They were sitting at the camp once more as Zalia used preparation to skin and clean the rest of the two animals. The skill could now work on animals as well, an influence from her Hunter class or so she thought. What would have usually taken her a good amount of time was done in an instant as the two creatures were perfectly prepared as Zalia used her Iron rank heat resistance passive to help the fire along, spreading the heat through the small fire efficiently. She had found she could also use the ability to spread heat through a kill evenly, cooking it to perfection even on an uneven cooking surface such as the spit over a fire she was using now.
"That's probably the most I'll ever hear you talk," Zen said as they watched the creatures cook.
"I think it's important to only speak when there is something worth saying," Zalia replied.
Ember nodded to Zalia's statement, seemingly agreeing.
"And why is that mysterious hunter," Zen asked.
Zalia just shrugged.
"I do wish you would follow her advice sometimes Zen," Indis said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked
"It's supposed to mean if you're going to keep talking so much you should probably find something worth saying," Indis replied.
"Ow," Zen said.
"How old are you Zen," Zalia asked.
"Twenty two, what does that have to do with anything," he said.
"Ahhh, that makes sense. Don't worry you'll learn some wisdom when you grow up," Zalia said.
"When I grow up? We're probably the same age," Zen retorted.
Zalia gave him an odd look,
"Not even close," she said.
"Well how old are you then?" Zen asked.
"Zen! Have some manners, don't you know it's rude to ask a lady her age," Indis scolded.
"Oh I'm a lady now am I, thought I was just a commoner," Zalia said sarcastically.
"See!" Zen exclaimed.
"Still not answering you Zen," Zalia added.
"Oh," he said.
The food was ready and Zalia reached into the fire to grab a piece of the meat that was cut away as she used preparation on it. She ate it appreciatively, gesturing to the others that they could feel free to eat.
"It's a little strange how casually you reach into the fire like that," Zen said.
All three woman stared at Zen as he said that,
"Zen, heaps of people can do that, fire magic is a thing" Ember said.
"Yeah but fire magic is a thing she doesn't have," Zen said, gesturing to Zalia.
Zalia smiled at him before continuing to eat. She hadn't told anyone about her Survivalist skill keeping her cold and heat resistance in match with itself, significantly increasing the respective resistances levelling speeds.
"So?" Lady Indis said.
"No he does actually have a point," Ember said.
"I do?" Zen said.
"He does?" Indis said at the same time.
"Yeah, how high is your heat resistance, Zalia?" Ember asked.
"Mmm, why should I tell you?" Zalia asked back
Ember just shrugged,
"Fair enough, Iron," Zalia answered.
"How did you manage that? One you lived in the snow most of your life and two you don't even have all your classes in iron," Indis asked looking suspiciously at her.
"No I did not torture myself if that's what you're thinking, though it's definitely an option with healing. It's a trade secret," Zalia responded.
"A trade secret of what, Hunters? Herbalists? Bloody Druids?" Zen asked.
"Yes," Zalia replied.
She was being difficult for no reason other than she didn't want the trio getting used to getting answers. They might talk at her more if they did,
"Anyways, I think we're getting ready to leave so pack up," Zalia said as she got up and collected her things, killing the fire with her minor fire manipulation.
The rest of the groups had already begun packing up and they were all on the road again shortly after.
⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻
For the next two and a half days as they travelled, Zalia taught both Ember and Zen how to track. On the last day she barely even needed to show them; the only way they could learn now was from experience. Until they finished learning the basics at least. On that last day Indis even joined in, Zalia spending most of her time showing the woman how to track as the two others of their group went ahead. She even went as far as to lend Ember her bow for a short time, showing her how to properly use it. Lady Indis seemed to pick it up much slower than the other two, obviously not used to that kind of work. Zalia idly wondered if the woman had gotten into the organisation based on influence in addition to her skill, not just her abilities. From time to time, Zalia caught the silver ranked leader of their contract giving her approving looks as she taught the others of their group. The other group of Iron rankers seemed to be spending their idle time playing around, joking with each other. Not to say that her group didn't do that but they were also productive during the trip. Zalia even gained a new passive,
Congratulations! You have unlocked the general passive 'Teaching'.
Teaching - passive
Tin - you gain a better understanding of what methods of teaching will work with certain people, scaling with the level and rank of this ability.
"Not a passive I hope to be using much," Zalia thought.
Immediately after, she reconsidered the thought. She actually didn't mind teaching her group, for the most part they were attentive and quick learners. She would never be the type of person to sit in a classroom and teach a whole room of students but a more practical method in a small group like this, she didn't mind at all.
