Chapter 43: The first time in the hunting grounds

They continued down the road, though this time, Frost noticed that the man who had hired him walked a little closer to the back.

It wasn’t much, and he certainly wasn’t offering to carry anything, but Frost supposed he should be grateful that someone might notice before he fell face-first into the dirt again.

He was glad these people were kind enough to let him carry their bags, even giving him water like that; someone else might have left him on the road to die of thirst, or maybe even beat him up for slowing them down.

He had seen a lot of that in the slums over the past couple of weeks, after all...

By the time they reached the edge of the hunting grounds, the landscape had changed considerably.

The road narrowed into a worn path that disappeared between clusters of trees, with thick grass and tangled bushes spreading across either side.

There were other people nearby, some heading into the trees with weapons in hand, while others were coming out carrying bloodied bundles or dragging the bodies of creatures Frost had never seen before.

He tried not to look too closely at those, though his eyes wandered toward one group hauling a large, furry thing with far too many legs.

Whatever it was, he hoped it was dead, because if it started moving, he would have no choice but to lie down and accept his fate. Running was no longer an option.

The five people ahead grew quieter as they entered the trees, their earlier banter fading as they adjusted their weapons.

The human woman took a bow from her back and moved closer to the front, occasionally pausing to study the trees, while the bear-like man stayed a short distance ahead of the others.

Krazz walked behind him with his sword drawn, Erzaci took the right flank, and the man who had hired Frost remained near the rear.

"Stay close to me," the man said, glancing back. "When we stop, put the pack down and keep out of the way. Don’t wander off."

Frost nodded, though he couldn’t help watching the others with interest. "You all use different runes?" he asked, his voice still somewhat rough.

"Of course. What would be the point of five people who can only do the same thing?" the man replied, gesturing towards their companions. "The big guy uses earth and strength runes. He takes the hits and keeps things off the rest of us. Krazz uses fire, and he’s quick on his feet, so he handles most of the close fighting, while Erzaci uses lightning and agility to move around whatever we’re fighting and strike where she’s needed."

"Wait, when you say speed and strength, you mean to say there are runes that boost your physical stats?"

He gave Frost a dubious look...

"You really don’t know anything about evolvers, do you?"

Frost shook his head.

This had been one of the reasons he had decided to take this job in the end. If he couldn’t learn any runes to use fantastical powers just yet, then he could at least learn how evolvers operated.

"And her?" Frost asked, looking towards the woman with the bow. The man followed his gaze before answering.

"Wind-based runes, and she has learnt a very useful perception rune as well. So she finds things before they find us, and she can put an arrow into them from a distance. I use water and stamina runes, mostly to control whatever we’re fighting and support the others."

Frost nodded slowly, watching the way they moved through the trees.

For all their arguing earlier, they seemed to have a clear understanding of what each person was supposed to do, and even Krazz kept his eyes on the bushes instead of finding something else to complain about.

They hadn’t gone much farther before the woman raised a hand, bringing everyone to a stop. Her gaze settled on a patch of thick undergrowth to their left, and she quietly reached for an arrow.

"Something’s in there," she said, lowering her voice. "One, from what I can tell."

The man beside Frost helped pull the straps from his shoulders, letting the pack settle onto the ground. "Behind that tree," he said, pointing a few steps away, and Frost obeyed without argument.

A low grunt came from the undergrowth, followed by the sound of heavy feet scraping against the dirt.

A creature pushed its way out, its broad head lowering as it stared at them with small, dark eyes. It looked vaguely like a boar, except its shoulders rose almost to Frost’s chest, and a pair of thick tusks curved out from its mouth.

The bear-like man stepped forward, planting himself between the creature and the others.

A simple, shimmering triagram flashed above his body, and a rough layer of earth gathered over his forearms.

A second triagram appeared as the muscles beneath his fur swelled, and when the creature charged, he caught it near the base of its tusks. His feet slid backwards through the dirt, but he held it long enough for the others to move.

This would be only one of just a handful of times that Frost would be seeing runes in action. This was his first day as a porter, so he was only just entering the world of evolvers.

A triagram flashed above Krazz as he rushed in from the left, his speed suddenly increasing, while another shimmered into view over his sword, spreading a thin layer of flame along the blade.

He swung at the creature’s exposed shoulder, cutting into its hide and earning a violent squeal.

Erzaci darted around the opposite side as a triagram flashed above her body, making her movements quicker and more nimble.

Another appeared over her polearm, sending sparks flickering along its length as she thrust at the creature’s hind leg. She pulled away as it tried to turn towards her, her long tail shifting behind her to keep her balanced.

The man who had hired Frost raised a hand, and a shimmering trigram appeared before his palm, sending a stream of water across the ground.

It curled around one of the creature’s rear legs and pulled tight, interrupting its movement just as the woman released her arrow.

A trigram flashed in front of her bow, and a small swirl of wind followed the shaft, carrying it into the side of the creature’s neck.

Frost watched closely from behind the tree, his eyes moving between them as they attacked.

Seeing people use runes in an actual battle was interesting, especially when each person had something different to contribute, but after what he had seen from Syrn, he couldn’t help feeling that their abilities were terribly lacking.

The flames on Krazz’s sword were small, Erzaci’s lightning came in brief sparks, and the earth covering the big guy’s arms had already begun to crack under the creature’s struggling.