A green track

Riding north the same way Jay had taken the day before, it took him an hour to arrive in the territory of the Gnolls.

He had gotten this information from Captain McBride's aide in the morning like she had been instructed to. The plain young woman even offered to guide him after she brought Lily to the town, but Jay declined.

The help would have been appreciated by him, but he wanted to hurry.

Who knew what could happen to the population of Gnolls and how they would evolve.

After all that Jay witnessed until now he had to make haste or the whole region might be in danger.

He had rode on for just about five minutes when noises of a fight got audible. Dismounting and storing the not so discrete horse, Jay rushed forward to find a group of bandits fighting against a small horde of Gnolls.

The monsters had the higher count as only three male bandits and a single female bandit were alive.

The group had tried to flee with a couple of tries as Jay watched the show while hiding. Their efforts proved useless and they even lost one member in the course of events.

A rather unfortunate death as he wasn't even dead after the makeshift spear had struck the mans flank and three Gnolls rushed in.

They tore his flesh with their fangs and chewed on him while he was still alive.

Even the remnants of their group that had died earlier seemed to be better off.

At least their corpses seemed to be intact for the most part, as far as Jay could see from his hiding spot.

What would happen to them was a totally different story though. From what he heard, Gnolls were omnivores, humans included.

With their party balance broken as their front-liner died, the rest of the party followed him not a minute later.

Only the woman remained and it seemed the Gnolls had spared her. After the tall and burly humanoid monsters broke down their encirclement on her, she was bound tight to a thick stem and got carried by two of those hyenas.

Most of the dead bandits got pulled by the rest of the Gnolls towards the north.

Following their track through the lush green forest in not too much distance, Jay was glad they really never had south-wind in this region.

The red tracks the Gnolls left for him on the fresh undergrowth would have given him some leeway to keep a safe distance, but Jay was sure, this way he wouldn't have to worry for traps and scouts.

After over an hour on foot, the path through the green widened and a crude wooden wall made of stakes was to be seen.

Standing behind one of the last trees to the open space, Jay watched the small horde enter while passing two lookouts. The encampment only held three tents so he concluded the real lair was inside the cave further in the back.

Rubbing his hands while grinning, Jay was happy.

It was time for some bloody action again.

With no hostages to save or possible witnesses, Jay would see to get as much experience points out of this as possible.

The amount from the last day and night wasn't that bad, but exterminating a whole tribe was bound to wield profit.

Walking out of his covert, Jay took out his Wingblade and cast a overcharged chain lightning.

To his surprise he roasted the first lookout instantly while the second lost most of his health and got stunned.

Arriving there, Jay ended this first let down of a opening fight with a stab through the monsters heart.

After incinerating the three tents with fireballs and alarming the remaining Gnolls in front of the cave, he finally got a real fight.

Since his last encounter with this kind of humanoid monsters, Jay had gotten quite the boost to his stats.

Even his recently updated Jobs had gained levels from his activities yesterday, though only two each.

After dispatching of the first two Gnolls that simply charged for him with a practiced slash of his Wingblade, Jay activated his latest skills.

The (Mana Shield) was just for safety's sake, while the skill he was really waiting to test out was another one.

On his way to Eastvale he finally had the chance to concentrate on [Wield Magic LVL1]. The result was two fast chargeable spells he learned.

The first was (Wield Element: Fire LVL1) that could give the Fires attributes to a Weapon it was casted on for three charges.

Jay decided to test and level it up, just to see what the next levels would bring him. The mana expenditure was low, especially to him, so he was going to keep it up.

The second spell was something he couldn't predict if it was of any use at all.

Called (Magic Strengthening LVL1), the skill was instant cast and for the cost of 7 Mana a second it boosted the strength and agility by 10%.

It circulated the casters mana through his muscles and bones while copying their movements and enhancing them.

Though ten percent seemed very little, to a guy with most of his stats over eighty, this meant a lot.

And his next attack proved this right, as this time he repeated the same move he used on the last two Gnolls.

This last attack had left deep cuts on the flanks of the monsters, but with his boosted stats and enchanted weapon, he simply cleaved through.

Glad the flames seemed to also cauterize the wounds as not much blood sprayed, Jay moved on to his three last remaining victims.

One of those stupid hyenas presented him the perfect chance to test out the effect of the charged weapon.

Stopping his magic strengthening he rushed in on the equally charging monster, repeating once again the ducked slash he did the last two times.

The cut was cauterized and deeper this time, but he couldn't cut through completely.

Storing his blade, Jay went to test one last thing. The remaining monsters had turned tail and were running for the cave, but Jay could cut in on their way just some feet in front of the cave.

