If anyone had felt relaxed about this easy mission when they arrived, they didn’t feel relaxed any more. The whole group was on high alert, searching the woods for anything that might be a danger.
Karl let Thor lead the group on the ground, following Hawk’s guidance, while Rae hid in the beast space with the remains of the giant beetle that she was carefully dissecting to improve her understanding of exoskeletal species for [Offensive Adaptation].
Minutes after they started moving again, an angry grunt caught Karl’s attention, and the crashing of a large animal through undergrowth drew the attention of everyone else.
[Three tree apes. Common Grade. They don’t look tasty.] Hawk reported as the creatures approached.
“We have a small pack of apes in the trees incoming. Group, you know what to do. It is up to you if you want to attack them or let them pass.” Karl informed the others, which made Dana smile at him.
They could attack anything that moved, but that would anger everything else. So, if it wasn’t hostile, she would prefer not to make it hostile.
One of the mages shook his head. “They normally don’t attack people. They just like to shout at them from the trees. If they don’t attack, we should keep moving, since they will scare off any other small monsters with the noise they make.”
The group patiently waited, and moved in a triple column, putting the warriors on the outside with the mages and clerics between them and the Golems at the back. But the tree apes behaved just as the mage had anticipated, and they remained in the upper branches of the trees, screaming at the humans, and occasionally throwing nuts and berries at them.
The monkeys thought that the whole thing was hilarious, and they laughed as the warriors swatted aside the projectiles, but they didn’t come any closer, and they didn’t do anything that would provoke an all out attack.
[The spot is just ahead. Should I scare the monkeys away?] Hawk asked with a hopeful tone in Karl’s mind.
[Sure, go ahead and get your snack.] Karl replied, likening the monkeys to junk food.
[I told you they don’t look tasty.] Hawk replied indignantly as he folded his wings and dove out of the sky.
He hit the monkey at well over a hundred kilometres an hour, nearly shredding its body as he pulled it away from the branch in his claws and returned to the sky. That was what a normal bird of prey would do, as they had all the advantages when they were flying.
Some of the students didn’t realize that was Hawk at first, and they began to panic at the presence of another powerful attacker, but that only helped the tree apes make their decision. The humans were afraid of that thing too, so it would likely attack them next if the ape tribe left.
Hawk peeled the ape apart and took one tentative bite before discarding the body, which bounced down through the branches as the rest of the tribe scattered.
[Good work, they’re still running.] Karl congratulated Hawk, just as the bird speared down to get another of the tree apes and bring it into the sky to use as a projectile. But this time, it wasn’t on the apes.
Instead, he found a lone Black Mane Bear and circled up to an altitude of five hundred metres before diving hard and releasing the corpse. A flap of his wings sent him on a glide path over the forest, and the bear roared in anger as the body smashed down right where it had been standing a second earlier.
[Why are you angering the bears?] Karl asked as he heard the noise.
[Why would I not anger the bears? You should have seen it, it was hilarious.] Hawk replied.
[I hate that I can’t argue with that. It probably was hilarious. But the others are already freaked out enough without an angry bear coming their way.]
[Do you know how a Windspeed Hawk usually learns to fly? I mean, not me in the space, but other ones.] Hawk asked.
[Don’t they just flap their wings in the nest until they can take off?] Karl asked.
[Nope, they’d remain in the nest forever that way. Once they’re grown enough to fly, their mother pushes them out of the nest. They either learn or they hit the ground.] Hawk replied.
Karl’s smile caught the attention of the warriors at the front, and they were suddenly very worried about the safety of their “low risk” training mission. Did they get two awakened leaders not because Karl and Dana were both in their first year as well, but because they were going to need more than one?
What was out here that was making the monster man so happy?
He was already so much more powerful than anything that should be in the area, perhaps he forgot that the rest of them were not looking forward to actually meeting monsters on this trip to get resources?
The sound of the angry bear retreated into the distance as it moved out of the territory of the annoying bird, but the group’s tension level didn’t drop any lower until they made it to the next spot, a section of fallen trees where an Awakened Rank moss grew abundantly all over the dead fall.
“This is what we are here for, the best of the resources in the region.” One of the warriors quietly cheered.
Karl’s confused look let them all know that he hadn’t had time to study the properties of the resources here, only their locations. So one of the warriors helpfully filled him in.
“The moss is dried and then lightly roasted to create a tea that supplements the strength stones for classes that have physical enhancements. I don’t know if it will work for your class, but a kilo each of that moss will keep us for the entire school year.
You can’t use too much, it will just be a waste, but a cup in the morning will make nearly as much of a difference as a strength stone twice a month.” The warrior explained.
That was more often than Hawk was going through strength stones mixed with blood as food seasoning. So, it should be a good resource for the pets, and Karl would have to get some.
[It looks good.] Thor agreed, letting a bit of drool slip out of the corner of his mouth.
“Alright, do the mages need this resource? Or should we split it between the people who can use it, stopping at a kilo each, so it doesn’t go bad before everyone can use it?” Karl asked.
“Mages can’t use it, it won’t do anything beneficial for us unless we’re weakened. But the Witches can use it in recovery potions, so they will need at least as much as the warriors.” One of the warriors explained.
The pair of witches looked grateful that he had stood up for them, and the resource intensive needs of their potion making.
“Is there anything else I should know before I harvest this? Parasites, dangerous creatures that like to live under it?” Karl asked.
The group all reluctantly shook their heads, and Karl drew his short sword from the scabbard at his hip. The rest all thought it was a bit odd that he didn’t take the sword out to fight, but he carried it anyhow, though they didn’t say anything.
The Team Leader was responsible for loot distribution, according to Academy Regulations.
