Being both helpful and worthless, the advice Cheyenne gave echoed within Lloyd’s head. Having difficulty suppressing the want to grow Lloyd decides to leave one brown common and use the other, as to have a potential trade in the future. Taking his spot in the clearing back after the outburst from Johnnathan, Lloyd held the brown Node between his hands once more and absorbed its essence. The Node slowly dissolving and entering his inner world Lloyd watched with unabashed expectation, only to be greeted with a resource fitting its common origin. Upon the crowns of the Sea Trees a new creature appeared in droves, small dull brown slugs began to feed from the bio-thermal vents. A variant of mud slugs appears, the name appearing in Lloyds mind -Cochlea Aquagilla- or Hydro-clay Snail These small earth aligned creatures soaked in the thermal vents to gain nutrients while secreting a hydrophobic mucous created as a byproduct of its body digestion, these secretions create small areas of death for micro organisms that are reliant on water while creating nutrient dense bubbles for carnivorous creatures. Lacking such creatures at the moment these slugs essentially create fast food for the Sea Trees they live upon. Following this train of thought Lloyd focused on the Sea Trees to learn their actual name -Cnidaria Semperignivomus- or the Volcanic Coral Tree. A form of coral that lives for centuries and feeds itself on volcanic ash or underwater magma vents. The Coral Tree absorbs most of the toxic material from the vents while spreading the super heated water and other nutrients throughout the surrounding waters from its limbs and crown. The life of the Coral Trees help temper the organism further solidifying the body and limbs creating steel like tubing capable of withstanding high heat and strong pressures.
With the snails propagating his inner world Lloyd begins to change once more. Due to the common nature of the animal added Lloyd only receives enhanced durability and an enhanced resistance to heat. Lloyds body, visually, barely changed only taking on a rougher appearance giving onlookers the impression of his oak-like flesh being made of iron wood instead of regular bark. Finalizing and acclimating to his bodily changes, Lloyd stretches before reconvening with his friends. Meeting up with Cheyenne, who was taken by a rougher and dryer complexion, a thought latches onto his mind.
“Hey Cheyenne, should we camp here for the night or look for more resources?”
“It depends, if it is night and it took that long to absorb the Nodes then yes that would be safer, if we have some light left I vote we should head out and continue looking. Let’s get Johnnathan’s opinion before I decide though.” Cheyenne rambled in thought before coming back to reality.
“Hey Johnnathan, Let’s Go!” Lloyd said, letting his voice echo throughout the grove. Minutes went by, with an edge of worry beginning to show on Lloyd’s face, Johnnathan left rustling bushes in his wake as he walked forward with a fox pelt hanging from his hand.
“Are you guys finally ready? Let’s go then, we have some daylight left!” waving over his shoulder while turning Johnnathan began to leave.
Looking down towards Lloyd, Cheyenne quickly grabs him and follows the ambitious Drake-spawn. With Lloyd reorienting himself onto Cheyenne’s shoulder and the troll herself making a path forwards and climbing the wooden stairs the pair find a grinning Johnnathan looking their direction.
“Do you wanna know what I got?” Johnnathan asks/foretells
“Not really but that won’t stop you” Cheyenne responds
“Glad you know me so well, Thanks to the two Fire Origins my initial resource turned my lands into molten lands. No volcanoes sadly just large swathes of land covered in magma and as you might have guessed I got a large salamander with, what I hope, a drop of dragon blood.” His smile somehow spreads across more of his face. He finishes “What about you cave monster?” directed at Cheyenne
“ I have an earthen quagmire of sinking sand and shallow caves. My Fire Origin turned into a creeping fire ivy acts as an irritant, My Earth Origin Uncommon I’ll leave as a mystery but It attributes to my rougher skin.” The troll smugly responds and levels a glance at Lloyd.
“I got a deep ocean with tall coral trees and some earth slugs!” Without explaining or continuing further with his resources he gained. Unaware of the bemused and confused glances Johnnathan and Cheyenne sent his way. “Let’s go!” Lloyd says while shooting off in a random direction, before being quickly picked up by Johnnathan and being hauled in the opposite direction.
Before the trio could make much distance from the old tree, not more than half a mile, a pained roar escaped from further within the frontier. A bestial noise reminiscent of grinding stone and the billowing of wind, a noise that cowed the weaker beasts within the periphery and warned any intelligent life to think twice before heading deeper. The three bumbling fools continued forth with little hesitation aiming to find the source of the noise. With the possibility of more resources and the more potent coming from the stronger beasts and flora, fear and doubt lead to stagnation.
