Hera and Pandora arrived at the rocky plateau just a few minutes after they left the mouth of the valley. They knew the name of the creature, or at least Pandora did, as Hera had already spoiled the surprise for the empress. They were after Carithrax, a large lizard that could seemingly eat rocks to create some sort of explosion.

Just as they landed, Hera turned to the dwarf, asking for confirmation, "So we just need to find that one? The big lizard? Then what? Do we need to go back to the camp and see if they found anything else?"

Pandora shook her head. "Yes, but also no. We can do that, but the proper way to continue the dungeon is for us to find the tracks ourselves. Otherwise, we might need to be either waiting around for them to locate more creatures, or we're going to be sent on expeditions to find the traces of other Apex monsters."

"And those are the same traces we should be able to find out?" Hera asked.

"That's right. Identifying them is enough for us to go after the next creature."

"But is it going to be like a system notification or just something we have to figure out?" Hera looked around, already searching for those traces.

"We have to figure it out, or if we find enough, the camp will send a message to us through a bird."

"Oh, they have carrier pigeons here?"

"More like carrier condors, but yeah." Pandora gave an awkward smile. The first time she saw one of those creatures, she tried to attack it, which caused a whole bunch of problems back in the settlement.

"Got it," Hera nodded but paused after a few moments, "You know. It's kind of amazing how this place exists. We were in a jungle just a few minutes ago."

Pandora chuckled. "I know. It's hard to believe that one single island could have so many different biomes and be so well defined without clashing with each other."

The area was completely different from the forest they had just left. There were a variety of types of rocks and minerals here. Everything was gray and looked to be made out of the same type of stone. The only things they could see were the different formations created by those rocks.

Looking north, there were some tall and thin pillars sparsely separated, like a massive obstacle field for giant dogs. To the east, countless jagged rocks, perfect for hiding small creatures, covered the ground. Facing south was a large open plain that suddenly dropped off, connecting to a sandy desert below. And to the west was an area which was a bit of a mix with some pillars, but none of them was as tall as the others, giant sharp rocks in a few areas, and open spaces that could be seen until dropping into the ocean. If it wasn't for those unique geological features, the entire area would feel bland and pretty much the same everywhere.

Going back to her teacher mode, Hera turned to Pandora. "What about you? Are you going to have trouble with the smaller monsters, or should we go to the big one right away?"

"I think we should go for the big one right away. The smaller ones don't really hold a challenge to anyone. But before we go there, could you give me a few minutes to swap the type of spells in my hammer?"

"Sure. Preparation is also part of the whole thing. I want to see you fighting with the best of your abilities, not just in bad situations."

"Thank you," Pandora quickly pulled up her hammer as the three chambers were detached to the side, revealing the three large vials that she used to store Mana.

Each of them would be serious as storage or could be used by herself, but her swapping wasn't really about the vials themselves. Instead, she changed the very base of each chamber where they exchanged.

Her griffon popped off the small perch on her shoulder and flew towards the metal on the base of her hammer. The metal claws of its front legs shifted, first, growing in size but becoming much thinner until they became round discs with spell circles engraved on them. Pandora quickly swapped the air spell and the tremor spell but left the water one there. Those two discs she removed also changed their shapes, becoming a small shoulder pad for her griffon and an armor-like attachment to its neck.

Looking at that, Hera couldn't help but be amazed. "So every piece of metal in the griffon is a different spell circle?" she asked.

"Yep. I was able to do that thanks to the crafter role and the Relic, which was a malleable kind of metal for me to work with. So whenever I'm fighting, the Relic is also with me."

Hera nodded. "That's pretty amazing. You know, I've looked into some Relics from other explorers. Even though most of us don't really like sharing the full capabilities of them, there were a couple of people who had animal-like Relics and figured out that if you find a good ego item, one that matches your Relic well, you can try to upgrade your Relic with that item as a material. That gives it a personality. And later on, you can add more ego items to refine that and make it even more independent."

Pandora nodded. "Yeah, I've heard about that. It's just going to be a bit tricky to find metal-based ego items. Or something like that."

"We'll be on the lookout. Maybe we'll find something. It could also work if it was a Griffon based item."

"Thank you," the dwarf smiled before locking the chamber back into place. "All done. Do you need some time to find the Carithrax?"

The empress shook her head. "No, the court already found it."

Pandora glanced around. "Let me guess, it's hiding in the jagged rocks?"

"Actually, no, it's moving around the tall pillars."

"That's great. It's super annoying to get it out of the jagged rocks. Let's go then."

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"Just one thing before we go. You said you couldn't handle these large creatures on your own. So, which part of my court do you want to help you?"

Hera called out the entire court, with the exception of Lurize, who was still taking the job of analyzing Pandora's combat style. The dwarf blinked slowly. She had heard stories about the court and had seen them in action on a couple of different occasions, but actually fighting with them seemed like a dream.

"Can I pick anyone?" Pandora asked.

"You can pick one titled blade or three of the blades. This is not so much because one titled blade equals three regular ones in terms of power, but because we decided that three flying weapons would be just as distracting as one full person helping you out."

Pandora nodded okay. She hesitated just to be sure, but there was already someone she had in mind. The one blade that she knew the most about, and the one blade that, funny enough, scared her the most.

"Could I go with Nimbus?" she asked.

The Sentinel nodded with a smile. "Of course. I had a feeling you would pick me."

Pandora took a step back. "Really?" she asked, worried that maybe because he was a griffon, he also knew how to read her just like the Sky Rulers did.

Nimbus nodded. "Of course. Your Relic is a griffon after all. It would make sense that you would like to pair up with someone who's a bit closer to home."

