There was a mysterious rumor going around the town of Baska. It first appeared when a middle-aged man had a sudden outburst of violence, acts that at that time they had assumed was the result of stress and his slightly tipsy state, but soon multiple cases started to happen of people displaying violent tenacities that were unusual for them. Even extremely meek and gentle people were starting to get affected by what the locals called the 'Berserker Syndrome'. It was worrisome, to say the least, and on this particular day, Lycoris found herself receiving a letter that would soon connect her to those mysterious events.

It had been delivered by a young lad, a simple delivery boy and within the brown envelope was a letter addressed to her.

Dear Lycoris,

I hope you have been doing well. Unfortunately, I am unable to thank you in person for your aid with the surgery last time, but as you have likely have heard already a mysterious disease is spreading around Baska. People, often very gentle and caring individuals show a sudden uncharacteristic outburst of anger and violence, something the locals have contributed to the 'Berserker Syndrome' moniker.

However, this is not why I am sending you this letter. The reason for my request for your aid is associated with a report the local Rune Knights have given us. Reports say that a small pack of boars roaming the hills of Baska has been growing agitated and violent. This is very peculiar since those beasts are usually quite docile unless provoked. I believe this might be connected to the Berserker Syndrome that people are talking about. Would you please be so kind to capture one of the boars for me and bring it back to the hospital?

I would go myself, but unfortunately, I am rather preoccupied with searching for a cure, alongside the fact that I am not exactly martial inclined, to begin with, either...

Best regards,

Gerard.

So Doctor Gerard was investigating the Berserker Syndrome? While she was not surprised by this, in the end, it was likely part of his work as a doctor, she had to admit his request to bring back an infected boar was fascinating. Boars were often known to be beasts that possessed a fair amount of physical strength, enough to even topple an adult, so the idea of having a fight with some of them did draw her interest!

And it was fortunate that her blade and armor had been repaired already, so she could easily take on this assignment, and knowing the good doctor the pay would likely be quite nice also. So in the end, how could she possibly refuse the good man's call for aid? After sharpening her sword on the grindstone at the smith she was at Lycoris sheathed her blade and looking at the map that was included in the envelope tried to figure out the whereabouts of the boar pack. Hopefully, those infected beasts would be able to provide her a challenge!

WC: 504/1600

With the directions, she had been provided in the form of the map Doctor Gerard had supplied it had not taken long for her to reach the hills of Baska, and a short walk further had led her toward the lake where the pack was supposed to be dwelling. Arriving at the outskirts of the lake had confirmed the directions to be correct, for she spotted five wild boars. Two of them were drinking the water at the lake, two of them were seemingly pre-occupied with bumping their heads against each other yet one... seemed to be staring straight at her? With a hint of curiosity Lycoris looked the beast straight in the eye, a choice she would soon regret for the beast grunted loudly and started to charge into her direction! Although her warrior instinct told her to draw her blade, she also recalled the request asked for a living boar to be returned, so she had to approach this carefully. Fortunately, she wasn't without a plan! When the beast rushed at her she was quick to sidestep at the last moment, leading the boar to charge past her and run in an arc to try to charge up at her a second time from the flank. Once more she had repeated the same motion, skillfully avoiding the charge of the beast and making it oblivious of the fact she was leading it somewhere, while a third time she watched the beast charge made its arc and dash toward her, grunting in frustration. The beast thought he had her, so close he was to goring her upon his tusks when suddenly she rolled to the side, and the boar had noticed way too late that there was, in fact, a giant boulder behind her! With a heavy slam the beast crashed into the rock, cracking it, but at the same time its tusks broke and the poor beast was left slumping onto the ground, clearly unconscious after hitting its head so harshly against the rock.

"At least I got one of them secured~"

But unfortunately for Lycoris the fight between her and the boar had been loud enough for the rest of the pack to notice her, the four boars slowly encroaching into her direction. "Isn't this... kind of bad?" the mercenary lass hummed in amusement, seemingly looking almost undaunted by the dangerous situation she had gotten herself into. Four powerful and fully grown boars were eager to gore her upon their tusks... how could she possibly not respond to their challenge? Unsheathing her sword she raised it in her hand and grinned at the beasts, clearly ready to get this little spectacle started! The beasts themselves were just as ready, grunting and growling in anger, their eyes seething red with rage, clearly infected by the virus that Doctor Gerard had mentioned. There was only one solution to this fight: she would need to kill the four of them to ensure nobody else would get injured by this pack!

WC: 504+504= 1008/1600

And so the fight began! With the opening move made by one of the charging boars, Lycoris rapidly sidestepped to avoid his attack while thrusting her blade into the flank of the beast, causing a high-pitched noise to came from the beast while one of its allies rushed to his aid. Of course, Lycoris had noticed the approach, and was entirely prepared for the upcoming battle! A sudden pull of her sword and a backward flip made her land straight onto the charging beast's back, the boar's tusks slamming into his ally while she herself had driven her sword into the back of the beast, several stabs following afterward till it ceased moving entirely!.

Of course, considering a third and final boar was left her work wasn't done yet, and a good mercenary didn't leave a job unfinished! Pulling her sword out of the boar she charged at the beast, a sideways step and sweep of her sword severing the tusk of the beast into half and led to the tip of the blade to slice into the eye of the beast, blinding the enraged creature while she spun around, blade heaving over her head to muster all her strength for an overhead swing into the neck of the beast, cleanly beheading it as a result!

"That's all of them~"

The mercenary hummed contently as she looked at the corpses of the three slain boars and then to the remaining unconscious one. It appeared it was time for her to finish the job and that meant carrying that boar back to Baska! Scooping up the beast Lycoris suddenly felt her legs tremble lightly, a soft groan coming from her at the sheer weight of the beast! "How in the world can a boar be this heavy?! Don't they only eat grass?" Grumbling her complain the girl slowly dragged the beast along with her, the journey back being unsurprisingly slow as she felt exhaustion slowly starting to get the better of her. Sweat started to run from her forehead as she reaches Baska and tugged along the boar, earning several curious glances from the villagers while she made her way toward the part of the town where the hospital was situated at, a part that fortunately enough wasn't that far away... Nonetheless, after a while she finally reached the building and to her salvation found Doctor Gerard waiting for her with what appeared to me a cart on wheels, clearly brought along to carry the boar. Gods couldn't he have given that to her before she came back?!

"Excellent work Lycoris, with this I'll be able to investigate the Berserker Syndrome further." The man smiled briefly at her while handing her a pouch filled with jewels before excusing himself as he made his way back into the building with the boar in tow, leaving Lycoris to idly ponder about today's events. The boars had been surprisingly weak all things considered... Certainly they had brought up a fun fight, but they lacked the intelligence and challenge that human opponents had, that experts like Kon possessed. Already she was starting to miss her duel with him, idly wondering how the man and Alice were doing. If she recalled right Alice was still within Baska, so perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea for her to visit Alice and see how she was doing? In the end with her being pregnant a lot of stuff must had been going on for the poor lady, so perhaps a friendly talk with her could be just the distraction she needed!

WC: 606+504+504= 1610/1600