Alex, unable to help himself, stares at Benezia's half-exposed body, her robe barely intact and riddled with holes. The moonlight shining on her exposed skin makes her seem strangely aesthetic—despite her uncomfortable situation, she still carries herself with grace.
I need to pull myself together! This isn't the time... but I wonder...
"I'd always wondered... what happens now that your clothes are ruined?" Alex asks, voicing the obvious question in his head.
"They restore themselves in a few hours... I'll change into something else in the meantime," Benezia explains.
Disappearing for a few minutes, Benezia returns, now dressed in casual human clothes: long black pants, a gray blouse with long sleeves, and outdoor boots, making her look surprisingly normal despite her exotic Asari features.
She looks like a typical suburban wife going on a weekend hike.
"You look good," Alex comments.
Tereza nods approvingly. "Yes, you look stylish."
"... cease this foolishness," Benezia commands. "Now tell me, were you successful?"
Princess Jewel was not successful, but she saw Tereza's sparks close by and decided to help her out. With her help, Princess Jewel hunted a big flying bird without feathers.
"It's not a bird, Jewel!" Tereza protests, before sighing. "Remember, we tal— you know what, forget it. I won't take the bait again. My story is the same as Jewel's—we caught a Pterodactylus. I bagged the corpse and it's Deep Green, but I don't think it's suitable for our plan. Alex, do you want your share now?"
"No... I didn't help after all, and Jewel does not need a share," Alex says. "Keep it or hand it to Menchi to exchange for food. In any case, we can't use the Pterodactylus for our plan."
"I'll give it to Menchi, I got a lot of food from her, and she will, without a doubt, share more with me in the future," Tereza says. "I hope she'll like it."
"You are correct, this is indeed a problem," Benezia comments, "though you still managed to catch something valuable. How about you, Alex?" she asks, staring at him.
Alex briefly recounts his encounter with the Tyrannosaurus Rex Matriarch, listing his spoils: eleven portions of Deep Green Meat, a single piece of Light Blue quality, and six [Tyrannosaurus Rex Egg].
"Impressive," Benezia says, "but still not what we require. We'll need to set out again, it seems."
Soulmate did a great job!
"I'm not finished!" Alex says. "I also got three White-ranked tiger corpses," he adds, dropping them onto the ground. "They ambushed me when I was trying to meet up with Tereza. They are not as large as the Sabertooth Tiger, but they should work. The giants won't notice a difference."
"Perfect, that should suffice," Benezia says. "Let's butcher them quickly so we can keep at least a few decent parts for Menchi."
Like last time, Alex uses his [Butchering Knife] to salvage a total of twelve pieces of meat, all White quality, while leaving the corpses relatively intact.
"It's a little weird. The corpse was White, while the stronger Sabertooth tiger was just Gray, yet it gave more meat. It seems combat strength isn't the only factor that determines the quality of prey, especially ingredients," Alex comments.
Did Benezia find something as well? She is strangely silent. Usually, she's upfront and doesn't waste time.
"Benezia, what about you? Did you find anything?" Alex wonders, before adding, "You asked us, but didn't talk about yourself."
"I have failed," Benezia admits instantly. "I managed to find a few interesting flowers, but they contained what I can only describe as the worst possible item I have ever seen. The only upside is that I found exactly 106 of them. They're small enough that you could potentially eat them quickly—you could probably swallow all 106 in less than a minute if you forced yourself."
[Bitterflower Seed]
World: One Piece
Quality: Gray
Effect: Heals 1 HP
Note: A nutritious seed from a thorny flower thought to be extinct. It has a bitter, yet refreshing taste.
"Not too bad, it's better than nothing. Instead of wasting the entire 106 [Bitterflower Seeds] for a measly 106 HP, you might as well donate them to Menchi—she might be able to use them in her dishes or creations," Alex suggests, as he inspects the tiny seeds in Benezia's hand.
"My thought exactly," Benezia replies.
"..."
"..."
"..."
What now?
"It's still a few hours until the sun rises, and even then, we don't know when the volcano will erupt next, which signals the start of the duel," Alex notes, then asks, "Should we hunt some more, maybe this time as a group? I can cast a few spells here and there without exhausting myself. It's better than just waiting around for hours, potentially half a day or so."
