[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/Kh01XZ6.png[/img][/center] Augusta raised her eyebrow at Octavia digging at the ground. “Did you find something?” She asked as she looked down. It was then that she noticed the ground was moving! That could be nothing good. She jumped back towards Isidore as best she could in this snow, which was more than enough to evade the insectine mandibles that now appeared where she was a few seconds ago. She frowned and pointed her hand at where she was and shot off a continued blast of flame to melt the snow around this creature and hopefully burn it to death. Violence seemed to follow him no matter what path he took, hm? Isidore’s brow furrowed as he lowered his own stance. Another three apostles missing, but he hadn’t heard the commander mention anything like that during their brief encounter. Sucking in the mountain air to fuel the forge building up within, the man hefted up his dwarvish polearm and swung it down forcefully on the same spot that Augusta aimed her flames. It was a kindness, to have such a heavy weapon; swords were certainly less useful against a carapace-armored creature. [b]“Leuca, stay between us.”[/b] Isidore said, eyes flickering from the other shapes burrowing out of the snow. [b]“You know how to use a sword?”[/b] The creature beneath Augusta’s feet shrieked as the fire burned its body, melting the snow around it. It would be silenced moments later by Isidore’s axe, the sound of something breaking as he met its target. It wouldn’t get a chance to get out of the grave it had dug itself. The others around them, however, were less than pacified by the display of strength. Out of the snow burrowed what seemed to be large, dog sized insects resembling something like short centipedes. About four feet in total length, with powerful looking mandibles, and numerous eyes upon the front of their ‘head’. Their bodies were covered in what appeared to be tough, segmented plates of some sort of material with the hardness and consistency of stone. Small crystalline growths grew from various spots on their bodies. “A-ah...” Leuca did as she was told, staying between Augusta and Isidore. “Y-yes...but I don’t think I’m very good at a direct fight...” Octavia was barking at the creatures, staying near Leuca. Looking at the creatures gathered, there was around five of them that had dug themselves out of their hiding places. [Hider=Goddess Note] Name: Crystal Eater Classification: Elder Beast-kin Physical Attributes: Similar to You Magic Attributes: Weaker than you Weakness: Their underbellies are particularly soft. Abilities: Beast Kin: As the offspring and kin of an Elder beast, they possess a certain awareness of the thing that created them, and it them. Whether it cares or not is questionable. Tunneler: Possesses an ability to rapidly dig through the earth regardless of what its made of, leaving a series and network of tunnels behind. Uses to ambush prey or flee other predators. Special attributes: N/A Offspring of the Stieneter, these centipede like creatures, have the ability to dig through the earth hunting for quality ores, gems, and rocks, to eat. When hunting living prey, they prefer to act as ambush predators by attacking from underground, burrowing in snow and rock to camouflage themselves. Their hides are tough, acting as decent armor against most other creatures attempting to eat or harm them. Can vomit up undigested materials at high speeds. [/hider] Augusta soaked in the information quickly. Offspring and kin of an Elder beast, Stieneter in particular. She pushed this information to the back of her head. “Crystal Eaters, tough hide, undersides are the weakness.” Augusta quickly informed her party. “They can quickly tunnel so give care for your feet. There may be more of them.” She frowned. Regardless of whether or not it cared, the Stieneter was definitely aware of them now possibly, depending on how it’s awareness of its offspring worked. The elf aimed her hand at the five Eaters since the one that she assumed was dead didn’t seem to like the flame. Perhaps in a worst case scenario she could attempt the lightning magic she had thought about. But had yet to put into practice. Regardless, she ignited the flames from her hand and jet a flame at the centipede creatures. She focused on the closest one to them, hoping that it’d just burn to death. [b]“Keep your feet moving then. Leuca, stay centered; we’re breaking out.”[/b] Drawing out the longsword, Isidore thrust it into the ground for the younger sirithen to pick up, and coiled his legs. He envisioned it in that moment, the energy that surged within his stomach now pushing into his legs, and the axe-wielder charged down the way they came. Tempered steel sliced a flurry of snow out of the ground as it swung upwards into a cleaving uppercut for the first creature to approach. He would serve as vanguard, and Augusta as rearguard. And once they were out, it would be easier to face the monsters from only one direction, rather than all directions. Augusta’s flames, if nothing else seemed to keep the creature at bay either from the flames themselves or the light they produced. They would skitter around, attempting to circumvent the flames, but Augusta could easily keep them pinned away from them. Leuca took the sword, somewhat hesitantly picking it up at Isidore’s request. It was heavy in her hands. ...she just had to remember the training Sorcha gave her, right? The small elf would stay between her two protectors, following Isidore. Being surrounded would be no good