Chapter 23: A hunting we will go

Daniel, Marie, Lucy, Kristoff and Victor all gathered in their gear in the morning after breakfast after prepping the needed supplies for the trip. Marie's armor looked like a mix between a red cloth robe and chain-mail adding both mobility and protectiveness, especially with the magic runes that added a personal shield that recharges with each use. Daniel was wearing magically reinforced red plate-mail plate-mail with a bull helmet with wicked long and sharp horns and carrying his great ax. Lucy was wielding a giant shield and long-sword shaped like a cross with the shape of the grail in its cross-guard.

Kristoff was wearing black leather armor and a crow shaped mask with black gems for eyes. His bow was a thing of beauty. Black lacquered wood re-curve bow with Black feathers and claws added protection in close quarters and then at the front of the bow a crow's mouth was open with the beaks opening around where the arrow would come out.

Victor was wearing a purple robe with black chain-mail and an octopus helmet with purple gems for eyes. His weapon looked to be a staff with a large bulge at the top end made. It had a rubbery texture to the weapon and every so often you would see a bubble manifest from the staff.

"Alright folks, let's get this show on the road. I don't want to be out here any longer than I have too.. " Victor spoke up. Daniel laughed " it's not the church you want to get back to lad." Victor choked " I don't know what you are talking about Daniel. Let's get moving. We have a bit of a journey ahead of us and a monster to kill." They began making their way towards the desert.

While this had been going on Ethan had been a very busy boy. He had been feeding on Mutogene and been practicing with his mutation magic and he has picked up some nifty tricks.

Now it was time to feast on everything here and move on. That was the only way to get strong enough to survive. " Time to go fishing. If this area is similar to the others there is always an alpha. I just need to kill that and everything else in my way..." Ethan climbed out of the now too small cave and it burst as he made his way out. " Ahhh, that's better. Not so cramped" Ethan paused. " Holy hell, when did I get so big?" Ethan shrugged it off the sooner he got used to this crazy world the better.

Ethan began making his way to the edge of the desert where the sand was deepest, and most dangerous. Massive dorsal fins populated the area in front of Ethan, he began mutating the swarm-lings inside of him to become something different. Something useful to him at this moment. He then started compressing one of the new swarm-lings in his duct and began aiming it at one of the dorsal fins. Once he felt that it was compressed enough he fired at the dorsal fin.

It hit with vicious impact. The sound of it reverberating throughout the desert followed by a screech and the sand shark roared and burst from the sand and tried to flee. It couldn't, there was a long tendril attached to the back of the swarm-ling now embedded into the sand shark.

The other sharks took notice and tried to protect their brethren. Pack hunters. Brilliant. Ethan had something to deal with that though. He changed the swarm-lings again, in order to take "Control" of the situation. Ethan then willed the changes to life, and the flesh line attached to the shark started pulsing and elongating. The swarm-lings embryo's were going through the flesh line into the shark, and began injecting the mind control venom. Ethan chuckled as he made the shark a part of his swarm. "Now, time for the finale." Ethan said as he honestly couldn't wait to dig in.

Ethan willed the shark to swim into the shiver of its brethren. Then Ethan had the swarm-ling detach the flesh line holding it back and it took off, once it reached the front of the shiver of sharks. It bit down on the lead shark and then started bulging and tearing and then suddenly it BURST and the swarm-ling that had multiplied while in the shark. Feeding on it, turning into a living bomb, it swam out now equipped with the shark fins due to the mutogene from the shark that they had feasted on. Now that Ethan and his swarm-lings have become one, mutation has become seamless. As soon as they feast on mutogene they can insert that mutogene into their DNA and take organs and body parts from that creature for themselves.

The swarm-lings swam out into coordinated waves pinning each shark down and covering for each other when one swarm-ling was about to be eaten, the others would jump in and attack and pin it down. Once the sharks were tired out or dying. The swarm-lings would dig their way in, they would tear through the gills through the eyes. Whatever they could gain purchase on. Then they would inject the venom and the process would start again. Soon, the entire field was cleaned minus the alpha and a few higher evolved sharks that had survived the massacre.

Other than that? A sea of blood. Ethan and his swarm surrounded the sharks. They closed in... and then pounced. It would be a short battle or so Ethan hoped. The swarm moved in and took down the evolved sharks in seconds. Adding them to the swarm. All that was left was the alpha. It had survived the initial attack once again, resilient. It swam around agitated. We were in its territory killing its young. It suddenly grew spines all over its body and each of them moved at once and it burst forward with great speed breaking through the line and flying straight towards Ethan.

"With that attack.... There is no way he can change direction on a dime... I will go and attack from underneath. I will end this in one blow."

Ethan dove underground and burst up into the alpha and bit into the alpha with his mandibles and ripped out a huge chunk out of its side with vicious glee and a fountain of blood as the shark shook with pain, that was the only chance the swarm needed. Ethan shot webbing onto the shark as he dodged away from the shark's attack. and severely impaired his movement. The swarm-lings handled the rest. " That's right, eat up. We are going to need strength." Ethan looked past the desert area and he could see peaks of mountains in that direction.

He got a sense... that was where he needed to go and that he would face even tougher enemies soon.

With that, Ethan left the desert area to go onto greener pastures.