Most of the group’s preparations for departure had been made before they had retired for the night, but Vanya had risen early and had been practicing alchemy using her potions skill, so the rest of them waited on her to finish an experiment before they left. Her cleanup was very quick, as the inventory system greatly facilitated it. She handed each of them a vial. “These are the better healing potions,” she said. “They restore 35 HP over the course of three seconds.”
They gratefully accepted the potions. “Wow! Thanks a lot,” Isla said.
Vanya nodded. “Svelta had more herbs brought to me after my interview. She also gave me a few more combinations. I went through the rest of the skeleton dust, so only use these if you have to.”
“Do all potions require something like the dust?” Taloc asked.
“No. Some of the potions only need water as the reagent. There’s even a recipe for a healing potion that takes goat milk, but the recovery time is hours, not seconds. From what the herbalist said, the strength of the materials matter, but the reagent is usually the thing that gives the potions better potency. There’s also the matter of proper mana being used.”
“What does that mean?” Taloc asked.
“Well, it appears that the recipe is often not enough to make a potion,” she explained. “You also have to have a skill in the magic type or types that a potion requires. For instance, I can make these healing potions because I have the skill body magic, but they could also be made using life magic. If I had both magic types, then I could make better potions than those that I can make now.”
There was a call from outside, so they made their way down the stairs. Cynila, Galuk, and four guards were outside to meet them when they exited the building. “I do regret that we had to come to the decision that we did, but we believe it to be for the best,” Cynila said. “Galuk volunteered to be your guide for the first part of your journey. I was told that you will go to Ildul; is that correct?”
After a moment, Taloc responded, “It is, and we thank you for the use of the guide.”
Cynila nodded. “I hope that you are able to return someday, and I apologize for the harsh treatment. Others are always trying to exploit our people, and we must be cautious.”
Taloc raised an eyebrow at that. “If those had been our intentions, then we would have just tried to exploit you from the start.”
Cynila considered this for a moment and grudgingly nodded. She strode off, and the guards fell into line behind her.
Galuk and Vultressant briefly spoke to each other in Anuran. The two of them walked towards the lake, and the rest of their party followed. They crossed the lake on a raft that was propelled by some very colorful male Anurans. After docking on the opposite bank, they made their way out of the village on foot. Galuk had them on a path that Taloc was barely able to recognize as such, and the rest of the group doubtlessly just assumed it was a natural part of the flora. Occasionally, Galuk would give some instructions to Vultressant, who would then translate for the group, but mostly Galuk was able to make his instructions understood well enough with just a few hand gestures and some broken phrases in Common.
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They traveled for several days with little event until they came upon some strange tracks that put Galuk in a nervous state. The tracks did not appear to be of a very large animal, but Taloc didn’t know what they were, and while his track skill had gone up twice since they had started, it was just level three, and there was no information on what might have made the tracks. The tracks glowed red in his vision, and he knew that they were fresh.
Taloc pondered for a moment while Vultressant and Galuk spoke in hushed tones. Prior to arriving at the Anuran village, Taloc had been the primary tracker for the group, but his skill had not leveled even once during that time. Now he had spent a few hours just following the path set by Galuk, and he had gained two skill levels in that time. Could it just be random luck, or was there something more going on here?
“He seems pretty wound up,” Vultressant said, switching to Common. “The tracks are from a creature that likes to hunt his kind—something called a ballowsan. He says that they shouldn’t be this far south.”
“Is it dangerous?” Ewtain asked.
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“He certainly seems to think so,” Vultressant confirmed.
“What does he want to do about it?” Isla asked.
Vultressant and Galuk spoke, with the Anuran gesticulating wildly. Finally, Vultressant put his hands up and shook his head in annoyance. “He wants to avoid it at all costs. He suggested heading back until we can get on the northern trail. From what I can tell from the mapping tool that I have, we’ve been heading roughly west, but if we go back… maybe an hour or two, there is a trail that goes more north.”
“We ain’t doing that,” Taloc said. “I can follow this path without him if need be. Vult, can your map keep us heading towards where we need to go?”
Vultressant nodded confidently. “Oh, yeah. The map is filling in nicely. The info that I got from their cartographer is pretty crude, but it all appears to be about where it should be.”
“Then tell him that he can head back if he wants, but we’re going forward,” Taloc commanded.
