After Axel’s shift on watch, sleep came quickly for him with how tired he felt. Dawn arrived swiftly the next morning, but today was not for scouting. Instead, it was for dealing with the kills from the day before, allowing the wildlife to settle back down and for everyone to work on their tasks.
Larimar was again on the last shift and was amenable to shower duty, though Axel would swear it was colder than last time. Following this, Axel went through weapon practice and meditated on the twin suns just peeking around one of the lonely mountains. As Axel finished these morning tasks, Aria left the tent and arrived at the cook fire to the smell of sizzling meat. Axel got up from his position and joined her to see that Lyra was the one cooking, with large slices of meat and cores cooking for all the novice cores.
While a core could increase the speed of your cycle, they became scarcer the higher the tier you went as the beasts became singular and more powerful. This did lead to more meat but was one of the reasons for the slowing down of a person’s cycle. The second reason was that the more advanced a person’s body became, the more material was needed to make better material. Axel had not seen either the twins or Jareth eat the Adept core, so he guessed they were either holding off for sale or waiting for more so there would be no arguments about who went first.
The meal was well-seasoned and cooked by Lyra. Axel knew how long and how often his mother had taught them both, so it was not a surprise to him, though he did not have the gift for cooking himself. After breakfast, Sky moved through the pile of scales, bones, and other things to start working on them while Axel grabbed everyone else and began a team workout. There was much grumbling when he added his gravity anchors, as even out here, everyone needed to keep working.
By noon, everyone was cleaned again and started doing individual tasks that were self-assigned. Lyra went to work with Roran and Star, Aria decided to do more scouting by air but promised to be careful to Axel, Larimar and Pearl took turns patrolling or doing their own things, Jareth worked with Sky on things found and what Sky could make to maximize profits, and Axel was stuck at an impasse as he did not feel like training but could not go out scouting and there were not a lot of books.
Knowing that he had nothing else to do, Axel went to join Sky and Jareth as he remembered he needed to ask for a space bag for hunting.
As he walked over, Axel heard Jareth say, “These make better flexible armor than the hardened type. Trust me, through years of being a merchant, I have never seen a Zip or Gar that made good, hardened armor.”
Axel assumed that Sky was just sending to Jareth right now as he then shook his head in exasperation before turning to look at Axel. While Axel was not trying hard to be quiet, Jareth seemed to be very aware of his surroundings as Sky jumped at his sudden movement. Axel just waved to them, more to calm Sky than anything, and looked to Jareth.
“I meant to bring this up yesterday, but do you have a spare space bag to make bringing back prey less troubling?” Axel asked.
“I do, but you will need to return it when we break camp,” Jareth replied, then headed to the wagon to get something.
After Jareth climbed into the wagon and started searching through boxes, he took out a large sack made of some beast’s stomach. Jareth tossed the bag to Axel, who caught it out of the air and looked it over. It was not very large, but Axel could feel something off about the weight of the thing. It felt too heavy for its size, which Axel knew meant this one kept some of the weight of the objects within.
Storage bags came in increasingly expensive types, the cheapest being limited space and keeping weight, to the more expensive ones that held large amounts of mass and held no weight from what was stored within. Roran’s ring was an example of the more expensive type, likely made from a crimson of Expert or even a Master, allowing it to be made into a ring instead of a bag.
As Axel hefted the bag, Jareth came over and opened the top, only to reach to his elbow and pull out several full sets of armor. Axel was then forced to help move the now twelve full sets of armor to the wagon, only grumbling slightly at Jareth not emptying it in the wagon to start and using the strap to his waist.
“Thanks,” Axel said while wiping some sweat as the spring day was starting to heat up.
“No problem,” Jareth waved off and looked Axel over before saying, “I should have given you one before. Could you also keep an eye out for more herbs? From what I have seen around the camp, there are several that are worth a lot if we can gather them.”
“I don’t know more than the basic plants of this area,” Axel said but agreed to help with this as Jareth.
Jareth thought for a moment before again returning to the wagon and retrieving a book. After handing the book over, Jareth went back to his conversation with Sky. Axel left after giving Sky a pat on the back before finding a place to sit and read. This also reminded Axel that he needed to finish reading the book his mother had given him as he had only really skimmed it to help Aria when she was injured.
