It had been a little less than half a day since Lucian and Annabelle had ventured into the woods, they hadn’t encountered anything dangerous - until they stumbled across a group of insects examining the body of an oversized stag.

  Lucian’s sword whistled through the air, The combination of [Slash] and [Penetrating Strike] left a blurred streak of blue and white behind in its path. One of the insects, a kind of giant beetle that [Analyze] had identified as an Ironwrought Beetle Scout, fell to the ground in two, its dull metallic carapace unable to truly protect it from Lucian’s skill.

  Lucian and Annabelle stood surrounded by the bodies of several of these dog sized insects, blue ichor soaking into the ground. It was clear which of them had dealt with which. The ones Annabelle had killed were still in single pieces, their bodies claimed by grasping vines and potent toxins.

  “So, the beetles are unionizing now? The ant population is going to feel robbed.” Annabelle chuckled as she walked back over to Lucian, who dismissed his weapon.

  “So it would seem.” Lucian crouched down and touched the dull metallic carapace of one of the beetles. It was slightly cool to the touch. “Thankfully none of these were super high level. Though if these are eusocial insects then we should expect other variants like some kind of Soldier.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Annabelle grinned and made a wiggling gesture with her left hand, “I can always use [Banecloud] if we get overwhelmed.”

  Lucian nodded, “I know you’ve got my back, Bell.”

  They moved over to the carcass of the stag the beetles had been examining. It was twice the size a normal stag would be.

  Annabelle frowned, “No way those beetles did this.” She gestured to the massive gashes present across the stag’s side, undoubtedly the result of oversized claws.

  Lucian nodded, glancing around the forest floor. The stag had left tracks coming here, but aside from the marks left by the beetles there was no set belonging to a culprit. “And whatever did it either doesn’t leave tracks, or it flies. Or perhaps it didn’t happen here, but there’s enough blood to make me think it did - but I’m no hunter so I could easily be wrong.”

  “So either it’s a flying predatory bird of some sort, with talons the size of swords - or it’s a stealthy ambush hunter with claws the size of swords. Lovely.” Annabelle chuckled, then added, “Oh and of course, to spice things up, it didn’t eat this thing. And that could mean any number of fun possibilities.” She mimed holding a microphone to her mouth and put on her best announcer voice, “Is it killing for sport? Is it defending its young? Is it sick? Find out next time!”

  Lucian laughed and smiled at her, “Defending its young, I hope.”

  She walked over to him and tapped the top of his head, “But nothing can ever be that easy, can it?”

  Lucian grinned, “Of course not. And I suppose it would be less fun if it were an avoidable threat…”

  “You’re insane.” Annabelle chuckled before taking out a camera and taking photos of the beetles and the body of the stag, making sure to get a closeup of the wounds.

  “And you love me for it.” Lucian hummed as he kept looking around, searching for anything else that might be waiting to attack them. He didn’t find anything, but given the lack of prints and possible stealth capabilities of their mystery monster, he was wary regardless.

  “And what does that say about me?” Annabelle asked as she put a lens cover back on the camera and placed it within a hip bag.

  “That you’re also insane?” Lucian ventured.

  “Less than you in either case.” Annabelle teased.

  “That, I have to agree with.” He nodded, “Quick break?”

  “Sure, let’s top up before we keep going.” She walked over to a tree further from the monster corpses and leaned against it before yawning softly. Lucian sat down on the grass beside her.

  They were looking forward to whatever it was that was going to come next, whatever it was. They would recover their Spirit, and then go find their next challenge. Lucian looked up at Annabelle beside him and a small smile played across his lips before his gaze drifted to the sky visible through the forest’s canopy above them, “This is definitely more fun than college.”