“You sure?” Atlas asked.
Apexus nodded stoically. “We have what we came for. We won’t leave before we slay the Gargant. Might as well lend you a hand.”
“Won’t say no then,” Atlas stated, then was pulled aside in favour of his dryad girlfriend.
The Witch held up a book. It was a different and much less impressive piece of literature compared to her grimoire. The binding was cheap, barely more than lime and some string. Mass production had been prioritized over making it seem pretty. The letters on the front spelled out ‘Alarshus Encyclopaedia, Third Edition’.
“Have you read this?” she asked.
“No,” Apexus stated truthfully.
“Alright, then you stick with me for the day,” the Witch said simply.
“Why do I get excluded?” Atlas complained.
“Because you just look at my boobs instead of focusing on the task.”
“To be fair, you are a much more interesting plant than this saltwater garlic.”
Rahesia responded with that kind of half-offended, half-amused sound that only spouses could reliably produce. A chuckle and a kiss and then Atlas departed from the campsite. It wasn’t as if they were going to be far apart. The group was going to scatter about fifty metres. A distance easily bridged by adventurers of their level and yet large enough so they could individually gather up the plants.
“Aclysia, you’re the intellectual of your group, yes?” Rahesia asked.
“I’ll have ya know that I am very smart when I want to be,” Reysha weighed in jokingly while the book wandered from one hand to another.
“Saline Verdants are on page 6. We’re specifically looking for Alarshus Garlic and Crust Bulbs.” Rahesia continued while leading the way. As the largest cluster of people, they took the middle position in the advancing line of people. Atlas and Kumlin were to the left, Flora and Alabasta to the right.
Aclysia opened the page, careful not to overstretch the yellow, worn paper, and checked the pictures on the page. The quality of the image had clearly suffered from the mass-production process. The stamp was mediocre, there was no colour, and part of the ink had smudged. The letters next to it were nicely set, at least, describing where and how the plant could be easiest found, in what seasons there typically were Quests for it, and whether it tasted good in a stew. The essentials for adventurers.
Alarshus Garlic was just that: garlic that grew here, in the saline soil of Alarshus’ coasts. Crust Bulbs were a bit of a mystery according to the encyclopaedia and had only been discovered recently. “This edition is horribly out of date on that,” Rahesia told them, when Aclysia asked. “It’s a kind of insect that draws the salt out of the water and uses it to make a cocoon that they metamorphize in.”
“Why are they looking for that?” Korith wondered.
“They want to try and see if they could de-salt areas with them. Apparently, the precursor of the Sleeping Empire had a habit of salting the fields of its enemies.” Rahesia bowed down and inspected a couple of ferns. “I’m not a big fan of the Sleeping Empire, but it’s not like they have no noble ambitions whatsoever.”
“What makes you dislike them?” Apexus asked.
“Any empire that large gets too powerful at the top and too disrespectful of the bottom,” Rahesia gave her opinion. “Taxes are high, tariffs are higher – if you bring something into the Sleeping Empire without a permit, they take 10% of the projected value upon entrance on the Leaf.”
“Kill them!” Korith squeaked.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Rahesia answered with a chuckle, then squatted down. “The insects that make the Crust Bulbs usually bury themselves down in the shadows of ferns. So all we got to do is dig about ten centimetres deep…” Her fingernails moved through the wet dirt until she grabbed something the size of a large grape. “…and there it is.” She held it up for the Inevitable party to inspect.
The surface was quite smooth for a salt crystal, but it unmistakably was one. A little, dark dot on the inside was all that was visible of the practically liquid insect undergoing metamorphosis within. It was no wonder the first people who had discovered the Crystal Bulbs had been puzzled by them.
“How do we transport them?” Aclysia asked.
Rahesia lifted a sack that she had tied to her hip. It was no adventurer’s bag, but a plain old sack of linen. She opened it to reveal the bulbs they had found the day before, as well as a chunk of dried meat. “We have to fill six of the bags. The meat is there for the insects that hatch. It happens rarely, but the clients get mad if we deliver dead beetles.”
“Makes enough sense,” Reysha said, then pointed at a nearby plant. “I suppose that is the garlic then?”
Rahesia looked over and hummed, pleasantly surprised. “Sharp eyes.”
