The Island of Wonder

In the morning, the girls moved all their belongings into Nicole’s wagon to free up the room and avoid paying for it in case their hunt stretched out and they ended up spending days in the forest. Nicole, Soi, and Iloe all had backpacks filled with provisions, sleeping bags, and other necessities, while Annie carried as little as possible to reduce her weight and increase her aerial mobility and flight speed.

While they were making the last preparations, Annie flew around, enjoying the opportunity. Many people pointed at her and whispered among themselves, even more than when she had been seen in a wheelchair.

"Okay, this should be enough." Nicole spun her spear in her hand. "Let's go."

On the road leading up and out of the Hive, the girls noticed other groups of warriors from different tribes, many of them probably heading for the same goal.

All I hope is that there will be enough monsters for everyone. If this gets too popular, I wonder if it could end up dangerously close to wiping out or damaging all the wildlife.

Soon, the girls were on the surface, sunlight blinding their eyes and a mild wind blowing through their hair. Given the chance, Annie slowly rose higher until the wind became too strong for her to balance easily. She smiled from ear to ear, breathing in the fresh air. Looking down, she was greeted by the breathtaking sight of the colorful, hexagonal fields of the Voru'kai tribe.

Leaving the Bee territory behind, the four girls entered the wilderness. Earlier, Mignon had been running around curiously, but now he slowed down a little, wary of the unfamiliar forest surrounding them. The main road changed from stone to packed earth, where countless footsteps and wagon wheels had ensured that nothing but short grass remained alive. Annie descended, floating beside her friends.

"No point in searching anywhere nearby. First, we need to get farther away from the Hive along the road, and then we can leave it and head into the wild." Soi explained. "But that doesn't mean we can be careless."

"This reminds me of the trip that brought us here." Nicole looked around as they walked. "Over a month ago... Despite everything, the time flew by so fast."

"Yeah." Soi nodded. "The caravan, the rats..."

"Would it be strange to say I hope Limia is doing okay? I mean, after everything..." Nicole scratched her head.

At the mention of the Tzurai girl, Iloe's expression darkened for just a second before she forced her face to relax. "Y-You still care about that ungrateful brat?"

Nicole shrugged. "Dunno. I still can't understand what made her run away alone after I promised her safety and help."

Iloe's fingers danced around the hidden knife at her side just from hearing the Rat girl's name. She took a slow breath and quickly changed the subject.

After a couple of hours, Soi decided they had gone far enough. As the most experienced in hunting, she led the group off the road and into the true wilderness. The girls kept a steady pace, saving their strength for later.

Suddenly, Soi raised one hand, and the rest immediately stopped, looking around for whatever had made the catgirl wary. She silently motioned them to come closer. Once they gathered around her, she whispered while pointing ahead.

"Look. Ironhides. A family of them."

Looking down the hill, Nicole saw a group of five Ironhides grazing on the grass—two adults and three younger ones. They looked like a mix between bulls and sheep, their bodies covered in gray wool with giant horns protruding from the tops of their heads and pointing forward. Even from that distance, Nicole could tell the adults were taller than she was.

One hit from those horns or hooves and I'm dead.

"What's the plan?" Annie asked.

"Ironhides are pretty territorial and defensive. If we attack them head-on, they won't hold back, especially with their young nearby. We need to lure one away from the others." Soi answered quickly.

"How?"

While the girls discussed their plan, a shout pierced the forest downhill, not far from where the animals stood. A Narakai woman burst from the bushes with two swords in her hands. Without stopping her battle cry, she charged forward. From the opposite side emerged a Zunthari man wielding a massive warhammer. At the same time, an arrow stuck into the ground beside one of the young Ironhides.

Startled, the animals initially fled from the screaming woman but quickly stopped when they noticed the tall Bunny man blocking their escape. The three young Ironhides scattered in different directions, while the two adults stood back to back, facing the attackers.

Soi groaned.

"Ugh... What are they doing?!"

She immediately loosed a few arrows downhill.

Nicole rushed forward with her spear to join the fight. Annie landed on a tree branch high enough to stay safe and simply watched the battle unfold, while Iloe remained behind—her potions were too limited in both quantity and range for a fight like this.

Meanwhile, the adventurers clashed with the wild beasts. The Narakai woman's swords struck the Ironhide's wool but bounced off, barely dealing any damage. At least her agility allowed her to dodge the giant horns swinging at her. The heavily armored Zunthari struggled much more. The force of his hammer was almost completely nullified by the protective wool, and unlike his partner, his larger frame was too slow to evade the incoming attack. One powerful blow sent the tall Bunny crashing into a tree.

CRACK

Splinters flew as the man slammed into the trunk before collapsing onto the ground.

Nicole decided to take his place. As she sprinted downhill, she transformed into her bone form and poured some of Iloe's oil along the edge of her spear, causing larger electric sparks to dance across the blade. Using the momentum of her charge, she slammed into the Ironhide's side.

The impact snapped the spear in half, and Nicole herself bounced off the thick wool. She stumbled backward, the world spinning briefly before her vision steadied again. Blue sparks spread across the beast's wool from the point of impact but died out almost immediately.

Fuck, right. The wool isn't actually iron. It doesn't conduct electricity very well. How could I forget, when it was me who made clothes out of the same wool?!

The wool around the wound slowly began turning crimson.

At least I go—AH!

Nicole barely dodged backward as the beast turned toward her, its horns slicing dangerously close to her head. Reaching to her side, she drew her sword.

