1.32 Bloody Bonfire
It had been over two hours since the crag. Vicktor wasn't sure how far they'd gotten, but the sun was now beginning to be visible in the sky.
"Tell me, my little magelings" Master Tosk spoke, interrupting their quiet march. "This area is commonly frequented by razorboars. Could each of you give me three pieces of information about them?"
Nora spoke first, "four to five feet at the shoulder, weigh over a ton, and have armored scales that are razor sharp, hence the name"
"Some magic resistance inherent to the scales, they also shatter to absorb impact, I think their tusks also naturally flake off to maintain sharp points." Alar seemed quite proud of himself.
Vicktor was not so sure about his own knowledge beyond what they had provided.
"Uhhh, there was something about dulling blades right? Even magical ones. Although it's still not exactly clear how that works."
Master Tosk winked, "in due time, lad. Two more."
Vicktor racked his brain for a few minor details, "they have excellent smell and decent hearing, but generally poor vision. I might be able to trap one if it ever stops moving, less momentum for it to use on those horns"
CLAP. CLAP.
Master Tosk clapped far louder than was necessary, "Excellent! Full marks. I wonder if we will see any other creatures on our quest!"
Vicktor and Master Tosk began to talk of small things, experiences at the Academy, past teachers and his thoughts on Allium. The questions seemed more about warming up to each other as opposed to deep questions.
Vicktor wondered how much the lizardkin knew about what they had been doing while he was gone?
Half an hour later, the four travelers stepped over a root that extended a full foot above the surrounding soil. A glance to the right revealed a tree trunk ten feet wide. The trees had grown massive. His ruakh recovered quicker than expected. Vicktor turned on his mage-sight, he noticed that the ambient mana was higher here than near the crag.
"Oh well would you look at that" Master Tosk said, pointing at a spot far in the distance. "I think we are able to be attacked by a razorboar, try not to get cut please."
Nora and Alar sprung to attention, having zoned out listening to Vicktor and Master Tosk's conversation.
"It can't climb, but it probably has some magic beyond simple protection. Nora or Vicktor should be the ones to kill it, low magic, Alar no flight unless needed. Preferably Nora gets it in the heart, eyes or somewhere."
Vicktor flicked on his mage-sight, there was a flickering red dot in that direction, but it was only visible for moments before disappearing between the trees.
"That's convenient" Nora said, knocking a large arrow on her large warbow, "How long ago did you notice?"
"I am a Master after all, I have to be good at something. Don't worry, you'll surpass me soon eventually." Master Tosk grinned, "Less talking, more fighting."
CLAP. CLAP.
There was a wooden crack, followed by another.
"Well would you look at that," Master Tosk clapped again, "multiple razorboars!"
Nora planted her feet amongst the roots, drawing back the arrow as her arms physically began to swell. Nora's back muscles grew larger than her breasts. The catkin archer drew back her bow. "If any of us die because of these shenanigans, I'm going to haunt you so hard." She released the long arrow towards somewhere Vicktor couldn't see.
There were two large crashing sounds in the distance.
"Nice shot, but that's not how souls work, lass. You know that. Ghosts aren't real, and I don't think you really want to be the soul vessel for a magic item, bound to some random item for all eternity or until the item breaks?"
"You know what I mean." Nora pulled back again, her enormous muscles straining under the warbow’s heavy load.
She released, arrow arcing past the trees almost immediately. Two seconds later there came a loud crunch, but the breaking of sticks continued.
"Shit," Nora darted off to the left, darting in between the trees, their speed accelerating alongside their thighs.
Alar just stood next to Vicktor with a bolt knocked in his crossbow, his head swivelling on his shoulders while the rest of his body stayed stock still.
Master Tosk just closed his eyes, seemingly making smaller, more deliberate breaths.
Vicktor looked around at the sounds but it was bouncing off the trees and the underside of the canopy. He closed his eyes, preferring to use the senses coming from his feet instead of the confusing visual noise mage-sight would give him. He tried to ignore the slight sinking feeling in his chest, a reminder of the very real possibility a boar's tusk would gore him.
'Breathe, in... and out... Breathe'
The vibrations closed in, both ahead. One to his left and one to his right.
'Wait. Patience. Strike when it is right, not when you can.'
