Zalia and her team spent the next two weeks hunting in the north, exploring the lands further into the wilds away from the mountain home where Glemp lived. They constructed a small camp area with a short spike wall emplaced by Zalia, the construction magically enhanced and hidden by her passive. Within the other three had set up tents that the whole group worked together to hide properly in the snow of the stark white landscape. As the weeks passed, the north grew colder but as it did, so too did the others gain more levels in cold resistance. The first bear creature they had hunted, a species they had named Seybears, had been a rough fight with the others unused to the creatures immense strength. They had quickly adapted however, the faster group members having an easier time than others. They had hunted a few after that during the weeks, each hunt going better than the last. Zalia had shown them how to properly prepare the hides of the beasts to be used and the others all now used the thick warm hides as blankets. Zalia herself wasn't much bothered by the cold, wearing her usual outfit of rough travelling clothes, armour and enchanted cloak. Both her cloak and passive stealth ability had environment blending effects on her appearance so she moved through the snow and undergrowth visible more as a mottled effect than a perceivable creature.
Zalia had also experimented a little with her herbalism. When she looked at Snow-leaf it now displayed extra information,
Snow-leaf - Iron - Use in a ritual to add an element of Ice.
This was an addition that was added when her Flora identification ability had reached Iron rank. Playing around with some rituals she found she could create a ritual of Manifest, Snow-leaf and Bitterbalm to create a creeping ice, slowing and even harming a target depending on its cold resistance. A simple Manifest and Snow-leaf ritual would manifest a chunk of ice, the shape of which she could play around with to a small degree making a wall, ball and various other things. She felt that there were two different types of herbs she had discovered when it came to her rituals so far. The first was a shape type herb that helped guide how the affected ritual appeared in the world. Examples of this type would be Manifest or Bitterbalm which allowed her to create rituals as curses or physical manifestations. Type two herbs had elemental aspects that dictated ritual effects, examples being Dodge-vine and Snow-leaf each of which applied effects based around protection and ice respectively. This distinction gave her an easier time figuring out how to use some of the higher rank herbs in rituals. One such higher rank herb was Frozen Heart. She had figured out how to use it in a ritual that applied a healing over time effect by replacing Dodge-vine in the protection ritual she had grown so accustomed to using. She was sure there was a much more efficient way of using the herb then in a ritual designed for a Tin rank herb but for now it was another healing capability she had.
Zen had gotten significantly better at learning tracking and hunting, strangely being much better at the task in the snow than he was in the woods. Maybe it just had something to do with how different the two activities were or maybe something had just clicked in his head and he had finally figured it out. Either way, he was quite good enough now to go about hunting without Zalia and actually have a good chance to catch something. This brought some stress off Zalia as she didn't have to really teach any of the others tracking anymore, only giving tips and tricks here and there as they asked for them. Zalia had a bit more time each day then to practice stealth and trapping, exploring how her trapper passive could enhance different traps she set that traditionally wouldn't be of much use in the moment. She used sinew from the animals she killed to create a few different lengths of string, the string could be used as bowstring but it wasn't what she wanted it for, instead attempting to use it as a trap. Running it between two trees she found it blended in extremely well, seeming to thin to a spiderweb becoming almost invisible to the eye. Making Zen run through it, the string tied itself around his legs holding the man down until he could undo the complex knot that the string formed. He could also have just cut it but Zalia wanted the length of string back so asked him not to. She also made sure to keep a bunch of her caltrops in her bag, knowing them to be useful though wary of when to use them as she did have allies around. She also traded Glemp for some small metal spikes she could easily slam into a tree as she ran past. Similar to the caltrops, the spike would extend from the tree in an instant like a spear, impaling whatever had triggered it. Finally, she had begun training with her throwing knives, gaining a new proficiency along the way.
Ember had gotten quite proficient at using the bow and was the furthest in her bow weapon proficiency though Zalia was not surprised by that. Indis had actually taken quite an interest in what Zalia had to teach, catching up quickly to the other two in tracking and archery. Despite first appearances of snobbishness and privilege that the woman gave off, Lady Indis was actually quite a hard worker and a good listener when it came down to it. Zalia probably shouldn’t have expected anything else from a woman who was desperately fighting to keep her whole house from failing.
Zalia gained quite a few levels in a range of abilities over the two weeks,
Congratulations! Kill shot has gained three levels reaching Iron 5.
Congratulations! Hunter’s mark has gained four levels reaching Iron 6.
