10.2 ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ.ᴄᴏᴍ/sᴛʀᴀᴛᴏᴛʜʀᴀx

"Please you two," said the half-elf calmly. "It's pretty clear that this monster is extraordinarily strong or under some unknown effect now it is dead. I doubt anything less than Lynthia's ranker would be able to cut its body."

"Then what do we do then? We found it!"

"I don't see that there is much we can do. If we get the town's ranker involved he will no doubt steal it from us and we won't be able to say a word against him as he is significantly higher level than we are."

"So, what? We just destroyed our weapons for nothing?

The calm half-elf pursed her lips. "I don't see any other way it can be interpreted. The most we can expect is a reimbursement from the guild for the information, that is if someone else hasn't already told them. We appear to have little or nothing."

The male elf groaned. "Why did I choose to team up with you idiots?"

"Because no one else would take your sorry ass."

"Go orgy yourself Satyr girl."

"Hey! That's speciest!"

"I don't know, is it?"

"Yes! It's a stereotype. Satyrs don't just do orgies you know."

"They mostly do, let's be honest."

"Okay, granted, but still."

The man sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Or at least that would be the case," continued the half-elf. "If there were not a rather large chunk of what looks like pure gold, gold that is soft enough to cut, attached to the alligator's head."

The four adventurers looked up at the circlet in silence.

"Well, who wants to try and remove it?"

"Not me." grumbled the Satyr. "Might be magicked. I've already lost one expensive thing today."

The human and the half-elf shared a look.

"Oh, you bunch of pansies," spat the elf as he jumped up on the Alligators snout. He strode forward and unsheathed a dagger at his side before stabbing it into the circlet.

The circlet immediately exploded.

The elf was blown off the alligator and slammed into a nearby boulder where he slid to the ground, the shield on his back having cracked the stone he hit so hard. Pieces of gold were flung in all directions, mostly far over the lake, the rest cracked against any nearby stone with enough force to make sparks. The Satyr flung herself to the ground with a yelp. The half-elf rushed to the side of the male elf who had been catapulted by the explosion and began checking him over, green light suddenly shone from her hands as her feline tail lashed behind her. After a moment of this the male elf groaned and woke up.

"I'm not saying anything. Not saying anything at all. My wine-loving lips are sealed," said the Satyr from prone on the ground.

"I… I think I made a silly mistake…" moaned the elf.

The half-elf sighed. "You're fine. A few broken ribs but I've already fixed them. Next time don't be so reckless."

"You're so stupid lucky we have a healer on the team," said the man. "Not exactly a common Class."

The elf groaned but held up a shaking hand within which he held a good eighth of the circlet.

"Just take my sacrifice into account when we split the loot."

"Pssh you wish."

The team busied themselves with picking up the shattered chunks of gold. There wasn't as much as they were hoping, maybe a quarter in total, less than they expected having seen how much came down on land. The Satyr stared forlornly over the lake's dark waters.

"This has been mostly a complete disaster. Look, I'm going to go find some monsters to kill with my one remaining axe so I can grind out a level up. Come with me?" said the man.

The Satyr scowled at him but gestured her agreement.

"Wait, let me make a note claiming we found the monster body first."

The half-elf pulled a piece of paper and ink from her satchel and scratched out a note. She then tucked it in between the alligator's lips so that it hung down limp.

"All our names right?"

"Yes."

"You know my names spelt with a 'k' right?"

"Yes." said the half-elf slightly more forcefully.

"Alright fine, let's go."