A smooth descend

After swiftly introducing himself, Jay directly passed Keeshan and took a look at their wounded companion. The wounds looked older, so at least Jay had made it in time to this fight.

He gave the man a (Heal) and a small one to the one he previously saved, then turned to the Corporal again.

The young man was grateful for Jay's help and that he even had taken up the help request. They both decided it would be best to camp the night up there, but extinguish the fire before more patrols came.

Sitting at the border of the plateau together while the other two men rested, Keeshan and Jay looked down onto the valley.

More and more fires lit up in the forest to the south-west and on the lush plains Jay had seen before in the northern most part of the valley.

There really were quite some Gnoll encampments left, at least seven from the fires visible.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Keeshan told Jay why he had even come there.

The Orc sightings had been one thing, but over the last days, more and more peddlers got attacked. All that got left were parts of the men's corpses and their wagons if they had one, but not a single female.

The Corporal had went to investigate as he had found it strange, but they got completely overwhelmed by the Gnolls once they had descended into the canyon. From his six men, the three Jay found was all that was left.

And Keeshan even had the feeling the Gnolls got more during the few day's they had hidden there.

With their rations depleted, they had caught two rabbits and wanted to roast them for the first time, but the fire had blown their cover. Thanks to that they had no more food, nearly no water and dearly needed to get out of there.

Jay gave the slightly long haired man one of his sandwiches. Thanks to storage bags being expensive but not too rare, this brought no suspicions but only a thankful smile.

Jay left him eating in silence and took a short nap as it was him that would take the second watch this night.

Lying down on a blanket under the open sky, Jay closed his eyes and went into a light sleep.

Though it wasn't for long, his (camping) skill helped him replenish his stamina with even this and so he got back up without problem when it was his shift.

Even after his night shift and another round of light sleep, there was not a single incident. Once everyone was up again, the four men packed their gear and made ready to descend into the canyon again.

Jay and Keeshan would defend them while the other two men, Ashlock and Cosley, would have to carry everything. They all kept as silent as they could.

While Jay had no problem for himself and even the Corporal would at least be able to flee, the other men could probably die if they got surrounded. But none of the scenarios Jay had painted out in his mind did actually manifest.

The group had no problem climbing down the steep slope from their hiding spot and reached the place where Jay first encountered Gnolls in the valley nearly an hour later.

On their way they only once met a patrol, but Jay took care of it while Keeshan guarded his men.

At the path leading out of the valley, Jay and the few survivors of their unit parted ways. During their trip out of the Gnoll infested area, the Corporal and Jay had agreed that latter would go back into the valley while the soldiers would go back to Althers Mill.

That was the most they could reach on foot with some wounded and their luggage.

Jay would later catch up with them when he was done. He had stated he wanted to search for the remaining men of his unit, though in truth he was after the XP and possible totem.

With this he saw them off until they were out of sight on the slope, then he jumped into a sprint himself.

Thanks to him cleaning the area the day before, not many patrols crossed his way until he reached one of the places where he had seen a fire last night.

To his misfortune the encampment had been deserted not too long ago as the fireplace was still slightly warm. Jay followed the footprints from there for a while until he reached a really big settlement.

Surrounded by mountain cliffs and big rock formations, the encampment was located in the northernmost west of the valley. From what he saw, Jay counted at least twenty tents and multiple fireplaces from the smoke rising. There even where guards posted around the open areas, so Jay pulled back a bit.

He had decided to first check the other places he had seen lights last night or if there possibly were other entrances to this valley.

Glad the rocks and greenery gave enough cover to proceed not too careful, Jay made his way into the forest area in the south. Of course he encountered a few patrols there, but not too many.

That went for the Camps as well.

Though the four he found over the next three hours were not deserted like the first, there still had been five Gnolls at most in them. Jay managed to kill off every monster without making much noise or dirtying himself.

Pretty much sure he had checked most of the forest but found nothing like another entrance, Jay made his way towards the big Gnoll settlement in the north about noon. His map from the system had been a big help in scouting around, as well as his mount once he had cleared the smaller camps.

After eating some fruits on his way, Jay was back at the same position like before, hiding behind a big rock formation while watching the Gnoll guards.

