William ran at full speed through the forest, dodging trees and jumping over roots. He modified his eyes to those of a feline, allowing him to see in the dark, and sharpened his sense of smell.
(They should be close, the stench is getting stronger) Will followed the stench he had felt near the shoe near the traffic sign, a red shoe, he could smell the faint scent of blood and had seen dozens of small footprints in the mud.
(Judging by its footprints, I'd say it's small with four toes on each foot; it's definitely not human. A humanoid walks upright.) (Will)
After passing the last pair of trees, Will found them. Without wasting any time, he stabbed without hesitation; his sharp spear pierced the small, wart-covered body, and bluish blood splattered the entire area.
"Gyyaaaaa" screamed the disgusting creature before being sliced in two with a twist of Will's wrist.
At first they were surprised, then came anger; three of them jumped at once, planning to tear Will apart with their sharp nails.
(They jump high, those nails look very dirty, it's best to avoid a scratch) The last thing I wanted was to die from an unknown infection.
Will executed a sweep with his spear, the blade expanded several times its size, the three were split in half in one clean cut, neither their hide nor bones were an impediment.
"There are two left, where?..." Will looked all around, two had disappeared, abandoning their prey, little Jean wrapped in dirty, untreated fur.
The rustling of leaves alerted Will; there was one at the top of the tree. It lunged at him in an attempt at a surprise attack, but Will knocked it to the ground with a blow from his forearm.
"Plack" I heard the sound when the creature's body hit the mud.
"Gyyaaa" The thing screamed as it felt William's foot press against its chest; with a brief crack, its ribs broke.
"Crack" Will's spear pierced his skull with a wet sound.
"The last one will lead me to his nest." With one last swing of his spear to wipe away the blood, William picked up Jean, turned around, and headed back to the bus.
A bright blue screen had appeared before him after he saw the shoe on the road.
[Available Mission, Content: Hunt for the Queen]
Those five creatures were a piece of cake; he even took the trouble to prevent even a drop of their blood from touching his clothes, but he didn't think the Queen would be so easy.
Director Weems' Office
"These creatures are undoubtedly 'Trasgo.' They were supposed to be nearly extinct." Larissa stood near the fireplace. It took her less than a second to recognize the creatures after seeing the photos of the corpses Will had taken. She called them Trasgos based on her knowledge of old books.
"They feed on animal remains, insects, and small animals; it's strange that they attack humans" (Larissa)
"I would say that a little girl playing near the woods is easy prey" (William)
"Well done, William, for rescuing that little girl. I'll speak with Mayor Noble; he'll take care of everything. I'd love to give you a reward. You needed a place for your workshop, didn't you?" Larissa was so proud of her student's accomplishment that she patted Will's head; he was smaller than her.
"That's right, Director." Will wasn't bothered; she was a very attractive woman.
"There's a shed east of the academy you can take it for yourself, it'll need some renovations but it'll be yours for as long as I stay in Nevermore" (Larissa)
"Thank you very much, I really appreciate it." Will went back to his room.
"I'm glad I allowed him to bring that dangerous Spear to the academy; he's just like his father, carrying that sword everywhere." Larissa breathed a sigh of relief. With this, Noble would owe her a favor, and her cooperation in maintaining the good relationship between Jericho and Nevermore would be more proactive.
Caliban Hall, William's Bedroom.
"So you want to go find the nest of these things?" Xavier asked hesitantly.
"That's right, they're dangerous to leave loose out there." Will was changing into a black windbreaker; he didn't want to get his uniform dirty.
(This will prevent his blood from sticking to me) (Will)
"And you want me to get you a bottle of alcohol?" (Xavier)
"Not you, Bianca, she must know some older student who has a bottle." (Will)
(William isn't the type of person who would do something like this for no reason; he's hiding something.) (Xavier)
"Fine, I'll call Bianca." Xavier gave up; he didn't even ask why he was doing this.
(He'll tell me when he feels like it) (Xavier)
Twenty minutes later, someone knocked on the door.
"Bianca, I'm sending you this." It was Ken the Newt from the scaly pack.
