In the mission hall, Courage and Wally were back again, but this time instead of depositing, they were here to pick up. They decided to take on a mission today instead of hunting freely.
There were several reasons for that. The first of which was their desire to avoid the Black Hyde Gang and the Band of Dawn. Taking missions might not be as profitable as free hunting could be, but it could reduce the probability of them running into them. They had more than enough unlucky encounters with both of them these last couple of days, so they chose this approach.
The other reason was experience. And don't get it wrong, it was not work experience that they were after, but another kind of experience. See, according to the mission Courage and Wally picked, the commissioner wanted someone to find and collect a catalyst for them. The interesting thing about this catalyst is that it was a Corpus-type one.
Wally had no experience when it comes to beast cultivation, and he is yet to figure out how he would cultivate his beast. And by cultivate his beast, that doesn't only mean increasing its growth level, but also what kind of traits and abilities he would pursue for it. Any beast catalyster knew that it was necessary to form a proper set of traits and abilities for their beast if they want them to be strong and effective. Also, forming a proper set could affect a beast's development speed, increasing the importance of this process.
That is why the two picked this mission. Through it, they can earn money and also allow Wally to observe how other catalysters with Corpus-Type beasts develop their own. As without a mentor, the best one could do is to watch and learn. They hoped that by observing others, it would give Wally some inspiration.
After registering for the mission, the two were off immediately . The mission details stated that the catalyst they were meant to acquire could be found in a certain location near the Green River.
In this region of the Blend, the Green River was the largest and most prominent body of water around. It got its name from the greenish tint that its water had. If the water was murky enough, you could clearly see a green color in it, and even at its clearest, the water would still have a green shine to it.
The river is well known by everyone in the Grand Cliff Bastion, as it has always been a regular destination for all catalysters there. Be it Bastion missions, commissioned missions, free hunting, resource gathering, or simply exploration, the Green River has always had an attraction of some kind for everyone. There wasn't a single person in Grand Cliff who hadn't visited the Green River at least once, and Courage and Wally weren't going to be an exception.
Everyone knew where the Green River began, but never where it ended. The massive river was born from the mountains standing behind the Grand Cliff Bastion, formed by the high mountain rain and melted snow. However, the river stretched further than people could observe, reaching far away beyond the charted territories and into the untamed wilds beyond the horizon, making its endpoint unknown.
This gave the Green River a certain kind of infamy within the Bastion, as people liked to speculate where this river ended up pouring into. Some simply speculated that it poured into other rivers or lakes, or probably dried up a long distance away. Others believed that maybe it poured into a sea somewhere.
The mystery of the Green River has always inspired wonder , with many explorers hoping to one day discover the true resting place of this dragon-like river. This, in fact, has sparked an urban legend within the Bastion of a great treasure of some kind that can only be found at the river's end. This story was one of Grand Cliff's most well-known legends.
Even Courage was curious about this legend and hoped to one day figure out what lies in the end of the green river, and even better to be the one to uncover it if possible. But he knew that finding the end of the Green River was too big of a challenge for the current him, so he settled for just exploring a small part of the river today.
Making their way through the wilds, it didn't take long for the duo to reach the Green River. Standing at the edge of the river, the two were taken aback by the sight of it. The river was nearly 100 meters in width, absolutely massive—so big, in fact, that they couldn't spot the other end of it. The river's water flowed slowly but steadily, decorated by the shimmering light of the sun, the light shades of the trees, and innumerable debris peacefully bobbing about in the water. The massive scale of this river, combined with its calm and tranquil atmosphere, made it look like a sleeping dragon, grand yet peaceful.
The two took a minute to appreciate the scenery and bond over this new experience, as it was the first time for them to witness such a site. Once again, it showing how different Earth was from the Blend. Even Wally, who grew up near a river where his family's fishery was established, found no point of comparison between what he was seeing right now and the things he knew from Earth. And Courage was even more so, as this was his first time seeing a real river in the first place.
As the two looked at the shimmering water of the river, they both felt an instinctive desire to go for a swim in it, as it looked so refreshing; they bet swimming in it would feel so great. But after contemplating it for a bit, they decided against it, as you may never know what could be hiding in the water. Plus, they still had a mission to complete anyway.
The two continued following along the riverbed until they reached a tributary of the river that had formed into a marsh; this was the location of the catalyst they were after, as informed by the mission commissioner.
Many locations like this existed along the Green River, as the mighty river leaked and slightly diverged at certain spots along its path, sometimes creating unique locations like this marsh here. Although the Green River was a major attraction point for catalysters of all levels, not everyone could visit any and all part of it as they like, as the river had a certain division to it.
