Chapter 23. How to catch a lizard

Tuot woke up in the cabin with pain in his tail. The dinosaur looked up and saw Etinnei in her summer form, sitting on the edge of the shelf and stroking its tail with her hand covered in electricity. Lightning was transmitted from the hand to the tail, and further along the dinosaur's body.

"Don't do this," Tuot asked. "I will die…"

Etinnei removed her hand from her tail and looked at her friend in fear.

"Sorry," the arctic fox girl looked down and almost cried. "I just wanted you to wake up."

"I woke up. What happened to you after the battle with that terrible man?"

Etinnei sat down on another shelf and grabbed a lock of hair with one hand and her own tail in the other.

"I woke up and noticed that I couldn't see well and I was cold," the animal girl explained. "I was completely covered in ice. I broke the ice with electricity and began to see clearly, and warmed up. But I didn't understand where I was. Minniges came to me and said that I had become ice cream. Then I met Itinit, who found you. He said you've run out of energy and need to rest. We took you onto the ship and sailed to some island."

Tuot opened the virtual screen and clicked on the blue triangle. A window with a map of the area opened above the screen. The blue dot, which showed the being's location, moved across a gray-blue background. The dinosaur zoomed out with his finger and saw a piece of dark green land.

"We will soon sail to the island," Tuot guessed. "Is this the same place?"

"Better ask Itinit," Etinnei answered. "I know how to chew a pillow, but I don't understand anything about this."

Tuot left the cabin and headed to the forward compartment, where the ship was controlled. There he found Itinit sitting in front of his virtual screen.

"What are you doing?" the dinosaur suspected something.

Itinit pointed his hand at the screen, which showed a girl with pink hair, covered with metal chains instead of clothes.

"She's beautiful," Itinit admitted. "It's a pity that she's the younger sister of that strange being with a carrot nose, more precisely, without a nose."

"Did someone cut off his nose?" Tuot asked.

"When I came to the clearing, he was already without a nose. This beautiful girl took him and flew away somewhere. It's a shame she's a doll. But I do have one image. I extracted the memories from my brain, and this is the picture I got."

"Can people get images out of their brains?"

"She paralyzed me with her gaze, and I looked at her for a long time. My admiration was so strong that it left an image in my brain that became this picture."

Tuot remembered seeing Kuttanai frozen in the glade, and then gathering his last energy and releasing the harpoon.

"Did I really cut off his nose?" Tuot was surprised. "This cannot be. I'm not capable of this. A man with a carrot nose is too scary an opponent. It's amazing that I fought him. Apparently, the desire to protect someone important to me is stronger than fear. It's good that no one saw this. You can't tell anyone about this, otherwise people might react badly to it."

A series of rocks appeared through the large panoramic window at the front of the compartment.

"Is this the island?" Tuot asked.

"Yes," Itinit answered. "But we will not stop at this shore. There is a bay between these rocks. We'll stop there."

"Are there cities or villages on this island?"

"No. But there are several buildings there."

"What is this island called? It doesn't have a name on the map."

"Island of Energy Mushrooms."

"Are there mushrooms there?"

"Yes. There are a lot of mushrooms, but they are energetic."

Tuot wanted to say something, but couldn't. The dinosaur opened and closed its jaws several times with bulging eyes. It ended with Tuot's limbs trembling and he had to sit on the floor to avoid falling.

"I won't go there," Tuot said when he could speak. "Mushrooms are dangerous."

"Why?" Itinit asked. "They are not like those in games".

"I'm afraid they will cause an earthquake." 

"It's not scary. You just need to jump over certain areas of land."

"What?"

Tuot fell to the floor and began to make sounds similar to the cries of birds.

"I forgot that you have poor coordination of movements," Itinit smiled. "But you can use energy aura."

Tuot rose to his knees.

"If I activate the aura, I will spend a lot of energy," Tuot explained. "I may not survive the new exhaustion of my body. I need rest to recover."

"You'd better master skills that don't require an energetic aura," Itinit advised. "They use a lot less energy, although they are more difficult to master."

"You are right. I have too little energy to use aura. So far I only have one skill that I can use without an aura. This is summoning of the yellow lizard. It's good that I listened to your advice then."

Tuot tried to remember how he got this skill...

... It was a sunny summer day. At sunrise, Tuot walked along old paving stones through a coniferous forest. The dinosaur heard the cries of birds that chirped furiously in the treetops, and this made him anxious. Unlike people, Tuot understood what they were saying.

"Birds discuss what they see," the dinosaur thought. "They are watching me so that they can attack and eat me later. But if I tell Halankuo about this, she won't believe it."

Soon Tuot reached a lake into which a small river flowed in the form of a waterfall. The banks consisted of piles of stones, surrounded by forest and thickets of ferns.

Tuot climbed onto one of the stones and looked at the water. It was cloudy and nothing was visible in it.

