When Polemos was done embracing the desert he looked over at the still very happy Centipede that continued to hiss in glee.
"Hisss, hiss, hisssss, ssssssssss."
Polemos just smiled and called out to Rose as they needed to start on their hunt for the lizards as Polemos needed those to get their claws and scales, while he also had to set up his two 'friends' in order to deal out his revenge.
"Alright Rose, it's time to hunt, let's head down and see who'll beat who." Polemos chuckled as Rose raised her head and scurried on over to Polemos and placed him atop her head as she headed down the giant spire.
When they both reached the ground Rose took off as she headed to an area that held the Red Horned Bearded Lizards.
When Rose made it atop of a big sand dune, Polemos was able to see groups upon groups of lizards everywhere that looked to be congregating around a mid-sized water source. Polemos was very shocked to see all of those groups as he wasn't expecting to see this at all, as it looked like he needed to change his hunting strategy so that Polemos could increase his strength.
"Well although this sight is very unexpected I shouldn't just back off now as that would make me a coward or craven. Let's just start here and see what we can do then." Polemos grinned as he patted Rose's head again.
"Alright go and hunt on your own as I will do the same, try to not eat or melt them if you can as I do need those scales and claws but, if you can't then no harm done as I did say this was a hunting competition not a preservation competition." Polemos laughed at his own joke as Rose just hissed as they went off to go and hunt on their own to see who'll win.
When Polemos was able to spot a group of three lizards that were by themselves and away from the many other groups, he was able to slowly get close behind them as he hid by a small hill of sand.
The Elite Red Horned Bearded Lizards were about the size of a dire wolf, four strong legs, a long and heavy tail, and from what Polemos was able to gather very sharp claws and teeth. They had golden yellow scales and bright red horns atop their heads that actually looked pretty sharp.
'They definitely fit the description from the notebook, plus if that is pretty accurate then according to what the notebook says about their strength then they are around the Intermediate Acolyte stage 4-5 or, there could be stronger ones as I find them, just need to stay away from the ones that are in groups of five as they will have one Special Elite.' Polemos was going over what the notebook had said about the Red Horned Bearded Lizards as he was waiting for the perfect time to strike.
Polemos's plan was to use his Earth Spire spell on one of the underbellies on one of them while throwing his harpoon at another then proceed to fight the two together.
When Polemos had his plan all ready, he put it into action and started his hunt.
Polemos slowly stood from his spot, unsheathed his harpoon and then used his Earth Spire spell.
When the earthen spire shot out of the ground and pierced the middle one of the three lizards in its underbelly and through its back, killing it before it could scream in pain.
Polemos then threw his harpoon at the lizard on the left, as the harpoon flew in the air it was able to pierce into its chest. As the lizard roared in pain as the harpoon not only pierced its flesh but was able to hit one of its lungs. As the other lizard noticed that they were under attack it turned to see the human that was attacking them, it roared as it charged over to attack revealing multiple rows of very sharp teeth indeed.
When Polemos was able to harpoon the lizard on the left he immediately pulled back on his rope to pull out the harpoon, as he was pulling on the rope he had unsheathed his axe to engage the charging Elite Red Horned Bearded Lizard. Unfortunately when Polemos tried to pull the harpoon out it actually got lodged inside the lizard causing it immense pain as it tore its lung apart while also tearing its insides apart, then getting stuck on a rib bone.
As the red horned bearded lizard got closer to Polemos it leaped into the air and tried to strike Polemos with its claws. When the lizard was close to hitting Polemos, he was able to dodge with a side step to the left while its claw brushed past him, as the lizard missed its strike, Polemos did one of his own as he swung his axe into the underside of its lower jaw. When the axe struck the underside of the lizard's lower jaw it made a sickening crunching sound as it seemed like Polemos shattered its lower jaw!
As the red horned bearded lizard felt its lower jaw shatter it tried to wail in pain or make a noise but what came out was a bunch of gargled sounds, but it wouldn't stop it from trying to claw the insides of the human who caused it.
When Polemos saw the look of pure hate and anger from the red horned bearded lizard he smirked, as he released his grip on the rope and formed a fireball and threw it towards the harpooned lizard. As the fireball reached the wounded lizard it made a horrible noise as it wailed in pain as it fell to the sand.
When the lizard saw that the human smirked it charged towards Polemos again and tried to ram its horns into him.
When Polemos saw that it tried to ram him with its horns he dodged to the side again but, when he noticed the charging lizard shift its head as one of the horns was able to pierce Polemos in the stomach!
Polemos grunted in pain as the red horned bearded lizard continued to try and run him through with its horn, Polemos focused as he made another fireball and thrusted it into the neck of the lizard creating a very pungent burning smell.
The lizard jerked its head when it's neck was struck from the fireball tearing Polemos's stomach even more but was getting noticeably weaker as it was losing its strength. Polemos noticed it getting weaker and made another fireball as his head started to feel like a truck just hit him, but gritted his teeth and thrusted again into the lizard's neck killing it in the process.
When the red horned bearded lizard was finally dead Polemos was able to pull its head out of his stomach grunting in pain as his face was losing color. Polemos quickly noticed the hole that was in his stomach that was flowing blood as he fell to his knees in pain but didn't forget that one of the lizards was still alive but was close to dying.
As Polemos slowly got back to his feet and walked over to the dying red horned bearded lizard he gripped his axe and lifted it above his head and brought it down driving it into the middle of its head.
"Crack, crunch."
The head of the red horned bearded lizard's head caved inward as blood and gray matter was flowing out of its skull, dying the sand red.
When everything was all over and done Polemos breathed out a very long and heavy breath of air.
"Gods, that was harder than I thought, I should have definitely only tried one that was in groups of two then move up because this really was a little more than I could chew."
Polemos chuckled as he bled from his stomach but figured he would be ok as when he; Mana washed his skin and muscles it did increase the toughness of his body. But if he didn't take care of it, it would eventually kill him.
Polemos just shook his head as he proceeded to loot his kills on the ground then lower the lizard that was still pierced by his Earth Spire spell. Polemos was able to gather 60 claws and skinned what he could for the scales, he even harvested some of the red horned bearded lizard meat as he did wonder how it tasted.
"Alright well that's three so far let's see if I can beat Rose though I doubt I can as she'll have an easier time maybe. But let's rest for a bit as I need to at least take care of this hole, and I also need to ease my mind as that was a very unpleasant feeling and could definitely cost one in battle if that happens. Did my Mana run out, or was that just a warning saying I'm getting close?"
Polemos pondered as he rested for what felt like an hour as his head no longer hurt but, before he moved onto the next group he took off his tunic and wrapped it around his wound as a quick bandage. Polemos's eye twitched slightly as he pulled the makeshift bandage tight.
"Alright that's all taken care of now, let's see what I'll be able to do for the rest of the day as the old saying goes 'time waits for no man,' let's get this shit!"
Polemos grinned as his eyes flashed with anticipation for what was to come.