Chapter 62: Bk.2 – 7 – Hunting

Nova wasn't sure how long she slept but she woke to the sound of yelling. She jolted up, grabbing her staff only to see that Pan was hovering over her with a wide grin.

She groaned. "Is it time to move already?"

Pan shook his head. "Not yet but soon. Before then I think it's time you got some food." He nodded to her stomach. "I could hear it growling in your sleep."

Nova flushed and clutched her stomach. She was hungry. She glanced over to Mathius. "Do you know where we can get food and water?"

Pan grinned widely. "There's food all around you if you're willing to work for it."

Nova blinked. "What?"

"Hunting," Pan said with a huff before it blossomed into a grin. "Time to go monster hunting."

Nova stared at him. "We're going to eat monsters?"

"Aye. What? Don't tell me you're being picky. Meat is meat."

Nova rubbed her forehead and then sighed. Pan was right. She didn't have the luxury of being picky.

"Okay. So, I need to kill some more flesh sethers?"

Pan scrunched up his nose. "Those things. Yuck. The only thing they're good for is their teeth. No, we're going for tastier game."

"Now who's being picky?" Nova shot back.

Pan continued like he hadn't heard her. "Now usually I would recommend a bow but since we don't have one handy, you're going to have to find another way to kill it."

"Find another way to kill it. You do know I don't have any hunting experience?" Nova asked flatly.

"This is a good time to learn," Pan said with a hint of excitement.

The old ghost seemed like he was looking forward to the outing. Nova couldn't say she felt the same but she was hungry and she knew that once Mathius woke, he would need food to recover. She glanced over at the man. Even with Pan's yelling Mathius hadn't woken up. Nova was starting to grow worried. She decided she would try to wake him again once they were back from the hunting expedition. Still, that did bring up a new concern.

"Can we leave him here?"

Pan hesitated. "I'll have one of the others watch him."

Nova frowned. "But they can't protect him."

Pan's mouth twisted up and then he smiled. "They can just watch over the entrance and come get us if something approaches."

Nova didn't like the plan but it was the best they had. There were only rocks around. She paused and then thought about it. "We can block the entrance with rocks."

Pan frowned. "It'll take time."

"It's better than leaving him completely defenseless."

Pan grunted and then shrugged. "You'll be the one moving them."

Nova nodded. With a set plan, they crawled out of the cave. At first, Nova thought about putting weavings in the rocks but that would take time and possibly end in some exploded rocks in the process. Pan had looked nervous about it and absolutely shut down the idea. He stated they needed to stay as quiet as possible.

It meant Nova ended up carrying rocks to the entrance and piling them up until she had closed Mathius up inside. By the time she was done she was exhausted and she had to sit on the ground and rest for much longer than she had intended. Pan opened his mouth as if to say something before shutting it.

Once she caught her breath, she stood back up. "Okay, I'm ready." She was a little embarrassed by how tired out she was but she figured that her lack of energy was probably directly tied to lack of food and sleep as well as having spent her night fighting flesh sethers.

They moved deeper into the dungeon, and Nova noticed there weren't many flesh sethers. She caught a glimpse of them here or there but they were scattered.

"What are we hunting?" Nova asked, looking around her nervously.

"At first I was thinking about the skilters but they're a bit too much to handle for a tenderfoot like yourself."

Nova wasn't sure whether to be offended or grateful so she decided not to comment. "What are we focusing on?"

"The scavengers," Pan said and then he waved her to follow him behind several stalagmites.

As they moved, Nova noticed that the cave wasn't as dark as before. A faint glow filled the area with light. Pan kept moving and Nova realized they were moving closer to the glow though Pan made sure they stayed right on the outskirts of it. Soon they reached the side of a large stalagmite and on the other side was an opening filled with light.

Pan put a finger to his lips and gestured for Nova to follow. He raced across the opening to the other side. Nova followed the ghost and as she did, she glanced at the opening and immediately stumbled. She caught herself before she fell and hurried into the corner Pan stood at.

"Are you crazy?" Nova hissed.

Pan only grinned in response.

Nova looked back to the opening. There was a huge sea of grass. It glowed with a soft green glow. The grass was long and seemed to wave in an unseen breeze. But what had Nova in a near panic was the large herd of monsters moving within the grass. They were the same spiked bull creatures that had attacked during the wave. The entire field was covered with them. They leaned down and ripped up chunks of the glowing grass.

It was then that Nova realized that these creatures must be the skilters that Pan had been referring to before. She relaxed a little at that and looked back at Pan.

"If we're not hunting them then what are we hunting?" Nova whispered.

Pan seemed momentarily disappointed that she had caught on that the bull monsters weren't what they were going to hunt. He nodded to the grass.

"Keep an eye on where the skilters are stepping."

Curious, Nova turned to look out on the field. She focused on the monster's footsteps and as she did she saw something drop down from a stalactite onto one of the bulls. It looked like a very large lizard. It slithered between the bull monster's spikes until it had climbed down to its feet, snatching up chunks of grass before slithering back up to feast on it.

