Zectas Volume III: Malediction of Veneficatl Valley (15 page)

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In the past few weeks, Sierra had searched through the near areas around Repormatl. She found no tracks of any werewolves near the area.
However, she had a gut feeling that she could find some of them in the eastern caves of Bien Cache. She simply followed the path of the forests that had lesser monsters.
Sierra assembled a formidable party. All twenty-six of them were divided equally between Laernea and Gandiva. They had super-sized carriages.
She needed this specific party because the levels of the monsters near the caves were already in their middle hundreds.
Yet despite this, there was another reason. Sierra wanted to remove the latest scariest addition to Verbrannt. The Tikbalangs had an appearance that took a while to get used to.
After weeks of searching, they finally reached the last forest before the caves.

Inside the forest, they found a family of six bison-like creatures. These monsters had a body length of 2.7 meters. The monster was massive, but Sierra was attracted to the horns. Its bronze horns had an antique feel about them.
One of the bison-like creatures ran towards Sierra's party while the rest of the five bisons ran to the opposite side. Sierra was about to give the command to attack, but Ledur had already ordered four Tikbalangs to meet the beast.
One by one the Tikbalangs dealt a painful blow of 15,000 each. After each Tikbalang finished its attack, it attached itself to the charging monster and started to slow it down.
The monster's life bar and name appeared, ancient bison (190,000/250,000 HP). When all four Tikbalangs finished their attack, the ancient bison stopped dead on its track.
The Tikbalangs jumped on the halted beast and ripped it to shreds. It didn't take them ten seconds to finish the beast off.
Further into the forest, they found a herd of twenty wild war elephants. The herd had fifteen adults and five calves. Sierra remembered Smoke talking about these expensive mounts, and she planned on getting one of them.
Sierra gave the instructions to Sharur, Jinggu, Laernea, Gandiva, and Ledur. She told them about her plan, and she explicitly asked for Ledur to stay within her plan.
They formed a circle around one of the younger war elephants. Before Sierra could give her order, a pack of rabid werewolves came and attacked the herd of war elephants head on.
BAARRRAAAAG!
The war elephants' pack leader trumpeted loudly and warned its entire herd. It rampaged against the werewolves. Sierra's Advance Level 3 Animal Instinct ability informed her that there were fifty werewolves within the area.
Sierra ordered her members to stay hidden. She hoped that the werewolves' deep focus on the war elephants would ignore their presence.
As the matured elephants faced the werewolves, the war elephant calves were left unattended except for a sole adult war elephant which guarded them.
Forty werewolves distracted the adult herd, while ten werewolves bypassed the adults and went straight for the last war elephant that stood between them and the calves.
The ten werewolves overwhelmed the sole war elephant with their incredibly fast Agility. This allowed the werewolves to attack the war elephant with their claws without getting damaged.
The war elephant's life bar appeared (220,000/450,000 HP). Two more rounds of the same attack pattern and the werewolves killed the creature.
Each one of the werewolves carried an elephant calf over their shoulders, while the remaining five severed the body parts of the killed war elephant and carried a big chunk.
Sierra's amazement over the werewolves grew. Not only were they fast, but they had notable strength as well. She resumed her attention on the battle of the adult war elephants and the pack of werewolves.
Most of the werewolves divided into three and fought against one war elephant, but only the two largest werewolves fought against the pack leader of the war elephants.
Unlike the normal sized werewolves, these two did not dodge the attacks of the war elephant. When the alpha war elephant struck them with its trunk, they were pushed back as they caught it with their bare hands.
The two werewolves' life bars and names were revealed, Rear (210,208/250,000 HP) and Phen (215,198/250,000 HP). The two of them simultaneously countered the war elephant with a slash to the war elephant's nose and check.
This time, it was the war elephant's life bar and name that was displayed Leplusdur (720,000/800,000 HP). The two werewolves barely made a dent against the war elephant's pack leader.
Yet despite this fact, Leplusdur ignored the two werewolves and went after the ten werewolves who were carrying the elephant calves.
The werewolves faced against the war elephants began their retreat. Sierra knew that if she didn't do anything now, there would be no other chance.
As the war elephants followed their young, the werewolves strategically went their separate way. Yet, before the two werewolves could completely escape two silver bolts knocked the two werewolves back.
Sierra gave the order for Sharur and Jinggu to stun her targeted werewolves. Both of the lycanthropes winced in pain and searched for the source of the bolts.
When Rear and Phen turned around, the werewolves found themselves surrounded by unknown horse faced monsters. Ledur promptly threw a huge metallic chain over them and caught them.
The red werebear calmy walked over to them, and placed her palms over their heads. She then used her active ability, Lycanthrope Control.
A bright yellow light enveloped all three of them and Sierra read the message notification.

