Chương 12: Winter Hunt

Vittorio and Vikar shook hands.

"I'm glad to see you at last, Vikar," said Vittorio, a grin on his face.

"I had not seen an asura for a good while now. I hope that you'll be interested in joining my militia after this."

"... You hadn't seen one of my kind? Why so?" The two retracted their hands, Vikar frowning a bit, while Vittorio simply shrugged.

"They are one of the bravest of the Vaelrin. A step above dracos like me. Second only to our Wendigo brethren, even."

"I see…" So basically, Vittorio's saying that asuras are rare here in Vael because they die a lot in battle? Alicia, who was standing on the sidelines, simply sighed. First of all, because Vittorio basically implied that powerful vampires like her, who was at the top of the Vaelrin hierarchy, were cowards. If the top ranks for 'bravery' were occupied by the weaker wendigos, asuras, and dracos instead of the stronger vampires, that wasn't a good sign. Or maybe he was just biased.

Second of all, Alicia somewhat felt pity for Vikar. If most of his fellow asuras were already wiped out in Vael because of their countless sacrifices, then he was probably only going to get lonelier here. He was far away from the land he was born and raised in; the culture here was probably alien to him, and he wouldn't be seeing a lot of fellow asuras. It must be why all he could do since they arrived here was to wander around aimlessly. She certainly didn't want that fate for someone she dragged here.

Luckily, Vikar already volunteered to join Alicia and Vittorio to hunt. Not only did she hope that she'd see his strength and potential, but she also wanted Vikar to find new purpose here.

"Alright," Alicia approached the two.

"Are you both ready to set out now?"

"Yeah," Vittorio produced a map, unfurling it. He then presented it to Alicia.

"This spot here is pretty good. I travel through it regularly, and there are a lot of deer, boars, and elk living there. Should be a good starting point. As long as we avoid these general areas, which has high ambient mana, we shouldn't be disrupted by monsters." Alicia nodded along, noting the fact that Vittorio seemed to have placed multiple massive X marks throughout the map. Alicia could tell that he definitely used it a lot when traveling, considering the danger points were all marked.

"Are we bringing in a wagon for this?" Vikar asked.

"We can't haul the carcasses with our hands if it's that far east of us. That's probably twelve miles out."

"It's fifteen miles from us, so it'll take us a day or two for a back-and-forth trip. Will definitely have to set up camp when it gets dark," Vittorio confirmed.

"Your Grace, have you requisitioned a wagon for us?"

"Nope." Alicia shook her head.

"We're flying there. Have you two forgotten my abilities? Same with the animals we kill. I intend to fly them back here."

"... You're going to make us fly?"

"Yes." Vittorio's eyes went wide as saucers. Then, Alicia took his map. When they were airborne, with Alicia using the spell [Fly] on the three of them, taking care to also control their flight since they had no idea how to make use of it, Vittorio changed from his normally disciplined demeanor. Instead, he was trembling, stiff as a board, struggling to control himself from screaming as they flew rapidly through the skies. Meanwhile, Vikar simply watched the ground with a bored expression. He was quite relaxed.

Alicia's [Fly] spell, alongside a spell that added a bubble around them so they wouldn't feel the air and turbulence while speeding through the skies, meant that it should be quite comfortable. Alicia herself thought that it was so mild, it probably felt better than being on a modern airplane. Yet, when she looked back at Vittorio, his eyes were completely devoid of any light, as if he were in a life-or-death situation. Does he fear heights or something?

The trio soon landed on the area that Vittorio marked on the map. Alicia removed the spells she placed on them, and immediately, Vittorio fell on his knees, began coughing, and puked. Vikar stepped aside, shaking his head at the sight, while Alicia rushed to him to offer him a handkerchief, which she summoned from her inventory.

"I'm fine, Your Grace." Vittorio raised his hand, using his own towel to wipe himself instead.

"Apologies. This shameful display won't happen again."

"No, it's my fault," Alicia said.

"I should have slowed down a bit when you're clearly uncomfortable."

"I agreed to come and fly with you. It is my fault that I was too weak for it."

"... Please, don't blame yourself. You shouldn't call yourself 'weak.' Most people are just not used to flying."