indeed. Isidore focused that fiery energy within his core, directing it to his legs. A powerful upward swing towards the nearest creature as he dashed in that direction. The axe hit a creature right in its side, sending it tumbling into the air, landing in the snow some distance away, but it hadn’t been done in quite yet, it was slowly scrambling back to its feet. The rest of the creatures now were only coming from one side. They would finally not be deterred by Augusta’s flames, and one would leap towards her. Thankfully Octavia would intercept, slamming her own body into it and pinning it to the ground where the two creatures would tussle for a few moments before the centipede was able to toss the pup off. They had definitely been singed somewhat, but the flames didn’t seem to have seriously injured them. “Thank you, Octavia.” Augusta mentioned. These things didn’t seem to be effected by her fire too much. She supposed it had something to do with their tough hide? Regardless, she needed to do something about this. Otherwise, she would be mostly useless. She had considered using Lightning Magic before but she hadn’t put it into practice. She frowned and considered what she would cause lightning magic. Electric charges… The body produced electricity on its own so it shouldn’t be too hard. Right? She thought of tesla coils, magnetism, positively charged atoms and… She thought she was starting to understand it. Hopefully. She thought that, maybe, she could feel electricity under her fingers. With the thoughts of electricity escaping a tesla coil in her head, she aimed at the creature Octavia slammed out of the air and attempted to shock it with concentrated electricity. Supposing that failed, she’d quickly switch to the element she was more familiar with and concentrate a stream of flame on it. She seemed to have the right idea, but the effect was lackluster in practice. The hairs on her arm stood on end as she ‘felt’ a mild shock of energy run through her body. She aimed towards the downed creature...and a small arc of energy ran from her finger tip to the creature. Perhaps a bit of a less showing than she was hoping for. She would quickly return to her fire, blasting it in the face with another stream of fire. The creature hissed, rearing up on its hind legs as its body was burned...there was a ‘chnk’ noise as its ‘throat’ bulged as it launched a fist sized rock at Augusta from its maw, sending it crashing into Augusta’s chest, and at least temporarily saving it from the fire but not from Octavia. The pup quickly pounced on it, pinning it to the ground and attempting to rip its throat out. The other four started to attempt circling the group again, making a move to attack Isidore. Augusta staggers back a step or two. She made a loud “geh!” noise. She looked back at the beast that had shot the rock at her angrily as blood trickled slightly from her mouth. She made one of those magic arrows she had first created back in the prison but made it flaming. It hovered in front of her in the air for a second before, by looks alone, it got brighter and brighter. She packed more energy inside it, increasing its potency. She focused more and more energy into it as the point of it looked as sharp as an arrowhead. The arrow quickly shifted from aiming straight ahead at nothing to aiming straight at the creature, at least, at the part of it that Octavia wasn’t covering. Settling her anger slightly, she realized just how dangerous misaiming this could be, so instead, she looked out of the corner of her eye and thought to aim it at one of the other creatures that were encircling them. She turned to it, and so did the arrow, quickly, before suddenly launching at a high speed at the creature. This attack pierced the creature and quite obviously did a lot of damage, though, perhaps not enough to kill it. Augusta raised her shield, expecting these things to attack en masse soon. “Octavia, finish that thing off. Leuca, you might need to help fight. Can you feel the ‘Flow’?” It felt like a stupid question to ask, but that’s what the goddess’ eye told her. The meaty thunk of an impact caused Isidore to turn back, watching Augusta stagger and a fist-sized stone drop into the snow. His eyes widened, and he readjusted his plans. If they couldn’t all make it out, then he’d create two separate ‘threats’ for the centipedes to adjust to. Feeling still for the surging of energy in his legs, willing them to propel him at ever greater speeds, the dark-haired man charged straight for the insect that he had sent flying. The dwarvish halberd hissed out its killing cry as it arced through the air, smashing the monster down a second time. Drawing heat into his heart next, Isidore kicked the halberd up with his feet and hefted it up to one side. Ranged attacks were dangerous, but so long as he kept mobile, it was fine. He would always be fine. He forced the flames of his internal forge to ignite his heart, to accelerate his blood. Faster and faster, granting the strength and speed he needed to crush these bugs. Waves of heat exuded from Isidore’s body, slowly melting the snow around him. Time to kill them all. Isidore drew in a sharp breath and rushed for the nearest of the monsters while Augusta’s flaming arrow struck for the one that his back now faced. If the four would surround the three ladies, he’ll run right around their encirclement, cutting them down one by one. “T-the flow? W-well yes…! B-but I don’t think I should use it…!” She would reply, tightly gripping the blade. Augusta’s ‘Fire Arrow’ would have a bit more