Immediately, she wanted to try out her control over them. "Phen, Rear, come here." The two largest werewolves in the pack followed her command, and bowed down in front of her.
The red werebear ordered Laernea and Gandiva to track the trail that the werewolves left. She wanted to rally more of them and increase her own Lycan army.
 

Sierra laid down on a grassy field outside the edge of a forest. Her eyes fixated on the night sky above. She wore a meaningful smile on her werebear face.
A starry sky coupled with a yellow moon reminded her of something intimate. She half-expectantly waited for a meteor shower to suddenly appear, but it never did.
Two large werewolves with furs of black and gray stood at a height of 2.8 meters. Both of them stationed at the edge of the forest. From afar, they silently stood guard over their Alpha.
Rear, the black female werewolf, specialized in stealth whereas Phen, the gray male werewolf, focused on fending off attacks. The two werewolves remained vigilant, as this area was within the territory of their werewolf pack.
Under Sierra's orders, Laernea and Gandiva led the party to a forest three kilometers away from the werewolves' den. Here, in Lapitna Forest, Sierra decided to hold their vantage point.
Despite her newly acquired Lycan subordinates, thoughts about her time in the real world kept running through her mind. She thought it wise to gather some time away from her men and process what she was feeling.
'Smoke hasn't called me ever since we got back from the trip. Just what did that kiss mean to him? It was all so sudden. I felt fireworks and I'm sure he felt them too, but why isn't he saying anything about it?'
She had more than a thousand questions, yet her time for personal musings ended abruptly when she heard her name being called out.
"Sierra. Sierra. Are you awake?" An OrkElf carefully walked over to her and slightly shook her shoulders. It was Sharur who called her name. She sat up and listened to Sharur's report. "The Tikbalangs' captain, Ledur, is looking for you. Should I tell him you're here?"
"Nah, I'll join you on the way back to the main group." Sierra stood up. She dusted off her werebear fur and followed Sharur into the forest. As Sierra walked past Phen and Rear, they submissively followed her.
Laernea, Gandiva, Jinggu and Ledur sat around a campfire. She heard tall cypress trees creaking loudly. Twenty monstrous Tikbalangs perched on the trees, hidden from plain sight.
She couldn't understand how Tikbalangs could be masterful tree climbers with their unproportional limbs or even as to why they would climb trees, but she thought that it could come in handy for jumping at an unsuspecting victim.
Seeing as some space was left beside Ledur, Sierra sat down next to the winged Tikbalang. "So, I heard you had something important to tell me?"
"Yes. Smoke called me. He asked if you could spare me and the rest of the Tikbalangs. If you allow it, he told us to head back to the Margome mountain range. He said he was heading to the Simiavulg village."
Sierra almost half stood up and had to consciously stop herself from making a scene. Suddenly, Laernea rose to her feet and grabbed Ledur's shoulders.
The lioness Lioumerean asked the winged Tikbalang fiercely: "Why are you only saying this now? Who knows what kind of trouble Smoke is in already?"
"It sounded like he was in control of the situation in Mount Yunggo. It's just that he might have a hard time facing the Simiavulgs alone. He also said he needed to re-focus. Something about making up for lost time since he was away from Zectas for so long?" Ledur said with a straight face.
Sierra saw that Laernea calmed down and went back to where she originally sat. The red werebear then stared into Ledur's eyes. She tried to see if he was telling the truth but couldn't tell from his body language. She worried about Smoke. She knew that facing the Simiavulgs would be an arduous task.
She stared into the campfire. 'But why couldn't he have called me for help? What did he mean by "re-focus"?'
She turned to face Ledur. "I see... Then please leave for Margome immediately. Laernea and Gandiva, take Ledur and his Tikbalang platoon back to Smoke."
Laernea had a concerned expression. "It'll take us almost two days to get to where Smoke is. I hope he isn't in any serious trouble."
Sierra got up. "Sharur and Jinggu, please head back to Verbrannt. I think I'll be able to train Phen and Rear better if I'm alone."
Sharur immediately stood up when he heard her command. "Sorry, but I'll have to disobey that order. You've seen how organized that pack of werewolves was. There's no way you can face them with just two werewolves at your side."
The red werebear stomped her foot, which created a loud sound. The Tikbalangs balanced on the trees had to grab ahold on something so they wouldn't fall.
A deep imprint of Sierra's foot was left on the ground. "This is a direct order! I want all of you to leave immediately. You need to understand Smoke's message. We have to focus on our priorities!"
Jinggu spoke out "We understand. We'll take our leave right away." The older OrkElf forcefully pushed his brother towards one of the stag moose carriages.
Laernea and Gandiva sat in the driver's seat. They did not have to wait long for the Tikbalangs.
THOMP THOMP THOMP THOMP
Swiftly, twenty Tikbalangs came down from the trees and boarded their designated carriages. Ledur gave Sierra a respectful bow before joining them.
Sharur, forced to remain seated by his brother Jinggu, strained his neck to catch a glimpse of Sierra slowly disappearing as Gandiva began to speed away.
 

