Monster Hunting 401: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure by Andrew Karevik (book suggestions .TXT) 📗

“Your guess is as good as mine, but we can’t start causing trouble just yet,” I said. I let out a shaky laugh. “Trig, I think we found something huge. Something bigger than we could have possibly imagined.”

“I think you’re reading too much into it. Chances are, the monsters spawn in pods and maybe they all come from the same uh…whatever makes monsters. Spore? Seed? And it could be just random what kind of monster comes out. You know how a mom doesn’t know if she’s having a boy or a girl? Maybe a mom monster doesn’t know if it’s having a Kinru or a Titan.”

“Do you honestly believe that?” I asked.

Trig put both hands up in the air. Little Hig sat up in the young man’s hair and did the exact same gesture. “I’ve got no clue, but we can’t just make wild leaps to conclusions just yet. We’ve never seen monsters reproduce. So maybe they lay eggs in the dark jungle and then move on. Or, it could be possible something is breeding them. But let me remind you of something real quick. We’re Venators, not scientists. Our job isn’t to analyze breeding habits. Our job is to kill those bastards before they can kill our own people. So I say we go back there and start squashing those eggs before they can hatch more horrors.”

He had a good point. There were a lot of unknown variables here. But would attacking the eggs cause them to hatch early? That Fitzon had popped out fully grown and seemed to have no trouble moving. If we started breaking eggs, a small army might emerge to kill us.

“How big of an explosion can you make with those grenades?” I asked. “If we’re going to go the destruction route, we have to be fast and efficient. I have breach arrows that can help blast the area, but there were thousands of eggs in that cluster.”

“An explosive that big would take a lot of resources we don’t quite have at the moment,” Trig replied. Something caught his eye and he glanced behind me. “Maybe we should ask them?”

I turned around to see a small group of humans standing near the fire pit. They were regular people, just like Trig and I, though they were so pale their skin looked almost pink. One man was standing at the forefront, wearing heavy metal armor and a helmet that covered the entirety of his head, except for his mouth. What was curious about this man’s armor was that the neck joints connecting to the helmet had keyholes in them, indicating the helmet was locked in place. What a strange feature.

Behind the armored man were a few shorter men and women, armed with torches of their own, though the torches glowed with a green pallor. They looked surprised to see us, almost as surprised as we were to see them.

“We’re friendly,” I said, taking a step forward, raising my hands to show they were empty.

“Forget about friendly,” the armored man demanded. “How are you two still alive?”

“We make it a habit of killing monsters,” Trig growled. “And anything else that tries to take us down.” Little Hig growled as well, making sounds for the very first time. Either the monkey didn’t care for these people or he was just picking up on his master’s own energies.

“Easy,” I whispered. “No need to escalate things.”

“Something’s off here,” Trig replied, his eyes narrow. “I got a really funny feeling here.”

I shrugged at that and spoke up to the strangers who watched us from a distance. “We are outsiders who hunt monsters. Our business has taken us into the Shadewood.”

The armored man slowly nodded. “The fog fears you. The orange flame you bear keeps it at bay. But…you reveal yourselves with such a power. The green fire we hold protects us from the darkness, yet it cannot be seen by the beast that lurks in the shadows.”

“What beast?” I asked. I still could not sense anything in particular lurking about. Only the occasional movements of some foul creature in the distance. But even those monsters seemed wary about attacking us right now.

“That which lurks in the shadow. Which consumes those without fire or light,” the armored man said. “We dare not name it, for fear of calling it forth.” He raised his green torch. “You would do well to come with us to our village. We shall teach you the secrets to making the green flame and in return, you shall aid us with a most troublesome creature. One that threatens our very existence.”

I felt a surge of relief run through me. A village? Green fire that hid us from the shadow beast? This was music to my ears. If anything, being in the company of people who knew what was going on would reassure us. Perhaps we could even learn what they knew about that hatchery of sorts.

Trig put a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t think I’m a naysayer for no reason,” he hissed. “But something tells me there’s more to these people than meets the eye. I got a bad feeling and trust me, I know trouble when I see it.”

I frowned and looked at my comrade, nodding. I trusted his instincts and his judgment. But at the same time, we couldn’t just let this opportunity pass us by. “Stay on your guard then. If they try anything, consider your weapons free.”

“I’d rather we not go at all. I mean come on, why would total strangers offer us shelter? Generosity is not a trait of a survivor,” he argued.

“No, but desperation is,” I replied. “And unfortunately, we’re not in a position to be choosy with who our company is. We have too many questions and nothing close to an answer. So…either you come with me or you hang back and scout things out on your own.”

“The fire’s going to ruin any of my stealth abilities,” he grumbled. “We stay together at all times, okay?