On the last day of the trip as they were due to arrive at the mine within the next few hours to half a day, they had settled for one last break. Zalia's group went off as they usually did to hunt, the four of them walking to a thick canopied section of forest nearby. They found the tracks of a small group of gazelle-like creatures that travelled through the thick undergrowth with surprising nimbleness. They followed the tracks until they found something. Zalia knelt next to the body of the creature, its blood still fresh. It was slender with graceful limbs and body covered in a short, sleek coat. Its fur ranged in colour from shades of golden brown to deep chestnut, with elegant patterns and shimmering highlights that most likely helped it blend in with the dappled sunlight of the forest around it. In stark comparison, the bright red blood coming from deep gashes in its body stood out amongst the greens of the forest.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Zalia summoned her bow, nocking an arrow,
"I don't think we're alone," she whispered to the others.
The rest of the group immediately tensed, drawing weapons. They stood in silence, observing the forest around them as Zalia performed a Dodge-vine ritual for the whole group and prepared another trick she had been working on. With Zen's help she had carved a bunch of small wooden caltrops, dipping a tiny bit of each spine into poison. She had very little left but it would be worth using since she didn't know how long it would remain potent. She threw a bunch of the caltrops across the ground around them, the small spikes digging into the ground and being covered by leaves as her trapper passive got to work. She also prepared a Dodge-vine and Manifest ritual, ready to activate it at a moment's notice. It formed a small ring around them, bits of herbs and leaves floating around in the air as a ring of intricate runes formed from the finer pieces of plant shaped itself closer to the ground,
"That ability is really cool, Zalia," Zen whispered.
"Shut up and keep an eye out," she hissed back at him.
She began to relax, hoping whatever had killed the mottled gazelle-like creature had left when they arrived. She tensed back up as a slight crack of wood came from above. She immediately activated the ritual, a shield of roots, vines and leaves formed around the group as a form crashed into it from above. The shield immediately broke but it was enough time for Zalia and Indis to get out of the way as Zen and Ember stood in front of them. The creature that smashed through the quickly dissipating shield was an animal with the graceful elegance of a great cat, with a sleek muscular body and an agile build. Its coat was adorned with vibrant foliage, including leaves, flowers, and vines, that shifted and changed colours to match the surrounding forest. It had six legs rather than four, much like that first bear creature she had seen had. She could barely see it even as it hit the ground, hissing at them,
? - Bronze rank
"Might be doable," she thought.
She immediately put her Hunter's mark on it, knowing its general location would be extremely helpful in ever seeing it. Zen immediately got to work, engaging the creature with his giant tower shield. He smashed the shield into its face as Ember circled around its side with a smaller heater shield and double sided blade at the ready. It dodged her quick thrust nimbly, extremely fast for a creature of its size. Zalia took a shot as it dodged away from Ember and Zen, coming into clear view. Even with the tracking aspect of her arrows the creature was only grazed by the shot, enough to be poisoned though. Indis began charging electricity and the creature, seeing it, turned and jumped nimbly through the small clearing, up a tree into the canopy above once more. Zalia tracked where it was moving with her mark, the others following where she pointed her bow. She could see its shape vaguely, knowing where to look due to her mark, as it jumped from the canopy above once more, towards Indis. Zalia activated her Protection of the Wilds around the woman as she shot an arrow at the creature midair. It turned an ethereal colour momentarily, the arrow passing straight through it, before the creature hit the shield, Indis still charging lightning within. It scratched off the shield, tearing parts of it away as Zen smashed it in the side with his mace. The creature stumbled sideways, stepping onto one of Zalia's caltrops which promptly expanded, stabbing up through its paw. Ember quickly took advantage of its temporary immobility, slashing across its side. Indis came around the creature's other side as it turned to snarl at Ember and punched the thing straight in the head, releasing a blast of electricity that shocked through its body. The creature went stiff, shaking as it fell to the ground. The strike signaled the end of the battle as Ember stabbed her sword through the relatively still creature's chest, into its heart.
Congratulations! Escape has gained two levels reaching Tin 14.
Congratulations! Hunter class has gained two levels reaching Tin 14.
Congratulations! Nature's wrath has reached Tin 19.
Congratulations! Protection of the Wilds has gained two levels reaching Tin 20.
Congratulations! Protection of the Wilds has reached Iron 1
Congratulations! Druid class has reached Tin 19.
Protection of the wilds - spell - area - counter execute
Tin - You call upon the protection of the wilds. You and nearby allies are protected by a biome specific shield and are subjected to a moderate heal over time effect. The heal over time heals exponentially more based on how low the target's health is and remains until the shield is broken.
Iron - Protection of the Wilds now has a more ethereal and moving visage. You and allies within a shield created by this ability may still see and move as normal. Additionally, you may enhance this ability with a single effect replicable by the Iron rank ability of Herbal magic.
"Oh daaaamn," Zalia thought.
