Journey of a Demon (On Hold)

-Chapter 06-

-Chapter 06-

-Defenders-

They all jump out of their seats, quickly rushing to put their gear on.

They head to the center of the village where they begin to ask where the attack is.

Elder: "Frey and the twins went north to counter them, hurry!!"

Arikumo: "Right!"

They all move north, running as fast as they can. They arrive to find Frey defending against half a thousand imperial soldiers, she stands between the twins and in a group of 50 villagers, most hiding behind the trees and looking out to fire attacks. The group run behind Frey and questions her on the situation.

Frey: "500 soldiers showed up out of nowhere, they are unusually strong now compared to previous encounters.

Arikumo: "After what they do to the women in the towns they burn it makes sense that they are in such high spirits"

Dale: "Jeez dude that was harsh"

Frey: "That is true, but they are using magic"

Wakaba: "Wait, doesn't the empire forbid magic?"

Frey: "Aye, that they do so what are they up to?"

Arikumo: "I'll drill a hole through their defense, Wakaba assist the bowmen on where and when to strike, Dale, I'll separate them from their commanding officer and you take him down, Nara assist frey"

Before they can give their feedback he has already activated his skill [Dominator's Touch] and rushed into the center of their formation, grabs the commander and throws him towards Dale.

Dale: "Hello there, I'm Dale and I'm gonna be your executioner"

Wakaba is running from tree to tree to tell the archers where to strike.

Frey, the twins, and Nara are all fighting the steady flow of soldiers who try to rush them.

After around 5 minutes the soldiers realized that their commander was missing and saw his head mounted to a spear drilled into the ground. They walk up to Frey and ask about the injured.

Frey: "Were fine and everyone only has minor injuries, no casualties"

Wakaba: "Yes, that means we won"

Arikumo; "No it's not, they saw us and are going to report that humans have joined the demi humans"

Frey: "Worry not as there's few left, our special ops team can keep them quiet"

Dale: "I'm starving, Wakaba wanna help me hunt something?"

Wakaba: "Sure"

Frey: "Arikumo, while the two of them do that, why don't we get the fire started?"

Arikumo agrees and the two groups split and begin preparing dinner.

Later that night Dale and Wakaba return with a large buck, Wakaba, Arikumo, and Frey prepare the food and cook it slowly over a campfire.

They chat as the night grows old until they eat and go inside to sleep.

As night turns to day Frey is the first to wake, Arikumo is also awake sitting in front of the fireplace half-asleep. It's just another day.

Frey: "My you look tired"

Arikumo: "I am, I just woke up"

Frey: "How about we wake the others?"

Arikumo *Yawning* "They can sleep a little more"

Frey: "Very well, yesterday was a little hectic wasn't it?"

Arikumo stands up to reply.

Arikumo: "Yeah, it was"

Arikumo: "I'm gonna go relax outside for awhile"

Frey: "Alright then"

Arikumo walks outside and sits by the now gone flame of the campfire.

He sits there pondering. Pondering what next. Pondering.

Finally he comes to a decision. He walks back inside and once everyone has woken up and eaten breakfast he tells them his decision.

Arikumo: "Let's stay here another month but after that we should head towards the mountains"

Wakaba: "Seriously? Why would you leave here it's so nice"

Dale: "He's right, we should continue what we set out to do"

Wakaba: "Fine, one more month"

Arikumo: "Until then we will continue training"

Frey: "Once you leave feel free to come by any time"

Arikumo: "We will"

The group spends nearly the entire time training and honing their new skills except Dale who hasn't gained any new ones.

Arikumo is focusing on magic for the time being as he doesn't have much mana.

Wakaba is testing and refining [Foresight] and [Berserker] by activating both skills in succession and keeping them active for long periods of time.

Eventually a month passes and the group prepare to set off to a nearby large town called Rivermouth port, a harbor on what used to be the gulf of Mexico. The harbor is a large trading center with boats coming in all the time to trade materials and resources, It's also considered its own nation recognised even by the Empire. The Empire gains most of its textile and military goods from the port.

Arikumo: "Since we took out the soldiers who attacked the forest we aren't wanted in the port so we can move freely, but..."

Dale: "But what?"

Arikumo: "since demi humans are despised in the human nations i'll have to make her wear a collar"

Wakaba: "I understand why but couldn't we just disguise her?"

Arikumo: "No, we can't. All major and some minor towns and cities have inspections and dogs to actively hunt down unenslaved demi's who escaped or fled into the city"

Wakaba: "I'll be fine with it as long as you don't try anything"

Arikumo: "I have a special collar I found that will allow me to know her location and health at all times"

Dale: "Where'd you find something like that?"

Arikumo: "You don't wanna know, but I will say I got it before we met"

Arikumo: "I'll go talk to Nara about it, if she refuses she'll have to stay in the forest until we return"

Dale: "Yeah, I can see why you'd want to ask her first"

Arikumo: "See you in a bit guys"