemed to come from where the rocky ledges began.

From above the undergrowth, three Shadow-Mane Wolves leaped down the rocky slopes, their clawed paws tearing deep grooves through the nearest pine trees.

The combined concentrated scent of its rival apex predator had gone wild and unrestrained its instincts, overriding any reason in its beastly mind.

Seven First-Order beastmen.

The sheer force of them surrounded the area, cutting off all possible escape routes around Lucian.

High above the valley, an aerial military surveillance drone ceased its scanning sweep of the region.

Its red optical scope lowered itself.

Click.

The scope magnified the young Captain standing in the center of the valley, and began blinking in rapid succession, transmitting a live combat alert to the monitoring team aboard the nearby skiff.

Lucian noticed it.

A smile tugged at his lips.

For the audience, let’s put on quite a show.

It would’ve been easy for Lucian to use his honed Spatial Domain skill.

It would’ve been even easier yet to put them all down with a flashy and powerful attack.

But instead it was the regular steel blade at Lucian’s waist that caught his eye.

CLANG!

The simple blade came free from its holder, falling easily to his hands.

Lucian shifted his breathing so that it would be somewhat uneven sounding.

With bent knees and tense shoulders his stance changed.

It was all a textbook bad posture of an average third-year student cornered and pressed by seven First-Order beasts.

"Hah!"

He shouted a false attack, lunging at one of the blood-eyed boars.

It was a crude forward lunge, almost like nothing more than a basic technique of attacking.

At Lucian’s yell the pack leader of the boars lunged forwards at him.

BOOM!

It charged through the undergrowth as if it was made of iron, sending chunks of twigs, roots, and dirt flying from its path as huge yellow tusks came straight at Lucian’s chest.

Lucian reeled backwards to the side.

It seemed that way; though he had barely moved he twisted enough for he Charging Boar to pass by him, its tusks grazing just inches to the side of his torso.

His steel blade came down.

SLASH!

Lucian put all the power needed for a strike straight into his blade, cutting across the neck of the beast, slicing through it’s main artery.

The boar stumbled forwards, a fountain of black blood erupting from the wound before collapsing on its front onto the muck ground.

One down, and six to go.