Buying gifts wasn’t something I liked doing. It’s why I made them. Still, there were times that buying a gift was the appropriate thing to do. For example, when you wanted the gift to serve as an insult to a certain elven Djinn-souled who was hanging around, hassling you non-stop.
Starbreaker snorted dismissively at the display of hand-crafted mugs and plates, turning away to look over another table’s wares. An elf selling artfully carved affinity materials of all things.
Yep, this was one of the times when buying a gift was appropriate.
Which is why, I found myself perusing the market looking for something that might express my profound dislike for Starbreaker. Mostly I was staying out of the way while Ventus did his work tracking down the penta-hydra that had attacked the village recently.
Unfortunately, nothing jumped out to me. Nothing that said, ‘You are a douchebag and need to seriously do something about your sister.’
That was another thing that was bothering me. Why was his sister on the Risen council, considering her lack of morals. How many people knew what she was capable of and were okay with it? Was it part of Terra Vista or was it something that came about as a result of their recent unrest?
Sidhe hadn’t heard of Halina committing similar war crimes before. I got the impression from Starbreaker that Halina had always been thorny, but even he’d been surprised she’d sunk to using his great-grandkids as weapon-shaped blackmail.
As I was exploring, I came across a pair of earrings that I thought would look rather fetching on Ari. The mere thought had me stop in place, staring at them. Not because I intended to buy them. No. I could craft far better. And I intended to, now that I'd been inspired. But just the fact I'd seen jewelry, thought it would look good on her and… There were times I missed the bathroom door being firmly shut. Times when I felt life was much simpler before I noticed women. This was not one of them.
Despite knowing I could craft better, I decided to buy the earrings anyways. The cost was negligible, and I felt it was worth if for the inspiration alone. I would modify them, make them both useful and a momento.
Once I considered them as momentos, I immediately expanded my recipient pool. I’d already wanted to make gifts to thank Vednil and Alister for their hard work. Though not earrings, not for Alister. With my new mission, I set about acquiring gifts for everyone I could think of. Was there some sort of festival coming up I could use as an excuse? Or maybe I could…
My thoughts trailed off as an elf made their way through the small market. An unfamiliar elf but one who reminded me of someone. It took a moment to place who because I realized that who they reminded me of was Vaden. I hadn't seen the bladesinger in a couple weeks. Usually he was off with the Vox Knights or Calbern.
The way this man walked I had no doubt that they were a Bladesinger. I watched them pass through the village, on alert. When nobody else reacted I kept my peace. Could’ve been one of the Bladesingers who’d distanced themselves from the fighting. Wasn’t sure what I would’ve said to them anyways. I noted Calbern had also clocked the man. We exchanged a pair of shallow nods and I finished my shopping. Soon Ventus returned with directions and we left the village.
Time to hunt a monster.
The penta-hydra’s lair was fairly large. Almost reminded me of a beaver dam, with huge amounts of rubble piled up to create an oversized reservoir. It wasn't the only one of its kind in the area. Not the only hydra, that was. It was definitely the only penta-hydra.
It’d been aggressive, attacking nearby villages, taking people and buildings both. The evidence could be seen in the support struts and roofing material that’d been added into its dam. Not well. To the hydra, the support beam was little more than a heavy stick.
“Shouldn’t Terra Vista be more active?” I asked Starbreaker as we flew over the flooded woodlands.
“Even if monsters were not falling from the sky, the Bladesinger Conflict drew our resources away from less critical regions,” the elf replied, his gaze narrowed. “These are not part of our lands. These people made their choice.”
“Looks like it used to be though,” I said, pointing towards a bunch of ruined wooden roads, similar to those I’d seen further north.
“The fools might have copied our techniques, but they no longer call themselves Terra Vistan.”
“Fair enough.”
Still, the infrastructure struck me as the sort of thing you didn't maintain in the presence of monsters. At least we hadn't seen any descend since we'd left Cape Aeternia.
It wasn't long before we spotted the beast itself. It wasn't trying to hide at all, simply laying with all but one of its heads bobbing in the water.
When we arrived in its bog, the penta-hydra was serene, the word I feel most accurately applies. It almost looked like a cat, the way it was coiled up around that old rotten tree, half-dead tree. A tree, I realized as we got closer, that may very well have rivaled the airship we were flying in on in girth. As we approached the Hydra looked up, one of its heads sniffing the air curiously, as if to investigate what could have come to invade its swamp.
“It's a big one, isn't it, Master Percival?” Calbern observed as we strapped into the gliders, Inertia flexing her talons while she waited.
