Chapter 42 – Communication
The whole time the briefing was going, Noah was scared shitless. His posing as a Tamer, made everyone assume his wolf is a normal Alpha Monster Wolf, with all the well known skills and stats. However it was a being made of a combination of his skill and the wolf's dead body. Was it really the same? Noah actually was not sure. The thing is Tamers can open their tamed beast companions stat windows and check all its skills. Noah could not. This made his wolf more akin to elementals summoned by sorcerers with elemental affinity system, just that it looked like a wolf instead of elemental mass.
The main difference between tamer's companion and summoned elemental was that the beast, as a living being, had the skills it trained and developed, while elemental is just as strong and skillful as the summoner's level allows it to be. The stronger the elemental the more magic it takes to summon. In other words if the summoner is weak, many of the abilities that the strong elementals could have, would not be available in its weakened summoned state. If wolf was indeed akin to elemental, it could very well be less equipped in skills than its original self, because Noah summoned it with his low level. In this case he was very well fucked.
Deep within Noah already started to plan how to escape safely if all went to hell because of his failed product wolf and he needed to make a run for it.
When they left the town Noah took out his wolf from folder and immediately noticed something very pecuiliar. Once the wolf came out, the minimap that showed him the forest area around him with the twenty people of his squad as dot on it, started to rapidly change.
The area covered by his awareness minimap suddenly doubled and then tripled and still grew larger, now showing a bigger minimap than before and a lot smaller dot's of his team members.
/What the?/
*It looks like the wolf companion is not so simple. You are maintaining some kind of connection with it that allows you to transfer information between each other. This also explains your ability to communicate with it freely when you give it orders. After all, normal monsters can't understand human speech.* Said system.
/So its senses are being transmitted to my minimap?/ Asked Noah.
*Indeed. That also asks for a question about what would happen when the wolf leaves your location?*
/Lets see./
"Wolf, lead the way and search for any trap, magic and traces of humans on our way." Said Noah, giving his wolf an order. The Next moment, wolf rushed into the forest at full speed.
/That's interesting./ Thought Noah. /So that's what will happen./ In his view minimap separated into two parts. One was smaller, showing Noah's location, the second one and the larger showed the area around the wolf.
The squad with Noah moving just behind the rangers followed the wolf in the forests lush darkened by the shadows of afterglow.
*****
"Stop." Said Noah after a few moments when they entered the surrounding village forest area.
"What is it?" Silently asked Jake following just behind Noah while the team stopped its advance.
"Wolf found something." Said Noah when he noticed something appearing in the wolfs area minimap. While they traveled Noah learned about this skill. Minimap represented all monsters in red dots and on many occasions Noah warned of the approaching monsters a lot earlier that other rangers could sense anything, which made everyone assured of his skills.
"Monsters?"
"No. This is different. Can't say yet. I never sensed something like that before." Said Noah while watching at the shining white dot in his minimap.
Rangers looked at Jake and at his nod, went forward to see what wolf had found.
A few moments later one of them returned.
"A magic trap. Very elaborately hidden. I would not have noticed if not for the wolf." Said Ranger.
"Magic traps are tricky." Said Jake. "If their mage is very skilled he could have made a double layer magic circle that will be triggered if it was disabled and notify them of our approach. Let's go around it." Said Jake scratching his chin. Ranger nodded and went back into the forest to notify other rangers.
"Good job, Noah." Said Jake patting Noah's shoulder with his huge palm that inside his armor gauntlet looked even larger.
"The wolf is the one doing the whole job, not me." Said Noah, relieved that wolf skills proved to be actually fully functional.
When rangers and the wolf returned, they chose a bit different direction and circled around the area with magic traps.
However just slightly some time later Noah stopped them again. This time he has found a black dot with cyan shine on it on his wolf minimap.
"Another magic trap?" Asked one of the rangers.
"No, this one, wolf senses as something different from the previous thing."
Rangers went in to check. A few minutes later Noah saw that the black dot disappeared and one of the rangers returned.
"Taps in the ground and on the trees. Looks poisoned. We disabled them, just watch the ground and be sure not to step into potholes."
"Alright." Said Jake and turned to the squad behind him. "We move forward. Watch the ground. Don't step into the trap."
After that they found a few more rigged places while circling around another few areas with magic traps.
When they approached the village, they were especially silent.
"I will contact the other teams." Whispered Jake taking out some device with crystal installed into it.
"Wait." Whispered Noah.
"What?"
