They spent two more days on the planet, harvesting valuable herbs and spirit wood. Although they encountered a few more beasts, most were of little consequence or interest. They had not been attacked, and besides the Giraffon, they found no significantly strong or dangerous monsters. None of their companions chose the Giraffon as their summon. Simon showed some interest but decided to hold off, as having too many beasts in storage without a clear plan would affect his records. He added the Giraffon to his list of potential summons but preferred to see what else they could find on their expeditions before making a final decision.
It took them two more jumps to find another nearby system with suitable habitable planets. Alistair and the rest of the team watched the sensor readouts as they approached a planet that appeared to be more continental but temperate and slightly on the cooler side, with smaller oceans and multiple large lakes within the continental bodies. The planet boasted plenty of hills, mountains, plains, and forests, though it lacked the diversity of Earth as it had no deserts or tropical environments. However, what intrigued the demons the most were the extensive cave systems running through the entirety of the planet.
"This just might be it. These tunnels could shave months, maybe years, off construction work and function as bunkers for our clan," Braxik said, barely able to contain his excitement.
Alistair smiled at the prospect. "Great, the system with the first planet is also quite nearby, which would make jumps much faster and ease the burden on our future logistics."
They excitedly exchanged ideas as they looked for a landing site and decided on one of the smaller lakes adjacent to a mountain chain. The sensors indicated a large dragon vein present, and the nearby forests and fields had a teal sheen, a tell-tell sign of spirit soil ideal for growing herbs and plant-based treasures. After disembarking, they entered their routine, with Riseth, Alistair, and King going out to scout while the rest built a secure camp.
The air smelled incredibly fresh, and the mana density was also quite high, pretty much ideal for their purposes. However, what struck him as odd was that there were quite few beasts around. He only spotted small flocks of raven-like birds and the occasional small-sized lizards sunbathing on the rock faces. Their scans had indicated there was a lot of fauna on this planet, but he wasn't seeing it. However, the surroundings looked serene and beautiful, and he pictured how they could build a compound overlooking the lake.
"Wasn't this planet supposed to have a large amount of beasts based on the sensor readings?" Alistair questioned as he put his Conceptual Awareness skill into overdrive to see if tiny animals were around, spotting the occasionally incredibly well-hidden beasts within hollowed-out tree trunks and slightly buried underground.
"Yeah, it's odd. Perhaps they are concentrated within the underground system? I spotted multiple tunnel entrances already. Let's go check it out," Riseth said, already flying toward one of the many cave entrances scattered throughout the mountain face.
Alistair felt uneasy as he looked at the many cave entrances punching through the rock faces. He hoped he was wrong, but he said as much to Riseth, who didn't feel anything off. The cave entrances looked to be carved out of the rock rather than natural.
"Do you think there are burrowing monsters infesting most of the underground? That could be a pain to deal with if we settle," Alistair commented, touching the rocky face of the tunnel they walked through.
"Let's hope not. Having to eradicate a species to make the planet usable would put a damper on things," Riseth replied.
After about ten minutes of walking, they entered a vast underground chamber. The space was cloaked in darkness, illuminated only by the faint glow of fungi and moss that crawled with insects and small lizards. Alistair's senses heightened as he noticed hundreds of sleeping creatures clinging to the ceiling. They resembled giant bats but were covered in scales instead of fur, with large fangs and claws that glinted in the dim light. The sharp stench of ammonia filled the air, a clear sign that the overgrown floor was sustained by their droppings. A quick identification revealed these beasts as [Daxtzal - lvl 77], with levels ranging from 44 to 81. Alistair quickly deduced they were nocturnal predators, likely hunting on the surface at night. The discovery of these creatures raised serious concerns about the safety of Braxik's shelter if more of these lairs were hidden throughout the area.
"I think I know why the outside is so devoid of life. These buggers must hunt whatever doesn't hide well enough on the surface," he said over their Akashic Link as he hovered above the floor, unwilling to stand in the monsters' droppings.
"It's still better than actual burrowers, but I don't think these tunnels were dug by them. We should check deeper to see what else is down here," Riseth replied.
They flew to a tunnel leading deeper and descended for what felt like ages when Alistair sensed a familiar clicking sensation and let out a groan. He hoped it was another kind of beast that used the same means to navigate, but he wouldn't be this lucky as a [Cave Wendigo - lvl 96] bounded the corner and immediately attacked them but was quickly put down.
"Fuck. I don't think this planet is it; massive colonies of bats and Cave wendigos in the cave systems? All that's missing is a burrowing monster to make this planet completely worthless for settling," Alistair commented over their link.
He sensed Riseth's reluctance but noticed her attempt to maintain optimism. "Well, I still need that slayer title for the Wendigos."
Alistair shook his head before posing a question. "Do you know what you call a group of cave wendigos?"
Stolen novel; please report.
"No?" She asked, slightly confused.
"An infestation." He said pointedly, "This isn't the trial. If their matriarch calls for help, we might have a planet's worth of wendigos to fight off, and based on the level of that beast we just killed, I don't fancy those odds."
As if to prove his point, more clicking sounds came from down below and grew in a cacophony as Alistair picked up the body of the killed Wendigo.
"We need to get the fuck out of here," Alistair said as he felt intense bloodlust radiating from the caves below, and Riseth nodded as they rushed out of the caves as fast as they could. Alistair sensed that they were being pursued, and as they entered the large chamber, the bats on the ceiling started to rouse as well, sensing the disturbance as they let out screeching sounds.