The river was safest near its beginning, as the areas around the Bastion were the most tamed and controlled. But as you move further away from the source, the river becomes more and more dangerous, as not only does the concentration of beasts that might appear begin to increase, but also their overall strength. As of right now, you would need to be a decently strong Level 3 beast catalyster to reach the already known edge of the river, and probably an even higher level if you want to have any hope to push further. That is how the Green River was: safe and calm near its beginning but gets harder and more dangerous the further you follow its stream.
Luckily, the location Courage and Wally were at wasn't that far away from the river's origin, only a couple of kilometres away, so they were still within the safer sections of the river. It was a bit underwhelming for their first visit to this river, but they were still Level 1 catalysters after all, so it wasn't surprising.
Following the commissioner's directions, Courage and Wally left the main bank of the Green River and pushed through a thicket of reeds into the tributary's marsh. The air grew thick and humid, carrying the rich, organic scent of wet earth and decaying vegetation. Before them stretched a watery world of deep emerald greens and browns, where towering cattails and feathery reeds rose from the shallow, stagnant water that gleamed with an oily, greenish shine under the sun. The solid ground gave way to a spongy, sucking mire that threatened to pull at their boots with every step demanding constant caution from them to be able to navigate it. The grand, open tranquility of the river was replaced by a close, quiet tension, making them feel as if they were being watched from within the dense veil of grass.
Ignoring that feeling, the two pushed further into the marsh until they found a spot they deemed fitting. They came upon a large boulder that provided them with solid standing ground amidst the unstable mire. Small lakes of stagnant water surrounded the rock, their surfaces murky and choked with a mat of floating plants, making it impossible to see what lurked beneath. With a shared glance, the two summoned their beasts. Wally's beast, Octo, emerged and clung to one side of the boulder, its eight legs holding it firmly in place. It looked mostly the same as before, albeit a little bigger and slightly tougher looking , but its bright, dotted orange color remained unchanged. Kabuto, on the other hand, had undergone a noticeable change. The large beetle now occupied most of the space atop the boulder, its body visibly stronger and tougher—an expected result of Courage's diligent cultivation. But the most striking difference was its color; Kabuto's carapace, which had once been a pristine jade white, was now a bright red-brown
The reason for this change of appearance was thanks to Courage using a certain catalyst on Kabuto called the Autumn Leaf, a catalyst that solely affected a beast's appearance. There existed thousands of different catalysts in this world with all sorts of effects. That included granting immense power or wondrous abilities, but there were also other catalysts that had simple cosmetic effects, like simply changing a beast's colour or adding things to it that serve as nothing but decoration for the beast.
The Autumn Leaf catalyst that Courage used was one of these cosmetic catalysts, having the ability to change the colour of a beast's fur, shell, or even scales into an autumn red colour. Although cosmetic catalysts had little to no benefit to a beast except a change in appearance, cosmetic catalysts still had a thriving market. This showed that even in this age where strength reigns supreme, people would still have a care towards appearances. After all, everyone want their beasts to grow big and powerful, but some also want them to look good while doing that.
However, the reason Courage decided to change his beast's appearance wasn't simply because he wanted to change its aesthetic, but for a much deeper reason.
See, his encounter with Sarah's Morningstar and her cohort had wisened him up to a hidden threat, which was people identifying his beast's trait. Jade Bone was a rare and valuable catalyst that anyone would want; after all, even the daughter of one of the great clans was attracted to it. If Courage revealed that his beast possessed such a valuable catalyst, it could invite some unwanted and even dangerous attention. Who knows what some people would do to have a chance to find and use such a catalyst? So, put simply, revealing that Kabuto possessed the Jade Bone trait was akin to putting a target mark on his head. Therefore, Courage did what he should have done a long time ago and hid the fact that his beast had that trait. By using the Autumn Leaf catalyst, Courage eliminated the clearest sign of the Jade Bone trait, which was the pristine white color that it gave to beast bones or chitin.
Sadly, Courage had already paraded his beast around the bastion several times before, regretfully attracting the gazes of several people. Even though the Jade bone trait was rare and thus hard to identify by regular people, the bastion didn't lack knowledgeable individuals. There were other people with high upbringing like Sarah, after all, and even people with vast experience like Mister Jafar. So, there is no guarantee that someone hadn't already figured out Courage's secret. Courage was a little late in his precautions. Still, it was better late than never. Till now, no one had approached him about it other than Sarah, so maybe if Courage started hiding it now and kept a low profile, his secret could remain partially safe with him. But as this point he can only hope
Back to the task at hand, Courage retrieved a can from his storage boon. Opening the can, it was full of small red pills. Scooping a handful of the red pills, he began tossing them into the water around them.
