Boran stopped talking.
The Hub continued moving around them.
Noemi sat beside him on the stone bench with one leg crossed over the other. She had listened without interrupting, apart from asking him to repeat the part about a Level One attacker and an unprotected throat.
Now she looked across the square.
“Half.”
“After expenses,” Boran said.
“That is still half.”
“Yes.”
“And they expect your guild to defend an entire region without openly helping you.”
“They said they could help with small things.”
Noemi turned her head slowly.
Boran nodded. “I know how that sounds.”
“It sounds like they give you two expensive items and then wait to see whether you build them a country.”
“That is close to what they said.”
Noemi looked at him for another second, then laughed under her breath.
“At least you didn’t agree.”
“I told them I thought I could do it someday. They’re speaking to other people. I’m supposed to decide whether I even want Stonewake to become my priority.”
“Do you?”
Boran watched a new party disappear into one of the public portals.
“I don’t know.”
Noemi waited.
“A week ago, I was trying to afford a bed,” he said. “Now people are asking whether I can protect towns. I understand why they want it. I can even see how it might work. But seeing a path and being ready to walk it are different things.”
Noemi’s shoulder touched his.
“Then don’t decide today.”
Boran looked at her.
A blue message window opened in front of Noemi.
She read it, smiled briefly, and dismissed it.
“Something happened?” Boran asked.
“Steel says he found a good mission. They’re heading out.”
“Did they ask you to come with them?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“No.”
The answer came quickly enough that Boran looked at her.
“Did something happen between you?”
“No.” Noemi’s eyebrows pulled together. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know… maybe because you don’t want to go with them.”
“I still like them, Boran. We didn’t fight. They’re my friends.” She looked across the square for a moment, then back at him. “I left because I wanted to spend some time with you.”
Boran went quiet.
The simple answer settled somewhere warm in his chest.
Noemi reached out and tapped Boran’s arm with one finger. “You and me.”
She let the words hang for a beat, watching him.
“And, of course, Boney.”
“That sounds good.”
“Good.” She stood. “Then let’s see what the Adventurer’s Guild has for us.”
Boran followed.
The Quest Board inside the Adventurer’s Guild covered most of the far wall.
Hundreds of contracts moved across its dark surface. Some were short enough to finish before dinner. Others opened maps that stretched across entire regions. Adventurers stood in loose rows before it, comparing rewards, arguing over party size, and dismissing anything that looked more dangerous than the payment deserved.
Noemi touched one of the smaller notices.
[BRAMBLEFIELD CULL]
[Recommended Level: 4–6]
[Party Size: 2–4]
[Objective: Defeat 15 Thornback Jackals]
[Reward: 2000 Experience / 150 Gold]
“This one,” Noemi said.
Boran read it.
Nothing about the mission looked bad. The Thornbacks were mostly Level Four or Five, though. If they could barely get through his Defense, he would finish the mission without learning where his limits were.
“You want somewhere with a wider level range,” Noemi said.
“Yes. I want to start near my own level, see how well my Defense holds, and move higher if it feels too easy. A few levels at a time.”
Noemi nodded. “That makes more sense.”
Boran moved two notices aside.
A regional map opened beneath them.
A region appeared in blue light above the panel. A single enormous mountain stood at its center, surrounded at the base by a wide forest. From there, the land coiled upward around the mountain in one continuous spiral, each rising section forming a new hunting range. The colors changed as the route climbed: green forest gave way to blue crystal slopes, then bare red stone, and finally white near the summit.
Small winged shapes moved along every turn of the spiral. The higher the route climbed, the larger they became.
[WYVERN VALLEY]
[Open hunting and expedition region]
[Regional range: Level 5–50+]
[Warning: Threat level increases along the ascending spiral.]
Noemi studied the map again. “So we begin at the bottom. If that is easy, we move higher until your Defense starts taking real pressure.”
“That’s the idea. The valley reaches Level Fifty. We don’t have to leave and find a new region every time we want to test the next range.”
“And the moment the damage stops being controlled, we go back down.”
Boran nodded. “Agreed.”
Noemi smiled. “Then this is actually better than the Thornbacks.”
Boran expanded the lowest section.
