Gargoyles

They followed Troan towards their next location, which was the "Dead Tree of the Hanged". A place where the gargoyles lived and huddled together. The tree was tall and can accommodate their numbers with a couple of hundreds. Branches stretched forth and were full of gargoyles.

They were hiding behind a tree large enough for the four of them. The fog was also helping them at the moment.

While they were sneaking, silent and cautious in every step, they went to stare at the numerous numbers of compacted monsters hanged on the said tree. They retreated to have a proper plan after their scouting.

"Troan, what's the plan? There's too many of them, like a couple hundred," asked Mark.

Thinking that they didn't know what to do, they went to ask someone more knowledgeable than them. Sendrick and Mikael didn't know what to do too and so they went staring at Troan, waiting for his reply. Troan paused but then answered.

"We have to lure one and kill it fast. We don't want the whole flock to get alerted," Troan said.

"Oh, then how should we do that? Without alerting them?" Sendrick asked.

"Hmmm, a fast and precise decapitation. Mark should be the one doing it with his two-handed weapon," Troan said then winked.

"Ah, I see. Your weapon is lacking in weight and is only good at speed," Mark replied.

"Yep, you are right. Mikael can also stun the enemy with a blow on the head with a two-handed hammer. Then I can kill it with a stab on the heart." Troan replied.

"Oh, I see, then we should lure one. How do we do that?" Mikael asked.

"We throw a pebble at one. Well, you see, gargoyles tend to be greedy. When they saw one prey, they would attack it alone, not wanting to share the food with the others.

"And there's an exception to the rule when all of them are alerted then begin to pray to survive. You might turn into a carcass and bones with their numbers," Troan replied.

Troan then went to sneak on the tree of the hanged. Not wanting to step on dried crisp sticks to alert them all, he was cautious in every step. Having a pebble in his hands, he threw one on a gargoyle and it woke up; shaking its head.

It saw him and then rotated its head upright. It saw him and smirked, producing a small critter in the process. Flapping its wings and flew towards him.

'There it is,'

Troan ran towards his comrades and was hasty. Not wanting to alert the other enemies, he was evading and prevented them from colliding with several trees.

Troan went running for several yards then Troan rolled and ducked. The enemy on his back. Mark appeared after hiding behind the tree and then slashed its head. Decapitating it on the process.

The body slammed on the ground full of leaves and it twitched several times after losing its life.

After it died, the crystal appeared and floated.

"Gargoyle's crystals boast a +10 Health, +10 Mana, +10 Stamina. We should harvest more," Troan said to them.

Others were excited to reap more crystals, thinking that it will make them stronger.

Troan repeated his sneaking and this time, Mikael was the one to smash his two-handed hammer on the head of the enemy. Troan rolled and the head was hammered by Mikael.

Bing!

Making it pass out immediately and went spiraling on its crash. Troan ran fast then stabbed its chest hastily and its blood oozed out. Ending its life, making its crystal float.

Troan wiped his sweat with the back of his hands and then let out a long sigh. He was running for several minutes up to currently. But his stamina was still up for the task, he was still energetic.

"We can do this while repeating the same process. I hope we will not have problems that we will face," Troan said to them while taking deep breaths.

Troan went again the third time and threw one pebble on one gargoyle. He flicked it towards one and then it landed on its forehead. While bouncing towards the other one, the two fought, and then they were all alerted. They struck several others and others were disturbed by their commotion.

It was then, that Troan stepped back a little, and then a crisp crackle was heard after he stepped on a branch. All enemies stared at him and they all stopped their bickering.

"Crap,"

Roar!

Their shout resounded in all vicinity and his comrades were alerted by what had gone wrong. Troan ran and then went evading their diving attacks.

One dived towards him and he rolled to the side then slicing the wings of one that seconded the attack. Crashing to the ground, he stabbed it immediately and ran. The crystal will appear later and it can wait. More enemies were coming.

"Guys! Hide while surprise attacks the others. I will try to kill as much as I can." Troan commanded.

"Sure!" They all said then brandished their weapons, holding them tighter.

With the enemy incoming, Mikael and Mark hide on the side of the tree. Waiting for the enemies to come and appear in their ambush. Troan ran and passed them and rolled to the side.

"Now!" Troan shouted.

They smashed and slashed the ones who passed on the tree and it landed on the ground. One was decapitated by Mark, one was hit on the head by Mikael and it crashed to the ground without getting back up. Others were dealt with mortal wounds and rib cages snapping. Spiraling while slamming on their backs.

Troan stabbed the ones who fell as fast as he could. Killing them in one fell swoop.

Others fell but others made out alive, flapping their wings while in the air, staring with a scowl. Their first plan worked but the enemy will not fall for it the second time around. They surrounded them with a dozen remaining.

Roar!

Multiple enemies dived toward them and then they assumed battle formation. Sendrick then played a great role. With his shield, he was struck by an enemy gargoyle and he was smashed to the ground with just the enemy's sheer weight.

He plummeted to the ground and was constantly assaulted by the gargoyle's fangs. Smelling its bad breath.

"Get it off me! Get it off me!" he shouted.

It was then, Troan stabbed its head from the back. Making it limp in the process. Blood spilled on him.

"Damn it! You could have killed me! Ew, the blood was on my mouth!" Sendrick shouted.

"Nah, it was not close to your face," Troan said.

It was then, that other enemies assaulted them. They fought with great endeavor. Having great morale made them on edge and displayed great prowess.

Troan was the bait as he sliced the divers' wings and they crashed to the ground. Evading their claws in the process.

Mikael too swings his hammer and snapped their necks as he smashed their heads with great precision. Mark too managed to slice enemies and dealt critical blows. Almost cleaving them apart in half.

"Ha!" They bellowed.

One dived and clawed Troan but he blocked it. Further sliding the sword then slashed the neck of the enemy in a flash. It then rolled to the ground while bleeding.

Troan then made the finishing blows and the enemies died while their blood was still warm. Blood spilled on the ground and their bodies disintegrated. Leaving numerous crystals on the ground.

"Whohoo! We did it! We destroyed them all!" Sendrick shouted.

"Haha, at least we survived," Troan scratched his head.

"The enemies were tougher with their huge numbers. I can't believe we survived!" Mark said to them then stabbed his sword on the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, let us collect the crystals now. We should hurry before the night comes." Mikael said to them.

They soon gathered the crystals and found good reaping. They gathered 22 crystals and divided the loot. Minus the 4 crystals needed for their mission, they have 18 to consume.

"Troan, you have the other 2 and we can have 4 each. You are the leader and the leader should be the strongest!" Mark said to him smiling.

"Thanks, guys!" Troan chuckled at them.

They soon broke the crystals and then felt stronger. Troan broke six of them and received a total of +60 Health points, +60 Mana points, and +60 Stamina points. Making him have a huge leap on his stats from before.