Josh walked at the front of the party beside Perberos, who scanned their surroundings with the practiced ease of someone who’d been trained to spot danger before it arrived. From their limited interactions so far, Josh had the feeling he’d quite like him. Perberos wasn’t nearly as aloof as Josh had first assumed, though he seemed fiercely protective of his sister, except when he was teasing her.

  Josh’s gaze drifted to his new companions. Both elves were tall and slender, carrying themselves with an effortless, almost otherworldly grace. Their silver-white hair caught the light, and their sharp, angular features looked like they’d been carved with impossible precision. Carcan’s emerald-green eyes shimmered with warmth. She wore flowing robes of forest green and silver, embroidered with delicate vine patterns that looked alive in the sunlight. Perberos, by contrast, had keen golden eyes that seemed to pierce the shadows, his dark green and brown leather armour sleek, fitted, and clearly well-maintained.

  Josh was still slightly giddy about the fact he was travelling with elves. His eyes kept betraying him, slipping back to their ears, just to make sure they were as real as they looked.

  When his gaze finally landed on Caistina, their instructor and party leader for the day, he almost forgot to breathe. He hadn’t spoken much to her yet, but Brett had only good things to say.

  She was striking, an image of wisdom and quiet power. Her tall, willowy frame was wrapped in elegant sapphire-blue robes traced with silver arcane sigils. Her moonlit-white hair spilled down her back, framing a face lined not by age but by years of experience. Her amethyst eyes seemed to glow faintly from within, as if some hidden magic stirred constantly behind them. She carried a pristine white staff, etched with intricate runes that pulsed softly, like a heartbeat of power just waiting to be unleashed.

  Josh’s admiration was short-lived, because Caistina suddenly glanced back and caught him looking. Her lips curved into a warm smile, her eyes crinkling slightly at the edges.

  Josh whipped his head forward so quickly he nearly stumbled. Heat climbed up his neck to his ears. From his left, Perberos’s laugh rolled out. “Not many elves where you come from, big guy?”

  Josh turned, his face crimson. “No. I haven’t really met any before this week, and now I’m going on an adventure with three of you. I never thought I’d be in a situation like this… so yeah, I’m still getting used to it.”

  Perberos’s grin softened. “Ah, don’t be embarrassed. We’re not rare in these parts, but I’ve heard there are towns where some folks go their whole lives without seeing one of us. The elders have been encouraging us to travel more lately, see the world, shake off the old ways of isolation. That’s why my sister and I came here. She wants to help people, and I…” He smirked. “…I have to keep her alive. She’d be hopeless without me.”

  Josh chuckled. “You mean a danger to herself?”

  “Exactly.”

  From behind them, Carcan’s voice rose in protest. “Hey! I don’t need protecting from you! I’ll have you know I’m going to be the healer in a very important party, and I’m going to make our family proud. My party will protect me, and I’ll protect them, so you don’t need to worry!”

  Josh glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch Perberos’s mischievous grin.

  “Uh-huh,” he said, “and I suppose you didn’t need protecting that time the giant spider dropped out of the trees?”

  Carcan paled slightly, her confident fa?ade flickering for just a moment. “That doesn’t count,” she said quickly, voice sharp but tinged with vulnerability. “We didn’t have a party with us then, so obviously I needed help. But you can stop acting like it’s your job now. Protection is Josh’s role, not yours.”

  Her eyes flashed briefly with a mix of frustration and something softer, perhaps a hint of pride, or fear of seeming weak. Before Josh could respond, she marched past Perberos and slipped her arm through his, the movement sudden and possessive, grounding herself in the connection.

  “Just keep walking,” she whispered, her voice low but steady, “Don’t pay him any attention.”

  There was a brief pause, the forest around them seeming to hush as if listening. Josh felt the heat of her hand steady against his arm, a silent reassurance, a subtle claim of trust and for a moment, the teasing tension between the siblings melted into something quieter, more real.

  Perberos’s laughter bubbled up behind them, light and unrestrained, but Josh knew beneath it lay a fierce sibling bond that would keep them all safe. Josh tried to suppress a smirk but failed, earning a narrowed-eyed look from Carcan before she cracked a reluctant smile herself.

