Before heading back, they made a celebratory barbecue where the vines used to be. There was a small clearing there, around ten meters, which in retrospect must’ve been created in time by the vine colony eating everything around them.
The barbecue was rarely essence food since it was made outside, but Finn brought bottles of his sauces in his tiny space so their food was delicious nonetheless.
They took turns handling the monsters that approached them through the smell, while the rest of them enjoyed the unlimited meat. They could only hope the sauces last! They were also the ones cooking this time, Finn just provided the sauce.
For the most part, Finn was part of the clearing team.
Finn specifically focused on stronger Awakened monsters in order to increase his chances of gathering cores. He needed to go beyond the level of his peers; otherwise, he’d feel extremely uncomfortable.
That said, he still needed to dial back on his skill usage. He could do all that because he had mana potions on hand, which were far superior to what was available in the outside world, especially with its regeneration rates. But that was running out now.
That said, he wished they could develop something that could let him use skills as he wanted...
Victor, who was a bit sweaty now, slashed at the higher-level Toughened monster along with his teammate. "Because we don’t have to hold back too much, our lethality is increased."
After all, if they had to go without a rest stop, they would normally have to budget their strength to spread out one or two more days, and this was with potions already. Because they had to budget their mana and resources, they couldn’t really do their best at times, and they had to run away a lot.
Now...they could do their best, not to worry too much about their stats, because they knew there was a very effective resting and healing place just a couple of hours away.
"How nice it is to have a base near mobs!"
"And regenerative cuisine... if I bring ingredients, could they make some more food?"
"Good idea!"
This made the fight even more passionate. Finn also learned a lot from watching them. He had always liked action movies, and now he was seeing them in person; his heart couldn’t help but palpitate in a good way.
Interestingly, some were cool the whole time (like Leiah, who’d expertly jump from tree to tree, accurately hitting her targets), but there were also those who could get a bit careless like Marcus, who’d sometimes be hit at the back of his head by Nona, who seemed to have taken charge of reeling him in when he got too careless.
Anyway, after a couple of hours, the rest of them got a lot of meat, loot, and a few cores already, and it was soon time to head back.
The travel back was relatively peaceful at first, especially since the ratio of awakened increased versus toughened monsters, which eventually became rare.
At some point, though, they felt a more dangerous threat and immediately entered defensive positions. However, the enemy was fast and—
BANG!
Durgan blocked an attack on Finn, who was leading the party, and another hit Victor, who blocked an attack on another member, who was at the rear.
Things happened quickly, and their side immediately retaliated. Durgan swung his axe on one, with Marcus attacking with his sword to trap the unknown enemy. On the other side, Victor stabbed his sword and twisted it, with Miya shooting at wherever the attackers were.
The attackers were very dexterous, however, and avoided the attacks with flexibility and skill, and even those that reached them would be redirected with sheer strength. It wasn’t that it didn’t injure them, but whatever wounds they received didn’t seem to affect their movements at all!
The initial barrage slowed just for a few moments, and they took this chance to get a closer look at their enemies.
They were both humanoid creatures, except they were at least a head taller than the tallest humans there, who were Marcus and Victor. They had bulky frames, animalistic ears, and tails.
"Halfkins!"
...
"DAMNED HUMANS!!" The halfkins roared, immediately lunging at them. A fight quickly exploded again, with fists doing the communication rather than actual talking.
Although they were more in number, their side was weakened by the fights from before, and the two halfkins were at least at the peak of toughened level! What’s more, they were halfkin, who were physically stronger than humans by default! They were probably as strong as fortified-level humans right now!
As such, the fortified-level Victor and the rest of the toughened-level people grouped together to deal with them, because they were creatures that one could not afford to look down on during a fight.
What exploded after that was a fast-paced fight that even Finn had difficulty following with his naked eyes. If he hadn’t awakened, he reckoned they would be blurry lines at most.
He literally had to sit with his back against a big tree while he watched. Rather, he was pushed there with the explosion of fights.
BANG!
CLANK!
ROARR!
While they were fighting this prolonged battle, Finn started to realize...that they seemed to be targeting... him ?!
Like, even when they were battling with Victor and a few others, somehow they’d always end up near Finn (who was trying his best not to be an obstruction by resting his body against a tree), and the halfkins would try to grab him, only to be stopped by his teammates.
After a few times of this from different halfkin, it became clear that they wanted to get him specifically.
But...WHY?!
Durgan and they were quick to block the way every time, doing their best to take attention away from him. The battle was getting long though; it was only a matter of time before more beasts arrived.
This was going to get troublesome, Finn knew. "No, no! Stop!" he yelled, trying to finish this amicably.
Halfkins and beastkins were inherently stronger physically, and their regeneration rates were also far superior to others. Even if they were the same rank, it was guaranteed they would be stronger. Their side was tired from the earlier fights, and their stats were not high.
Reesa would heal her teammates, including Marcus’, and they would use their teamwork to handle the enemies. However, things weren’t so easy because at some point, Marcus was punched to the gut, pushing him against a tree.
"AH!"
The halfkin raised his strong arms and his fingernails sharpened, intent on making Marcus bleed.
"Marcus!" Nona screamed, running towards the enemy and stabbing his shoulder with her dagger.
"RAHHHH!" he roared, and he managed to grab Nona’s leg and throw her down.
BANG!
Marcus’ eyes widened, teary. "NONA!" he screamed, using all his strength to cushion her fall.
Nona gasped as they slid down the tree, her eyes widened when she realized she was caught by the groaning Marcus, who probably had some broken bones even before.
RAHHH!
She did not have the time to look after him, though, because there was a halfkin, claws out, ready to pummel them.
Above the tree, Leiah gritted her teeth as she shot away, though she did not make too lethal shots because she lacked mana.
ROARR!
The halfkin felt arrows embedded in his body. Because of the fight, his defenses had slightly weakened, and each shot was extremely painful.
He turned and rushed towards Leiah, but Marcus and Victor blocked him, kicking him to his ally, who was battling with the brothers, Micc, and the rest of the Lian Adventurer team.
"URGH!"
The two halfkins were slammed into each other, and they were not given a chance to retaliate.
The group of humans barraged them with attacks. None were lethal due to the mana restrictions, but they definitely did not hold back otherwise.
They knew these halfkins could get explosive if given the chance to go berserk, so they had to disable them even if just for a bit. "WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING US!?" Victor asked, and he looked at his wife, who had placed waterballs on their heads, suffocating them just enough so they wouldn’t have the energy to fight against them.
It wasn’t easy and consumed the rest of Reesa’s mana, however.
When the waterball dissipated, the two halfkins coughed out the water, taking heaves of oxygen before they glared at them.
On Finn, specifically.
"..."
Excuse me? I hadn’t caused 10% of your wounds, okay!?
"WHERE IS KAT!?" the halfkins screamed, sharp eyes fixed on Finn. "WHY DO YOU SMELL SO MUCH LIKE HER?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER !?"
Finn gaped.
Err...what?