Whilst Violet would have loved nothing more than to have instantly rushed off to start hunting down some orcs Luna wanted to properly send off her clan members. Something which whilst Violet didn't quite understand at first she readily followed her companions wishes.
And so Luna asked Violet to gather plenty of fire wood whilst Luna prepared the bodies of her family and clan for the pyre. She kept a few bit of jewelry that some of the clan members still had on them, mostly simply bone necklaces and bracelets. As her parents were the clan heads they had a few nicer pieces of jewelry which included the artifact necklace she now wore around her neck.
She carefully collected all the keepsakes she could from them before she went about the process of building a pyre for them. This was something that she sadly had some experience with thanks to the sharp decline the clan experienced in recent years. It was a solem affair and hardly any words were spoken between the two of them as they went about the grim task.
Before too long however the fire was lit and the two stood side by side as they watched it burn. Fresh tears fell down Lunas cheeks but a fire of determination burned within the young woman. Violet for her part wasn't as effected but as she cared deeply for Luna she offered all the support she could to her companion in this moment.
As the fire began to die down Luna spoke softly, "Mum, Dad, everyone, I swear I will return the injustice suffered by our clan someday. I will carry on our legacy and will ensure I live in a way that you all can be proud of." Then she slowly turned away and smiled down at Violet. "Thank you for being with me Violet, I-I don't know how I would have managed without you with me."
Violet simply bumped into her waist with her shoulder and replied. "I'll always be here for you." A small smile curled the edge of lunas lips at that as she simply nodded and expressed her thanks through the bond. The two of them finding it easier to express complex emotions now through it instead of via any other method.
"Let's go back to the cave for today it's already starting to get late, we can start hunting the orcs down in the morning." Violet hummed in agreement. And so the pair began to treck back towards the cave only stopping when they happened across another of the mutaited gerbils which they happily hunted. And as Violet was summoning a void shield to carry it back she stared in amazement as Luna touched the corpse and it simply vanished into thin air.
"Wa! How did you do that! Where did it go?" Her confusion and awe at what happened was easily felt by Luna who let out a small laugh before she explained.
"This necklace that my mum had, when I use my arctic mana on it I can access a subspace where I can store various things. It was mostly empty so it has enough space to hold quite a few bodies."
Violet looked at the item in amazement. "Wow! That is awesome! What did it have in it!?" She was practically jumping in excitement, after all this was the first time she had even heard of such an item and so was truly impressed by it.
Luna couldn't help but laugh at Violets jubilant mood but answered nonetheless. "Well this spear is probably the best item, but it also seemed to have some armour, which I hope will fit. Past that it held nothing else unfortunately." Saying so she took out the spear and Violet looked at it intensely as did Luna.
Ice spear - Rare: a Spear crafted from the bones of an Arctic Dragon. Every strike with this weapon will leave behind a lasting chill slowing whoever it strikes. +5 Agility & Strength
Luna froze upon reading its description and looked at her dragon companion with slight worry. "Umm do you mind if I use this violet?"
Violet looked at her weirdly and titled her head in confusion, "why would you not use it? It is powerful!"
Luna blinked but pressed on, "well it's made out of dragon bone, does this not bother you?"
Now Violet was getting confused, "why would that bother me? I never knew it and it died so it cannt have been all that strong. I wish I could have tasted it though!" Her tone got a bit dreamy towards the end which thourghly confused Luna for a moment before she suddenly realised. 'Right Violet is a wild dragon with no concept of cannibalism. Actually it's not uncommon for most beasts to eat their own kinds now that I think of it, it's only humanoids that find the practice to be weird.'
Shacking her head at that she next pulled out the armour to investigate that. It was a fairly simple looking leather armour. A chest piece with some shoulder guards and vambraces along with an armoured skirt and some grieves completed the set. To lunas surprise it to was magical and a screen popped up when she looked at it.
[Armour of the Leapord - Rare: simple leather armour which will enhance your stealth. Has the ability to adjust to fit its wearer along with some minor self repair functionality.]