"Everyone, Pack up! King, get back to the rest of the group. We need to leave!" Alistair informed the rest of their clan as they rushed for the tunnel leading toward the exit, the first bats already joining the pursuit. They exited the cave in record time, but Alistair still spotted bats and wendigos spilling from other exits. He had half hoped the different beasts would fight each other, but they were cooperating as the larger bats let some wendigos grab their clawed hind legs as they pursued Alistair and Riseth. The first beasts were already intercepting them, and he heard King roar in the distance alongside the gunfire of their turrets.
"What the fuck? This planet has Wendigos?! I am so sick and tired of these fucking things! We are not settling here!" Simon yelled over the Akashic Link.
Alistair conjured his Battlespheres and used his Telekinetic skill to crush the intercepting bats' wings, which sent them hurling toward the ground in pained screeches as they dropped the wendigos they had been carrying. To his shock, the injured Daxtzal was immediately set upon by both wendigos and other Daxtzal, which consumed it shortly after it crashed to the ground.
Fortunately, Simon and the others were in the valley and only had a small swarm of wendigos to contend with as the mountainsides spilled hundreds, then thousands of the monsters, all heading their direction. Seeing this, Alistair couldn't help but change the planet's name to 'Riddickulus' over his Akashic Link and send it to the others for review. Simon immediately accepted, and Alistair knew his friend was likely to laugh at the reference. In contrast, the rest of the crew accepted as well after a short pause, likely unsure of what he was referring to, presuming it was only a play on the word ridiculous.
Braxik and Desily collected the turrets while Alistair and the rest of the team held off the wave of monsters. Riseth took out the Artemis mid-air and immediately initiated the starting procedures. Alistair was the last to enter the craft, and the rest hurried through the two open doorways of the Artemis before they soared toward high orbit, leaving the monsters behind. Alistair jogged to the cockpit, checking the screens Simon had pulled up, and found a sea of monsters rampaging across the surface. He even noticed some infighting between the two beast types.
"I am not even sure this planet is good for hunting. This looks like a death sentence for anyone without a ship to leave or absurd stealth skills," Alistair commented as he looked over Simon's shoulder.
"Conquering that planet would likely require a full-blown war, and I doubt anyone has the means or interest to undertake such an endeavor for such a remote place," Simon remarked.
"The planet was way too cold for my liking anyway," Desily added.
"At least this local cluster seems promising. The nearby nebula is densely packed with mana, which has apparently elevated most of the local systems and their planets," Riseth remarked. "We should continue exploring here or seek out other branches of the nebula similarly rich in mana."
The local cluster still had quite a lot of systems they had not investigated yet. It would take them around half a year to just explore that particular cluster, which meant Alistair felt quite confident they had found at least the cluster they wished to settle as most of the planets within had apparently become magically dense enough for life to emerge and take hold thanks to the system's interference. He hoped the system had seeded some interesting treasures and locations as it would be a large boon for them to come across. They had no luck finding dungeons or realms yet, but it was just a question of time before they found some. He was quite sure the planets they had visited had some they hadn't discovered due to the limited time they spent exploring. His Dungeon Sense skill had at least indicated that all the planets they had visited contained dungeons.
They spend the next three weeks traveling from one system to the next, probing multiple planets and scavenging treasures but not finding a perfect planet to settle on as something or other was wrong with the planet. One planet, in particular, had tickled Alistair's and Desily's fancy as it had large floating islands covered in treasures. To his surprise, both Riseth and Braxik were against the planet, as it would also limit underground construction far too much for the demons in their clan's comforts. Alistair's suggestion of splitting the settlements into ground and flying islands would be too problematic for defense. Especially since any attacker would just have to take out the base of the flying island to completely screw over whoever settled on or below it, which meant that while they would definitely return to the planet and keep it in mind for potential expansion, it wouldn't become their main settlement.
It was a particularly painful decision because the planet had by far the highest mana density and a multitude of wyverns and pseudo dragons and a vast array of flying beasts. However, most of them wouldn't have been too problematic to keep at bay as they weren't overly aggressive. They had named the planet Skyreach, and Alistair insisted they kept the planet in consideration as it was bound to contain many more treasures, and many of the issues could be circumvented with some work. He could tell Braxik was clearly tempted as it would be an incredibly interesting challenge to him, but held back as he knew that Neshan's culture, which put high importance on depth and security, wouldn't mesh with Skyreach's environments.
They were already approaching the next promising planet, and he hoped it didn't contain bothersome monsters they would have to deal with. More than one planet by now had some sort of critical flaw, most often in the form of either the environment being unsuitable or hordes of beasts making a nuisance of themselves through their numbers or behaviors, making them hard to deal with. One of the planets had large fish that attacked anything that came too close to the water for more than a second, forcing many other beasts to evolve to absorb moisture from rain and the environment. Alistair half suspected that the time the planet had spent sped up by the system was far longer than the average as they had found multiple aged treasures on the planet. Another planet they had found looked quite promising until they got closer and noted that most of the surface was covered in sharp, porous volcanic rock with plants growing over it. Despite its high mana density, the terrain made the planet impossible to build on.
Alistair let out a sigh as he headed for the cockpit. "Perhaps this next planet will be the one," he thought.