SSSCCREEEEEEEEEEEE!

The ear piercing sound reverberated through the air, causing everyone to flinch slightly as it stabbed at their eardrums like a sharp needle. The ants, on the other hand, seemed to perk up at the sound.

Their antennae wriggling and twitching in the air ecstatically for a few moments as they all simultaneously paused their assault. Then, as if some kind of spell had come over them, the remnants of the previously fearsome swarm immediately started to retreat.

Those with wings flapped them rapidly, taking to the air and diving into the evergreen canopy of the strange forest from which they had sprouted. Those without wings followed along the ground, scampering behind their flying brethren as they disappeared into the treeline, quickly becoming lost from sight.

The hunting party kept their weapons raised for a few minutes, watching the tree line with suspicious gazes and keeping their heads on a swivel, just waiting for the next attack to come. However, after a few minutes of deafening silence, it truly seemed like these creatures had simply... ran away. Called back by whatever made that noise, undoubtedly their queen in whatever form that would take.

When they finally realised the situation, the wave of exhaustion finally hit the group all at once. The adrenaline trickling out of their system made their tense muscles immediately loosen and their bodies feel ten times heavier.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Seth slumped against Omelette's saddle before lazily dismounting and sliding down the side of his feathered friend. When his feet hit the ground, he didn't stop sliding. Simply sinking down until his butt was planted against the soggy ground, which let out a lovely Squelch underneath him.

If he wasn't wearing armour, he probably would have cared a bit more about sitting in a mixture of blood, guts and the water that was spreading it around. He was also just far too worn out, mind, body and spirit, to care about a soggy behind.

The next few moments was filled with nothing but the squelching of boots and deep, laboured breathes as everyone not only tried to recover from the sudden bug based ambush, but process everything that had transpired.

Eventually, it was Alfie who spoke up, stretching his arms over his head before clapping his hands together and giving the group a goofy smile.

"Well... That wasn't so hard, was it? At least I worked up a sweat."

He chuckled heartily at his own joke before Erik gave him a firm smack across the back of his head to silence him, whether it was for the joke or the red flag he had tossed out into the world was unclear. But truly, either one was justified, so no one objected. Well, apart from Alfie, but no one cared about that either.

As the gas-man and the water-boy started bickering once again, it was the solid-woman - otherwise known as Alexandra, that spoke next. Simply ignoring the pair that was arguing like an old married couple, as she addressed their leader for this mission.

That leader naturally being Astra, since Seth was still playing the part of the lowly squire tagging along with these powerful warriors at the behest of their Lord.

"Correct me if I'm wrong sparky, but I'm guessing that we need to be passing through the forest that those annoying little bugs just retreated into. And I'm betting that they will be better at navigating it than us. After all, I'm not exactly made for stealth."

She gestured to her own body, and it was hard to disagree with her. At 8 foot tall and seemingly composed entirely of stone, she wasn't going to be a master of stealth unlike a few of their other members. Maybe if they were sneaking through a quarry, she could disguise herself as a large stone and blend in, but a forest wasn't going to be as easy for the Goliath golem.

Cynthia slid over next to Alexandra, patting her arm before softly rubbing it to comfort her companion.

"You're good for other things though. Those bugs probably ran because they were scared of you."

Astra raised her eyebrows at the odd display, but if she had any comments about it she clearly kept them to herself. Whatever her thoughts were, instead of answering the question she simply directed her gaze to Seth, gesturing for him to answer in her place.

This was because she, much like the rest of the time, had little idea of where they were going despite her position as the 'Leader' of this expedition. As far as they knew, she was leading them while Seth was simply acting as their navigator and scout because of his unique position in the skies.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Seth rubbed his face slightly before answering them,

"It was the intended path, that's why we are here after all. If need be, then I could consult the maps again and see if we can find a better route around this forest, based on what little you've told me about our destination, although It might add half a day, maybe more to our journey. But..."

"But we can't risk leaving this threat at our doorstep."

Astra finished for him, her voice stoic and devoid of emotions as usual, as Seth bobbed his head in agreement as did many of the others.

As much as they didn't want to exhaust themselves on the first leg of the journey, they were part of this expedition not just because they were the strongest, but because they were the ones who at the start of it all decided that they couldn't just sit to the side and let people die.

In all honesty, they had no idea where this swarm had come from. If they hadn't chosen this route, or had perhaps left at a different time, then it was possible that they wouldn't even know this threat existed in the first place.

Leaving it to fester and grow was not only a betrayal of their most basic morals, but a downright idiotic idea.

So they had to do their duty as exterminators and take care of this bug problem properly. They all knew it, even if part of them wished it wasn't the case. Astra spoke up once more, her emotionless voice filled with a domineering aura, her natural glowering scowl growing ever so slightly deeper as she cast her gaze over the party.

"This is your sign. This could be the easiest thing we face in this expedition. Odds are, it's going to get worse from here on out. If you want to leave, turn and start walking. If you choose that, you can explain to the Lord why you left and let him decide what to do with you."

A silence hung in the air as Astra cast her gaze over the members of their group, even the pair of 'knights' had stopped squabbling at her declaration. She gave each of them individually a piercing glare, some of them holding the gaze with confidence while others looked down nervously, no matter their reaction to her electrifying stare, none of them moved an inch.

Nodding her head at this, she gestured to the mess that surrounded them.

"No point letting this go to waste. If you want to eat, gather some supplies. Just the meat, we'll prepare it when we next make camp."

The group broke away without another word, immediately setting to work collecting the meat from the ants they had slaughtered. The promise of food was the ultimate motivator after all.

Once they were out of ear shot, occupying themselves with their collection, Seth stood up from his seat on the soggy, viscera riddled ground and stepped forward, so that he was shoulder to shoulder with Astra. He spoke softly, just in case their hearing was better than expected.

"Did you just use me as a threat?"

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, before turning her gaze back to the mass of corpses before her.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Now get to work squire, that goes double for you. We won't have layabouts on this mission."

Seth chuckled, raising his hands in faux surrender before stepping away from her and moving towards the more intact ant corpses. Even though she spoke with a voice that sounded more irritated than anything, and had a permanent scowl on her face, Seth could see deeper than that. He didn't miss the slight smirk she had, tugging at the corner of her lips as she teased him.

'At least she's having fun. Although...Maybe it's not too late to go back to her ignoring me.'

He laughed softly in his mind as he started to carve out the meet using the barnacle covered blade of [Fjord Carver]. However, his mind was not on the meat in front of him, nor on the feast they would have when they next camped.

Instead, his mind was focusing on extending his threats over the field of death, eager to hear those delightful words once more. When he heard that fateful voice speak in his mind once more, it really was like hearing the voice of an Angel.

[Your Spiritual Score has increased.]

[Your Spiritual Score has increased.]

[Your Spiritual Score has...]

'What a feast we will have indeed~'