"Jeez Dylan, just how far did you go to find the meadow, are we there yet?" Sora asked with a sigh.
It was a bright and hot day, the group had been walking for almost 30 minutes, while that might not be long, the river they followed didn't have many trees around it which provided them with little to no shade. What made it worse was the sound of nice cold water next to them. They didn't have anything to drink since coming to Loctus which made them all slightly dehydrated, the heat also didn't help with this.
Sora had told them once they arrive at the meadow that she could make some clay cups and pots to boil water and kill off any bacteria in it.
"We're almost there, just a couple more minutes probably." Dylan assured her.
Occasionally they encountered parasites of the harmless rank and hunted those that were easy prey. Nazurak got to absorb 2 life essence while Sora absorbed one.
Eventually, the river broke into a large grassy terrain, they reached the meadow.
Looking at the meadow with relief, Sora smiled.
"Finally!"
Turning his back to the meadow, Dylan faced them with a proud expression.
"Well? What do you guys think?"
'Thank God! I thought we got lost there for a moment...how would we get lost if I found the meadow BY following the river' he thought.
Nazurak stared at the large open area for a moment, then spoke.
"It's perfect, bigger than I thought but that's not a bad thing at all."
That was when he noticed something, the mushrooms were quite far but he was sure of what he saw. Something was moving underneath them.
"Dylan, when you found this place have you seen any creatures lurking around the mushrooms?"
Alarmed by his question, both Dylan and Sora turned their attention to the center of the meadow and watched the mushrooms until they saw it.
This time, it walked in a more visible area and its silhouette could vaguely be made out. Without a doubt, a parasite was living there, or rather parasites were living there.
"So many..." Sora trembled.
"I counted 6 but there could be more that we can't see." Nazurak said while observing the parasites.
Dylan tightened his fists into a grip.
"Do we fight?" He asked with a determined look.
Nazurak thought for a bit then took out his scanner and brought it to eye level.
[Calculating...]
[Threat Level: Hostile]
Closing his eyes he slid away the scanner back into his pocket and sighed.
"They're of the hostile rank, I'm going to be honest, I don't think we can take on that many at once."
Regaining her composure Sora thought for a bit then joined the conversation.
"Can't we pick them off one by one?"
***
The group laid out their options and ideas. In the end they agreed to study the parasites from afar until they get more information, then attack them one by one, or at least attempt to. They also wanted to be more prepared in terms of weapons. Of course, all they had around them were sticks and stones, however with Nazurak's soul trait they could be boosted to the next level.
The three of them walked back into the forest and immediately started hunting while saving the last hit for Nazurak.
Hiding in a bush they stared at a harmless parasite that was minding its own business, it was another boar, the same type Dylan had killed.
Dylan kept his eyes on the boar and softly spoke.
"Same plan as last time?"
Sora nodded.
"Same plan."
This was the 4th boar they hunted, the team found a strategy that synergized well enough to where none of them would get any moderate injuries, it was also much more efficient, saving them energy and time.
With the same stick they used to kill the tendrils monster, Sora gripped it and brought it as far back as she could, then she quickly twisted her torsos and flung her hand forward letting her trait do the rest of the work.
It flew with great speed and plunged deeply into the boar's stomach. The attack was not over, sprinting from the bush, Dylan skidded to the beast gripping the stick and pulling it out. Wasting no time, he blindly jammed the enhanced stick back in and hopped away.
The harmless parasite squealed for a moment then swayed, eventually falling to the ground.
"You're up Nazurak." Dylan signaled.
Stepping out of the bush, Nazurak held a long branch with a pointed tip, it was a makeshift spear. They had made one after leaving the meadow. Its tip was stained with blood showing they have done this many times already.
Walking up to the boar it stared at Nazurak wanting to get back up and fight.
"Sorry, thank you for the life essence."
Bringing the spear up with two hands, he thrust downwards making contact. The wooden spear was not enhanced by essence so it didn't pierce as smoothly. But it was more than enough, the boar was already on Death's bed.
Feeling the essence flow through him, it had confirmed their 4th kill.
[Life essence 6/100]
'not bad, but we'll have to hunt more if we want a good weapon for everyone'
"Let's pause for now." Sora said walking out of the bush to stretch.
Taking a break, they regained their strength next to a fire and cooked some of the meat they caught from today. Sora had decided to make some clay cups for now just to get them by until they made camp in the meadow.
"Okay, the cups should be done tomorrow, unfortunately we'll have to go one more day without water..."
Firing clay takes a while, especially if the heat source is not constant. Nazurak decided to make another wooden spear, Dylan watched him and talked about random stuff since he had nothing else to do.
The group rested for about an hour and then got ready to move back out. Sora put out the fire but kept the clay pots in the ashes. Hunting was easily going to take the rest of the day, so they'll be back.
"Before we go out again, I should enhance one of the spears to make the hunts easier. But for the sake of power and efficiency, I'll put most of my essence into one spear." Nazurak said, already closing his eyes and moving his life essence to the wooden spear.