These pills were Beast Attraction Pills, a special product that, when used, had the ability to create an odor. Though it had no smell for humans, it was quite odorous for beasts and also had an attractive effect on them. This product could cost a penny, but it was still heavily relied on for when people wanted to speed up their hunts or increase the odds of something appearing if they were looking for something hard to find. That was the case for the catalyst Courage and Wally were after, so they bought some of these pills to aid in their hunt. The way to use these pills was easy: you would simply spread them in the area you want to hunt, and they would rapidly disintegrate upon contact with air or dissolve in water, which would then spread their odor.
After tossing several handfuls around, Courage stopped. He then closed the remaining can of pills tightly and put it back in his boon. Now all that Courage and Wally had to do was wait for their target to appear.
The wait wasn't long until several kinds of beasts began to emerge from the water, which the two immediately confronted. However, unlike their previous hunt, the roles of the two were reversed, with Wally being the main fighting force and Courage being the support.
The reason for this was the field disadvantage Kabuto had in this marsh. Without solid ground to stand on, the beetle could barely move; if it were to step on the marsh, its movement speed would be greatly hindered, and it would even run the risk of being trapped in the mud. Plus, the beasts here were either aquatic or semi-aquatic creatures, giving them an advantage in this terrain. So it was unwise to try to fight in this murky water. Therefore, Kabuto was left with the role of defending Courage and Wally whilst Octo did most of the fighting.
It was an awkward change, with Wally and his beast struggling a bit at the beginning, but soon they started to manage. Octo, as an aquatic creature, had no trouble fighting in this terrain; the murky water and slippery mud did not hinder it at all. In fact, it was so adept at fighting in this environment that it was outmaneuvering the local beasts on their home turf.
This fact boosted their morale, and soon Wally and his beast went from struggling to matching and finally outmatching their opponent.
"Yeah,show them who's boss, Wally!" Courage cheered on.
First, a small group of fish with razor-sharp fins and tails jumped out of the water towards Octo like flying daggers. They're flying dagger fish a level 1 stell-type beast. Octo wove his tentacles together and, using [Polymorph], turned them metallic, creating a steel net that he used to easily capture the jumping fish mid-air.
The fish struggled, but once trapped within Octo's iron net, it wasn't long before he finished them off. After all, there's nothing more vulnerable than a fish out of the water.
Sometime later, a second wave of beasts emerged, this time consisting of several giant toads. The toads came in different hues of green, orange, brown, and even yellow, but they all shared a stout build, plus a leathery and oily skin, as well as rough backs full of boils and dimples. These frogs were called the Witch's Cauldron Toads, a Level 1 Poison-type beast.
The special thing about them is that they have a large appetite that leads them to eat almost everything they can find—be it poisonous plants, herbs, moss, other beasts, and even catalysts. If they could fit it in their mouth, they'd eat it. But that's not the only thing special about them, as they have the ability to mix and store the contents of their diet in their stomachs, turning them into a poisonous concoction that they can use to hunt or to defend themselves.
But the fun doesn't stop there, as the effect of the poisonous concoction depends on the things that the toad has recently devoured. So the effect of the poison can differ from one toad to another.
The effects of the poison created by the toads can be anything from simple stuff like paralysis and hallucinations to things like causing you to lose your sense of direction or causing you to glow in the dark. And sometimes, these toads could end up concocting things that benefit their opponent instead of harming them, like a concocation with healing properties or even ironically an anti-venom.
The Witch's Cauldron Toads can be tricky opponents to fight against because of their randomness, making any confrontation with them unpredictable.
Around five toads approached, hopping closer and closer. Wally decided to be the one to attack first this time. Following his commands, Octo moved swiftly through the murky water of the marsh, then lunging at one of the toads. Octo shifted one of his tentacles into a stone masse and brought it down on the opposing beast. The toad, however, didn't seem fazed by this attack.
"Wally!" Courage said to his companion. "Forget about using blunt force against these toads. Their skin seems thick, and the oily layer on it would certainly minimize friction, so it's best you switch to something else."