Congratulations! Fight or Flight has gained four levels reaching Iron 7.
Congratulations! Hunter’s sight has gained three levels reaching Iron 5.
Congratulations! Survivalist and associated skills have gained five levels reaching Iron 9.
Congratulations! Hunter class has gained three levels reaching Iron 5.
Congratulations! Flora Identification has reached Iron 3.
Congratulations! Preparation has gained three levels reaching Iron 5.
Congratulations! Stasis has gained two levels reaching Iron 4.
Congratulations! Harvester has gained three levels reaching Iron 6.
Congratulations! Herbal magic has gained five levels reaching Iron 7.
Congratulations! Herbalist class has reached Iron 3.
Congratulations! Nature’s wrath has gained two levels reaching Iron 3.
Congratulations! Protection of the Wild’s has gained two levels reaching Iron 3.
Congratulations! Healing presence has gained four levels reaching Iron 6.
Congratulations! Druid class has gained two levels reaching Iron 3.
Congratulations! Aura observation has gained two levels reaching Tin 11.
Congratulations! Low light vision has gained two levels reaching Tin 10.
Congratulations! Poison resistance has gained three levels reaching Iron 5.
Congratulations! Mobility has gained six levels reaching Iron 10.
Congratulations! Teaching has gained six levels reaching Tin 20.
Congratulations! Teaching has reached Iron 1.
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.
Iron - when teaching someone, they have an easier time grasping concepts that you explain, scaling with the level and rank of this ability. You are also able to convey simple concepts even when there is a language barrier.
Congratulations! Bow - Weapon proficiency has gained three levels reaching Iron 13.
Congratulations! Sword - Weapon proficiency has gained two levels reaching Iron 4.
Congratulations! You have gained a new Weapon proficiency in 'Throwing knives'.
Throwing Knives - Weapon proficiency
Tin - knives thrown by you have increased speed based on rank and level of this skill. They will also better spin in the air to hit with the part of the weapon you want.
Congratulations! Throwing Knives - Weapon proficiency has gained six levels reaching Tin 7.
A part of Zalia’s success in teaching Zen came from the upgraded teaching passive, or so she thought. She was also getting quite far ahead in her bow proficiency, which she put down to her previous life experience. Additionally, she had begun to trust the 'tracking arrows' ability provided by her bow and was now able to make shots that would have been otherwise impossible or improbable without.
The final discovery during the two weeks was one made by Glemp as he finally managed to make something from the Silver rank herb she had gotten for him. It was a potion he described as a haste potion. It would essentially allow the user to be faster for a short period of time after which they would be slowed for a small time. It was very simple but the way it worked was by time magic which is what gave it its Silver rank. It seemed like something that Zalia wanted and so she was going to try to find more of the herb and convince Glemp to make her one. After talking about his discovery for some time, Zalia pestered him once more,
“It has been two weeks now Glemp, are you sure we aren’t ready to fight whatever that beast is that you want hunted?” Zalia asked.
The small creature that was her friend eyed her,
“No, yes. Maybe you are ready, yes. Up high, yes, in the mountains a creature of flight. Bronze is its rank, yes but near to Silver it must be. Very strong, very strong, yes very.” Glemp said, relenting finally.
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“How would we get there?” Zalia asked.
“Glemp will lead you, yes,” Glemp replied.
“Why does it interest you? Why do you want us to hunt it?” Zalia asked.
“Very good for alchemy, yes much of its body. Various uses, many uses yes. Ah and it guards the slopes, the slopes that hold a plant more useful, yes,” Glemp said, a gleam in their eyes.
“A plant? A herb? On the slopes of the mountain?” Zalia asked, eager now.
“Mhm, yes, yes,” Glemp replied.
“Oh I’m in and I am sure my team will be too. Speaking of herbs, would I be able to get some more Flame-root?” Zalia asked.
“If you can reach the root you can have the root, yes. By the pools it grows,” Glemp told her.
“If I can reach it, I can have it. Seems fair,” Zalia thought.
Her team was still outside, engaging in a hunt of their own. She thought it might be a good idea that they hunt some Ironfur rabbits by themselves to solidify their tracking skills.
