GH - 232

Awkwardly clambering over boulders, I emerged out of the earth. Cold breeze bringing snow washed over me; the snow melted and sizzled meeting my [Greater Pyro Shell]. The sun was starting to go down, bright orange peeking from the next peak over. The shadow of the neighboring mountain fell my way. Darkness was fast approaching. With the remaining meager light, I examined my surroundings.

I was on a steep slope littered with sharp rocks and jagged cliffs. The deceased party of Mardukryons should’ve passed here. But there didn’t seem to be any easy way up or down. Us bulky Mardukryons would have a tough time climbing this.

Possible that this area looked different in the past. Trees sticking out from under boulders indicated that some earthquake rearranged the mountain’s features. If that was before the Mardukryon party’s journey, I couldn’t tell. I imagined the wardcrafters also could’ve constructed a staircase for the party.

“What to do? What to do?” I sang, peering over the edge.

This terrain would be a cinch for Mr. Inuus, though he passed a different way. Mountain goats could climb insane cliffs that even the most experienced human mountaineers couldn’t. And if Mr. Inuus fell, he’d be more than tanky enough to survive.

What about me? Was I sufficiently tanky?

Carefully climbing down would take ages and the light from my spells didn’t reach far enough for such a delicate task during nighttime. So why bother being delicate? Overcoming fall damage might not be useful in fights, but it was a source of bragging rights. Too bad no one was around to witness Herald Stone the Great Faller about to make his debut.

I turned on [Unselfish Blighted Decay] to start damaging myself and stack [Ancestral Constitution]. Every buff I could cast, I did. I also scoured my inventory, drinking anything that could help me get harder.  

I refreshed [Greater Pyro Shell], letting its cooldown run while waiting for [Ice Cocoon] to reach maximum stacks. Then I cast [Horde Stampede] and charged down the slope. Confidence was key. Hesitation led to failure.

My momentum, amplified by my weight, gave me a semblance of balance as I leaped from boulder to boulder. I made good progress in my descent without any scratches.

“Woah! I can do this! Mr. Inuus, I’m going to make you proud of—oof!” My hoof snagged on the exposed root of a fallen tree.

I comically rotated in the air before getting bunged up against the rocks. I bowed my head, crouched down, held my shields close to my sides, and tucked my legs, making myself as compact and small as possible. I continued tumbling down; I didn’t bother trying to stop my fall. If the slope was covered by snow, I’d have turned into a large snowball. At least that was what cartoons taught me. Unfortunately, there was only a thin layer of snow covering the rocks.

I’m surviving the fall damage! I celebrated, several seconds into my very uncontrolled descent.

Only then did my [Greater Pyro Shell] explode. [Ice Cocoon] followed suit, shedding ice shards before building itself again. In my moment of nakedness, the fall damage directly hit my health. It took a noticeable chunk for each smash. [Healing Touch] and my regeneration fought back. I recast my shell, gaining a layer of security.

After what seemed like ages—half a minute felt such a long time to get smashed against rocks—a cushion of leaves caught me. I was on top of a standing tree; this was the edge of the forest by the slope’s base.

“Okay, that was wild…” I began to say. The sound of breaking branches made me freeze. Then the canopy gave way. “Wah! Aw! Is this finally the ground?”

As I got back on my feet, I found myself face to face with a face the size of my shield. The four-legged beast looked like a puffed-up cow with a beak for its mouth. Its massive head flared upward to the back, ending in long horns. It reminded me of a triceratops. This was the first time I had seen a [Lvl 52 Kankaratops].

I warily backed away, shields up, until my behind hit the tree. The Kankaratops bent down to dig out a purplish grass from the ground with its beak. It chewed its meal while looking at me. It wasn’t an aggressive type of mob, fortunately.

Very fortunately. Looking around, I saw that the Kankaratops was with its herd of around thirty members. Not sure if I could tank one of them. Definitely not their entire herd.

The grass they ate appeared to be special. The leaves came in all sorts of colors. Red, blue, yellow, all that except green. And the grass grew rapidly. Tiny shoots slowly rose from the ground as I was watching. A few minutes after a Kankaratops ate one bunch of the colorful grass, another would’ve grown to take its place. The magical grass in this small area fed the herd of giants with no problems.

I surmised something underground was causing this phenomenon in a similar way to the golden crystals giving life to the trees of the Golden Forest despite the harsh conditions of the mountain. The trees here, like those of the Golden Forest, grew boils out of their bark. Instead of gold, though, the boils contained bright colorful liquid similar to the color of the curious grass. There was certainly more to this place, and I’d investigate this further, but my priority was looking for the lost Mardukryon tribes.

Technically, we were the lost ones.  