With his strengthening still deactivated he attacked the right Gnoll with a crescent kick. Slumping down from the sheer force and rolling over the ground, the monster got knocked out for a short while.

The second opponent, who had stood a little behind the first was not so fortunate. Having reactivated his new skill again, Jay kicked it in the exact same fashion.

This time the monster got blown to the side for three yards when its feet hit the first Gnoll in this test.

As the inertia was still high it shifted position midair and crashed headfirst into the stones next to the cave entrance.

The difference of only nine points was massive.

Now Jay understood for the first time what his starting stats meant and how overpowered he had been in this lower levels.

If he wanted to keep this bonus, he would have to start grinding status points and jobs for real.

Latter had given him a massive boost as even the level one jobs of second tier had granted him higher bonuses than the maximized first tiers.

Walking over to the knocked out Gnoll, he grabbed one of its hind legs.

With activated strengthening he pulled on it and hurled the over 150 pound heavy hyena through the air.

Testing it without the magic he had to give it all to replicate the move.

Repeating it again with the magic strengthening, Jay crashed its head against the top of the caves entrance.

Glad he was already standing inside the cave, he watched the headless Gnoll fly further inside.

Its head had exploded upon contact while painting the stones above the cave red, resulting in a red rain at the entrance.

After walking on through a passage, Jay reached a wider cave where around twenty Gnolls were preparing their food. The smell of blood and innards, as well as rotten flesh lingered everywhere.

Combined with the sight of multiple mutilated corpses of beasts as well as humans, Jay was hard pressed not puking.

Not risking a cave fire, but also averse to fight those blood smeared and stinking monsters in close combat, Jay went with earth magic.

Casting (stone shards) consecutive he felt like a walking turret.

After he reached the end of the cave it was impossible to tell one creature from another. The whole floor was painted red, as well as the walls and body parts lay all over.

As even Jay's mana reserves weren't unlimited and his actions until then took quite a big heap, he switched back to direct combat afterwards.

That wasn't much of an issue, as the only fight was with a patrol consisting of two Gnolls equipped with a bow.

Though they both were level twelve creatures, they weren't good at close combat and confined in the tunnel they met.

The big surprise came after Jay arrived at the next cave.

Or rather next place since there was no ceiling over this vast space.

Down a small slope, at the bottom of this canyon, were dozens of crude tents.

The population of Gnolls was bigger than he had thought possible and it was a wonder they didn't attack Eastvale directly.

Even only there, Jay could have counted over forty monsters ready for combat.

There seemed to be some creature with brains keeping them from rushing as something like this would normally be impossible.

Cracking his knuckles he went down the slope to earn himself some experience points.

.

.

.

Thirty minutes later Jay stood, again blood smeared and a little out of breath, at the end of the valley.

It had been a while since he could go all out with his martial arts, so he had taken the chance and cracked some skulls. The result was a demolished valley with lots of dead Gnolls in varying sizes.

Walking further after he caught some breath, Jay entered another tunnel.

It took him not long to reach the first cave and inside he found the group he had followed to their lair.

Some of them had kept their slain bandits or a part of them as snacks.

The two biggest of the group were no where to be seen, but some more monsters had mingled with the rest of the group.

As his mana reserves had replenished for a bit, he started his rapid fire again.

This time he had to stop midway as he wanted to keep at least a quarter of his magic for reserve. But his fists and the still charged Wingblade were more than enough for this level of opponents.

The last one wanted to flee deeper inside the cave but Jay barely managed to throw his dagger into the back of its head.

This way he at least knew which of the two tunnels he had to take.

Had he known where it would lead to, Jay would have simply laid a fire or caused a cave in.

The noises he heard as he closed in on the adjoining cave had let him know what to expect.

Turning around the corner after he ascended a slope he saw it.

The Gnolls there where humping on each other like crazy.

Jay just hoped that at least some of them were females, but he couldn't tell. The female bandit that got caught was also getting worked on, as well as another woman that looked barely alive.

She wore the tattered remnants of the cultists robes, so Jay held no sympathy.

The last one that was not a hyena like humanoid was a Murlock. A freaking fish was getting humped by a Gnoll.

The cave was not that high and also not too big.

With only one exit Jay decided it would be best to use some of his remaining mana to end this horrendous display of vulgarity.

He went with the first idea he had as even if there was a cave in, he would have long left this place.

After casting a firewall right in front of him, he shot two fireballs onto the targets he marked before.

With the Yetimus Maximus he had taken in his hands after a long time, he waited in front of the firewall, casting yet another fireball.