"There are no fish in the water," the dinosaur thought. "I promised Halankuo that I would catch fish, and she promised to cook it. But I don't know how to hunt underwater."

Tuot summoned the interface, went into his inventory, and took out a brown wooden stick with a hook on the end.

"I bought this thing from a network store," the dinosaur thought. "It was written there that it was a fishing rod. I figured if this thing caught fish, then I wouldn't have to buy fish at the store. I don't like going to the department where fish is sold. They are alive there and can bite."

Tuot lowered the end of the fishing rod into the water and waited for the fish to be caught. But no fish were caught.

Evening came. The sun was setting below the horizon, making it pink and very bright. Tuot could not stand it and took the fishing rod out of the water. There was nothing on the hook.

"They sold me several pieces of meat along with a fishing rod," the dinosaur remembered. "At first I didn't want to buy them, but then I decided to buy them to try. I've already eaten two pieces, there are two more left. I need to use the meat before it's too late."

Tuot went into his inventory, selected a piece of meat, and then attached it to the hook. The juicy piece of red meat that glistened in the bright setting sun whetted the dinosaur's appetite. Tuot did not notice how the bait ended up in his mouth, so he was very surprised that the meat on the hook had disappeared somewhere.

"I took meat out of inventory," the dinosaur thought. "Why isn't he there? Where is it?"

But soon Tuot felt the taste of meat in his mouth, and realized that he was eating the very bait. The dinosaur got scared and opened his inventory again.

"It's okay, I have one more piece left," Tuot reassured himself. "The main thing is not to eat it."

This time everything went well. The bait was attached to a hook and lowered into the water. Soon the fishing rod began to twitch. Tuot tried to remove her from the water, but to no avail. Something heavy held the fishing rod by the hook and resisted.

The dinosaur activated a green energy aura to improve coordination, and then pulled the fishing rod upward. The head of a large lizard with yellow scales appeared from the water.

"Looks like a cold lizard," Tuot thought. "But why is it yellow? Cold lizards should be gray. It looks inedible."

Tuot pulled the animal completely out of the water. The size of the creature was about half the size of an average person, and the head was even larger than a human.

"I'll show it to Halankuo," Tuot decided. "She knows better how to cook all sorts of strange beings so as not to get poisoned."

The dinosaur opened its inventory to drag the lizard there, but suddenly a yellow energy aura surrounded its body, from which waves of yellow energy then began to spread. The bait, in the form of a piece of meat, which the animal's teeth grabbed onto, disappeared. The lizard fell from the hook into the water.

Despite this, waves of yellow energy continued to emanate from the creature's body. The water in the lake became clear, and Tuot was able to see the lizard slowly swimming underwater near the shore.

An energy harpoon emerged from the tail of the dinosaur's aura.

The energy wave affected the harpoon, and the part that was under water disappeared.

"These waves of energy remove negative effects," Tuot guessed. "That's why they are yellow, like the lizard's aura itself. Now it's clear why the lizard is yellow. But how can I catch her?"

Soon Tuot noticed that there were small gaps between the waves. A truly "big" thought appeared in the dinosaur's small brain.

A wave of yellow energy separated from the lizard's aura. The harpoon plunged into the water, pierced the animal's neck in one swift movement, and pulled it ashore. The yellow aura disappeared, and the creature's body began to emit a white glow...

Tuot closed his eyes so that the bright light would not disturb him, and when he opened them, he saw a small stone coffin at the end of the harpoon.

The dinosaur brought the caught object closer to itself and noticed a carved image of a lizard on the lid.

"This thing looks like a case for that creature," Tuot guessed. "But why did it hide there?"

While the dinosaur was thinking, the lid opened at the touch of a harpoon. A virtual yellow translucent memory card with an image of that same lizard flew out of the coffin.

Harpoon threw the coffin and it disappeared, after which it automatically pulled the memory card towards the dinosaur.

"There is a skill inside this card," Tuot guessed. "I wonder which one exactly?"

Tuot touched the image on the map with a clawed finger. A window appeared next to the object, in which there was a lizard's head and a block with text.

"This skill summons a lizard that removes negative effects," the dinosaur read the text. "To learn it, you must fulfill the following requirements: have a shield, summon an energy aura and use it in battle on the same day you learn the skill. Before this day, you need to feel fear for several days in a row. In battle, you need to get a negative effect that causes damage."

The sun had almost disappeared below the horizon. Tuot finally understood the meaning of the text he read.

"This skill is too difficult to learn," the dinosaur decided. "I can't risk myself just so I can summon some lizard." It's better to sell it at a network auction. Maybe there will be a fool who will agree to learn this skill."

Tuot put the card in his inventory, looked around and got scared. The forest became almost dark. It seemed to the dinosaur that glowing eyes would appear among the trees, and then some monster would crawl out of the darkness and bite off its paw.