"Is that so? Hah, it's unfortunate that I'm one of them then." Alicia helped Vittorio to stand up. She definitely should go slow next time because this draco struggled with flight. In any case, she achieved her first goal, which was to reach this place before sundown. That meant they had ample time to start hunting. This was exactly why she wanted to go fast on their trip to the hunting grounds.

But, on the return trip, time shouldn't be an issue, so she should be able to fly more gently and save Vittorio from puking again. Once they began the hunt, Alicia used [Fly] again. Then, she used [Telepathy], another advanced and powerful skill she had in her repertoire, to directly communicate with Vikar and Vittorio. Not only that, but due to the advanced level of her [Telepathy] skill, she could essentially set up a mini network where the three can communicate mentally with each other, similar to radios.

To save the headache of them panicking again about experiencing abilities that were foreign to them, Alicia explained to them beforehand the abilities that she was going to use and the fact that she was staying in the sky in a support role. She told them that because she wanted to test out their abilities, they were going to be the ones doing the actual hunting. Alicia, on the other hand, would be the spotter, and she would freeze and [Levitate] the carcasses they would leave in their wake for transportation.

The two had no protests about it, and so, the trio began hunting. Alicia watched the two vigilantly from the skies as they moved silently through the forest. The first target they picked was a massive wild boar, easily the size of a small house. It was probably at level 50-70, which was a rather high level for non-monster fauna. It was definitely going to produce a lot of meat, so naturally, Alicia thought it was a juicy starting target.

"Alright, you two." Alicia smiled a bit to herself, thinking about having first dibs later on the meat of the boar. She wanted some nice pork chops for dinner.

"I think you can see the giant boar just east of your position, around eight hundred paces away. It's distracted and eating near a tree, so you should have a nice opening."

"I'm going to attack at its side and stab its neck with my lance," Vittorio quickly replied from the ground.

"Should be rather easy."

"Wait a minute. I want that kill. I haven't swung my axes in a while—""We'll find another prey for you to have fun with. For now, leave this to me." Before Alicia could mediate their sudden dispute, Vittorio zoomed through the forest out of his hiding spot. Alicia thought that seeing him go was quite terrifying, simply because he was now wearing his full armor and helmet, and he had his heavy tower shield on his back, yet he was so fast.

He was probably using a powerful skill, allowing him to cross the distance in a matter of seconds. By the time the giant boar managed to turn its head upon hearing him, it was too late. Vittorio didn't even use a skill to strengthen his attack; he simply drove his long lance straight on the neck of the creature, and the giant boar let out a brief, pained scream. Then, Vittorio withdrew his lance, grabbed a dagger, and slit the dying boar's throat.

A powerful thud followed as it collapsed on the ground, blood splurting out of its wounds profusely. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Alicia thought that as a vampire, she should probably love the thought of seeing so much blood, and indeed, her body immediately remembered that she craved and needed blood. But her mind and soul reeled at the sight. It was truly grisly.

Thank goodness, she was somewhat used to these sights after the Veligrod Major tournament, but still, it was an awful sight. She shook her head and descended beside Vittorio.

"Good job." Alicia tried to smile as she stood beside the draco.

"That was fast."

"Of course. I fight creatures and enemies far worse than this boar. I won't qualify as a proper officer of the Vael Royal Army if I can't easily dispatch a mere evolved animal."

"That's true..." Alicia stared blankly at the dead animal. Right then, Vikar caught up to them, grumbling a bit about a lost kill. Alicia turned to him to reassure him that they would find many more targets today, while Vittorio carefully watched the creature as it bled out.

"Your Grace, do you not want to have a sip of fresh blood?" Vittorio suddenly offered.

"It'll be a shame if all this blood goes to waste…" Alicia stared at the geyser of blood pouring out of the dead animal. Naturally, upon seeing it, her body's blood cravings flared up again. She almost forgot that she hadn't drunk blood for a while now since she last tried it, mostly because her mind still couldn't accept taking a sip of the damned thing on the regular.

It was good luck that she could largely ignore her body's demands without much of a hitch, but now that she was face to face with a lot of freshly drawn animal blood, the thirst was too much. Holding a grimace, Alicia nodded.

