Chương 26: 1.2.04 - Trinity

I followed the giant light bulb in my vision as it moved across the forest. While I still did not have a solution to hunting the beast, at least locating the beast was easy with Electro Perception. At the back of my mind, I wondered if the Storm Runner had a similar sense, which would signal me as a giant snack to it. I had to increase my pace without relying on Lightning Infusion, afraid that I might tip the Storm Runner off to my presence.

As I got closer, I saw several tracking details that had confirmed that the glowing light bulb was indeed a Storm Runner. I saw three-toed bipedal prints, with the inner toe barely printing, its sickle claw probably held clear of the ground. There were also some shed quills around, either fallen off naturally or used to fry some unfortunate critter. I made sure that there was only one set of prints to rule out the potential that this area belonged to a mating pair.

After a few more minutes, I managed to get close enough to see the beast in its entirety. In its regular walking stance, it stood close to what I estimated was my height. Though if it had stood straight and lengthened its neck it would be way taller. The bulk of its length though was the tail, which it seemed to use more as a counterweight as it walked rather than a sweeping weapon as the Weepwrym did. Its body was covered in feather-like quills.

I could not quite tell whether they were feather or quill, but the ones on its back definitely had a pointy end. I hoped I would never be on the receiving end of those. I looked to the sickle claw on its feet, confirming the metallic grey claw, similar to the talisman I bought. If this was a National Geographic documentary, I would have been tempted to do my best impersonation of Sir David Attenborough while narrating how beautiful the creature was.

Unfortunately, I was only here because its bones were what I needed. It was starting to get dark, and considering I already had the area noted down, I decided to retire for the night and come back next morning before dawn. Hopefully I would be able to note down its path and territory boundary. The next morning, I was lying flat on my belly on a thick branch as I watched the Storm Runner release an arc of lightning on a hare-like creature after its quills had missed their mark.

Immediately after that arc, the energy in its core dimmed substantially in my vision. Earlier, the Storm Runner had spun around quickly, swishing its tail to use the momentum to release sharp quills aimed at that hare. The hare had sensed it coming and quickly jumped out of the way. It had almost escaped too as it was heading to a bush that led steeply downhill, an area that would be too perilous for the Storm Runner.

Just before the hare's last jump to freedom, I saw the Storm Runner release a bolt of lightning from its mouth, frying the hare. It then approached the hare and picked it up with its jaws, before promptly swallowing the whole thing. The observation of the core's energy level was something new. The compendium had not indicated how many bolts of lightning it could fire, but my estimation was probably 5 to 6, 7 at most.

It seemed like while the Storm Runner was perfectly capable of firing bolts of lightning, it was not its primary method of attack as it was quite draining. I made a move to leave once the Storm Runner was out of sight. I had the territory and a few routes mapped out by now. While they mostly stayed to their area, it seemed like they did not roam on a fixed route like Bramblehide Boars. Unless another beast chased it out, I would be able to find it in the same area when my preparations were completed.

I was back in the Weeping Grotto poring over the several options I had sketched on the floor. Just to be comprehensive, I had written Lightning Bolt as the first in the list before drawing a line across it.

"It would be like feeding myself to the raptor with extra steps" I chuckled to myself. Second option would be to use conventional weapons, like a spear or a bow, both of which had their own set of problems. A spear would require me to get close, and I doubt I would win in a melee with those claws and quills. A bow however would have been good, except the bows in this world were too primitive, used by mundane hunters hunting small birds.

Due to the existence of magic, no one had bothered to develop any form of ranged weaponry that could take out a large animal. I had considered using poisons, but even piercing its hide would be a problem. Core progression came with strengthening the body for humans. For animals, I would guess that the mana strengthening their bodies would also strengthen their thick hides. The other problem with poisons was I did not want to risk contaminating the bones.

Due to the magical nature of the poisons in this world, I could never rule out that possibility. The third option was a classic pit trap. Though I doubt I had the time needed to dig a pit deep enough for spears to pierce its hide. I stared at all the options listed while they stared back at me.

"Fuck me, this is going nowhere, might as well take a break" If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. I moved to get some rations from the table when my eyes fell on the broken parts of Mark I. Specifically, the copper coils and the batteries. That's when the idea struck me. I did not need to create pits and use gravity to pierce the raptor with spears. I could drive it through the beast myself.

"Just because the Storm Runner is immune to my lightning didn't mean that I had to omit its use entirely! I can use electricity to propel the spears through a trap!" I had essentially combined all three ideas that did not work into one that could at that moment. Lightning magic to power the magnets, or essentially a solenoid valve. Iron spears will act as the core for the solenoid valve, which will be propelled by the magnetic force when the enchantment activates.