The lowest section rose toward them. It was entirely forest: dense green canopy, shallow streams, fern-covered clearings, and a few camps marked as safe. At the forest’s inner edge, the main trail met the central mountain and began its first gradual turn upward. Higher sections of that same trail could be seen circling the mountain above.
One mission pulsed near the entrance.
[LOWER REACH CULL]
[Recommended Level: 5–9]
[Party Size: 2–5]
[Objectives:]
[- Defeat 20 Valley Venomwings]
[- Recover 8 intact venom sacs]
[Reward: 3,000 Experience / 200 Gold]
Noemi read the objectives. “Level Five to Nine. That gives us a good first range.”
“If the Venomwings can barely get through my Defense, we finish this mission and try something higher afterward,” Boran said.
“All right,” she said. “Wyvern Valley.”
Boran pressed accept.
[Mission accepted: Lower Reach Cull]
He opened a party window and sent Noemi an invitation.
[Noemi joined the party]
[Party members:]
[- Boran Apaydın — Level 5 Tank — Party Leader]
[- Noemi Bellandi — Level 6 Mage]
They left the Adventurer’s Guild and stopped at the first alchemy stall outside.
Red, blue, green, and colorless liquids filled the shelves behind the counter. Some bottles were small enough to hide in a closed hand. Others were sealed inside metal frames and cost more than Boran’s armor.
Noemi picked up one of the small red bottles.
[Lesser Health Regeneration Potion]
[Restores 30 HP over 60 seconds]
[Price: 20 Gold]
Boran placed five of the red bottles on the counter.
“Five?” Noemi asked.
“If my Defense works as well as I think, I won’t need them,” Boran said. “If it doesn’t, I’ll be glad I bought too many.”
“Makes sense.”
Boran looked farther along the shelf and picked up a small blue vial.
[Lesser Mana Regeneration Potion]
[Restores 20 Mana over 90 seconds]
[Price: 20 Gold]
He added two of those to the counter.
“Both will be useful.”
[Payment sent: 140 Gold]
[Current Balance: 192 Gold]
[Lesser Health Regeneration Potion x5 added to inventory]
[Lesser Mana Regeneration Potion x2 added to inventory]
Noemi bought three antidotes and enough food for the mission. When she reached for an extraction kit hanging beside the counter, Boran stopped her.
“Don’t buy that.”
Noemi looked at him. “Why?”
Boran took the small knife from his inventory and showed it to her. “I can remove the venom sacs with this. I’ve done it before, and my Gathering skill shows me where to cut. We’d be paying for tools I already have.”
Noemi looked from the knife to the extraction kit, then placed the kit back.
“If you burst all of them, I’m reminding you of this conversation.”
They reached the portal district less than an hour later.
The portal assigned to the Lower Reach stood inside a ring of dark stone. Green light moved across its surface in slow waves, occasionally broken by the shadow of something flying on the other side.
Boran stopped in front of it.
Noemi stood on his right.
They touched the portal together.
Cold passed through Boran’s body.
The Hub disappeared.
Wind struck him first.
It came hard enough to pull at his clothes and whistle through the gaps in his armor. The air was cooler than the Hub, carrying the clean smell of wet leaves, running water, and damp earth.
Boran opened his eyes on a broad platform of dark stone surrounded by forest.
The Lower Reach spread around them in every direction as a vast ring of forest. Ancient trees stood close enough for their branches to lock together overhead, turning most of the ground beneath them dark. Thick roots broke through the soil like walls. Shallow streams wound between them, carrying clear water down from somewhere higher on the mountain.
And at the center of everything stood the mountain.
It rose so sharply that Boran had to tilt his head back to follow it. A colossal trail wrapped around its slopes in a single ascending spiral, wide enough in places to hold forests, lakes, cliffs, and entire hunting grounds. Each turn formed a separate band around the mountain before climbing into the next. The lowest band remained green and heavily wooded. Above it, the trees thinned around enormous blue-white crystals. Higher still, the mountain became red stone, black cliffs, and finally distant snow half-hidden by clouds.
Waterfalls poured from the higher turns and vanished into the forest below. Some fell freely for hundreds of meters. Others crossed the rising path, feeding streams that curved through the Lower Reach. Sunlight passed through crystal formations on the second band and scattered cold blue light across the leaves.
