In the end, we decided to leave most of the dead lizards behind. It was entirely impractical to transport the corpses while remaining stealthy. I took some choice cuts of meat from the female, who had been guarding the eggs, and wrapped them in scaly for transport.
"Let's get going," I said, "this is bound to attract attention."
Vel nodded and we took off towards the cliff where we planned to rest. We avoided a few more nests on the way as they were populated with more than three individuals. I needed more crowd control spells and Vel needed better mastery of her magic to make this kind of fight viable.
Finally, we found a nest with only two lizards guarding it.
Identify
[Adult Yellow Jungle Lizard (Rank 2, Level 27)]
[Adult Yellow Jungle Lizard (Rank 2, Level 25)]
This time, Vel managed to catch both of them at the same time in her vines. This gave me a good opening to fire more precise arrows. The first lizard died from two arrows to the neck, one puncturing the jugular and the other hit the spine. The second I felled with spells, water blade was almost as good as arrows when properly aimed and controlled.
System Log
Your group has defeated [Adult Yellow Jungle Lizard (Rank 2, Level 27)]
Your group has defeated [Adult Yellow Jungle Lizard (Rank 2, Level 25)]
Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
Reached Level 21
Gained 10 SP, 2 AP, 1 CP, 1 Perk
We took a few lizard legs from our kills and left the rest for the scavengers.
---
Next, we came across a small stream likely too small to be marked on the map. We took a small break and refilled our water skins.
I perked up at the sound of a small branch snapping.
"Turtle, front left," Vel called out. She had been keeping watch while I filled the skins in the river.
Identify
[Gem Back Turtle (Rank 2, Level 31)]
The six legged turtle was looking at us. The small gems on its shell sparkled in the faint light of the jungle. I threw myself back and I felt the magic and a blade of water missed my head by a few centimeters. Vel fired her bow and her arrow managed to sink into a leg.
As soon as I was back on my feet, I threw an air bullet at the turtle. I aimed for the space between the ground and its shell in the hopes of flipping it on its back. The detonation shook the monster but didn't flip it completely. Despite being only the size of my torso, it was surprisingly heavy.
Vines were already growing around it to ensnare it.
"Vel, flip it," I said and fired another bullet.
The vines immediately changed tactics and started to grow underneath the turtle. The yellow gem on the turtle's back glowed and I dashed to interpose myself in front of Vel, a water shield at the ready. It intercepted the air bullets the turtle fired.
I slapped my hand on the ground and cast pit trap, the ground underneath the turtle started the deform and sink. I had aimed for the side Vel had been trying to flip it into. The brown gem glowed and the ground started to fight me. I grinned and poured more mana into my spell.
"It can only cast one spell at once," I said.
I felt a surge of magic from Vel and her vines grew faster, they provided the small push needed to flip the turtle over and into the half-formed pit.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
At this point, the turtle started to panic and bray. I pulled out my bow and fired two empowered arrows at its head. The first hit the neck and the second was a lucky hit and pierced the roof of the mouth and brain.
System Log
Your group has defeated [Gem Back Turtle (Rank 2, Level 31)]
Experience gain reduced by 20% for fighting with a group
Experience gain increased by 50% for fighting a strong enemy
Reached Level 32
Gained 10 SP, 2 AP, 1 CP
"That was a lot of experience," Vel said.
I nodded. Gem Back Turtles were rare and difficult to fight if you weren't prepared, or got lucky like us. It was a very prized catch however, due to the gems on its back being able to channel magic.
"Let's bring this with us," I said, "I am not letting those gems out of my sight!"
"Good thing we brought some rope," Vel snickered, "you want it, you carry it."
"Who do you take me for?" I chuckled.
---
The cliff face came into view, the trees started to thin a few hundred meters before the cliff where the terrain became much more rocky. The promised cavern was right where the map had said. Nothing seemed to be living in the cavern but we approached cautiously nonetheless, it was possible the tenants were only temporarily out.
I handed the turtle to Vel as I approached the cliff. I was by far the better climber out of the two of us so it fell on me to check out the cavern first.
Climbing the cliff face was fairly easy. The stone had plenty of handholds and the incline was slightly angled rather than vertical. I took a peek at the cavern and spotted the remains of a fire inside. It was possible another expedition had stopped here previously. Nothing else stood out, a small pile of bones at the back, some spare sticks to feed the fire. From my position, I could confirm there was no-one inside.
I signaled Vel that the way was clear and pulled myself up inside the cave. I waited for her to climb up, watching for any danger like she had done for me. She brought the turtle as well. As a safety, I placed some trap runes at the entrance of the cave.
"Awfully nice to leave us a fire," I said.
"Another scout team?"
"Possible."
I examined the bones. They had been picked clean. I took a closer look at the teeth marks. The grooves in the bone were too sharp to have been caused by elf teeth, which were mostly human-like. The presence of a fire indicated a minimum level of intelligence, which pointed to the presence of kobolds in the area.
System Log
[Tracking (II)] has reached level 3
"Kobolds," I said.
"Think they'll come back?"
"Those are old, a few days at least, they've probably moved on."
"Set some more traps, just in case," I nodded and went to do just that.
---
After reinforcing the entrance, we settled in the cave and set up our small camp. Only one of the shelters was deployed since we planned to sleep in shift due to the potential for some visitors.
Vel started the fire while I worked on the turtle corpse. The first task was to remove the gems from the stone-like carapace. One by one, I slid my dagger underneath and gently pried them out. This particular specimen had three gems, water, earth, air. I carefully wrapped them in cloth and stored them inside one of my pouches.
Next, I managed to split the shell in two. The dorsal and ventral sections were held together by cartilage instead of hard bone. Once the ventral section had been removed, all that was left were turtle meat and guts. I took my time removing all the organs and piled them up on the spare carapace piece. They would need to be disposed of. After having sufficiently cleaned everything, I set the shell on a trio of stones Vel had placed around the fire. I filled the shell part way through with water and dropped the turtle meat back in. Vel dropped some herbs we had picked up on the way and a small chunk of salt crystal.
The turtle soup was slowly left to cook on the fire.
"I'm going to try to get the meditation skill," I said.
"Go ahead," Vel said, "I'll watch the fire."
I took on a cross legged position and closed my eyes. I shut off my mental enhancements and focused exclusively on my mana perception. I kept my breathing even and I started to circulate mana through my body. Not quite casting a spell but simply letting the energy slosh around. I felt it refill, the energy appearing out of nowhere in my body.
Slowly but surely, I traced all the pathways of mana through my body, like a secondary nervous system. Close by, I could see Vel as well. The mana moved through her body much like mine.
I kept on for a while until my mana was fully refilled.
System Log
You have learned the skill [Meditation (I)] at level 1
Meditation (I, 1/20, 5 FP)
Centers your mind and reduces negative mental effects such as fatigue.
Resource regeneration is increased by 100% and an additional 20% every 10 skill levels (max 500%).
Tier I: Must be immobile to channel the skill.
I opened my eyes and saw that Vel was watching me with a content smile.
"Got it?" She asked with a smile.
"Yes," I said.
"My turn now," she stepped away from the fire and I took her place watching the entrance and occasionally stirring the stew.