“Just passing through,” I said to the gentle Kankaratops. They glanced at me as I neared. Magic circles popped beneath their feet, presumably buffing them. Like the first one though, they didn’t make any move against me. “Has any player encountered you guys before?”

The Kankaratops went on with digging and eating.

“Hang on, I’ll check. I should’ve done it before falling.”

Opening my [Tattered Map], I found the answer to be a resounding no—players hadn’t reached this area yet.

My location pinged on the piece of the map Bawu had given me. This was where the Saurians, the lizard people wielding various weapons, resided. My party and I encountered the Blighted version of Saurians while clearing Bawu’s laboratory. Those Saurians were captured by Bawu as test subjects, but they had the double misfortune of getting infected with the Blight that accidentally spread through the laboratory.

Kezo told us he hadn’t met any Saurian before, and he was certain he hadn’t heard any player mention them. Even Chimichangaroo, one of the strongest Mardukryon players at present, and a certified deep-pocketed whale, didn’t know where Saurians were located. Chimi only knew of them because the items he wanted to craft required Saurian loot, which I sold to him at a premium. I had also checked the auction listings to confirm that nothing of the Saurians were sold there.

This was the promised land! The land of opportunities! It was the start of the gold rush, and I was the first prospector on the scene. Even before the gold rush, thinking about it. There’d be no rushing until I say so. I’d explore his area first before bringing in my party mates.

“See? The universe blesses Herald Stone.” I told the heavily scarred Kankaratops with broken horns. I wondered what attacked him; potential enemies lurked here. “Another jackpot after the jackpot of the hidden achievement of… well, I suppose I can’t really consider becoming Mr. Inuus’ student a jackpot given that I lost him.”

I only cashed out on the [Abosom Shrine Drum], a mere consolation price even if it was an awesome piece of equipment. With my teacher gone, I couldn’t be a student of music magic.

Find the Mardukryons. Find the goats. Mount a rescue operation as soon as possible. That was the plan.

But it wasn’t the Mardukryons or musical goats that I next met.

The Kankaratops to the back of the herd made loud clicking noises with their beaks. They stomped their feet, expressing agitation, as they moved away from whatever danger was out there. The trees blocked my view. I hurried to hide behind a girthy trunk to watch what’d happen next.

The rest of the beasts picked up that something was wrong and began forming a defensive circle. The smallest Kankaratops, probably babies and juveniles, were in the center, while the adults were outside. The adults lowered their wide heads and formed a shield wall with their interlocking skulls, and horns pointing outwards. They then cast various spells, the magic circles on the ground combining into a much larger one that encompassed the whole group. Barriers rose around them.

“That’s a defensive circle the buffalos from Earth can’t come up with,” I muttered. Then my attention was drawn to my right.

One Kankaratops didn’t quite make it in time to join the defensive circle. It limped towards the others, bellowing in pain. Heavy glowing chains with hooks crackling with electricity clung to its body. Those holding the other end of the chains came into view.

Five [Lvl 40 Saurian Hunter’ each held a chain, straining to pull down the Kankaratops. This type of Saurian was noticeably more muscular and taller than the others I had seen. A bunch of [Lvl 39 Saurian Hoplite] jogged forward, spear raised, round shield in front of their bodies, surrounding the Kankaratops the Hunters had caught. The Hoplites drove spears into their prey’s flanks slowly weakening it.

The Kankaratops tried to gorge the Hoplites with its horns, but they evaded the swipes of its horns. After jumping out of the way, the Hoplites resumed their positions and continued attacking. The Kankaratops was very tanky; unfortunately, it was incapacitated by the Hunters. The rest of the herd didn’t break their circle formation though they most likely could stampede the Saurians into the ground. It was against their instincts to do so—those outside the circle were a sacrifice to keep the rest of them safe.

Not if Herald Stone has something to say about it. I tossed a poison bottle while thinking what I should say.

Or do.

Sit back? Boring. Hoofed creatures should help each other.

More importantly, Saurian loot was in demand. Maybe some players would need Kankaratops drops too, but that was for another time. Since I’d farm Saurians in the future anyway, why not start now and save a helpless beast?

I threw a poison bottle at the Saurian Hunters. They yelled at the Hoplites and pointed at me with their tails because they couldn’t let go of the chains. Fester in the poison then, if that was their choice.

The Saurian Hoplites charged toward me. I didn’t flee. Instead, I headed to them. As the gap between us narrowed, I planted Totems in the middle. The Totems distracted the lizard people with taunts while I blew past them. The Hunters were my target. I cast taunt, causing the Hunters to drop the chains. The Kankaratops fled to its herd as I ran the other way, Saurians hot on my tail.