When Grifus mentioned that their hunt would begin, he was not joking. The town of Giblet itself was small, but Jeze did not take into account the surrounding farmsteads. This is a lot of ground to cover! During the Wandering Spire event, hundreds of merchants traveled through Giblet, and they used the town as a rest area. All the taverns within the town proper were filled to capacity, and travelers had to find lodging in the farmsteads.
It was dusk when they approached a barn that was converted into a tavern by enterprising farmers to accommodate the excess merchants. The young man in the dark padded armor led them to a dozen other academy students that were hidden behind a low embankment several dozen meters away from the barn. Jeze guessed them to be around her age, between sixteen and nineteen years old. The young man in the dark padded armor whispered to Grifus. He was of average height with a mop of curly blonde hair.
“Is this their field assessment?” Jeze asked.
The young man appeared startled by the question, and he looked away. Grifus nodded. “It is.”
“Are you going to be a Scout?” Jeze asked the kid.
The young man nodded. “With a secondary as Protector.”
Jeze narrowed her eyes and asked, “What’s your name, boy?”
“Boy? I’m the same age as you,” he growled.
Jeze grinned. “So you have some fight in you. I’m Jeze.”
“I know, everyone knows who you are. I’m Zack.” The two shook hands. “Is it true that you are Adventurer ranked?”
Jeze nodded while bragging, “I made it to the fifth floor of the Wandering Spire.”
She felt pride well up within her chest at the looks of awe she received from Zack and the other academy students. It dawned on Jeze that she had only traveled with people older than her, and this was the first time she had been around others of her age group. The Proven were in their early twenties, and most adventurers her age were Prospect-ranked. Jeze beamed with pride.
“Enough flirting, you two,” Kalina growled.
Zack’s face turned bright red, and Jeze’s proud feeling faded away like ice under the sun.
“We were just talking,” she said, scowling.
The illusion around Kalina shimmered away to reveal her true form and she turned her black orbs toward the two. “We have a job to do.”
Zack and the other academy students gave a startled intake of breath, and Jeze heard them whispering amongst themselves. Grifus gave them a firm glare, and the students quieted down and composed themselves. Ahead of them in the growing darkness of evening was the barn, where light could be seen through the windows and from the wide doors that were slightly ajar.
“Is this where you overheard the two strangers asking about us?” Kalina asked Zack.
The young man nodded. “They were last seen going into that tavern.”
Kalina narrowed her black eyes. “What did they look like?”
Zack stammered, clearly uncomfortable with the pale lady’s gaze. “I couldn’t tell. They wore cloaks. I think one of them had white arms like yours.”
Kalina’s black eyes widened, and she turned toward Grifus. “This could be too dangerous for them.”
The older man stroked his goatee. “The life of an adventurer is always going to be dangerous.”
Zack puffed out his chest and said, “I wish to proceed.”
The others silently voiced their agreement.
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“Good,” Grifus said, nodding.
Kalina shared a glance with Jeze and asked the students, “Are you sure? We anticipate vampires. They are at least Tier 5.”
Zack steadied his breathing. “If not us, then who will face this threat?” The other academy students nodded in agreement.
That’s a fair point, Jeze thought, and out loud, she suggested, “We should scout the perimeter.”
Grifus agreed. “Zack, you come with us; the rest of you remain here. If you see anything, do not engage. We will be back soon.”
Jeze summoned and shaped shadows to hide them, and the four left the Prospects at the embankment. They circled around the barn from a distance. It was eerily quiet, and the barn stood in stark contrast with its faint glowing light in the middle of the dark farmstead. They were on the opposite side from the students.
In the dim light of dusk, something caught Jeze’s attention on the ground. “Hold up.”
She knelt where she spotted the trampled grass and what appeared to be a drop of blood. Jeze touched and confirmed her suspicion. “It’s fresh.”
Kalina, Grifus, and Zack tensed, scanning their surroundings. Jeze discovered more tracks and another drop of blood.
“Whoever this belonged to came from the barn,” she observed.
Grifus glanced off toward a copse of trees that stood at the edge of the farmstead. “They went into the woods.”
“How many?” Kalina asked.
“Only one,” Jeze answered.
“Do - do we check the barn?” Zack stammered, his hands shaking.
“No, we have a clear view of the barn. We should find out who went into the forest,” Jeze replied, shaking her head.
“Why?” Zack asked.
What a rookie! Jeze thought with a roll of her eyes.
“If we check the barn, we will lose sight of who is in the forest, and we could potentially be surrounded,” Grifus answered.
“Should we split up?” Zack suggested
“No!” Kalina and Jeze snapped at the same time. The prospect-ranked adventurer visibly flinched.
“It is often not wise to split the team up. We avoid that as much as possible,” Grifus calmly stated.
“Stay low,” Jeze ordered Zack, and the four crept, while wrapped in shadows, toward the small wooded area.
The small copse at the edge of the farmstead was dotted with the stumps of felled trees, evidence of recent lumberwork. The remaining trees were spaced out and the area was dark and filled with shadows.
“Should we get some light?” Zack suggested.
Jeze rolled her eyes. “If you are going to be a Scout, you need to be comfortable in the dark.”
“Stay still. Use your other senses. Listen and observe,” Grifus instructed.
The four crept further into the small grove. Jeze studied the ground but was unable to find many clues in the darkness. The sound of a twig snapping caused the group to freeze.
“There,” Zack whispered.
He has decent perception, Jeze conceded. The young man spotted the figure before she did. A deeper dark shape that walked on two legs shambled through the forest. It stepped on twigs and groped the trees as it moved about.
“Is that who we are looking for?” Zack asked.
Kalina replied, “No, but this is troubling news.”
“What is?” Zack asked.
“That’s not a vampire,” Grifus observed.
“How do you know?” Zack asked.
Jeze immediately recognized what she was looking at. “Vampires are more cunning. They wouldn’t wander about. What I want to know is what a zombie is doing out here?”
“Stronger vampires have the ability to turn those they slain into undead, but that process usually takes awhile,” Grifus explained.
“This is too quick. Do you suppose it is the Lich’s doing?” Kalina wondered.
“We need to alert the academy students right now!” Grifus declared.
The zombie’s head perked up at the sound of the instructor’s voice and clumsily charged them.
“Zack, dispatch it quickly!” Grifus ordered.
To the young man’s credit, he only hesitated for a brief moment before he stabbed the zombie through the chest with his sword. The undead’s arms flailed and grasped. Zack batted the clawing hands to the side with his buckler and finished the zombie off with a swipe of his blade.
“Good work, now go alert the others,” Grifus commanded.
Zack ran off as the others turned to face the barn. They watched the doors open and more zombies shuffled out.
“This is bad,” Jeze observed.
“We can not let the vampires get loose,” Grifus stated.
“Let’s link up with the other students and contain the undead to the barn,” Kalina suggested.
Grifus and Jeze nodded. This was a time for decisive action! Jeze bombarded the shambling zombies with boulders as the three ran to join the academy students on the other side of the embankment. Let’s just hope the vampires remain in the barn, Jeze thought. Because, if they got out, then the entire town of Giblet could be compromised.
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