Chapter 79: Into the Kozor Lair

  The next morning, a thick fog descended, and the sky was black. The weather was awful, and Emilia thought they would hide in the cave and stay there until it improved. Instead, the hunters covered themselves with various hides and plunged into the forest, led by the experienced Trim, who knew the area well.

  Soon, Emilia was completely soaked. She constantly had to circulate mana through her body to prevent the cold and dampness from settling in her bones and making her sick. She remembered Varis and his strange healing drink, brewed by Nikos’s second wife.

  “If I raise my herbalism skill, will I be able to make potions like that too? And just how old is Nikos’s second wife anyway?”

  Emilia didn’t have time to ask, though. They were soon attacked again by forest creatures, who were clearly also not bothered by the bad weather.

  This went on for three whole days. On the second day, they even got lost briefly in the fog and then had to run from some large Trolls. Somehow they managed to escape them, as they were quite a distance away.

  ***

  The group was currently near the lair of the Kozors. They lived near a hill, situated away from a small lake that flowed down into the alligator-infested swamp. The Kozors hunted in the lake, the streams leading to it, and the surrounding forests. They had created artificial tunnels in the hill, making a frontal assault quite difficult.

  "We should smoke them out," suggested Boss Titus.

  "Or we could put smelly herbs in the river," Petra offered.

  "In the morning, we could attack one of their groups gathering food to weaken them," chimed in Big Han, gently patting his halberd.

  Meanwhile, Trim frowned.

  "Damn it, they found us first. Battle formation! Prepare for a long fight!"

  After shouting, Trim stepped forward and activated three strange, higher-level talismans. Emilia couldn't discern their properties, but a strange, translucent mist soon enveloped the group. Emilia decided not to lag behind. After many unsuccessful attempts, she had managed to create two talismans for divine blessing and prepared to activate one on Boss Titus and the other on Big Han.

  In the distance, the first Kozors began to take shape. Most of them crawled on their short limbs, but some walked upright and even carried weapons and primitive armor. Emilia had read that they were wide, but these creatures really had very broad bodies! Some were almost twice as wide in the shoulders as even Big Han!

  "This fight is going to be tough," Zevan said, spitting on the ground before gripping his weapon tighter.

  Petra and two other archers, who had taken up positions, began firing well-aimed arrows at the smaller individuals. Their wide bodies became a hindrance at this moment because the Kozors were excellent targets and also had difficulty deploying. They were impeding each other, and their formation was more like a crowd moving only in one direction.

  Emilia also launched a fireball, carefully guiding it with her magic, and targeted the head of one of the creatures. It hissed, and a forked tongue emerged from its mouth. One of the larger creatures saw Emilia's magic and launched a ball of water energy, which intercepted Emilia's and neutralized it.

  "Their magic is stronger than mine," she thought, gripping her small spear tightly.

  The first Kozors quickly reached the hunters and began their assault. The experienced hunters slowly retreated, but maintained their formation the entire time.

  However, the retreat made the beasts feel confident and rush to attack the wall of shields and iron in front of them. Those monsters that had remained behind impatiently pushed those in front of them, hindering them and causing them to risk recklessly falling under the blows of the group's spears.

  Emilia approached several times and activated healing talismans. The battle would be long, and it would be beneficial to close the wounds early so the hunters could conserve their strength.

  After the first weaker creatures fell, two massive Kozors pushed the others aside and charged the hunters. They were equipped with primitive shields and armor, and at the cost of several wounds from arrows and spears, they managed to close the distance to attack the hunters.

  As a result, the remaining weaker creatures finally found a weak point in the spear defense and surged forward. Emilia finally activated the two divine blessing talismans. Big Han, almost immediately, managed to circle one of the bigger creatures and deliver a powerful blow with his halberd, completely severing one of its limbs. Lora instantly rushed over, protecting him with her shield and spear, while Emilia shot a fireball at the largest Kozor to distract and weaken it.

  Further back, the group had managed to set up the first line of traps in preparation for the attack and was now quickly retreating to utilize them.

  There were two pits covered with leaves, at the bottom of which were sharp bamboo stakes. Petra had stretched various thin, nearly invisible ropes to restrict the Kozors' movement on the flanks, and Zevan had placed several metal bear traps with many sharp teeth.

  Trim's group had also laid many traps, and before long, at the cost of many wounds, the hunters finally retreated to the traps and stopped on a low hill, partially protected by a steep cliff.

  The Kozors advanced recklessly up the steep slope, driven by a thirst for human blood and emboldened by the hunters' retreat. One by one, they began to fall into the traps, their painful groans echoing through the surroundings.

