Slave Company Chapter 68 Struggle For Time

KRYAAAA!!!!

The Adolescent Roc cried out, not wasting any time as it immediately charged at Revan who was at the very front and has his giant buster blade already drawn.

The charge of a Rank 2 monster, a Roc out of all things wasn’t something to be underestimated, none of the Rank 1’s had any chance of surviving something like this, obviously forcing everyone to get out of the way, only Revan stayed exactly where he was as he blocked with his buster blade, piercing the tip onto the ground and holding it like a shield.

The Roc seeing Revan, continued its charge, everyone looked wide eyed as they gasped staring at what Revan was doing.

But no one could do anything to stop it, as the Roc collided with Revan’s buster blade, everyone thought Revan would be blown away by the Roc’s charge, but amazingly that didn’t happen as Revan was actually able to stop the charging Roc with much difficulty evident on his face and muscles as they were flexed to the limit.

The Roc, also didn’t expect its charge to not blow away the small human, instead it felt as if it hit an iron wall, its head which it used as a battering ram sustained some pretty hefty blunt trauma as the Roc stumbled backwards while walking like a drunk man, the world was turning around the Roc’s head making it quite dizzy for the next few seconds.

Everyone was so shocked that they didn’t know what to say as they didn’t expect this, only Revan and Avian really knew this was going to happen because both of them had read up on Roc’s and had a bit of knowledge regarding them.

Aractor’s had solid bones, the reason they could fly is because of a unique racial trait they possessed in their body that allowed them to fly.

Roc’s on the other hand did not have such a thing, like most birdlike creatures they possessed hollow bones and flew using their own strength having immense strength as they are capable of raising their gargantuan body off the ground.

But compared to most creatures Roc’s still had far sturdier and tougher bones, their bones were only weak when compared to other Rank 2 or 3 monsters.

Revan blocking the Roc’s charge with his buster blade instead of avoiding it like the rest was actually reasonable since his blessing likely specialized in strength for him to be able to wield such a big heavy weapon and allowing him to block the charge, plus just like the Roc he too was a Rank 2 making the playing field even for them even if the Roc had the advantage by being a monster and more suited for battle compared to a human.

Seeing the Roc dizzy and stumbling away like a fool, the adventurers felt like it was the perfect time to attack, but Revan and Avian thought very differently.

Sheathing his weapon, Revan turned around as he got ready to run, the adventurers were immediately confused by this, but quickly enough they understood when Revan shouted.

-Quickly! Retreat!

Calculating the odds inside his head and using his immense combat experience Revan instantly calculated that fighting the Roc was simply not worth it.

Their quest was still number 1 priority, they simply did not have the time or resources to try and kill this Roc.

That didn’t mean they couldn’t kill it, Revan was 100% sure that they in fact combining their power could defeat this Roc quite easily.

But he was also 100% sure that there would be casualties, adventurers dying was very high and if even a quarter of them perished here or got heavily injured their quest would immediately fail.

The adventurers though didn’t run immediately when Revan said so, still a bit confused they lagged for a few seconds before they got the message, but by then it was already too late as the Roc quickly recovered from its dazed state.

This time looking extremely mad as the hit or rather bash enraged it to no end causing it to cry even louder than before, so loud in fact that it almost rivalled the Wailing Troll’s roar.

Still the Wailing Troll’s roar was a racial ability while the Roc’s cry was just it using its own body, the adventurers were also Rank 1’s causing no one to experience anything bad or fall unconscious, but still enough to slow them down as they ran away.

The Roc’s eyes were red from the anger it felt, honing into the closest human it could find, it again charged at it, even though the Roc was an aerial creature it was still extremely fast on land, pushing away the nearby trees like they were nothing, the Roc instantly was able to reach the closest adventurer as the adventurer in fact tripped in his panic to get away.

This mistake was going to cost him his life as the Roc instantly was able to get to that adventurer about to put a giant hole in his neck.

Avian saw this but didn’t care, he could neither help the poor adventurer or would risk his life for him, if this adventurer died they likely all would be able to run away and regroup before taking a different path, only losing 1 adventurer when they could have lost far more was a reasonable trade when it came to a Rank 2 Roc.

But there was someone who didn’t agree with this.

Having already drawn his buster blade once more, Revan jumped to the adventurer’s aid as he made a huge downward slash, also using an ability as his buster blade made a small humming sound not like that of a metal blade but more like the rushing stream of a river.

[Heavy Strike] variant, [Water Fall]!

The young Roc, feeling the imminent threat immediately stopped its attack as it jumped away, Revan’s perfect opportunity to strike regrettably missed, but he accomplished his task as he was able to save the adventurers life who immediately scrambled back on his feet as he thanked Revan profusely while sweating heavily, he was that close from meeting his maker without Revan’s intervention it would have been over for him.

Avian though immediately raised hi brows when he saw that, he honestly didn’t take Revan to be such a person, but really Avian didn’t know anything about him.

After that it was again Revan versus the Roc as they glared at each other, the Roc very clearly remembering Revan as it was him who made the Roc hurt its head.

Looking around Avian saw how almost all the adventurers had already run off, there were only a few who stopped when they saw what Revan had just done while most of them ran without looking back, Avian would have been the same, but he wasn’t exactly the fastest as neither of his blessings specialized in speed even if he had 2 stacking on top of each other which only made him above average in speed.

-What is Revan going to do, is he really going to fight this Roc?

Avian pondered under his breath, not sure what to do next, running would have been the most optimal, but because Revan was still staying he hesitate if he should leave him.

Avian didn’t stay because he was worried about Revan or anything rubbish like that, he was more concerned about the quest as Revan was a key piece in its success as without him they would never be able to do it.

