Lunch was a quick meal of Gar meat, not all of the meat seeming to go to Stars meals, and started to work on the herbs into a paste. After the paste was completed it was mixed with water and spread on the body. The only issue with this was that the potency degradation was very quick, and this batch would be useless in a couple of days, and more would need to be made. The second issue was that different areas needed different mixtures as the beasts would smell something outside their environment.

After taking care of that Axel and Aria began to scout out the herds of Quake’s to see where they could single out prey away from the groups. There were many single males that seemed to roam between the herds, likely adults that were pushed out by the leading male of the herd, that Axel mentally marked down as they were also the ones pushed to the edges of the grazing area.

After the scouting was done Aria did some air recon and checked what other beasts were in the area. What she brought back was much of what Axel suspected Snars, Gin, and Gar were plentiful. There were also several larger beasts that Aria was not sure of and needed to lead Axel to get a look at which led to Axel looking at a group of large mammals. Each of these beasts about twice as tall as Axel at the shoulder and about the same wide was covered in fur or hair that was fluffed out.

The color of the fur was black and brown blending into the mountain near them while each moved in a very agile manner. It seemed as if the cliff and mountain walls were as flat ground as they walked on ledges and rocks Axel didn’t think he could get a hold on. Each one had horns jutting out of their forehead that were more knife-shaped than a normal horn that Axel knew.

Index basic mode

Mountain Ghosts

Known Dangers:

* Strong hooves

* Incredible Speed and Climbing

* Metal Weaved fur that absorbs attacks

* Strong horn and reinforced skull

Estimated Age: Varies

Beast Potency Level: Between Novice Low to Adept Low.

These seemed like good prey for Axel’s group to complete their cycle in his opinion and also noted down where they were found. At this point Axel called it a day as the suns was starting to be hidden by the mountains, causing it to get dark much earlier than it would normally, and Axel did not want to deal with the night or twilight predators.

Making it back to camp took longer than Axel initially timed for as the way back was blocked by a Quake that decided the nicest sleeping spot was the middle of their path back to the camp. This led to a tense moment later for during the detour Axel was sure that he caught a shimmer of a Twilight Stalker on the trees, but Aria helped him find a way around the beast without a fight that would wake the Quake. When they returned to camp Axel found Pearl and Larimar laid out the best hunting spots the scouting tripe had found, along with the Quake that was sleeping on the path that could be a good first hunt.

Axel then moved to Larimar and Pearl to make sure that they had the scent masker while telling them that they would need to be ready before the suns, asking Larimar to wake everyone two hours before the suns rose, so that they could attack the Quake while it slept. He then pulled Aria over so everyone in the hunting group could plan a little more.

“Aria you are on lookout duty so that nothing sneaks up on us like a Twilight Stalker,” Axel started then looked at the twins “Pearl you will need to restrict its mobility with ice, and Larimar you are on offense with me.”

Axel then drew the area in the dirt while he continued “Quake’s main weapon is size, mass, and momentum. Their horns and armored hide are very resistant but Larimar your water can get in the openings to damage the joints and if it is slipping it will not get the momentum it needs to be truly deadly.”

“What are you doing?” Larimar asked while thinking over the plan.

“I will be the obvious target to get it to not attack either of you,” Axel replied with a shrug.

“I think you are risking a lot their young man,” Pearl said while looking Axel over and placing her hands on her hips “You are not nearly quick enough not to get smacked by the horns or that spiked ball of a tail. Me and my sister could make a water golem to keep its attention without risking you.”

“You could but then you will not be freezing and attacking to make this a quick kill we need it to be,” Axel calmly retorted “We need this to be over in a very fast manner, well that would go for any of these hunts, as if we frighten or alarm a herd nearby that would be very bad.”

“Also, Aria can you grab Roran as I have a job for him.” Axel looked over to Aria and asked.

Aria nodded then leaping into the air flew over to get Roran while the twins gave Axel a thoughtful look each seeming to have a conversation between each other with glances.

“I don’t disagree that we need to kill the beast fast but you are risking your life like that should not be in the cards as this beast could kill you with even the smallest mistake.” Larimar added, “While it would be draining I think me and my sister could multi-task and keep this safe.”

“Please trust me on this,” Axel asked them “I have trained as a hunter all my life and I know how to help without putting myself at undo risk.”

“Alright, but I want your assurance that if I call out it's too dangerous you pull back and let me and Larimar do all the work. We are the only Adepts on this hunt and you are a very fresh Novice.” Pearl demanded while leaning forward to invade Axel’s personal space.

“Fair.” Axel relented as they had never worked together and he could see from their side that he was taking a stupid risk. It was hard at the moment for him to explain all the skills he had trained for a situation like this and they would likely not be impressed so he would let the fight do the explaining for him.

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A short time later Roran and Aria joined their talk and Axel looked to Roran and said “I have a job in these bigger hunts for you if you want to help.”

“Oh?” Roran looked at Axel and waited for an explanation.

“It is not the job that will bring the most honor but you and Star will need to help bring the bigger prey back to camp. While Jareth has his beasts I am loathed to use them as we would need to have Jareth accompany us which makes the camp vulnerable, and I know you want to contribute but Star likely does not have the training needed to safely help with the hunt like this.” Axel explained in a calm voice “I know this is likely not what you wanted to do but until we find something that would not hurt Star or get hunting training in this is the best I can do for a job so you can do your part.”

Roran stilled and opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, seeming to think about his answer before saying anything. The silence stretched on for several minutes before Roran opened his mouth again and said “I think that is fair. Star has had some ground hunting training but she is not ready to fight an adult Quake and this could be good physical training but if we hunt less deadly prey I wish to give Star her chance to catch prey to earn her keep.”