Winged shapes moved around every level of the mountain. Small ones darted over the lowest canopy in restless groups. Larger creatures circled the crystal slopes above. Near the clouds, something broad enough to cast a shadow across an entire section of the spiral disappeared behind the peak.
The sound reached them in layers: rushing water, branches dragged by the wind, distant cries, and occasional wingbeats heavy enough to shake droplets from the leaves.
A marked trail left the platform and entered the Lower Reach forest. Far ahead, after nearly circling the mountain’s base, that same route began to rise toward the next band.
Boran checked the platform, the sky above it, and the nearest tree trunks. Nothing was attacking them yet.
He raised the Bone Shield.
“Boney.”
Purple-white mist spilled from the carved skull and spread across the stone beside him. A spine formed first, followed by ribs, arms, legs, fingers, and a skull. Blue fire opened inside two empty eye sockets.
Boney Stark stepped out of the mist with his bow already in his hands.
He looked at Boran, then at Noemi. Finally, he turned toward the forest and the mountain ahead of them.
“We’re in Wyvern Valley,” Boran said. “Flying enemies.”
Boney gave a thumbs up.
Noemi smiled.
Boran studied the closest shapes.
“Can you tell their levels from here?”
“No,” Noemi said. “We’ll have to get closer.”
Boney walked to the edge of the platform and stared up at the spiral road wrapped around the mountain.
His skull continued tilting until Boran wondered how far his neck could bend.
“We’re staying down here for now,” Boran told him.
They entered the forest path.
Boran stayed in front. Noemi followed several paces behind him, leaving enough room to cast without catching him in the center of a spell. Boney moved between them at first, then drifted from one side of the path to the other as his blue eyes followed every shadow above the canopy.
For the first ten minutes, nothing attacked.
Boran still kept the Bone Shield raised. Every movement in the canopy made him look up, but most came from birds, wind, or small animals disappearing through the undergrowth.
Then a cluster of broad orange-green leaves beside a fallen log caught his attention.
He stopped.
Noemi nearly walked into his back. “What is it?”
“Not a wyvern.”
Boran focused on the plant.
[Warmleaf]
[Common alchemical herb. Retains heat after harvesting. Used in basic recovery mixtures and warming salves.]
[Gathering Difficulty: Easy]
He crouched and checked beneath the leaves. Seven usable stems grew from the same patch. His Botanist skill showed him which ones were mature and where to cut without damaging the center of the plant.
Noemi watched him take out his knife.
“I thought we came here to hunt wyverns.”
“We did.” Boran cut the first stem and sent it to his inventory. “But nothing is attacking us, and these sell.”
[Warmleaf x1 obtained]
“You really cannot walk past free money.”
“I can. I choose not to.”
By the time he stood, all seven mature stems were in his inventory and the younger growth remained untouched.
[Warmleaf x7 obtained]
They continued along the trail.
Five minutes later, Boney stopped beside an old tree and tapped its trunk with one finger.
Dark shelf-like growths protruded from the shaded side of the bark. Their edges carried a dull metallic color.
Boran examined one.
[Ironbark Fungus]
[Common alchemical fungus. Used in strengthening compounds, protective salves, and low-grade armor treatments.]
[Gathering Difficulty: Easy]
Boran looked at Boney. “Good find.”
Boney straightened.
Noemi folded her arms.
Boran carefully cut three intact growths from the bark.
[Ironbark Fungus x3 obtained]
After that, Boney inspected every large trunk they passed. Most held nothing useful. One had ordinary mushrooms. Another had a colony of red insects that made him step away before Boran could warn him.
By the end of forty minutes, they had found no wyverns, but Boran’s inventory held seven Warmleaf stems and three Ironbark Fungus.
The trail remained beneath the forest canopy. They had not reached the rising spiral yet, and Boran had no intention of climbing until they understood what lived on the lowest level.
The first wyverns found them there.
Boney stopped so suddenly that Noemi nearly walked into him.
Blue fire narrowed inside his eye sockets. He raised one hand and pointed toward the branches ahead.
Three green shapes watched them from the trees.
