Secret Agent Chapter 074 - Thurgenrat Slaughter (Patreon)

Zack Adder scrubbed what he could off the stones with dirt.

“Well, we’re headed to the river. Other monsters wouldn’t just fall apart like that, so it’s really just a problem with thurgenrats,” Lang said, not unkindly.

Zack nodded, and decided to keep using these two stones and keep the rest of his ammunition clean.

Lang’s eyes widened slightly as Zack kept a stone in hand, the other in his palm while also holding his spear.

“You’re going to keep at it?” he asked incredulously.

“Practice makes perfect,” Zack replied.

“Huh…”

And though it was a little slow, Lang didn’t seem concerned. He was keeping an eye not only on Zack, but also on the forest and on the other four adventurers in the party.

A few more throws later…

*ding!* The skill [Throwing] has been acquired!

*ding!* The skill [Aim] has been acquired!

“Finally,” Zack exclaimed.

“You get a skill?” Lang asked without turning, still scanning the forest.

“Yeah. I’m going to try slinging again.”

“Mind the wall,” Lang reminded him, then stepped forward and neatly stabbed an approaching thurgenrat. Another stab severed the tail, the blade of his speartip stopping precisely at the dirt once the tail was severed, and he quickly bent over and snatched it up.

Zack kept his expression neutral, but he was quietly impressed. He figured Lang must have good dexterity. Or he had a high level.

Zack dropped his second stone to the ground and readied his sling. He could feel the difference this time. It was noticeable, how his vision of the targeted thurgenrat was clear, standing out in high resolution against the background. There was no strain on his eyes like there had been earlier, and the day before while training.

He loosed his stone…

vvvvvSquelch

The thurgenrat tore nearly in half, and the momentum of the stone caused it to sail straight through the thurgenrat’s body, hit the ground behind it, and bounce a few yards beyond. There was no squealing, and only a moment of writhing and twitching before the thurgenrat expired.

*ding!* Level has increased.

Level six, now.

“Well, damn. Would ya look at that…” Lang said, impressed and slightly shocked.

Zack allowed himself a small grin. “That’s what I wanted to do.”

The other rookie adventurers had stopped as well, gawking openly at Zack’s strike.

“Goddess above,” Ewan said.

“Alright, let’s regroup,” Lang announced, and they all gathered together again.

“Ewan, how’re you doing?” Lang asked.

“Good. I got another level, and I’m doing better with the spear.”

“Great, you’re picking it up fast. Jerry?”

“No problems.”

“Nate?”

“I’d like to pick up the pace a bit, make some more money.”

“Alright. Vera?”

“Fine. Jack, where did you get that? Is it hard to learn?” Vera looked at Zack with a serious expression, and he gave her a closer look. She had light brown hair, and sharp features. Somewhat narrow eyes, high cheekbones, and a narrow jaw. Her lips were pressed together as she awaited his reply, and there was a tension around her eyes. She carried the same kind of borrowed spear as the rest of them, but her arms were slender, and she was on the thin side. Zack could imagine that, barring any weird growth rate in Strength, she’d have a hard time thrusting a spear all day while also wearing armor.

“I got it at Harold’s, on stink street. He made it for fifteen lindra, after I got a note from the guild for the discount. The guild doesn’t stock slings. I got training yesterday, at the training day.”

“Tch,” Vera clicked her tongue.

“But it wasn’t that hard to learn,” Zack continued, and hope replaced Vera’s expression of annoyance once more. “Aiming was a bit tricky until I got the [Aim] skill.”

“Only fifteen lindra?” Ewan asked, eagerly.

“After the discount, yes,” Zack confirmed.

Nate and Jerry didn’t seem too interested in the sling, but Vera and Ewan were.

“It’s overkill for thurgenrats,” Lang said to rain on their parade.

“Yeah, but I can afford a sling,” Vera retorted. “I’m still not even halfway to a decent rapier.”

Zack [Recalled] the cheapest rapier he’d seen at the market, marked for sale at three fortins.

He almost commented that it was only a hundred thurgenrats, at three lindra per tail, but he held his tongue.

First of all, that was the cheapest rapier he’d seen for sale. And that didn’t have the Guild discount. He didn’t know what the Guild charged. And he was no judge of the quality of the sword, either. Maybe Vera wanted a better one. Finally, the payout for slaying thurgenrats was currently inflated. Who knew how long that would last?

Instead of commenting on the money side of things, he gave more useful advice.

“I got trained by Rebbie, from the Hunter’s Guild,” he said. “And she mentioned someone named Kendrick who also knows how to use a sling.”

Vera turned back to him and smiled widely, her eyes narrowing to crescents. “Thanks, Jack! I guess you’re an alright guy.”

Backhanded compliment aside, Zack smiled and nodded as well. “No problem.”

“Okay, can we get going, now?” Nate asked impatiently.

“One second. Jack, how’s your [Familiar]?”

Zack paused a moment. He could feel that Sienna was keeping pace with them as they moved along the wall, but just inside the forest.

“She’s fine. She’s keeping to the edge of the forest.”

Lang nodded. “Good, then on the way back we’ll go along the edge and see if we can’t collect some of your trophies on the way back, if it’s safe.”

Zack blinked.

He hadn’t thought about that.

But as he realized that, yes, Sienna’s kills would count as his own…

*ding!* Level has increased.

Level seven, now.

Sienna was in her element.

Lang moved on without waiting for a reply.

“Okay, let’s keep moving, same formation. Someone keep an eye on Ewan until we reach the river, then we’ll re-evaluate.”

“Yes, [Leader],” they all replied and set off. After a few more successful strikes on the thurgenrats, to prove to himself that his first hit wasn’t just luck, Zack left his two soiled stones behind with the carcasses.

