And it even brought about a hundred beasts with it!

Intelligent beasts were very, very rare.

She had only encountered one in all her beast mobs and adventures outside. Many others had never encountered one at all.

They were intelligent because they had consumed huge amounts of purified aether from humans and other intelligent beings, which was to say it had killed a huge number of people, more than others, along with some other lucky opportunity that solidified their foundation.

Usually, this would be found in stronger monsters. The one she encountered before was relatively low-leveled for an intelligent monster, but because she had the protection of the walls, they managed to deal with it without casualties.

It was different now. The monster was not only more than level 20, but they were completely on its turf. It purposely chose nighttime, too, knowing humans had a lot less advantage in the dark.

If they didn’t handle this well, a lot of people were going to die.

Along with the mob of varying levels, and a few more than level 15, the monsters attacked their caravan from all sides. The intelligent beast was at the back, like a general making orders, and Althea had the sinking feeling that it had a strategy in dealing with them.

For now, however, all they could do was manage the mobs. At the same time, Althea welcomed the challenge. Unlike the others, she and Garan had been cruising the whole time, primarily because monsters literally dropped dead next to Garan, even if he didn’t use a single elementalist attack.

It got to the point that Althea purposely distanced herself from her husband, taking the other side of the entourage, just so she’d have more chances to train.

Some gossipmongers thought they were fighting, and some ladies even tried to get close to her husband, but they almost got bitten by the monsters around him instead.

Of course, none of those affected the couple at all. They were determined to make the most out of their trip.

"Husband, cover me!"

This was already an instruction to Garan that she’d try to handle it herself first. Doing this would preserve the rest of the party better, because Garan was really strong, and also let Althea gauge the monster’s ability and intelligence more.

The monster was also at the level where she’d get some experience, so she wanted to take it first.

Covered by her husband, Althea jumped up to one of the trees, manipulating the tree’s branches to create a barrier around her. This ensured that no climber monster would get to her.

From there, she used a normal C-Class bow and arrow to shoot at her enemies, covering for her team while watching the intelligent beast’s movements.

Meanwhile, Garan waved his sword around. The weapon had been sharpened by his ability. Not to mention his level was superior to the monsters, he was literally taking down monsters like cheese.

The other mercenaries were surprised at their skills. They knew he was already level 30s (there were a few among them at that level), so they knew that amount of damage and penetration was not normal.

Fortunately, they were also expert mercenaries, so they adjusted quickly, at least before they got eaten due to getting distracted.

As teams, they worked in sync with each other, also causing damage to the mob while defending each other’s backs.

Althea reduced the pressure on the ground fighters with her shots, especially against the monsters around her level and could give her good experience.

At the same time, she had a wider view of the overall happening.

Different teams wanted to do things their own way, and it would be difficult to make them follow one person. It was very difficult to coordinate attacks composed of many entities. They were fine before because the mobs were manageable. The teams themselves were cohesive enough. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

When the fight was too difficult and required everyone’s cooperation, a leader would be required. Usually, it was someone from the client’s side (the one who paid gets the strongest voice) but, sadly, they had been surrounded by a mob.

There was even a team that, on the surface, guarded the carriages with the injured guards. However, a closer look would reveal that they just wanted to hide behind the others in the guise of protecting the client.

Garan had to step up this time and, with a show of strength—a group of beasts freezing solid in the span of a second—no one spoke against it. That cowardly group was also forced to be vanguards. They grumbled at first until they just didn’t have the energy to do so anymore.

Garan turned it into a wheel battle, with people taking turns in fighting, except for those above level 30, who would not get rest.

With Garan’s leadership, the hundred or so beasts that surrounded them were cut to half the number, with a steady decrease.

Althea remained on the branches, jumping from branch to branch as needed. It was then that she saw the intelligent beast bend over, ready to lunge at someone.

She had been watching it since before but couldn’t find the chance to make a move yet. She worried that if she attacked it prematurely, it would go after her. At least, before now, it was just standing there and giving orders.

Now, with the mobs getting dealt with, the beast finally made its move!

The unfortunate victim happened to be Lipin, who was closest to it.

It happened very quickly. It appeared next to the man, at his blind spot, opening its mouth to bite his shoulder to his arms.

"AH!"

His equipment saved him from deeper cuts, but the hold was strong enough so, when he lost his footing, he was helplessly pulled back.

"AHHHH!" he screamed, realising he was meters away from his team (and getting farther away). They were all too busy defending themselves to react on time.

Althea was standing by, her bow and arrow taut. Her emerald eyes watched as Lipin was pulled away, waiting to see where the monster would take him. When the path was determined, she made a move.

Her eyes sharpened, and vines at the side moved, creating a blockage that stopped the man from getting pulled back. At the same time, the arrow shot at the monster’s nose, causing it to let go of its hold.

Lipin immediately crawled back to the team, pants wet. He cried ugly tears.

Wuwuwuwu! He wants to go home!!