effectiveness as she condensed the flow of magic into a single point. It felt slightly dangerous, as though it might in fact explode if she would have done it any more, but she then launched it towards the centipede like creature. It attempted to evade, but it moved to fast for it, striking it right in its ‘neck’ area. The more solid ‘mass’ of fire pierced its flesh, causing it to shriek in pain and roll around in the snow briefly, before quickly being finished off by Octavia. Isidore would focus on the ones that were attempting to encircle them. The first he met would lash out with its mandibles. It would keep its body low and attempt to go for his ankles. A second would swerve to attempt attacking him from the other side, standing up as straight as it could - a bulge in its throat as it was clearly getting ready for another ‘ranged’ attack. The last one would make a beeline for Augusta, attempting to get close before she could use another one of those flaming arrow spells. “M-maybe I should...but...” Leuca looked like she was considering helping in some fashion, but she was clearly conflicted. Isidore didn’t hesitate as the first creature lunged for him. The melting of the snow had created a depression around him no matter where he was, meaning that the centipede had to actually go down the shallow depression if it wanted to aim for his ankles. Utilitizing the momentum of his own charge, the man swung upwards with his halberd, catching the creature right in its mouth. The steel bit deep into the monster’s face, and he carried through with the swing, arresting the movement of his weapon to launch it towards the one that had stood up to shoot. They may have been as strong as he was, but that didn’t mean a thing; reach and mass were qualities that set two fighters apart, even if they could lift the same amount. With his upward swing conveniently setting the hefty axe up to his shoulder once more, Isidore leapt forward and cleaved down with vicious intent. One kill would be expected, but two would be wonderful. In the absence of being able to predict their movements, he would settle for making every attack a killing blow. Augusta aimed her free hand at the air and above and just ahead of her, another of her Fire Arrows appeared. It gathered power more quickly this time since she knew just about what she could handle. She was glad to be able to pierce the tough shell of this creature with this spell and since it was going in a straight line… She could predict easily where it’d be in the second or so it took for it’s weapon to launch. And she took the shot at the centipede creature rushing at her. “Leuca, help me finish this one off, Octavia, assist Isidore.” She was ready to either dodge or block the centipede creature if it somehow dodged her shot and continued on to retaliate. “...A-alright.” Leuca replied hesitantly. She would hold the blade in front of her, exhaling and closing her eyes. “Ancestors, though this blade is unbaptised...please!” Augusta and Isidore both would feel what could only be described as a surge of power from the young elf. The snow around her feet would scatter lightly away. The next instant would be a display of surprising swordsmanship skill and speed. The creature, sensing danger would attempt weaving to the side. Augusta’s arrow slamming into its lower half only mildly slowing it down. It however, did not account for Leuca. Augusta would be able to watch, but it would be difficult to see what exactly happened and to keep up. In fact, the only indication that Leuca had somehow walked from where she had been standing to the front of the creature was small footprints in the snow. The centipede, the moment it had noticed Leuca was upon it, reared back in an attempt to defend itself...but Leuca had already seemingly accounted for that. A graceful, elegant movement as the creatures mandibles coming centimeters from tearing into her flesh...but indeed, they would miss by just as much, and in the same movement Leuca’s blade would bury itself deep within the underside of the creature's failed strike. This all happened, within barely a handful of seconds. Quite literally blink, and Augusta would have missed it. This same surge of power, however, would also noticeably cause Octavia to whimper, causing her to take a few steps away from Leuca, but would quickly focus on the task she had been given...though it was questionable if Isidore really needed it. The one that had lunged for his ankles was quickly subdued. The upward swing of the heavy weapon would crack and split the creature. Though it wouldn’t quite be dead, its legs would squirm and shriek as it was lifted into the air, impaled on Isidore’s halberd. The next downward strike would see a brutal end to these creatures.The impaled one would slam down on the other one. It would barely get off its projectile as it made an attempt to escape, scurrying to the side, but it wouldn’t get far. It was nearly cleaved in half, shrieking and making a few more attempts to swipe at Isidore but Octavia would come in and finish it off. Only the sound of wind and thunder rumbling overhead followed. They had fended off the threat, for now. … A thud as something hit the snow. Leuca had lost her footing and was panting heavily as she fell to her knees. Augusta loosed a sigh of relief as she saw the last of the bugs felled. Wonderful. They were safe for now at least. “Octavia, Isidore, good work.” The woman mentioned taking a peak. “Leuca, that wa--” As she spoke, she heard a thudding in the snow to her side. A quick turn of her