Chapter 13: Scabber
"The ones running this place are long gone," he said flatly. "Probably inside a monster’s stomach."
The stench coming from the shed confirmed it.
He recognized it.
Scabber. Disgusting rat-like monsters the size of dogs, covered in matted brown fur. Their teeth could cut through bone, and worse, they bred fast. Male and female didn’t matter. A pair could multiply into hundreds within a week.
Kaedros hated them. Not just because they were filthy, but because they were useless. Even in death, they were too diseased and rotten to be harvested and even eaten.
"Once we get close, you’ll handle them," he said to Taria.
She stood there in shock and stared at him with wide eyes.
"Handle them? With what? I don’t even have a weapon!" she said, panic rising in her voice. "Are you crazy?"
Kaedros frowned. "You picked this bounty. What exactly were you expecting?"
"I did pick it! But I thought you had a plan, not just throwing us at a bunch of monsters!"
"Relax," he said coolly, forming a light beam technique in his mind. "They’re stage two rank one at most. You just need to keep them busy while I take them down."
"How am I supposed to do that?" she asked, horror spreading across her face as the Scabbers emerged from the shed, screeching and charging forward.