Chapter 295: Some Primitive Looking Hunters

They heard voices and footsteps getting closer through the trees. Seren immediately gestured for Darion to stop, her hand raised, her eyes sharp. They moved behind a large tree, pressing their bodies against the bark, remaining completely still. Darion listened carefully.

There were a lot of footsteps. Not two or three people. A whole group.

Through the gaps between the trees, Darion eventually saw them. Around ten hunters were moving through the forest. They weren’t dressed like soldiers. Their clothing was primitive-looking — animal hides, rough cloth, pieces of leather tied around their bodies.

Most carried spears, while others carried crude clubs, knives, or sharpened weapons. Their equipment was nowhere near the quality of anything Darion was accustomed to seeing around Percvale. They looked like people who had survived in the wilderness for generations.

Darion immediately realized something important. These weren’t Vrethkans. Seren noticed it too. Their clothing was different. Their physical features were different. Even the way they moved through the forest was unfamiliar. Whatever these people were, they weren’t the people Darion had come here to investigate.

They were nowhere near Vrethka yet.

For a moment, he considered simply letting them pass. There was no reason to get involved with random hunters. They weren’t his enemies. They weren’t Vrethkan scouts. And Darion didn’t want to waste time fighting strangers when he had a much bigger problem waiting somewhere ahead. So he and Seren remained hidden.

Unfortunately, the hunters didn’t simply pass by. One of them suddenly stopped. He looked toward Darion and Seren’s hiding place. Darion’s eyes narrowed. The hunter said something quietly to the others, and the group immediately changed formation.

Darion realized they had been noticed. Before he could say anything, several hunters spread out. They circled the tree. Others moved behind them, cutting off the path they could use to escape. Seren quietly gripped her bow.

Darion sighed internally. ’Of course.’

He stepped out from behind the tree with Seren beside him. Ten spears immediately pointed toward them. Darion looked around. Ten against two.

Normally, this wouldn’t even qualify as a serious problem for him. He had an undead army. He had his undead wolf. He could summon undead animals. He could end this situation almost immediately.

But he didn’t summon anything yet. These people didn’t appear to be Vrethkan soldiers. He didn’t know who they were or why they were here. Killing them immediately would be pointless. So Darion kept his sword lowered.

"We’re just passing through."

The hunters didn’t lower their weapons. Instead, their leader stepped forward. The leader was an older, heavily built man. His body was covered in scars. He carried a large spear, much rougher than the weapons Darion was used to seeing but clearly well-used. His eyes moved from Darion to Seren. Then they stopped on Seren. He studied her from head to toe.

Seren noticed. Her expression immediately hardened.

The leader eventually spoke. "She’s strong."

Darion said nothing.

The man’s eyes remained on Seren. "Healthy, too."

Darion’s eyebrow twitched.

The hunter smiled. "She’ll make a good wife for the chief."

Silence.

Darion slowly turned his head toward Seren. Seren’s expression was basically: What the fuck? Darion’s own brain took a second to process what he had just heard. Wife? He looked back at the hunter. Did this guy seriously just inspect Seren like livestock?

Then the hunter added casually, "She’ll bear strong children."

Darion’s expression changed. Bear strong children? His thoughts immediately started racing. What kind of place did we walk into? He looked at their clothing again. Their weapons. Their primitive appearance.

The way they were treating Seren like she was something that could simply be claimed. Suddenly their behavior made a little more sense. These weren’t ordinary hunters from some nearby village. They seemed to have an entirely different way of life.

Darion didn’t know whether to be angry, confused, or impressed by how casually the man had said it. Eventually, anger won.

Darion stepped between Seren and the hunter. His sword remained lowered, but his voice became cold. "She’s not going anywhere with you."

Seren looked at Darion for a moment. She didn’t say anything. But she clearly wasn’t objecting to him stepping in.

The hunter stared at Darion. Then he laughed. "You?" He looked around at the others. "You think you can stop us?" He raised his spear slightly. "There are ten of us." He pointed toward Darion. "And one of you."

Darion glanced sideways at Seren. Seren calmly pulled an arrow from her quiver. She drew her bow. "Two of us."

Darion almost smiled. That’s braveness!

The hunters tightened their formation. Darion finally drew his sword.

The first hunter charged. Darion moved before the spear could reach him. Golden light suddenly covered his sword. Golden Light. Darion swung. The spear was cut apart. His sword continued through the hunter’s defense and struck him down. Another hunter attacked immediately from the side.

Darion pivoted.

Slash!

Another burst of golden light tore through the hunter.

Two hunters fell within seconds. The remaining eight hesitated. Darion looked at his sword. The golden glow remained around the blade. He realized something.

’I haven’t actually fought normally in a while.’

Most of his major battles had been about positioning undead. Commanding. Summoning. Overwhelming enemies with numbers. Using his undead to handle threats he couldn’t handle alone.

But this time, he wanted something different. He looked toward Seren. She had already fired an arrow. Thwack! It struck one of the hunters in the shoulder. She immediately drew another.

Darion thought: Let’s see what we can actually do ourselves.

The remaining hunters suddenly stopped attacking. Darion noticed something strange. One of them was breathing heavily. His shoulders began to shake. At first, Darion thought the man was afraid.

Then his body started changing.

His muscles swelled. His clothes began tearing. His skin darkened. His fingers lengthened. His teeth sharpened. Darion’s eyes widened. What the hell...?

Another hunter began changing. Then another. Then another. Within seconds, the forest was filled with the sounds of bones cracking and muscles shifting.

The hunters were no longer completely human. Their bodies became twisted combinations of human and beast. Their arms became thicker. Their backs widened. Their muscles became significantly larger. Their skin darkened into a rough, almost monstrous texture. Their eyes became more animalistic. Their movements became faster and more aggressive.