  Emilia's heart trembled as she desperately moved among the hunters. She periodically activated various talismans—blinding the larger creatures with fireballs, healing wounds, and placing protective barriers. On at least three occasions, she managed to shield Boss Titus, who often stepped forward to deliver powerful strikes with his sword. Big Han had also learned to rely on the protection of her talismans, and upon an agreed signal, he would attack with his halberd while Emilia covered him with a magical shield.

  Trim almost immediately noticed their excellent combination and nodded approvingly at Boss Titus, respect visible in his eyes.

  Trim also wielded a large two-handed sword, dealing incredibly powerful, mana-enhanced blows. Often, a single strike was enough to neutralize some of the smaller Kozors. After seeing the effectiveness of the shields, he too began to utilize Emilia's magic, periodically inflicting nasty wounds on the large monsters.

  Soon, the two large creatures lost their shields, their armor was ruined, and their bodies were covered with many wounds. Petra and the other archers did not stop showering them with well-aimed arrows, and the defenders continuously neutralized them with their spears and shields, giving them no chance to attack.

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  Some of the smaller, faster creatures had managed to bypass the traps and climb the hill from the east and west, forcing the group to split, which allowed the Kozors in the center a moment to recover. They forced the group to retreat further back and inflicted cruel wounds on the hunters, despite their armor.

  But the most important task was completed—the two large Kozors were severely wounded and unable to lead the others and destroy the hunters' battle formation.

  With a huge, heavy cudgel featuring many crude blades made of curved monster claws, Marco from Trim's group managed to get close and deliver a series of heavy blows to the thick, scaly body of one of the monsters in the center.

  Emilia immediately took advantage, placing two protective walls, and Boss Titus and Big Han instantly attacked the monster. Han's halberd slammed down heavily and somehow managed to strike the beast's neck, which was protected by multiple bone necklaces, while Titus found a gap between its plates and pierced its stomach with his sword. The two immediately retreated, and Emilia's defensive magic shattered into pieces.

  The large monster let out a cry filled with pain that lasted a full 10 seconds. Blood gushed from its neck, and intestines were visible from its stomach. Titus had managed to twist his sword inside its stomach and inflict severe internal damage with his magic.

  At that moment, a distant answer was heard—a booming roar echoed from the hill far away. Emilia narrowed her eyes and activated her skills. She saw trees and bushes falling as something moved toward them with immense speed.

  Trim hurried to activate a new talisman, one Emilia now recognized—a healing talisman that boosted the body's natural resilience. Its effect was felt almost instantly, and fresh strength flowed into the defenders' bodies.

  Emilia sighed and pulled out two of her three Refreshment talismans, activating them on Boss Titus and Big Han. She had been working for days on her new talismans, and these were her final results. "I hope this battle is worth it," she thought, reflecting on the potential lost profits from all the effort.

  Soon, the King of the Kozors burst out of the forest. It circled the corpses of the wounded or killed Kozors, leaped over the trap with the sharp stakes, went straight through Petra's ropes, and charged up the hill.

  Meanwhile, Petra and the other archers pelted it with arrows, even using their special emergency arrows.

  Big Han pulled out an expensive Elixir of Strength he had been saving for a long time and immediately drank it in one gulp. Then, Emilia looked at him, and he nodded. She approached, activated a Talisman of Strength, and patted him on the back.

  Big Han bared his teeth and moved slightly away to conceal his position.

  The defenders quickly met the monster's charge with their spears, but the Kozor King simply twisted slightly to the side, taking the spear tips at an angle on the enormous scale plate covering its chest. It then immediately slammed through the defenders, grabbed Garrick, and, along with his shield and armor, heavily hurled him to the ground.

  Emilia cried out and rushed to place five magical barriers. This strained her spiritual power terribly, and only her incredibly high skills, rarely seen in this world, helped her avoid instant collapse. Her mouth filled with blood, and her head spun. She almost fell to the ground, but Lora managed to catch and steady her.

  Titus, Zevan, and Big Han immediately took advantage and attacked the huge monster as one. Petra drew one of her electric arrows and carefully aimed at the monster's massive torso. Despite the dense plates protecting its chest, the electricity would penetrate deep into its body.

  Trim also joined the attack, but the rest of his group stayed behind to guard the flanks.

  The monster tried to attack Titus, who was closest, but was stopped by the barriers. It roared ferociously and almost instantly destroyed them with a powerful blow. However, this delayed it, and its attack was taken by the wall of shields. This made it temporarily vulnerable, and Big Han somehow ended up beside it and struck it with his halberd.

