"8 gold coin profit! ! I need to get more Shifter skin for Mimic, because that's almost 7 times the total profit of the store over its entire lifetime! I can get chameleon blood pretty easily, so it's no a big deal, but Shifters are a whole other thing." I paced back and forth in front of my friends as I proposed a business deal. "As you know, this and next week are Hunt Weeks, we could go get some but this would be our last chance."
"We could go hunt for them, they aren't uncommon in mountainous regions." Devin fell for my trap.
"I will help, but I expect to be paid fairly." Laura did not.
"Well I'm out, I have stuff to do for the next two weeks." Orin decided to not follow me for once.
"We've got a team then? I'll give you each four silvers per hide."
They both gave me their variation of "Deal." and we all signed up to go on a hunting trip the next day. We had a teacher assigned to us for safety and evaluation and we set off for a "nearby" mountain range.
"Alright kiddos, the Keldos mountain range is just four days away, we will travel by carriage and we have to be back within two weeks, leaving us six days to hunt. Make it count." Professor Lana gave us an introduction to Hunt Weeks.
There had already been Hunt Weeks but I had no reason to join one before, I could just buy stuff from the people who went out, the only problem was that the mountains were far away from our forest so people rarely went to them for Hunt Weeks.
"I'm ready, I'll practice intuitive manipulation and runes while we go. What about you two?" I sat cross-legged and spun woven-metal runes around me, trying to memorize them.
"I'll do Intuitive Manipulation and Flow Manipulation." Laura put her hands together and practiced keeping her fire under control.
"I gotta practice my new sub-affinity." Devin started to create portals to move the caravan faster.
********
We all sat around the campfire, Laura and Devin were immobile because of Eneru exhaustion, I was feeling very sluggish, but I still carried them to the fire one by one, both Boel and Denny were drained and could barely carry their packs let alone people.
"I wish Orin were here, he's strong and carries me around when I get exhausted."
"I'da thunk tat's te problam, ou reaaly too munh en em." Devin was having problems speaking because of his exhaustion.
"Yeah, I could see that, my over-reliance probably makes him feel more like a pet than a companion. I'll have to work on that."
"Yus, yur rite, Orn is nut a pat." Laura slurred.
"I'm going to go get some rest, do you two want me to carry you to your tents?"
"Yus."
********
The rest of the trip continued as before, Boel and Denny each pulled their carts, and Lana never once interfered with anything we did but wrote down notes in her notebook periodically.
"We're almost there!" I saw the mountains off in the distance and I broke the silence that suffocated the carriages.
"We will have to rest today so the golems can be in tip-top shape by tomorrow," Devin said
"I'll take watch tonight." After a rude awakening involving wolves, we learned to keep one person awake at all times while we rest.
"I'm gonna go to sleep early so I can take over for you." Laura leaned out of the carriage to look for the mountain.
We found a spot to make camp where should have slept for the next four days, but since we got to the mountain faster because of Devin's new affinity, we had to be there for five days.
The night went without incident, or so we thought.
In a whisper, I told Devin "My glasses saw something last night with its thermal augment, and I I'm sure it was a shifter, I have a plan. Go tell Laura to come here and pretend that we are going out to hunt."
I patted him on the back and walked over to my golems to equip them with gear specialized for hunting. Boel had arrows that would anchor their prey to the ground and Denny carried a spear instead of a hammer because the hammer would ruin the hide and meat.
Devin came back with Laura.
"Laura, port us out of here, and once we are gone I'll explain the rest."
Lana silently followed us through the portal, leaving the campsite unguarded.
"Devin, give us a portal above the camp, we need a window to see through."
"You got it."
When the portal opened we saw that, as predicted, a small pack of four Shifters was raiding the camp for its food, even though it was all in my shed that was shrunk to the size of my palm.
"How many portals can you open at once?"
"Four."
"Collapse this portal and work with Laura to surround the camp, we will all attack at once and kill them."
"Ok, just tell me when."
"Go!"