"Right. That does make sense."

"But just so you know, you'll be running point on this. You tell me what I need to do and I'll do it."

"What about the whole process that Hera was going to have figuring out the monsters' weaknesses?"

"Your safety is more important," the empress interjected. "We are already asking you to fight against something that you've never fought on your own before, so consider this prioritizing your safety over my training."

"Okay then, Nimbus, I have a few things to ask."

They had a brief discussion and, with the teams decided, the group started to move towards where Hera had found the Carithrax. Since it was in the pillar area, it wouldn't take too much to find it, even if the actual fight might be a bit more complicated for Pandora. It was the first time she ever took charge of a fight like that.

Not long after, they came into view of the creature. Their original plan was to sneak and catch it by surprise, but while Pandora was looking for the perfect spot to make a trap, the monster shifted its path and appeared in front of the group. It gave a roar before the large beast charged at them.

For the first time, Hera had a chance to see what Pandora was allowed to face. The Carithrax was, by all accounts, a massive dinosaur, with long legs and shorter arms, even if those arms were nowhere near as short as that of the terrors. Its head was massive and its teeth were quite thick.

Pandora stepped to the left, rushing to the pillars. "Nimbus, stall it!"

With that, the Sentinel attracted the monster's attention., lightly hitting it so it would be mad at him while playing ring around the rosy on a pillar. Nimbus ensured he was moving slowly enough that it seemed like the Caritta could catch him, but fast enough not to be hit by the monster.

Instead of going for the attack, Pandora was preparing something, something that every single hunter prepared at some point or another, even if they still didn't have that role. A simple tripwire trap. Although, the trap Pandora was preparing was several times stronger than what most people would see in their lives. After all, it would require a decent amount of power to knock down a beast like that one.

They kept following the plan, going around a pillar over and over again until it was time. Nimbus received the signal from Pandora, meaning it was time to get back to the point they agreed about. Doing his best to bait the creature, the Sentinel continued to fly low while positioning himself at the moment.

The Carithrax roared and brought its head down to the ground. A good chunk of the floor collapsed as the monster just opened its mouth and started to consume the very rocks that formed the floor of the plateau.

"It's going to blow!" Pandora yelled, making Nimbus jump up and fly as high as he could.

The Carithrax, instead of continuing to chase after the griffon, turned to face Pandora, who was closer, just a few meters beyond the trap that had yet to be triggered. Its head and small groups of smoke started to appear from its back. Before the dwarf had a chance to jump away, the monster charged at her, more and more smoke billowing out of its form. In a flash of darkness, a large explosion resonated around the area.

For a moment, Hera thought that Pandora was gone. That was the strongest attack the creature could muster, and it took a lot of the rocks it ate to create something like that. Usually, it wouldn't be this powerful at the beginning of the battle, but since they found it while it was roaming, it might have eaten some rocks before they started the fight.

Pandora closed her eyes, half expecting the worst, but quickly noticed that nothing was hurting. There was no actual damage around her. When she opened her eyes, she saw a shimmering barrier of gray and blue cast by the Sentinel. A. Usually, he didn't create that kind of protection since it was far from being cost-effective. It was much better to protect the specific area where the damage was coming from or to create a single shield to stop a blast than to cover someone completely with the barrier.

Nimbus watched the explosion while barely feeling his Mana draining once the attack hit the barrier. Satisfied with the result, the Sentinel gave Pandora a warm smile. "I got you."

The dwarf smiled back, feeling empowered by the situation, and charged at the Carithrax.

However, before jumping into the fray again, Pandora moved back, making sure to continue to work the creature into the trap. The Carithrax was predictable enough to follow along. A few meters after triggering the explosion, it tripped on a large metal wire that Pandora had set up. Following that, the dwarf slammed her hammer on the monster's face while activating the water chamber of her weapon. The Mana inside her hammer ignited, creating a large ball of water that encapsulated the entirety of the creature's face.

Pulling back, the monster started thrashing around violently, but neither Nimbus nor Pandora allowed it to do what it wanted. The dwarf kept attacking over and over again relentlessly, assaulting the monster with strike after strike aimed at the exposed neck and any other more vulnerable area. While the Carithrax did its best to fight back, using its tail, preparing another explosion. It did everything it could think of, but every single attempt was thwarted by a Mana barrier.

At least at first. Eventually, Nimbus realized that his help was stopping Pandora from having to deal with dangerous situations, which was also part of the training. He pulled back his support, allowing the creature to move more freely once again. That gave the Carithrax an opening to start harassing the dwarf. It first clawed down at her, causing Pandora to have to deflect the attack with her hammer.

Even while its head was still being trapped in the ball of water, the Carithrax tried to eat more rocks, and streams of smoke appeared from its tail. It ignited once more, causing an explosion, but it was nowhere near as dangerous as the first one. And even if Nimbus was intending for Pandora to fight on her own, he made sure that the creature wouldn't be able to get up properly, and any attempts at removing the water from its face failed.

After about ten minutes of Pandora being unable to do a finishing blow, unable to deliver a proper hit at all, really, the monster died due to the lack of oxygen. The dwarf was sweating bullets. Her arms were trembling, and she could barely stay standing up, but she had won. Even if it was a bittersweet win. Without Nimbus, she wouldn't be able to do this again, and her strategy was far from perfect.

But at least this one fight was enough for Lurize to get a good sense of where Pandora stood in the matter of combat. They were going to stop and talk a little bit while she rested and, hopefully, she would be able to apply the teachings of the Royal Tutor in the next fight.