Implode ~ 15!

“What are these supposed to represent?” Joe tried and failed to understand what exactly it was that his team was fighting right now. The creature itself had incredible Constitution, Meaning that it was incredibly difficult to make any damage that they managed to inflict stick to the beast. If there had been more than one of them at a time, it was unlikely that they would have been able to fight past it, instead of needing to rely on agility to escape or get around it in a different manner.

“This is an Elite creature, called ‘The Wooze’.” Major Cleave informed him As she wielded her axe similarity to a lumberjack. Back and forth went the blade, chopping in a rhythmic motion. “It is entirely unable to understand its intuition, this is supposed to be comparable to a threshold differentiation between Constitution and Wisdom. That's why it isn't bothering to dodge any of our attacks, only reacting to them after they have already hit.”

“I've never heard of these ‘threshold’ issues,  And for some reason hearing about them now makes me grumpy.”  Jaxon confided in them, “Perhaps we only worry about destroying the monster, and not talking about whatever it is supposed to represent. I don't need that information!”

Daniella swept up next to him and gave him a side hug, “Perhaps you just don't worry about that information, and we can have the conversations that we want? I really enjoy learning all of these things, as there is no guide to them that I have been able to find.”

“That would be because he is not the only sort of person who gets uncomfortable when they hear about the stuff.” Major Cleave announced as her chopping finally started to bear fruit. “ Anyone who has threshold debuff issues and doesn't understand what they are, or that they are being affected by them, tends to go a little manic around these sorts of conversations.”

“I know! I just won't pay attention while you guys have your talks on this strange stuff.”  Jaxon immediately started humming to himself, his eyes going distant as he dug into a twitching muscle on the side of The Wooze.

Joe was having a good time, since he did not have to worry overmuch about this creature dealing damage to him.  It was almost pure Constitution, and the only reason they had bothered to take the time to take it down was that it could follow them relentlessly and endlessly. It was a persistence hunter, meaning that even if they managed to get away, it would eventually show up to fight.

Summoning Morsum would have made this fight a cakewalk—as the skull drained the health from the beast for however long it would stay alive— but even though that would have been beneficial in the short term, the facts remain that he had no way currently to recharge his mana batteries. Not unless he wanted to stop and create a charging array for them, and he was starting to run low on others that he could use casually. Even those he wanted to save for when he was activating rituals.

The Wooze went down with a mournful cry—like a whale being harpooned, knowing that it would soon be harvested for its oil. Joe's contribution only netted him two hundred and thirty-six experience points, barely worth stopping to fight if they had any other choice. He scanned the horizon, noticing that the elevation had taken a drastic upward pitch. “How long until we get into the mountains proper, do you think? Wait, do you think this creature has anything in it that is worth harvesting?”

“I suppose this would be a Rare or better monster.” Major Cleave replied to him guardedly, not quite knowing where this conversation was going.

“Give me five minutes to harvest it if you wouldn't mind?” Joe didn't wait for an answer, getting to work right away setting up his Field Array around the difficult to define corpse. He supplied the Mana required, and with a burst of light, the entire body was disintegrated, turning into various rarities of aspects. As he stood up, some of the remaining energy cloud dissipated, and a core dropped to the ground. “A good chunk of Rare aspects, and a core? Nice!”

Jaxon scooped it up, and the core vanished in a flash of light. “Hooray! I am that much closer to regaining level twenty-five!”

For a moment, Joe thought about lashing out, but then he remembered that he was not automatically entitled to every resource that came into the group. In fact, he began feeling guilty about all of the cores he had scooped up in the past without considering his teammates, and resolved to be a better sharer.

“We should get there tomorrow, and be able to see the mountains by first light.” Major Cleave’s words earned her a rough cheer from the others, and they all began their ascending hike once again. “Keep an eye out for small creatures, remember that if you see something cute or cuddly, there must be a reason that it has survived this long in such a harsh environment, and don't be fooled.  Creatures like The Wooze are very solitary, but they are also extremely resistant to status effects. That tends to make them ignore Charisma heavy creatures, or at least what they can do to most every other entity.”