head showed that it was in fact, an exhausted Leuca. “Ah! Leuca!” She exclaimed, rushing to the girl’s side. “Are you alright?” She asked, setting her hand on the girl’s shoulder. Truthfully, Augusta felt guilty. She asked Leuca to help. “I-I’m sorry.” She said, looking somewhat sadly at the girl. Quickly enough, she had a look of resolve on her face. “You can take a rest.” Augusta added before scooping the smaller elven girl into her arms. A bridal carry, one might call it though it was used since she didn’t quite want to carry the girl around like a potato sack. Her body was much stronger than her original one on earth considering she could carry Leuca fairly easy. “You’re pretty light.” The woman added, “Good job. Thanks for the help.” She gave Leuca a smile before turning to Isidore. “Think it’d be worth trying to get anything off these guys?” The elf mentioned, nodding her head towards the insects they had slain. “Or should we get moving?” Isidore let a breath hiss out of his body, extinguishing the furnace within his core. He recalled somewhere, that a Canadian survivalist made “you sweat, you die” his adage, and this could certainly be the case there. Wrenching his axe from the bisected remains of the two centipedes, he turned to see the state that Leuca was in. The Sirithen child had done [i]something[/i], and judging by the killing blow upon the centipede that had rushed for those three, it had been an augmented sword swing. Something that Isidore had been seeking to attain himself, all this time. [b]“Your eyes tell you if they’re edible?”[/b] the man responded, kicking one of the corpses onto its back before cracking open its stomach contents. Fresh meat would help Leuca recover some of her energy, and that survivalist had certainly said something about how bugs were superfoods high in protein, but more than that, he needed to confirm. These monsters had likely killed those humans they stumbled upon, but were they also the ones that so neatly devoured their belongings, without touching the actual meat? Augusta’s eyes wouldn’t be able to tell her much of the deceased insects, but it was safe to at least assume they were edible. It seemed similar to the one the Apostles had been dissecting earlier. Judging from the fact they ate metal and ore mostly too, they may also have indeed eaten some useful ore or other objects if they cut open their stomachs. “Nnhn...y-yes I’m fine.” She sighed, frowning and groaning lightly. “U-using the flow just...exhausts me.” She would take a few moments to catch her breath while she was being carried by Augusta. “The Ancestors...don’t like me frivolously using it..unless its too...” She glanced over to Octavia. “...w-well...its a Geas of sorts. If I don’t follow it to the letter It just hurts a bit...” She looked up to the woman. “But, uhm, I’ll be fine. I just need a bit of rest.” Isidore would find within one of the creature's stomach, the shattered and partially digested remains of a sword. Some silver and gold coins. Nothing inherently seemingly useful, but he would also find...ah, what was that? A raw chunk of some sort of metal it seemed. Though whether they did kill these men was still a mystery. [hider=goddess note] Item obtained: Raw silver A chunk of precious minerals, half digested by a Crystal Eater. Could probably be sold or traded for something of equally high value. This quality can usually only be found in dwarven mines. [/hider] Lecua’s eye would inform her that Leuca seemed nervous and evasive about that, but the group would be interrupted by the ground beneath their feet rumbling once more. … … A few seconds would pass. Nothing further would happen as the ground settled. “...Uhm...those might be the apostles that chased after Sorcha…” Leuca would suggest. “Those might be.” Augusta thought for a few seconds after the words left her mouth. “Hmmmm." The tremors… they probably didn't want to stay here for long. What if it were the parent of these small things. They'd want to stay somewhere a bit more safe. Not that any place would be safe from something that can dig through the ground like that. "Those things are probably edible. We should probably grab what we can and get moving. Tremors don't bode well in this kind of situation." She continued to carry Leuca and walked forward to look at the corpses of the Apostles. Perhaps there were some tracks they could follow if they were the ones that pursued Sorcha. And perished in pursuit. Silver was silver, and Isidore didn’t hesitate to wipe the digestive juices off on the snow before jamming it into his backpack. It was getting full in there, but that was good. Without it, he’d have much less in terms of gear. He strung three of the centipedes together into a bundle and tied it to the pack as well after Augusta confirmed their edibility. Wouldn’t be the greatest meal he’s had, but a world like this didn’t promise anything amazing. Perhaps the Urutha would have something more pleasant. While Augusta carried Leuca, Isidore crouched down in front of Octavia instead. Looking into the demonic puppy’s eyes, he spoke slowly, surely. [b]“There are many scents here. The men buried in the snow. The centipedes we’ve cut down. The four of us. Octavia, there is [i]another[/i] human scent here. Find it.”[/b] Despite the blizzard, the dead Apostles’ bodies were only partially buried. Perhaps there was a clue for Octavia to pick up. And if there wasn’t? Isidore stood up, listening for any other movement that the wind may whisper into his ears. There were still opportunities to seize come nightfall.