Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 53: The strange scent

As soon as the raft touched the water, everyone got on.

Xeno pushed off the land, and they started moving along the river.

As soon as they left, Visha heard the system’s prompt. She now had 400 CP.

Cato, Xeno, Krag, and Fil were the ones to use the paddles. Since it was their first time, it took them a while to get the hang of it.

Visha could see that everyone was anxious. Well, almost everyone. Krag and Chi would forever be an enigma. The way they acted, she knew it wasn’t their first time on the water.

"Nobody needs to be nervous. I know it feels strange because it keeps rocking you, but that’s natural. It’s the way water flows. The more you focus on it, the more you feel it."

After ten minutes, everyone was able to get comfortable. Though Visha knew they hadn’t yet found their sea legs, she didn’t think they needed it. They wouldn’t be crossing this river often.

They were three-quarters of the way across when Visha started feeling strange. A strange tingle ran up her spine. She felt that the air was distorted. It gave her a sense of wrongness.

She closed her eyes, trying to rid herself of the feeling. The closer they got to the shore, the more Visha felt it.

"Something smells wrong," Uri said, raising his head slightly to sniff the air. His eyes turned into vertical slits as he scented the air, his beast form ready to come out.

Visha was the next to smell it. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

It was a strange smell of fruit and rot. She could also smell blood. The scent made her cover her nose.

One by one, the rest of the people on the raft smelled it.

"Should we turn back?" asked Fil.

"No," Uri responded, "turning back now would only make things harder on us. The sun is about to set. All we can do is be ready for a battle."

The atmosphere grew heavy with the thought that there might be danger on the other side. Willa held Kit and Nimo. Both were able to smell the scent. They snuggled into Willa’s arms, trying to get away from the smell.

Another 15 minutes passed before they reached land.

As soonas they stepped on land, the smell became overwhelming. The unnatural scent smelled like a violation. No one saw anything dangerous, but they stepped cautiously.

No one spoke. The smell did not move. It stayed in one place. They moved towards the scent, trying to figure out what it was.

[System Alert: Anamonly detected]

[Objective: Record sensory details]

[Reward: Knowledge shard, 10 CP]

Visha was surprised that the system issued her a task.

She didn’t want to get closer to it, but now she had to. She needed to see what the thing was.

Everyone had stopped a safe distance away from the smell, making sure they would not be in danger should something try to pounce.

Having gotten the system alert, Visha was braver than before. The system didn’t say anything about there being danger, so maybe she could get close enough to see what it actually is.

As she stepped closer, Xeno grabbed her hand.

She understood why he wouldn’t want her to get any closer, but she had to.

She didn’t pull away and instead urged him to get closer. She pleaded with her eyes to let him know that there wasn’t any danger and that she had to get closer.

As they got closer, they saw it. The thing was dead. Visha breathed through her mouth, trying to filter the smell. She memorized everything. The creature looked like a manthrill, but was too large. The body was twisted, and claw marks marred its hide.

The leaves on the bushes around it were blackened.

"We need to leave," Visha said.

Everyone retreated quickly. They walked away from the creature. Moving far enough away that the smell was not so pungent.

"What was that?" Fil asked, still reeling from the smell.

"I am not sure, but whatever it is, it was attacked by something." Uri thought about the claw marks on its skin. "We can only hope that whatever it is has left."

"Or would it be better if we travel through the night?" Xeno suggested. "I have a feeling whatever did this will be back soon."

The tension was thick; they already spent the time coming to this side of the river only to meet issues. Now they would need to travel through the night, hoping to avoid whatever it is.

But what happens if they don’t have the chance to avoid it? What happens if they decide to walk through the night only to end up meeting the thing when they are tired the next morning?

They all knew that whichever decision they made, it might create some sort of problem for them in the long run.

In the end, the decision was to stay. They hoped that since the kill had already been made, the thing would not come back.

Trying to achieve a sense of normalcy, they started going about their nightly routine. Uri decided not to have a fire lit, just in case.

They were all perfectly capable of seeing in the dark. Some better than others, but it would not hinder them if they needed to fight. Rather, not having the fire would be in their favour, should anything try to find them.

The few foodstuffs left in Visha’s space were eaten this night. She still had multiple herbs and seasoning; however, after tonight, they would need to hunt more in order to make a reserve.

Everyone started eating. Although the air was still tense, they weren’t as tense as they had been when they just arrived.

Just as they were settling completely into their usual rhythm, a deep growl echoed in the woods.

It was deep and menacing. A sound of pure malice. And with it came the same sweet scent mixed with rot. Only this time, it was stronger, fresher.

And it was coming directly towards them.