  Josh grinned. Yeah… he had a good feeling about this group.

  —--

  About twenty minutes from town, they came upon a weathered wooden sign nailed to a post: Farbrook Fields. The sprawling landscape stretched out before them, vast open pastures divided by low bushes or old brick walls. Here and there, livestock grazed lazily, while other fields bore rows of crops swaying gently in the breeze. The air smelled faintly of earth and grass, but beneath it lingered something less pleasant.

  The party stepped into the nearest field, scanning for signs of their quest objective. Perberos seized the moment to show off his tracking skills. He moved confidently to the closest wall, scaling it with nimble ease, then paused to peer into the distance beyond the trees. Josh bit back the urge to ask what his elf eyes might be seeing.

  After a long moment, Perberos pointed toward the treeline to the north. “I think I see some dead cattle over there,” he said quietly. “The quest mentioned wasps killing livestock, right?” Without waiting, he leapt down and strode toward the distant field.

  The rest of the party followed, the trek taking several minutes. As they drew closer, an acrid stench prickled at Josh’s nostrils. Shapes lay scattered near the tree line, large, motionless forms that at first glance looked like cows, but with the twisted heads of sheep, their flesh mottled and decayed.

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  They stopped at the edge of the bushes, peering through the sparse branches. Among the carcasses and within the shadows of the woods beyond, Josh spotted creatures that resembled wasps from his world, but scaled up to the size of a cocker spaniel. Their wings hummed ominously, and their rear stingers gleamed like wicked blades. A cold shiver ran down Josh’s spine as the buzzing filled the air, pulling him out of his stupor.

  “Do any of you see the nest?” Brett’s whisper came from beside him.

  Perberos pointed to their left, where a cluster of gnarled, dead trees loomed. Their hollowed trunks were coated with strange, waxy residue, and thick papery tunnels bridged the gaps between them, weaving an eerie, suspended hive. Shadowy shapes flickered within the nest’s walls - wasps crawling, twitching, waiting.

  “Well, that’s not terrifying at all,” Josh muttered, voice laced with uneasy humor.

  Carcan’s face drained of color. “I really don’t like insects. Can we just get this over with? What’s the plan?”

  All eyes turned to Caistina.

  “Oh no, I’m only here if you get into real danger,” she said calmly. “I won’t be planning this or joining the fight unless I absolutely have to. This is your challenge. You’re the ones doing the fighting; I’ll be back here, observing.”

  Brett sighed, gathering his thoughts aloud. “Alright, here’s what I think. We take out as many wasps as we can near the dead beasts first. Hopefully, we kill them quickly enough that they won’t have time to call for backup. Once those are down, I’ll set fire to the nest. After that, we focus on shooting anything that comes out.”

  He glanced at the group. “Wasps have wings, so there’s no funneling them into a choke point. Josh, you’ll need to draw their attention and keep them busy while Perberos and I pick off as many as possible from a distance. When the queen appears, that’s our priority - take her down fast and hopefully the rest will scatter. Carcan, keep an eye on Josh and heal him when needed. Also, be ready to shield yourself and the rest of us. Sound like a plan?”

  Josh searched for a better option but found none. The others nodded in agreement. It was the best they had.

  He braced himself, double-checking the straps on his shield and armour. With a firm nod, he pushed through the bushes, moving toward the scattered corpses. He didn’t want to get too far ahead but also needed to be the first to draw the wasps’ attention.

  After about twenty feet, with the same distance still to cover to reach the nearest wasp, the buzzing around him intensified. Suddenly, a sharp fizz came from his left, followed by the twang of a bowstring. In his peripheral vision, he spotted a firebolt streaking toward a wasp while an arrow flew in from the right. Both hit their targets, sending the beasts tumbling to the ground.

  They’re not so tough, Josh thought, relief settling in his chest.

  His companions targeted wasps farther off, giving him room to charge forward. Growing eager, he jogged, then broke into a run.

