166 Turtles
Arriving at the turtles' territory, the group started looking for clues. It took them about four hours to get there, but they still had some time before getting close to the nests. But there could be tracks or signs of the missing crafters. Hera, Bonnie, and Alex took charge to look for anything that could help them find their target. With the various ponds spread around the area, it made finding any tracks harder. Surprisingly, the turtles that were walking around paid no mind to the group. It was peaceful in a way. Walking by those giant creatures as if they all lived together.
During their search, two of the turtles started fighting. That allowed the group to watch and learn more about the monster's abilities. Unlike the massive ones that they faced during the rampage, these creatures moved faster, or at least that is what it seemed. After analyzing the match for some time, they understood that these were, in fact, slower. However, the attacks were less telegraphed. The ones they faced during the rampage had long wound up movements before an attack, while the turtles they watched could snap back and forth at a speed that would make it hard to evade.
Hera activated her [Observe] to gather more information from the turtles.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giant Snapping Turtle – Level 3 (Water affinity)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Giant Snapping Turtle – Level 3 (Ground affinity)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Those two have different affinities. The left one is water while the one on the right is…was ground," in the middle of her explanation, the turtle on the left bit down its opponent's neck, breaking it in one swift motion.
They watched as the winning turtle walked away, leaving the dead body behind. Looking around, Hera noticed a smaller monster to the side. It was a snapping turtle like the other two, but the only apparent difference was its tail's size, being shorter than the winner of the fight.
Bonnie, who noticed the same thing that Hera did, turned to the group, "They must have been fighting for a mate."
"Or maybe territory," Blue said.
Bonnie stared at her, "Stop that, you are freaking me out."
Blue shrugged as they kept going deeper into the turtle's territory. It took them a couple of hours to reach the nests. They could have arrived sooner, but their travel pace was reduced considerably as they had to stop and look for clues.
Finally reaching the area where they could see eggs, the group had to be very careful not to anger any of the turtles. In here, they became much more hostile and territorial. A couple of times, they got too close, and the monsters attacked. However, it wasn't a difficult fight. Aside from Bonnie, they all had experience facing those creatures. They would try to bite and claw at them, and to evade, all the group had to do was to circle around the turtles, and they would have a fair amount of time to attack.
"Guys, look at this," Alex pointed at a tree by the pond. There was a scrap of grey cloth stuck to a bush.
Bonnie grabbed the cloth, "It doesn't seem to be that old. They could be near."
Moving closer together, they looked around the area for any more tracks. Hera kept using her pulse, trying to expand the range of their search. After another half an hour, they were getting close to the walls and had to be even more careful. The turtles inside the caves were much larger than the ones they saw in the ponds. Instead of the turtles that reached just above their knees, now they saw some that would get to their chest.
They made sure to keep one eye on any of the turtles inside the caves while walking by. The grottos were farther away from the ponds covering the area, which gave the group more opportunities to find any tracks. One of the larger turtles attacked Alex as she got too close, but as she ran away from it, the monster didn't give chase.
"Its babies must be close to being born," Bonnie said.
"Really? Didn't turtles kind of abandon their kids? We have an entire dungeon here about that," Blue asked.
"That is true for most turtles outside, but inside the MAZE some animals have different behaviors. Mostly about how they care about their offspring. These ones are like that, too, according to my research."
"Hey, guys!" Runir called from the side, "I found something."
He was by a broken tree stump with large drag marks on the ground around it. The markings headed north towards one of the corners of the room. Following the tracks, the group arrived in an area clear of trees, with an oddly colored turtle sleeping by a rock. Its shell was deep blue with some large patches of green spread in odds formations. As they got closer, Hera noticed that the monster's shell was almost like a world map, but not her world. There were more continents, and they were smaller than the ones outside.
Her eyes drifted up towards where the face of the creature was supposed to be. In front of it, there was a large cave. Several wooden logs were set up as a barricade that looked almost like a beaver dam, with several spikes that seemed to be carved out of rocks in the mix.
"Are you seeing that?" Hera whispered while pointing to the cave.
"Yeah, I guess they had to huddle up to avoid that thing," Alex nodded.
"So, what do we do? Fight it?" Blue asked.
"But of course, our allies are in front of us. We must aid them," Tom replied.
"Ok, then. Bonnie, consider that it's a new species. Any ideas?" Runir asked.
Bonnie thought for a moment, "There is no way to tell what it can do just by looking at it. But since they had to make all that, I'm guessing it's stronger than any we saw here. I can't tell what type of skills it could have. Maybe water and grass, for the colors in the shell."
"Oh, hold on," Hera turned back to the monster and activated her [Observe] with the affinity sight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tiny Tu'nia – Level 8 – Sleeping (Gravity Affinity)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Shit," Hera mumbled while staring at the monster. Being sure that this was the monster that Berthellemy told her about. Of course, that thing would be able to make her level up, but killing it was another thing entirely. It also had gravity affinity. What was that supposed to mean? Could it make itself lighter or heavier or pull things towards it?