And if they couldn’t do it, Avian would not be able to get the kobold blood which could potentially get him the dragon blood.

A theory Avian felt even more sure off after finally untangling a strand from his DNA, Avian also gained an additional clue when he realized he could go deeper with his [Blood Sense].

Without Revan, Avian would not likely be able to get a better opportunity, hunting for kobolds normally would take lots of times, and not only that no kobold tribes actually lived near here making it even more difficult.

But then again Avian was also not going to risk his or the life of Dahlia for all this, making Avian feel even more tempted to escape since he was confident that Revan could escape by himself, what bothered him though was the earlier stunt he pulled by saving that random adventurer, something told Avian that Revan would likely continue doing this until everyone of the adventurers safely escaped Avian was not sure if Revan could escape by then, seeing how utterly enraged the Roc was it would like not let Revan go, and even though the Roc would never catch Revan on the ground, Roc’s weren’t known for their land capabilities but their aerial superiority.

Once the Roc took to the skies, Revan would not be able to escape, whether or not Revan could beat the Roc 1 on 1 was up to debate, but very likely unfeasible from Avian’s point of view.

Avian thought about all this with only 2 seconds as he stood and observed everything.

He looked at both Revan and the Roc with his [Blood Sense], but while he was doing that Avian couldn’t help but notice something else, more specifically the cave from where the Roc came from, he felt a condensed, small, but powerful sign of life when he put his attention to the cave.

It made Avian momentarily feel curious as he quickly connected the dots figuring out that whatever is inside that cave was also with the Roc here and most likely the reason why the Roc is here in the first place.

Avian was about to go over to the cave while these 2 were busy with each other, but just as he walked forward he felt another person suddenly touching his shoulder startling him for a second as he wasn’t paying a lot of attention to his own surroundings.

Avian turned his head quickly though, only to see Bethany and Soraya who were still here looking at him worriedly.

-What are you doing Lukas! Quickly we have to run!

Bethany urged, while Soraya simply nodded her head frantically, both looking anxious as Revan dodged the Roc’s attacks, sometimes blocking them while not able to land an attack back because of how fast the Roc was even though it was so big.

At this point almost all the adventurers already ran for it probably heading towards the spot Revan told everyone if they ever got scattered and needed to regroup.

Only Avian, Dahlia, Bethany, Soraya and Revan were still left, Revan was too busy dealing with the Roc to notice that almost everyone was already gone, it was at this point Avian was sure that he needed to help Revan if he wanted to accomplish his own goals and while running was a very alluring idea, nothing ever was accomplished by running away which is why Avian quickly turned back towards the cave with his eyes shining before telling the other two.

-I am not going, you two either run or try to support Revan without dying, I am going into the cave to try and find a solution, if the 3 of you can buy me enough time then maybe we can all walk away from this together.

Finishing with that Avian quickly ran towards the cave while Bethany and Soraya were still dumbfounded not sure what they just heard,

The moment they saw Avian run though was when they woke up from their stupor, Bethany looking surprised as she shouted for Avian.

-Lukas No!

But Avian didn’t listen and continued to run into the cave quickly disappearing from sight as he blitzed right in.

The Roc noticed this and immediately looked alarmed as it momentarily lost focus on the fight and turned to Avian about to chase after him.

But nothing was unseen by Revan’s sharp pair of eyes, seeing his second opportunity he made sure this one hit home as he made a quick and heavy side slash finally successfully hitting the Roc as Revan slashed through the Roc’s wing causing some intense bleeding, staining the Roc’s beautiful brown feathers into a crimson dark.

GRYAAAA!!!

The Roc cried at that as well, making a quick and hasty retreat, Revan positioned himself, between the Roc and the cave entrance also noticing how Avian ran inside and how the Roc was so focused on Avian as soon as he ran in.

Revan already felt a headache when he tried to think about what to do next to escape the Roc when he let everyone else escape, but seeing Avian who still stayed and doing something gave him hope as he decided to see what was going to happen next.

Revan never expect any help from anyone making his actions even more puzzling, but surprisingly help come whether or not it was going to be useful was left to be seen.

KRYAAA!!!

The Roc cried, feeling even more enraged with the pain and anger it was feeling, but most importantly it was worried and disturbed as it saw Avian just running into the cave, the Roc wanted nothing more than to quickly push Revan out of the way and shred Avian into pieces before Avian got to what It was protecting.

Unfortunately, things weren’t going to go as the Roc wanted as an Arrow suddenly flew at its head, using its remaining still uninjured wing the Roc easily blocked the arrow that wasn’t really a big deal only to see 2 women, 1 holding a music instrument and the other a bow.

The Roc instinctively knew that those 2 were really nothing and no threat to it, but with Revan at the front and them from behind, it clear to it that they were annoying.

-Mister Revan! We are going to help you!

-What she said!

Bethany and Soraya chimed in.

With Bethany playing her [Song Of Inspiration] as they all felt much stronger than before and clearer in mind.

Revan really wanted to tell those 2 to go away, but knowing that he needed the help, he decided to accept it and not say anything.

All the while the Roc was about to explode from all the annoyances It was surrounded with, most importantly not able to focus as Avian’s figure entering the cave was constantly replaying itself in its mind making it frantic and forcing it to quickly end the fight with much fury.

Bang!

The Roc pecked at Revan quickly and heavily, Revan barely blocked with his buster blade, sweat running down his face as his hands momentarily felt numb from the shock his blade and his hands just absorbed.

Revan couldn’t help but think about the time when he fought an even stronger Roc then this with his party, never did he think it was this difficult.