  Two wasps feasted on the remains of a carcass ahead, their backs to him. Josh slammed his shield forward into the nearest one with a satisfying crunch, a spray of green liquid splattering around the edge of his shield. Without missing a beat, he swung his sword at the other, plunging the blade through its head. The creature collapsed backward as Josh stepped back, heart pounding. The ease of the kills surprised him; the hours of training were clearly paying off, improving his balance and precision… or they were simply very weak creatures.

  More twangs and fizzes echoed around him, but then the buzzing shifted, escalating into an overwhelming roar that seemed to press in on him from all sides. Suddenly, wasps poured out of the nest in a chittering, writhing mass, black shapes blotting the sky.

  “Oh crap! Josh! fall back!” Brett’s urgent shout cut through the noise.

  Josh jogged backwards, refusing to lose sight of the approaching swarm. His heart pounded fiercely as he braced for what was coming.

  Twenty… no, more twenty-five, maybe thirty giant wasps boiled out of the hive like living shrapnel, a wall of buzzing, stinger-tipped death.

  Josh’s boots slid against the dirt as he backpedaled, trying to buy himself breathing room. The swarm came on like a wave, wings vibrating the air into a deafening hum. His heartbeat seemed to thud in time with it, the world narrowing until all he saw were their glinting eyes and dagger-like stingers.

  Then time slowed. There’s no way we can get far enough away from this. He thought to himself.

  They were airborne blurs, yellow and black missiles streaking toward him. Firebolts blazed past his shoulders, arrows whistled overhead, slamming into the first few wasps, but the rest just kept coming. Josh’s mind clicked and he knew what he had to do. His feet stopped moving backwards, instead, he readied his shield and charged into the mass of chitin and wings.

  He slammed into the first few wasps, using his shield bash to turn any wasps he caught into past… but then the horde slammed into him in return. A shadow swallowed the light as they descended, and Josh roared, slamming his shield forward again. The impact jarred up his arm, solid, wet thumps as he smashed several from the air in one brutal sweep. Green ichor sprayed across his cheek and chest, hot and foul-smelling.

  No time to breathe.

  He slashed wildly, sword flashing, cutting one, two, three down. Their wings shredded beneath his blade, their bodies falling heavy at his feet. But for every one he killed, more circled, darting in from the sides, stingers lashing for exposed skin.

  Pain flared in his calf, a stinger punching deep through muscle. His leg buckled, and before he could recover, another smashed into his shoulder, the blow rattling his armour. His sword arm flared with fire as venom spread through him, burning its way into his muscles. He staggered, breath coming ragged, every movement heavier than the last.

  A cry tore from his throat.

  Still, he fought, shield bashing one aside, spinning to slice another clean in half. He had to keep them on him. If they got past him, they’d tear into Carcan and the others. The ground was slick beneath his boots, littered with twitching insect corpses, some split open, others dragging broken wings along the dirt in desperate retreat.

  His health bar plummeted, the edges of his vision darkening. He was slowing, each strike weaker, each breath shorter. Poison and exhaustion were dragging him under.

  Then he felt warmth.

  A sudden surge flooded his limbs, golden-green light washing over him. His health bar climbed. The ache in his muscles lessened just enough to let him lift his sword again. Carcan! Her healing magic filled him like fire in his veins.

  “I’m not dying here!” he screamed, and with a raw laugh, he charged forward.

  He hacked through another wasp, splintering its stinger before it could strike, then shouldered into the swarm. More healing pulses struck him, each one fanning his growing momentum. Around him, the tide was turning, wasps tumbling from the air under a hail of arrows and firebolts, their death cries sharp against the fading roar of wings.

  Josh drove his blade straight through the abdomen of another, flicked it free, and watched the last survivors break and flee toward the hive.

  Only then did he stumble back, chest heaving, his boots surrounded by a horseshoe of the dead. Those in front lay cleaved and battered, the ones at his sides burned or pinned by arrows.

  A blinking notification filled his vision:

  Congratulations, your party has slain Level 1 Giant Wasp × 37!

  Josh stumbled and dropped to the ground, landing on his rear. “Holy crap,” Josh panted, dropping to the ground with a grin. “That was a lot of them.”

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