"Let's see what you can do, big guy."

Despite her bravado, Nicole had no real plan. One-on-one with the furious beast, she had already lost her main weapon, and judging by the Narakai woman's attempts, her sword wouldn't be much more effective.

Calm down.

Dodge to the right.

Everything has weak points. Otherwise this thing would dominate the wildlife here.

Duck beneath the horns.

She slashed at them, but the blade bounced harmlessly away, the impact echoing painfully through her arms.

Eyes. Mouth. Maybe underneath its neck.

Roll backward.

Find an opening.

Her next dodge was only half successful. The side of the horns clipped her, sending her flying. Her sword landed several meters away. The landing knocked the breath from her lungs.

Ouch. That'll hurt later in the flesh form.

Quickly rolling to her feet, she reached for her throwing spikes and hurled them toward the Ironhide's face as it charged again. Nicole tried to dodge, but her ankle gave out beneath her, and she slipped in the mud.

"FUCK!"

Despite trying with all her will not to, her eyes closed for a split second as she braced for the impact.

Huh?

Blinking, she saw the giant gray body rush just past her instead. Back on her feet, she spotted Mignon's tail disappearing through the trees.

He somehow got it to chase him instead. Good boy.

With a grin and a one more chance, Nicole grabbed another handful of throwing spikes and sprinted after the Ironhide and the Krellip, barely keeping up. At one point, Mignon leaped onto a thick branch hanging low enough above the ground. The Ironhide thundered beneath him, missing by mere centimeters.

Mignon's safe. Good.

Nicole slowed and stopped beside the tree while the Ironhide, having lost sight of the Krellip, sharply turned around. She hurled her spikes, but from that distance the beast's eyes were too small a target, leaving it mostly unharmed.

It's fine. I still have a few left. I just need to get closer.

The Ironhide charged again, lowering its head to line up its horns. Nicole waited until the last possible moment before throwing again and diving behind the tree. Above her, Mignon pelted the beast with rocks in a futile attempt to help.

Unable to turn sharply enough, the Ironhide thundered past the tree before wheeling around several meters away. One of its eyes was bleeding, a throwing knife buried deep inside.

Yes! That's not enough, but sti—

One of Mignon's rocks flew through the air. Time seemed to slow. Nicole watched it spin in the air before—

THUD

The rock struck the knife like a hammer driving a nail, forcing it deeper into the beast's skull. The Ironhide froze for a second before collapsing lifelessly.

A... Oh. Well.

Nicole stood there for a moment, staring at the giant corpse.

Works well enough for me.

She pulled the broken spear from the creature's side and hurried back to help the others if they still needed her. By the time she and Mignon returned, the second Ironhide had already been killed.

Soi was arguing with the Narakai woman, who sat against a tree clutching her side. The Zunthari man stood beside her, limping and leaning heavily on his warhammer. A Torakai archer stood nearby as well.

Oh... Now that I think about it, aren't they the same group we saw at the guild yesterday?

"And what the fuck was your plan? Do you always charge at your enemies while screaming?" Soi snapped, breathing heavily with anger.

"Eh, shut up. We got them." The Narakai woman shrugged before wincing. "Ouch... Fuck."

"Ugh, you are—"

Iloe suddenly ran up and hugged Nicole, making it hard for her to hear the rest of the argument.

"Are you alright? Did you kill it? Or did it run away? It's okay if it did—we got one at least!"

"I'm fine, don't worry." Nicole brushed it off. "I just need to find my sword and throwing knives. The Ironhide's dead, and I'm alive, thanks to Mignon." She petted the Krellip's head.

"I saw everything!" Annie floated beside him, her hands buried in his fur. "Who's a good boy?"

Nicole nodded toward the trio. "What about them?" She stepped beside Soi. "Everything alright here?"

"No! We could've gotten all of them if we hadn't been interrupted by those idiots." Soi groaned, still frowning.

"Come on. We got one, you got one. An Ironhide should bring in good money." The wounded woman smiled faintly.

"You got one?!" Soi started to flare up again, but Iloe beat her to it.

"You got one?! Nicole had to fight one all by herself while your hammer friend was useless, and the rest of us were dealing with the second one!"

"I-I'm sorry, guys..." the Zunthari man said guiltily. "I really didn't do anything..."

Wincing again, the Narakai woman playfully kicked him. "Shut up. You did what you could. Ah, fuck." She coughed, covering her mouth with her hand, but when she pulled it away, it was stained with blood. "Not good."

Nicole hurried over, pulling some of the pink healing dust from her storage and offering it to the woman, but she only shook her head.

"Save it. Pietus dust won't heal internal injuries."

"Then you have to hurry back to the Hive."

The woman smiled broadly, her teeth stained red. "Hah... You... you don't have to worry about me."

The Torakai man dropped to his knees beside her. "Lipa! You can't just die out here! We've survived much worse! Think about our home! Don't act like some cool hero dying after one mission!"

The woman chuckled, and the movement sent another trickle of blood down the corner of her mouth. "Tsk... Can't I... can't I at least die looking cool?"

"W-Wait!" the Bunny man leaned closer to his friend.

What can I even do?

Nicole felt empty. Her gaze drifted from one face to another, searching for an answer, but none came.

The woman's voice faded into whispers, yet Nicole made no effort to listen.

Instead, she stood up and took a few steps away, turning her back.

If I can't do anything to save her, the least I can do is let them say their goodbyes without prying ears.

"Girls..." she said quietly. "Let's go get the Ironhide I killed."