Chapter 856 Chapter 855: Terracotta Grottos (17)
Butchering the Wurm took no time at all, our knives and short swords making quick work of the dead monster's flesh as we skinned it, butchered it, and further desecrated its corpse via dismantling its skeleton.
The meat filled multiple chests, the skin was layered and placed into three chests, the bones filled multiple chests, and the various other ingredients - like its organs - were placed into another three chests, meaning...
We had a gigantic caravan of chests we needed to haul back to the base, which we stacked together and began to lug back, attracting the attention of the monsters nearby as they curiously watched us get to work, only to ignore us as they felt the mana pulsing off of us as we walked, or the scent of a powerful monster lingering around us pushing them away even more.
But, we went straight back out as soon as we deposited our loot back at the base, not taking a rest as we returned to clearing out this other grotto, making it another safer area as we prepared to excavate all of the resources inside it for our own benefit...
Even though there was a good chance that some of the materials would be left behind, we still were driven by a slight greed to have as much as we could and - at the very least - upgrade our gear as much as possible and continue delving into the depths of the Terracotta Grottos to try and find the real, mouthwatering goodies that currently eluded our grasps...
The only ones we had found so far were those two separate herbs, which were nice to use, sure, but not the greatest finds ever; we certainly got a boost in strength from them, and having a really powerful healing potion on tap was great, but they weren't flashy acquisitions in any stretch of the imagination.
Not much happened on the next excursion, so we pulled back to the base once more after harvesting some more monsters for food and some extra materials, which were put to use right away as we got to work on curing and tanning the pelts and hides that we acquired to create some better armor and repair the damage we had taken.
Besides that, the whips of the Wurm had dented and cracked some of the shields, so Anput was doing repairs to those as well to reequip us for the next excursion, with some of the Demons approaching me asking for basic enchantments... which they bartered for using their 'profits' that had been earned throughout these days.
Getting our weapons and armor tended to was great, and now that I was placing enchantments on everyone's gear, we were readying ourselves for the next excursion, which would be to search for another grotto that had things we were searching for, which was primarily going to be ore at this point.
While I was enchanting and Anput was mending, Leone worked with Ammit and continued to brew potions, whilst Jahi continued working with Satanya to brainstorm our next move, the two appraising the model and updating it with their new ideas and eventual plans.
After a while of inscribing the exact same runes on different pieces of gear, I eventually got up and found Leraie, the Demoness staring at me in confusion before nodding as I asked "Wanna head out for a quick hunt? I need to move around..."
"Sure, sure. Let me grab my gear real quick."
The others watched as we left with slight pouts, the Demons who were hoping to get their enchanted gear not too pleased with my departure, whilst the ones who had gotten their gear enchanted gloated to their peers, causing fights as they continued to gibe and goad one another into spars, enjoying their downtime the in one of the only two ways all Demons seemed to know how...
Giving Jahi and Satanya our destination, Leraie and I returned to the grotto once more, aiming for one of the Goblin tribes that dotted the area and creeping towards them, our Wind Cloaks and light feet making it impossible to smell or hear us as we approached the haphazardly thrown together base.
Sticks and logs were stacked randomly alongside rocks to create walls, whilst the crudely tanned hides of monsters patched any immediate holes in the walls to keep the entire thing insulated from the breeze, keeping the camp warm as they ignited a gigantic bonfire inside their camp.
Along the 'ramparts' of the walls, Goblins stood around and lazily looked over the grotto, their bows and spears resting on their shoulders as they yawned and dozed off, whilst the grunts and growls of the others inside the camp spilled into the air.
Unsheathing a dagger, I scanned the walls and nodded to Leraie before sneaking forwards, out of sight and hidden from the monsters that I wanted to take my irritation out on... both for earlier, and for the amount of repetitive enchanting I had just done.
So, I slunk forwards towards the wall and crouched beneath it, before lunging upwards and yanking the Goblin down from its perch atop the rock it stood on, startling the monster before it stared at me in fearful surprise as I swiftly slit its throat.
Obviously such a maneuver attracted attention, but before they could investigate the sudden disappearance of their comrade, a giant earthen spike erupted in the center of their camp, startling them.
Jumping onto the rock that the Goblin had once occupied, I spun the bloody dagger smoothly and threw it towards another monster, before unsheathing my Khopesh and launching a projectile towards the Ogre that stood in the center, its slow mind trying to catch up to all of these sudden changes, causing it to freeze up.
Because of that... the ice discus slashed into its chest and tore through its muscular torso, bisecting the Ogre and causing the top half of its body to slide to the ground with a wet thud, startling the rest of the Goblins into action... even though it was too late for them.
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