[Valley Venomwing — Level 5]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 5]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 6]
Each was slightly larger than a dog, with narrow bodies, long tails, and translucent green wings folded close to its sides. Dark liquid shone along the hooked claws on their rear feet.
Noemi lowered her voice. “Their claws carry venom.”
Boran moved in front of her and raised the Bone Shield. “Then stay behind me.”
The Level Six wyvern opened its wings first.
The other two followed.
All three dropped from the branches at once.
The first struck the center of Boran’s shield claws-first.
The impact stopped the wyvern so completely that its wings folded around the curved bone face. For a heartbeat, it seemed stuck there—crushed against something it had expected to knock aside. Then it peeled away from the shield and dropped into the wet leaves.
The second curved around his right side toward Noemi.
Boran took a single step across its path and turned the shield.
The wyvern hit him at full speed. His arm barely shifted. Its body flattened against the Bone Shield, slid down the skull carved into its center, and landed on its back at his feet.
Noemi stared at him. “Did it hurt?”
“I can’t feel their attacks,” Boran said. “Not through the shield.”
Boney’s bow snapped forward.
The arrow entered the thin joint of the fallen wyvern’s wing before it could recover.
The third came low beneath Boran’s shield.
One hooked claw slipped between the cuff of Boran’s leather glove and the lower edge of his leather bracer, cutting across the narrow strip of exposed skin at his wrist. The wound was shallow, but a green line spread beneath the skin around it.
[HP: 139/140]
[Poisoned status resisted]
The Level Six wyvern forced itself upright first. It opened its wings and launched again.
Boran planted his feet.
It struck the Bone Shield and stopped in exactly the same place as before.
“Shield Slam!”
[Mana: 48/50]
Blue light flashed through the shield while the wyvern was still pressed against it. The blast threw the creature straight down and broke one wing against the soil.
Boney’s next arrow entered through its eye.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
The wyvern with the injured wing tried to crawl back into the air.
“Cinder Chain.”
A red line wrapped around its body. Noemi pulled once, dragging it out of the ferns, then drove an Ember Lance through its open mouth.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
The last wyvern rose from beside the root and threw itself at Boran again.
It struck the shield.
The creature slid down the bone face and hit the ground. Boran lowered the shield over its body before it could unfold its wings.
Boney stepped closer and fired downward through its skull.
The third notification appeared.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
[Mission progress: 3/20]
Boran lowered the shield and checked the cut on his wrist. The green discoloration had vanished completely. Only a thin red line remained.
Noemi stepped closer. “Dizzy?”
“No.”
She looked at the three bodies. “The antidotes may only be for me, then.”
“Still worth buying.”
Boney returned from the ferns and looked at the cut on Boran’s wrist.
“I’m fine,” Boran told him.
Then Boran crouched beside the Level Six Venomwing and took out his knife.
Noemi stopped beside him. “You’re doing that now?”
“We need eight sacs.”
He rolled the creature onto its side and held its head still with one hand. The hooked teeth remained wet with green venom. When Boran focused, his Gathering skill traced a faint line beneath the scales along the lower jaw, then curved down one side of the throat.
He placed the tip of the knife against the first mark.
“Small cut,” he said. “Too deep and I burst it.”
Noemi leaned closer to watch.
Boran slid the blade beneath a scale and drew it down the marked line. The hide resisted at first, then opened with a wet sound. Dark blood ran over his fingers. A sharp, bitter smell rose from the wound.
Noemi’s expression changed immediately.
Boran pulled the edges of the cut apart. A swollen green sac rested between the muscles of the throat, thin enough for the darker venom inside to show through its surface. Two narrow ducts ran from it toward the creature’s fangs.
Noemi took one step back. “That is disgusting.”
Boran pinched the first duct shut between two fingers and cut above it. He did the same to the second, then worked the knife around the sac without touching its swollen center. Thin strands of tissue stretched as he lifted it free.
The sac came out whole, warm and slick in his palm.
[Venom Sac obtained]
Noemi glanced over her shoulder, saw what he was holding, and immediately looked away again.
Boran sent the sac to his inventory and moved to the Venomwing Boney had killed through the skull. Its throat was undamaged. The second extraction was cleaner and took less than a minute.
