-Subt.i.tles? What are those?-

'Think of it as a visual overlay for what she says in written format. Is that possible?'

-Hmm. I am capable of that, yes. I must say, no one has asked for that in centuries.-

'So there's been others who know what subt.i.tles are?'

-Yes, there has been. Unfortunately, you do not have access to such information. You know the drill, pay up the [SP].-

'You know, since you got "smarter" you're no less of a d.i.c.k,' grumbled Donis.

Donis was deep in thought grumbling away as Striga basically shoved Donis into the armoury. She told him to pick up some leather armour as they'll be going deep into the swamp to hunt for some family jewels of dear old Jimmy.

-Reinforced Leather Armour Chest-

[Level: 9]

[Defense: 18]

[Resistance: Slas.h.i.+ng Minor, Piercing Minor]

[Grade: Basic]

[Runes: /]

[Enchants: m.u.f.fled]

'Huh, this is Basic, yet it has an Enchant? Maybe Enchants don't necessarily increase the grade of the item, or potentially it does, but m.u.f.fled may not be a very powerful enchant? What does it do anyway?' thought Donis.

-m.u.f.fled: Reduces the noise produced by the item.-

'Hmm. I suppose that's handy.'

The two set off after Donis outfitted himself with just the chest piece. Not being used to wearing armour, nor actually fitting it properly, he felt incredibly uncomfortable. Striga just laughed at the poor attempt Donis put into outfitting himself.

The road they took was as soft as it was squishy. The stink of fish slowly backing off the further they got away from the town, lifting a mental weight from Donis. The trees grew closer and closer to each other, creating a very dense canopy above them, slowly filtering out the light and giving the surroundings a dark atmosphere.

There were birds squawking in the distance, low growls that edged on hisses, and the sounds of wings flapping. It truly gave a dangerous vibe to Donis, but when he looked over to Striga, she seemed as carefree as the moment he met her.

She was whistling without a worry in the world and taking long but relaxed strides along the mushy ground. It didn't seem to actually even bother her, the mud didn't stick to her shoes as easily as to his.

Noticing Donis's glare, Striga smiled mischievously.

"Aye lad, see whatcha like? Or is yas a wee bit scared?" Striga laughed.

-Hey lad, see what you like? Or are you a little bit scared?-

"Uh, sorry, I'm just a little nervous actually. The swamp seems to be a little.. er.. creepy," awkwardly smiled Donis.

"Ah sure look, tis natin ta be scared of. Sure the wildlife is a little rough, birds'll peck yer little eyes out, 'n even the plants'll tear ya limb't'limb. But all da 'tis good fer ya mind," said Striga nonchalantly.

-Look, there's nothing to be scared of. Sure the wildlife is a little rough, the birds will peck your little eyes out, and even the plants will tear you limb from limb. But all of that is good for your mind.-

Donis looked at her with the hopes that she's only mildly joking. If she was, the vacant face gave nothing away, which put him a little more on edge.

'It's okay Donis, me, you, me, you can do this. You wanted this! You came to the [Monster Specialist] headquarters for the promise of adventure, right?' he rea.s.sured himself.

As the air grew even more moist, Striga became slightly more tense. Noticing this Donis attempted to ask her what's going on, but he was shushed almost immediately. Striga crouched low and stared ahead. Donis knowing he's in the company of a captain with probably many years of experience, crouched too.

He tried looking where she had began staring at, but still could see nothing. Striga moved forward gesturing for Donis to move alongside her.

He followed without asking her anything further. If she spoke, so would he, if she didn't, he'd follow her example.

The two kept moving about a hundred meters, which wasn't the biggest challenge for Donis's stats, but it still strained his back. He wouldn't want to move through this environment for much longer like that.

The two situated themselves behind a large tree and Striga faced Donis with a hint of a smile creeping up on her face.

"Aye lad listen, 'roun 'is tree 'ere we got ourselves a Gisbir. Them f.u.c.kers are fast'n'loud. There's always more than one uzhually, so whens I kick the s.h.i.+t outta um, I need yas to be lookin out for Jimmies jewels, aight? Also, 'ere," said Striga as she threw Donis a stone tablet.

-Okay boy listen, around this tree here, we got ourselves a Gisbir. Those f.u.c.kers are fast and loud. There's also more than one usually, so when I kick the s.h.i.+t out of them, I need you to looking out for Jimmies jewels, alright? Also, here.-

Donis caught it and immediately cast [True Inspection].

-Monster Logger-

[Grade: Rare]

[Special Property: Allows the [User] to transfer visual stimulus into descriptions of the Monster currently being viewed. Tracks the descriptions, habits, and changes in monsters.]

Understanding that she was going to engage the Gisbir, Donis nodded and watched her smile back at him. She stood up and rounded the tree with slow, but measured steps. Donis followed a little bit behind her, still crouching until he saw their target.

He got lower and activated the tablet by inputting a little bit of his own mana into it and felt a connection from between him and the tablet.