“I’m good for a few things: sex, stabbing things, and seeing things,” Reysha listed.
“You really are a pervert, aren’t you?” Rahesia asked. “Not trying to sound criticizing, I promise. It’s just that you keep mentioning sex every other sentence.”
“I love sex,” Reysha purred.
“It makes sharing a room with her a safety hazard,” Aclysia drawled sarcastically.
The dryad chuckled and moved over to the garlic. “With this, it’s really simple: just grab it by the base and yank it out!” Her voice rose a bit as she put strength into her arm. The bulb popped out of the mud with a bit of a wet smack, revealing the bulb and the roots that extended from its bottom. “We’re specifically looking for bulbs that are nice and round like this one. These plants are pretty resilient. They’ll draw all of the nutrients and energy they can out of the roots and leaves. Most bulbs survive for several weeks this way and grow decently once they’re put in new soil.”
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“Why do they keep needing new shipments, then?” Reysha asked.
The Witch just shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe a bunch of influential noblemen are pulling them aside for dinner, maybe the seasons are different and that causes a bunch of them to die come winter, maybe they’re dragging their feet on the transportation.” The plant wandered into her adventurer’s bag. “Whatever it is, we’re supposed to gather a whole crate of them. We won’t need every hand for this though.” The dryad gave an indicative look toward Apexus and Aclysia. “Since you two can fly, could I ask you to check around for the Gargant? You’ll find a description of it on page 13.”
Aclysia looked to Apexus before answering. One nod from the giant man later, she said, “Affirmative,” and they were on their way.
The next three days were straightforward. They went out into the marshes, collected as much as they could, then trekked back, gathered what they may have missed, and then checked how much they had so far. Progress was an up and down of luck, as working with nature often was. Sometimes they walked for two hours without finding a single suitable plant for collection, then they spent half an hour yanking out an entire field of them.
After each day, they’d sit together for about an hour before retiring for the night, then set out in a different direction.
“We may not even have to move camp,” Atlas said happily, inspecting the progress.
The bags with the Crust Bulbs had been filled within two days. It was the season for them and insects were usually easier to find than certain kinds of pants. Plus, the demand for them was lower. Gathering the bulbs was a lot more tedious.
“That would be fortunate,” Kumlin said and stroked his beard. He then directed his eyes upwards. “Our allies are returning.”
Apexus landed in the middle of the camp. “We spotted the Gargant,” he reported.
“Really?” Atlas asked, excitedly. The Warrior was eager to have a change of pace. Gathering garlic paid well, but it was hardly why they were adventurers.
“Six arms, three heads, four metres tall, an amalgam of gorilla, praying mantis, crocodile and human, that was certainly it,” the Monk answered.
“Fortunate timing,” Kumlin hummed. “We wouldn’t want to wait too long to move with our cargo.”
“Should we store the crate in our Mobile Estate?” Apexus suggested.
Kumlin rubbed his chin. Personally, he did not agree with placing the Quest items in the care of people they had only known for three days. Atlas, having always been more of a people person, did not share that reluctance. “Sure,” the party leader said and so it was done. Outwardly, the dwarf kept his opinion to himself. Decisions by the Warrior had more often brought them benefits than lost them anything.
After the move, and after everyone had been gathered up, Atlas initiated a strategy meeting. “Alright, Apexus and Aclysia found the Chimera Gargant about four hours west from here. It is aggressive towards people, so my plan would be for Aclysia to shine a bright light tonight and make it come towards us. We’ll slay it tonight, then set out south and gather whatever additional bulbs we find on the way. At worst we’ll be a little short of the wanted amount and be given a 20% penalty. Given the reward from the Gargant, we’ll still make out with a nice profit though.”
“We will follow your lead on this one,” Apexus stated. “You have fought one such Gargant before, I understand?”
Atlas nodded. “A weaker one in a dungeon but it should be about the same strategy-wise. First off, it can’t actually see that well in the dark. None of its three heads have eyes built for midnight, so we can use that to our advantage. Aclysia, I’d ask that you focus on regulating light levels in the fight.”
“She will keep your position illuminated,” Apexus followed along swiftly. “It will make our ranged combatants practically invisible to the monster.”
