Master Of None

”Is this what you are looking for!?” Su wanted to look around since she was sure that the white turnips were around the area. Without knowing the exact look of the leaves, she picked out some heartier dark green colors from the slowly growing grasses. 

”Yes, that’s what I am after. You can toss them right in to the hot coals of the fire and only the skin burns off. The rest will stay nice and soft inside to eat. They are perfect for kids and really anyone.” There were a few other reasons why they were the most popular winter vegetable. However, the convenience and easy cooking was the main reason. ”It’s a nice cluster of four. That makes sense since the brown rabbits made their den here. They basically had a perfect snack when they woke up.” Walker pulled up all but one so that it could grow back later. The other three were stored away from when they stopped. 

”Let’s hope that we don’t find another razor clawed badger. That thing was mean.” As much as Walker was sure that the claws were valuable and would be good for them to sell, he knew that there was a lot of danger in a ravenous monster that didn’t care about pain. ”And no, I don’t think they will taste good. You can see how tough the muscles on it were.” Walker stared Midnight down since he could tell she was thinking that it would be another snack for her. 

”I would agree with you but there is something more up there.” Su looked in to the sky and could see a few crows circling the trail ahead. It meant a few things. Another monster was there right that second, or worse, that a monster had come through and left its meal. That could only signal more monsters to come in to the area to fight over what was left. 

”We can try and take a detour around it. But it might be better to see what it is. We can get a feeling for the monsters in the area and report it to Clara. We are still close enough to the city that merchants could run in to whatever caused it.” It was a good idea to be proactive with this. Many monsters were moving or coming out of slumber from the cold this time of year. If an unfortunate merchant went out eleven with a guard, they would be at risk. 

With a single huff of approval, Midnight crouched and started to move toward the crows. She was going to keep herself low to the ground so that she could see what was there and what they might be able to deal with. ”Shh, I just checked the quests available in my system from the guild. Apparently, there is one to scout out the stoney bear territory. They have their eggs hatch in the cold leaving the mother to care for the cubs when it warms up. It’s a monster very protective of their eggs.” Checking the system for what Claar had sent their way based on their area was a wise idea. No matter how busy Clara was she still held to her responsibility as the party manager. It was a quality that put her above the others. Her ability to send them individual quests after becoming adventurer’s guild master was one of the most useful skills since the party was often split up recently. 

”Then we should head away from it. If that’s the issue.” Su had no sooner spoken than Walker had accepted the quest for them. She knew this would be the case since it was better to have a tally on how many stoney bear cubs there were. She also knew that the stoney bears would head back toward the mountains after they had woken up from their muddy dug out dens. That was the only reason they moved to the fields other than the fact that it was easier for their cubs to survive in the fields. 

His look at Su showed that he knew she was going to give in to the request anyways. All they needed to do was confirm how many cubs there were so that the merchants heading this way would be able to avoid all of them. The worst possibility for anyone would be to get between a mother stoney bear and her cubs. It was not uncommon either since they blended very well with the browned grass during this season. 

Their slow movement was rewarded with a view of the grass that had been flattened in a small battle. ”It’s hurt!” Su found that there was a large stoney bear hunched over three small and fluffy looking stoney bear cubs that had yet to get their muddy brown coloration in their fur. What lay beside them was another, larger, razor clawed badger. 

”Just stay here. Midnight, if anything goes wrong then jump in.” Walker let Midnight use her shadow wrapping skill to blend in to the dried grass and watch from afar. He knew that the stoney bear would throw its life on the line for the cubs and he was risking things here. But the cubs would need a mother and leaving it to perish was out of the question. 

”Just stay slow and get out fast,” Su whispered knowing that if Walker had not stepped forward first that she would have made him take out a healing potion so that she could move forward. 

”I promise, I won’t hurt you. Just stay still and I will heal you.” The stoney bear mother focused on Walker and growled heavily. It was not going to let him anywhere near her cobs. If he so much as flinched she would be sure to stomp him in to the earth with the last of her strength. 

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