“You done with the sling?” Lang asked as he scanned around.

“Yeah, for now. It is overkill, and it’s gross. I’ll do the spear for a bit.”

“Okay, we can pick up the pace, then. Stick to one thurgenrat at a time and say something if you get overwhelmed, Jack.” Lang immediately stepped away from Zack, ranging farther and taking out thurgenrats one after the other.

Zack put his sling away, tucking it in the bag with his stones, and stabbed at an approaching thurgenrat, himself.

They were everywhere, nasty creatures dotting the gap between the walls and the forest like blackheads.

Zack and the other adventurers were the death that scythed through the space.

And, an hour later, they reached the river. It was broad, somewhere around a hundred yards wide, and the water flowed sedately out from the city into an open plain, with tall grasses swaying in the breeze between the riverbank and the edge of the forest.

Zack could feel Sienna reach the edge of the forest at the same time as he and the adventurers reached the river, and like the docks, there were piles of river stones here, too.

He picked out two stones, added them to his bag, and regrouped with Lang.

“We’ll take a short break here and then head back, closer to the forest.”

Ewan breathed a sigh of relief and sagged against his spear. Vera covered up her fatigue better, but Zack’s keen eyes noted her arms trembling slightly. Nate and Jerry seemed to be in good condition.

“Nate, you can handle defense,”

“You got it, [Leader],” he replied eagerly.

“Jerry, back him up if he needs it.”

“Got it.”

“Jack, how’s your [Familiar]?”

Zack pointed at the corner of the forest, where there was only one young birch tree shading several bushes. “Sienna’s fine. She’s over there in the bushes.”

“Hmm…” Lang’s expression fell.

“What is it?”

“Your [Familiar]’s taking most of my work.” He raised a hand and smiled to take some of the bite out of his statement. “It’s not a bad thing. Usually, thurgenrats pour out of the forest as we go, and I wind up taking out a lot of them while the rookies handle the rest by the wall. It feels like I’ve barely done anything today.”

Zack frowned, and furrowed his brows. “So I’m cutting into your pay, and your contribution points, then.”

“Only a little. I’m getting points for escorting all of you. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you’re sure…”

Lang laughed, then, which was surprising given how professional he had been so far. “Jack, you’re F rank. I’m C rank. Stop worrying about me and focus on yourself. You can pay it forward later, when you’re the high rank adventurer escorting rookies around for their first few levels.”

With that, Lang found a large rock someone had dredged out of the river long ago and sat down. Vera and Ewan spent some time throwing rocks at the pile until Lang scolded them, telling them to stop and focus on resting. Jerry sat and watched as Nate stalked around their group, slaying another ten thurgenrats that wandered nearby until he, too, had nothing to do.

All the nearby thurgenrats were dead, and their tails collected.

After ten minutes for Nate to rest as well, Lang ordered them all to regroup.

“Okay, we’re going to head back along the edge of the forest, collect some of Jack’s [Familiar]’s trophies as we go. Nate, Jerry, Vera, Ewan, you all stay on the wall side, just outside the forest. Give yourselves some room to spot thurgenrats emerging from the brush. Jack, don’t go too far into the forest, and keep your wits about you. I’ll keep an eye on the forest itself and take out any thurgenrats I catch approaching. Everyone, watch out for Jack’s familiar; if you see a tan snake, just get away from it, don’t try to strike it.”

Zack hefted the backpack he alone was wearing.

“Do you mind if I collect some herbs while I’m at it?”

Nate frowned, and Lang furrowed his brow.

“If there’s time. If I tell you to knock it off, you’ll have to stop.”

“Yes, [Leader],” Zack said, communicating his willingness to be a good team player, and Lang’s expression lightened and he nodded.

“Alright, let’s see how good a hunter your [Familiar] is."

Sienna radiated pride and smugness as they approached the edge of the forest and they saw the carnage she had left in her wake.

“She’s coming out,” Zack warned, and everyone gave him a few more paces distance as she slithered up to him, up his outstretched arm, and onto his shoulders.

Good hunt, many prey.

Dozens of dead thurgenrats littered the forest floor, lying draped on exposed roots and atop the leaf litter of the forest floor. Zack also spotted several herbs he recognized from Kathy’s lecture, including the Belladonna primitiva she desired, nestled up against the trunk of a tree.

Nate huffed. “This is going to take forever to clean up.”

Vera and Ewan simply gawked, mouths agape and eyes wide.

Jerry at least kept his mouth closed.

Even Lang looked shocked.

Good at hunting, Sienna boasted—though only Zack understood.

Zack pointed at the Belladonna primitiva. “I want to collect some herbs. Can you guys help me collect the tails? I’ll let you keep every third one you pick up.”

“Really?!” Nate’s mood flipped on a dime at the thought of easy trophies.

“Whoa, hang on. Jack, you can’t let them take the tails, it’ll mess with their points,” Lang quashed the deal.

“Then I’ll pay them a lindra for each tail, when we get back to the guild and turn everything in,” Zack amended his offer.

“Deal!” Nate cried immediately.

Lang sighed heavily. “Fine, but everyone, keep your wits about you. I’ll take defense. Jack, have your [Familiar] range around us, too, and take out any thurgenrats that head our way.”

Sienna immediately started slithering down Zack’s arm again.

More hunting.

And so, Zack Adder carefully approached the requested plant, and cut the stalk as close to the base as possible, just as he had been directed. There were multiple stalks topped with flowers, and once he finished collecting all the stalks under the tree and stowed them carefully in his backpack…

*ding!* The skill [Harvest] has been acquired!