After Qi meditation, Lana went to the Travelers' Center for breakfast and to ask for volunteers to go hunting with her. She got a lot of looks for even suggesting she was going hunting with her babies. Her cold glare informed them this was happening whether they wanted it to or not.
"Dobin and Kattie, I need you two to stay here. Mandy, Fiza, and Dawn will be coming along. Who else?"
Biff and Alto both stood up and came to stand behind her. Rene, Duff, and Shalt also joined her. With her party selected, she put them all in the system and they headed out on foot after everyone was ready.
"We are going south of the Bree shelter. I want Dawn, Fiza, and Mandy to handle the easy stuff. They need practice."
The girls nodded but no other word was said.
Alto caught up to Lana and Shalt who were in the lead. "Are you sure this is wise?"
Lana didn't speak. She had no desire to justify herself. She knew the dangers and her own capabilities.
"Why do you think she has extra people along?" Shalt replied. "You've known her longer than I have. Do you think she would take unnecessary risks?"
Alto sighed, "we know she's strong but there could still be an unlucky hit."
"I have an idea on my soul weapon. I need to try it out. I also need to get stronger. A lot stronger."
"Why? You have us."
"Because the trees say so."
"You have an awful lot of trust in those trees."
Lana nodded, "much more than humans." She said nothing more and continued.
About 10 minutes later, she stopped. Lana called up her three plant apprentices. "We are coming up on an intermediate-tier beast. I want the three of you to fight it alone."
The girls looked quite nervous to varying degrees, Fiza being most and Mandy being least.
The girls inched into the underbrush to find a leathery bird about the size of a chicken. The color was like a dirty white color or a light grey. It had a comb on its head just like a chicken. Instead of tail feathers, it had a long tail like a dinosaur with spikes down the spine and even bigger at the end of the tail. Its wings reminded the girls of a dragon. It had its back to the girls eating until Mandy moved a few branches to grant them access to the area.
The girls all put on level 1 armor and created a whip for themselves. The cockadron opened its toothed beak and let out a high-pitched scream and charged the nearest girl, which was Mandy.
Mandy swung her whip and made contact but didn't hurt it much. Fiza threw out roots to hold it still. Dawn also used her whip but missed. The roots ensnared the cockadron. By the time Mandy hit it again with the whip, the beast was free and resumed running. It flew up a foot and swung its tail at Mandy and managed to penetrate Mandy's armor. Fiza tried something new. She threw out a vine whip but instead of grabbing it, she allowed it to fly free and wrap around the cockadron causing the wings to be bound tight to its body.
Mandy and Dawn both swung their whips again. Mandy hit the head and Dawn hit the legs. It was down but not dead yet. As it struggled to get up, one more hit from both girls and it was dead.
Lana stepped into the area. "Great job. Now. I want the two of you to heal Mandy's wound."
Fiza healed the wound while Dawn worked on the pain. They both took a long time, just like Lana did when she first started but the job was done.
A few moments after Mandy was healed, two more entered the area. Seeing their dead comrade, they screamed and ran at the girls, ignoring Lana. This time, Dawn and Fiza were the targets. Mandy threw out a root system and ensnared one, but it didn't hold well. It broke out in less than two seconds. It looked like it had simply started to trip on the root then regained its footing.
Dawn and Fiza both used their whip and connected but the wound was shallow. Both cockadrons then got their turns. The one on Dawn got there first. It attempted a bite attack which failed due to her moving out of the way. Fiza had a second longer to prepare. The Cockadron went for a tail swipe. Fiza jumped up causing the tail to miss and swung her whip down. This time her whip drew blood.
Lana nodded, "Good job, swing harder next time!"
Mandy moved in behind the one on Dawn and swung her whip hard and caused a deep wound along the spine of the beast but it was still up. It tried to bite Dawn again and this time her ankle was severely wounded which interrupted her attack as she started to fall and shifted her balance to the uninjured ankle.
Fiza was quick on her feet as her beast tried to bite her ankle as well. She kicked the beast back then swung her whip harder this time with a killing blow to its back which went through to its chest.
Mandy swung her whip across the beast and sliced it in half. She remembered to use Qi this time.
Lana smiled. "You did very well. Fiza, you are almost as strong as Mandy already. Great work!"
Fiza smiled at her.
"How do you guys feel? Fiza, since you healed the wound last time, I want you to treat Dawn for pain. Mandy, heal her wound."
The girls once again got to work. Their unpracticed hands still clumsy, they were still able to draw on the theoretics and make it happen. Lana and Rene both stood by in case one of them were unable to do the job. About 30 minutes later, all three girls were standing up looking proud of themselves and each other.
Lana smiled, "feels good to see your hard work pay off, huh?"
The girls all wore huge smiles.
"I'm not sure I like the combat aspect," Dawn shared.
"You don't have to like it. I view combat as a necessary evil. As long as there are bad people in this world, we need to know how to protect ourselves and the innocents around us. This is the responsibility that comes with having an ability. It's not about showing off how strong you are. It's about being strong enough to protect those who think that way."
All three ladies bowed to their teacher. "shall we continue to more…interesting …beasts?" She smiled broadly.
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