Listening to his friend's analysis, Wally changed tactics. First, his beast dodged the toad's retaliation, retreating backward several paces as the toad lunged at it with its mouth wide open, trying to swallow him whole. Then, shifting his body again, Octo crossed two of his tentacles, this time transforming each tentacle into an insect mandibles, together forming a vicious-looking scissor. This was one of the new aspects Octo had acquired from one of the beasts they had hunted in the Flatland Valley, an antlion-like beast called the Sand Trapper. That beast had a set of powerful jaw mandibles that Octo was now mimicking.
The toads launched their stored poison concoctions at Octo; sludge balls the size of footballs flew through the air towards him.
However, the cephalopod avoided them all, moving agilely and swiftly through the murky water. Octo was too fast and too slippery for any of these attacks to connect, the poison attacks hitting only the spots where Octo had once been.
As the poison balls struck the water, they each displayed different properties. Some caused the water to sizzle, with vapour rising from them—clearly acidic. Others gave off strange smokes and even sparks as they made contact, their effects hard to guess. While others were like tar, being thick and dark-looking; it was clear they would cause one to be stuck if hit by them. But luckily, none of that came to pass.
Octo kept dodging while closing the distance, and once he was close enough, he was back on the attack. Using his sharp pincer scissors, he had managed to inflict a wound this time around. Octo followed a hit-and-run tactic: first inflicting injuries on the toads, then retreating to avoid their lunges, and then closing the distance while dodging their poison shots to attack again.
The more injuries Octo inflicted, the more enraged and aggressive the toads became, but that didn't do them any favors. The toads were too clumsy and uncoordinated to work together effectively. There were times when one toad would end up lunging and biting another or even shooting poison at each other by accident. They didn't work together at all, as each wanted to get octo for themselves, causing them to trip and topple over one another.
Finally, at one moment when the toads were piled closely together, still desperately trying to catch Octo, Courage saw an opportunity to finally contribute to this fight and ordered Kabuto to use [Burst Charge].
Launching his special move and recoiling like a firing tank, the toads piled on one another were launched flying into the air with an explosion that pushed the nearby water away. A watery explosion occurred at the point of impact, and soon after, a quick drizzle followed suit as all of the displaced water fell back down again.
The toads were each sent flying in a different direction. Heavily injured, they decided to run away, all except for one who had the worst injuries and seemed to have died from the impact. Done with that ordeal, Wally got his beast to collect the carcass of the toad. Then the two were back to waiting for something else to emerge
Minutes ticked by as the two awaited the appearance of their target. Several beast waves assaulted them as they waited, but they were able to withstand them all.
In total, the two faced off against many beasts, some of which were giant mosquitoes called Swamp Fiends, a Corpus-type beast. Others were mudskippers with bioluminescent parts on their bodies; that were called Swamp Wisps, a Water-type beast. And finally, a scary-looking bird that had disheveled feathers and a horrifying sound; this bird was like a vengeful wraith flying around them, and it was a Banshee Magpie, a Dark-type beast.
All of these beasts were Level 1, and all of them Courage and Wally managed to slay or repel. The two were seeing new kinds of beasts and gaining more battle experience, especially Wally, as he and his beast were the ones doing most of the fighting this time, with Courage and Kabuto supporting them.
This continued on for a while until finally their real target revealed itself: a massive, three-meter-long eel with shiny scales that had a cyan shine to them. This beast had the body of an eel, but its head was more lizard-like, lined with several sharp teeth. Its eyes were blank yellow without any irises, and its front fins were more developed than a regular eel's, looking like primitive front limbs; though stubby, they seemed developed enough to probably allow the eel some level of terrestrial movement.
Now, you might be wondering, if Courage and Wally were after a catalyst, then why would a beast be their target? The answer is that this beast was the catalyst they were after.
See, catalysts can have all sorts of effects but can also come in all sorts of shapes and forms. Some catalysts can be plants, others can be minerals, some can be weathers, and some can even be habits. The term "catalyst" only defined anything that has the ability to induce a growth or a change in a beast. But what such catalysts are... they can be literally anything, even other beasts.
It was proven that some beasts can function as catalysts for other beasts in different ways, the most common instance of which was observed in beasts that would predate on other beasts for that purpose. And according to the commissioner, he needs the tendons of this beast as a catalyst for one of his beasts.
Looking at the massive eel, it clearly gave off the aura of a high Level 1 beast, only one step away from Level 2. In this regard, it surpassed both of Courage's and Wally's beasts. Yet, staring at it, the two young men were undeterred; determination burned in their eyes as they looked at each other. Then with one final nod of agreement, the battle was on. Both were determined to defeat this beast.