Princess Jewel wants to explore the Volcano Soulmate mentioned!
"Maybe it's worth a try?" Tereza asks, before explaining, "I can fly above a few of them—maybe we can somehow get into one of them. As far as I can tell, not all are active, so have a shot."
"There are valuable animals in the forest... I am a little tired, but it's tempting to stock up on more valuable ingredients," Alex argues, looking not too happy with the plan. "Even Benezia said that we can't expect anything extraordinary from a volcano in this world."
"We need to be at our best for our upcoming fight," Benezia counters. "I'm also starting to believe in both of your LUK stats. The little one's suggestion isn't bad—we can recover a little and still explore the island, specifically the volcanoes, with a small chance of an upside. If we keep hunting and exhaust ourselves, we'll ruin our plan. I also want to see if it's possible to predict the next eruption, which would be quite helpful."
"Fine," Alex concedes. "Let's sightsee some volcanoes then."
Tereza transforms once again into a bat, with Alex attaching the custom harness to her back.
She takes off, flying around the volcanoes, first circling the largest one, which radiates tremendous heat even from afar.
This must be the one signalling the fight. It's the most active... it looks ready to erupt... at least in my opinion. It would be suicidal to try to enter it.
As they approach, Tereza growls in her deep and monstrous voice, "Impossible! The smoke is too thick—we can't get inside. I can't even see. Let me try something else.
Tereza then screeches, unleashing a soundwave into the volcano.
"The lava is quite high," Tereza yells. "It will erupt soon!"
"I'll pay closer attention to the smoke—maybe it's an indication as well," Benezia says. "Let's examine the other volcanoes."
Tereza flies on, crossing over several volcanoes, until she finally finds one that doesn't radiate heat and seems dormant. A faint thread of smoke drifts from its peak.
"There's a good chance these volcanoes are connected. In any case, this one is our only chance to enter. From above is the only way," Benezia explains.
Without hesitation, Tereza dives straight into the top opening.
As they descend into the seemingly inactive volcano, Alex still feels a surge of heat wash over him, the temperature rising steadily, reminding him of his rare but memorable visits to a large indoor pool that features saunas as well, located relatively close to his home.
Tereza drops deeper and deeper into the volcano before finally landing.
Alex touches down on the rocky floor and instantly feels the heat rising from the ground.
"Dormant, my ass!" Alex curses. "Let's take a look around and then get the fuck out of here."
Benezia ignores his frustration and calmly walks forward. Alex stares at her and notices a narrow path leading deeper underground appearing in the distance.
Remaining in her full bat form, Tereza screeches in her deep, monstrous voice, "Let's follow her."
Princess Jewel will become a lava spider!
"Good luck with that," Alex mutters as he follows after Benezia.
It doesn't take long until the group reaches a vast underground cavern, a molten river of lava flowing along the right-hand side, separating the walkable terrain into two sides.
"This is unexpected," Alex says. "This underground space... It's probably larger than the island itself!"
As they continue, Tereza suddenly halts. She spreads her wings, lifts off, and glides across the lava, landing on the opposite bank. She crouches down, picking up a glowing red stone with her mutated limbs. Her face shifts—forming a scary expression.
Did she just smile? Hard to tell when she's transformed.
She quickly gathers three more stones before returning to the group and holding them out.
[Red Stone]
World: One Piece / Fantasy Realm
Quality: Gray
Type: Rock
Effect: Extremely common crafting material containing a small amount of Fire Energy
Note: Don't grip too tightly, or you'll burn your hand!
"Meh," Alex comments. "Still worth picking up, I guess."
They press forward, but soon freeze in their tracks. Ahead of them stands a massive red lizard, twice as tall as Alex, reared up on its hind legs, glaring at them with deep yellow eyes.
That's all? This thing doesn't scare me.
Suddenly, five more identical lizards step out from a few rocks, slowly walking towards the group, using only their hind legs as well, their entire upper body shaking with every step.
"These things are weird and silly... still, we might want to turn around..." Alex says, his voice filled with unease.
Benezia smiles before shouting, "Take them down!"
Fine, today's food will be fried lizard!
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