... Tuot ran out of the forest and only came to his senses near the door of his apartment...

The next day the dinosaur came to the cave cafe. Itinit sat at a stone table and looked at the virtual screen.

"Good for you," Tuot remarked. "You live in such a delicious place. Is there free food here?"

"Once upon a time there was," Itinit answered. "But its supplies ran out a few months after the cafe closed. Food doesn't appear on its own."

"Don't you have a skill that restores food?"

"No. Although there are healing skills that can restore limbs, but I don't have them. I've collected a lot of skills, but haven't found any that restore anything other than physical damage. I even had to freeze my parents to save them from old age. They are in the refrigerator in my inventory."

"Now it's clear why I haven't seen them for several years. I thought they left here."

Tuot took out a memory card with an image of a yellow lizard from his inventory and threw it on the table in front of Itinit.

"I found this," the dinosaur said. "How much can it be sold for?" 

Itinit looked at the map and did not answer for several dozen moments. He then touched the surface of the card and read the description in the pop-up window.

"Why don't you want to learn this skill?" Itinit asked.

"Look at the conditions for studying it," Tuot explained. "They are impossible."

"Why are they impossible? You have a shield. You can summon an aura. You can use the aura in battle on the day you learn the skill. You've been feeling scared for the past few days. You are constantly afraid of something. But you will have to try hard to deal with the negative effect. You can attack Halankuo. She will give you an electric shock."

"This is the main reason why I want to get rid of the card. I am afraid of pain."

"Then I have no choice."

A blue translucent ball with a lightning bolt icon inside appeared above Itinite's head. Tuot noticed this and instinctively became covered in an energy aura, and a small shield with a black symbol appeared on his elbow. The ball quickly reached the dinosaur, but hit the shield and disappeared.

Tuot tried to escape, but noticed several energy balls with the image of lightning near him. The dinosaur realized that it was too late.

The balls exploded and shocked Tuot.

The dinosaur fell to the floor. Electrical discharges passed through his body. The limbs moved independently, and the jaw opened and closed. Smoke came from the feathers.

The card flew towards Tuot and landed on his shield. The black symbol turned yellow, and the image of the lizard disappeared from the map. The card then disappeared, after which the symbol on the shield turned black again.

***

Unana led Kimchan, in almost human form, to the outskirts of the forest outside the village. The dog girl was trembling with fear, and the archer smiled evilly.

"Why... Why have you brought me here?" Kimchan asked.

"To kill," Unana explained. "If you are left alive, you will harm Yueret. I can't let my big brother get hurt. So I'll have to do it. I'm sorry."

A small purple bow with an energy string, loaded with an ordinary arrow, appeared in Unana's hands. Kimchan tried to run away, but because of fear, she lost her balance and fell. Unana pointed her weapon at the dog girl.

"I wonder what color your blood is?" the archer frowned. "Now I find out."

Unana pulled the bowstring. Kimchan looked at the archer and closed her eyes. The beast girl no longer tried to run or resist...

... Unana released an arrow. Kimchan's body was engulfed in flames and rose to the height of two human heights. The arrow hit the ground.

"Sorry," Kimchan said. "I didn't want to do this. I don't want to fight you."

"If you don't want to fight, leave," Unana said.

"I can't. You and your brother are my masters. I should be with you."

A white and blue arrow appeared in Unana's bow, surrounded by white vapors. Kimchan opened her eyes, saw an arrow flying at her and closed them again. The animal girl's body moved higher. The arrow hit the branch of a nearby tree on the outskirts of the forest and froze it.

A white and blue arrow appeared in Unana's bow, surrounded by white vapors. Kimchan opened her eyes, saw an arrow flying straight at her, and then closed her eyes. The animal girl's body moved higher. The arrow hit the branch of a nearby tree on the outskirts of the forest and froze it.

"She's too high," a purple energy arrow appeared in Unana's bow. "I won't be able to reach her with arrows that fly straight."

Unana fired an energy arrow upward. Kimchan stayed in the air with her eyes closed, surrounded by a fiery aura. She didn't seem to be trying to shy away. But as soon as the arrow approached the beast girl, her body quickly flew forward.

The energy arrow changed its trajectory and flew after the enemy. The animal girl's body accelerated and now resembled a comet. The arrow lagged far behind the target and then stopped. Kimchan's body finally turned into a comet and fell in the forest on the horizon.

"She doesn't want to fight," Unana guessed. "And her body defends itself on its own, without orders from the brain."

The energy arrow in the sky disappeared. Unana looked at the bow in her hands and became afraid.

"I wanted to kill my pet because I was worried about Yueret," the archer let go of the weapon, and it disappeared into thin air. "This is too much even for me."

Unana ran into the forest, above which a column of smoke was already visible.