Piper stood at the edge of a vast field of wheat, the sea of golden stalks gently waving in the breeze. She tilted her head back, feeling the warm sun on her face. For a moment, she was reminded of her time on the farm with Alfred.

  A slight smile crossed her face as she remembered laughing and playing tricks on the big man. Those truly had been some of the best days of her life.

  A light touch on her arm brought her back to the present. She looked over to see Selene standing beside her with a quizzical expression on her face.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I was just remembering my time on my family’s farm.”

  “I thought you would have lived in a forest with your class.”

  “The farm was in the mountains,” she explained. “We had to hunt to put food on the table most of the time.”

  “Well, the mucklings should be just up ahead. So, get ready.”

  Piper nodded and unslung her bow from her back. Once she had the weapon in hand, she reached into her pouch to retrieve a bowstring. While she’d prefer to use [Infernal Bowstring], she didn’t want to draw too much attention to her weapon. It already looked strange enough with the crudely made rawhide grip hiding Gorebark’s face.

  Once the bow was strung, she plucked it a few times. Then she drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it. She would try to avoid using any of her bow’s abilities in the fight. But if things turned south, at least she had a backup plan. In her experience, not many creatures could survive [Demonic Mark].

  Still, she would be hard-pressed to explain the power of her weapon. She had a feeling that telling them she found it in some ruins wouldn’t fly. Especially since this side of the mountain wasn’t littered with ancient demonic buildings.

  Basil held up his fist, in what Piper assumed was a signal to stop. Then, the man turned to address the group. “This is going to be a tough fight,” he said. “But if we work together, we’ll all go home safely tonight.”

  Piper half-raised her hand. “What exactly are mucklings?”

  “You’ve never heard of mucklings?”

  “We didn’t have any in the mountains,” she replied. “We mostly just had to deal with redcaps and oozes.”

  Basil's brow rose in surprise. “You’ve fought redcaps before?”

  “I’ve faced a few in the past.”

  Althea gave her a skeptical look. “You beat redcaps? I find that hard to believe.”

  “I didn’t say that I won,” Piper said softly, recalling her flight through the darkness before being saved by the Crimson Guard. Even with her current stats, she wasn’t sure if she could win against a small group of redcaps.

  “Oh… sorry,” Althea said. “Redcaps are the worst. They used to steal fish from my village all the time.”

  “In response to your question,” Basil continued. “Mucklings are earth elementals. They’re tough fighters and hard to kill. However, the steward of the farm claims there are only two of them. I’ll use my magic to incapacitate one while the rest of you dispatch the other. If anyone is injured, Althea will heal them. The steward said the elementals dwell near a stream close to here.”

  Selene stepped forward and drew a dagger. “Sounds like a great plan.”

  Piper thought back to Lukas summoning a mud elemental in the Black Pyramid. If the mucklings were as weak as that, this fight should be a breeze. Then again, she didn’t want to get overconfident. For all she knew, they were far more dangerous versions of what she’d seen.

  Piper followed Basil as he headed across the field. A few farmworkers stopped and waved their broad-brimmed hats at them. Some of the men even cheered. She waved back, smiling at the greeting. Apparently, being an aspirant brought some perks with it; like people actually being happy at the sight of her.

  They continued across the crop field until they reached a narrow stream winding through the landscape. Reeds and thorny shrubs choked the stream bank, hiding the water’s edge under a tangle of green. Almost anything could be lurking in the dense vegetation.

  Piper searched the stream for any sign of the mucklings. But aside from a few small birds flitting from reed to reed, she couldn’t see anything. Had the mucklings moved on? Would they fail the quest if they couldn’t find their targets?

  “Let’s split up,” Basil said. “If you spot a muckling, call out.”

  Piper frowned, not liking the idea of splitting up. If she were in a horror movie, this would be the equivalent of running upstairs while being chased by a chainsaw-wielding maniac. But she was new to the group and didn’t want to argue with the leader.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Since Basil and Althea went one way, she guessed that she was accompanying Selene. Which suited her just fine. She followed the young woman along the stream bank, scowling when her foot squished in a mud puddle. Now when she got back, she’d have to spend hours cleaning her brand-new boots.

  Continuing onward, she chose her steps more carefully, avoiding any ground that looked even remotely soggy. After walking for almost a kilometer, the sound of rustling among the reeds made her freeze. A deep groan reverberated through the air, followed by the splashing of water. There was something lumbering through the stream a short distance away from them.

  Piper crouched down and aimed her arrow at the swishing reeds. The second the muckling showed itself, she would loose. With her insane Strength stat, she might be able to take it out with a single shot. And if not, she had a few other ideas of how to take it down.

  Selene reached out and grabbed Piper’s wrist before dragging her away. “What’re you doing?” the woman whispered. “We need to find Basil and Althea.”

  ‘But I might be able to take it out…”

  “I’m sure you're amazing with a bow, but that’s an aspectbeast out there. You have no idea how powerful they are in battle.”