[Life essence 1/100]
[Harmless wooden spear 5/10]
His head throbbed and his vision blurred but he shook it off and tossed the spear to Sora.
"Use that one since it's better to throw a spear than a stick, I'll take the regular spear and Dylan can have the enhanced stick. Depending on how many we kill, I can pour more essence into them later."
With a firm nod, the group made their second hunting trip.
***
The sun was now reaching the horizon and its light passed through the trees at an angle. Standing next to 3 dead boars, the group relaxed and sat down.
"Haah, I'm exhausted!" Dylan said catching his breath.
"Same!" Sora exclaimed. "I'm surprised we were able to get all three."
Wiping the sweat off his forehead Nazurak smiled when he looked at his life essence.
[Life essence 14/100]
"We did good guys, with this we can get our spears to their full potential."
They had worked hard and spent the rest of the day hunting, killing 5 more boars and 9 of a new harmless parasite they discovered. The weird-looking parasite was green in color and clung onto the trees with its 6 legs to drink tree sap. They didn't fight back at all and didn't seem to care about their surroundings. What made them special though, was their speed, they were faster than the boars and the only way to hit them was with Sora's trait. After it was hit, Dylan followed up, then Nazurak. To say the least, it was a whole lot easier hunting these than the boars.
Walking over to one of the spears that were jammed in the boar, he pulled it out and held both spears in his hands.
"Well then...no point in wasting time right?"
Closing his eyes he focused on the spears in his hands, then started to circle the life essence within his body to the palms of his hands.
'here it goes...I have a feeling this is going to hurt'
Releasing the essence from his palms, the wooden spears acted like a sponge and soaked up every bit of essence he offered.
As the final life essence left his body the dizziness kicked in with blurred vision after. A sharp pain suddenly rushed to his head causing him to fall to one knee.
"Ughh!"
Concerned, Dylan and Sora rushed to him and supported him up.
"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's like this every time I fully drain my life essence."
He was still holding onto the spears, so he closed his eyes and dived into his mind, feeling the essence inside them.
[Harmless wooden spear 10/10]
[Harmless wooden spear 10/10]
With a slight laugh, he stood on his own and handed both Dylan and Sora a spear.
"Your very own hostile weapon, I'll take the stick, with my current essence I'm not as strong. Plus you two are the main damage dealers."
Dylan's eyes sparked as he exchanged weapons with Nazurak.
"Wow, you can really feel the difference. It's so sturdy, I don't even think I'd be able to snap this thing in half! Without being boosted from my trait of course."
He thrust the spear around to get the feel of it. Sora on the other hand was staring at the spear with a smile.
"Thank you, Nazurak. I'll be sure to boil you some extra water when the cups are done."
Hearing this Dylan's ears wiggled and he stopped swinging.
"Wait...we're not getting equal portions?"
***
The group walked back to where they made a fire earlier today and slept once again in the cold dark. Thankfully, the night went smoothly other than small insects biting them.
The sun rose and the forest became lively again. Sora had started another fire with meat cooking on it. The clay cups had already boiled water, they were just waiting for it to cool down.
"Water should be good to drink soon." She smiled.
Dylan was patiently sitting next to Sora gulping every now and then, while Nazurak was tossing a pebble in the air and catching it, waiting for the water to cool.
He stopped tossing the pebble and then thought about their next move.
'We got our weapons for the most part, so now what? Observe them for a while to see if we notice anything that would help us? Or try to lure one out from under the mushroom and study the way it fights?'
His thoughts were interrupted when Sora picked up one of the cups and took a sip. Was sip the right word? Definitely not, Sora was gulping the whole thing.
"Oh, it's warm but heavenly!" She cried out.
Acting on instincts Dylan grabbed a cup for himself so fast that a good amount spilled out. Fortunately, Sora made them quite big so it wasn't that bad.
With each gulp, he felt life flowing back into him.
"Ahaaa, it's great to be alive."
Nazurak was the only one to drink his water relatively slowly. Maybe it was because he did the least amount of moving when it came to the hunts.
Satisfied by the fact that they're not dying of dehydration. The group talked about what to do next. Nazurak brought up the idea they had before of observing the parasites. Dylan said they should get a third spear but was later declined when Nazurak said he was fine with the stick for now.
"Hmm, so then we'll watch them and see if we can find out anything?" Sora questioned.
Finishing his water, Nazurak replied and stood up.
"Yeah I think that's the best option, we don't have to risk our lives and we get helpful information. Sounds like a win-win to me."
Thinking about it and then nodding, Sora also stood up and grabbed her spear.
Dylan grabbed his as well and added.
"But if the first fight doesn't go well, we're making you a spear."
With that, they headed to a small hill at the end of the forest where the meadow started. Like last time, only the parasite's silhouettes could be made out. But all they needed was some information to get the advantage in the fight.
Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours, they watched carefully but didn't seen anything. The parasite just seems to be walking under the mushrooms all day never leaving its shade.
'Wait...'
Something clicked in Nazurak's head.
'Could it be?'