Zalia left Glemps workshop, making her way down the twisting paths, stairs and tunnels of the mountain home of those born of heat and stone. She had to descend for quite some time, eventually reaching a tunnel that looked out onto the bubbling pits of magma near the bottom. The space was much wider at the bottom and had many paths crossing around and between the pits, the whole space littered with the charcoal like roots that Zalia knew to be Flame-root. Her heat resistance was being put fully to the test now and she was only able to stand the heat by the use of the second tier heat and cold resistances, keeping herself and the air near her as cool as possible. She ran quickly into the room, using preparation mixed with stasis to harvest and store as much Flame-root as she could before she left the room once more, sweating profusely. She had to repeat the action twice more before she collected enough to last her a while. She went back to Glemp once she was done, thanking them and leaving to find her team once more.
Before long, she found their tracks and began following the path they had taken, tracking her team as they had tracked another creature not long before. She found her team, sneaking up on them as they sat hidden near the den of an Ironfur rabbit,
“What are we looking at?” she asked, whispering in Zen's ear.
“AH F- Zalia,” Zen yelled, then hissed.
She had noticed Ember and Indis jump as well, neither of them noticing her approach. She smiled, satisfied with her advancement in stealth.
“Hi,” she whispered innocently back.
“Don’t sneak up on us like that, especially when we’re hunting,” Zen hissed at her.
“Pay more attention to your surroundings,” Zalia shot back quietly.
She saw Ember roll her eyes out of the corner of her vision.
“You guys do remember you don't have to stake out the entrances of these bunnies dens right? They’re bloodthirsty little creatures,” Zalia said.
“We know,” Indis said.
“Then why are we just crouching here?” Zalia asked.
“You’ll see,” Lady Indis replied.
Indis said nothing more so Zalia just waited, being short of patience was not one of her failings, fortunately. She watched as one of the Seybear came sniffing into the clearing before the small Ironfur rabbit den and suddenly a burst of eight rabbits came out of the den they were watching, along with two more entrances nearby. The Seybear was overwhelmed in short order, brutally pummelled by the Ironfur rabbits before being ripped apart and dragged into the dens, along with the two rabbits that had been killed in the fight. Within a few minutes the ground upon which the slaughter had taken place was once more covered by the light snowfall.
“Oh,” Zalia whispered.
“I think this is the first den of young ones we have found. It looks like they work together while they are younger before moving into their own dens later in life. Must be how they get to the rank they do,” Ember whispered appreciatively.
“It is quite a smart tactic and one I don't think we should mess with,” Indis said quietly.
“Agreed,” Zalia whispered back.
They moved slowly and silently away from the clearing, though it seemed they would have to go between the den entrances to fall prey to the tactic.
“Well, ignoring that horrific sight, I have some good news!” Zalia said to the others once they were much further away.
“News?” Zen asked excitedly.
“Glemp wants to lead us to the creature they want hunted. Looks like we might have something new to hunt finally!” Zalia said happily.
“That could be interesting,” Ember said.
“Might be something we can bring back to Endelbyrn too,” Indis added.
“Yaaaaay,” Zen said unconvincingly.
Zalia knew the man missed his home and family but he would have to get used to this kind of thing if he wanted to work for the Morning’s shade so she didn't feel too bad. She explained quickly to the others what Glemp had told her as they went back to the mountain, entering the city and finding Glemp. The Born of Heat and Stone led them up for a long time, winding through tunnels and paths up into the mountain so far the air even cooled down a bit. After a time, they came out of a cave entrance onto the slopes of the mountain far, far above the forests below. She could see for hundreds of kilometres in every direction, the horizon lit up by the falling sun as the land below glittered, billions of snowflakes reflecting the day's last light.
“Oh wow, it's quite a view you guys have up here,” Zalia said to Glemp, the others giving murmured appreciation to the view as well.
“Yes, yes but dangerous, very. Good luck Zalia of the snow, in your hunt ,yes,” Glemp said, retreating back into the cave.
Zalia could already see some of the creatures faintly up in the sky, large winged beasts with soft snowy mists left in a trail behind their wings as they flew. They wouldn't be able to hunt one of those but if they went higher to find a nest they might have some luck. The other alternative was to react when one of the creatures decided to hunt them.
They trekked for some time through the snowy mountainside, climbing higher to find one of the nests before Zalia spotted one of the creatures making a spiralling descent towards their location. She stopped the others with a waved hand, crouching down and watching the creature as she summoned her bow to her hand. Luckily, the creature was not going for them but some other creature nearby and they watched as it soon dove out of the sky. They quickly followed, tracking where the creature was landing with their eyes before it hit and a cacophony of sound followed. They ran up and lay down, looking over the small ridge to see the battlefield beyond.