Axel then found a place to sit to study his mother’s gift and learn more about the local plant life. Hours passed while Axel read, but he was interrupted by Aria returning in a hurry. This caused Axel to put his book away and hurry over to the landing Aria.
“Aria found an opportunity!” Aria said in excitement. “A small group of Quakes are fighting the Thunderer we saw earlier.”
“That would be a tough fight for that Thunderer,” Pearl said while arriving at Aria’s landing point.
“I think it would be worth looking into,” Larimar said while jogging over from the wagon.
“I agree with that,” Jareth said while walking calmly over from the cookfire where he was making dinner for everyone.
Axel also agreed but was nervous as this would not be a controlled hunt like the Quake yesterday. Taking a breath, Axel nodded and, without any more words, gathered Roran and the cart as if any of the beasts would be too much for the bag he was now carrying. Jareth also decided to come with his beasts as, with the Thunderer fighting with the Quakes, he was less worried about guarding the camp for a short time.
Lyra and Sky were left with instructions to flee if anything they could not fight showed up, as this was a risk but would allow for a large bounty if they could take it. The party then began to move quickly, led by Aria, to an open patch of jungle south of the Quake valley. Travel was swift through the jungle until they got near the fight ahead.
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Axel could hear the fight from almost a mile away as roars, the breaking of trees, and the noise of smashing caused many of the beasts to wisely go into hiding. Roran, Star, and the beast Jareth brought stayed back while everyone else moved forward carefully. This clearing was wide but narrow, with dozens of trees knocked over from the ongoing fight.
The Thunderer was wounded all over, including its leg that seemed to be savaged, but it was not alone as there were three dead Quakes and two more that were injured. Each of the remaining Quakes was trying to put the Thunderer between them for an attack. The Thunderer also seemed to be low on energy as only a few small sparks were coming off its scaly hide, a sign to Axel’s training that it had discharged recently and would need at least another couple of minutes before it could unleash again.
Their discharges were what likely gave it the chance to kill the three it did. This was an impressive feat to Axel, as generally, three Quakes could kill a Thunderer, but this one had fought five at once. Seeing that the fight would likely last a while longer, Axel turned to the others and started to lay out a plan.
“Alright, we do have a chance to get all of them, but it will be tricky,” Axel said in a low voice as another roar from a Quake echoed in the background. “We have two options: wait for the fight out or attack to secure the kills. The Thunderer’s strongest weapon is recharging, and both Quakes look savage, but the winner of this does not look certain.”
“I think we should wait,” Larimar said. “We can then attack the winner in the end.”
“Depends on the winner,” Axel replied while feeling a tingle run through his hands. “If the two Quakes win, they will likely frenzy around the area for a while, and if they are not more injured, we won’t be able to take the pair without a lot of risk. If the Thunderer wins, we may be able to take it, but if it recharges, we could still be in a lot of danger as well.”
“Well, any plan on how to kill three Adept beasts without more risks than you listed earlier?” Jareth said with a calm voice that was only slightly drowned out by the clash in the clearing.
“Yes,” Axel then started to lay out his plan. “Larimar and I will take the female with the same plan we used yesterday. Aria and Pearl, you will take the male as he is more injured, and you should be able to find openings in its hide. Jareth, you will distract the Thunderer as you seem to have speed and reflexes from the fights I have seen.
If things go well, Larimar and I should take our beast by surprise, killing it quickly so Larimar can help with the Thunderer by breaking its footing, and I will help with the other Quake. If we can get it down quickly, then everyone will focus on the Thunderer.”
“Also, Aria, can you get Roran over here as we will need him just in case,” Axel said, and she went to get the young rider.
When Roran arrived in a hurry, he looked excited to have something to help with in this hunt. Axel looked him over before laying out the plan to him.
Roran looked confused at the end when Axel added, “You will have one of the most important tasks because if you fail, one of us will die.”
“Ok,” Roran’s attention seemed to sharpen on Axel.
“Yes,” Axel looked him in the eyes, and the Goddess must have liked the drama as a loud CRACK sounded in the background. “You will need to stop that from happening to us.”
