Gorun, a scout from the Clark Mercenaries, was tense as he moved.
‘No dangerous smells, blood, or bodies. Good.’
Gorun felt relieved when he didn’t smell anything alarming in the breeze. They began to move.
‘This is too hot.’
The hot and humid temperature caused everyone to feel sluggish. It had been two months since the group entered this giant forest, but it seemed endless.
“Gaaaaaak!”
A sudden sound made everyone flinch and stop. They all brought up their weapons and aimed at the darkness. Gorun frowned.
‘At this rate…’
They were too afraid to move even at the slightest sign of trouble.
-Merchants and folks at the Alliance gave us a job – to find the nest of dragons and hunt! They promised to support us with everything!
Their captain shouted it months ago, to which everyone responded excitedly. The memory of cold beers that night came unbidden to Gorun. He then looked around in annoyance.
‘Ugh, I don’t like this.’
Another man, Tyron, suggested to Gorun, “Gorun, let’s find somewhere to rest. We won’t get far like this.”
Gorun turned to him. They befriended each other after joining the mercenaries. It had been five years since then and knew each other’s minds.
‘Oh, he noticed I’m frustrated.’
“Yeah.”
Gorun nodded after checking his watch.
“I don’t like this at all.”
“Hey, I smell something over that way.”
“Yeah.”
“Seems like fresh air. I think there’s a large area.”
“I’ll go take a look.”
Tyron nodded and began to walk forward.
“Gorun, are you okay?”
Herman frowned; he was another man in their group. He always disagreed with what Tyron did.
“Are you sure he can walk ahead? You know we can’t have…”
“Have what?”
Herman said, “You saw what happened to the others. Those idiots cost us…”
Gorun frowned as Herman was right. They weren’t the only ones that entered the Great Forest. A lot of mercenaries were here in search of dragons, so they had shared many paths together. As they searched through, the Clark Mercenaries went through many hardships. It was now common to see mercenaries and soldiers from the Alliance found dead. The Clark Mercenaries had also been attacked many times but they were able to be ready in time for any fights as Gorun had unique ability to sense monsters. However, there were still limits and they suffered seriously when they were caught by surprise.
‘Foolish…’
They had seventy warriors, two hundred servants combined with Alliance troops, twenty-one knights, thirty-one apprentice knights, and a hundred and fifty soldiers.
This was a large group with well-prepared supplies and weapons. But they too had suffered.
“Herman…”
“Found it! Gorun, we have an open space! Around a seventy meter radius!”
Gorun turned to Tyron. He was running to Gorun with an excited expression on his face. Gorun sighed in relief.
‘…Huh?’
However, Gorun was shocked. A large hand suddenly sprung out between the trees and shrubs, grabbing Tyron’s head with it and lifting him; Tyron began to scream.
“Aaaaargh!”
“W-what is that?!”
Soon, all members realized what was happening.
“Goard! A Goard has appeared!”
End of Chapter
