After a night well rested, Kain and the others set off for the location of their second mission—Lunar Peak.
Only a 2-hour ride on Night Mares, the towering mountain was shrouded in a soft, mist veil that gave it an otherworldly appearance. That combined with the smooth, silvery rock composing majority of the mountain that shimmered under the sunlight, one could imagine for beautiful it’d look under the moonlight—likely being the cause for its name.
The Lunar Peak sits at the intersection of 4 villages including Moonvale Village and holds great significance for all villages. It is considered a sacred place, and various lunar festivals and ceremonies are held at its base or even at its summit, depending on the time of year. The peak is associated with wisdom, tranquility, and the moon’s mystical powers.
Additionally, historically the affinity ceremony for all 4 villages’ children are held together at this very mountain each year.
However, recently a flock of Tempest Pterix, mostly all orange-grade juveniles but led by one adult yellow-grade, have settled into the top of the mountain, preventing the villages from holding this year’s Lunar Radiance Festival in a week.
Therefore, it was urgent that this group either be driven away or, preferably, eradicated.
As they approached the mountain, even from far away they could occasionally see some Pterix take flight and circle the mountain. They were easy to spot due to the impressive wingspans. Each wing is probably longer than 2 Kains lying down.
As they got closer, they were able to make out more details, especially after enhancing their eyesight as they had learned in class.
The feathers of the Tempest Pterix were a mesmerizing blend of electric blue and stormy gray, interspersed with streaks of bright, lightning-yellow. The feathers had a metallic sheen, especially around the edges, giving them a slightly reflective quality that glimmers in the light.
Indicative of their penchant for launching devastating lightning bolts at targets, there were faint, glowing veins running through their feathers, which pulse with a soft, electric blue light.
One of them likely spotted Kain’s group in return and suddenly a chorus of loud screeches began to sound out. Possibly to inform the others of the group that they had company, or it could have been directed at Kain’s group as a warning to not approach any closer—a warning they would obviously not follow.
Likely seeing that the intruders were still approaching, they grew louder in agitation, and Kain and the others could see the distinctive crest of feathers on their heads begin to stand erect from the static electricity like a mane when it prepared to attack. The crest feathers were a vibrant, electrifying yellow and often crackled energy.
“Ready? We follow the plan,” Kain said. On the 2-hour walk over they had each summarized their contracts’ abilities to better help to come up with a plan for battle. Although obviously nobody probably disclosed everything. Although friends they were also all opponents in the next re-ranking.
Without warning, a powerful gust of wind swept through the trees, causing them to sway violently. The sudden shift in the air was accompanied by the thunderous flapping of wings. Five Pterix had decided to launch an attack and were swiftly headed towards them.
Kain covered their group in mist to obscure their ability to aim at them. Unfortunately, he could not extend the mist to fully cover the mountain or those in the sky, only able to prevent the Pterix from accurately aiming at them.
The first Tempest Pterix descended like a bolt from the blue, unleashing a powerful lightning strike that sizzled through the air and struck the ground near Kain and his friends. Thankfully, they had all moved from their original spots otherwise it would have hit Finn straight-on.
Still they could feel the force of the blow as the ground erupted in a shower of sparks and debris, sending the group scrambling for cover. The Tempest Pterix’s electric aura crackled menacingly as the creatures flew overhead.
Within the mist, the others’ contracts were already prepared for battle. Not able to afford to hold back against an orange-grade opponent, Kain not only released the guards, but also Queen, who promptly used her skill to boost their abilities.
Due to Lady not having any long-range skills currently, Bridge was relying mostly on Princess in this battle, while Lady remained in wait in the mist. Similar to the battle against the wasps, Princess used a skill to drastically decrease the temperature in the area. Kain could see the wings of one Pterix being covered in frost as it frantically flapped its wings to stay in the air.
Aiden’s Wind Sprite, soared into the fray, summoning powerful gusts to deflect the Pterix’s lightning although, due to the gap in power between them, the sprite could only slightly alter the course of each strike. Still, its control over the wind allowed it to alter the course of several attacks and shield her allies from the worst of the storm.
Addison and Leonara’s contracts, being the only other ones that can fly, launched a coordinated assault on another Pterix. The goal of all of the flying contracts was cause the Pterix high above to sink into the mist, where Kain’s “poison” in the mist will be able to affect them.
Surprisingly, Princess was the first to achieve success, likely due to her Absolute Zero passive skill that made all skills she launched even colder than average. A Pterix with frosted wings finally sank into the mist and Bea was able to infect it.
However, as an orange-grade creature, Bea couldn’t kill it directly. However, she was able to affect it severely enough by impeding its sense of balance so that it could not fly up, and slowly sank to the ground. In wait was Elias’ Slumberpuff, who began to make it drowsy by covering it in pieces of fluff.
This contract works perfect with Bea, once the target began to be dazed, Bea found it a lot easier to affect. Soon, it was in a coma on the ground and a waiting Vespirae guard, already boosted by Queen ended with a shot to the head.
*Ding. Host has killed one orange-grade spiritual beast.*
After the attack on the way to Moonvale Village, Kain had already completed the missions of killing 10 orange-grade and red-grade creatures once each, giving him over 400 GP. After this battle, he may be able to complete the mission for hunting orange-grade beasts a second time to receive another 350 GP.
Good thing too, since he hadn’t had any opportunities to increase GP while at school and he was left quite poor after the upgrade.