I can modify the enchantments to only react to the raptor's discharge, essentially working as a trap.

"The return of the prodigal son" I shed a tear as even in its death, Mark I had given me the solution I had been looking for. Marta was glad to see that my camping excursion had ended, but furrowed her brows when I inhaled my breakfast the next morning and immediately got up.

"Where are you off to in such a rush?"

"I'm off to town, need to get some stuff from Branwen's smithy before the orders of the day pile up!" I replied as I rushed out the door, making sure to grab my coin pouch.

"You'll get a tummy ache if you eat that quickly, say hi to her for me and tell her to drop by once in a while" Marta managed to squeeze out one last reminder as I left.

"You want what now?" Branwen asked with a bewildered expression.

"I want spears, but made fully from iron or steel. Is that possible?" I confirmed my request again.

"Honestly, the weird request never ends with you. It'll be incredibly difficult to work with it. We usually only produce spear heads. It'll be unwieldy, and even more difficult to forge" Branwen explained. I could tell she wanted to help but it was not something she could feasibly do.

"Hmmm, do you have any normal spears?" I asked.

"Hmm not immediately, but I could attach one of the heads to the wooden pole from a pitchfork. It'll be shorter though. Will that work?" I thought about it for a moment, I was adapting the plan I had drawn up on the fly. The shorter spears might actually work better.

"Yes I'll take them, do you also have steel ingots?"

"Umm yes? Why would you need them?" Branwen looked at me confused.

"Don't worry about them, can I have four ingots?"

"Errr.... one minute... I'll need to ask master. No one ever bought ingots before" Branwen left to go speak with a senior smith, who I assumed was the owner and her master. I never really got to know the man who had decided to give a small wiry girl a job as his apprentice.

"It'll be 3 small silvers and 5 large coppers for the ingots and the small spear" Branwen took a few trips to carry the ingots and the spear, placing them by the anvil she was working on.

"Master was kind enough to just sell you the ingots at cost""Thanks! Oh and Marta said to drop by for a meal sometimes. When you do get a day off!" I paid her and started stacking the ingots in one arm and held the spear in the other.

"Be careful! You might hurt yo..." Branwen's eyes just opened wide when I stood up carrying all the items without exerting any effort.

"Thanks again! I'll treat you to a nice meal in town sometime" I said as I left, not being able to wave since my hands were full. It took me a few days to get everything ready. My original plan had involved buying iron or steel spears from town. However, considering they were not available, I modified my plan and decided to make them myself. I had bought the spear so that it could be the mold for sand casting.

Considering steel was ferromagnetic, I had created an induction forge instead of using the kiln to liquify the metal. There was plenty of sand by the river so I had scooped some out earlier to let it dry out. Branwen could at least accommodate tempering the spears to reduce the brittleness once I had them fully casted. I also had to make more copper wires to assemble the solenoid valves, my fingers not paying the price this time since my Yellow core had also made my skin tougher.

I decided to go with a trap system with three short spikes in case one of them missed. Ideally, all three would hit and the raptor should collapse shortly after. I also had to create new enchantment plates to link them all together. Instead of a pressure trigger like a conventional trap, I had decided to trigger the trap based on sensing electrical discharge that the raptor released passively. I would get a bait for the trap and there was a risk another beast would be attracted by the bait.

I did not mind losing the bait but did not want to accidentally trigger the trap on the wrong beast. It took me another two days before I could lug the spears through the forest, find a suitable spot and bury them. I had hunted a boar a day earlier and only left the hind leg out. The blood should be able to attract the Storm Runner faster, though it also risked attracting other beasts.

I had thought of using a hare, but recalling the scene I saw the other day, I was worried the Storm Runner might attack it from afar and trigger the trap too early. To increase the likelihood of my success, I had set out before dawn to activate the trap and place the bait. I hoped that if there was a boar deity somewhere, they would not hold it against me for constantly using its descendants as bait. I was wide awake from the adrenaline coursing through me even though I did not sleep the night before.

I lay in wait, holding another spear in my hand in case I needed to finish things off myself. I did not have to wait long before I spotted a giant electric bulb approaching from a few hundred meters away, slowly walking towards where my trap was placed. The Storm Runner appeared round a bend, pulled in by the smell of blood. It was ten feet away from the trap when it suddenly stopped. It lowered its head and went still, quills lifting along its spine.

It wasn't looking at the boar leg, it was looking at the dirt instead. Author Note: This is the work of Josh Shoniix. This work of fiction will only be published on Royal Road and Space Battle for free. If you're reading this on another site or paid through Google Books, this work has been stolen.