After the impromptu lecture we give Baha about the differences between the three types of beasts, the liquor thief finally gives us our tasks. Trying to hide the sadistic smile and failing miserably.
One: Kaz needs to practice his poker face more.
Two: There's a trick to this task.
Whatever, at least the old monster didn't back down from giving us basic training.
When my mind stops wandering with idle thoughts I start looking for traces of some beast passing by here and I also check at regular intervals with my perception.
I always try to stay within my range of perception with the other team members while expanding the search area. So far the biggest indication that something over fifty kilos has passed through here are some splinters in the giant roots.
Well over fifty kilos.
I make a downward slashing motion with my saber 'overlapping' with Ki of rupture.
Since it's such a rare type of Ki and one that I'm intentionally hiding, Kaz should realize that I'm using it as an impromptu signal.
Do Kaz or Jill know the information-sharing technique Talavar used when he welcomed us to the Tower?
It would be more convenient than this.
I wait about half a minute for the gallon drinker to appear.
"Found what?" He speaks unhurriedly.
"Tracks." As soon as I said it I almost regretted trying to provoke the old monster. "They appear to be from a large beast and point north or northeast of here."
He nods when I finish speaking.
"I'll call Jill so we can meet here."
So he has the information transmission technique and Jill must be monitoring Baha nearby.
A minute passes in uncomfortable silence until the other two team members appear.
"Guide us." Kaz says dryly, looking in my direction.
Baha looks at me and realizes that we are probably going to be in near mortal danger once again.
We both know it's hard to die with Kaz around.
After I show them the tracks and briefly explain which direction we're going to head, Jill seems to want to intervene in our hunt but Kaz stops her with a look.
With a sigh I accept my fate and follow the trails of footprints and scratches, which end up being further apart than I expected, giving the impression that the creature is capable of insane jumps.
Or limited flight.
I think I know what we're hunting.
A beast that fled at the beginning of the siege of the Tower, after that it is impossible. The two monsters there made a point of decimating every living being inside the dust barrier, and it is capable of flight, it is probably injured.
A winged tiger that realized the strangeness of the situation before the siege began in earnest and injured one or both of its wings when it went against the current of beasts.
Great, I have no idea what this creature's capabilities are, the only thing I remember about these tigers is them being decimated by the old drunk's dust barrier.
"Are you going to give any hints about this creature's abilities?" I ask without looking at Kaz.
"It's hurt, that's enough for you two to handle." Kaz replies as if stating the obvious.
He probably already knows what we're up against, and is just waiting to enjoy the show.
The fact that I'm not surprised by this makes me a little worried. That one day I'll accept the absurdities that Kaz imposes on us as normal.
"Did you find anything?" I ask Baha as I follow the trail of what is probably a winged tiger.
"I haven't gotten anything significant from my side, but Jill seems to have found tracks of a scattered pack of snake-eyed wolves and lost komodo buffaloes." He replies as he avoids one of the giant roots. "Since Kaz hasn't said anything, I guess we can assume that hunting them would be too much of a challenge for us."
"Or too little." In the old monster's mind at least.
Since Kaz and Jill are behind us, Baha who is next to me is the only one whose expression I can see, but I'm almost certain that the liquor thief has that hateful smile.
"Mingten." Kaz speaks simply in his dry tone, he's a bit like the elders who trained me avoiding direct answers or warnings to make everything a lesson, in this case it's something like: You should pay attention to your prey, you don't know the range of its senses.
Does he realize that this basically confirms that we are close to whatever our target is?
I imagine so.
With my hands I make a silence signal to Baha who responds with a silly gesture of sewing his lips together and we move on. I know I don't need to warn the old monster, but Jill doesn't inspire much confidence in me.
She seems to have experience with this kind of mission so it should be fine.
As long as all the missions were not given as punishment.
I take a deep breath and circulate my Ki in my dantian, while I let my hand rest on the hilt of the saber.
Doing our best to silence our footsteps, we slowly advanced.
We just forget that Baha is a total newbie on this side of the "world" because he's adapting so well to all this chaos, but he's a newbie, and that means that from time to time he'll get tense and mess up. Like stepping too hard and breaking a tiny, almost imperceptible twig that was hidden beneath the fallen leaves.
For a moment I let myself hope that the fauna in the region makes similar noises when they move. And in less than a second this optimistic thought is destroyed by a roar, which makes my body rigid.