"I'll get some then." Deciding to use her blood arts, Alicia summoned a glass on her right hand. Then, she used a cutting spell to precisely slice an artery on the dead boar. Both Vikar's and Vittorio's eyes widened when the blood was suddenly and perfectly drawn straight to Alicia's glass using her magic. They probably expected her to drink blood more conventionally, but… I am not sinking my fangs on this thing like a barbarian. No thank you.

The first time she had a taste of blood from a freshly slain deer, this was also how she did it. Elegant and civilized. Once Alicia had enough blood in her glass, she gave it a test sip—realizing that somehow, the liquid was mildly sweet and refreshing, like a nice fruit juice. It was a bit different from deer blood, which was more savory. She was pretty sure this wasn't how fresh blood should taste, but her vampiric taste buds were different. Taking care, she emptied the entire glass in a few seconds.

"That wasn't half bad, Sir Vittorio." Alicia smiled a bit, unsummoning the empty glass.

"Though, I shouldn't indulge too much…"

"I see. I'm glad you enjoyed it," the draco awkwardly said.

"Anyway, I think this boar is ready for transport. The blood is drained from its body already." His boots were practically half sunk on the animal's pool of blood. Alicia then approached the animal, summoned her staff, and, using fire magic to rapidly drop the temperature around the creature, froze it nearly instantly. From what she knew in her past life, this should achieve the same results as flash freezing, which meant it should be perfectly fresh once they reached the village and butchered it.

Once the creature was encased in a block of ice, Alicia flew again while levitating the giant boar. She looked down at the duo below her.

"Let's continue," Alicia said.

"We need at least a dozen or so of these animals." The two nodded, and the trio continued their hunt for the last two hours of daylight. Alicia set up a system where the two would alternate on who would kill an animal every time they found one, so that they wouldn't have to fight for kills. It also allowed Alicia to observe how Vikar and Vittorio fought in different conditions. Vittorio usually preferred to charge quickly against his enemies, leveraging speed to stab them quickly with his lance.

He was definitely not a hunter, the type who would be more silent in his fighting style. Instead, he poured everything into speed and power, ensuring that even if an animal detected him in advance, it wouldn't have a chance to run or dodge his lethal strikes. She imagined, in combat, Vittorio alone could easily crack a shield formation and scatter multiple soldiers. On the other hand, Vikar preferred being more creative and stealthy in his approach.

Since his axes had a more limited range than Vittorio's lance, he usually started by tracking and observing his foe more meticulously before approaching it without being detected. At the final part, he would usually throw an axe at close range as his standard attack, ensuring a quick, silent, and easy kill. Naturally, Alicia thought that maybe Vikar was more strategic, and thus she preferred his style more, until she realized Vittorio was just brute-forcing things when dealing with animals or easy targets.

When they found a powerful level 200 monster, a snow bear with thick hides, powerful eyes, and a lethal ice breath ability, Vittorio took a more methodical approach. Instead of charging headfirst, he made noise to misdirect the creature and tense it up, and then he silently flanked it on the side before tossing his lance straight at its neck, powered by an attack skill. Due to the strength and vitality of the snow bear, it survived, thrashing and roaring to intimidate its hidden enemy.

It then bared its fangs as it uncontrollably spat out blood. Suddenly, Vittorio appeared from the beast's blind spot, tower shield on the ready, and he bashed it straight on the ice bear's skull, cracking it in an instant. Both Vikar and Alicia were impressed when they reached him, while Vittorio calmly sat beside the dead creature's corpse, a dagger on one hand and a bloodied monster core on another hand.

"We drifted too close to the danger zone, Your Grace," Vittorio coldly said as Alicia walked toward him.

"People can eat this monster, but creatures with monster cores aren't exactly nutritious, nor are they wholesome to eat…"

"Yeah, we'll leave it behind," Alicia said. She looked up at the floating ice blocks above them.

