Master Of None

With her prey safely stored away in the spatial treasure she had been given temporarily, Midnight moved on toward the center of the large plateau. She could see that there were a few thick trunked trees. Their leaves were thin and sharp making them able to withstand the winds of the mountains. But they had very tough and rugged bark which seemed to be tougher than sandpaper. Midnight wondered for a second if these trees were tougher than some metals because when she tested one with her claws it made a slight scrape instead of actually cutting in to it. Naturally, she cut off some branches after wrapping her claws in flames to help her cut in to them. 

The skill to wrap her claws in her elemental breath was a very surprising addition to her repertoire. She had trained for some time and when it clicked and began to work, Midnight felt that she had been missing a brilliant part of her skills. She had used her claws to fight multiple times, shredding through tough opponents or items. Now she was better at doing so and would be able to cut through tougher things. It would give her an edge against monsters with high defense. 

The tree branches she cut seemed like they would be ideal for Gil’s arrows. She knew that having a tough base for the arrow would lead to having a better arrow overall. It was a lesson she had learned while sitting by the fire taking watch with Gil. he had idly mumbled about creating arrows and what he looked for. It was not expected that Midnight was listening but she had been. 

The scent of other things caught her attention in the next mountain breeze that passed by. The side of the plateau was a cliff. Normally monsters would avoid them unless they could fly, luckily, Midnight had the wings to keep her safe as she probed the edge to find strange white vine blending in to the icicles melting on the side. These vines were still growing through the ice the same as a normal vines would grow through the soil. In addition, a white fruit hung from each the size of a normal man’s fist. They had a very sweet and floral scent that Midnight could relate to other fruits she had eaten before. If Su had been here she would have claimed them for herself because Midnight knew that she and Su both had a target for sweet desserts. 

The fruits could be added to what would be made and Midnight did not hesitate to grab the tops of the vines with her mouth and hoist them up. They were much heavier than they appeared and when she split one fruit open it burst in to a soft mush of juice filled polyps. It was similar to an orange fruit she had seen from the demi-human farms. With the additional ingredients in storage, Midnight pushed the vines back in to place and turned her head to the grasses around the bushes. 

It was clear that everything that grew around here was not simple. She had been finding the tough plants and unusual monsters in the area perfectly evolved to live at the tops of the mountains. With what she had learned from her party members she knew many ways to use them and how to handle them. The grasses stood out, not because of the difference to the normal grasses around, but because of the bluish tips they had. She remembered Hilda mentioning that some grasses with colored tips were actually the tops of large root vegetables or very strong herbs. Therefore, Midnight dug around the clips to find a solid white and brown striped root very close to a turnip. 

In a matter of an hour, Midnight had harvested fifty of them. Her claws easily pulled them from the semi-frozen ground. Even more, Midnight had managed to snag a few more flying horned rabbits that were pushed by the breeze. It was impressive how well they blended in to the clouds in the sky but could not control their own flight well. They had strong abilities but were at the mercy of the wind. But when she found that some had previously attacked something before coming in to her possession, Midnight made a move toward the direction from which they had blown. 

Her silent scouting revealed an unexpected sight. On the ground, a large white scaled monster was laying paralyzed. It seemed that it would easily blend in to the clouds as well and even had wings hanging from its back. Yet, what stunned Midnight was the fact that it seemed more similar to pictures of monsters that lived within the swamplands that Walker had shown her. The long tail and four legs lead up to a pinched snout with sharp teeth. It was the same as a giant swamp alligator but it was smaller and had wings with a white coloration! It was a flying alligator!

Even more, Midnight could make out a few more seemingly swimming in the sky and flying. They were being attacked by the flying horned rabbits by being head butted repeatedly. The one that had fallen prey to them had become paralyzed and was being eaten away. The others were fending off the flying horned rabbits. What Midnight saw was the perfect chance for her to jump in and take them all while they were distracted. They would never see her coming. She would be foolish to give up this chance regardless of how outlandish the situation. She could just have Walker use his all around appraisal skill when she returned. She had the herbs and fruits and gifts for her family which was a bonus even though it had been a distraction. What mattered now was she had the numbers to feed the entire royal dragon court. 

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