Done thinking about how to proceed, Jay went with the most brazen and least bloody strategy that came to his mind.

At least not bloody for him…

Summoning his Void Max for the first time in battle, Jay left his cover together with it and ordered the creature to attack the closest Gnoll.

Astonished by the force of Max' punches, Jay waited until it got attacked by another Gnoll and then a third. Seeing that his summon lost quite a bit of it's health, Jay began his assault as well.

In mere seconds the Gnolls died to his (Chain lightning)'s and (Soul drain). To his own surprise his attacks didn't harm Max at all but went around it, though Jay wouldn't have minded.

Once their opponents had died, Jay sent a bit of mana to his summon and saw how it's health rapidly filled up. Just about back at full health, Max rushed over to the next Gnoll that had already spotted them and come attacking as well. It got roasted well done by a slightly overcharged (Lightning) the next second though.

Thinking of the process being to slow after another pair of Gnolls found their smoking ends to him and his Void, Jay chose another spell next. He initially had wanted to level up [Air Magic], but the second encounter had already done the job. Like this he simply switched to clean up.

Three (Meteor LVL 2) charged with about a third of Jay's mana all together pretty much did the job.

He had Max shield him from possible attacks while casting, though all that had come flying had been splinters and body parts of killed Gnolls.

His chances to find the leftovers from Keeshan's unit might have dwindled with that, but it was still better than killing each and every Gnoll separately.

And that attack didn't mean Jay had eradicated the camp completely. There had been multiple tents erected under the surrounding mountains ledges, as well as some few shallow caves where his Meteors couldn't hit.

Of course even the Gnolls hiding there didn't come out unscathed as splinters and a part of the huge explosions had reached there as well.

Instead of being finished, Jay had managed to pull the attention of every single monster to himself and Max. The lightning show that followed cost him nearly another third of his mana, but in the end his pockets were filled with soul stones again and nearly no Gnoll left alive.

Well, even Max had taken a toll and got dispelled by the end, but it had defended it's master really well.

All that was left for Jay was a pack of four Gnolls that had come out of a tent in the back of the settlement. They got followed by a huge Gnoll, about the same size as the elite ones Jay had encountered in the ruins.

Walking a few steps towards them, Jay came into reach and analyzed the big one holding a great axe.

Like he had guessed, it was an elite monster called Ardo and at Level 25. The axe looked like it got looted from some human, rather than the crude ones Gnolls made themselves.

To speed things up a bit, Jay partially evened the numbers by having the first two other gnolls die to an arcane missile. Using the moment when the other three froze in shock for a second, Jay dashed over and loaded his fist with lightning.

Still crackling as Jay already went to encounter the others, a third Gnoll there ended dead on the ground. A fist sized hole had appeared where it's heart had once been.

Magic defense was like a foreign word to Gnolls, something Jay had found out quite some time ago.

At the same time their strength and ferociousness made them hard to fight for most Adventurers. That was something he had seen with his own eyes and also did just then. Ardo hadn't flinched again and directly come attacking.

Only thanks to Jay's high stats did he managed to dodge the axe that got brought down on him. Seeing the chance, he even packed a punch on the monsters flank. It was neither magically loaded or boosted, so the damage was negligible.

But Jay knew from this that while powerful, the elite Gnoll was not his match in the slightest as it was way too slow.

For the next swing of his opponents axe, Jay simply stepped back. He noticed the last remaining normal Gnoll quietly sneaking behind him while Ardo once again got ready for another wide swung attack. Taking this perfect chance, Jay stepped back a little bit more.

The moment the elite Gnoll started it's attack, Jay spun around and made two steps towards the irritated Gnoll standing there. It had it's very simple daggers at the ready but failed to react in time.

Jay grabbed one of it's furry arms and pulled it so the Gnoll got hurled behind him while spinning around once..

Accompanied by a splattering and crushing sound, Jay saw Ardo's axe penetrated the poor Gnoll he had tossed there. There was no chance it could have survived that, but the best thing for Jay was:

It's axe was bound to be stuck for a few seconds.

Using this chance, Jay dashed forwards and the moment he reached next to the elite Gnoll which was still trying to free his axe, he stuck a lightning fist with full power to it's unguarded flank.

