Watching the beast slowly succumb to its lethal wounds, disappointment wells within Lloyd. He didn’t do anything, couldn’t contribute to the fight, nothing he did benefited his friends and he possibly made it harder for them as well. As these thoughts drifted through his head his two friends came to check on him and make sure he was good to stand. Johnnathan helped him to his feet while Cheyenne looked into his eyes checking for a concussion from the collision with the tree. Both visibly filled with worry, both making sure he was ok. Lloyd threw away his self deprecating thoughts and flashed a large smile their way answering the unsaid question “I’m fine, Thank you.”
“Sorry about that, I couldn’t get its attention away from you.” Cheyenne said, still fussing with him to make sure he could walk.
“My bad for being sent flying immediately” Johnnathan said, rubbing the back of his head.
“You guys did nothing wrong, I just couldn’t contribute more but I’ll make sure to rectify that in the future and be an important part of our team” Still keeping his smile, Lloyd responded.
Shaking his head to end the conversation, Lloyd walks towards the corpse on unsteady steps. He speaks his mind “So, I get Nodes are often near living beings but why did we kill this one?”
Shaking both their heads, Cheyenne interrupts before Johnnathan can talk. “I told you, I’m only giving you a crash course. Learn from somewhere else, for now watch and learn.” Motioning towards Johnathan as he steps towards the sternum of the beast while she heads for the head.
Taking a breather before beginning Johnnathan strikes forth with both his claws penetrating deep into the beast's chest cavity and begins to root around the inside of the beast pulling out internal organs and other viscera. Cheyenne meanwhile clutches both her hands together into a hammer blow to repeatedly strike the beast's skull eventually breaking through. Watching the both of them Lloyd was very confused but elected to stay silent and continue to watch.
Picking through the beast eventually Johnnathan exclaimed “Found it!” while holding his hand up high with a glimmering gray Node in his hand. Cheyenne smiled but continued looking hoping for a pleasant surprise. Lloyd was being a busy body and collected the corpses of the smaller beasts and dragged them before his friends. Cheyenne practically destroyed the brain looking for another Node while Johnnathan proceeded to butcher the smaller ones looking for a potential Node within them as well. With divine luck Johnnathan found 2 additional Nodes, both being common and the one from the large beast being uncommon.
Splitting the loot amongst them by contribution Cheyenne received the uncommon and Johnnathan received the two common with Lloyd receiving nothing, Lloyd chose to abstain from the Nodes because he didn’t feel he contributed. Choosing to wait until the group reached a safe spot to refine the Nodes Johnnathan and Lloyd went ahead with butchering the beast and keeping a small amount of meat for the journey to salt and dry, while Cheyenne took the tail spades of the smaller beasts to use as cutting implements with possibility to use as weapons if they can refine them. They began trek forward after their fight and the group continued on until night soon came upon them. They have yet to find a suitable spot for camp and Lloyd starts to fret about the potential danger they may find themselves in if they can’t find a spot for rest during the night. Fortunately, with the help of Johnnathan, Lloyd found a small encirclement of trees that allowed them to create camp and hide from prying eyes. Making haste a rudimentary camp was made with a small campfire in the middle, unlit, and three basic wooden lodgings for Lloyd a simple nest structure was made within the branches of one of the trees. For Cheyenne a large divot was made among the roots of one of the trees with simple wooden walls made from sticks and different plants to block most of the wind. Johnnathan made a smallholding reminiscent of a more standard tent of sticks and thatch but with the additional dugout for a personal fire or for smoldering coal later on.
Deciding to sleep in shifts, Cheyenne had first shift, then Lloyd, finishing with Johnnathan. Fortunately nothing happened during the night except for a few nightmares Lloyd experienced due to lingering self doubt. Thoughts and scenarios playing out within his head of his friends leaving him, or them dying during an encounter with stronger monsters. The doubt and fear did haunt him, but he didn’t let it consume him. Lloyd was not a stranger to these thoughts, no Bearer truly was. All those with the chance for growth and power experienced their own forms of doubt or pity. Power may corrupt but when everyone has power the only thing it truly degrades is one’s self worth. Lloyd’s parents tried their best to install simple principles to help maintain his mental fortitude and their teachings and reassurance did help, but no defense is full-proof. Lloyd was left with these thoughts and only he could truly temper himself.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
After the uneventful night Cheyenne and Johnnathan decided to use their newly procured Nodes though a decision had to be made for the future before they could. The three decided that this spot would be the new hideout. A camp for use and for the potential of being a landmark for further adventures deeping within the frontier. Setting on this course Lloyd went to gather materials to make suitable arrangements for prolonged settlement. Before his excursion the three checked on their inner worlds for any natural growth in the inhabitants.
