AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Chapter 117: Advanced Hunting I

Year 3, Summer, Second Month, First Week.

The scalding sun burned Johanns face, making him miss the protection of the wind domains suppression of other elements. He reassessed the color of the ex-villagers walking around him and bitterly had to admit their skin tone and marks were a result of exposure and not heritage as the nobles defended. Each day he felt more similarities between him and the so-proclaimed AK citizens, making his mind relive memories of his family.

When he became part of the proud cast of disciples of the great Wind Lord, it wasnt difficult for him to embrace the arrogant demeanor of the young Lords, which reinforced his delusional theory that he was actually a bastard of a powerful wind Mage and thus not completely common-born. But now, he couldnt entertain such ideas as his closeness to the group that he until recently despised become evident. Surprisingly, the idea no longer disgusted him, maybe because he was finally accepting his origins, or maybe because these commoners are strong enough to fight against the Kingdom.

Johann stared at the bracelet restraining his powers, he was now confident enough to break it in a single powerful attack, the consequences would, of course, be painful, but he could bear it. However, the growing sense of belonging prevented him from doing so, he wanted to stay a little longer and see how far these people could go. Also, if Karl was to be trusted, in a few months he would be finally free to test the extent of his new powers.

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The restriction wasnt all bad, this time was essential to help him get used to his new crystal body. Johann loved being a scion of the wind, but getting controlled by the elements influence wasnt a good feeling. Fortunately, the few months of casting abstention helped his will solidify and grow stronger again, finally getting on pair with the capricious and bipolar wind intent.

In fact, succumbing to the elemental influence was the greatest danger of using and developing the elemental powers, which was said to come from the mythological Elementals. The story says that Elemental Mages are descendants of the original Elemental Lords, who was supposedly another race formed solely by elemental intent, True or myth, the fact remains that every elemental Mage struggled to resist the influence.

Unfortunately, for those who cant, only death at the hands of their peers waited. The fear that those who succumbed might become an elemental demon, often described as a mindless elemental being, would drive anyone to kill. Initially, Johann was afraid of his enormous surge of power because the winds influence has grown to match it. However, now, his will has also grown enough to suppress it. Maybe abstinence was the path to strengthen his will, or would it also be a result of his recent self-acceptance?

Anyway, now was time to enjoy a sumptuous wind feast. Unfortunately, the delicious meals were becoming poorer by the day, apparently, their food resources were being stretched thin, which is completely understandable, who can find enough food to feed two thousand daily?

However, the situation wasnt so simple as the wind Mage thought. The Council had planned and prepared enough food for the rest of the year, but they didnt count on the previously starving people growing stronger and needing more nutrition. Apparently, their bodies worked from a supply perspective, save in the direr times and spend when theres abundance.

Fortunately, they could still afford a meat feast every time they were attacked by a large group of beasts, which was happening regularly. Johann wanted to help the last two times they faced a difficult situation. The first time a simultaneous attack from different beasts groups happened, chaos almost broke loose amongst the pilgrimage group, luckily, the Councilors present quickly calmed them down while the hunting teams reorganized themselves to deal with the situation. As they said, from now on, it would get worse before it gets better.

***

Sania held her spear tightly as she moved through the sparse trees. A few meters back, she had given up on trying to get cover from the trees as they barely covered anything. Encountering a tree-less area in the middle of a forest was highly unusual, but when the scouts reported it, Karl became visibly excited. In his words, the situation was a big indicator of an elemental environment, probably one that was opposed to the growth of trees.

Being careful was a must, but missing a big opportunity, which happened to fall on their laps, was just outrageously stupid. The first step was gathering more information about this potential environment. With the magic locators help, they confirmed a very small energy vein closed to that location, which corroborated for it being an elemental environment. Unfortunately, they also identified an MT beast close to it.

Before they gave up on the opportunity, the Council sent the shadow unit to identify the MT beast. Not a day after, Samia, now popularly called the shadow by the hunters, came back with a report. Surprisingly, they found a lightning environment, very similar to the one temporarily formed near their outpost.

Karl explained that, although the hybrid environments were rarer than common elemental ones, wood and lighting werent that uncommon. The last could be easily formed when lightning struck near an elementless energy vein, which wouldnt happen every year but surely could occur in thousands of years.

The temptation of trying to raid the environment was evident, from the hybrid elements, except bubble, lightning was the most useful for them. The lightning crystals had become the pillar of their long-distance communication, which was one of their strongest aces. Soon, a plan to explore the environmental region was devised and a temporary camp was built.

Fortunately, the MT beast identified by the main shadow unit wasnt a lightning bird. Lew told them, this type of beast would be terrifying due to its attacks range and precision. What Samia reported was a medium-sized feline with long legs and a small head, which Marlen identified as a lynx, the owner of a pelt sold as a luxurious product. Between the ex-Democry agent and the ex-Captain they only knew a few rumored traits of the beast, which matched its element, fast and extremely fierce.

On the bright side, the beast was supposedly rank one, so they wouldnt need to account for long-ranged lightning attacks. Though Samia survived the experience of escaping the monkeys wood spike attacks, the lightning speed was on another level. In the end, they decided to try to bait the beast out of its territory while another team raided the place.

Sanias team was chosen for the raiding task, they already became famous for fast and messy missions. Although only Samia had a formally separated unit, all of the original veterans had become known and specialized in different tasks. Tonis team was experienced in general defense and securing new territory. Diana was the best choice for large-scale battles or complex long missions. Taels team was great in broad recognition and scouting large areas. The shadow units were clearly specialized in stealth and spying. Finally, Sanias team was known for its ability to deal with unexpected and urgent situations.