"Tell him thank you and that I owe him one." Will took the paper bag and left the dormitories heading towards the woods.
(I have to hurry before the rain washes away the trail and the footprints) (Wil)
An hour later, deep in the forest, Will found the Nest, or so he thought. A circular hole in the middle of a small clearing looked unnatural; its interior was completely dark, and the fact that there was no moon didn't improve things.
(Sigh). "Here we go."
Without thinking too much, Will jumped into the Pit. As he took Grimm's form, the scents left visible trails in the air, like paths of mist that guided him.
"It's smaller than I thought, I'll have to choose myself to go in." They were small underground tunnels suitable for Trasgos, Will was too big.
Will changed form for the second time, this time into a medium-sized dog, and began running through tunnels.
"Criiic gruk gric gric" (Trasgo Language) (Goblin - Trasgo)
"Criiic gric gricgrup" (The collection team has not returned)
Will stopped in his tracks; he heard a scream right in front of him.
(There are two of them, are they guarding an entrance?)
After waiting a second, Will launched his attack, crushing the first one with his front paws and tearing off its head with his jaws; he was not just any kind of dog, he was a fusion of the best characteristics of several breeds.
"Gyyiiiiii" After a strange war cry, the second attempt to tear Will's side failed to penetrate his thick fur; it was disemboweled with a swipe of William's sharp claws..
"Crack!!!"
A rock impacted just centimeters from Will's face; they were creatures similar to the previous ones except that these had longer fingers as well as arms.
(An ambush? Perhaps the road forked without my noticing.)
William was right, the path forked a few meters back, hidden behind some rocks; attracted by the noise, the Trasgos from the second path arrived.
(They wanted to surround any potential intruder; they're smarter than I thought.)
"Crack!!!" "Crack!!!" "Crack!!!"
The stones kept coming, Will reduced his size, this time into a feline, increasing his speed and making it more difficult for any of the projectiles to hit him.
Finally, he reached the first Trasgo, changed his shape into a canine, held half of it with one paw and the torso with his mouth.
"Gyyiiiii Gyyiiiiii" The disgusting creature screamed before being ripped in two by pressure in opposite directions.
(Tsk, That hurts, it will definitely leave a bruise.)
A stone had hit his side in the seconds he remained still; his fur protected him again. The rock was small but powerful.
He was next, Will lunged at him and grabbed him with his snout before turning around.
"Crack!!!" The second rock arrived; these Trasgos were clever, using their companion as bait, waiting for Will to stand still so they could get a clean shot.
William threw the one he had in his mouth toward the other; both crashed against a sharp protrusion in the cave, forming a pool of their blood.
(We have to be sure)
William took the trouble to crush the skulls of both of them with his powerful paws, then after taking a breath he continued on, the cave opened up and connected to what looked like an old mine.
"It feels good to finally stretch my arms!!!" He exclaimed with satisfaction; he had spent quite a while in his beast form, fighting in a rather small space.
"Now that I can use my spear, this will be easy." He smiled excitedly, extended his spear, and struck an old mine cart. Will had shrunk his spear to its limit by injecting mana into it; it couldn't last forever at that size, but it was enough for Will to find a place where he could use it.
"Buuummm"
The loud metallic noise echoed through the tunnels; it was a small mine a few meters deep with two particularly large spaces, Will was in the first one.
"Gyyiiiii Gyyiiiiii" "Gyyiiiii Gyyuuuiiiiii"
Soon the screams of the Trasgos began to arrive, emerging like cockroaches from holes in the wall before running towards Will, extending their claws and letting out shrieks.
By this point Will knew their attack pattern; with his first swing of his spear he cut five in half at once.
(I don't have to worry about the clothes, all of this will be thrown away later)
"Tink" "Tink" "Tink" "Tink"
With a twist of his wrist, the shaft of his spear stopped the stones that were heading towards him in their tracks.
I spent more time here than I wanted to admit. The pile of corpses consisted of dozens of Goblins. There was even a new kind of Goblin, one with a prominent belly that could shoot its thick tongue like a whip. It tried to grab Will's legs and ended up crushed along with the rest of its kind.
(Time to go there and see what causes that particularly powerful scream)