Chapter 343: Froods

The moment Darion heard the growls, his entire demeanor changed. He didn’t panic, but his hand immediately moved toward the hilt of his sword. Whatever was hiding in the forest was close enough that he wasn’t about to take chances, especially with Marrick sitting right behind him.

Before anything could emerge from the tree line, Darion activated his Necromancer abilities. Greenish, necrotic energy flashed brilliantly around him, illuminating the dirt road for a split second.

Five Yuimons suddenly appeared.

They materialized around Darion and Marrick, massive and terrifying, positioning themselves seamlessly between the two men and the surrounding forest. Their undead bodies remained completely still, but their glowing green eyes were fixed intently on the trees.

The horse reacted immediately. It snorted violently and tried to rear up, its eyes rolling back in sheer terror.

"Easy! Easy!" Marrick struggled to control it, pulling back on the reins with all his strength. The horse didn’t listen. It sensed the unnatural danger nearby and tried to bolt down the road.

Darion quickly summoned Edric Vorne. The undead commander appeared beside the horse and immediately grabbed hold of its bridle. The horse struggled violently against him, but Edric didn’t move an inch. His undead strength easily overpowered the frightened animal.

Darion glanced at Edric. "Hold it."

Edric gave a silent, stiff nod.

Marrick looked around nervously, his face pale in the morning light. "What are they?"

Darion didn’t answer. He was too busy watching the bushes.

The bushes suddenly shook. Something large moved behind them. Then another. Then another. Darion’s eyes narrowed.

Seven massive creatures slowly emerged from the vegetation. At first glance, they resembled gorillas. Their bodies were enormous and heavily muscled. Their arms were thick, their shoulders broad, and their posture was hunched forward as they walked.

But Darion immediately noticed the differences. These weren’t ordinary gorillas.

Their hands ended in long, razor-sharp claws. Their fingers flexed as they walked, the claws scraping lightly against the dirt with a sickening sound. Their mouths were filled with rows of unnaturally sharp teeth, and some of those teeth protruded slightly beyond their lips.

Darion stared at them. ’What the hell are those things?’

One of the creatures opened its mouth. A deep, guttural growl rolled through the forest, vibrating in Darion’s chest. Unlike normal gorillas, these creatures didn’t seem interested in crushing their prey with sheer brute strength. Their claws were clearly designed for tearing. Their teeth were just as dangerous. They looked less like peaceful forest animals and more like predators that happened to have the body of a gorilla.

Darion couldn’t help but be a little impressed. ’Those claws are insane.’

He watched as one of them casually scratched the bark of a nearby tree. The claws dug into the hard wood with absolute ease, gouging deep furrows. Darion slowly raised an eyebrow. ’Yeah. I definitely do not want one of those things grabbing me.’

The seven creatures stopped. They didn’t immediately attack. Instead, they stared at Darion, then looked at the Yuimons, then back at Darion. They appeared to be studying the strange group that had suddenly appeared in their hunting territory.

The Yuimons didn’t react. To them, the creatures were simply another threat.

The Froods slowly spread out, their eyes remaining fixed on the group. Darion realized exactly what they were doing. ’They’re deciding which one of us to eat first.’ He almost found the thought amusing.

The creatures clearly didn’t understand what they were looking at. They saw Darion and Marrick. They saw a horse. And they saw five strange animal creatures standing motionless around them. But the Yuimons didn’t smell like living prey. They didn’t move like living prey. They didn’t even breathe. Yet the Froods didn’t seem intelligent enough to understand that.

Marrick finally spoke, his voice tight with fear. "Those are Froods."

Darion looked toward him. "Froods?"

Marrick nodded. "They normally don’t come this far out."

Darion looked back at the creatures. "Why?"

Marrick explained that Froods usually lived much deeper inside the forest. They rarely approached the roads used by travelers. Most people who traveled this path never encountered them.

Darion glanced at the thick forest around them. "Then why are they here?"

Marrick thought for a moment. "Perhaps winter is coming."

Darion’s expression became more serious.

Marrick explained that when the weather began getting colder, food became harder to find deeper in the forest. Predators and other creatures sometimes moved closer to roads and settlements looking for easier prey. He looked at the Froods. "Maybe they’re running out of food."

Darion furrowed his brow. That would explain why seven of them had wandered this far from their usual territory.

He looked at the creatures again. Then the name registered properly in his mind. Froods. Darion almost snorted. ’That sounds way too much like fraud.’ He shook the thought away.

His attention returned to the creatures. He studied the seven Froods more carefully. Their bodies were powerful. Their claws were extremely sharp. Their teeth were equally dangerous. And they were clearly adapted to surviving in the forest.

A thought immediately crossed his mind. ’These would make great undead animals.’

Darion’s animal inventory came to mind. He had already accumulated several useful creatures: wolves, bats, snakes, Rops, and other undead animals he had collected along the way. Adding a powerful forest predator like a Frood could be extremely useful.

Darion’s eyes narrowed with interest. ’These would definitely be useful.’ He could send them into forests. They could track prey. They could hunt. Their claws could make them dangerous against lightly armored enemies. And as undead, they wouldn’t need food or fear injury the way living Froods did.

Darion looked at the five Yuimons. The solution seemed obvious. He could simply have the Yuimons kill the seven creatures. Then he could potentially add their corpses to his inventory. He was just about to give the order. His mouth opened slightly.

"Kill—"

Then—

A system notification suddenly appeared before him. Darion stopped. His eyebrows immediately pulled together.

The notification wasn’t something he summoned. It simply appeared. Darion stared at it. That alone was unusual. The system didn’t normally interrupt him for every little thing. If something appeared without him checking his status or activating a function, it usually meant the information was important.

Darion’s expression became cautious.

’What is this?’