"We've hunted eighteen animals in the span of a few hours already. This should feed the village many times over." Vikar also sat and rested his back on a nearby tree, groaning to himself. He was probably tired. It was also starting to get colder, Alicia noticed. Snow was falling again, and the wind was slowly starting to pick up speed. It was likely that a storm was approaching, and then it would be unimaginably cold.

While Alicia wouldn't really be affected by it, discomfort was still something she didn't like and was why she was wearing thick clothes right now.

"We best return home before the storm comes," Alicia said, watching the final faint lights of the sunset.

"Anyway, good work, you two. Tell me if you're rested enough and we'll set out."

"Oh no." Vittorio visibly paled, looking down at the ground, as if his soul left his body.

"I almost forgot that we're flying again."

"I swear, I'll fly us slower this time."

"I really need to get used to it…"

"Hey," Vikar suddenly spoke up. Both Vittorio and Alicia turned to him as he pointed at something in the forest.

"Is that…an entrance? There are ruins over there." Vittorio stood up, frowning as he shook his head.

"We're in a high ambient mana zone. There's a high likelihood that a dungeon core is present on those ruins," Vittorio warned.

"Not to mention, there's no valuable foodstuff over there."

"But aren't dungeons a valuable resource and XP source?" Alicia asked, curiously looking at the entrance of the ruins. It seemed like a temple of sorts, its entrance somewhat blocked by a thick layer of snow. She could sense high mana concentration within, indicating that there was probably more beneath it that they couldn't see. She began remembering the early days she spent in Worldfall Online, when she and her friends would explore dungeons to find loot, fight monsters, and level up.

Naturally, she approached the ruins, her eyes brimming with curiosity. Behind her, Vittorio followed her cautiously, while Vikar watched them, before shouting that he'll keep a lookout from outside in case of an emergency, like a dungeon break. Alicia then used a quick wind spell to scatter the thick layer of snow blocking the entrance. That was when Vittorio caught up to her. The two looked at the first floor of the ruins, which was empty and devoid of any activity. She then asked him a question.

"Sir Vittorio, don't you think the village militia needs a lot of XP grinding to get stronger?"

"Yes, Your Grace," Vittorio answered.

"But first, they need to be in good shape. They need to have better weapons and better training. Otherwise, it'll be risky to go XP farming. But usually, the average soldier, even a human one, doesn't prioritize leveling up. Better equipment, leadership, and discipline are more important when it comes to grunts.

After all, sending your men to dangerous areas just to improve them costs too much equipment and potential casualties for it to be worth it, not to mention the risks of causing a dungeon break if you attack it…"

"Still, dungeons offer a lot of resources, don't they? Resources that the village needs?"

"... I suppose so, Your Grace. Monster cores contain a lot of mana depending on the grade, so they are basically the more primitive version of magic crystals that the humans use. Dungeons yield a lot of those. But again, acquiring them this way is risky." Alicia nodded. She had seen the world outside of Vael already, and Alicia came to know that the 'magical revolution,' a term she used to describe the progress that was happening outside, was powered largely by magic crystals.

They were the powerful, refined products of mined mana ores, containing concentrated mana that acted as an energy source. She likened it to coal and oil in her original world, if it came with the addition of being a catalyst and medium for spellcasting as well. She had even read that a mere few pounds of the highest grade of magic crystals could reliably match the energy of a few million horses, and the Virtuous Races were slowly learning, implementing, and reliably harnessing this immense power.

If Alicia wanted to create a small paradise on the edge of the world for her people, she would have to acquire the same resources as well, not just to achieve strength parity and deter them from war but also to enrich her people.

"Your Grace, we really shouldn't…" Vittorio seemed a little nervous as they walked deeper and deeper inside the ruins.

"We might cause a dungeon break."

"Even if a dungeon break happens, I'll deal with it." Alicia stopped walking, cautiously observing the monsters awakening on the floor below.

"If monster cores are a potential alternative to more advanced magic crystals, we need to have a good source of it. It's the only way for the village to grow well long-term." Down below, Alicia watched as the first dozen monsters at the entrance finally locked eyes on her, all of them preparing to charge and attack through the staircase. She could already sense the fine monster cores within them, which were emitting a lot of mana. This might be a good find!

"Prepare yourselves," Alicia said.

"We're going in."