Chapter 1559 Magic Rock
--- Kamiko ---
Kamiko wanted nothing more than to drop into the snow and relax now that the taurs were gone but she knew that was a bad idea. The fight had made plenty of noise and if they could regenerate those arms or call in reinforcements she'd be in trouble. Perhaps they could still use their unnatural tracking ability to catch up to her but there wasn't anything she could do about it.
Regardless of what happened, getting away from here was for the best.
So Kamiko started moving. Her injuries were notable and she really wanted to break out her bubbles and get to fixing them… but she didn't have the energy. So Kamiko just grit her teeth and started to move. Her plan was to head towards the top of the mountain she had to be on. Where else would the snow have fallen from otherwise?
The main issue was said snow. It was piled high in most places and unlike the taurs she couldn't just glide over it. For the moment she was sort of barrelling through using the shield she'd dropped with her good arm to flatten out the space ahead of her. Kamiko did spend some time looking for snow shoes in her ring but found nothing.
"What I wouldn't give to be able to fly like Kat… maybe if I practice with my bubbles enough I can fly with them?"
Speaking of her bubbles, Kamiko decided it was time to use them. She'd been walking for a while and had nearly recovered her full reserves. Deciding it was better to be safe then sorry Kamiko blew the largest bubble she could manage with her reserves, using essentially everything to get a bubble that could just barely fit her arm inside it, and even then only by curling her fingers up.
Kamiko plunged her arm into the bubble and let out a long sigh of comfort as the pain faded. Kamiko quickly directed the bubble forward and watched as it exploded on contact with the snow, giving her a clear path for the moment. Kamiko did wish her healing was a touch better but it certainly wasn't bad. She just needed to wait for her reserves to replenish to repeat the process.
And so that was how Kamiko spent her time trudging through the snow. The shield was used to plough through the snow and save Kamiko continually jumping through it or simply pushing through awkwardly with her own body, and her bubbles took care of her injuries as she climbed.
It was a touch risky to use her energy this way but Kamiko debated the matter and decided that letting any injuries stick around and impede her fighting ability was a greater risk, especially because she could regenerate demonic energy much faster then she could recover from injuries.
As she climbed, Kamiko found it hard to keep track of time. There was just… nothing around. The hail made it impossible to see too far and all that there seemed to be was snow, snow and more snow. No boulders, trees or even a weak half dead bush. It was just snow. If this wasn't a bubble Kamiko would wonder how the environment even functioned.
As it stood, the endless sea of white really distorted things. Kamiko couldn't see the sun and it didn't seem any darker then when she first entered.
Kamiko did eventually find a landmark. Or, to be more accurate a landmark found her. Kamiko had noticed the slight indent in the snow but thought nothing of it. She simply pushed it out of the way like normal and smiled at the fact she needed to put in a bit less effort. If Hunter was here she would've likely spotted the 'trap' quickly.
As it was, Kamiko stepped forward onto the 'flat' snow and instead of falling slightly deeper into the snow and then moving on, Kamiko kept falling until she was covered all the way up to her horns. Annoyed and slightly freaking out Kamiko pushed some demonic energy into her arms and gave a might swing of her shield sending the snow flying and revealing the fact she'd fallen into a cave entrance.
"Hmmm… Do I want to go through this or keep climbing? What's more likely to get me out of this bubble? Hmm… hmm… no best stick with what I know. Trudging through snow might still be a pain but I've got no idea what could be down here and it's just not worth the risk," mumbled Kamiko as she turned her back on the cave and left it behind.
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--- Kamiko --- (Some time later)
Kamiko glared at the rock she found at the top of the mountain. The trek had felt long and tedious, her clothes had gathered enough water to be soaked only to freeze and then have the ice forming on the outside broken by her movements. Kamiko was annoyed because she had not found the exit… but she might have found a bit of the drake.
Without Meg here though it was hard to tell. That big bit of rock they found was supernaturally tough sure but it wasn't all that special looking. This one was a lovely blue metal that shone even in the lacking light. Really nothing about it screamed 'drake part' except for the fact it was sitting at the very top of the mountain in its own divot as if it had crashed landed here recently.
"Actually… it just might have. I could see this being the source of the avalanche now that I'm thinking about it. Which makes me really hate this damned thing. Though… is it a drake part? If it IS a drake part should I brake into it or not? The vibe I was getting from everyone was that only Meg could break it… or at least she was needed to tell us how to permanently break it.
So… do I take it? Leave it? Break it?" Kamiko pondered out loud.
Kamiko walked up to the rock and decided to test a few things before deciding. First, can it be picked up? Kamiko grabbed the rock. It was slightly bigger then her head and quite heavy for its size… but she was still quite capable of listing it. Kamiko tried putting it under one arm as if it was a ball and while it tugged a bit on her outfit to hold it like that, she COULD do so which was quite nice.
"Right so carrying it around is possible… with that in mind do I even want to try and break it? If I can carry it I probably should right?" asked Kamiko to the wind. "But if I can break it that means it might not be a drake part? And if it's not something I can break it's probably worth keeping anyway…"
Kamiko shrugged and put the rock down again. Just in case there was another cave or something nearby Kamiko brushed aside the snow taking care to move it aside until she got down to the really solid ice or dirt, whichever come first. To nobody surprise it was just more ice.
Taking a moment to test the ice with a decent kick, Kamiko smiled when it survived and moved the rock over to the centre to test it.
Bringing out her naginata Kamiko retracted the blades and slammed the but down into the metal ball with as much force as she could. Kamiko immediately felt her arm bounce back and nearly fell over from the rebounding force even as she created another crater in the ice. Luckily there was no loose snow around to trigger a second avalanche.
Dismissing her naginata Kamiko picked up the rock to examine it for a few moments only to be struck by an idea. "Wait! No hang on. The whole reason we had the issue of carrying it is that it can't be put into the storage rings! I'm such an idiot why didn't I just test that?!" cursed Kamiko.
Reliable test method in mind Kamiko tried to suck the metal into her ring… only to be solidly ignored. The rock simply remained in her hand and Kamiko grinned. "Ok, that might not be a definitive test but it's good enough for me. It means trudging through the endless snow and fighting off those taurs was WORTH IT!"
Kamiko cackled madly at the sky, a huge weight lifting off her shoulders. A part of her had been worried that Meg, Hunter and Bower would get on her case for somehow getting stuck in a bubble and separated from the rest of them but if she returned with a drake part? Well that just meant she was doing a better job.
When Kamiko finally calmed down she let out a long breath of air as another thought hit her. "Um… so I got the rock and that's great and all… but how do I get out of here? I assumed I could leave if I got to the top of the mountain after all…"