"Rey's team is busy dismantling a magic trap that one of theirs has stumbled into. He's concentrating. You will intervene if you call now." Said Noah watching one of the two locks on screens that were still open. One of them showed Rey in the first squad. The other one showed Keena in the second squad.
"How do you…."
"Wolf is not my only companion, just the strongest. I sent two weak companions with other teams just in case." Lied Noah
"I see. They triggered a trap?"
"Yeah." Whispered Noah.
"Damn." Said Jake and contacted Keena's team.
"Margaret. Are you in position?" Asked Jake
"Yes." A woman's voice came from the device. "What's the hold up? We've been waiting for who knows how long already." She said with disapproving voice.
Noah looked at Jake apologetically but Jake only shook his head. "Don't bother. This woman is too competitive. Never likes to lose. She says that just to make us know she won in some kind of competition no one ever bothered to compete. Bet she's not even in position yet."
"I can hear you asshole!" Hissed the woman from the device.
"I know." Said Jake and teammates around him held their laughs while shaking.
"When do we attack?" Whispered an angry woman's voice.
"We wait for Rey's team. They triggered a magic trap."
"What? Hissed another woman's voice. Rey! What about Rey?"
"Get off Keena." Said Margaret's annoyed voice.
"I am not sure. He is still dismantling it…
"Oh he's done." Said Noah, interrupting Jake.
"Wait I will not contact Rey, looks like he's done."
"Yeah?"
"Rey, are you alright? Did you trigger a magic trap?"
"Yeah one fella was stupid and almost laid his life for it. How do you know though?"
"Noah sent a small creature to follow your and Margaret's teams."
"Is that so?"
"Forget it," said Margaret's voice. "Did you trigger the alarm?"
"It does not seem like it. I reacted quickly and rigged the circle's weak spot with a throwing knife to not let it blow us up so I thought we blew the cover, but when I carefully dismantled it, there didn't seem to be a double layer in it. Their mage doesn't look like a capable guy to me."
"Lucky for us then." Said Edd's voice from Rey's side of the call.
"Or he just did not bother to put in too much time, considering the amount he had to put out all over the place. You know how we mages can be, we get lazy at the most annoying tasks." Said Margaret. "So don't underestimate him in a fight."
"Agree.You mages can be a real pain in the ass." Said Jake making guys around smirk again.
"Asshole." Hissed Margaret at him.
"Alright. Everyone's ready…?"
"Wait." Said Noah, interrupting Jake again.
"What is it?" Asked Jake.
"Who's that?" Asked Margaret.
"Hold on Marge." Said Jake
"Don't call me Marge!" Hissed the woman again.
"Fuck, she is annoying." Whispered Noah. "Can she shut up for a minute?" He asked Jake.
"Marge never shuts up," Said Rey's voice from the device. "Get used to it, newbie."
"Yeah. Imagine how annoying it is for me" said Keena from Margaret's side.
"No wonder she married a cleric. You have to be a fucking saint like Nolan to not strangle her at sleep." Said Edd.
"You bastards!" Hissed Margaret "And you lewd cat! We will talk with you later!"
"I am not.."
"People please." Said Jake. "Give us a minute of silence or I'll cut the connection."
Silence spread around them.
"So…?" whispered questioningly Jake.
Noah looked in front of himself but not at the village wall that they all looked at from lush forests, but at his View Change skills bird point of view screen that he just used.
On the screen he could see trees and bushes around him, as well as part of the wall.
"No one's manning this part of the wall." Said Noah
"What?"
"There is no one on the wall in front of us. There's no lookout."
"You sure?"
Noah called over his wolf and sent him forward toward the wall. After seeing no spots appearing on the minimap even with all the wolf's senses he was sure, nodding to Jake.
"What are you doing?" Finally asked Margaret, unable to hold her mouth shut for too long from the looks of it."
"Noah says there is no one on the lookout on the wall."
"That's good then, right? Let's get them while they are unaware." Whispered Edds voice from Rey's side of the call."
"No, that's not good." Whispered Rey. "It's a nice sign of a trap."
"Fuck did we get found out from that trap after all?" Asked Edd.
"No, it's too quick of a reaction." Said Jake. "Most likely they knew about us in advance. Everyone be vigilant, send rangers to check the wall and to guard your back in case we are attacked from the back. Reconnecting in a few minutes." Commanded Jake and then cut the call.
They waited for another dozen minutes before Jake called everyone again.
"Your newbie was right. No one is guarding the wall. No lights or anyone seen in the village either. This looks like the finest example of a trap." Said Margaret.
"Okay, we will send three teams inside first. Others are a backup in case we get surrounded. Let's go." Gave orders Jake and people started to move.