Elwen the Conquered

Elwen took in the sights around her. They decided that they needed more experience fighting as a team before they started properly adventuring, so Varian took a simple quest from the Adventurer's Guild for hunting some Rock Lizards. Apparently, a small group of them had wandered too close to the city for comfort, and the Guildmaster decided to take care of them before they decided to leave the hills entirely. In truth, Varian didn't need to take the quest, they could have just gone after the lizards without it, but the Guild provided information on their last known location and how to defeat them. Additionally, it would take care of any other groups going after them, as it was an exclusive quest. The money was nice bonus, too, although it wasn't so large that they would have taken the quest if they weren't already planning on going. Varian and Reia weren't worried about the lizards being too strong, but Elwen couldn't help but feel nervous.

The Stony Heights, the formal name of the area, was an apt description. It seemed that the further they went in, the more the terrain transformed from a warm and gently sloping grassland to a hot and arid desert. More and more ground shifted from soft soil to large slabs of hard stone covered in thin layers of sand, with rocks and pebbles pooling like water in the valleys between the largest boulders. There were large sections sliced out of the terrain, mostly closer to the city, evidence of previous efforts to quarry the stone. None of them looked active, though, either because the area was too dangerous to set up a mining operation or the city didn't need the stone.

There was hardly any vegetation in the area, and the plants that she did see were all small, spherical cacti or short thorny bushes. There was scarcely any water, too, with them only finding a small pond hiding in the shade of one of the larger hills. She wondered how any of the monsters could survive, given the environment. It seemed to her that there was barely anything for them to eat or drink, nothing to sustain them.

Varian was just in front of her, carefully watching the surroundings as they passed through one of the valleys. He had his trusty longsword by his side, resting in its sheath, and a small wooden shield in his left hand. She hadn't seen him wearing his new armor before, but she vaguely remembered him doing maintenance on it.

The most notable of the new armor was a metal breastplate, covering most of his torso, on top of a mail shirt. A metal cover for his boots protected his feet and shins, ending just above his knees. Similarly, he wore a pair of bracers that covered his lower arms on top of a pair of leather gloves. Finally, he had a simple helmet that covered his head, but left his face exposed. His armor still left quite a few areas that were unprotected, or at least not protected well, but he commented that it was the best he could do, for now.

He had a [Medium Armor Expertise] skill that made medium armor more effective, durable, and lighter for him. Technically, the breastplate was considered heavy armor, but his skill allowed him to substitute it in as long as he wore lighter armor elsewhere. In the past, most of the blows that seriously injured or killed him were to the chest, he decided it was worth it. Unfortunately, he couldn't find anything to do the same for his neck. He was considering trying to pick up [Heavy Armor Expertise], but he wasn't entirely sure if it was worth it. Medium armor was easier to move around in and wouldn't burden him as much, which would be important while adventuring. Still, if he wanted something that protected him well, he would have to search for better medium armor.

Reia was up ahead of them, walking along the top of the ridge, scouting for monsters. Elwen was surprised when she wore the same outfit as yesterday to the mission, only adding a tan hooded cloak to help conceal her. Apparently, her dress was made out of a similar, but more protective material than the outfit Elwen picked out. Some sort of super-cotton backed by drake leather. It even qualified as light armor, which meant that Reia's [Light Armor Expertise] boosted it further.

It almost made her feel under armored, given that the outfit she picked out didn't even qualify as light armor. Still, without a perk allowing it, wearing any kind of armor would make it difficult to use magic.

They did visit a magic shop in the morning, where she picked up a wand. It was short, around twenty centimeters long, with tiny decorative carvings along its length and a small bulb at the handle end, which contained a small water focus. It was made of honey ash, a tree that secreted a sweet honey-like sap during the spring. Supposedly, it was magically conductive, which should improve the efficiency of her spells, at least compared to just using her hands. Her efficiency wasn't bad, but it wasn't perfect, and the better it was the more she could get out of her mana pool. It might even make it so she could put more power behind her spells, but using too much mana risked cracking the wand.

“I see them!” Reia called pointing at something on the other side of the hill, “They're this way! Four of them. Looks like they're eating something.”

“How far?” Varian asked, “And do we need to climb up there, or is there a way around?”

“About two hundred meters or so? I'm not sure.” Reia answered, “You might want to come up here just to take a look. I don't think they'll notice us from here. They seem pretty absorbed in whatever they're eating.”

“Alright. Give us a minute to climb up.” Varian decided he liked the idea of taking a look. It would make it easier to plan, and that was always good going into a fight.

Elwen had a tough time scaling the ridge, on account of it being far too steep. The ground beneath her shifted as she stepped up, making it difficult for her to make any progress. Varian was having similar results, perhaps even worse because of his added weight, although he wasn't out of breath after a few minutes like she was. Eventually, she remembered an earth spell that hardened the ground, which made it much easier to climb.

“Hm...” Varian analyzed the situation, “They're bigger than I expected. Are they normally this size?”

“I'm not sure, I've never actually seen one in person,” Reia replied, “But they all appraise between level twenty and twenty five, so I don't they'll be much of a problem.”

“Oh? You can get them from here?” Varian raised an eyebrow. He wasn't able to get anything back when he tried appraising, so he just assumed they were too far away. There was a limit to the basic skill, after all.

“Yep,” Reia grinned, “[Assassin's Eyes] boosts [Appraisal]. Lets me use it farther and see potential weak points.”

“Do you see any?” He hadn't heard of that perk. Although it sounded like a class perk, so he doubted he could get it himself, unless he wanted to change classes.

“Let me see...” Reia stared at the lizards for a few seconds, “The tops are covered in rocks, which acts as a sort of armor, but their undersides don't. Other than that, the eyes or the mouth are the only other options. They're pretty well covered. Good news is that it looks heavy, I'd don't think they'll be able to move very fast.”

