Haruka-senpai was sitting on a large stone making sure her musket rifle was fully loaded and had extra shells to load in whilst I sat behind a downed Tree trunk across the rock reloading my revolver and doing the same.
Behind the vast fields was a dense forest, we started by observing both the adults and juveniles trying to spot any disturbances amongst the trees and bushes behind them. The juveniles that were play-fighting with each other reminded me of kids in the playground, and as nice as it was to see, I couldn’t help but feel tense… I was gonna be making sure that We didn't accidentally aggravate any of them.
“Haruka-senpai, before we continue with this mission, I need you to promise me something,” I spoke up sternly.
“Yes?”
“I need you to promise me, that under any circumstances you are to stay away from the juveniles.” I pointed specifically at the ones play-fighting with each other.
“I see, hahaha I never expected Yuuki-kun to be that concerned for my safety, don't worry, I'll stay away from them,” Haruka-senpai gave a warm smile when she reassured me.
The reason I asked her to steer clear from the juveniles is despite their docile or even yet passive appearance like rhinos or even elephants, these are herbivores, they fight with each other for dominance and to mate, those horns aren’t just for self-defense for Carnivores that hunted them, they're there to ram at each other.
And unlike the dilophosaurus that Senko and I faced back at the ruined campsite they could be avoided and distracted, I wasn't gonna let either of us be on the receiving end of an angry bull lizard around the size of an elephant with 2 spears, a pair of scissors, and a knife attached to its shield-shaped face!
I would go as far as to mention that Triceratops or better yet the Ceratopsian species as a whole are the only dinosaur that the Tyrant Lizard king: Tyrannosaurus Rex fears to clash with! Because with carnivores you can convince them that you're not worth the effort, but with herbivores, self-defense is practically engrained in their minds since birth.
“Yuuki-kun!” Haruka-senpai pinched my cheeks.
“Gagh! Yes?” I screamed while she pinched my cheeks.
“Geez, I’ve been calling you for a few seconds now but you seem to be lost in thought.” Haruka-senpai pouted at me which was cute.
“Was I? I'm sorry, what was it you wanted to say?” I couldn't help but scratch my head for losing focus.
“I was asking if you already claimed the free ice-pickaxe, grappling hook, and grappling gun from the game mail?”
“Wait, since when did they give away free mountaineering gear?”
“It was in a dev-notification given upon logging in the game.”
“The dev-notification… dang I guess, I didn't pay attention to it earlier.”
I quickly opened the game menu and checked the mail system and it really did have the gear Senpai told me about, I pressed claim and they spawned in the air in front of me to catch.
The grappling gun was the size of a revolver and had a firm grip on the handle making it easy to use, the grappling hook was 30 to 40 ft in length and the ice-pickaxe was made of durable and sturdy metal perfect for digging into Ice caps.
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“Thanks for reminding me of this senpai.”
“No problem.”
A few minutes later Haruka returned to the rock she sat on and we continued observing the herded triceratops until something caught my eye.
“Senpai, do you see that?” I pointed at the younger triceratops circling something as if they were playing with someone.
“Huh? I thought we were the only ones here?”
“I guess not anymore, do you have any binoculars or a telescope with you?”
“Yes I do” Haruka-Senpai took out a pair of binoculars and handed me the second one.
“Thank you.”
Using the binoculars we zoomed in on whatever was going on with the juveniles circling something, it looked like they were playing with a girl, she had chestnut-brown hair, and blue eyes, and was dressed in an adventurer outfit.
She was sitting on the grass playing and feeding the smaller and younger triceratops as if they were just very large puppies.
“Senpai, does it look like she's doing anything that could cause trouble.”
“Well… she's just playing with them, I don't see any harm in that, however let's tell her about why we're here encase she might think that we're a threat.”
Senpai is correct about that. She may just be playing over there but if she spotted us she might accidentally cause trouble for the three of us and aggravate the triceratops hers before we could even subdue the Albertosaurus that could attack at any moment.
