Chapter 83
Insight was wonderfully useful at letting Anton dodge the spiked roller, though he imagined he would have been completely fine without the ability. All of the attacks were extremely straightforward, which made perfect sense when rolling up into a ball and spinning were the plan. Not really a lot of aiming that can happen after the momentum starts.
Conversely, knowing exactly what the creature intended to do didnt help him all that much in attacking it. Each segment of armor spun by too quickly for even Antons eyes to properly take in. Springing himself off to the side when it rolled by and taking a shoot was much more useful, and if it got far enough away he could curve arrows around to the side. He could do that at any distance, but not fast enough to cut off its trajectory unless he had time to set up. The spiked rollers didnt have completely impenetrable defenses even discounting that all armor could be broken through with enough force. On the side, they almost matched up to a perfect circle, but there was a small ring in the middle that wasnt quite full of the interlocking plates. That was his target, and Anton found he was getting better at hitting it.
On the other side of things, the spiked roller was throwing itself at him faster and faster. It clearly took quite a bit of energy, but Anton had found himself just a bit too slow to move out of the way several times. He ended up with a cut along his ribcage and one on his arm which lowered his ability to shoot his bow.
Thus, Anton was quite glad when he sensed Catarina and Hoyt had completed their battles with the smaller creatures. Anton was fairly confident that he would win eventually, as he was being more conservative with his energy, but as the battle dragged on he was more likely to make a critical mistake while the spiked roller had little to fear from random chance.
It did, however, have quite a bit to fear from additional participants in the battle. Against just Anton it could turn around either by stopping with its armored back to him shuffling around and then rolling up into a ball once more or by simply taking a wide arc while rolling.
Anton was able to tell Hoyt where it would likely slow or stop, which forced the creature to use more energy avoiding him. However, its awareness of the world around it changing as it rolled was minimal. Several times Hoyt managed to cut it off and chop into it, sometimes denting its armor or slicing into the spikes. Dented armor weakened its perfect defenses as plates stopped overlapping, leaving more room for everyone to attack.
Catarinas contributions were mainly to be an extra body either as a target of attack or an obstacle at the end of its roll. The spiked roller was ranging too far too quickly for her to set up a formation of any practical value, but her skills with her sword were quite sufficient to contribute to the accumulation of wounds on the creature.
Hoyt! Anton pointed, firing a small dart of energy that had no real effect but to stop at a precise position. Catarina! He pointed to another position. While it would have been nice to explain what he wanted in more detail, he didnt exactly have time to say for them to go fifty meters to his northwest and thirty-five to his east with every pass of the creature.
It was still focused on Anton primarily, his source of energy being the largest still. Anton wished he had the confidence to use Golden Armor and completely stop the creature, but he honestly didnt find the technique to be very useful. Hed much rather avoid direct hits, and this creature was specialized for it. So instead he focused on the movements of the creature and how One Step Ahead and his experience told him to react.
It turned out to not matter very much. The little cave didnt go that deep, maybe fifty or a hundred meters. It was mostly straight inside as well, and at the back of the cave was a little open cavern. The entrance wasnt exactly clean, it was likely one of the creatures had accidentally scraped through the wall with one of its spikes. It was hard to tell exactly because they had clearly traversed in and out many times.
Inside there were scattered piles of junk. Though it wasnt all junk. There was the sparkle of gemstones in various states. Some were quite large and intact, while others were small and most were shattered. There were scattered bits of armor, still radiating remnants of energy. No metal, but instead straps and cloth armor along with boots. There were wrappings for the hilts of swords, wooden shafts of weapons, random slats of wood that had to have once been part of chests, and much more.
A cultivator cache, Hoyt said. Or whats left of it.
Anton nodded, That would explain how they got so large, then.
Catarina was already digging through the piles, trying to find things that werent broken. Even the pieces that had no metal on them to eat had clearly been stomped on by the creatures. Some things were pressed deep into the dirt and others had snapped under the pressure, so it took a bit of unearthing to get some things. Oh, is this a bow? She yanked something half buried in the dirt. It looks like it, right?
Anton caught the object as she tossed it to him. Looks like. It doesnt have a string, though. Anton tested its give, But maybe its not. He pulled a little harder, not wanting to break it, but it remained firm. Maybe it stiffened with age, because it certainly fits the look. Unless its just a strangely curved staff weapon. Anton swished it through the air, but that didnt feel right either. It feels like some sort of dense bone, but it would have to be from something massive.
Beyond the bow they found little of practical use. There were some things that they thought could be sold as materials, but only a black stone bracelet and a cloak made of some sort of sparkling scales appeared usable. As for what they did, it wasnt clear. None of them were appraisers or enchanted goods, and though it was tangentially related to formations Catarina had no experience in the area yet. They could try testing with their energy, but it seemed wiser to get them properly appraised somewhere.
After gathering everything that seemed to be of value, they headed back outside the cave. We should probably also take the bodies of the metal eaters, Anton said. If they consumed enchanted equipment, there should be quite a bit of value in them.
Hoyt sighed, Theyll be damn heavy though. Guess we should get started. Catarina, can you go ahead and let the caravan know? We dont want them to get worried. Then come back and help us. Though Catarina hadnt done a prime tempering of her muscles, she was still at the completion of Body Tempering. While she would be somewhat weaker than the other two, it was probably no more than twenty percent. Quite a difference in a straight battle of strength, but she would still be stronger than any two of the others with the caravan, even if the miners who had begun cultivating reached the second star and tempered their muscles for the first prime tempering. Each star didnt only temper one thing, it just focused on one, and the tenth star was a prime full body tempering that smoothed out most of the unevenness in Body Tempering choices between members of the Order. Even with Catarinas help it would take at least two trips, because the biggest creature weighed at least a literal tonne. Hopefully the wagons could support it.