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Coming upon the wreckage of trees and the decimation of land Johnnathan was first to see ahead of them a lumbering beast hobbling atop a veritable lake of blood. Across from the monster was a corpse of another creature, being slowly devoured by the large beast and what seemed to be lesser beings of its kind. The monsters seemed to be a larger reptile with a multitude of legs and a large spaded tail and protruding jaw. The monster was of towering frame with six legs, three on each side with the forefront legs being specialized to drag its colossal weight, the scaled hide had metallic shimmer that covered its frame in its entirety. The scales nearing the tail became harder and rougher the closer they came to the tip with the large scales covering the spade nearing the texture of stone and strength far surpassing it. A jaw made for grinding its prey into paste instead of fanged canines leads to an overdeveloped jaw with neck muscles to match. Its lesser being smaller and thinner, instead of the width of a bundle of fallen trees they more resemble a trunk of a young tree. Their scales being smoother as well as weaker, this gives their tails a sheen close to a blade.
Seeing this scene before them Johnnathan quickly pulled his friends back, after each could gape at the image ahead. With a face full of worry and excitement, each in equal measure, Johnnathan proclaimed his idea.
“We need to kill it before it can recover”
“You’re an idiot that wants to kill us, but you’re not wrong” Cheyenne levels him an incredulous look
“ I mean it’s crazy but I think we can do it especially now that we have inner worlds and with it injured. I mean it might be at death's door after its fight” Lloyd voices from within Johnnathans arms, pulling attention towards himself.
“If we play this right it might now be to bad, Cheyenne you can be our fore guard with Johnnathan being a good replacement as well as having that lava spit that can do serious damage, Johnnathan and I have built in claws so we can do some damage and kill the smaller ones. We just need to outlast the big one before it bleeds out.” With clarity and cognizance unlike himself Lloyd plays out a plan, feasible and sensible at the same time being crazy and nonsensical.
With a look between the two Cheyenne and Johnnathan nod and take front before the newly made clearing, each getting into position ready to jump for at the thought of more strength.
With a dash the two giants ran at the wounded beast and its progeny, the small ones noticing the commotion near instantly and rushed towards the both of them. As the smaller ones ran by the beast slowly turned towards the intruders and began to trudge forward, mouth agape for a new meal. One of the leaders of the pack leapt and swiped with its tail against Cheyenne while two more rushed past it to bite and tear into Johnnathan. Quickly Cheyenne raised her forearm to block the tail and was quickly stunned, the small glimmering tail was not being used as a sledge instead the tail dug two inches into her arm and slowed her advance. Thinking on her feet Cheyenne grabbed the tail embedded in her forearm before it retracted, and with a pivot, slammed the beast into the ground following with a stomp toward its head. Surprisingly she didn’t eviscerate the beast, merely squashing its skull, its hard scales reducing the impact to prevent the liquefaction of its head. During the quick exchange Johnnathan was able to tackle one of his attackers while the other missed its lunge and dove over him. Using the short time not being harassed he dragged his talons across the beast's neck tossing it aside for it to bleed out. Their pride being quickly humbled by the shuddering ground pausing as a large tail swung at the both of them. Cheyenne let her feet go while falling back and used the motion of the club to dull the impact and avoiding being hit center mass, Johnnathan attempted to jump over the swipe letting his hubris catch him when the tail caught his own tail and feet, dragging then quickly throwing Johnnathan out of the fight.
Using the fight as a decoy Lloyd circled the beast while hiding within the still standing woods, and seeing the tail swipe Lloyd joined the tussle. Dashing at the beast's exposed flank, he quickly dug his wooden claws into its side leaving a small scratch. The hide too tough for his meager strength Lloyd began to dash towards its head and neck, looking for a weaker spot in its scales. The beast slams one of its legs in an attempt to kill the gnat hitting it, missing Lloyd by a few feet. Continuing towards the neck of the beast Lloyds hears his stoney friend jump on the beast's hind legs and begin pounding at it. With a roar of pain/anger it fixes its gaze back at the troll to try and smash it. Using the opening Lloyd goes for the throat, leaving nary a scratch on its unblemished scales. Looking up all Lloyd sees is a large reptilian eye while a maw of darkness encroaches. The approaching death slows as the beasts rumbles in pain as the smell of burning meat hits Lloyds nose, with a jump back Lloyd is hit with one of its protruding incisors and is flung back hitting a tree with his side and spinning off from the impact. Looking up with blurry vision, Lloyd sees the beast thrashing as a vibrant shine is seen on its back and neck, lava. The spit slowly roasts the beast as his friends back off looking at the lumbering beast loose its footing. The beast's right hind leg being broken and the excessive movement causing its wounds to open more, it slows and trudges until it falls limply with defiance as it voices its anger, not dying but not having the strength to move.