[Venom Sac obtained]
The last creature had taken Noemi’s Ember Lance through the mouth. When Boran opened its throat, he found the sac split and partly burned. Green fluid had leaked into the surrounding flesh.
“This one is ruined,” he said.
[Venom Sacs: 2/8]
Boran wiped the knife clean on the creature’s wing and returned it to his inventory.
Only then did Noemi face him again.
They left the bodies behind and continued deeper into the Lower Reach.
The forest grew quieter around them.
Boran stayed at the front with the Bone Shield raised. Noemi followed several steps behind him, and Boney moved along the left side of the trail with an arrow resting against his bowstring.
Something clicked above them.
Boran looked up.
Five streams of green venom came down through the leaves.
Boran raised the shield over his head. Two streams splashed across the bone surface. Another splashed across his leather shoulder guard. The fourth broke against the side of his leather helmet.
The last one landed across his wounded wrist.
Cold liquid ran into the shallow cut.
[Poisoned status resisted]
The venom did nothing.
Five green bodies dropped from the canopy and separated before reaching the ground.
[Valley Venomwing — Level 5]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 5]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 6]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 6]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 7]
The first swept past his left side and raked its claws across his upper arm. The second came from the opposite direction a second later, aiming beneath his raised elbow. Boran turned just enough for the claws to scrape across his leather bracer instead of finding the gap beside it.
A third snapped at the back of his neck as it passed.
Its teeth snapped shut against the top edge of his leather chest piece.
He felt none of them.
The Venomwings climbed back into the branches, turned, and attacked again from different angles. One raked its claws across the leather covering his back. Another scraped along the side of his leather leg guard. The Level Seven creature hooked its claws around the rim of the Bone Shield and tried to pull his arm down while the others searched for exposed skin.
Nothing worked.
Boran did not lose a single point of HP.
The creatures realized it too.
Their third pass began toward him.
Halfway down, all five changed direction.
They opened their wings and swept around Boran, heading for Noemi behind him.
Noemi raised her staff.
“Ember Lance!”
A red spear of fire crossed the trail.
The leading Venomwing folded one wing and dropped beneath it. The spell missed by less than a handspan and burned through a branch behind the creature.
Noemi tried to follow its movement with the tip of her staff, but the five bodies crossed over one another too quickly.
“They’re fast!”
The Level Seven Venomwing opened its claws in front of her face.
Boran turned.
“Here!”
[Taunt activated]
[Mana: 43/50]
The pressure struck all five creatures at once.
Every head snapped toward Boran.
The Venomwing closest to Noemi twisted so sharply that its tail struck a tree. The others abandoned her in the middle of their dives and came for him again.
This time, Boran was ready.
The first descended directly in front of him.
He waited until its claws opened.
“Shield Slam!”
[Mana: 41/50]
Blue light ran through the Bone Shield as Boran drove it upward.
The shield caught the Venomwing beneath the chest. Its body folded around the impact before the force threw it into a tree hard enough to crack the bark.
It fell without opening its wings again.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
The second creature came from Boran’s right.
He swung the shield toward it.
The Venomwing stopped with a violent beat of its wings, twisted around the edge, and avoided the strike completely.
The third came low while Boran’s arm was still extended.
Boran released the shield with his right hand and caught the creature around the throat.
Its momentum pulled his arm back half a step, but his feet remained planted. The Venomwing thrashed between his fingers, wings striking his armor as it tried to tear itself free.
Boney drew and fired.
The creature jerked sideways at the same instant.
The arrow missed its neck.
Boran saw the bone point coming directly toward his face.
He dropped his head at the last possible moment.
The arrow passed close enough to disturb his hair and buried itself in the tree behind him.
Boran remained crouched for half a second.
Then he slowly looked at Boney.
The skeleton froze with the bow still raised.
“You almost shot me.”
Boney nodded quickly, then shook his skull even faster.
“Hold it still!” Noemi called.
Boran turned the creature toward her.
Noemi aimed carefully this time.
“Ember Lance.”
The spell struck the Venomwing through the chest.
Boran released it before the fire reached his hand. The creature hit the ground at his feet and did not move again.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
The remaining three climbed above the trail.