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Sierra and her two werewolves stalked a lone ancient bison. The beast had a body length of three meters. It was larger than the ancient bisons she saw before.
The unsuspecting creature grazed beside a small creek inside a forest fragment of Lapitna. She thought that these were the perfect conditions for a successful kill.
"Phen, you take the front. Rear, do your specialty and attack from behind. I'll remain hidden and wait for the ancient bison's reaction."
As a sign of acknowledgment, the two werewolves grunted and growled. 'I wish these guys could talk. Well, at least they understand my commands.'
She positioned herself in between her werewolves. She excitedly waited for them to attack. 'These werewolves could become the cornerstone of my own private army.'
Sierra briefly looked back on her past experiences.
'Sure, I have command over Smoke's private army. Sure, I have a village that technically belongs to me. But none of that feels like it's really mine.'
She pondered on about her accomplishments in Zectas. Somehow, Smoke played a major role on all of them. Even with Phen and Rear, she used Smoke's newly acquired Tikbalang squadron to subdue them.
That was one of main the reasons why she decided to be alone. She needed to subjugate the rest of the werewolf pack with her own power.
As her werewolves got closer, Sierra readied herself to pounce. Rear stealthily got close to the ancient bison and dug her claws deep into its backside.
The beast cried out in pain and tried to kick her off with its hind legs. Yet, the black werewolf expertly dodged the ancient bison's kicks.
With the beast's focus on its back, Phen came out of his hiding place and slashed the ancient bison's throat. The force from Phen's attack threw the bison's neck up into the air.
The gray werewolf sank his fangs deep into the ancient bison's neck. Sierra watched as its life bar went from full to 30% from those attacks alone.
Sierra jumped out from behind the bushes and slammed her claws into the ancient bison's spine. The beast's body hit the ground hard. Phen and Rear remained unfazed by Sierra's attack.
Both of the werewolves kept on clawing and gnashing at the targeted bison.

