Anser raised the spyglass, shifting his line of sight, and his gaze fell upon a row of crosses by the riverbank. His heart jolted.
What hung from them were not hunted prey, but people—not natives clad in animal hides and coarse linen, but Faerûnians dressed in proper fabrics, their appearance revealing civilization in every detail.
He hurriedly had Nornoth hide behind the trees, only to notice that at the junction of the river and the waterway, a large amount of wood chips and debris was floating.
Ship hulls? Could it be another Faerûnian sailing vessel that wandered into this place by mistake? He frowned; the situation was somewhat unexpected.
At that moment, the tribal people were gathering. It was unclear whether they were preparing to hunt or had already discovered them.
Anser gave his mount a pat. Nornoth lightened his steps and quickly returned, moving much faster than before.
After boarding, he immediately found Salian. "Slow the ship down. Something's going on!"
Salian promptly ordered the first mate to reef the sails, his expression tense. "What is it?"
"That primitive tribe is probably not very friendly…" Anser briefly described the situation.
"How many of them are there? How far from the riverbank?" Salian pressed.
"Not many—around three to five hundred. Not too far from the bank, but not right next to it either. A few hundred meters, I'd say."
"What do you think?"
"There's risk. I'll follow your call."
It wasn't that Anser was shirking responsibility; he simply couldn't make the decision. Salian was the captain, responsible for the lives of several dozen people.
If real danger arose, Anser could take to the sky, dive into the water, or even outrun most dinosaurs on land—he could leave at any time. But the ship and crew could not. Their perspectives were different.
"Not many of them should be able to enter the water. Once we get out, we'll sail at full speed and avoid contact," Salian judged based on past experience.
A tribe this small usually wouldn't have powerful professionals. Besides, they were just passing through—they hadn't attacked anyone and bore no grudges. There was no reason for an unprovoked assault.
"All right." Anser thought it over carefully and felt there was no real problem.
The Quesser had cannons aboard. They might not be great for fighting monsters, but they were effective against people. There were plenty of cases of a single warship plundering an entire village. That tribe ought to be grateful for their restraint.
"All hands, to your stations—prepare for battle!" Salian roared.
The crew stiffened, hurriedly strapped on their weapons, and rushed to their respective posts.
Anser sat astride his horse at the center of the deck, a spell orb clenched in his palm. Compared to fighting from a seated ship, mounted combat offered far greater flexibility.
The trees on both sides swept past rapidly. After the elven ship rounded a gigantic tree, the current suddenly grew swifter. The hull followed the flow, plunging into a river that was neither wide nor narrow.
Sunlight poured down onto everyone's faces. Squinting, they realized there was no longer any obstruction ahead—the sky was high and clear, the view wide open, and the gloom in their hearts dissipated by more than half in an instant.
"The water is deep enough!" Half of the worry in Salian's heart finally eased. After all, the elven ship was a sharp-bottomed seagoing vessel—water that was too shallow definitely wouldn't do.
Anser gave a faint smile, raised the spell orb, and silently began casting.
"કલા"
Gust of Wind!
The wind around them rapidly strengthened. Just a few seconds ago it had been a gentle breeze on their faces; a few seconds later, a howling gale roared through, blowing so hard that people could barely keep their footing.
The cloud sails snapped loudly. The mast and hull creaked, and the ship picked up more and more speed.
Salian stood at the bow, letting the great wind whip his hair into a mess, the smile on his face growing more and more unrestrained.
He knew of Anser's battle record, but not the specific details. He hadn't expected that Anser actually knew Gust of Wind. It was a rare spell—most wizards didn't really learn it.
Wilderness casters had even fewer opportunities to learn spells, and they always prioritized life-saving and offensive spells first.
In the distance, the tribe immediately spotted the sailing ship bursting out of the forest. The hundred-plus warriors who had already assembled did not hesitate at all—they charged straight at them.
Their formation looked chaotic. Most were running, while a few rode triceratopses, ankylosauruses, allosauruses, hadrosauruses, and the like. Mixed among the crowd and overhead were all kinds of small and medium dinosaurs. At a glance, there were more dinosaurs than people.
Are they sick?
Anser had never expected them to start fighting the moment they met. Did they have no brains? What were they trying to gain?
The opposing side had more dinosaurs than people, yet a little over a hundred of them somehow ran with the momentum of a thousand heavy cavalry. An irresistible pressure crashed toward them head-on, and many crewmen turned pale with fear.