“Exactly. I’ll have it tunnel-vision on me. Kumlin’s regenerations and stamina boost will ensure I can take the strikes.” Atlas pulled out an expensive tablet. Its surface consisted of enchanted Hexagons made from carefully contained mercury. Using a stylus and one’s intentions, the surface could be manipulated into a three-dimensional map. Perfect to make battle plans with. Coloured stones served as tokens for each combatant. “While I have its attention, everyone else will pelt it with attacks.”
“According to the documents provided, we have to anticipate a Phase Mutation, correct?” Aclysia asked.
The party had not encountered a Phase Mutation in a long while, but the original trio still remembered the Laghast. The humanoid monster, a cross between deep-sea dwelling creature and skinny humanoid, had changed rapidly from one form to another mid-fight. Such Phase Mutations were typically accompanied by ultra-fast regenerations and a shockwave of kinetic and magic energy that made interrupting the change near impossible for fighters of the same level.
It was the gods’ way to make certain monsters more challenging than an initial exchange of blows would suggest. Most creatures that possessed a Phase Mutation triggered them after sustaining a large amount of damage. The Chimera Gargant was no exception to this.
“Correct,” Rahesia confirmed. “The Chimera Gargant will change into a bulkier form with only two arms after its vitality has been whittled down enough. Its defences will also increase. Carapace, and all of that.”
“It means during the first phase, we should focus on whittling it down slowly,” Atlas told everyone. “No wasting mana or ki early on. Any excess damage we deal to it will just get healed when it mutates into the second phase.”
Alabasta groaned. “We know! Do you think we’re idiots?”
“I appreciate the details,” Apexus said. “Missteps here could be deadly.”
“See, my fellow party leader is with me,” Atlas declared, to the mild amusement of the two parties. Talks continued from there. “So yeah, nothing fancy in the first phase. I’ll keep it occupied.”
“Korith and I will stay nearby, to take over in an emergency,” Apexus weighed in. “Reysha and Flora will deal damage where the opportunity arises.”
Atlas nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly what I was going to suggest. Just in case I bit off more than I could chew, tag me out. Kumlin will patch me up. Aclysia, could you blind the enemy?”
“Three heads will make a permanent blinding of a beast like this unworkable, but a standard flash of light is within my repertoire,” the Priest answered.
“Alright, then I will shout ‘Shuffle’ when I need to tag out for a moment. Blind it then, that should give Korith or Apexus enough time to jump in. Who would do it first, just out of interest?”
“That, uhm, would be me,” Korith said. “I’m the face-shield of the party.”
No one questioned that, not when short-folks were common enough among adventurers and certainly not after they had seen her hammer crush the skulls of crocorillas. “Alright. Reysha, a tip for you, don’t bother with going for vital areas. Try to sever the arteries and tendons under the shoulders. Every arm you disable is a bit of pressure off me, so I’d thank you a lot for that.”
“I’ll let ya get away with telling me how to do my job this once,” the redhead answered, a disarming smirk on her face. “What about phase two then?”
“All collapse on it,” Atlas said, moving the various stones on the three-dimensional map around the big stone that represented the Chimera Gargant. “Once the shockwave is over, it’ll have regenerated. The new form will have massive, powerful fists. I can take a hit or two from those, but I’d rather not. The best way to approach it is to just keep it busy from all directions so it can only do flailing hits, rather than proper punches.”
“I will place a Curse of Vulnerability on it at this stage,” Rahesia weighed in. “That will emphasize the weakness the carapace has in the spine and neck areas.”
Alabasta raised her voice. “My arrows won’t do much good in that phase, so I’ll use Eagle Shots to take out its eyes, specifically the ones at the side. We’ll reduce its range of vision.”
“And then you and I,” Flora gestured at Reysha, “go for the back of the spine, right above the hip.”
“I guess it has three necks, so taking those out one after another would be a pain?” Reysha asked, to the nodding confirmation of everyone else. Unlike the impatient tiger woman, the rest of the camp had at least read the (somewhat outdated) brief on Chimera Gargant strategies. “Going with paralyzing the lower body then, peachy.”
“And after that, we’ll just play it slow and careful and whittle down its remaining vitality,” Atlas summarized. “Basic strategy, but still dangerous.”
“One does not hunt worthy prey without danger.” Apexus glanced in the direction of the sun. They had several more hours left until it was dark enough for their lure to work.
It would be a dull wait.