23

"How did none one of us come up with some kind of plan?!" aero shouted once again feeling his lungs. the stampede ended when the betors decide they chased them far enough away. which allowed them to face plant into the ground so tired they might have just drifted off right there. too bad the moment aero started breathing right again he started throwing a fit.

"I refuse to be bested by a bunch of furry reptiles!" he was going back up that mountain and slathering them all! as soon as his feet stopped pulsing with pain! the helper took the chance to walk their lord through some breathing excises to calm him down before he did something rash. while also coming up with something that would be the balms on his damaged pride.

'my lord they only chased you down here because they saw you as a threat.'

"don't think I don't know what you trying!" aero grumbled under his breath rolling onto his back so his face was in the hurt. he wasn't happy that the blam on his pride worked, he would still love to go back up that mountain but as the helper said they now saw him as a threat. "what that smell?" he knew it was a weak distraction but he needed to ignore his pride for the moment.

it took a few petals before the strength to stand found him, with the help of stubbornness. on his shaky feet he followed his nose to the source of the smell, "well that's to be expected.' the bleeding rotting bodies of the betors they pushed off the motion. it all smelled so nauseating it made him light-headed, if he stayed here too long aero was sure his stomach was going to revolt before he fainted.

'my lord I need you to evacuate the area at this moment!' the urgency in their voice promoted aero to leave the area without much of a fight, not that he was feeling up to one. when the air was clearer he could think again and the helper was able to reveal what they learned. "the rotting bodies were producing a compound that is intractable toxic to your biology. prolonged exposure is likely to kill you without a doubt, there need to be some to neutralize the compound.'

"decay powder!" he has been told he couldn't wait for more than a flower before he applied the powder or there would be consequences. "all was curious but that also explains the story about the dead revenge!" groaning he reached for his decay powder six swords and raiper decided to get up concern fro the stat that he was in. he explained as the followed him back to the spot, their reaction to the smell made him feel better about his own. working quickly they sprinkled the powder and the air quickly cleared up allowing them to greedy swallow air.

"Okay that's something to keep in mind, lets go see if we can find the ground team!" six swords was tired and would like to be able to sleep deeply without the worry that something wasn't going to wake her up with its teeth. they found the ground team rather quickly and then explained why they were there.

"wow you got them to chase you out after a few days, don't know whether I should be impressed or worried!" bat said as she looked over raiper's healed injury turns out this woman had the most medical training out of all of them. "also by the zalts what did you do to this wound looks a few weeks old!" she was both impressed and worried. after several petals of looking over the wounds she couldn't find anything wrong with it, " but you should still see a professional when this is over with." rapier nodded before getting up and moving over to the fire where they were discussing what they should do now.

"We killed a great number but is it enough that the village won't be in any major danger?"

"Not likely, you have seen how dangerous betors are, just one is dangerous, and if they're desperate or confident enough they will attack the village. but can't kill them all maybe leaving like four left is a good amount."

"okay but now the problem is how we kill enough for that!" that discussion kept them busy for flowers. a few of which aero just spent listening because he was tired but refused to show it to them until the sunset and it was a good time to turn in for the night. he didn't even remember laying down before he was off to the realm of the slumber.

he might have woken up in the middle of the night to relieve himself and tripped over one of his self-appointed guards but his eyes were closed the entire time so that might have been a dream.

the morning came and the light entered his cart rudely waking him up. "ugh!" rolling to his hands he stepped out of the cart and feed the creature that was tied to his cart before doing morning stretches and yoga in the light of the rising star. the campsite started waking up around him when he was done.

aero had finished his first meal when he started thinking about what he could do about the mission," I think are number are a good match for them, but should we go for a full-up fight?" it seemed like a foolish idea to him, this was survival fair fights were foolish. "but I can't make people give up their principles not to mention my own." he's met many hunters who didn't wish to be cruel when they killed. he was one of them, he killed because they needed to.

the helper agreed with this minds set, said 'it's a good way to prevent yourself from turning into a monster.' which was probably something he should keep in mind as he was turning into a powerful being. it wouldn't do to be a crazy and moralless powerful bing, "has that happened before a lord without moral causing trouble, besides the original sin?"

' there are a few times that people have approached the level of power they were quickly put down or contained by the law enforcement or the companion. but now it might fall to you if something like happened in the sections of the universe that you choose to occupy.'

'i'm supposed to occupy some part of space?'

'the other lords of seen has taken up the space the parts of the companion has taken to managing it was mostly to manage the flower of sin energy through the universe, making sure there wasn't too much or too little. this led to aero asking what would happen if they failed to do that, 'desire runs unchecked! that is the original sin, all sins are born of desire. when unchecked people do bad things dangerous things, all in the name of their desires!'

aero paused to think, has he seen desire unchecked? thinking long and hard he decided no not unchecked but a whole lot of it that made people do bad and dangerous things. "don't want to see that but right now I gotta make sure their creatures don't go unchecked. jumping out of his cart he started moving towards the fires where they began to plan their next move.