[Gisbir]

[Level: 35]

[Danger Rating: Deadly]

[Mana State: Breath]

[Health: 922]

[Mana: 312]

[Strength: 41]

[Agility: 40]

[Perception: 20]

[Intelligence: 4]

[t.i.tles: Gisbir Pack, Toxic Tongue Favouritism]

'A monster of 1.3m stature. Dark grey-green skin that suits the environment. Discolouration patches of yellow are seen on the monster, which indicates it's toxicity for the monster types in this area. The head of a lizard, with the body of an oversized hamster and three bulging eyes. Gisbir confirmed.'

The words on the tablet appeared immediately as Donis laid his eyes on the monster. Looking over it's stats, it looks like a very strong and fast monster, but with an incredibly low intelligence, but it's also high enough to potentially form some sort of thoughts. Donis considered the idea that if a human at the age of 4 has the intelligence of 4, then this thing here was mentally the same as a child.

It weirded him out thinking that he was watching something sentient. Could he call it sentient? He wasn't sure at this point, but he steeled himself for whatever was going to come next.

Striga took one last look back at Donis before she took out her weapon. A short-headed glaive with a silver and gold blade atop it. It was slightly taller than her body, and she seemed to be just a little bit taller than Donis. The polearm was decorated with grips at different intervals, and it itself looked to be made of steel and wood intertwining.

-Corpse Carver-

[Level: 59]

[Damage: 377]

[Grade: Rare]

[Runes: Darkbolt, Execution, Ripper]

[Enchants: Heavyset, St.u.r.dy, Vampyric Touch]

The sight of the glaive gave Donis some weird s.h.i.+vers making their way down his spine. He was both excited to see her and it in action, but an instinctual fear gripped Donis as he looked at the weapon.

She leapt.

She was upon the Gisbir with such speed that in any normal circ.u.mstance, normal humans wouldn't be able to react, yet her target wasn't human. With it's high Agility stat it was able to react just in time to let out a shriek as it was cleaved in half. Not even a breaths moment later, the shrill cries of the Gisbir around them filled the air.

20 Gisbir shot out of the murky forestry around them at Striga. She stood there at the corpse of the first Gisbir, looked around and laughed again.

She shot off with a speed unseen by Donis yet. She didn't disappear, but he had a really hard time following her movements, unable to see the full motions. Her glaive s.h.i.+ned with a black light in the low light of the swamp.

3 Gisbirs we're cut down at the same time, with a dark light coursing through their corpses. A low grumble could be heard from the light, like thunder trying to force it's way out of these vessels.

Striga vaulted over a log that separated herself and the next group of targets, slapping down the glaive under her into a pool of water. The dark light sparked off her glaive and shot ahead. The unsuspecting group of 5 Gisbir got shocked into a pile of smoking corpses.

Yet Striga didn't stay long to see her handiwork, continuing to move as if she's swatting down flies. Her deft movements allowed her to dodge everything the Gisbir could potentially throw at her. Their disgustingly long tongues lashed out at her, and they were either cut off or dodged entirely. The toxic looking sludge they spat at her evaporated before they even reached her, the black light shooting out of her free hand that normally rested behind her back.

Black waves of light would escape her glaive with each dodge, duck and dive, filling the surrounding air with a black fog. One that even penetrated the green musk of the swamp.

Donis's eyes had been long bulging at the awe of Striga. She was fast, strong, and immensely c.o.c.ky. All those years ago, Corvig was terrifying, but Striga inspired not fear, but confidence.

'I guess this is the difference between purely magic mages, and mages who fight with weapons,' thought Donis as he remembered Corvig.

The more Striga killed, the more Gisbirs cried out for help. With each cry, there seemed to be 10 more Gisbir appearing out of nowhere. Seeing Striga surrounded by what seemed to be 100 or more Gisbirs, Donis began worrying for her slightly. No matter how strong she is, or how much stamina she has, eventually she'd be worn out by the seemingly unending stream of these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.

Yet, as quickly as he thought that, the black fog seemed to reach a boiling point. Striga was still dancing in the center of the clearing as she dodged everything thrown at her. It almost seemed like a practiced dance, one worthy of admiration.

She quickly jumped high into the air, above the black fog she exuded. She arched her back and threw the glaive with a fierce might into the ground below her where all the Gisbir were. As she threw it, it was as if the whole swamp fell under a hush. He could clearly hear the glaive hit the soft ground, sinking into it easily.

The water on the ground erupted, quickly forming a dark column that reached the tip of the fog. Striga pulled her arm from a throwing position back into the arch, and the weapon she threw returned back to her as an arc of lighting erupted from her hands and connected to the weapon.

The column of dark water lit up, evaporating some of the water, and superheating and electrocuting everything within.

As the water dispersed, Striga landed and the weapon disappeared. The swamp was still in a hush, only the sounds of dry footsteps approaching Donis permeated the uneasy silence.

Her hand landed on his shoulder as she was walking by.

"Lad, don'tcha think Jimmy'll be a wee bit upset 'bout 'is wee little man? I think I may 'ave fried the poor f.u.c.ker. Hahaha," said Striga with no remorse in her voice.

-Lad, don't you think Jimmy will be a little bit upset about his small little man? I think I may have fried the poor f.u.c.ker. Hahaha,-

"Yeah.. I think you may have fried all of them," said Donis still looking at the hundreds of boiled corpses in front of him.