The hunters take down a few of the large herbivores with spells, scattering the herd, then quickly gather their kills and head back for whatever village they came from.
Cain leads his small group through the woods at a bit faster pace and notices Mary is having no trouble keeping up, where most others would be.
"Since you've got a Merger, I guess we can move a good bit faster. What did you pick to merge with?"
"I went for the Oath Breakers today. They're much more agile than the Lord of Decay or the Granite Golems and still have great stamina. Plus, even the softest of Epic Demons are pretty durable."
She's got a very good point, so Cain increases their speed to a little over the average for a level 200 human's running speed. That's a light jog to either of them, and they could keep it up for hours. It's also not so fast that they can't maneuver through the woods and it's not causing them to make so much noise they'll scare their targets away.
Once they reach a ridge and descend into a river valley that marks the edge of the zone they're planning to search, they stop to search around, almost immediately finding a target suitably sized to be drafted as a mount.
It's a four-legged reptile with a beaked mouth and a single horn. It has a double ridge of spikes on its back, but they're pretty widely spaced and shouldn't prevent riding them.
They're also moving with surprising agility while playing, and faster than the pace Cain set to get here.
The largest of them are still a bit on the small side for a human or vampire mount, but for Elves, Succubus or similar-sized species, they would work very well.
"Look for egg clutches. That way, Neffie can train them from birth," Cain whispers, making Mary giggle.
"You guys do spoil that girl, don't you? Let me guess, the Guild is mostly made of those who transferred in, and she was the first child born?"
"Close, but not quite. She was born as part of a set of triplets, but she was born as a Demon Queen, so she grew up to what you see now in only a few months. You know the Succubus Lickity, with the two infants? That's her mother and her siblings." Cain explains, scanning the area for a Dino protecting eggs.
"There, back between the rocks. Do you see the only one that's lying down? It's not sleeping, so I think there's a good chance that one is protecting the eggs." Cain whispers, pointing at his intended target.
"What's the plan then?"
"I will transform into a Demon Progenitor for the wings and high flight speed. If I can draw the Dino away, you snatch the eggs, and I'll carry you to safety. If she doesn't move, I'll pick her up; you grab and run until I can fly you away."
It sounds more than a little dangerous to Mary, but Cyrene volunteers for the job. "How about I sneak in between the boulders, down low and out of sight? Mary can cover me with the summons if I'm attacked, and then you can grab me and the eggs, same plan as before?"
Cain nods and transforms, letting Cyrene unwind herself from his waist and start sneaking through the boulders. Once she gets twenty meters away, Cain takes flight, headed for the resting reptile, and hopes that they are actually in nesting season.
He doesn't see any tiny ones in the crowd, only mostly grown ones, so he's hoping that means there are eggs here somewhere.
He flies low, and as hoped, the Dino gets up and lunges at him, trying to bite at his wings and chase him away. That leaves the nest unprotected, and Cain realizes that a number of herd members that are standing around are actually standing over their nests, hidden in the boulders.
Cyrene has the perfect opening, so she rushes in to grab the eggs but realizes there is a problem. You can't put living things in inventory. Eggs that have been stored won't hatch. But her body is small, and the eggs are nearly the size of her head. At best, she could only hug one, but that doesn't help their adorable little Demon's dream of a Cavalry force very much.
Thinking quickly, she grabs all six eggs in her mouth and begins rushing back to Mary, careful not to break them as she moves. It's the first time she's ever tried anything so snake-like, but swallowing them was easy, her jaw just naturally unhinged to engulf them.
Cain has lured the Dino well away for a moment and then takes to the sky, gaining altitude so he's no longer seen as a threat. When Cyrene made it back to Mary, she spit the eggs back up with a sigh of relief while the shocked Elf stared at her.
"What? They're too big for my hands, and I didn't have a bag?" Cyrene demanded, glaring at the shocked Puppet Master.
"No, that's not it; just the sight of the eggs moving through your throat was startling." Mary stammers as Cain lands.
"Six eggs. Good girl, excellent job. I should have thought about giving you a backpack." Cain smiles, rubbing Cyrene's head.
"All six are in good shape, but we can't put them in inventory, so are we heading back or carrying them?" Cyrene asks.
"I've got a backpack with me in case I need to keep small items out of my inventory; we can put them all in there and keep looking for the raptors that Neffie wanted." Mary suggests pulling out a camping pack.
"Here, some random cloth items from the Demon Dungeon that were set to be reworked for materials." Cain offers, wrapping the eggs for warmth and safety.
"You know, people will start thinking we are strange if the Guild starts placing recruitment notices looking for Dinosaur Cavalry soldiers." Mary laughs, shouldering the now loaded backpack.
"Never fear; we have a plan for that. Instead of trying to teach soldiers that are already high level to ride them, we can use Puppets with combat skills or recruit children with systems for training. The Blessed, I believe this continent calls those born here who gain a System."
"That's right. I suppose if they grow up together, starting at level 1, they'd be somewhat matched in power as magical beast and rider. That's not a bad idea."
The dinosaurs don't have a system, but the system ranks their power level, and the fully grown ones are around level 150 for this species. They're quick but far from the most dangerous species in the area. Their hide looks to be quite tough as well, so they might not even need much armor for the job, assuming they can actually be trained.
They continue their search until almost sunset, finding only small species unsuitable for the task. They stayed out longer than most, as nobody was planning to be out overnight, so Cain shifts back to Demon Progenitor and takes Mary in his arms while Cyrene adjusts to wrap them both.
"Hold on tight; I will fly us back home in a hurry."
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