The second day of the Explorer's League caravan journey dawned cold and grey, the peaks of the Serpent's Tooth range still distant but looming larger on the eastern horizon. The fortified camp was broken with practiced efficiency, and soon the wagons were creaking forward once more, deeper into the untamed wilderness. The heightened alert from the previous night, due to scout reports of frenzied Shadowfen Howlers, persisted. Guards were visibly more tense, their hands rarely straying from their weapon hilts. Drake walked near the center of the convoy, his [Initiate's Twin Blades] sheathed but his senses sharp, [Relic Hunter] active at a low hum, passively scanning their surroundings.
As Captain Stonebeard had anticipated, trouble found them before mid-morning. A piercing howl echoed from a nearby ridge, answered by several more. Moments later, a large pack of Frenzied Shadowfen Howlers (Level 30-32) burst from the treeline, their eyes glowing with an unnatural red light, saliva dripping from their bared fangs. They moved with a disturbing, jerky speed, clearly not in their right minds.
"Howlers! Defensive formation! Archers, pick your targets! Mages, prepare fire wards!" Captain Stonebeard's voice boomed across the convoy. The veteran League guards reacted instantly, forming a tight defensive perimeter around the wagons. Heavy crossbows thrummed, and the League mages began chanting, lines of protective fire erupting to create temporary barriers.
The frenzied Howlers, ignoring the fire, slammed into the guard line with suicidal ferocity. The clash was immediate and brutal. The Level 30+ guards were skilled, their heavy armor and shields holding against the initial impact, but the sheer number and unnatural aggression of the Howlers put them under immense pressure. Drake saw one guard (Level 32 Dwarf Defender) get overwhelmed by three Howlers, his shield arm torn, before his comrades could intervene.
Drake moved to support the weakest point in the line, his twin blades now in hand. He didn't unleash the full fury of his [Relentless Assault] immediately, nor did he rely solely on his perfect 100% SCR [Basic Attack Combo R/L]. He fought with a controlled, efficient deadliness, focusing on precision and support rather than outright devastation.
A Howler lunged at a nearby human guard whose shield was momentarily compromised. Drake intercepted. [Parry] met the Howler's snapping jaws. << Damage Significantly Reduced!>> He followed with a quick, two-hit burst from his basic combo, R(100%)-L(84%). << R-Hand (Perfect Execution!) dealt ~400 damage! >> << L-Hand dealt ~220 damage! >> The combined damage, even without high [Relentless Assault] stacks, was enough to weaken the Level 30 Howler, allowing the guard to recover and finish it. Drake then moved to assist another section, using his [Blade Dance] to create space when multiple Howlers tried to swarm, its moderate damage and slight stagger helping to break their momentum. He used [Twin Fang Strikes] to quickly burst down already injured or isolated targets.
He was careful not to be too spectacular. He fought like an exceptionally skilled Level 21 Bladesworn, his execution consistently high but not impossibly so to casual observation amidst the chaos. He let the League guards do the bulk of the tanking and primary damage, acting more as an elite skirmisher, plugging gaps, eliminating key threats, and ensuring the defensive line held. Even so, his contributions were significant. The guards near him found their burdens lightened, the pressure from the frenzied beasts noticeably lessened wherever he fought.
The battle raged for a good ten minutes, a chaotic melee of snapping jaws, clanging steel, and shouted commands. Finally, with a last despairing howl, the remaining Shadowfen Howlers broke and fled back into the wilderness, leaving behind nearly a dozen of their dead. The caravan had held, but not without cost – several guards were wounded, one seriously, and supplies of arrows and healing potions had been depleted.
<< Party Assist EXP Gained: +15000 >>. His EXP bar jumped significantly.
The party's NPC healer, and the other passengers with medical skills tended to the wounded, Captain Stonebeard surveyed the scene, his expression grim. "Damn unnatural beasts. Never seen Howlers act like that, nor this far south. Something's stirring them up." He gave Drake a curt nod. "Good work out there, Bladesworn. You fight with a cool head and a sharp blade. Earned your passage today."
Drake simply nodded in acknowledgment. The fight had been a good test, allowing him to use his Bladesworn skills in a larger engagement without revealing the true, overwhelming potential of max-stack [Relentless Assault] combined with perfect 100% execution on his basics.
The caravan resumed its journey after a brief pause to regroup and treat the wounded, the atmosphere even more tense than before. They were now deep in truly untamed territory. Drake continued his vigilance, [Relic Hunter] constantly active.
Several hours later, as they navigated a narrow pass between two sheer rock faces, his enhanced senses picked up subtle inconsistencies that set alarm bells ringing in his mind.
Perfectly Cut Branches: On several low-hanging trees near the trail, branches had been lopped off with clean, sharp cuts – not the ragged chew marks of animals or the splintered breaks of natural falls. These were tool marks, recent.
Overlaid Boot Prints: [Relic Hunter] highlighted faint impressions in the dirt just off the main caravan track. They were distinct, high-quality boot prints, the kind made by well-equipped adventurers or soldiers, and they overlayed older, more natural animal tracks, indicating more recent passage.
Fleeting Energy Signature: For just a moment, [Relic Hunter] detected a faint, artificial energy signature ahead, like the residual hum of a recently used magical device or ward, before it faded. It wasn't Alvari; it felt more contemporary, player-or-NPC-crafted magic.
"Cut branches... advanced boot prints... artificial energy residue. This isn't random. This is an organized group, well-equipped, and they were here very recently, moving along our general path."
He didn't raise a general alarm, not wanting to cause panic based on subtle signs. Instead, he discreetly approached Captain Stonebeard during a brief halt while outriders scouted a treacherous section of the trail ahead. "Captain," Drake said quietly, "my senses have picked up some anomalies on the trail over the past hour. Deliberately cut branches, recent boot prints from advanced gear not matching our own, and a brief, artificial energy reading. It suggests another well-equipped group, not beasts or common bandits, may be operating in this area, possibly shadowing us or heading in the same direction." He presented only the factual observations, omitting his suspicions about the Excavators.
Captain Stonebeard listened intently, his eyes narrowing, his hand instinctively going to his axe. He trusted his own veteran scouts, but he decided to listen to Drake. "Describe these signs, Bladesworn." Drake did so, concisely and accurately.
The Captain grunted. "Damn. Could be rival explorers, could be claim jumpers, could be something worse. If they're shadowing us, they might be waiting for an opportunity." He made a quick decision. "Alright. I don't like unknowns. We're altering course slightly. There's an older, more difficult passage a few miles north of here. Less direct, but more defensible and less likely to be watched if someone is tracking this main route. It'll add half a day to our travel, but better than walking into a prepared ambush."
He immediately began issuing orders. Outriders were recalled, new patrol patterns established, and the lead wagons were directed onto a barely visible side trail. The entire caravan shifted course, moving with a renewed sense of urgency and heightened vigilance. The passengers murmured nervously, sensing the unspoken danger.
Drake fell back into his position within the convoy, his expression calm but his mind alert. His discreet warning had been heeded. The caravan was now proceeding with increased tension, acutely aware that they might not be the only interested party heading towards the ancient ruins of the Serpent's Tooth mountains, shadowed by an unknown, potentially hostile, and clearly sophisticated presence. The journey to the Echoing Forge was becoming more dangerous by the hour.