So unable to move, my suspicions are confirmed when a winged tiger with its right wing missing pieces quickly jumps between the giant roots towards us.
With my hand still on the hilt of the saber, I send a little of my Ki to one of the artificial Lapis, the electricity one, and I make no effort to control the small electric discharge that follows, taking me out of the state of paralysis a little before the tiger reaches us.
I increase the intensity of my Ki circulation and this time I activate the air lápis stone, I swing my saber close to the ground in the general direction of the tiger, raising leaves and dust that cover the beast.
With the few moments I gained I check Baha's condition.
Didn't he try to give himself a little burn to get out of the paralysis?
Novice.
Huurraooh!
With a roar and a flap of its wings, including the disfigured one, the tiger dispels the cloud of dust.
This time none of us are paralyzed, so we are not paralyzed simply by hearing the roar, there is another condition that needs to be met.
Baha overlaps his fist with the fire generated by the lápis and distances himself from me, thus avoiding both of us being paralyzed at the same time.
He's smart when it matters.
With free vision the tiger chooses its next target, probably because Kaz and Jill didn't do anything he advances on them to test them. Kaz lifts Jill by the collar and steps to the side, dodging the tiger.
The tiger inhales air in a slightly exaggerated movement preparing for another roar.
Before he can roar, Jill still held like a kitten raises one of her hands, which causes the sleeves of her lab coat to fall back, revealing a bracelet of vines with lapis stones embedded in it. The bracelet begins to spin on Jill's arm and the leaves and branches around it move in sync creating a makeshift gag that mimics Jill's bracelet around the tiger's mouth.
"I can dodge it on my own." Jill says looking at Kaz as he holds her in one hand.
"Undo the gag." He responds, releasing her.
The two step away from the tiger as the force holding the makeshift gag dissipates, turning into dead vegetation that the tiger easily breaks, both standing in opposite directions to mine and Baha surrounding the tiger.
Now with nowhere to run, the most likely target is the one who couldn't deal with the paralysis.
I don't know if Baha realized that he's the most likely target, so I prepare to intercept the next attack.
In one simultaneous movement the winged tiger roars and leaps towards Baha.
Too fast for him to dodge, at this rate he'll be paralyzed again.
The tiger must be using vibrations transmitted through the roar to cause this state of paralysis, With that in mind I fully activate the electricity lapis stone which generates electric sparks and then they become 'serpents' surrounding my saber, before the lightning can strike anything, I suddenly deactivate the lapis, creating a sound similar to thunder.
Hopefully this will interfere with the vibrations of the roar, preventing the tiger from paralyzing Baha again.
Baha, who seemed to want to dodge, goes straight towards the tiger while the beast has not yet processed that the paralyzing roar has been nullified. With the tiger in the final seconds of its airborne leap, Baha extends his arm and Katar, overlapping with fire, and slashes the tiger's abdomen as it runs in the opposite direction.
I run in the general direction Baha was before the jump so as not to leave any escape routes open for the winged tiger.
After having its roar canceled repeatedly, the tiger simply runs towards me as soon as it reaches the ground.
I activate the light lapis while jumping to the side to avoid colliding with the tiger, with me still in his line of sight my saber reflects the light in an exaggerated way creating a brief flash of light that disorients him.
I switch to the wind lapis making the wind be in my favor, any improvement in my speed counts, I advance towards the tiger and cut deeply into one of its front legs.
'I wanted to rip it off.' I lament in my mind as I back away from the tiger who is about to let out another roar as he tries to crush me with his other claw.
Before the tiger can roar, Baha throws one of the Katar towards the tiger's head, passing close to its eyes but ending up hitting its teeth and fangs, did not hurt the beast but stopped the roar.
With the tiger slightly confused by the 'toothpick' that was thrown at him, I give up on moving away from the tiger, instead I advance with everything holding the saber with both hands and stick the blade in the tiger's mouth, piercing its skull.
The tiger tries to attack me with its claws but before it can, I move away from it, leaving the saber behind. Seconds later the winged tiger finally stops breathing.
A little hesitantly I approach the tiger to pick up my saber.
"If that thing flew I'd be dead already." Baha mutters as he moves to my side.
"Or he would have run away from the old monster and Jill." I answer half-heartedly with adrenaline still running at full speed through my veins.
"How did we do?" I ask looking at Kaz as I finish removing the saber from the tiger's mouth.
With an exasperated sigh he answers.
"I should give the airhead a frisbee."