Moving and seeing through the shield would make its use much increased. The added Herbal magic section didn't add much use yet but if she found some good Iron rank effects she could add it might be nice.
"Damn that creature is sneaky, I can still barely even see it," Zen said.
"Sneaky, but not that strong," Indis said, a light bit of smoke still rising from her body.
"You are kind of scary sometimes, Lady Indis," Zalia said.
"Oh, that's so sweet of you," Indis said, smiling brightly.
"Think this thing will taste good?" Ember asked, eyeing the creature.
"Mmm, not with my poison in its veins… maybe I can do something about that now though," Zalia said.
⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻
Now back at the temporary camp, they were getting glances from the other group as Zalia prepared the creature. Her ability was able to drain the poison from the dead body, along with skinning, field dressing and nicely cutting it into sections. They did this all on top of her now filthy tarp.
"Want the pelt?" Zalia asked Ember.
"Nah, it's definitely more your style," Ember said.
Zalia shrugged, taking the thing to a nearby stream to wash before putting it into her bag. It would make an excellent adornment as an addition to her stealth, if its magic could be shaped to work as it had in life. She idly wondered if Endelbyrn had any magic leather workers, deciding it probably did.
When she returned, she found the expedition leader talking to her group,
"That is a good catch," Larel was saying, gesturing to the now pile of meat, once agile creature.
"Wasn't so hard with a larger group. Besides, it probably would have killed one of us outright if Zalia hadn't been there" Zen said.
"And it probably would have killed me if I were alone," Zalia responded as she walked up.
"No it wouldn't have," Ember said.
Zalia didn't comment, she might have been fine it was true but it would have surely been a much more difficult fight. The last time she had fought a Bronze rank creature had required a hell of a lot of preparation. Granted, she had been considerably lower rank then but the difference might not have been enough.
"The fact you can say probably instead of definitely in regards to a Bronze rank creature killing a Tin rank one is impressive in itself," Larel said.
The woman seemed approving of Zalia and how she had acted during the contract so far. Someone at as high of a rank as silver considering her abilities as impressive surely meant she was on the right track as well.
"Thank you," Zalia replied.
"No thanks needed. Be quick about your kill, we leave soon," Larel said before walking away.
They quickly cooked and ate, Zalia only eating a tiny bit as she had already eaten in the evening the day before. There was definitely something about eating a higher rank creature that added to its taste, something about how much magic its body held maybe.
Before long they were off once more, not far out from the mine.
⪼ ⪢ ℋ 𝒶𝓃𝒹 ℋ ⪡ ⪻
They arrived at the mine about four hours later, Zalia's Protection of the Wilds still on cooldown from the fight earlier. Before them stood a relatively small mountain, more of a large hill. Set into the side of it was a mine that looked more natural than a man-made structure. It seemed like the stone itself had flowed and shaped into the mine entrance, probably a result of magical mining methods.
"Alright everyone listen up, entering the mine I'll be taking lead, followed by the twins, the group of five there and you four last," Larel said pointing to each group in turn," if we encounter any creatures of silver rank you must not get involved in the fight and begin a retreat until I have defeated it. If we encounter a gold rank creature, I'll distract it while you all escape and then I'll be escaping as well. Any questions?"
"They're putting the weakest ones at the back," the man from the group of five earlier snickered quietly, Eston was his name.
"They're putting the ones who can actually watch for danger at the back," Zalia thought
"What was that Eston? I didn't quite catch it," Larel asked.
"Just wondering what to expect in there," Eston called back.
"I'm not entirely sure, you know as much as I do. We'll just have to watch our backs," Larel said coldly.
"How do you actually kill an elemental?" Zalia asked.
"You have to dissipate or break off enough of its form. It varies on what type it is and some are better at recovering than others. Usually the more solid the material the tougher they are but the slower they recover," Larel explained.
That answered Zalia's question so she stayed silent, thinking it over.
"Alright if there aren't any other questions, let's get moving," she finished.
They began moving into the mine in the order specified by Larel, everyone carefully keeping an eye in front and behind themselves. Zalia used her Heat resistance Iron rank ability to keep a flame hovering above her hand
They travelled slowly through a winding tunnel as they descended into the ground. The tunnel was relatively large, big enough for two to travel comfortably next to each other. It was also quite tall for Zalia, though Indis was just a bit too tall and had to stoop a little. They travelled for a short time, Zalia's low light vision levelling once to Tin five. The tunnel widened as they came into a large space that Zalia could only see a few metres into. What she could see as they grouped up at the entrance was a wooden walkway that had stairs leading down, she could barely see the floor below and saw a bunch of small creatures crawling along the floor. They looked to be made of different stones and metals.
"Shall we get started?" Larel asked.