“Before we go, does she look familiar to you?” I questioned.
“Hmm not at all, why do you ask?
“I feel like I know that girl, I think she's Hikari Harmony.”
“Hikari Harmony?”
“She's the rising vtuber that my sister told me about a while ago.” I explained.
“Ah, I didn't expect Akane-san to still enjoy Otaku and idol culture.”
“Yeah she's still got it.”
We shared a laugh together before heading towards Hikari. The herds seem like they were less compressed than before and we're now spreading out away from each other, so as long as we didn't annoy or trigger any of them, then we will be able to safely warn her about the albertosaurus and the potential threat the triceratops might bring.
“Hahaha! Chat I now see why you keep recommending playing with the lil triceratops! They're so cuddly!”
As we got closer we heard her talking to her Livestream’s chat, it really looked like she was just minding her business. The group of juveniles were snuggling up to her as if she was their best friend. As nice as that looked, I don't trust leaving her alone with triceratops whatsoever.
“Excuse me, You're Hikari Harmony right?” I spoke up since we were close enough to where she'd hear my voice.
“Why yes I Am~ look chat! We have company! Are you guys a pair of my fans that came just to see me?” She was sitting on the grass with a few of the juveniles snuggling up to her.
Her voice had an innocent and soothing soft tone.
“Well not exactly? My sister is definitely a fan, but me and my friend here came to help protect the triceratops hers from an albertosaurus.” I corrected her before explaining our situation.
“An albertosaurus?”
“Yes, you see we picked up a mission that said an albertosaurus was around this farm”s area and actively hunting the triceratops, we were standing by waiting for it to attack then we saw you here and my “Kohai” here wanted to tell you about the potential danger of it and the triceratops your playing with just in case you didn't know” Haruka-senpai explained further.
“I see, I see, wait Kohai!?” Hikari voiced her surprise.
“She totally ignored the Albertosaurus and Triceratops warning.” I muttered.
“I thought you two were a couple coming to see my Livestream live!”
“Eh? A couple?” Haruka-enpai and I awkwardly turned to each other before turning back at Hikari.
“Yes! You two look like a charming fella and his beginner girlfriend!”
She's not that far off, I was wearing new attire while Haruka-Senpai was wearing reinforced leather above her beginning armor, though sadly we are not a couple.
“I'm sorry but did you not hear of the albertosaurus?” Haruka-Senpai tried to bring the conversation back to topic.
“Oh I do, but if anything bad happens I know my friends here will protect me!” Hikari cuddled more of the juveniles.
“She's too innocent for her own good.” Haruka-Senpai chuckled.
“Miss Hikari, If you need our help just call out to us from over there.” I pointed at the downed log and large rock nearby.
“Kay Kay! Kya~” Hikari agreed before being smothered by the juveniles snuggling.
I wasn't sure if she knew how to defend herself, but it's not too late to check her stats.
Game Name: Hikari Harmony
Age 17
Level: 30
HP: 5,200
Atk: 700
Def: 390
Speed: 1050
Sp. Atk: 3,200
Sp. Def: 400
How was her stats so low for her level? Does she just rely on her teammates to carry her when hunting? Or maybe she just didn't have any good gear on her. I had too many questions.
“I don't think she actually knows how to fight back, how is her stats so low for level 30?” I turned to Haruka-Senpai.
“Well she seems to be doing alright, so let's just let her be and head back to our spot.” Haruka-senpai had a sigh.
“Yeah…”
As we were about to head back, I heard a thudding sound, and shuffling around the trees and bushes.
I quickly nudged Haruka-senpai and we exchanged a serious look knowing Our Albertosaurus friend was here!
Haruka-Senpai quickly hid behind a small log and prepared her musket rifle while I took out my revolver and Katana.
The shuffling around the trees contin
ued and then.
A loud roar was heard as the Albertosaurus came charging towards one of the triceratops! It was 22 ft in length and stood at 15 ft tall!
Several of the older triceratops ran away due to their age but one of them stood its ground and prepared to fight.