39 The Forest 2

Teo was making good progress, and the voices became increasingly more distinct. He could even make out the occasional ringing of colliding metal now.

He was close.

After a few more minutes, he was approaching a relatively bright clearing, illuminated by the fading afternoon sun; he would need to get even closer to see anything, though.

'Careful now. I can sense some pretty strong Magic Waves spreading out from over there. Maybe we should go back before we end up tangled in this mess,' Goliath advised in his usual melodic voice.

'I just want to take a peek real quick. We are downwind from the clearing, and I don't think anyone has noticed us yet,' Teo said unconvinced.

Curiosity was a force to be reckoned with, and as long as he did not forget to prioritize his safety, they would probably be fine. After all, judging from the noise, whoever was in that clearing

As stealthily as he could, Teo slowly crawled forward and used the abundant underbrush as cover. When he finally reached the edge of the clearing, he almost couldn't believe his eyes. 

Three tall men were standing some distance away, another two lay motionless on the ground, and a huge, black hound stood opposite them, staring maliciously at the group of humans with anger burning in its red eyes.

The beast stood over a meter tall and was at least three times as long; dark miasma swirled around it, and saliva dripped from its curved fangs — this was definitely no ordinary wolf.

'Please tell me you know what that is?' Teo asked his partner in a slightly worried fashion.

'If you had spent more time in the library, I would not even have to tell you,' Goliath complained, but quickly delivered a satisfying answer nonetheless:

'That's a Barghest, a low-level Magical Beast.'

'A Magical Beast?!' Teo was shocked. Of course, it did not look like any animal he had ever seen, but what was a Magical Beast doing this close to the city? 

'They use Darkness Magic to conceal themselves as well as to supplement their physical attacks. They are quite abundant deeper in the forest. Still, it is truly inconceivable to find an adult one so close to the edge of the forest,' Goliath explained in his soothing voice, uncaring for Teo's shocked expression.

Letting Goliath copy almost the whole family library had proven to be an excellent idea, even if it had taken up a considerable amount of time. Scanning an entire book took him barely a minute, yet this could still amount to a lot when several thousand books were taken into account.

Teo's attention was entirely focused on the Barghest now, as it savagely jumped at one of the adventurers and knocked him back. Both sides seemed to be heavily wounded, but the beast still had the upper hand.

None of the adventurers used Magic, but all seemed extremely skilled with whatever weapon they used, and they somehow managed to keep the beast at bay. For now. The two dead bodies lying near the center of the clearing spoke volumes about the sacrifices this battle had already demanded.

Teo closely watched the confrontation with great interest and quickly noticed, that the beast was behaving slightly odd.

Even though it seemed to wield the advantage, it did not act as aggressively as it could have, choosing to fall back to the same point again and again, instead of pressing forward to slaughter the human offenders.

Further observation also revealed the likely reason for this behavior — it was trying to protect something.

When the Barghest pounced on the nearest adventurer again and was intercepted by a huge shield, Teo could see something small and golden-colored laying in the grass behind it.

It looked very fluffy, and from its stocky body grew four limb-like protrusions. The golden fluffball seemed to struggle in an attempt to get away, yet it was connected to the ground through a brown vine and could only move in a small circle around the point where it was anchored.

'Isn't that... a Scythian lamb?!' Teo exclaimed astonished over their mind-link.

'It sure looks like one,' Goliath assessed emotionlessly.

'Aren't they supposed to only grow in the heart of the forest, where the Magic is strongest?' Teo tried again, hoping to get a more useful answer or at least a proper reaction out of his walking library.

'Supposed to, yes. But apparently, no. This would explain what a Magical Beast is doing here, however. Normally a low-rank Magical Beast like this would not be able to compete for such nutritious prey.'

This explanation cleared a lot of Teo's doubts and made his eyes burn with desire. This one was considered a very rare herb, and he would not get another chance to snatch another one anytime soon.

'So, if we are not leaving, shouldn't we help those adventurers or something?' Goliath queried, trying to understand Teo's motive for hiding on the sidelines like this.

'Just a bit longer, I think they will give up and run soon,' Teo replied hesitatingly and continued to observe the battle going on in the clearing.

The group of adventurers were using a basic combat formation and seemed to each specialize in a different role: attacking, tanking, cutting, blunt attacks —initially, they even had a ranger with them— a healthy setup for a small party like this. Yet they had bitten off more than they could chew and were hopelessly overpowered by their feral opponent, something that not even excellent teamwork could change.

It did not take long for the situation to escalate further. While the group was trying to retreat from the clearing and escape into the forest, their shield-bearing defender stumbled over a thick root and fell to the ground. A fatal mistake. Not for him, though, as the large tower shield protected him even in this embarrassing position, but his teammates were left unprotected in the meantime.

Not letting the sudden opportunity slip through its claws, the canine beast dashed towards the next best target, a slender man who wielded a long spear, and pushed its unexpecting victim to the ground effortlessly. With a swift motion, it ripped out his throat before anyone could react to the sudden development. Fresh blood sprayed everywhere.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.webnovel.com for visiting.

"JEAN! Damn it! We need to get out of here! NOW!" a tall man with a thin mustache shouted, his voice audibly laced with fear.

Teo averted his eyes and looked to the ground. His vision was shaking, and a suffocating feeling of sickness rose up from his stomach. He had done it again. He could have helped them, but… who could expect a sudden twist of fate like this?! They had almost successfully retreated after all, but… No!

Teo forcefully shut his eyes and bit his lower lip until a slight trickle of blood flowed from his mouth, then he took a deep breath and opened his eyes again, determination evident in them. Why should he care about them? He did not lead them into this situation! It was different.

The omnipresence of brutality and death only served to remind him of his morbid fears and the only solution to it all. If he were just strong enough, he would not have to see his loved ones suffer. Never again. He would be the hound and not the prey.

From a young age, he had always believed himself to be favored by fate, destined for success. His experiences so far only substantiated this further, but lately, this had changed. Did he really want to depend on chance? On something so ephemeral? If he were just powerful enough, no one would dare steal from him again, his happiness, his friends, his family. No villain, and not even fate itself, would be able to touch them.

After wrestling with his feelings for a short moment, Teo looked up into the clearing again, just in time to see the remaining two men escape into the forest. They were in quite a bad shape as they stumbled into the woods, supporting each other, but they were alive.

In fact, they could be described as very fortunate with even this result. Their small group looked pretty experienced, yet bandits and wild animals were all they had

Groups like this often formed spontaneously in the major cities around resource-rich regions and mostly served to provide a steady stream of herbs and rare ores to the various consumers around the urban areas. In essence, they were not prepared to take on such a vicious opponent.

The irritating humans taken care of, the beast could have focused, or rather, feasted on its hard-earned prize, yet it did not drop its guard. Its blood-red eyes focused on a point near the edge of the clearing as it slowly turned its massive body.

It stared directly at Teo.

"Tch!" Teo clicked his tongue in annoyance and wiped the small smudge of fresh blood from his lips.