AETHER BEASTS

Chapter 100 - 100

We began training the next day earlier than normal as Zirani wanted to make the upgraded versions of the elixirs we'd used on the first floor along with a few new alchemic products we could use, so we skipped the barth this one time and instead gathered outside the treehouse.

I was feeling refreshed and although images of the previous day still occasionally appeared in my mind, I now used them as fuel for my inner fire. I would get stronger and make the twin horn pay for what they'd done. They couldn't just die after the war, they had to cause more problems, although without them I didn't think we'd have this training opportunity and more time, but nevertheless, they needed to be put down.

Zirani and Misty were much the same and I could see the determination in their eyes. They were pissed and ready, rightfully so as well.

"The plan for today is simple," Zirani explained. "We will begin things in earnest tomorrow once I have everything ready sorted, for today I want the three of you to go hunting for aether beasts nad gather as many cores as you can."

"Didn't we get a few yesterday?" Sandra asked.

"We did, but most were either water or earth," Zirani replied. "We need dark for you, Nature for Aiden, and death and life for Misty, although you could use any type, we don't want to push your mutation too far, Misty. Your core is fine as it is."

"I could change it?" Misty questioned.

"I think you could," Zirnai answered. "but I'm not sure how you'd get it exactly as you wish. As I've said I'm not an expert on aether vampires despite everything I know. It's a risk, but if your willing to take it we can talk more about it when you return."

"What if we run into more of those… things?" I asked.

Misty and Sandra were both wicked, but it needed to be said, though I already knew what Zirani's answer would be.

"You put them down." She gave all three of us a firm look. "None of us are healers, and I don't even know if it would be possible to fix what happened to them. You come across one then you bestow mercy upon, understand?"

We all nodded in confirmation. Nobody should be forced to live like that, attached to…

I shook my head and stopped that train of thought before I threw up. Best to focus on training.

"Will you be fine?" I asked Zirani. I knew she could handle herself in a fight better than any of us, but I didn't know how far I could go from her while she was manifested.

"I'll send you a signal through our bond when you've gone too far," She replied. "I'll be able to tell. Now, remember to try and get as many cores as you can, but prioritize the cores you have an affinity with. Aiden you go after Nature, Misty you go for death and life, and Sandra for dark. It should also be a good learning experience, maybe you'll get some ideas from it."

We decided to stay together since splitting up seemed like too much of a risk, and perhaps what had happened yesterday had a little to do with it. I didn't think anybody wanted to come across one of those things along, not to mention the mobs of beasts. Misty could probably get away, but neither Sandra nor I were as fast or agile. If we got surrounded it would be a bloody fight and deadly if we were outnumbered too badly. Zirani had told us not to get cocky as it was a fast way to the grave.

"Where to first?" I asked.

"That pond we found near the mushrooms yesterday had a few dark affinity beasts," Sandra said. "And we can go to the swampy area we found, maybe they'll be some death beasts there?"

I shrugged and turned to Misty. "You ok with that."

She nodded. "That's fine, we can hunt beasts along the way as well."

Before we left, I headed back to the treehouse and emptied all the cores and herbs I had collected yesterday from my spatial ring into our storage device. Zirani would need the herbs and I wanted as much space in my ring as possible.

"Alright let's go."

The first beasts we ran into, and what I was beginning to believe were the most common on this floor, was Murwogs. They seemed to be in most places, in at least groups of six and always with a head or alpha Murwog leading the pack. Oddly enough these beasts seemed far more viscous than most and unlike most beasts I'd seen who tended to stay in a general area, these moved far and wide in search of prey.

We watched from the safety of a tree as a group of Murwogs surrounded an ape-looking beast. They jumped at the ape one at a time when the beast was facing away and stabbed at it with their crude spears. The ape tried to lash out, but the Murwogs were too fast and agile for it, and each of the ape's attacks was dodged.

It was finally put out of its misery when the alpha Murwog smashed a fist into the back of its head before skewering it on its spear.

The Murwogs then proceed to tear into the beasts, and I glanced over to the others. "Now?"

They nodded, and we pulled aether from our cores. My bark armor surrounded me as Misty death claws lengthened from her fingers while dark smoke began to rise from Sandra along with a small cloak of midnight that covered her. It was a new technique that she'd learned by herself, though she'd explained that she'd always known it, but that she hadn't had the control to use it until now, and from its size, I could tell this was not the true form of the technique. It didn't look like it would be that useful.

"Let the hunt begin." I smiled as we leapt from the tree's branches.

My impact seeds sent Mujrwogs flying in all directions. The Murwogs croaked in protest, but they quickly turned into sounds of pain as daggers of darkness struck them.

The lead Murwog whose face was coveted into gore sprung towards Misty who parried its spear before spinning out of the way of its fist and countering with a slash of her claws, tearing one of its eyes out, and sending it falling to the ground.

Damn, but she was deadly.

I turned my focus to the two Murwogs in front of me, and I decided to use my glaive, pulling it from my ring and giving it a quick spin. The Muwrogs quite literally spring back to their feet and croaked before charging me.

I nimbly dodged the first strike and brought my glaive up in an underhanded sweep that tore through the stomach and face of the first Murwog. I took a step to the right dodging the second then finished the combo by bringing the glaive back down from the sky and into the head of the second. Just like Zirani had taught me. To try and use all actions and not waste any movements.

The fight had been less than ten seconds long, and I had to admit it felt good, more so than it had before.

I turned to watch the others and took back my opinion on Sandra's cloak. I wasn't able to tell what was happening at first, but after a few moments, I realized that she was vanishing the moment she stepped into their shadows or any shadow for that matter and she was definitely faster. She formed two daggers and stabbed them into the eyes of a murwog then stepped back just in iem to dodge a spear from the side. Her foot stepped into a shadow and she vanished for a second confusing the Murwog who glanced around, which was a mistake as Sandra reappeared and sued the opportunity to slash at its throat.

The murwog tried to croak but all that came out was a gurgle and seconds later it fell dead, and Sandra turned to the other she had blinded. With a quick and brutal strike, she shoved a dagger into its head, ending its life.

Misty was done with her opponent and from the wounds of the alpha Murwog, it hadn't been a pretty end. Its face looked partially melted off, an effect of her claws or projectile.

"Collect the cores, and let's move on," I said with a sigh. "We've got more hunting to do, and honestly I'm hoping for a more challenging fight than this."

Sandra nodded as her cloak along with the darkness around her faded. "I get what you mean, it's sort of sad how easy these things are to kill.

"Well there not meant to be hard to kill alone or in small groups," Misty reminded. "Remember what Zirnai said, and look at how they hunt. These beasts are pack hunters."

"Well good thing we're not alone," I said as I began to extract the cores from the murwogs around me.

I hoped that during this hunting trip we'd run into some challenging beasts.. Fighting murwogs seemed like it was going to get old fast, and if we wanted to get better at fighting then we needed opponents who would push us.