Behind Axel, the Thunderer unleashed an eye-hurting bolt of electricity at one of the Quakes, but its aim was ruined by the other one attacking it. The bolt left a deep burning line in the ground in its wake, along with the smell of burnt ground and ozone in the air.
“That will kill or severely wound any of us, and it can do that every few minutes,” Axel finished.
Roran nodded and took a very serious look while saying, “I can divert at least one of those, maybe two.”
Axel just nodded, and everyone moved after that as this fight could end quickly or take all day, as beasts also had the blessing of the Goddess, being tough and recovering quickly. As Axel and Larimar arrived at their side, the plan went sideways almost right away as their target charged the Thunderer at the same time as its partner.
The Thunderer leaped to the side and rolled, but this left Axel with the wrong Quake, and there was nothing he could do. This could make it easier as this was the much more injured one but could slow down taking out the fresher Quake. Axel knew that this would slow their timetable down, but no plan survived meeting your prey, and Larimar launched her attack, freezing the ground in front of the male Quake.
The male, mid-charge, lost its footing, causing it to crash, at which point Axel charged out of the brush and jumped onto the beast's back. Axel was forced to hold onto a spike as the Quake tried to get to its feet, but he landed his strike well, dropping the beast quickly. Axel did not waste any time and started to run to the next beast to see that Pearl was attacking it with a construct made of compressed water.
Axel could also see Jareth launching highly compressed needles of water at the eyes of the Thunderer, getting its attention. Larimar froze the ground around the second Quake, going off the plan, but Axel could not blame her as this situation had already gone off course. Trusting that Jareth could hold for now, Axel moved in and yelled to Aria, “Support Jareth!”
Aria then switched from her bow, which had been sending arrows into open points in the Quake’s hide, each one laced with a paralyzing toxin. While it would not stop the beast, it would slow it down. She then launched a fireball into the side of the Thunderer’s face, causing it to roar in pain, but it did not seem to be too wounded.
The icy ground did not affect this Quake too much as its weight shattered the layers of ice, and it seemed to be shrugging off the construct's attacks, but those attacks covered Axel's assault on it from behind. As Axel rushed in, something must have warned the beast of danger as its spiked mace-like tail moved to intercept Axel.
Knowing he did not want to take that head-on, Axel used some of the icy fields to slide under the strike, which still grazed him, but his armor absorbed the blow. Axel then slammed the spike into the side of the Quake to stop the slide, penetrating its armored hide more than he expected but stopping his momentum.
This pulled Axel’s shoulder out of place, and with a pained grunt, Axel yanked out the weapon but was then forced to roll out of the way of a huge foot that tried to stomp him. Its attention was drawn away as compressed water slammed into its eyes.
With his reprieve, Axel noticed he had a broken rib from that glancing blow, but it was already healing. Axel could not waste any more time, as if a glance that his armor reduced still broke his rib, he would be really hurt by anything more direct. Axel then used an opportunity that Pearl made to get on the beast's back and then needed to hold on for his life as the Quake began to buck wildly.
As Axel held on, he heard a loud CRACK again and could only hope that Roran was holding his end as he found the opening and struck with all his might. This both worked and did not work as it killed the Quake, but one of the back spikes snagged onto Axel’s belt, stopping him from leaping off the Quake before it toppled and rolled.
Axel felt immense pain in his legs as they were trapped under the multi-ton beast. He knew at this point he was out of the direct fight as both his legs were a crushed mess. Axel used the adrenaline to ignore the pain and his strength to leverage the beast and free himself. As Axel crawled to get a sight of the Thunderer fight, he saw it being dismantled by fireball after fireball. Its good leg was being hit by water from Pearl and then frozen by Larimar, while Jareth had somehow gotten on its back, holding his hand onto its neck.
Axel could also see that Roran was sweating and shaking from diverting the lightning, as there was another crater in the clearing. Then, out of nowhere, the Thunderer whimpered and fell forward, slamming to the ground, blood pouring from its eyes, nose, and mouth. Jareth made a leaping roll after riding it to the ground. As Jareth’s roll smoothly transitioned to his feet, Axel just lay on his back, exhausted, as his regeneration worked overtime to turn the pulp that was his legs back to normal.