"We're just going to go with a single Resource Tortoise down here, alright? The materials might be of a higher quality but I don't want to overload ourselves with things we can't realistically take back with us. Besides, we have more than enough to create so strong alloys, right Anput?"
The Jackalkin nodded, her eyes roaming around the monsters nearby as she tried to spot which one of the walking treasure troves she wanted to aim for, answering Jahi after a mont and saying "The Rubrum Copper and Fortis Silver can be lted together to create a stronger tal, and depending on the amounts used, I can get either a Bronze or a stronger Silver, depending on what I want to make. They'll be much stronger than their base materials. The Shell Stone should mix well with so bones or other organics as well... I'll need to experint a little with each combination to find the right one depending on what I want to make, so it'll be a trial and error process."
"So is that you trying to say you would prefer another Tortoise, or will one do?"
"One should be perfect for what I want. Especially since we already have so much Shell Stone; armor will be easy to make with the amount we have. Ah, that one there! Let's get that one!"
We all looked towards where the Jackalkin was pointing, her scimitar aid at one of the many lumbering monsters that occupied the shelf, but this one had a spike of ore standing tall on its shell, one that was laden with a shining, brilliant slab of silver, which reflected any of the light that managed to reach into the depths around itself.
Of course, such a bounty was well protected; dozens of worms lingered around the Tortoise, their hairless, leathery skinned bodies constricting and stretching as they wiggled around the area, hoping to find sothing to eat from the slow, rich monster in the center of them.
Readying our blades, we nodded at one another and began to move forwards, carefully surrounding the Tortoise without alerting it and making sure not to bother any of the other clusters of worms that rested nearby, not wanting to invite more trouble onto ourselves unless we truly needed to.
There were at least two and a half dozen of these large, cylindrical chunks of flesh wriggling around the Tortoise, and their leathery hide and razor sharp fangs balanced defense with offense, while the coloration of their hide - a deep brown - made it clear that they had Earth Mana, which could go either way with them.
With eight of us and thirty so odd of the worms, as well as the Tortoise, we had quite the outnumbered fight ahead of us, but after checking that we were all in position, Jahi urged forwards and sliced her great sword cleanly through the midsection of the first worm, a pulse of golden light searing its flesh and preventing it from regenerating whilst dealing a good amount of damage on top of that as well.
Similarly, I covered the Khopesh in a casing of ice and pierced the worm in front of , twisting my blade and allowing my mana to burst inside the monsters body, blasting a chunk of at from its side and killing it quickly, allowing to move onto the next monster.
Each of us managed to take out at least one worm before the rest turned towards us, their mana already beginning to coat their bodies and teeth as they began to lunge at us, leaping through the air and crashing into the ground, threatening to bludgeon us down before chomping on our bodies.
They were long logs of flesh about five feet long and about three feet wide, so each of us made sure to avoid the flying worms as they began to leap at us, gnashing their fanged maws and letting out low screeches as they tried to eat sothing besides minerals.
Focusing on the ones leaping at , I ducked beneath the first and sliced cleanly through it, using its montum against it and cutting the worm in two, my Khopesh gliding through the at easily, though I had little ti to admire how excellent my blade had perford as I rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding two worms that ca from different angles, trying to catch between themselves and rip apart.
Coming out of my roll, I chopped down into one of the closest worms and raised my free hand, blasting away another and giving myself a mont to get up and lunge forwards, using the hooked tip of my Khopesh to deal large amounts of damage to the insides of the worm that I had blasted as I stabbed it.
As I yanked the Khopesh free, I stepped to the side and watched as a worm crashed into the ground beside , only to have its head pierced by a golden blade, the monster having gotten to close to Adelina and prompting the Lioness to take action, giving the freedom to blitz the Resource Tortoise as the others continued to take care of the worms.
The grey skinned, brown shelled monster was chirping in fear before lunging at , its beak snapping at the air as it tried to protect itself, only to fall silent as I moved to the side and pierced its neck, the barrier of Earth Mana not thick enough to protect itself from my attack.
Frost began to spread as the Ice Mana coating my blade took affect, and with a crisp twist of my hand I broke its neck, the muscles and bones nearby the hooked tip of the Khopesh moving in ways that they shouldn't if the monster wanted to remain alive.
The others finished around monts later, their weapons and armor coated in the brownish blood of the worms, and without hesitation they accepted the pickaxes that Anput made for them and began to get to work, breaking the monster's shell apart and harvesting the goodies that were held in place by it.
That silver spire was the first to go, and Leone got to work separating it into appropriate chunks, while I went around and plucked out the various small gemstones that had grown on the Tortoise's shell, adding them to a pouch and smiling softly at the materials that I viewed as more important for the mont.
Chunks of ore were gradually retrieved from the Resource Tortoise, and like before we loaded them into crates and placed them on sleds before returning towards the slope leading out of the third shelf, not wanting to remain here any longer than we needed.
After all, the sun was slowly beginning to go down, and the air inside the Canyon was slowly becoming pregnant with foreboding dread as the shadows grew longer and fuller.
Dusk was approaching, and none of us had a desire to face those Reaper Wendigos; I knew full well that trying sothing with a na like that would not be a fun ti, and I had read enough books and seen enough of other dias to understand that if I were to try and ss around here...
Well, there was no need to try and find out where it got the na from; and besides, we had gotten our haul!
Ti to go ho and wait for the next sighting of this Cult~!
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