Vicktor waited until the two boars were close, maybe fifty feet away. He opened his eyes.
The beasts were terrifying, like miniature armored aurochs, their breath steaming in the slight cold of fall. Their eyes were black, beady and focused on him. The tusks protruded easily a foot from ugly scrunched up and protected faces. One was missing a large chunk of its armor right above his head.
'NOW'
Vicktor channeled his mana through each foot, using his hands as a mental guide for their effects. Soil rose in front of the two boars, who slowed to avoid a head-on collision.
With a loud clicking noise, feathers emerged from the side of one's neck and the tip of an arrow protruded through a gap in its sharp gorget, causing it to stumble, but it did not fall. Blood dripped in gushes out of its neck. Not immediately fatal, but not survivable.
Alar released his quarrel, sending it into the uninjured boar's eye, causing it to howl in pain. Both beasts continued round the barrier Vicktor had made, right into his trap.
Suddenly, the soil beneath the two beasts crumbled, causing them to tumble into a three yard cavernous trench. Vicktor heard bones crunch as the two beasts landed. Quickly, he covered the two yelping creatures in soil, cutting off the sound of their agony.
Nora walked over and the four Mages stood around the recently disturbed soil until Vicktor felt the last beats of their enormous hearts fade into memory.
After a few moments of silence, he moved the soil off the beats. They appreciated the corpses, still slightly bleeding from the bones protruding their tough hide.
"Hey Nora, I think we are going to need your strength. Remember, I can't get these out of the hole."
"They are over a ton, it's not going to be easy, even for me." Nora sighed, looking at the two large beasts and then over to presumably where the last one was.
"We only need their tusks and a little meat for a few meals. We can leave the rest for scavengers, Vicktor spread the soil out a little so there's a depression" Master Tosk said, before pulling out a gnarly looking small toothed saw.
"Sure" Vicktor began slowly adjusting the topography of the area around them. Small curbed slopes instead of large obvious areas. He took his time, using only the ambient mana, it was more about practicing the finer control than any particular worry about being detected.
Master Tosk handed the saw to Alar, before giving a long, thin, blue-gray knife to Nora. "Pick the prime cut, Eldurel desires the best of your first kill, no?"
"They do, thank you Master." Nora nodded, walking over to the largest swine. Then the pious catgirl set to work carving through the razorboar's hide, towards the entire loin. It was similar to how Vicktor had seen cooks and chefs scale fish, pushing firm against the grain. Instead of the usual speed and efficiency, Nora seemed to take extra time trimming away fat and silver skin. The act was a genuine moment of religious worship, akin to a temple prayer or communion.
Vicktor was very impressed these 'scales' were far sharper than any fish that he had seen. Not a single sharp tip of the hide even scratched the hair on her fur.
"I'll build a pyre, it's not my first. Thankfully, Eldurel isn't picky about wood." Master Tosk said warmly, before gathering firewood from the fallen branches around the battlefield.
Alar finished with the horns after a quarter hour and began to help gather sticks, Vicktor followed soon after, quite proud with how natural the basin looked. The three helped gather wood while Nora collected the loins of the three beasts. She ended up with six long lengths of beautiful red meat. Master Tosk collected the four smallest and put them in his personal dimensional storage.
Nora stood before the pyre, holding the meat in both hands, like a priestess. She began to sing in a low voice a prayer. She sang of the woods, of life, of death. It was a simple melody, but told the story of the first recorded Chosen of Eldurel. A woman whose family died at the hands of a bear.
Soon, Master Tosk brought his green scaled finger to the bottom of the pyre, igniting the structure. It quickly turned into a flaring inferno.
Nora stepped forwards, repeating her prayer. She planted the meat upon the burning altar. Soon, the smell of cooking meat soon entered their nostrils, the fat rendered off the large strips, falling off into the blistering heat, adding to the blaze.
The smell of cooking meat began to be replaced by the smell of burnt meat. The beautiful cut of meat slowly turned to ash drifting up into the darkening sky as Nora continued her prayer, slowly turning the simple melody into more of a lament.
The fire burned supernaturally, devouring even the largest pieces of wood within minutes.
Not ten minutes after starting the fire, the entire pyre had burned cinders and soot.