“Definitely is,” I agreed as we launched, trying to estimate its size based off of the tree and the Iron Curtain's own girth. It had to be at least a thousand feet from snout to tail. A Hydra-souled Hydra, definitely going to be a bit of a fight. Considering each of its heads embodied one of the elements, I was…
“Does it have six heads?” I mumbled just before the fight started, the hydra throwing a rather anemic fireball towards us.
As they circled to flank, I unleashed a bevy of spells, not really expecting much. Which meant I wasn’t disappointed. Fire, earth, wind, water: it was immune to all of them. Storm seemed to have some effect though its regeneration rate was so high even a third Order lightning bolt wasn't enough to do more than singe it slightly, and a quick dip into the pool to hide was enough to keep me from simply bombarding it.
Then it responded.
It was as if it had summoned an apocalypse. Fireballs, acid rain, spears of ice and even thorn covered vines shot towards us, all in the time it took to snap its jaws. Everything I’d tried against it, returned with interest.
I barely followed the next few seconds as I smashed into the scalding swamp water.
Rolling to the side, I dodged a follow-up as my neural dynamics figured out that it had knocked out my shield.
Unlike the phase hawk, which had given us a good little run around, the penta-hydra should’ve been a stand there and hit back sort of monster. Not so much.
“A truly incredible foe,” Calbern said as he dashed past along the top of the dam, his glider having been destroyed in the opening barrage. Not that mine had survived either, but at least I had my innate flight.
“Wish it was a bit less incredible,” I called back as I flew the opposite direction, a fireball exploding in the air behind me.
Wasn’t bad enough it was immune to most of my spells, it had a full complement of its own. A hydra wasn’t normally a spellcasting behemoth. The penta-hydra had missed the memo. Not that it was a penta-hydra any longer. A barrage of nearly invisible missiles homed in, slamming into my Aegis. Somehow, it’d acquired arcane. It was a hexa-hydra now.
A giant wave of steaming swamp water followed the missiles. Another attack I couldn’t simply dodge, though it put less strain on my Aegis.
It’s wide range of affinities meant none of the traditional elements for keeping a hydra down worked. When we finally managed to sever one of its heads, we burned and slathered the stump in acid. The head was back before we could repeat the trick.
Shards of ice tore through the sky, aimed to prevent Inertia from getting close.
While skating close to the surface of the bog, I noticed one of its heads that hadn’t been contributing staring upwards. Following its gaze, I realized it’d locked onto the Iron Curtain.
"Inertia, time for you to get the Iron Curtain out of here," I commanded, even as I flew towards Calbern. “You too old man. We can’t handle it, not yet. I’ll draw its attention while you get out.”
Calbern’s lip twitched downwards before he nodded. “Very well, Master Percival.”
Sucked to be retreating, but at least it was an option. The only thing I might’ve had capable of hurting it was my worlds magic. Considering I hadn't weaponized it, that wasn’t much of an option. Dealing with it wasn’t so critical to risk experimenting in the middle of a fight.
With Translocation Matrix still slotted, I hit it with a continuous stream of third Order Lightning Bolts. Only after it roared, did I start leading it the opposite direction of the Iron Curtain.
It was… annoyingly persistent.
The hexa-hydra followed me for nearly a hundred miles west before I swung towards the wall. It was only once I stood in the shadow of the great construction that the hexa-hydra slowed.
Not that it ran. It stomped several hundred foot trees over, pushing up and glaring at me with all six heads.
No spells came at me, but it raised its heads and roared.
“Yeah, same to you.” I gave it a rude gesture before teleporting up the wall. It watched me go, roaring the whole time.
I found the Iron Curtain waiting on the other side.
Climbing aboard, I heard Inertia hiss-clank rambling to herself.
She was critiquing her performance, calling herself weak. In a way, I could understand. When we’d first met, her overpowering might had made me feel safe. Now I was sending her away.
Couldn’t help wonder if I was missing something. She'd been one of the key people to free her race, from what I understood. If that was true, she’d gone up against dragon souls. There must have been more I didn't know. Still that was her past. Until she decided to share, I'd wait.
“Quite bracing. Though it seems we need more preparation for when next we face the beast,” Calbern said, pulling my attention away.
“Yeah. Not gonna be easy, but I can think of a couple enchantments we might be able to use.” Specifically, ones that might suppress its regeneration.
Unfortunately, that would require spearing it with the enchantments. Or tattooing them into its hide. Doubted it’d sit still for that.
Either way, I wasn’t ready for the hexa-hydra.
That was fine. We’d be back.