Chapter 38: Start of a journey = wolves

Since Eel wasn’t a fan of the city's management she felt no qualms about talking advantage of the passed out guard; choosing not worrying too much about why he was passed out. Based on Fuka’s speechless appearance, clueless to Lyada who was poking her plump cheeks, at least one of them knew. As such they decided to head on their way - bidding farewell of those adventurers she’d knew as they headed off first. Just decided to take some pocket money from her father (by robbing the knocked out guard) before heading out.<Just consider it child support~!>“Fufufu~!” <Eel>That oh so familiar smug smirk on her face as she showed no qualms in robbing a fainted man.“Ye know - I’m startin’ ta think ye’re misunderstandin’ this whole ‘Hero’ thing Eel…” <Fuka>“It’s fine to steal things from evil people - then it’s just advanced payment~! Heroes have to make money somehow fufufu~!” <Eel>“Got point - charity don’t pay.” <Lyada>“But slaying wild beasts pays very well… Our finances are quite fitting…” <Emily>“Yes but I’m a dragon - I don’t want to spend my treasure~! Feels much better to spend someone else's~.” <Eel>“Since when do dragons steal though…” <Fuka>To that Eel just shrugged her shoulders and put the coin pouches full of bronze and silver coins - silver from those bigger convoys of merchants deciding to up and move everything.Of course, such a reply just made everyone speechless as the cheerful Eel just put her spear back on her shoulder and walked away with a bounce in her step. It took a second before everyone recovered enough to hurry after the apparently ‘hero’ - though Fuka was now considering the validity of it right about now. Emily of course just hurried to be close to Eel and Lyada… She just continued being Lyada.The road they walked on went directly east towards a border villages alongside the {Moolesh Mountain Range}. Since the country wasn’t that worried about the mountains there wasn’t another large city like border city Shanta along the route - there was a town though. Also leads to a weaker border to cross over into {Goberz Kingdom} by going through the mountain range thus why they intended to continue fully down this route.Most of course wouldn’t cross these two borders due to the unknown dangers with even those sub-dragons being located in the area; instead they would try their luck with the direct border. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem though maybe a bit expensive due to the tension between the two countries - as one-sided as it was due to Goberz not exactly being ‘politically minded’ due to being an ‘interesting’ country. But now that the war was going on that would mean they would likely try to keep as many resources (and fighters) in as possible. Of course the danger of the mountain range was part of the reason why Eel wanted to go this route so she needn’t worry about that!They could hardly waste time attempting to catch up to the group of four with a war on their border - anyone who possibly could deal with the little Hero Team would be better suited elsewhere.As such they worked the route going directly towards the mountain range.All things considered though, after getting out of the city it was a peaceful journey. Rolling hills covered with a carpet of green stretched in front of the group of girls. This gave the two pair of lovers plenty of time to flirt which they took advantage of to its fullest. “You know I really think you would look great with some sort of hair ornament Mil~. You have such pretty hair after all - I should get you one to show you off - perhaps I can find some nice metals or kill a strong monster.” <Eel>One arm wrapped around the girls neck while Eel leaned her head into the little cow-succubus’ nape - gazing up at her face from below with a charming smile on her face. If someone saw this but was told that Eel didn't have royal blood flowing through her they wouldn’t believe it. Though - one could say that perhaps her bloodlines went a bit past ‘royal’.Emily of course had a blush across her cheeks as her sleepy little eyes avoided eye contact - it seemed like steam would come out of those fidgeting cow ears at any moment. Only able to reply with a whimper that was quieter than usual.“W-what kind of ornament do you think would suit me?” <Emily>“A ribbon since your my little present fufufu~” <Eel>Eel’s magnetic voice filled with the pride of a demon & dragon flooded out all of Emily’s senses as the heat from her cheeks covered her whole body; her swooning almost instantly. Unable to handle the teasing from Eel, fainting within the girl's arm. This of course just got another smug chuckle from the hatchling who seemed to only be evolving to be more frightening in at least this aspect as time went on.Merely kissing Emily’s forehead as she continued on with the journey while glancing over at the more ‘mature’ lovers who were much more ‘liberal’ with their kisses. Fuka with her tongue poking out from her open mouth soon found the half bunny greedily sucking on said tongue - her own invading Fuka’s mouth while pressing her chest against the armoured arm of her girl. It was hard to tell who was the ‘top’ though since Fuka had her arm turned to cup that massive bulge to toy with the hybrid. Both their plump lips mingling - rubbing and twisting against one another in an endless yet hidden battle. Though, the sloppy sounds and moans made it clear the two girls prefered things to be messy and loud.“Guess we’re going to sleep in different tents tonight… May need to also be placed a fair distance if we want to get any sleep - based on what I know about those two it’ll be quite loud.” <Eel>A wry chuckle from someone who ‘lost’ escaped from Eel’s mouth. Soon her head darted up and she frowned softly - she felt ‘something’ watching her. A set of eyes that seemed to see through her - based on Jeeves’ sudden appearance last time she was very wary - that battle where all she could do was hope was still fresh in her mind.However, unlike with Jeeves she soon sensed a couple life forces circling around them in order to entrap them with their numbers. This simply made her sigh out in relief.She really didn’t want him around; especially not around Emily.