Axel nodded, and then the group broke up, though Axel noticed that Aria had been much more silent than normal. He fully expected her to try to help kill the Quake but did not respond to being put on sentry duty. As they walked to the cooking pot that Lyra was stirring while putting in herbs and vegetables, Axel nudged Aria with his shoulder and took her hand.

“You have been very silent, my love,” Axel asked. “Anything on your mind?”

“Aria thinks your plan was sound, though you take too much on yourself with you fighting the Quake, but Aria knows you will be fine,” Aria said, then looked into Axel’s eyes. “The only issue is that Aria misses the time it was just the two of us in the little cave.”

“That feels like it was months or years ago, not a little over a month at this point,” Axel agreed with her that he did miss that time, even with the pain and danger involved. “But this will be safer than that time since we have more than just you and I to cover the danger.”

Aria just nodded and wrapped an arm around Axel’s waist after releasing his hand. The meal was nice, with Sky regaling Axel about a breakthrough she made while looking over a nest of scatter bugs. Aria and Lyra talked to each other quietly while Jareth was tidying up the cookware. Pearl ate quickly and went to practice her ice skills while Larimar was doing repairs to a tent that Star had damaged during training.

Roran apologized to Larimar, but she needed to take over the repair as Roran was making the damage worse with his attempts to fix it. When the night wound down, Axel took the first watch with Aria again, updating his journal and meditating while listening to the night around them.

The morning came quickly with Roran shaking Axel and Aria awake. Axel also noticed that Jareth was also woken up early as he would take over guarding the camp while the other five went to hunt. Jareth also seemed to have put together a cart the day before to tie Star too, allowing her to better haul a multi-ton beast.

Axel cleaned up and got everyone moving as they needed to attack before the beast or other beasts awoke to the suns. The travel was swift and smooth, with the only sound being Star’s claws and the cart. Axel had Roran stop well before the sound would likely reach the beast and moved in stealthily with the others. Axel found the Quake just where he saw it sleeping on the way back before and motioned for everyone to get close to him where he whispered.

“Aria, keep high in the treetops but watch for hunting beasts,” Axel whispered to the group. “Larimar, you will be attacking first from that tree to keep you safer. Pearl, wait to drop your ice from that tree until he sees me and starts to move to gore me with those big horns.”

“I will take its legs when he gets to around thirty feet, and that is when you ice the ground,” Axel instructed. “Larimar, if you can help, do so, but otherwise attack his weak points. When it is grounded, I will move in and attack the point between the back of the neck and the large, well-armored head plate. Pearl, after the ground ice, attacks its weak points, but if it opens its mouth to cry out, fill that so it can’t call out.”

No one asked any more questions and moved into positions for the attack. Axel took this moment to look over the Quake with his index while waiting.

Index Basic Mode

Quake

Known Dangers:

* Horns

* Heavily armored beast

* Weight and momentum

* Spiked tail mace

* Back spines

Estimated Age: Adult

Beast Potency Level: Adept Mid

Everything was as Axel remembered from research and tales from other hunters he knew who had hunted such beasts. When everyone was in position, Axel made a standard Storm hand sign of ‘Ready,’ then made the sign of ‘Release’ when he received the signs back from everyone else.

Dozens, then hundreds, of small balls of water materialized in the air around the beast, then each turned into a needle and struck. Many missed the small gaps, hitting the armor, but many more slammed home, startling the Quake awake. It opened its mouth to scream out in pain or anger when a water ball appeared in its mouth and froze, strangling the cry and starting to choke the beast.

This was when Axel made large movements, drawing the beast’s attention to himself, and as he hoped, it started to charge. While charging, it crushed the ice in its mouth with its powerful jaws, spitting out the crushed ice with a cough. Axel kept making threatening movements but stayed nimble, ready to get out of the way as these beasts did not have the best ability to turn or stop quickly. The only issue normally would be a swipe of that spiked tail on the pass if it missed, but Axel was ready.

As the beast charged, the water attacks intensified, leaving blood streaking out of its body and also wetting the ground ahead of it to help Pearl. When the beast reached the thirty-foot mark, Axel launched his discharge chain around the front legs of the beast. An action on its own would barely slow the beast even with Axel’s strength, but with the ground turning to ice under it, the beast lost its footing.

Axel then rolled out of the way, not wanting to be hit by that mass, and as he regained his footing from the roll, launched into the weak point of the Quake. Axel landed on its back, using the spikes along the spine as a handhold to then attack the back of the neck. Axel’s strike landed true, and the beast stopped fighting and dropped with a shudder.

Axel then worked on extracting his weapon as he seemed to have used too much strength with it, even damaging his right arm and shoulder, which were regenerating the damage, when several whizzing sounds traveled next to his ear. Axel let go of his weapon and jumped to the side, ready for trouble, but it was already over as a Twilight Stalker was bleeding on the ground with four arrows in it.

It took Axel a moment to let the adrenaline leave his system, but he was very happy that he had Aria for overwatch. Aria landed a short time later and kicked the beast before checking Axel over with a happy sigh.

“Aria hates those things,” Aria said and hugged Axel. “They always attack at the worst times, but that makes them predictable.”

Larimar and Pearl had climbed down their trees, coming over to make sure everything was okay. When Pearl saw the dead Stalker, she whistled and patted Aria on the back so hard she staggered from the force. Axel went back to removing his weapon while Larimar went to get Roran as Aria wanted to go back to overwatching the area.

After Axel removed his halberd and Roran arrived, the true challenge was getting this Quake on the cart. With the application of his strength and gravity points, Pearl created an ice ramp, and a lot of pushing, it was moved onto the cart, and they were off back to camp as the suns began to crest the mountains.