Within Lloyd’s world his Corals Trees continued to grow unfettered and his Clay Snails had no large progress. The snails did create colonies and their shells did present different colors depending on the coral they lived among, forming communities and rivalries it seems. The Coral Trees grew well thanks to the snails and without any competition for nutrients the older trees continued to grow reaching high upon the endless abyss. The tallest of these trees seemed to be nearing the edge of the water, when an event happened before Lloyd’s eyes. Two of the tallest trees touched the surface and two distinct actions happened. One tree crumbled and broke under its own weight, a large portion of the tree falling and hitting its branches as it approached the depths, many snails dying due to this. The other tree breached a surface and a budding platform began to grow surrounding the tube venting an extensive amount of volcanic soot and heat into the budding atmosphere.
The future of Lloyd’s inner world seems to be one of self development. The path being paved by the simple actions of absorbing complimentary Nodes created a viable ecosystem for natural growth. As long as no major issues occur or unexpected creatures are created Lloyd will continue to grow at a steady pace.
After confirming his inner worlds growth Lloyd went ahead and gathered what he needed for the camp, plenty of twigs, branches, sticks, berries and other fruit he could find for excess food. Lloyd was in the process of hacking away a dying tree further from the camping spot for firewood and timber when a small squirrel-like animal fell from the tree thudding off his head and scurrying away when it reached the ground. Confused, the Wood elemental quickly double checked the tree for any nests or nuts the rodent might have left. Upon felling the small dying tree Lloyd left with a make-shift bundle upon his back and a small pile of nuts and berries for intruding on the animals home.
Seeing neither of his friends awake from their refinement of the Nodes, Lloyd went to work slowly processing the wood and separating his gains from his scavenging. Weaving longer grass into a series of small baskets he separated the wood he gathered into categories for use. One for weaving, one for kindling, one for structural support. Lloyd was somewhat meticulous, not due to his nature but from the excitement overflowing from him as he did the first important work as a Bearer. Time flew by and soon noon approached and his friends finally finished their refinement, both sporting a grin. Soon Johnnathan entered into a droll of self compliments and boasting while Cheyenne and Him have a quiet agreement of maintaining silence while the three of them go about to start the campfire and dry smoke jerky out of the large beast they killed. Letting the meat smoke and dry throughout the day small fences and the beginning of shelter was made, consolidating their claims of the land for their camp.
Over the course of multiple days, nearing two weeks, the camp's foundation was stabilized with wooden walls and housing for the three complete. There was a total of three different fire pits, one for communal camp fires, one for Johnnathan to maintain heat for his sleeping quarters using poorly made charcoal and rudimentary heat vents beneath his floor, The last was made for the sole purpose of creating their supply of charcoal and making medicinal pastes or soups. The third fire pit was a complex creation that seemed to border on collapsing all day but the basic kiln had a basic exhaust with a primitive alchemy set, such as a separate compartment acting as a crucible and a small stand about the exhaust to hold cauldrons for making primitive concoctions. This Frankenstienesk creation was the brainchild of Cheyenne and Lloyd looking to optimize space. The trio even had storage for their meats and valuables, they found while scavenging day to day, built into the side of Johnnathan's tent.
During this time no further Nodes were found, the trio decided to let their inner world’s ecosystems stabilize and develop before they add more into the environment. They did grow but not by much, Lloyd’s world had two more coral “islands” where some species of Snails preferred to live. Other snail communities vied for feeding grounds around the vents and many died due to collapsing coral trees. An aspect of the coral trees was discovered during this time though, the fallen and broken coral trees acted as budding sprouts for new coral trees and the broken crowns of the older tree developed into underwater platforms, creating layers of habitation for his inner world. Johnnathans world seemed to create ever shifting mesas of molten rock and pools of magma while his Salamander became stronger and exhibited more draconic traits, the main development was thick scales covering the creature. Thanks to these developments and Johnnathans innate trait the salamander started to lay and sleep within a large semi-permanent magma pool acting as its base. Johnnathans new Metal Origin turned out to be a type of lichen that acted as both spike strips as well as a binder for the shifter plate, helping stabile some of the plate and creating semi-permanent mesas around the salamanders pool.Cheyenne refused to talk about her main creature nor the new addition simply stating “the land started to look more dangerous than she would be comfortable living with”.