"What happened?" Bonnie asked.
"That thing is level 8. It's called Tiny Tu'nia," seeing the group's expression, Hera nodded, "Yeah, level 8, and that thing has tiny in its name. It also can use gravity. I'm not sure if it's just in itself or to affect things around it."
"Level 8… that's a lot…" Runir said.
"Fret not, my dear companions. For I am sure, we will be able to defeat that mighty beast if we fight as one."
"Anyone has any plans?" Blue asked.
They workshopped some ideas, and after agreeing with a strategy, they moved slowly towards Tu'nia. Hera got a poison needle ready. They would start the attack trying to poison it. Since it was a spell that didn't have any impact damage, Hera would be able to attack it a few times if needed. Then Bonnie would start using her cold bomb to make the turtle lethargic while the rest attacked.
Activating her [Hide] Hera got closer to the monster and flung the needle towards it, already preparing the second one. The bright orange spike flew through the air and closed in Tu'nia at high speed when the monster's tail got out of the shell and slapped the projectile away. From the other side, a long neck appeared. The turtle's face was different than what they expected. It still had the same leathery look, but its structure resembled that of a duck. Even the beak was duck-like, forming what looked like a central fang on its tip that would close over the rest of its mandible.
Tu'nia looked to the group with angry eyes and tucked itself back into the shell. The head appeared once more in less than a second, but this time from the same place where its tail was just a moment ago. Hera, who was the one closest to the beast, quickly ran back towards the group.
"What happened?" Bonnie asked.
"It noticed my spell and turned around," Hera was still flabbergasted by the situation. Even the Wendigos could only dodge that spell.
"Talk later," Blue shouted.
The monster started moving towards them. It was slow at first, but it seemed to be doing that on purpose. Looking around, Tu'nia had more intelligence in its eyes than any monster Hera had ever seen. It was almost like looking at the king's eyes in the assassin's test.
Bonnie kept the next part of the plan and sent a water bomb aimed at the turtle's shell, following it up with a frost bomb to freeze the water. After the second bomb exploded, Tu'nia looked at its back and closed its eyes. In a matter of seconds, steam started to rise from its body, the thin layer of frost evaporating somehow. Blue rushed forward and tried to grab the monster's neck, but the turtle proved to be faster than expected. It jumped to the side, avoiding the grapple. Blue tried again, but the results were the same. The two danced around each other. Tu'nia managed to keep up with Blue's speed. However, it didn't seem like it was just joking around. There was a certain weight to its movements showing that it required some concentration to keep up with its assailant. Still, Hera felt lucky. The monster's feet didn't have any claws and were clearly that of a tortoise and not of a snapping turtle. That was a detail she was aware of thanks to the information that Bonnie had sent them.
Hera glanced at Alex. If the monster was already struggling to keep up with Blue, it had no chance against the assassin. Almost as if she heard Hera's thoughts, Alex jumped into the fray. Moving quickly to the turtle's side, she tried to slash the monster's legs. A loud clang echoed through the forest as Alex's dagger went flying back, embedding itself in one of the trees near the group. She dashed away from the turtle to recover her weapon.
"That thing is harder than it seems. Be careful," she shouted at the group.
Tom and Hera got closer to the turtle. Hera activated her poison reinforcement, trying to slash the beast with her handaxe. At the same time, Thomas tried to pierce the monster's neck. Both attacks were deflected by Tu'nia's skin, making the two unable to even scratch it. Hera considered that the turtle should have an incredible physical defense. Trying her poison needle spell once more, the turtle dodged the projectile once more.
"Anyone else has poison attacks?" Hera asked.
"Not me," Alex tried her wind cutter to damage the beast.
"I don't," Bonnie said, throwing a fire fist at the turtle.
"Just you," Blue stepped away from the monster triggering her electric buff, "Bonnie, toss the water again!"
A water bomb exploded above the turtle. Blue followed it up with a punch, making electricity course through the creature's body. Yet, it didn't even flinch with the attack. The group surrounded Tu'nia and started attacking it repeatedly. The beast seemed cornered, but the attacks still were completely neutralized by its hide. Hera aimed at the shell and sent a grease fire towards it. Covering the top of its carapace with the flaming liquid.
Tu'nia looked at its back once more and stomped its clawless feet into the ground. A wave of pressure pulsed from it, almost like the shock wave of an explosion, and sent the group flying. The only two who managed to hold their ground were Runir and Bonnie, who were far away from the group. Even the fire on the monster's shell was tossed to the air, being extinguished in the process.
Hera and Alex were tossed towards the cave, stopping just before the sharp rocks that formed part of the barricade. They sat up slowly, seeing that Tu'nia focused on Blue once more when a voice came from the back.
"I think I was the one who should be kissing the ground you stand on, but I'll take it if you guys are doing it?"
Poking through the top of the barrier, they saw Mark with a massive smile on his dirt-covered face.
