Master Of None

”That meal was great! We should roast more of that fruit, the exploding one, next time we find it.” Su was the most impressed. She always went out of her way to get different fruits when they visited other cities. Now that she had tried the newest fruit to their discoveries list, she had fallen in love with it too. Midnight was right with her. The two would have roasted fruit on the fire all night if they were allowed to. Luckily, there was not enough to go around since the other soldiers that had stopped to make their own small camps had also picked up some along the trail once they knew it was safe.

”Su, you can’t be so nice to them just yet! They still might make it cold while we sleep tonight.” Remey and Alma were still partnered up against Gil and Walker. The two felt that they had lost the battle already. Now it was just additional insult. Even Alice wasn’t offering any defense since she wasn’t happy that she had been hit with some frosty mist earlier.

”Just go to bed and rest. Everyone else is. We’ll keep watch to make sure the bugs don’t bite… oh wait, we just have to stoke the fire now that we’ve made food.” Gil grinned evilly making Remey punch him in the arm before going to her own tent.

”I will try to grow a few of the herbs we found before sleeping. I think I could make those powder blossom seeds grow if I can understand how they grow better.” Alma was more mumbling to herself. She was in love with the plant that was thought to be gone forever. The other elves had also raved when they heard that Alma would be putting them in her sights.

Having the boost in morale because the elves might see a formerly extinct species return to the elven forest was amazing. They were all much more upbeat and had been interacting a lot more with the other soldiers to share what they had heard about the plants. This alone was a major way for the forces to bond and become better at working together. Even the dragonkin listened carefully to the stories.

Midnight and Onyx were the only two that didn’t end up going to their tents. Midnight and Onyx both preferred the warmth of the fire more so. For Onyx, it was a learned comfort because of Midnight. For Midnight, it was the fact that she was a dragon. But it was better than Ignus who had literally instructed his dragonkin to light a bonfire around him while he meditated. The sight was very abnormal, to say the least.

The other royal dragons did similar things, they did what they could to be surrounded by their elemental mana. Even the mages that had been further down the line of soldiers had come up to help. But overall, it was just another good thing. This cooperation made the royal dragons appreciate the mages of other races more since dragonkin were normally not mages at all.

”So what do we do now?” Gil was a little tired but knew that they were all strong enough to go multiple nights without sleep without issues. It was just a perk of being higher levels. That was why the dragons were able to stay awake for months, even years at a time. Some would even say that they were considered to be in slumber while they meditated because it would go on for so long.

”We just sit here I guess. I Was going to meditate but I don’t want any of those weeping oaks to get wise ideas and come toward our camp. They shouldn’t be bothering anyone though since we let the dragonkin spread out down our line of camps. That should deter them since it seems that monsters on this continent easily sense dragon blood. I bet that’s because there are species more powerful because they have dragon blood in them.” Walker’s theory made sense. Powerful monsters always had some level of deterrence.

”I guess that just means we have to worry about whatever else might be around. What did the village elder say? I know he shared some books with you.” Gil was more curious than anything. Especially since he didn’t know what he could hunt here. He was out of his element. Back home he could use the hunting knowledge he had and easily procure food. Now he might hunt the wrong animal or monster, therefore, causing danger to himself and others.

”Well, for nighttime, there are different bats, some nocturnal spiders, something called a stalker lizard, and some other insects. But he said we should watch out for something called a cyclops silkworm. I didn’t think they would have monsters that used the title of an ancient monster but they do. It sounds creepy.” Walker felt that he was tempting fate just speaking about monsters. But he also understood that he would have to tell the others about them eventually. It was just the best practice for their safety.

”Walker… are they a white work with a single eyeball at the end that is actually a mouth and not actually an eyeball? And it eats through tree branches?” Gil sighed with his head in his hands before pulling an arrow from his quiver and shooting up in to a tree.

The small worm the size of a fist fell to the ground pierced through and through. Walker glanced at it and used the all around appraisal skill.

’Cyclops silkworm

So that they could scare predators, their skin developed eye patterns on their mouths to make it appear they were just part of a larger monster. This works to defend themselves as they grow. Their teeth are very sharp and they are able to consume entire trees let alone other things easily as long as they can bite it.

They are a weak monster in all essence other than the fact that they live in nests of twenty to thirty. Once they are prepared to form a cocoon, they will begin eating one another to let one live with the most nutrients.

Over their one week growth, they will grow ten times in size to become an overseer moth. These moths have four eyes on their wings and a similar sharp mouth as their silkworm form. They will float above forests looking for prey before floating down to bite in to them silently. They will often hunt alone because they are extremely territorial against their own kind. However, they will often find a mate for their short life of one year.’

”Yes, I would say fate laughed at us and showed us one right away. We are going to have to patrol now.” Walker stood up and accidentally made Midnight and Onyx wake up. However, they could sense something was wrong from Gil’s movements earlier. The only reason they had not awoken was because Walker was still calm and not freaking out at the sight of a weak monster. Their bonds could show each other something simple like that.

”Enemies?” Midnight didn’t have to ask more than that before going to sniff the cyclops silkworm and starting to target more.

The fact that they had seen one and used his all around appraisal, Walker and Gil were able to pick more out. Walker used his eternal orb to take the form of a bow for the first time. He was using the basic arrows that he had stored for Gil and others to use. It was rare to see him using archery, but his shot with an arrow was good enough for this. It was nowhere near Gil’s skill but enough.

With Midnight and Onyx hunting them as well around the other tents, every guard for the night was able to learn what they were keeping away. Surprisingly, the smoke from the fires also deterred them. This made sense though, no insect would like to breathe in smoke instead of air. It was just normal for most living creatures.

The sounds of these monsters dropping from the trees was enough to wake a few people up but not enough to raise an alarm. They weren’t trying to attack them but they could attack them and harm people easily. Especially whenever the night guards found that these cyclops silkworms were eating in to tents. They just ate everything they could get to.

”Why is it that we keep finding the pests of this continent and that’s all? They are really annoying.” Since Gil felt that they had only seen the annoying parts of the monster life here, he was wondering why it was so common.

”They aren’t hunted like where we are from. These two empires are at war. Why would they come here to the border regions to hunt them? They deter each other.” Walker summed up their reason for night guarding right there. It was a little depressing, but it made sense. This was their nightly routine for now.

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