About to gift it a follow up kick, Jay's vision got blocked by a notification through which's semi transparent background he could barely see his huge opponent collapse while lightning still crackled along it's corpse.

***

Quest:

'Corporal Keeshan (3)' cleared!

Fulfill the Corporal's duty in securing the northern pass

3850 XP

***

It was the latest step of the small quest line he had received once he accepted to search for the Corporal. It appeared shortly before he parted with the men, probably after he had promised to Keeshan that he would get rid of the Gnoll's threat.

As the System seemingly had deemed Ardo responsible for the attacks on peddlers, Jay had cleared this task the moment it died. That the notification appeared in his field of view also meant the fight had been over.

As he closed it, a second one appeared, informing Jay that the fourth part would be bringing the survivors back to Stillwater and deliver a report.

With his promise fulfilled, Jay first checked on the defeated Gnolls. Other than Ardo's axe there was nothing of worth to him and even that one was only of good quality but no more.

Jay left the corpses as they were and first of all went to check the tent the Gnolls had come out from.

Prepared to once again find a scene he wouldn't have wanted to see, Jay got slightly surprised it was only food lying around in the small and messy space.

The food was of course one of the soldiers they had attacked and killed previously. Jay looked at the leftovers and found a small badge, not at the bloody corpse but the ripped off uniform.

What had really surprised Jay was not the soldier he found though, but what he saw to the other open side of the tent.

Behind it was a slight descended into the wide but shallow alcove under the cliff bordering to settlement. Some wooden wagons, crates and boxes were stored there, hinting Jay how much these monsters had collected over the last days and weeks.

And in the middle of the open place there stood what Jay had guessed he would find there. The totem flickered in a purplish glow that was visible even in daylight. With every pulse coming from it, even Jay noticed his urges and carnal desires rise.

Swiftly striding down the slope, Jay grabbed the wooden artifact and stored it in his inventory.

He was thinking to do the same with all the goods there, but then decided it was best to only check on them and take the most valuable things. After all, if anyone would later come to check, there needed to be evidence he had reported truthfully.

The only thing s of worth he found were some pouches with coins, a bit of good cloth and other materials and a bit of jewelry. Any weapons or nice food had most certainly already been taken by the Gnolls, so Jay went back to the central area of the settlement and from there checked on what was left of it.

After nearly twenty minutes he was done searching all over the camp.

It wasn't much Jay found there aside from a few usable weapons ant two still surviving to that point Gnolls. Other than that, the only notable finds were the leftovers, or more precisely the torn uniform of another soldier, and a slightly bigger tent ant the far west that was left only half standing.

Even upon entering Jay smelled what kind of place it had been. In there he also found the last soldier of Keeshan's unit. Though Jay hadn't realized it before, it had been a woman that he then found dead and defiled between a few others. He only noticed this as she still wore parts of the soldiers uniform.

Glad that, from what he saw, it at least hadn't been his magic that killed them, Jay counted all together six women in there. He wasn't sure from the state he had found them in, but decided he didn't need to even think about it. Not lingering around for a second longer than necessary he incinerated the whole tent the moment he left it.

Still trying to forget what he had seen, Jay walked out of the settlement while keeping his eyes open for something of worth. In the end he didn't find anything but also hadn't thought back at what he had seen.

After gaining some distance from the battlefield, Jay summoned his mount and rode back towards the entrance to this valley.

On his way there, not a single Gnoll crossed his path. They either had become too cautious of him or he really had killed them off to the last one, though he doubted latter.

Still glad it went without incident, Jay soon reached the road up the slope and continued down towards Alters Mill. During his descent towards the appointed meeting spot it continuously got darker already. About the time he entered the vicinity of the small settlement it had become evening.

The soldiers and workers still spotted him and welcomed him the moment he was withing reach.

Afterwards when the chance presented itself, Jay took the Corporal to the side and told him what he had found. The man thanked him, though visibly shaken from the news and went to explain it to his subordinates who had recovered quite a bit.

In the end, the group got invited and decided to stay at Althers Mill for the night as the way back to Stillwater would have been to long either way.

After a simple meal, they sat together with some of the workers and Jay opened a few bottles of rum he had in his inventory.

Of course he told the men he had found them in the Gnoll camp, though none of the men would have remembered the next day anyways...