Just after the spell flew through the firewall and incinerated its target, a big Gnoll jumped through the fire.

Hitting it with his giant hammer, Jay shot the monster back through the flame wall.

The same repeated itself two more times and each time the Gnoll appearing looked more burnt.

Jay had to replace the fiery curtain three times when the duration of the spell ended.

As the screams and wails behind the firewall ceased he got the notifications of 32 kills.

With this, he knew he had cleaned the cave and didn't even need to look at it. Glad the fire didn't cause a cave in or took to much oxygen, he turned around and left the passage he was in.

His theory of magic fire not causing smoke proved right as the molecular movement was directly affected without requiring a combustible substance or catalyst.

That was the reason he even tried what he did.

Only the creatures and whatever items had been in the cave caused smoke to appear. Thanks to the slope downwards the smoke didn't flow towards Jay as the firewall ceased to seal the cave.

The whole process had taken only some minutes.

Back in the last cave he was in, Jay turned to the other tunnel and walked in.

His intuition had told him he was being watched but even after scanning the whole cave he didn't find anything.

Walking along the passage slightly downwards he saw what he feared.

From his orientation he was sure he found himself in a cave under the one he burned down.

The totem they all feared had caused this mess, stood in the middle of the small room, pulsating in yet another colored enchantment.

The purplish pink glow illuminated the cave, as Jay saw a massive figure appearing at the opposite side.

The Gnoll he was facing was huge, damn huge and had a much darker fur than the rest. Analyzing it revealed the opponent to be a rare named monster.

__________

Fedfennel [lvl. 15]

(Gnoll)

HP 357/357 Mana 20/20

[Nimble Reflexes LVL1]

__________

Without taking chances, Jay offered his last remaining mana for a few seconds of boost and activated his magic strengthening.

Appearing before the Gnoll in a flash he punched at its unguarded flank.

To his surprise the close to eight feet tall creature shifted it's balance, so he only grazed its skin.

But the sweeping kick that followed was to fast for the monster to dodge and it crashed to the ground with its strong legs hovering midair.

From this, its defense was broken and Jay had no problem using a slash with his Wingblade.

Though he couldn't behead it in one strike, it still was a critical hit that ended the leader of this lair.

Picking up the totem and storing it, Jay took a peek to where Fedfennel came from.

He wasn't sure at first, fearing he had to see something like up in the cave, but to his surprise it was something different.

Though there was a bedding that looked overly sullied, no other Gnolls or other females were to be seen.

Instead it looked like a poor treasury.

Cooking ware and miscellaneous items, as well as ores and other small materials were littered over the ground.

A few simple weapons and armors, as well as bags and pouches had been in the mix as well.

It all looked like what one would get if he looted some adventurers and bandits.

Jay guessed the axe Fedfennel had been holding also came from this.

Without discerning he looted everything into his Inventory.

He had yet to find out its maximum capacity and there would be a time when he could sort out the trash he looted. He hadn't even checked the skills and spells he learned the last day, so this would have to wait even more.

Without looking back, Jay left this deepest cave and walked back through the lair.

He had spent nearly all of his meager leftover mana in this last fight.

Killing more than a hundred Gnolls of varying strength with different methods had worn even him out.

Passing the valley where only half of the tents still stood, he looked around again.

The feeling of being watched had resurfaced.

But even after checking his surroundings, even looking at some piles of corpses he found nothing.

Passing the first cave after ascending the steep slope in the valley, Jay was glad to walk out of the lair and back to the forest.

Just as he left the tunnel to the den he spotted something behind the shooting targets.

They stood far to the right of the caves entrance and he hadn't even noticed them as he walked in earlier.

Stepping back and hiding in the cave, Jay watched the creature revealing itself.

It was a small green humanoid.

He first thought it was a Goblin, but considering the size of the practice target, Jay guessed it to be a bit taller.

Curious as to what a Greenskin had to do with the Gnolls, he waited in his hiding spot.

After ten long minutes the small person left the spot behind the wooden construction. This was his chance to use [Analyze] as she looked around.

__________

Sira Thief lvl. 20

(Hobgoblin)

[Bribing lvl.2]

[Offroad lvl.2]

[Throwing lvl.2]

[Trickery lvl.1]

[concealment lvl.2]

__________

Without warning the female Hobgoblin dashed towards the tree line.

Jay hasted after her while trying to stay covered.

Runnig along another track through the forest than he used following the Gnolls, Jay had a hard time following the petite Greenskin.

It wasn't only his depleted stamina.

She was fast.