"Finally here!" Jean let out a shout as she wiped the sweat from her brow. "So hot.."
"At least we do not turn to ash in the sunlight like in some stories." Fate said jokingly as she pulled on the collar of her shirt.
The two had finally left the safety zone and were now deep in the canyon. The hot, dry sun overhead beat down on the two teen girls. Sweat dripped from their white skin, causing their clothes to stick close to their bodies. The wind that blew by was just as hot as the air around them. If the two of them were not trinities, there would be no way for them to survive in such scorching heat. Fate was glad she did not wear a white t-shirt, or everyone would be able to see through it by now.
"What monsters will we be starting with?" Fate asked.
"To start off with, we will be fighting sand scorpions. They are earth-based monsters with earth elemental attacks. They can travel underground very quickly and are good at sneak attacks. We will need to concentrate on the vibrations in our feet. Any slight vibration in the ground could be an attack. They can also cast an ability called sand storm. Besides these two attacks, I think you will do fine" Jean gave all the ins and outs of the sand scorpion. They were vicious even for higher-level trinities if they were not paying attention. Mainly because once you let your guard down, they would sting you with their large stinger stabbing into your body, injecting a paralysis poison. It would paralyze the whole body, making it impossible to move or feel pain, but it did not make the person pass out. In other words, if you were unlucky to let your guard down and got stung, you would end up lunch to the sand scorpion, who would then proceed to eat you alive while you could do nothing but watch. It was not just the sand scorpions who did this, but many other monsters on this planet poison their prey and then ate them alive while they couldn't do anything.
"Then we should be careful then. I read up on these monsters as well. The last thing I want is to get stung by one of them." Fate remembered to push into her brain all the poisonous-type monsters out there. Mainly because out of all monsters, this was the scariest type. She never wanted to be stuck in a situation where she couldn't even die from pain if she was being eaten alive.
Fate drew her sword. It was a short sword with a bluish blade and a red hilt. Aiden gave it to her as a present before she left with Jean. Fate really did not understand what her and Aiden's relationship actually was, but when he gave her things, she felt warmth in her heart. No matter what they were, she would make sure to take good care of them. Even the kitty cat panties were hand washed after she wore them. This sword would be no different.
"I will run out and try to get one or two to follow me." Jean said before running off.
But as Jean ran to go pull some monsters, Fate felt a strong vibration under her feet. She wasted no time in jumping up into the air doing a backflip as a large scorpion claw burst through the ground, followed by the huge body of a brown spotted sand scorpion. It agilely twisted its body, landing on its feet.
"Skeee!"
It made a shrill sound. Fate could tell it was angered that it had missed its target. It stamped its front legs a few times in anger before charging at Fate. Fate's eyes became blood red as she gripped her sword and charged forward. She knew that if she retreated, the sand scorpion would have the upper hand, so charging forward was the best option. Fate's eyes flashed with a purple light, and she used {Illusion}, but she quickly frowned when she saw it had no effect. "Is it because it's a monster?"
Fate decided she was going to need to research her abilities a little better. "At any rate, you must be around level 3 or level 4. Let's see how many experience points you will give me!" Fate licked the blade of her sword as she suddenly turned to the right and ran up the cliff wall next to her and then kicked off trying to get above the scorpion.
The scorpion wasted no time trying to counter the incoming attack as it shot its tail right at Fate at an astonishing speed. Unfortunately for it, Fate was expecting such an attack and swung her sword down on top of it, causing sparks to fly as the sword ground against the tail's hard shell. "Damnit!" Fate yelled out as she used the momentum from the stinger as a way to put space between the two of them. She eyed the sand scorpion, trying to figure out her next move. The underside of the sand scorpion was where its weak point was or in between the armor-like plates that covered its body. It would be a simple matter to kill one if she could just run up and slide underneath it stabbing her sword deep into its flesh and slicing down, but the issue was its tail. The tail was fast and flexible, bending into any direction the scorpion wished.
"Fate!" Jean, who had gone to pull monsters, was just now returning with two sand scorpions in tow. When she saw Fate already in battle, she couldn't help but worry.
"I'm fine. Just tank those two for me until I finish this one." Fate yelled out.
"Alright, just be careful. I have been feeling a very strong vibration around here. If I am not wrong a King Sand Scorpion may be in the area." Jean warned.
Just hearing this made Fate frown.