“What would they be able to do? Is there something specific that we should watch out for?” Joe had his notebook out in a flash, ready to start taking notes and perhaps gathering material for his eventual research papers for the Mage’s College, Or perhaps the Scholars  Society if they stopped hunting him like a rabid dog sometime in the future.

“It's pretty simple. Anything that is a Charisma-based hunter tends to lure you into a false sense of security, and can even perhaps deal damage to you without you reacting in a negative way. For instance, if we run into a discrepancy creature that is based on having a threshold of Charisma so much higher than Strength, it will appear to be very strong. That means that it will bluff us, and if we fall for the intimidation, it might do something to the effect of… chasing us off of a cliff, or into the jaws of a creature it has developed a symbiotic relationship with.” Major Cleave looked around to make sure that everyone was understanding what she was saying. Both Joe and Daniella nodded along with her words, but Jaxon’s eyes were glassy and he was humming a soft tune.

There were a few encounters over the course of the day, but most of the time they were not with creatures that had been magically or ‘scientifically’ altered.  They were simply monsters that were in the wrong place, at the wrong time, looking for an easy meal that they could not find in this group.  Evening ended quickly as they got closer to the mountains. The light cut off, leaving them in a long shadow that eventually stretched to the horizon the and turned into Darkest Night.

“Daniella, as far as I can tell, you have much higher Perception than the others in the group.” Major Cleave announced as the stars in the sky burned clearly. “I need you up here with me to watch for threats. Joe you should be fine going as you are, but Jaxon... I need you to go ahead and keep your eyes on me unless a fight breaks out. That means get as close as you can and run with me, bumping into me as infrequently as possible, if you please.”

“It's the new beard and haircut, isn't it?” Jaxon winked at her, even though she was looking forward and trying to pick out the best path in the darkness. “My Cultural Understanding skill is tingling!”

“Bump into me too often, and I will slice off your arm. Then we’ll see what tingles.” Cleave threatened vaguely, too distracted at the moment to come up with a better line.

All of them were expecting that the monsters that hunted at night would be bigger, meaner, stealthier, and harder to kill than what they were running into intermittently throughout the day. It wasn't a great feeling, and the fact that their ability to see incoming threats have been reduced was putting most of them on edge.

Contrary to what he had been told to do, Joe went to the front and ran alongside the dwarf.  She glared at him, and was going to say something to put him in his place, but he pointed at his face, “I have Darkvision.  I am likely more useful at night than I am during the day, at least in terms of scouting.”

“No, you could have stopped without saying that last part and still been correct.” Major Cleave’s words could have been taken as hurtful, but Joe understood that she was merely trying to make a joke in light of a very stressful situation. The night began to pass, seeming to last forever, as well as vanishing in a blink. At this point they had been traveling for several days without stopping, without rest, eating their food and drinking their water on the move. All of them were getting tired, and perhaps a little more snippy than they should have been.

Contrary to expectation, the fights that they got into throughout the night were easily resolved, with most of the creatures running off as soon as they got a taste of the Firepower that can be brought to bear against them. Daylight began to dawn, and they crested one final ridge before seeing the mountain that was their destination. Joe could understand how it would be nearly impossible to find where they were going if they did not have a guide, as the entire mountain range in front of them was covered from the three-fourths point up to the summit in a thick cloud bank.

“Which one are we going to?” Jaxon clapped his hands in excitement as they started forward again. “Not going to tell us? Excellent! I love surprises!”

Major Cleave shook her head as she explained, “When we are within visual range, we never gesture or say aloud where we are going. You never know who is listening, or what kind of devices—magical or otherwise—that can be used to record what we say, or where we go. Simply follow, and know that anyone who is tracking us at this moment is going to have a very difficult time piercing the enchantments and formations that have been put in place to stop them. Stay close, it would be a great shame to lose you all so close to our destination.”