“Come over here!” Addas called out from about fifty feet away. He had gone off to see the rest of the rockpile, and had evidently found something of note. There was an arrangement of rocks that almost looked like a set of stairs there. It was obviously a construction of pure chance, but the fact remained that it would be easier to scale than the loosely piled rocks that made up the rest of the pile.
Sam smiled and tested the rocks with his mace yet again, and upon finding them stable, he bounded up them towards the top of the rock pile. It was a landscape of shattered stone and unevenly proportioned boulders, with plenty of places where one could twist their ankle, and a dearth of stable paths. At least, it would have been for a normal human. Sam and the others could pick out the safe paths from fifty feet away.
Sam started along the nearest path, and soon found his pace. This valley was even larger than the first, and there was still a significant strength of dangerous ground after the rockpile ended. By the shape of the tunnels there, this area must have been a volcanic region before this, and perhaps had even been jolted into life by the System to create these natural warrens for the monsters. There were no long tubes of rock in this valley, so there would be no traversal of the obstacle through that means again. They would simply have to run for it.
As they neared the edge of the rockpile, Sam started to pick up the auras of the monsters sleeping in their burrows. As he drew even closer, he could feel one titanic presence slumbering deep underneath the earth. It was coming from a strange direction however, and it didn't feel like it was directly underneath them, rather underneath the entire mountain range. If that was the monster guarding the hammer, then Sam had no idea how he could get past it. For now, he had to stay positive however, and he looked back at the others. It seemed that none of them had sensed the monster yet, which was good. As the team leader, he had to keep their morale high, or else they would not be able to fight together well. Sam had never had any experience in this sort of work, but he was quickly adapting, his high Wisdom and Intelligence helping him along.
None of them said a word as they walked, which was good for Sam, as it allowed him to more closely pinpoint the auras of the monsters. He had an unusually high aura sense, which was likely from his high ranked Dao. Besides, they all had their own inner demons to deal with in their own time. Nobody here was a saint, but neither were they demons either. They were simply people, trying to survive in a new and dangerous world.
Sam monitored the changes in the auras of the monsters near him. It was not exact enough to tell him a lot about them, save for their general location and strength, but perhaps he could be able to improve it in time. He might be even able to create a skill based around it.
A few minutes later, they had reached the edge of the rockpile, and the closest monsters were beginning to stir, drawn in by their scent, or whatever sense these creatures used to track their prey. Even worse, there were a few thunderbirds flying around overhead. They had not noticed the party yet, but if they began to fight with the monsters down here, then the noise would certainly draw the titanic birds down. With those creatures added into the mix, their chances of survival would be slim to none. Just what kind of weapon was all of this protecting anyway? Sam was going to be extremely annoyed if Mjolnir was not far more powerful than his current mace. Sam was beginning to parse a way through the obstacles in their way, but he was still unsure about it. He stopped the rest of his group, and explained his burgeoning plan to them.
“Those thunderbirds are too close for comfort, and if we try to fight off the monsters lurking in those caves below, then we’re going to get swarmed on all fronts.”
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“Well, what exactly do you propose then? It’s not like we can just sneak past them. Those warrens cover the entire area between here and the next ring of mountains,” Jeffrey responded.
Sam smiled. Here was where his enhanced Wisdom was coming in handy. This plan would be hard and quite frankly disgusting work, but it would be worth it if they got out of this alive. He leaned in, and began to spell it out in detail.
Ten short minutes later, they were ready to enact the first part of the plan. Jeffrey scoured the floor of the valley for monsters, and upon seeing a large snout poking out of a cave entrance, he pulled out his new gun, and carefully took aim. A small measure of mana pumped into the weapon, and Jeffrey fired. A pencil thick beam of light lanced out and struck the monster directly on its sensitive nostrils, causing it to yelp in pain. It barreled out a moment later, closely followed by three others. Sam frowned, as there were not enough for his plan to work, but then shrugged. More could always be found.
The monsters rushed towards them, slavering wildly as they searched for whoever had harmed one of their number. They soon laid eyes on the party, and ran full tilt towards them. Waiting until they were beneath the lip of the rockpile, invisible from the perspective of the circling thunderbirds, Sam leaped down and dashed one of the monster’s brains out onto the hard floor. Pyotr jumped down as well, like a stony meteor, landing heavily on another monster and breaking its spine. Sam quickly flattened the other two, making sure to keep the majority of their skin intact. They were going to need the bodies to be as pristine as possible.
Sam and Pyotr tossed the bodies up onto the top of the rockpile, and they clambered up after it. Eduardo got to work immediately, skinning the monsters and drying out their pelts. A few minutes later, he had successfully removed all of the organs, leaving a suit of fur lying on the ground. Jeffrey searched the area for another target, and upon finding one, he fired on the beast. It was of the same type as the previous ones, but this one seemed to be quite a bit stronger. It was more annoyed than injured from the attack, and in fact, while the previous monsters had sported burn marks on their noses, this one was completely unscathed.
As it came near them, it started to charge up a ball of electricity in its mouth. Sam’s eyes widened, and he leaped off the side of the rockpile towards it. If that attack was loosed upwards, the birds would notice it, and they would all be dead.
Sam smashed its jaws closed with his mace, surprised when the creature did not immediately die. Its teeth flew out of its mouth and blood spurted everywhere, but it was still alive. It slashed out at Sam almost faster than he could move, and the surprise of that speed caused Sam to be hit. It did not get through his armor, but his leg was still shaken by the impact. If nothing else, that would leave a nasty bruise later. His armor was already proving its worth many times over, and he was happy that they had found it. A strike of that strength to his bare skin would have cut his flesh down to the bone.
Sam lashed out with his mace but the monster dodged it narrowly, before imbuing its paw with lightning and striking him again. This time Sam was able to get out of the way, but the trailing electricity shocked him through his armor, causing his limb to seize up. Looking up anxiously at the circling thunderbirds, Sam quickly started to imbue his mace with power. When the monster made another pass at him, Sam feinted with his fist, and then drove his mace into the creature’s jaw as it dodged. It flipped over backwards, and lay still, its lower jaw in ruins.
Sam grabbed the beast, surprised at how heavy it was, and dragged it over towards the rockpile, before throwing it up towards the others. It almost didn’t make it, but Pyotr reached over the edge and was able to get his hand on it. Out of sight, Eduardo got to work as Sam climbed up the rocks.
They only needed one more monster for this to work,and Jeffrey quickly found one that was on its own. Another of the lion creatures slunk between two caves, and Jeffrey quickly shot it with his gun. It snapped its head around, and charged. This one was about at the level of the first monsters, and Sam made quick work of it.
About ten minutes later, they were ready.