  Whether due to his skills, the blessing of the talisman, or perhaps thanks to the strange elixir he had drunk, he managed to deliver an incredibly powerful blow, piercing one of the smaller scales on the monster's armor. His halberd sank deep into the monster's flesh, and it was forced to turn to defend itself.

  Meanwhile, Boss Titus, forced to change his direction by the previous attack, had crouched low, spun, and struck the Kozor King’s less-protected leg with the weight of his entire body, his heavy sword, and his magic. He aimed for the weak points at the joint of the limb, and something there cracked, making the monster lose its balance.

  Finally, Trim, who was approaching from farther away, also delivered a powerful blow, inflicting a severe wound on the monster.

  However, this was a Tier Two creature, close to the boundary of Tier Three. Despite the heavy injuries, it turned and continued to counterattack, forcing the defenders to retreat.

  Yet, despite everything, these wounds, especially the injured lower limb, slowed and weakened it considerably. Petra managed to fire two electric arrows that discharged their magic for a long time, further weakening the monster.

  The battle continued, and gradually the two heavily wounded Kozors lost their lives. After a while, even the Kozor King began to retreat under the combined assault of the ten hunters. Numerous bodies of weaker Kozors lay on the ground, and nearly a third of them had chosen to flee back to the caves to look after their eggs and young.

  When the group finally felled the monster and won the battle, they began searching the caves but found neither an egg nor a young Kozor. Due to the sacrifice of the Kozor King and the expendable soldiers, they had successfully managed to escape further into the forest. Thus, they would continue to live and eventually recover their strength and preserve their lineage.

  Nevertheless, in their lair, there were various valuable bones from other creatures, tough hides from which they had crafted their crude armor, mana-rich fruits, and various herbs, some of which Emilia recognized and secretly tucked into her ring.

  As they explored the tunnels, Emilia’s senses detected something strange in the air, and she immediately activated her “Dispel Ignorance” skill. Before her eyes, the various intertwined energies that remained after years of life in the tunnels were revealed. Emilia quickly concentrated and soon found the hesitant movement of mana she had sensed.

  Behind a large rock, beneath a small pile of hay, perhaps the Kozor King's bed, Emilia found a small hidden hole. She quickly circled the stone and rummaged through the straw. Her heart pounded fast, and her eyes were illuminated by the celestial energy. Impatience was etched on her face, and she hurried before anyone else appeared from the tunnels.

  Her small hands moved quickly, but not quickly enough. She began to hear the footsteps and conversations of the hunters from Trim's group. The agreement was that whatever anyone found in the tunnels was theirs, but Emilia preferred to guard against human greed.

  “In this world, if you lack the necessary strength, wealth quickly becomes a curse,” she recalled the common wisdom.

  Then, her hands finally reached the hole, and she immediately stored the items in her ring.

  Seconds later, the others also entered the tunnel, and Emilia pretended to examine the various skins on the walls. She selected a few herbs hanging from the ceiling and a number of animal bones, which she put in her backpack.

  She then proceeded deeper and managed to find seven scales from a River Nessie, which she also stowed in her ring. They would be excellent for her work with Formations.

  The group then continued to explore the cave, with everyone finding something to take. Finally, the group gathered what was left, returned, and began processing the corpses. They had primarily come for the monster scales and would not have room for many other things.

  Ten experienced hunters could carry a very large load. They had prepared with larger backpacks, which they filled with scales of various sizes. Furthermore, the stronger among them also carried two large bags of scales in their hands. In total, the ten hunters carried hundreds of kilograms of the valuable scales.

  The battle had gone extremely well, and although Garrick had been wounded and needed to drink an expensive elixir worth 80 silver pieces, he had quickly recovered and could carry his share of the load.

  If all those scales were sold downriver in the nearby city of Tir, their price would be thousands of silver coins. However, after handing the valuable scales over to Chief Nikos, each hunter would receive 300 silver coins as a reward, not to mention the monster cores and what they had managed to find in the tunnels.

  Emilia had collected the valuable blood of the larger Kozors, as well as several ceramic jars of bone marrow. Her backpack was so full that she had asked Zevan to help her with part of the load.

  Grateful for the armor defense, he quickly agreed.

  "Now, when we make new armor, you'll enchant that too, right?" he rushed to confirm.

  "Of course. That's why I'm collecting this bone marrow. And who knows. Soon I might be able to work directly with monster cores. Plus, the material of these scales seems quite resistant to magic. Perhaps it will be much easier to work with it."

  The group continued their return journey, having to drop their backpacks several times to fight one magical animal or another, or a group of evil races.