The forest world of Arches was incredibly dense with flora. The temperate rainforest biome supported support an understory of mosses, ferns and some shrubs from its moist atmosphere.
Upon immediately leaving the World Gate, the trio was still met with a small Academy base in a large clearing.
Asking around a bit, they soon figured out that there was no road going through the world like there was for most of the middle worlds. This was because of the powerful regeneration ability and tenacity of the plants here which would quickly overrun any clearings that aren't constantly maintained, much like this one.
It was also an issue to keep people stationed for maintenance out there due to the relatively powerful beasts that could spring up out of nowhere. The range of beasts on Arches went from Common to Desolate.
The trio agreed that if, by some unfortunate coincidence, they stumbled upon a Desolate Beast, they would run away immediately. A Desolate Beast was generally about twice as strong as a Chaos Beast- which was what they had enough firepower to take down.
…
The trio was standing a few feet away from the edge of the clearing, looking into the dense forest yonder.
"All right, what's the game plan?" Saiph asked to the other two.
"We need to find a Chaos Beast aligned with the lightning element for what you need, right? So, the first thing we should try to do is find a mountain, which is where they would live," Velvet responded.
Both Saiph and Enzo nodded their heads in agreement. They had both already known that but it was good to confirm out loud.
They collectively pushed through the brush and set off in hopes of finding a mountain.
The moisture and abundant verdant life sprawling through the topography of this world was a fresh experience for them, who had lived on the megacity of Veritate for the past two to four years.
The group adventured through the forest for a few days, only stopping to take a break every other night. They never once saw any beasts, most likely due to their proximity to the World Gate and subsequently the Academy base.
The vitality and tenacity of a Magic Initiate far surpassed a normal human, and these three still worked out every single day.
There was also the fact that Arches had a short day and night cycle. And, when it was night, there was a brilliant moon radiating light down from overheard, illumination even the lush forest ground.
After their days of struggle, the group finally saw what they were looking for: a mountain.
In the distance, through the layer of trees, a massive, white cone pierced the sky, tip obscured by the cloud layer.
After a few more days of trekking, the group had arrived at the base of the mountain. That night, they prepared and discussed their game plan.
"So," Saiph started, "according to the book of beasts here, what kind of game are we looking for?"
"I think we should go for the Thunder Hawk," Enzo replied.
"Bloat Frog," said Velvet.
Saiph nodded with the two of their conjectures. "I myself think that I like the idea of taking down a Queen Zap Ant. It has the purest lightning affinity and is one of the more likely ones to be found. The issue with it, of course, is that there's going to be a plethora of Common Beasts, the normal Zap Ants, protecting it."
"But, that's not always a bad thing," interjected Enzo. "Their meat has some Mana aligned with lightning in it. Eating them could lead to some good results for you, at least."
"Mm," Saiph nodded. "Velvet, what do you think?"
"I think that the Bloat Frog is the better option, still. It might not be as pure with lightning as the Zap Ants, but it's also going to be quite a bit weaker. None of us have real combat experience, so maybe we should be careful."
"No, no, no," Enzo laughed. "This is good. If we fight something tougher and overcome the tribulation, we'll be stronger at the end."
"So," Saiph said before Velvet could retort. "First priority is the Queen Zap Ant, then Bloat Frog, then Lightning Hawk, correct?"
Seeing the other two nod, Saiph continued. "Then we'll prepare for hunting down the ant. If we stumble upon the other two, we can decide what to do then."
"Yeah, sure, if that's what you want." Velvet nodded. "The Zap Ants are about half a meter long and can, well, zap you pretty hard if they bite. Not enough to kill, but you might fall over. Then, they can go for the jugular."
The other two solemnly nodded. Even a Common Beast could be a lethal force by itself if one wasn't careful.
"However," Velvet continued, "as you both probably know, there won't be nearly as many Zap Ants as there would be if it was a normal colony. Beasts eat too much food to sustain that large of a colony, plus these ants are pretty freakin' big. We can expect anywhere from 5 to 15 Zap Ants supporting the queen."
The group discussed their various ideas throughout the night and, once the sun rose once more, set off on their hike up the mountain.
...
A Zap Ant colony would typically be found aboveground, in dead or dying trees. The queen would find a suitably massive fir tree of some sort and dig into it, hollowing it out and then living inside of it. Then, the remaining ants would do the same for the surrounding trees.
They actually lived like this for many years, not doing much other than occasionally leaving their trees to eat whatever they could find.
What they were waiting for was a thunderstorm. Ideally, the massive tree the queen was living in would be struck by a bolt of lightning, usually blowing the tree apart. Then, the queen would redirect the lightning it was struck by to all of its followers, dying in the process.
The previously Common Beast ants would then go into hibernation for a while. Most of them would die, unable to properly utilize the energy of the lightning, but some would cultivate it successfully and evolve into Queen Zap Ants themselves.
The surviving ants would proceedingly mate until they were all pregnant -- Zap Ants are hermaphroditic -- and go on their separate ways, continuing the cycle.
Knowing the life cycle of these Zap Ants was of crucial importance to the group. For example, they now knew that they should look for trees that had been struck by lightning to find some dormant quasi-queens- easy pickings.
…
The trio walked upstream of a river to get to the summit while still having fresh access to water without needing to carry heavy containers.
Saiph had to think that, despite all of the physical hardships the journey presented, he was having a lot of fun exploring the wilderness. He enjoyed the company of his two companions, as well. He liked their dynamic as a group.
However, now that they were at the mountain, more and more beasts started poking around.
Enzo acted as the group's vanguard to ward off these threats. He was pretty good with a shortsword and was confident with a few 1-Circle spells, his favorite being one of the myriad deviations of Fire Pellet.
Usually, a quick flaming pellet to the face would burn a hole through the head off of any Common Beast that dared to cause trouble.
Enzo's main grievance was that he was practically forced to bring a weapon he didn't prefer here due to the environment. Normally, he would like to use a longsword or something with more reach, which would get caught on one of the countless trees or shrubs around.
Luckily, there were no Carnage Beasts that had caused a ruckus yet, to all of their collective relief. Even Enzo, the one most inclined to battle, wasn't too willing to tussle with a Carnage Beast unprepared.
As for Chaos Beasts, ironically enough, the only one they had seen was a massive Thunder Hawk flying overhead. They unanimously decided that aggravating it would be a poor decision, completely ignoring it.
After all, a Chaos Beast was as powerful as a peak Magic Initiate. If you aggravated one without a plan, death would soon follow; all you could do was Let it Enfold You.
All along the way, the trio checked all of the dead or dying trees they could find for Zap Ants burrowed inside, fruitlessly.
That was, until Enzo picked out one notably massive fir tree reaching over of the canopy.
"...Do you guys think that's it?" Saiph asked.
"Probably, right?"
"Most likely."
The group continued up to the tree with extreme caution. Alerting the ants in advance would result in their almost certain death.
Saiph felt his heart tremble with every step taken, breath become ragged, and lightheadedness come over him. The incomparable anxiety caused him to have second thoughts.
Was it really worth it? To risk all three of their lives for one stupid potion ingredient?
Saiph was wise enough to ignore these dumb thoughts and kept moving on. There seemed to be a few other wilting trees in the vicinity and Saiph could pick out large holes on some of them from where he was standing.
Nodding to the others, Saiph pulled back and carefully retreated a few hundred meters away, still on guard. The other two soon joined him.
"Do you think they're in their nests or not?" asked Enzo.