Sierra couldn't believe how much ancient bisons were worth in terms of experience. These bulky beasts gave almost the same amount of experience as the skeleton knight, the boss inside the mausoleum.
Based on this hunt, she decided to take on groups of up to three ancient bisons. They patiently stalked their next targets.
When the ancient bisons got within their attack range, they sprang from their camouflaged positions and took on one bison each. The startled beasts started to huddle into a defensive formation. Sierra noted that the beasts were massive but not aggressive by nature.
She anticipated the ancient bisons' reaction and gave orders to her two werewolves in advance. She asked Phen to encircle them while Rear would run in between them before the beasts could close their ranks. The red werebear and gray werewolf ran circles around the panicked beasts.
Sierra and Phen attacked the ancient bisons as they ran. The monsters retaliated by thrusting their horns. The red werebear got damaged, but her high defense only resulted in 9,000 damage points.
With Rear in position, Sierra gave her the signal and the black werewolf performed a swirling attack which made multiple slashes at hind legs of all three ancient bisons.
The beasts buckled and slumped down to the ground. Rear's backstab attack severed the hind legs of two ancient bisons.
Only one managed to run five meters before its hind legs were torn off. Phen instantly gave chase and devoured the ancient bison.
Sierra and Rear plunged their claws into the two crippled ancient bisons. It was a bloody and messy scene. Sierra couldn't believe the way she fought.
With her primal instincts surfacing, her attacks became more raw and savage. The hunt with her two werewolves not only increased her Lycanthrope Control, but it also increased her Animal Instinct ability and basic attack power.
She hunted two more groups of three ancient bisons. After the third successful hunt, Sierra decided to go after ancient bisons that were in a group of five or more.
Their first battle against a group of seven ancient bisons lasted four times longer and reduced Sierra's life by 10%.
They kept on hunting the larger-numbered groups until Sierra's life bar displayed 30%. While she rested and recovered her HP, Phen and Rear searched for their next targets.
As she sat, she pondered whether to raise the stakes even higher and go after wild war elephants that they had seen before.
However, Sierra didn't see any sign of the behemoth war elephants nearby. In her werebear form she had a high recovery rate which made her accustomed to resting in order to regain her HP.
She rested for ten minutes and her health recovered to 60%. She decided that it was enough to push on against the larger groups of ancient bisons.
Yet before they started, Rear went over to her and offered her crushed purple berries. The black werewolf grunted and motioned for her to smear them over Sierra's wounds.
Sierra allowed the black werewolf to put some of the mysterious purple paste onto her wounds. Her missing 40% HP replenished at an increased rate after Rear applied the purple paste.
Due to Rear's crushed purple berries, Sierra had no further need to rest. After her group of Therianthropes would wipe out a group of ancient bisons, Phen and Rear would search for purple berries to give to Sierra.
They repeatedly hunted the ancient bisons until she no longer needed to give out any commands.
Due to the fact that they hunted without rest, Sierra's level increased by two, while Phen and Rear's levels increased by three.
Sierra at level 102 led her two werewolves who were still at level 97. She took notice of how high their HP were despite their low levels. She wondered if this was an innate ability to Therianthropes. 
Hunting with Phen and Rear proved to be extremely efficient and exhilarating. Aside from the increased levels, there was something else that fueled her to hunt even more.
Sierra's Lycanthrope Control ability increased dramatically to Intermediate Level 9. She couldn't believe how fast this ability had been increasing its level since Phen and Rear joined her pack.
She thought it was similar to having a newly created character rapidly level up by hunting with a character 400 levels higher, without the constraint of the 10 level gap rule.
Ever since Phen and Rear joined her, she discovered a new side to her werebear curse. She was able to unleash her feral nature and allowed it to run wild. She did not realize that she had been inside Zectas far longer than what the new health safety patch allowed.

Astonished, Sierra read the warning window for the first time. She thought that getting four hours of sleep would be fine.
Sierra ordered her two werewolves to hunt safely and to return to this same spot after four hours. She allowed them to target up to two ancient bisons at a time. The werewolves growled in confirmation.
 

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Like clockwork, Sierra logged back in precisely after four hours. Her mind was solely focused on the game. She did not want to be distracted by needless thoughts of Smoke.
AWWWOOOOOOOOOO! AWWWW! AWWW! AWWWOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Her black and gray werewolves greeted her with a resounding howl. She patted their heads and was greeted with a pleasant window notification.