It was then he noticed what was in Dobin's hands and he smiled broadly. "Those are beautiful! But you should not have exerted yourself like that."
Lana chuckled, "I don't want you to die, either."
She motioned with her head for him to put her down, which he did reluctantly.
Addressing the others, "before we part ways, we are going to get ourselves full. We all used a lot of energy and need to recharge to be ready for what's next."
Lana pulled out her kitchen as well as food and Kattie, Almin, and Rene got to work. Soon they were all eating. The teachers talked quietly between themselves.
Chekof sidled up to Lana, "it looks like your leadership might get us all extra points." He nodded his head toward the teachers, "apparently, they don't teach us teamwork to see if we develop it on our own and we've impressed them, you specifically."
Lana chuckled, "I'm not really looking to impress them. I just don't want us dead."
Chekof nodded. "Your stunt back there gave us all the window we needed to act. It would have taken us a lot longer to kill it and probably more injuries. You did well."
He patted her on the back and resumed eating his slabs of meat. Once Lana finished eating, she removed the bags from her bracelet that belonged to those who were separating off.
As soon as the others were ready, Lana gave Kattie her copy of the monster book for the planet since Paul bought one. Lana gave her friends hugs and best wishes then they were off. They would return to the shelter first. They were encumbered with all the gear Lana handed them but felt confident they could trade it for something useful for the team.
Kai pulled Lana aside, "I knew you had strong Qi but I didn't realize you were so good at using it. Where did you learn it?"
"What's Qi?" Lana asked, confused.
"The energy you infused in those weapons, the axe and the spear."
Lana nodded, "I didn't know it had a name. I learned it from a meditation book a few years ago. It's one of two I use to help control my emotions."
Kai nodded, "it explains a lot. I and Sergeant Rage will accompany you on the next fight and see how it goes. If we are satisfied, we will allow you to keep going and we will return to the shelter. Oh! One more question. Are you teaching Qi to anyone?"
"Kattie and a few times, others have joined in. I want everyone to participate but I can't force it."
Kai nodded with a smile.
"We should be getting to it, guys. We have 2 more to take down and the day isn't getting any longer." Lana smiled at Paul. Time to get to work.
The next cave over wasn't too far away but there was enough distance to prevent the sound of the attack from traveling to the cave's inhabitant. Paul sent an oomlaut in for recon using Blaine's telekinesis because the little robot had trouble moving in the snow. It needed to be sent further in to bypass the obstacle.
The monster was the exact same thing they had just killed. With Jessy having a stronger weapon, they hoped to take this one down faster. They decided to follow the same concept as before without someone getting thrown into a wall. This battle went as planned. This time, Paul's missiles got a head shot and brought the fight to a very abrupt end.
Lana checked everyone over for injuries and healed what little they got. She felt a little bad for the monsters. They were level-6 and the team's average level was higher. It didn't feel very sporting. At the same time, they wanted that special outing so they could increase their own strength. They each had their own reasons for that, but they were all determined.
Jessy played a larger role in the fight thanks to his new weapon. He skewered the monster's stomach and helped keep him a bit still so Paul could take the shot.
Lana smiled and watched as Jessy removed the crystal for his teammate. The next would be theirs. She thought it funny that, of the three, her team was the weakest. But she didn't mind having room to climb.
The team moved to the last cave feeling confident. The teachers, having observed how well they seemed to work together, left the students to their own devices and went back to the shelter in case they were needed by anyone else.
Since Dobin wanted the kill, he made himself an obsidian dagger laced with Lana's Ki and thorns. Watching Blaine in action with his dual swords, plus his ability, he had to admit the swords were quite effective. In Blaine's hands, they looked like perfection. Dobin was mesmerized by his skill between using the swords and his ability. Dobin almost got hit in that last encounter because he wasn't paying attention. This time, he intended to be impressive.
At the last cave, their success in the previous two caves increased their confidence. They looked at the footage and decided the same plan worked twice before. "Let's do this!" Dobin was pumped to show his sister that Blaine wasn't the only one who could impress.
Blaine pulled out his book, got an ability that allowed them all to move silently then switched out. He went back to telekinesis. He also had a wind ability. The rest he kept to himself because he was just using them for MC, in case Kyle needed to respond.
The monster was toward the back of the cave digging through bones. Eventually, he seemed to find the one he wanted because he picked it up between his toes and started picking his teeth. It was quite a strange sight. A mammoth-sized bear-shaped monster, 20-foot tall, picking its teeth when it didn't even have functioning fingers.
The seven compatriots raced to their target while it was seemingly distracted. Chekof jumped on its back and clawed from the top of the shoulder to the bottom of the shoulder blade. The monster growled and dropped the bone.
Paul fired a missile and missed, "damnit! That was my last one!"
"Back off, we got this!" Lana yelled over her shoulder.
The monster went to swipe his paw at Dobin. Karlen intercepted the swipe with his sword. Blaine threw a wind swipe at the monster's throat which also missed. Lana wrapped climbing rose vines around the monster's ankles. It screamed in rage, unable to separate its legs. It swung the other clawed paw at Lana. The paw was bigger than her body. She tried to dodge but wasn't quite fast enough. A massive paw hit her chest with full force, a claw slashing her arm. Lana went flying backward.
Jessy was getting ready to throw his spear when he saw the attack coming toward Lana. He ran to get behind her. He placed himself between her and the wall, preventing further harm.
"Lana!!!!" Dobin and Blaine screamed at once. Dobin threw his dagger with all his might. Chekof and Karlen had the monster distracted, its feet still hobbled. He could see the dagger was going to hit below his mark and cursed. Suddenly the trajectory of the blade shifted, spun like a drill and massively accelerated.
The next moment, the monster was on the ground with a massive hole through its body where its heart would have been. There was a brilliant shine inside the hole due to the monster crystal being exposed. Dobin reached in and pulled the crystal out then looked toward his sister, expecting her to be uninjured.
His eyes went wide seeing everyone around her. "Lana?"
"I'm fine… Dobin.." her voice reached him and he knew she wasn't. He quickly went to her side. She still had her thorny vine armor on but there was blood coming from her arm. He watched as she took a deep breath and withered her armor. Kent ran to her wound. Blaine went to grab him thinking the scent of blood sent him into some sort of blood lust.
"Leave him," Lana's voice was weak with the pain.
Kent got to her wound on her upper arm and wrapped his roots around her. He used his tentacles to hold the two sides of the wound open and pressed his little snout to the wound. He bit down then pulled something out. It was the tip of the gristlehair's claw. Lana had beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She thought the attack from Pucket hurt!
Just breathing made her wish for death.
Kent climbed to her shoulder and wrapped his roots in her hair. He nestled against her shoulder and purred, giving his human mother reassurance. Blaine was one step ahead of her and had switched to a healing ability.
It was then they heard a rumble. It felt like the mountain was coming down on them. Soon they were engulfed in almost complete darkness. They had activated their light crystals so they could see in the back of the cave.
Karlen looked toward the mouth of the cave, "avalanche. We are stuck in here."