  Piper chewed on her lower lip. “I guess you’re right.” While she was pretty sure that she could handle it, she didn’t want Selene to get hurt. Plus, she had no idea what level the elemental was.

  Together, they retraced their steps along the muddy bank until they spotted Basil and Althea poking around in the spiky bushes. At the sight of them, the man and woman jogged in their direction.

  “Did you see anything?” Basil asked as he approached.

  Selene spun the dagger around in her palm. “There’s a muckling a short distance upstream. But we didn’t get a good look at it, and there was only a single creature.”

  “That’s good news,” Basil said. “We can take them out separately.”

  Basil drew a dagger from his belt and headed down the stream in the direction that they’d spotted the muckling. Or at least where they’d heard the creature.

  Piper slowed as she realized they hadn’t actually seen it. They’d only heard it moving through the reeds. What if it something else—something even more dangerous—lurked on the stream’s overgrown bank? The group's lack of experience was really starting to show. Back home, Alfred would have had a fit if she’d acted this recklessly on one of their hunting trips.

  In fact, he did have a fit that one time with the awakened lion.

  They retraced their steps until they reached the spot where they’d spotted the movement among the reeds.

  “There it is,” Selene whispered, pointing at the rustling vegetation.

  “Is everyone ready?” Basil said, speaking softly.

  Piper nodded along with the others. As she did, she drew her bowstring back slightly. She wanted to loose as quickly as possible before the elemental reached them. If she could take it out at a distance, then no one should get hurt in her group.

  Basil raised his hand and pointed at the shuddering reeds. Then the stream heaved upward on both sides, the water slamming together like a bear trap. A mound of vegetation and earth was hurled through the air as something roared with fury.

  “Do it now!” Basil said, his arm trembling as sweat beaded on his forehead. “Kill it before it gets free!”

  Selene darted forward, a second dagger appearing in her hand as if by magic. Meanwhile, Althea rushed at the elemental with her staff at the ready.

  Piper half raised her bow to shoot but was forced to lower it as the others stepped into her line of fire. Didn’t anyone ever teach them not to walk in front of a hunter? That was the very first thing that Alfred had drilled into her head when she started stalking game with him.

  Before either of the women could reach the trapped creature, the swirling water exploded outwards, showering them with clods of mud. A dripping elemental nearly twice Basil’s considerable height burst out of the vegetation and charged in their direction.

  “Run!” Basil cried out. “The guild made a terrible mistake! That thing is far too powerful for us to fight! I’ll hold it off for as long as I can.”

  “I’m not leaving you!” Althea shouted, swinging her staff at the elemental. But the oozing creature almost casually backhanded her, sending her flying through the air. She landed on the grass a few paces away and skidded before coming to a stop. Groaning, she pushed herself up on all fours and shook her head.

  “Althea!” Basil cried out. With fury in his eyes, he summoned a globe of water and hurled it at the Muckling; it struck the creature in the chest and staggered it. But after regaining its balance, it resumed its march toward them.

  A cold shiver crept up Piper’s spine as she realized they must be dealing with an incredibly powerful elemental. Nothing they’d thrown at it had even slowed it down. With mounting dread, she used [Identify] on it.

  Muckling, Level 15

  Piper blinked her eyes and used her skill again, only to get the same result. This was the creature that was too powerful for the group to defeat? Now she felt silly for nearly panicking a second ago.

  Raising her bow, she sighed with frustration as Selene darted in the path of her arrow. Was no one going to let her get off a shot?

  The woman slashed at the elemental with her daggers, carving off a thick slice of muck, and making the creature shrink slightly. When it tried to strike her, she launched into a graceful backflip, easily avoiding the clumsy strike.

  “I told you to run,” Basil said, grabbing Piper’s shoulder. “My magic will give you all a chance to escape.”

  Piper fought down the urge to roll her eyes at Basil as she pushed him aside. Then she raised her bow and loosed. The arrow sped out and blew a hole through the elemental’s chest.

  Her second arrow took off the top of its head, leaving a crater in its wake. But she had to lower her bow before firing a third one. She didn’t want [Demonic Mark] activating.

  “How-how did you do that?” Basil stammered, staring at the grievously injured elemental.

  Tossing her bow aside, she stalked forward. This battle was starting to feel ridiculous. As the elemental reeled backward, she drew her dagger. Thrusting the blade forward, she activated [Tail Strike] at the same time. Her invisible tail struck the creature, and she felt its body disintegrate around the barbed tip.

  Piper pulled back her dagger as the elemental collapsed into a pile of goo. Hopefully, she’d timed it right, so it looked like she’d killed it with her blade.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Muckling, level 15.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Tail Strike has reached level 14

  Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached level 18

  Ding, Your skill, Subterfuge has reached level 21.

  Turning around, she found the other two staring at her with shocked expressions. She gave a little helpless shrug. “It’s not much different from fighting an ooze.”

  Selene grinned and sheathed her daggers in one smooth motion. “Didn’t I tell you that I had a good feeling about her?”

  Basil nodded in reply. “You did. You certainly did.”