Nova looked at it with a mixture of curiosity and confusion. "Those lizard things. That's what we're hunting."

Pan nodded. "Aye.

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"But they're on the skilters. Going after them would be like going after those giant monsters."

Pan shook his head and looked up. "Not all of them. We just have to coax them down."

Nova followed his gaze to see several of the lizards on stalactites. Their eyes glowed in the darkness and Nova was reminded that despite their appearance they weren't just lizards, but a type of dungeon monster. At that moment her stomach growled.

"Well then, let's get them down."

Nova looked at the lizards. It wasn't hard to make the connection that Pan wanted them to lure the monsters down with the grass but it also confused her.

"Why are they using the skilters to get the grass instead of getting it themselves?"

"Because that's dungeon grass," Pan said, pointing to the grass. "Pay closer attention."

Nova frowned in confusion but turned back to the field. She didn't notice anything at first. The grass was definitely weird. The way it moved...then she saw it. Strands of the grass shot at the bulls, slapping against the monsters as if trying to attack. The bulls didn't seem bothered by this though sometimes small cutes would appear on its skin.

"It's alive and actually trying to attack?" Nova asked incredulously.

Pan nodded. "The skilters have tough skin and their spikes add extra protection so they're pretty safe, but other monsters aren't so lucky."

Nova nodded. "But the lizards feed off it?"

"Aye. It's actually the mana they feed off mostly. That's most dungeon creatures. It's the mana they're after though sometimes blood and flesh can be tasty too."

Nova shuddered. "Is everything in this place trying to kill us?"

"Aye, well mostly you since I'm already dead."

Nova glared at the ghost and then sighed. "So, I need to get the grass to lure the lizard and try not to get seen by the skilters."

"You figured that all out on your own. There's hope for you yet," Pan said brightly.

Nova ignored him and looked over the situation. Despite how terrifying sentient grass that wanted to kill her was, it was still grass. Right about now, her makeshift spear would have come in handy. Still, she had a knife and the bracelet that had the torch light tied to it. She considered just using her mana to make a spear but decided against it. She wanted to recover as much of her mana as she could and she couldn't do that if she was always using it for things she could do without magic.

So, she tied it together, feeling a certain glee in knowing how Kamila would disapprove. The soldier could be extremely judgmental even if she was right. Nova looked at the skilters, waiting for an opening.

"They're not moving," Nova said.

Pan chuckled. "The most important aspect of hunting is waiting."

Nova sighed. "Is this even hunting?"

Even so, Nova waited. It felt like forever but eventually, Nova found an opening. She hurried forward and started to use the end of the staff but remembered Kamila's words about control. She grasped the middle of the staff and swung it across the grass. It cut through the grass easily enough but Nova realized that she would have to get close to grab the grass.

Well, I'll just cut a large swatch.

Nova started swinging the staff like a grass trimmer until she had a wide enough swatch cut. She walked forward to gather it up when suddenly she heard a loud plop behind her, then another and another.

She twisted around to see several of the lizards had dropped down, intent on going after the grass. Some hissed at her, eyeing her warily with two sets of eyes. Nova eyed them right back. This wasn't exactly what she had been planning. She had wanted to get the grass away from this area so she wouldn't draw the attention of the skilters.

She quickly glanced at the skilters and as she did one of the lizards shot forward. She jerked back, stumbling into a patch of grass. Immediately, pain lashed up her leg as several of the blades of grass pierced her pants and straight into her leg. The blue grass began to turn a soft pink.

"Shit!" She swung down and jumped away from the grass.

"You idiot! Get it out of you," Pan exclaimed.

Nova looked down and saw pieces of grass wiggling in her leg. Horror filled her as she tried to grasp for it before, quickly untying the knife from her staff. A roar went up behind her and Nova immediately started running, ducking behind one of the larger stalagmites.

"You're safe, get that-"

Nova was already ripping her pants and digging into her wound with the knife. She dug out the grass blade before it could sink deeper. She checked each wound until she was a bloody mess.

"Did I get everything?"

Pan looked down at her, his brow creased in worry. "I think so. But you'll find out soon enough if pieces of grass start growing out of you."

Nova shuddered. "That's fucking horrifying."

"Aye," Pan said, grimly.

Nova plopped on the ground and sighed. "Is there a way to be sure?"

"There are crystals that can do it. You filled one with mana and put it near the wound. It draws those suckers out. But you need a crystal crafter to do that."

"I'm a crystal crafter," Nova said.

"Oh! You are? Then that should be simple enough but it's best you do it back at the cave. It won't be the only thing drawn to the mana down here."

Nova nodded and looked back at the swatch she cut down. Her hunting trip had been a bust but she had no plans of giving up. She bit her lip. "How long do I have to get them out."

"It's best to do it right away so they don't go deeper."

Nova nodded. "Let's go back. The sooner we get it done the sooner I can finish hunting."

Pan looked at her in surprise and then he grinned. "Aye."

Nova turned and they began making their way back to the cave.

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