[center][color=black]▬▬ι[/color]═══════ﺤ[h2][color=darkslateblue][b]K A Z U K I[/b][/color][/h2]৴═══════[color=black]ι▬▬[/color]
[h3][i][b]Magma Highlands[/b][/i][/h3]
[i]Area 1 > Area 3[/i]
[@LeamonZest89][@SantosGabriel77][@Kazemitsu][@ZekariVoblis][hr][/center]
Kazuki looked around the lush greenery at the base of the mountain, taking note of a few patches where Herbs or other useful plants might grow. The volcano's ashy soil made for fertile plantlife, but it could only survive in these small pockets where the heat and periodic lava flows could be avoided. As a consequence, however, it was a key point for all of the wildlife--all creatures would need water to survive, even if they were adapted to withstand the fiery warmth in other ways.

An Aptonoth lifted its head to stare at him as he approached the watering hole, but as he made no moves of aggression the herbivore mostly ignored him. They were drinking and grazing, and though they were keeping a lookout they didn't seem overly concerned about anything. Kazuki had found that, if a large or otherwise dangerous monster was nearby, herbivores like this would react in ways that a good Hunter could read--Aptonoth, specifically, would rise up on their hind legs and bellow loudly, as a way of making sure the rest of their herd saw and herd them before they began migrating to safer locales. So the Iodrome was likely not in any of the immediate areas--2, 3, and 4 if he remembered correctly, but he would have to get Clara to look at the map to be sure.

He knelt and began examining the area around the watering hole, specifically any areas where it looked like footprints had been left in the mud around the shallow edges. Sure enough, there were plenty of the birdlike tracks that meant Ioprey had been here recently...and there was the bigger set of the alpha monster. But the water made it too hard to tell how long it had been since they had come here.

When Clara and some of the others arrived, the Long Swordsman approached the Great Swordswoman as he used one hand to adjust his hat against the sunlight. He asked her to let him see the map for a moment, and gestured with a finger to plot their course.

"Let's temporarily split up here--you go to Area 2, I'll hit 3, and we'll rejoin in 5. It looks like 3 might be the shorter route, so if I get to 5 before you do I'll check 7 as well. Then we can head up to 11 through 8, and loop back through 9 and 10." Then he pointed to the pickaxes in their packs. "It looks like 2 is color coded as a rocky area, so if you see any Iron or Machalite ore deposits it won't hurt to pause and grab a few. Both are used to craft Ioprey Armor, if I remember correctly."

With that sorted out, he rolled his shoulder to adjust the weight of his sword across his back and started for the pathway leading to Area 3 at a brisk jog. He waved back to Clara while he was still in earshot.

"If you meet the Drome, hold out as best you can! If I've already checked 7 and you're still not in 5, I'll double back to find you!"