The first thing Zalia saw was the bird creature that had large, feathered wings that shimmered with a blend of silvery-white and pale blue hues, resembling the colours of frosty clouds, its body sleek with similar colours. The wings were trailed by the same frosty trail that it left when flying high up above, the now fading misty path it had taken still visible in the air above. The creature had several razor sharp talons that were dug into the second thing Zalia noticed. It held a large, streamlined feline creature with thick fur in patterns of grey and white. It had piercing silver eyes and slender, almost translucent shards protruding from its shoulders, back and tail. From its large paws the feline creature had sharp icy claws it was using to strike back at the bird. Unfortunately for the feline creature, the bird had gotten an ambush and the fight was soon over.
Unfortunately for the bird, Zalia’s team got the ambush as well and the fight was soon began again. It started with Zalia firing off three silent arrows in quick succession, all three hitting the creature in the wing and crippling its flight. As it tried to leap back into the air, and failed, Zen was running down the short ridge towards it with shield and mace raised. Just behind him was Ember, keeping pace with a double bladed sword and shield drawn. Next to Zalia, Indis started sparking as she channelled lightning through her body, Zalia focusing her healing on the woman to provide an extra boost to her as she channelled. Zalia managed to fire off one more poisoned shot, Hunter’s mark already locked on and Dodge-vine ritual completed on all her allies before Zen reached the creature. The large man finished the job of crippling the creature's wing as he smashed the three times pierced wing with a sickening crunching sound.
This was a Bronze ranked creature however and it wasn't going to go down that easy. It let out a piercing howl as a cone of frosty breath left its mouth, blowing over Zen and Ember as they held up their shields. They managed to block the breath but were both encased in a frosty prison. Zalia sprinted down the hilly ridge to the two front liners as Indis kept the creature busy by blasting it with a charged lightning bolt that slammed down from the sky above. In the brief pause Zalia had, she reached her allies and performed a ritual of Dodge-vine, overlaid with Flame-root. The magic pressed into her two allies, melting ice and warming their bodies as Zalia channelled Nature’s wrath. Her two summoned elemental allies occupied the bird creature as Indis began channelling one of her now Bronze rank abilities, a storm forming above the creature. Zalia was slowly backing up, firing off more shots as Zen and Ember broke free of the remaining ice and went back on the offensive.
Multiple bolts of lightning now struck down from the storm above, one every few seconds striking the creature forming a sizzling and rancid smoke in the air, the smell a mix of ozone and burnt feathers. Zen drew the creatures attention, Zalia preparing a Manifest and Dodge-vine ritual around him from afar, by using his taunting shout. Just as the creature turned to Zen and struck, Ember slashed out, taking off one of its legs. While the creatures beak strike now put off managed to smash through the finished ritual of Zalia's with the rest of the force taken by Zen himself and deflected with his shield. Zalia’s two icy air elementals struck at the sides of the creatures but were blown away as the creature desperately flapped both its wings with pained cries, trying to escape the grasp of her spell. Zen and Ember weathered the strong wind by going to one knee and angling their shields against the wind, Zalia now far away enough to manage. The fight came to a final and loud resolution as a last and strongest lightning bolt came from the storm above, hitting the bird directly with a loud blast. Zalia put down her bow and let out a breath, puffing from the short but intense fight.
“Solid work everyone, any injuries?” Ember asked.
Zalia checked over herself, finding some light lacerations on her face from shrapnel quickly healing,
“All good,” she called out, Zen and Indis calling the same.
They grouped up around the large sizzling bird, the creature mostly intact except for its head that had been half destroyed by the last strike. Zalia began tying some rope to the creature but handed off the job to Zen when she heard a mewling sound. She walked over to the body of the large feline creature that the bird had killed and looked around it, finding a very small version of the larger creature. A kitten.
“Aw, hey little buddy,” Zalia said soothingly, reaching out to pick up the small creature.
It hissed at her hand and Zalia hesitated but, making up her mind, reached out and picked it up, hugging it close to her chest. The little cat scratched at her armour a little but eventually calmed, pushing into the warmth of her body. She walked back over to the others, showing them,
“Look guys, I found a friend,” Zalia told them, smiling brightly.
“Oh gods no, of course you would,” Zen said, holding his face as he saw what Zalia had.
“Really Zalia, you can't keep that,” Indis said.
“Watch me,” Zalia said, still smiling.