Boney drew another arrow and tracked the Level Six Venomwing moving between the branches. He waited through two changes of direction, then released when the creature opened its wings to turn.
The arrow passed through the thin joint beneath its left wing.
The Venomwing lost control, struck a tree trunk, and fell. Once it hit the ground, Boney loosed another arrow to finish it.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
Noemi followed the next one with her staff.
The creature crossed above Boran, turned around a hanging branch, and began another dive.
“Cinder Chain.”
A red line wrapped around one wing.
Noemi pulled it tight. The wing snapped closed against the creature’s body, dragging it sideways through the air. Before it could recover, she sent an Ember Lance through its throat.
The Venomwing dropped into the ferns.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
The last creature was the one that had avoided Boran’s shield.
It circled once above him, searching for a way past Taunt, then folded its wings and came down toward his unprotected side.
Boran waited until it committed.
He stepped aside.
The Venomwing missed him by a fraction and struck the ground claws-first. Before it could push itself back into the air, Boran brought the lower edge of the Bone Shield down across one wing.
The bones snapped.
Boney fired again.
This arrow struck cleanly beneath the jaw.
[Valley Venomwing defeated]
[Mission progress: 8/20]
Boran approached the last dead Venomwing. One of its translucent wings lay half-open across the wet leaves. Sunlight filtered through the thin green membrane, revealing a web of delicate veins beneath the surface. Even after everything that had happened, the colors were still beautiful.
Boran put the Bone Shield on his back.
He took the harvesting knife from his inventory, but did not bring it down.
Instead, he gently lifted the edge of the creature’s wing between two fingers. The membrane caught the light and changed from dark green to gold near the edges.
“They’re beautiful creatures,” he said.
Noemi lowered her staff. “They are.”
“I wish we didn’t have to kill them.”
Boran looked across the other four bodies scattered between the trees. A few minutes earlier, they had been moving through the canopy faster than his eyes could follow. Now the forest had gone still again.
“If there were another way to complete this mission, I’d take it.” He ran his thumb carefully along the unbroken edge of the wing, then folded it against the creature’s body. “I hate seeing animals get hurt.”
Noemi came closer and stopped beside him. “They tried to kill us.”
“I know.” Boran turned the knife in his hand and found the line shown by Gathering beneath the creature’s jaw. “That’s why I fought back. It was the mission, and they attacked us first. If I had let them pass me, they would have torn into you.”
He paused before placing the blade against the scales.
“But that doesn’t make me happy they’re dead.”
“No,” Noemi said quietly. “It shouldn’t.”
Boran made the first cut.
The blade passed beneath the lowest row of scales. He worked slowly, separating the hide without pressing into the swollen gland beneath it. Dark blood covered the edge of the knife.
“They’re not cruel,” he said while he worked. “They’re animals. This is their home. We walked into their forest carrying a mission that says we need twenty of them dead.”
Noemi watched his hands. “And the guild issued that mission because their numbers need to be reduced.”
“Probably.” Boran pinched one of the thin ducts closed and cut above it. “That can be necessary and still feel terrible.”
The arrow beneath the creature’s jaw had passed too close to the gland. When Boran pulled the cut open, he found the venom sac torn along one side.
He exhaled through his nose.
“This one is ruined.”
Boran moved to the Venomwing he had killed with Shield Slam. Its chest had been crushed, but its throat remained untouched. He knelt beside it and spread one wing to check the body’s position before rolling it onto its side.
The green membrane shimmered again.
Boney crouched across from him and watched in silence.
Boran followed the Gathering line with his knife. He opened the throat, secured both ducts between his fingers, and carefully freed the sac from the surrounding tissue.
[Intact Venom Sac obtained — 3/8]
He held the sac for only a moment before sending it to his inventory.
Noemi looked at the folded wing beside his knee. “I understand.”
Boran glanced up at her.
“I love animals too,” she said. “Did you have a pet back home?”
Boran wiped the knife on a clean patch of grass before moving to the next Venomwing.
“A cat,” he said. “His name is Ares.”
Noemi crouched across from him. “Ares? Like the god of war?”
