Chapter 0044 - Ashchete

Leaving the Cave was a very simple choice for the group. When packing the place up, they decided to leave it hidden from the Future.

Wu Hai had an idea passing through his head, one that he saw in his dreams, he had the Cheng Twins seal it with a solid wall of metal.

The Wall was several meters thick and it was covered with a quotation that read, "Be as the Suns, Live a life that burns brightly in the sky, forever on the rise." At the bottom he wrote each of their names to prove they were there. Life always needed its mysteries and they had made one that could be found generations later.

The finishing touches were more or less to keep anyone else from entering the Tomb with the Green Orb. One day Wu Hai and his group might be able to do something with the orb or about it. Detouring others from the Tomb's entry with a poem seemed better than leaving the entrance to chance. Instead of leaving a blank wall, now it looked like a monument to adventure that had created by a group of Eccentrics. The metal was nothing extra special, no one was likely to spend the time to melt it away. In the eyes of the group, the Orb was safely sealed away.

Leaving a small Altar near the base of the Monument, Wu Hai laid a health potion into a small box then put the box into the altar for the next group of people to find.

"Why do all of this?" Cheng Yu had questions, leaving things behind that were still useful seemed unproductive.

"Why not? It's better for them to find this, than that." Wu Hai pointed in the direction of the Orb.

They started walking north, it was nice to stretch their legs after being stuck in the cave. Strolling through the woods and looking for the clearing where the crab once was, a few small creatures were present. One looked like a long rat and there were a few bird types.

Khan Ni stopped the group after noticing something strange about a hill nearby.

An Ashchete, a particularly dominant Carnivore was present. It crept by the treeline to catch its prey off guard. Ashchete's were known for having large bodies, their paws were bigger than Wu Hai himself. Resembling a mound of dirt when it lay flat, one would believe it impossible to be capable. They were quiet until they began to eat.

The Ashchete would take pride in eating its prey, they enjoyed their meals to kick and screamed within its jaws.

The group was itching to try out their new abilities. Wu Hai took a back seat until he was needed. They all wanted experience in battle.

Cheering from behind, Zao Wu Hai sat atop Darkwing and watched from the distance. He was ready to go whenever he saw the need. The group had already asked him to stay out of it unless things turned difficult.

The Cheng Brothers took flight and threw a rain of daggers each to the Ashchete, the foil thin shards of metal had little effect and bounced. Being generated from the soil beneath them, the metal severely lacking in hardness.

Noticing the problem, Wu Hai made a mental note.

The Ashchete was enraged after having been attacked by two Qilin. Attacks like that were enough to drive most forest animals away but Ashchetes were especially territorial and vicious creatures.

Grunting and forced into a charge, the Ashchete was driven toward Yu. He had put up a large rotating metal and water wall. It was intimidating to the Ashchete, however it just ran around the wall.

The speed of the Ashchete was not inferior to Wu Hai before he had transformed. Enraged Beasts are difficult because they will refuse to back down. Dangerous could also be a word to describe the situation, if even a single strike landed on either of the Brothers, they could be in real danger.

Ashchete were brutal and savage predators.

Khan Ni was taking aim while the Ashchete dodged the wall to bite at Yu. The Arrow was fired with precision, she tagged the Ashchete's face. The direct hit caused the beast to writhe in pain until the arrow broke off from its head.

Fleeing wasn't an option for the Ashchete and the blood from it's face only intensified the rage it felt. The hole in its face left a stinging reminder to slaughter it's prey without mercy.

Mu had already jumped in. He was attempting to create a spike from the soil. It turned out to be very effective in their attempts to dodge the swipes.The Cheng Brothers were both using hand to hand and magic simultaneously. Each of the swipes was enough force to damage or destroy the obstacles.

Khan Ni had taken a liking to using only a bow for most of her attacks.

The Trio were pushing themselves further away from the Ashchete, they regrouped and stood their ground.

As the Ashchete came forward it shook the ground with each step and displaced the trees in it's path.

The Time had come for Wu Hai to take action. He jumped from Darkwing's back and landed directly in between the group and beast.