"Wow! That is also really good! Now you won't such at stealth any more!" Violet happily announced.
"Hey I don't such at stealth!" Luna tried to protest only to at that moment step on a twig and snap it. She paused unable to look at Violet as she could feel the judgment flowing down the bond.
"Yes you do." Was violets only response. Luna could only hang her head in shame.
The two swiftly made it back to the cave where they went about the process of butchering the gerbil and whilst Luna set about making the fire Violet prepaired the hide to add to their growing collection of bedding.
It was a quite evening only interspersed by short bouts of conversation before the two of them went to bed for the night. The two of them snuggled together under their furs.
Morning came soon enough and Luna equipped her new armour enjoying how it easily fit her, afterall her chest wraps had become slightly strained after her evolution so it was nice to have something that fit properly again.
The two made their way down the now familiar route to the village where the checked around of any tracks they could find. Whilst Luna had little luck Violet managed to find something. Thanks to her great sense of smell she was able to pick up on the faint smell that was oh so similar to the orc she killed previously. After all a dragon never forgets the smell of something she has eaten.
The trail led then east and so the two of them began their hunt.
They walked for some time with very little happening with Violet managed to maintain a lock on their scent, Luna also managed to begin spotting signs of them too. Whilst her nose might not be as powerful as a dragons it was still quite powerful and so she too managed to pick it up eventually.
The day was turning to evening when they were attacked.
The pair had just come across a clearing and had decided to take a short break before they pushed on any further. Violet had just laid down to rest her legs when she caught some movement in the corner of her eyes she jumped to her feet and called out to Luna in warning and quickly fired off a void bolt in its direction out of instinct. That act very well may have saved the young girls life.
BOOM. HISSSS.
The bolt managed to strike true and diverted the attack away from Luna so all she revived was a glancing blow which still sent her flying away and landing in a heap on the ground. However, Violet didn't have time to worry about her companion as she got a look at the foe for the first time. In front of them was a snake of giant proportions. Easily 7 meters long with a mouth wide enough to nearly swallow Violet whole. It was covered in scales of green and brown, perfect to blend in with the surrounding forest.
It reared back as it locked eyes with Violet and she felt a strong sense of danger from the beast. This would not be an easy fight, she also noticed that her bolt only seemed to have scuffed the scales on its side and hadn't felt any lasting damage.
Violet began to summon a void spear but had to leap backwards as the snake lunged at her, she managed to avoid the attack and launched her spear at it.
BOOM.
The spear struck true but it barely pierced the snakes scales and when it detonated only a small would was made. But it did manage to piss the snake off even more.
Summoning two more void spears Violet charged up her pounce waiting for the snake to make its next move, saddly she didn't expect its tail to whip around and impact her side sending her staggering. She managed to keep control of her spear thankfully but her pounce was lost.
BOOM. BOOM.
She didn't waist any more time and fired off both spears, it managed to dodge one but got struck in its side by the second. But it didn't slow it down and the snake charged her again. Only to be intercepted by the thrust of an ice encased spear that struck in in the side.
CRACKLE, HISSSSS!
As ice instantly formed around the wound it let out a hiss of pain and reared back to whip its tail at Luna but she leapt into the air and swung the spear down managing to score a blow along the tail drawing more blood.
Whilst Lina kept its attention Violet began to summon her void Lance, it still took quite some time to fully manifest but it was their best bet of dealing a decisive blow. Luna exchanged blows with the snake, dodging what she could and blocking with the spear what she couldn't. She managed to score a few more ice strikes and the beast was noticeably slower now than at the start of the fight. She managed to bait it into lunging at her again and dashed back out of the way, before the snake could readjust its course a 2 meter long lance of void impaled it through its wide open maw.
THUD! BOOM!
And with that last move the snake dropped to the ground dead.
[Your group has defeated Arborial Snake lvl 23 exp rewarded]
[Congratulations you have leveled up: Class advancement available]