“Yes.” Boran carefully rolled the Venomwing onto its side. “We called him that because every game was a fight to him. If you moved your hand under a blanket, he attacked it. If you walked past him, he attacked your feet. Sometimes he hid behind doors and waited for someone to come through.”
Noemi smiled. “So the name fit.”
“Too well.” Boran found the Gathering line beneath the creature’s scales and placed the knife against it. “He lives at my family’s house. Or he did when I left. I haven’t seen him in two years.”
The smile faded slightly from Noemi’s face. “Since you began your military service.”
Boran nodded and made the first shallow cut. “Two years in the military, then I came straight through the Gate. I want to go back sometime. Even if it’s only for a little while.”
“To see your family?”
“Yes.” Boran separated the hide carefully with the tip of the knife. “And to pet Ares again. If he still lets me.”
“He will remember you.”
“I hope so.”
Boran pinched the first venom duct closed between two fingers.
“There was another cat near the military grounds,” he continued. “Osman. He wasn’t officially anyone’s cat, but everyone saw him around. I fed him whenever I could. He used to wait near the buildings around mealtimes like he knew our schedule better than some of us did.”
Noemi smiled.
“Osman was calmer. He mostly wanted food and somewhere warm to sleep.” Boran cut above the first duct, then secured the second. “Sometimes he followed me around the grounds. I took care of him as much as I could.”
“And then you had to leave him too.”
Boran’s hand slowed for a moment.
“Yes.”
He worked the knife around the venom sac without piercing it.
Noemi watched him in silence for a few seconds. “We’ll find a way for you to go home.”
Boran lifted the intact sac free and looked at it in his palm.
“One day,” he said.
Then he sent it to his inventory.
The one killed by Noemi’s Ember Lance through the chest still had an intact throat. He cut carefully while Noemi held one wing out of his way. She looked uncomfortable when the bitter smell reached her, but this time she did not step back.
[Venom Sac obtained — 4/8]
The third usable sac came from the Venomwing Boney had brought down through the wing. Boran worked it free, cleaned the blood from its surface with a handful of damp leaves, and sent it to his inventory.
[Venom Sac obtained — 5/8]
The creature Noemi had struck through the throat was impossible to harvest. The spell had burned through the gland completely.
[Venom Sacs: 5/8]
When the work was finished, Boran cleaned his knife and returned it to his inventory. Before standing, he folded the last creature’s wings against its body instead of leaving them spread across the mud.
Boney copied him with the Venomwing beside the tree.
Boran watched the skeleton carefully arrange the damaged wing.
“Thank you,” he said.
Boney nodded once.
Noemi rested a hand on Boran’s shoulder as he stood.
“Three more sacs,” she said. “And twelve more kills.”
Boran looked deeper into the forest.
“Yep.”
He raised the Bone Shield again.
“Let’s get this over with.”
They had not gone far when Boney lifted one hand.
Three Venomwings clung to the exposed roots of an enormous tree beside a shallow stream. One tore strips of meat from something hidden between the roots while the other two watched the forest.
[Valley Venomwing — Level 6]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 7]
[Valley Venomwing — Level 7]
Boran glanced at Noemi. “Their throats need to stay intact.”
“I’ll aim for the chest.”
Boney placed an arrow against his bowstring.
Boran moved in front of them and raised the Bone Shield. The closest Venomwing heard the movement. Its head snapped toward him, green venom gathering along its teeth.
A sharp whistle cut through the forest.
An arrow struck the creature through the eye.
Before its body hit the stream, a second arrow passed between the roots and buried itself in another Venomwing’s chest. The third opened its wings, but two more arrows arrived almost together—one tearing through the wing joint, the other entering beneath its foreleg.
All three creatures fell.
Boney had not released his bowstring.
Boran turned toward the direction the arrows had come from.
High among the branches, a figure stood balanced on a narrow limb. A dark green cloak broke up the shape of their body against the leaves. Only the longbow in their hand remained clearly visible.
Boney lowered his own bow slowly. The blue fire in his eyes narrowed.
Noemi tightened her grip on her staff. “We were about to kill those.”
The stranger stepped from the branch.
They dropped through the canopy without making a sound and landed beside the dead Venomwings. A gloved hand reached immediately for the first body.
“About to,” the archer said, “isn’t the same as doing it.”