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nThe pair did not hunt down as many snow imps as Otis however after the fourth battle the two had become very efficient in their sneak attacks.

nOnyx had fully grasped the power he had to bind and slowly crush monsters. He already understood that his main weakness would be time, the sooner he leveled up and discovered faster attack or support skills the better. So far he had refused to use his venom for fear that it would drain away too much mana. He also found it redundant in smaller monsters like the snow imps, if he was close enough to bite and didn't need to retreat he would rather just bind them.

nMidnight proudly watched her younger brother defeat four imps in a row. She was only needed the third time since the imp had managed to keep an arm free, in anger midnight had torn the imps arm off before it could even try to scratch onyx. It was her job as a big sister after all.

nLuckily Otis had brought a small sled with him to easily carry his quarry. Adding on midnight and onyx's was no problem at all, for Otis it was just more weight for training.

nThe others were having similar good luck, Su and her foraging group had found a new area plentiful in winter root vegetables. The shear amount was so much that the planned to make three trips in the day. Once they returned with the first load the next group would be sent to the same location. Su was excited to be able to take some as her but knowing the vegetables would be much needed in their journey to the beast kingdom capital.

nRemey had the honor of fighting ice wraiths today, she hated the things. Their ice body's would create a jarring crunching and scraping sound. Even after being defeated they'd start to put themselves cal together to fight again. It was Incredibly frustrating for her. Naturally she went berserk on all of the ones she encountered smashing the bodies to crushed ice. Her fellow warriors retrieved the water crystals that had been created in the ice wraiths body as they went. The group wasn't upset to avoid battle for fear that Remey would punch them too.

nLaurence and Hyde seemed the most changed over night. Hyde was completely different, his aim when firing quills was leaps and bounds better. Now that he wasn't covering his ears by curling up a ball he was able to see better to aim. This resulted in a high number of pin pricks and small burns on a group of snow imps who were easily crushed in their distraction. It was simple to say that Laurence was rather happy.

nWalker had ended up tasked with a very different job than his hunting. Instead he was asked to shore up some defenses since too many snow imps were patrolling the area. Using his elemental manipulation he was the perfect person to incorporate earth in to the base of the walls for added stability. To many of the detesting warriors the one eared elder even left the square to drop off some light mana potions to keep walker on the job. This was fairly profitable for both the tribe and walker.

nAs he worked he was understanding the mix of elements in the earth, especially the combination of water and earth. The tribe was gaining more protection for the end of winter for a small investment. The end of winter was always the toughest because the monsters that had traveled south from the mountains now migrated back as fast as possible. In the next month the plains would become much more active for monsters. There would also be territory battles for the normal orcs and goblins that liked to roam the area. All in all it was a huge undertaking for the village every year but they loved it. The tribe had been doing so for many generations and had no intention of changing.

nRiley was the odd man out, he had opted to go with a group of two who were I trusted to stay behind him at all times. The reasoning was clear, for when he released his demon boards they trampled the ground in front of him crushing ice wraiths and snow imps alike. The three demon boars had been kept up a bit more unable to run to burn energy. This was the ideal situation, space to run? Check. Enemies to crush? Check. What else could they need?

nHunting a bit longer than the day before reverting returned just a bit after noon. Their bounties much bigger than before which reminded the tribe of the warm weather to come in the next one or two months.

nMidnight and onyx returned, onyx on midnight back. The two looked rather energetic still and seeing Otis with such a large haul it was evident that they had great success. Walker was low on mana having done all he could to his section of wall so when he saw everyone approaching he went to greet them.

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" looks like you three took down every snow imp in the plains!

" Midnight stood a bit taller while onyx bobbed his head aggressively.

" I'm glad you enjoyed your first hunting trip, midnight did anything of note happen?

" Midnight huffed lifting her head even taller.

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" sister says your worry isn't needed, the blue things were too weak for us. I agree with her, my coils easily crushed them. I will need to fight more to level up and get better skills.

" Onyx was intent on this his emotions bubbling up within him. He refused to be the weakest in the party, he wanted to stand next to everyone not behind them.

nSeeing that onyx was exceptionally motivated walker made a promise to himself that he would find more light crystals to help him out.

"I'm sure Otis must have been impressed as well, what did you think of his first time out?

" Years of training young warriors Otis Ha sling given up sugar coating his words.

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" midnights sneaking is better every time she uses it, it's the perfect skills for when the main attacker is distracting an enemy. Onyx takes advantage of that very well but his skills are slow to finish a fight, he needs a long rand skill or a more powerful one. Together they work very well, onyx is able to speak in peoples minds which keeps things silent, if you're ambushing someone it's an ideal communication method.

" Walker had expected that the bind skill and the venom would be too slow, he was worried sending onyx out the first time without every party member but being with midnight another monster may be easier. Not to mention they were all family in the end of the day and if something threatened onyx midnight would do more than defeat it.

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"Thank you for your input, hear that onyx? That means we get to hunt more and since we're leaving for the capitol tomorrow we should have plenty of monsters to practice on while we move!

" Otis wasn't happy still to be reminded they were leaving, he had taken a strong liking to walker and the party since they brought so much value to the tribe.

" oh by the way otis, since it's my last chance to show the trainees my skills I have something a bit rough to put them through. I'll need some help with it.

" While walker had worked he thought about the greatest values for adventures to have to survive. These may all not align with what the tubes warriors needed to have but some rang true no matter what.

nSu, Remey and Elise had all headed to wash up, Su was much more dirt covered today than the other day but seeing the back of vegetables walker couldn't find any downside. So what if there was more dirt? She found us some great food for the journey. Midnight and onyx were still bonding as midnight ate one of the snow imps they had hunted. Surprisingly even onyx ate small pieces. None of them had expected him to want to consume anything but light mana however he had the ability to do so and after prodding from midnight he'd tried some of their prey.

nWalker had made sure to use some healing spells on Stella who didn't really seem to need it but it was better safe than sorry. With the help of onyx Stella was able to confirm she felt no stiffness or soreness. In fact she said she felt better than she had before and even considered resting more often in the future. It would seem Stella learned a lot from her mandatory rest.

nWalker had no idea where Gil, Riley, and Laurence had disappeared off too but after listening in on a few gossipers around their camp he had an idea. Apparently the three had beat him to their camp only to be snagged by a group of children dragging them to the slide. They may not be able to manipulate the earth in to new things to play on but they sure could join in races down the slide. Walker could only imagine gil being talked in to a race over and over by telling him he would be too slow.

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" so walker, what's your plan for this afternoons training?

" Otis had walked in through the little entrance without walker even noticing. With a devilish smile walker replied.

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