"We have to get this over with unless the majority of you would like to stay here for the next few weeks?!" he hopped not, he was getting homesick.

thankfully no one wanted to spend weeks where when the weather was starting to get warmer, they would do well in the hot weather. the carapace absorbed heat very easily which leads to heat stock easily, even with the stream coming from the mountain it was a bad idea to stay here when they were fighting.

after half a day of playing they decide to chase a number of the beast down the motion side, are rapier and six swords were staying on ground level. while a few other hunters were going rock climbing to go around the back of the creature to chase them down the motion. if things went well they could pincer the creatures and bring down their numbers hopefully with no wounds or deaths on their side.

"don't get your hopes up on the site of a battle," something older hunters would tell the younger. aero wasn't looking for the day he truly knew what that meant, instead he prepared for the coming fight. he considered using his pride energy. 'why not still got a lot to learn about hat power, also...' looking around the camp he saw the pride of the surrounding hunters. a few took the most pride in this but others took more pride in something else. picking out those with the highest level he closed his eyes and focused on forging his energy.

soon unseen to anyone but aero and the helper as sectioned staff floated around, no one else noticed when the staff went wild around the campground sticking at the pride of every person here. taking out chunks and chunks until aero drained his reserves, there he retreated to his cart to rest and mental go over past achievements. it took him a day to recover enough that he was willing to step out of the cart to practice his hand-to-hand combat. the tree he practiced on didn't deserve the blow he gave to it, his fist and ankles were just as bad.

but his pride had swelled enough that no one was going to comment on how he acted, which might also be because they could make out the second team chasing the betors. they could only hear the sounds, which was a testament to how loud they were being as they couldn't even see them yet. 'they climbed fast, guess they really wanna go home.' aero spent two more days waiting for them to enter the visual range.

"by the zalts!" more than twenty adults betor were being chased by a group of flaming wheels. the effect of some sort of melody. a likey advanced that aero kind of wanted to learn but that was something for later, right now that had to get ready for a small slaughter. when the stampede reached the end of the mountain all the hunters pounced, they might have been outnumbered but the betors were outgunned.

this area was much more table than the mountainside, which meant they didn't have to hold back too much. aero stayed back once he realized this was a rare chance to see just what some of his fellow hunters were caple of. it might get him to respect them more than basic people, aero could take pride in the fact that he treated all people, except his mother, the same. with neutral suspension, before he got to know them.

'i don't think that a healthy way to look at people but it might serve you well!" the helper commented as aero picked up a few rocks that aero started lobbing into the battlegrounds, distracting the betors as his fellow hunters needed. the betors were ferous so his distracted saved more than a few limbs and lives. for reference, the betor had the bite strange necessary to tear steel. their claws could carve stone, fast on the ground, and were mild pursuit preditors. you either won or died when faced with these creatures, fights that could last a flower if you weren't careful.

he watched as six swords used her juggling blades to drive several red hot blades through the joints of a furry lizard just in time for another hunter to decapitate it. the head went flying as six swords got her rapidly cooling weapons back, he wasn't close enough to hear but he saw her jam moving and the blades glow with heat once more.

'i can't use that technique he,' aero thought as he spotted a hunter fall to her back, the stone had already left his hand as the betor pounded on her. it struck it in the eye allowing the woman to give it a swift and deadly kick to its ribs allowing her to stand her ground and get back in the fight.

several more similar incidences happened as the number of the betors went down turning the battle in the hunters' favor when the last one went down aero took care of decaying the bodies while the other took the time to regain their strange and care for their wounds. a few people tried out the melody that aero gave raiper, they all described how strange it felt for other wounds to heal, and all promised to see a real doctor when this was over.

the night descends and the party arouses as they pulled out little treats from their luggage, which includes things aero's never had. they seemed reluctant to let him have any unhealthy treats which was something he expected. but they didn't stop him from trying any of them, he liked a few things but remembered not to go overboard if he wanted to keep his muscles. of course, the helper told him how good it was to indulge himself, he mention something about balance but aero didn't listen to tonight maybe in the morning when he was heading back home.

thous plans went out the window when popped another snake into his mouth in the light of the rising sun. "by the Zalts!" he's been up all night! "may a black hole swallow mE!" he's never stayed up this late, he was much too tired dealing with people to do so. "time for bed!" making choice he got up from the rock he was using a chair before going off to relieve himself and wash up.

"if I had known I was going to be gone this long I would have brought my bed with me, he wasn't happy sleeping don't the floor of his cart. despite its surprising level of comfort. "okay quick plan nap then start heading home after that!" closing his eyes he hoped to stay down a 3 floor before starting to move the cart. the sun had long passed its peak when he woke up.

"ugh! whatever!" he was too tired to think more about it, moving around the cart he checked his supplies and collected some water before grabbing the reins and heading out for the road. 'my lord I've collected a few stories would you like to hear them?' aero nodded he knew how long he was going to be on the road.