“Yo~ got some uninvited guests roaming around so if you two are done please guard Emily, k~.” <Eel>The two entangled lovers soon separated - though Lyada did take the chance to slap Fuka’s rear. Based on the strength of the life-force in the creatures encircling them it shouldn’t be anything she couldn’t handle so she softly placed Emily on the grass before darting forth; shocking the creatures who didn’t think they’d been spotted by using their extra height on the hills to their advantage.<14 targets - appear to be wolves though compared to his bloodlust they may as well be puppies… Take out the weakest first to gain ire while also making me seem like a straggler - collect them all together so even if they do target the rest they’ll only need to worry about one direction.>Quickly dismantling the situation itt didn’t take long for her to come face to face with the brown wolf - confirmed her thoughts as the beast was large enough for her to be able to ride on it’s back… But not enough to make her feel threatened. Thrusting her spear forward she pierced the still stunned wolf's head with no difficulty. It’s wines attracted the rage of the rest of the pack as fierce howls burst out as the remaining thirteen charged at Eel while avoiding the other three.Their goal was surrounding Eel while the two closest quickly rushed between her and her team to obviously focus their efforts on whittling her teams numbers.<Perfect~!>She of course had to play along. Turning around she used her momentum to swing her spear downwards - hurling the wolf corpse from the end of her spear to impact the wolf that was now on her left while the right one took this opportunity to charge at her. Her spear still pointing downwards towards her left would leave her open to attack on the right in the wolf's mind. A good thought but an inaccurate one as she lifted her right foot up and kicked the wolf under into its oversized snout leading to an unpleasant ‘crunch’ as it too was sent backwards with a damaged jaw. Even if it survived this encounter, eating would prove difficult in the future. The landing caused from the unprecedented backflip also didn’t seem small and death would likely be a mercy.However, in the wolves' primitive mind they had ‘made it’ in time as the rest of their force came to back up the remaining wolf. Dragging the corpse of their ally from the body while surrounding her. Slowly the remaining 12 wolves prowled around Eel, bearing their fangs and growling menacingly. Of course, Eel hardly cared about this as she just grinned while giving the usual quips.“Two down 12 to go - how about you forgo your usual tactics of snapping at me from different directions and all just come at the same time - save us all some time fufufu~!” <Eel>That vicious smirk complete with a toothy grin - of course her ‘toothy grin’ was with her fangs leading to it appearing quite menacing. The wolves didn’t seem to think the same and just continued to growl at her before one charged at her from her back right - this wolf was delt a heavy blow as she didn’t even turn to look at it. Just thrusting the butt of her spear straight into it’s head to shake it’s brain inside it’s skull. The wolf was forced into a concussed stumble that the hero took advantage of to turn pivot on her right foot while lifting her left over the wolves head - before the wolf could come to its senses a powerful ‘splat’ rang out. The other wolves weren’t idle as they jumped onto this brief window as she finished off their companion to attack. Their simple attacks were easy to deal with for the Hero though.Whipping her spear backwards she easily cut the wolves on that side apart while her left seemed to grip something after she brought it up to her chest - pulling her new blade out of thin air she soon whipped the blade out with a bloody wave of intent spilling out forming into a crescent beam that soon descended onto the wolves on her left. Taking a step back towards her right to perfectly clear up that side while the remaining wolves she just lifted her foot up to kick away before soon doing a full 180 degree turn. A few quick thrusts with her spear was all it took to finish the stragglers that only escaped due to being right behind her.She wasn’t done though as she glanced at the remaining wolf who glared at her with a broken nozzle but ferocious eyes. The sword in her hand vanished into red light as she flipped her palm up. The blood from the wolves' fallen comrades quickly left their bodies to form into an orb which Eel bit into with her beastly fangs - feeling the fresh blood flood her senses she felt a little drunk. Although it wasn’t as good as the sub-dragon’s blood, the taste of freshly hunted game filled her with ecstasy.The wolf who felt it was being mocked let out a bloody gurgle - it’s poor attempt at a growl through it’s broken face. As soon as Eel finished she grinned challengingly at the beast.“In 8 or less years I’ll be returning down this very same road - let's see who’s prey and hunter then shall we~!” <Eel>With a bloody growl that wolf left with a heavy limp on it’s right leg - leaving a bloody trail as even it’s bone seemed to be popping out from the front - and an equally heavy burden but burning determination. Eel just watched it slowly stumble over the distance hills with a vicious grin that certainly didn't suit her job description. Fuka slowly walked up behind Eel giving her a weird look as she approached her.“That was… An unusual move; why?” <Fuka>“For a challenge - I already let that {Wyvern} get away and I doubt anyone else bothered to deal with it. That look of determination and challenge while gazing at the face of death… It reminds me of myself looking up at the {Sovereign of Storms} and it also seems fun to see if anything happens with it.” <Eel>“I… I really think ya misunderstand the term ‘Hero’ Eel.” <Fuka>Eel just shrugged her shoulders with a grin on her face.“Life is what you make of it or something~!” <Eel>“I’m really not sure ya used that correctly.” <Fuka>“Time to set up camp~!” <Eel>“Just going ta ignore me then?” <Fuka>With that they set up their camp here for the day - not like they were in a hurry so they decided they may as well make use of all the meat they just obtained.