When the Ashchete started to charge, Wu Hai's roll had come to a stop. He had changed his powers once more in the moment, he wasn't sure what he would get but he definitely wanted to see if he could use the Dice in battle.

'Lightning, Soul, Ring, Vishnan, Small.' He read the Gygax and felt himself changing while the Ashchete pounded the ground and rushed.

"Its true that size matters, it would have been nice to be bigger." Wu Hai muttered as he sprang into action. His movements were quick at first. In combination with his lightning, he had the Cheng brothers ram a bunch of metal rods into the Ashchete's body.

The Cage was turned into a lightning rod.

The Electric charge from their combined attacks was enough to catch the fur from the Ashchete on fire, it hurled itself and rolled in the soil. Trying to take out its opponent, the Ashchete struggled with a resolute might. As it tumbled, the Ashchete broke the landscape around it.

Wu Hai couldn't take it any longer, he pulled the Crusher from his back and swung it down with as much of his power as he could muster. He felt a lifting sensation when it crashed into the Ashchete's head. The force of his strike had thrown him whole body into the air and the Crusher was pressing it's head to the ground.

Wu Hai tried using his soul to calm the beast but it didn't work.

The Ashchete tried to get back up, it was still on fire and the Crusher was making it very difficult for it to lift its head. It started to roll over again in an attempt to use its feet to defend against the group but Khan Ni was already taking aim.

She said a prayer for the large animal, it was never a good idea to kill such a large creature. With a quick shot through the left eye, the Ashchete fell over, it brain had been pierced.

As its corpse bled onto the ground the group caught their breath. The Ashchete twitched for a minute. The noise from the battle had scared off the other prey in the area.

Quickly skinning and quartering the Ashchete, they bottled its blood and saved the hide. Although Ashchetes were extremely large, their furs were comfortable even in the summer months when used as a liner in armors.

"Must you always carry everything away?" Khan Ni was questioning why Wu Hai never left parts of animals or beasts where they were slain.

"Isn't it obvious? These sell for some money and many of the things I would want to make will be made from hides and bone. We can only grow stronger using what we find, is something wrong?" Wu Hai was curious, this wasn't the first time that Khan Ni was more or less disinterested in killing a forest creature.

Shaking her head to signal 'no', she tried to leave it at that.

She was mostly quiet all the time anyway, it wasn't out of character. Taking her attitude into consideration over the slaughter of a beast, he decided to only target violent ones for the time being.

They had a long way to go and the grasslands were clear in front of them.

The Tolo were slow when they had a rider but with the Cheng Twins no longer needing them, it was time to consider letting them go.

When asked, the Brothers both yelled out, "Not going to happen!" They had grown attached and the mounts could carry extra things. It was already a lot to keep them fed but Wu Hai didn't mind too much, they could always revisit the subject in the future.

Enlarging the Jiao so that Khan Ni could ride it, she looked at the group and started to talk like she had a lot on her mind, "I don't know if I can continue to kill forest creatures, we did it in winter for food and I accepted it. Just now, we killed that Ashchete that was minding its own business. If I remain, I'd like to not randomly kill things. Otherwise, I might as well go my own way."

"Sister Ni, do you wish to leave?" Wu Hai looked at Khan Ni in suspicion but kept a level attitude and expression. He wasn't looking to make her leave, in fact, she worked well with the group. It would be a shame to watch her leave after such teamwork proved possible.

"It's not that I wish to leave but I don't wish to forsake my Elven Heritage and slaughter all that we encounter. So far, everything we've seen, we've killed." With a heavy sigh, Khan Ni explained. "I need more adventure and experience to achieve my goals but not at the cost of my own values."

The whole group stopped, they understood what she meant.

"Okay, We can try it your way.. but there may come a time when I need things that only come from beasts and animals. It will be prudent of us not to abandon defending ourselves." Wu Hai patted the Jiao. "How about this, I'll ask you if what we encounter is something you think we can avoid. I believe we are going to be in danger if we resign ourselves not to kill." Putting a great deal of effort into convincing Khan Ni, Wu Hai managed to sway her enough to stay.