“Ellie, do you think you can hit them from here?” He asked her.

She looked down at the lizards, “I don't think so. They're pretty far.” All her practice so far had been close, less than twenty meters. Was it possible to hit them from here? Maybe, but she didn't think she could, at least not yet. “I'm sorry, I haven't really tried to cast anything at this distance...”

“That's ok.” Varian responded, “How about from there?” He pointed to a ridge across from them, on the other side of the group of lizards. “It looks much closer.”

“I can try,” Elwen responded.

“We'll want to sneak around,” Reia interrupted, “Unless you want to catch a rock tail in the face while we're climbing.”

“Can you find a way around?” Varian asked Reia, “I don't think Elwen and I can be too quiet.”

“Sure, I'm on it!” Reia answered, darting off while activating her [Stealth] skills. They waited for her to find a path, discussing what their strategy would be. After only a few minutes, Reia came back and led them around the hills and up a shallow path. She motioned for them to be quiet, and the slowly walked up to the top of the ridge, overlooking the group of lizards.

“Reia,” Varian whispered, “Elwen is going to use some magic to make it harder for them to climb up and give us a boost, then start hitting them with some attack magic. We don't think it'll be enough to take one out, so I want you to sneak around and ambush them from behind, while I draw them to me. Hopefully, she can at least stagger one, and the others will rush up at me. I want you to take that one out first. Don't worry about supporting me, just focus on taking them out as quickly as possible without them turning on you.” Reia nodded, then carefully slipped away. Varian gave her a few minutes to get into position, before telling Elwen to start.

Elwen placed her hands on the sand and started casting [Heat]. It was a fire-attribute spell, one that should warm the sand, and with enough mana, force any water to slowly boil off. The goal was to dry the sand completely, since wet sand stuck together. After she felt like she was done, she switched to [Breeze]. It didn't work quite as well as [Heat], since it was meant to be used in open air rather than directed towards the ground, but it did successful aerate the sand slightly, which made it easier it to slip. Unfortunately, it did also kick up little clouds of sand, but luckily it didn't alert the lizards.

“Done.” She whispered, pulling her hands back and lightly brushing them off. Most of the sand fell off, but there was still a thin coating that stuck to her skin.

“Ok,” Varian responded, “Whenever you're ready.”

She took a deep breath, before pulling out her wand and raising it to the lizards. As she began to push her mana through the focus stone, a small magic circle began to shine at the tip of the wand. Slowly, an ice crystal formed, growing as she poured more and more mana into it. When it was ready, she let go of the [Ice Spear], sending it flying towards the largest of the lizards.

The spear buried itself between two rocks, digging deep into the lizard's side. It let out a roar of pain as the other lizards suddenly perked and began rushing up the ridge as they spotted them. Even though Reia had said they wouldn't be fast, Elwen was still surprised that they were so slow. It looked more like fast turtles; Even she could outrun them if she tried. Still, the three were making good progress up the hill, slipping far less that she and Varian had.

Luckily, it seemed their preparations were worth it as one of them hit a particularly sandy area, disturbing it just enough that a large section, including the lizard, slid all the way down to the bottom just as Reia finished off the one that Elwen hit earlier. Immediately, Reia targeted that one, although it was a much tougher fight because it wasn't already injured and the it had landed facing her, giving up any hope for having the element of surprise.

Elwen began casting [Shock] at the two lizards still climbing. It wasn't very effective, but it did stun them for a second, giving Varian an advantage as he tried to thrust his sword into their weak points. It also had the added effect of making a loud snapping noise, which distracted the lizards from the fight below them.

After one of the lizards had an unlucky swipe at him, causing it to slip to the side, Varian managed to land a deep cut on its underbelly. The lizard flailed as it slid down, ceasing shortly after it arrived at the bottom.

Reia nicked the lizard's arms as it tried to claw her. She dodged its attack again and again, growing concerned as the lizard showed no signs of stop. Normally, the poison she put on her daggers were enough to make someone unconscious in a few seconds, but it seemed that the lizard was more resistant.

Maybe it was the size? She hadn't tried this particular poison on anything non-human, mainly because she never had a reason to, but it was also the only one she had on hand. There was a slim chance that the poison just wouldn't be effective because of biological differences, which worried her. The rock lizard was simply too well armored for her to damage normally, and she couldn't get close enough to hit its head.

She let out a sigh of relief as the lizard finally slowed down, before stumbling head-first into a nearby rock. In the brief moment it was distracted, she managed to leave a particularly nasty cut near its tail. She just needed to endure, waiting for it to fall asleep.

Elwen sent another [Ice Spear] at the last lizard. Being so much closer, it was much more effective, although she didn't have enough time to strengthen the spell, so the overall power was about the same. The spear crashed into the lizard's side, hitting its rock armor. It didn't penetrate, but it did give Varian an opportunity cut its claw arm badly. It swiped at him with its other claw, but he managed to leap back just in time. Another [Shock] from Elwen gave him just enough time to lunge back in, stabbing his sword through the monster's mouth.

Looking down, Varian saw that Reia had just finished hers off too. “Are you alright?” He asked.

“I'm fine!” Reia answered, “Any injures up there?”

“We're both good!” He replied, “Just a ding in my armor. We should grab the evidence and head back to the Guild.” He began dragging the body of the lizard down the hill, sand surfing once he got it moving.

“I think we'll have to go hunting again. We didn't really do that as a team, did we?” Reia commented.

Varian froze, suddenly remembering the reason the even came out here to begin with. “... Right. Let's go out again tomorrow. I don't feel like doing any more today.”