Salian had no time to think. He raised his voice to steady them. "Don't be afraid—we're in the river. They can't get to us. Bring the ship in toward the east bank. Load grape shot into the cannons and wait for my order…"
This battle could not be avoided. No matter how fast the sailboat was, it was only a bit over ten kilometers per hour—slower than a person running, let alone dinosaurs.
Seeing that the ship's speed was already up, Anser decisively ended Gust of Wind and focused on observing those dinosaurs and enemies.
Most of these dinosaurs were small and medium carnivores. There were very few flying dinosaurs, and there was no tyrannosaurus—something he had already confirmed earlier.
He fixed his gaze on the giant allosaurus at the front. Its threat was the greatest.
The other giant dinosaurs were all herbivores. They looked fierce, but their will to fight did not seem strong. Their steps hesitated, and they quickly fell behind.
The dice turned slightly, and target information popped up:
[Chief of the Dasso Barbarians, Beastfolk, Level 8 Barbarian (Dinosaur)]
[Allosaurus, Huge Beast, Challenge Rating 5]
Beastfolk? Does Barbarian have a Dinosaur path? He knew the Path of the Beast Heart and the Path of the Giant, but it was his first time hearing of a Dinosaur path.
At this moment, the dinosaur herd sprinted to within three hundred meters of the west bank, not slowing at all. It looked like they wanted to wade straight through and pounce over.
"Fire!" Salian roared.
Boom, boom, boom, boom—
The hull shuddered. Four cannon blasts from the starboard side merged into a single roar. A spread of jet-black shot scattered through the air, fanning out into several arcs as it slammed into the dinosaur horde.
The dull thuds of flesh and blood struck like death knells. Wherever it passed, men and dinosaurs were thrown down. Blood mist burst apart, severed limbs flew, and wails and screeches echoed across the riverbank.
Wounded and panicked dinosaurs bolted wildly, trampling the injured and crashing into the crowd instead. The barbarians' charge was disrupted; fewer than half of the barbarians and dinosaurs were still able to maintain their advance.
Idiots. Looks like they've never seen cannons before. Anser truly felt it wasn't worth it for the Faerûnians who had died at their hands.
The shells' killing power was decent, but many shots missed. The real value lay in the obstruction and chaos they caused.
Boom—
The Flame Cannon fired. An orange-red fire round dropped straight into the densest part of the crowd.
With a thunderous blast, the fire round detonated, covering an area four to five meters across and consecutively hurling several dinosaurs and a few beastfolk into the air.
The barbarian chief glanced back. The formation was in tatters, completely broken. Fewer than twenty barbarian warriors remained at his side.
"Charge, charge, charge—don't stop!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
He didn't understand artillery, but he knew its rate of fire wasn't high. If they charged slowly, they would only be beaten down.
By this time, Anser had already activated Innate Sorcery. Magic power surged around him, coiling and gathering, ready to be unleashed.
Seeing the barbarian chief distracted, he immediately focused and cast his spell.
"ફાયરબોલકલા"
[Innate Sorcery] + [Metamagic: Empowered, Distant, Seeking] + [Fireball]!
The spell orb danced. A tiny, brilliant flash burst from his fingertips and shot out with a sharp whoosh, crossing a distance of more than one hundred fifty meters in the blink of an eye as it streaked toward the barbarian chief.
The chief never noticed that pinpoint flash beneath the sunlight, but Primal Instinct and Danger Sense made his perception extraordinarily sharp. His mind jolted. With no time to warn anyone, he twisted to duck beneath his mount.
Yet out of the corner of his eye, he clearly saw that speck of light subtly adjust its trajectory, instantly landing on his shoulder and back.
Boom—
Scorching flames erupted in an instant. A red flash swept across nearly a nine-meter radius. Grass and trees turned to ash, beast armor ignited, flesh curled and charred, and even iron weapons were burned until they faintly discolored.
Heat waves rolled outward, the air warping. One glance from afar was enough to tell how terrifyingly hot it was.
Within a circular area nearly twenty meters in diameter, bodies lay strewn everywhere.
The barbarian chief lay curled on the ground, completely motionless. The slight rise and fall of his chest declared that this body was still alive.
The battlefield fell utterly silent…
[…Dasso Barbarian Chief is hit, takes 43 fire damage. Current Hit Points: 39/82]
[…Allosaurus is hit, takes 81 (critical) fire damage. Current Hit Points: 14/95]
Barbarians really are tough. If it were a rogue, that hit would've finished it.
Anser narrowed his eyes as rings of shimmering magical light rippled once more across the spell orb.
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