Vultressant did so, and after some coaxing, Galuk agreed to continue along the path. They traveled more cautiously now, and Taloc and Isla each had their bow at the ready with an arrow nocked. It only took them about five minutes to find the creature, and any element of surprise that they might have hoped for was ruined by the squeal of fear that erupted from Galuk. The creature, the ballowsan, was the height of a large dog, maybe a German shepherd, but twice as long as one. It was reddish-brown with armor plates around its head, back, and forelegs, although the hind legs had no added protection. The plating did extend to the tail, which looked pretty dangerous if they were hit with a tail strike.
Taloc let an arrow loose as the thing charged, but it bounced harmlessly off the ridge of scales on its back. Maroftis stepped in front of Galuk and drew his sword as he waited for the beast to close the distance. When it arrived, he swung his sword in a sweeping arc that provided a buffer zone between himself and the large snapping maw of the ballowsan. This tactic gave Vultressant the opportunity to flank the creature and cast his bolt of fire spell at its hindquarters. The spell connected, and the thing let out an enraged howl of protest. It briefly considered Maroftis and the sword he wielded, then turned to face Vultressant.
The Ballowsan jumped towards Vultressant. Ewtain slashed it in the side as it bounded by, inducing another howl. When it met Vultressant—or more to the point, his personal shield—it slammed to a stop as blue energy flickered around the points of impact. Vultressant stepped back, but the beast seemed to have absorbed most of the impact.
While it was stunned, Ewtain took the opportunity to stab it in the right flank, and he was able to jump over a counterstrike attempt made by its whipping tail.
Isla stepped next to Vultressant and took out her shield to help protect the Wizard. She had seen the shield flare around Vultressant when the creature had struck him, and she was unsure as to its current power, but she was prepared for the worst.
With all of them working together and the fact that their opponent had such an obvious weak spot, they were slowly able to wear down the beast enough that it eventually attempted to run away. Vanya and Taloc simultaneously put arrows into a hind leg, which halted the retreat, and they were able to put it down.
Suddenly, the shield around Vultressant erupted in blue sparks and then disappeared altogether as another ballowsan attacked him from behind. He was able to turn and cast his bolt of fire spell, which he aimed at the thing’s face. It did little damage but startled it long enough for help to arrive. The party began targeting the new beast with the same efficiency as the other one until they heard Galuk call from above. He had climbed a tree during the first attack and was now pointing at the group of bushes that the original creature had charged from.
Another similar creature emerged from the bushes, only this one was sleeker and all black in color.
It came in quickly and made quick strikes at Taloc and Ewtain, who were both on the flank of the other creature. They had to focus their efforts away from the reddish creature that had attacked Vultressant. The black one was much quicker than the red ones, and it was all they could do to keep from being bitten. Ewtain was able to dodge a bite, but he was toppled by a subsequent tail strike. Taloc stepped in to prevent Ewtain from getting mauled after he dropped, but he could not keep up with it for long. “Take care of that one quickly!” he called. “We can focus on this one after. I’ll try to hold it off.”
Maroftis disobeyed or had not understood the instructions and came to Taloc’s aid instead, but otherwise the party followed his direction. Ewtain had been shaken up by his fall, but he quickly came to Isla’s aid who faced one alone. The Night Stalker maneuvered behind the reddish ballowsan and attacked the hind legs while effectively dodging tail strikes. His sword and dagger each glowed dimly for a moment, and Ewtain blurred as he stabbed each blade into a different soft spot among the armor plating. He stepped back, tired after the use of his special attack, eviscerate, but the ballowsan was too injured to make a counterstrike. It howled and fell to the ground.
Once the larger one fell, Isla and Ewtain went to aid Maroftis and Taloc, and they surrounded the sleeker black creature. Ewtain tried his same tactic, but he had less success with this one, both in attacking the legs and dodging the tail strikes. The cooldown on his special attack had also not elapsed yet, so he stalled for time as he waited. Maroftis was bleeding from several bites, but he seemed to be hanging in there, so it appeared to be just a matter of time before this last one also died. Indeed, Ewtain got in a deep slash that disabled a leg and made the rest of the battle much easier. The tail still remained dangerous, but the surrounded animal couldn’t dodge their attacks, and while it still continued the fight with its lower half lying unusable on the ground, it no longer had the reach to do them any injury.