Master Of None

”The cave crawlers, right?” This was one of the monsters that the Fel empire archangel had brought up. Walker had remembered it because he was sure that they would show up at some point when he was going through his travels in this area.

”Yes, they are one of the more dangerous monsters. They prefer the dim light of the caves and their entrances. They will often make sounds like an injured animal or monster to attract their prey to a cave. But the moment that the sun starts to set, they will travel outside of their cave to other nearby caves. It is partially to hunt but also to find others of their kind.”

”If they are mostly a species of monster that will avoid others, why would they look for their kind? Can they make packs?” Walker had to get as much information as he could before they were faced with nighttime in these mountains. From the sounds of things, caves were not uncommon. They were going to come across the caves often.

”They will gather around this time of year to make nests. But they are one of the more unique monsters when it comes to this. Their nests are places where many of them will group up and lay together. It is very odd since this will even make some of them crush others due to their size.” Seran seemed a little off put by this since it meant that some of them literally made nests that included the dead of their own species.

”They hatch from eggs and are very small. If you find a larger cave crawler then you are seeing one that has been alive for over ten years already. I recommend that you watch out for them greatly.” This drew Walker in even more. He was wondering what they looked like exactly.

”What should I be on the lookout for? What skin colors do they have and do they have teeth and claws?” Walker wasn’t sure what he should be imagining when he thought of how to defend from these monsters. He was sure that they would be similar to lizards since that would make sense that they grouped together in nests. But he was wrong.

”They have frog like limbs. They can leap and jump far. They do have front claws that they use to latch on to their prey. They also have needle teeth with small barbs that keep prey they bite near them. They don’t have poison but they keep rotting food in their mouths to poison their prey instead. It is a disgusting method. The scarier fact is that their mouths seal so they can hide the scent of their stored rotting food.” Seron looked like he was describing something truly terrible.

The angels had all been to this area. They had hunted and fought with wyverns. It made a lot of sense that they would be able to see these kinds of monsters. But since Seran was being so thorough, Walker was able to start grasping an idea of what they might face. Especially since the bite and claws of these monsters would keep them attached to the prey they attacked. It also went to say that they would need healing and purifying if they were bitten.

”You can aim for their eyes. They are larger so they can see in the dark. That is the largest weakness and even their own kind avoid hitting their eyes when fighting. It is odd to think that they are respectful of each other since they are monsters.” Seran felt perturbed by this before shaking it off and returning to his prior attitude of disgust towards these monsters.

”That’s good to know. We can use light or fire to blind them too then. It would probably work as a good deterrent.” Walker was sure that this would be the best methods.

”Unfortunately that will not be the case. Inside a cave that would be fine. We can blind them and get away. But out in the forest that would be the same as attracting the biggest predators to us. There are more than just the mountain crawlers that will be around to hunt at this time. There are things that will prey on them.” Walker felt that he had asked for this since he had been too confident in what he had thought just a second ago.

”What do we need to watch out for in the forest that would start going higher in to the mountains to hunt the cave crawlers?”

”Flying spiders.” Seran said this as if that was all that needed to be said. But when he saw that Walker was just as confused as the cave crawlers, Seran began to understand the true differences continents had. It was not only races that were radically different but also the fact that different monsters had survived or been lost.

”These spiders are a mix of bat and spider. They are very hard to handle since they are entirely black. Their sharp legs have small talons on them. Furthermore, these monsters carry three sets of fangs that do not inject poisons but so tear holes in the bodies of what they hunt. Then they will fly away and eat for their prey to bleed out. It could take hours and they can watch it perfectly in the darkness with the same ability to hear sounds as bats.”

Now this was a terrifying beast. Completely black to blend in with the dark of the night and any shadows. It would be very hard to stop them from attacking unless someone was prepared to stop them at all times of the night.

”They wouldn’t be attracted by the light but instead the sounds of things leaving the area because of light. They also enjoy the warmth so fire is out of the question. Now you see why this area is very hard to travers. The wyverns have to grow in these conditions as well.”

Since Seran had gone even further to prove that the area was just that dangerous, Walker made a very calm mental note of every detail. He even realized that this was a very specific reason that the wyverns were so tough. ” I would think that this environment would make the wyverns lesser in population. yet , they seem to be growing?” Walker found this very strange.

”They could be watched over by this wyvern queen we were told about.” Rise was listening in to all of this. She appeared to have been wondering the very same things as Walker. But he and Seran had not tried to hide their talk at all. The more people that passed on this knowledge to the soldiers the better. Especially when it came to fighting these monsters.

”That could be it. I see where you are going with it.” Walker could understand this. It made sense that s’more intelligent monster would want a way to get stronger and keep breaking away from the thing they saw as stopping their growth.

”If they want to grow so much, are we really certain they are monsters still? Where is the line? Are they really descended from dragons?” Terron was showing very clear doubts when it came to this. He had a little experience hearing and seeing how other monster races had changed to become recognized races.

”If you are thinking what I’m thinking… then it might mean they are getting closer to becoming their own race. But if they are stuck it could mean they have a small higher wyvern population with intelligence and a lower group that is larger than them without.” Mordant stood up from where he had sat after speaking with a few of his dragonkin. He had a very good point.

”So we have the smarter wyverns protecting the weaker. The weak are causing issues and moving to find food while the smarter are trying to change their status. With the world speaking about monsters becoming races then it makes much more sense to think of it this way. But it’s more complicated now.” Walker felt that this was just becoming a deep rabbit hole they were falling down.

”This is always the case. I have never dealt with a situation where wyverns are easy to deal with. The village may not want to leave, the wyverns may attack during a crop shortage, and many other factors. It takes a lot of self control to handle these things.” Seran was blunt but he was certain they could muddle through this with their current course.

”The plan will stay the same and we can learn more as we go. I don’t worry about how we will handle this now. We aren’t even there yet.” Walker ended the theories for the moment. If they spoke any longer the sun would set before they found a camp.

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