Skirmish

Xiaye Qiuyu had exhausted her spell slots early in the battle, so she chose to return with the main force for a long rest, leaving only the trio to venture deep into the Khalkha Mountains on an expedition. Located north of Storm Heights, these mountains saw few human tracks and were steeped in countless legends: marrow-sucking abominable yetis, the wailing Tower of Polar Night, ghostly apparitions in the snow—all were widespread tales throughout the realms of the Northlands. *Whoosh—* A biting wind whistled past, coating the rocks with a layer of frost and chilling the mountain valley to the bone. "Holy crap, this... this place is fucking freezing." Mantou shivered violently, puffs of white vapor rising from his nostrils. "Serves you right for freezing if you didn't prepare beforehand." Singo pulled out a blue potion and tossed it casually to Mantou. It was an Elixir of Cold Resistance, brewed from subterranean magical herbs and considered a rather valuable draught. Mantou pulled the cork and chugged it down. A furnace seemed to ignite in his belly, instantly warming him up. "Ah, much better." "Good dog, Sing-dog." Mantou gave him a contented thumbs-up. "Good stuff!" With his barbarian constitution, Tiansheng Zhankuang hadn't minded the cold as much, but he still drank the elixir he had prepared in advance. A wave of pleasant warmth radiated from his body, and two plumes of white steam snorted from his nostrils, making him feel thoroughly invigorated. *Whoosh—whoosh—* Another shrill whistling sound came through. "Heads up, that doesn't sound like wind. Get ready for a fight!" Singo sensed something amiss and issued a sharp warning. The noise was more than just wind blowing through the valley; mingled within it were shrill, mournful wails, like the howling of jackals. Along the cliff faces on either side of the valley, a motley, grotesque shadow flickered past, followed by the rustling of movement. Tiansheng Zhankuang quickly looked over, but the spot where the sound had come from was empty, revealing only dark stone. "Looks like we've got company, sneaking around." Singo drew his bowstring and loosed an arrow toward the rock. Upon impact, the arrow exploded violently, unleashing a fierce burst of fire. Startled by the burst of flames, the creatures hiding behind the boulder scattered, revealing their true forms. Standing roughly two meters tall on two legs, the creatures had severely hunched backs covered in coarse manes. Their heads resembled hyenas, bristling with jagged, yellowed teeth and blood-red, triangular eyes. Those blood-red eyes glared fixedly at the party in the valley, low growls rumbling in their throats as if itching to tear them apart and swallow them alive. These monsters relished eating sapient creatures above all else. They loved consuming their prey alive, forcing them to watch themselves get devoured, and relished hearing the terrified screams of intelligent beings before death. Humans made up a significant portion of their diet. "Gnolls?" Singo recognized the monsters at a glance, having slain plenty in the mine tunnels, yet something felt off. Gnolls favored warm, humid environments, usually appearing on temperate plains or underground, and rarely ventured into such frigid mountains. What was more, their appearance differed from ordinary gnolls—beneath their reddish-brown and black fur, patches of their hide were bare, sprouting sparse white scales. The three players instantly thought of the dragonblood hobgoblins of the Kingdom of Cinders. "Interesting. Could they have white dragon bloodlines?" "No wonder they can resist the cold." "It'd be great if we could capture a few alive." Singo's interest was piqued at once, his gaze turning slightly eager as he watched the gnolls. This was a rare, special variant. Handing them over to the Tower of the Great Savant would probably net them quite a bit of gold and contribution points. The battle was poised to erupt at any second. *Awoo—* The dragonblood gnolls threw back their heads in unison, letting out eerie, weeping howls. Baring fangs and claws, the monsters pounced down from the cliffs toward the group, foul-smelling drool trailing from their jowls. "Go, go, go! Brother Zhankuang, Mantou, get up front and hold the line!" "Holy crap, Sing-dog, look at you playing commander! Why don't you go fight these disgusting things yourself?" Despite his grumbling, Mantou gripped his standard-issue silver sword and stepped forward to engage. Tiansheng Zhankuang had long been itching for action. Roaring toward the sky, he stomped hard to activate his Rage, charging the gnolls with bloodshot eyes. "Aaaagh—" "Combat! So good!" Tiansheng Zhankuang swung his greataxe horizontally, cleaving off a gnoll's head clean and sending the others recoiling in terror. Mantou seized the opening and charged in, triggering Action Surge. His sword moved at blistering speed, easily carving open a gnoll's chest and sending its entrails spilling out in a rush. Singo was even more impressive. Drawing his Hunting Longbow, he placed a purple Hunter's Mark on a gnoll. *Thwip—* With a piercing sound that sliced through the air, a single arrow punched straight through the monster's heart. The sharp arrowhead emerged drenched in blood from its back, while the power of Hunter's Mark tore further into the wound for bonus damage, leaving the gnoll thoroughly dead. "Don't kill them too fast!" "Leave me some to capture alive!" Shooting down another gnoll, Singo didn't forget to remind the others. Before these professional players, who had already reached level 4 and whose actual combat prowess far exceeded their stats on paper, ordinary gnolls—even with a trace of white dragon bloodline—were nowhere near a match. They were reduced to nothing more than fodder for farming experience and loot. Yet numbers could overcome a gap in quality. Mantou and Tiansheng Zhankuang hacked their way across the front line, only to realize that instead of dwindling, the gnolls surrounding them were rapidly multiplying. More and more howls echoed from afar in rising waves. "Holy crap, just how many of these dog bastards are there?!" "We can't kill them all! There's literally no end to them!" In the valley, Singo's expression grew grim. He surveyed his surroundings to see hundreds of ugly hyena heads peering out along the cliff walls on both sides, their densely packed, blood-red eyes making even his scalp tingle. "Uh... bad news. Looks like we stumbled right into their nest." "Say what?!" More and more gnolls surged forward in a mottled wave, their foul stench nearly suffocating the group. The largest gnoll even took a deep breath and exhaled a freezing blast—a Cold Breath akin to that of a white dragon! Mantou gave a start and rolled across the ground several times just barely in time to dodge. The spot where he had been standing was instantly coated in a thick crust of frost. Having grown overconfident earlier, Mantou and Zhankuang had attacked from opposite sides and were spaced far apart, while Singo hung far back at the mouth of the valley, making it impossible to support one another. Seeing the fork in the valley ahead, Mantou had a sudden flash of inspiration and yelled, "Split up and run!" "Got it!" Mantou broke left, Zhankuang went right, and Singo fell back, the three bolting in separate directions. *Awoo—* Gluttonous yet dim-witted, the gnolls froze for a moment, unsure of which one to chase first. They stood around howling for quite some time before their chieftain's prodding finally divided them into three packs that gave chase in every direction.