Despite the menacing appearance of the Stone Balls surrounding them, no one in the group was especially worried. There was a reason that the Quarry was known for being tedious and troublesome, not lethal, despite its fourth level danger zone designation. The fourth level designation was because the Stone Balls currently encircling Toz and the cats were indeed fourth level beasts. Pretty stupid and useless beasts, but fourth level nonetheless.
The Quarry was known for being a troublesome place to earn money from because it happened very easily that the tap collection went wrong, and the entire tree would petrify itself, limiting the amount of tree sap an explorer could collect in one go. But the most annoying thing to deal with when entering the Quarry was the Stone Balls.
The Stone Balls had gotten their name because of how simple they were. Not only in skill and physical appearance but also because of their intelligence. The Stone Balls were practically moving balls of stone. They couldn't use magic or any other special abilities aside from their camouflage. They were only decently fast when rolling, but doing that, limited their means of attack. But when they ran using their six legs, they were slow and easy to avoid.
In exchange for all that, the Stone Balls were ridiculously sturdy, and their attacks were simple yet frightening as one of their legs shattering was enough to almost crack open one of their compatriots. One such strike backed by the full weight of a charging Stone Ball could even come close to felling one of the stone trees.
Although they were easily avoided since they were pretty slow, the Quarry wasn't tedious to earn money from just because of their existence. It was because they were worth a lot. The Quarry was a place annoying to get a value out of because a lot of the value was contained in balls of stone, up to a person's waist in height, that were nearly indestructible. While the sap gathered from the trees was still worth a decent amount, if an explorer really wanted to make their journey worthwhile, they would have to defeat the Stone Balls.
The only recorded place that Stone Balls had ever appeared was in the Quarry, most likely because it was the only recorded place with the Stone Trees that made up their menu. The Stone Balls ate the bark that the trees shed when they molt and grow larger. Since the bark is made from the same stuff as the sap, and the Stone Balls eat the bark, eventually, the Stone Balls begin containing a substance similar to the sap harvested from the trees but a lot more concentrated and stable.
The liquid that the Stone Balls have is called Stone Blood and is a large reason why Sleepless Brights has such dark and light-absorbing surfaces since it can be turned into paint and used to cover the surfaces of the buildings in the city. The tree sap can be used similarly, but after a more strenuous process and the product it becomes isn't as efficient as the one made of Stone Blood.
Since the tree sap also turns into stone at first contact with light, it's a lot harder to work with as well, unlike the Stone Blood, which only slightly thickens when exposed to direct light.
But since the light-absorbing coat can only last so long until it stops working, both materials are greatly sought after in Sleepless Brights.
When Toz had finished filling up his coat with containers of blood, he was even prepared to return another day in the hopes of encountering enough Stone Balls to take a great step closer to their goal of gathering eight thousand gold.
The Stone Balls tightened their encirclement and prepared to rush at Toz and the cats as Toz pulled out his sword. The cats, perched on Toz's head and shoulders, prepared their magic. Mindle conjured a swarm of fireballs in the air around them that she began charging with mana.
Lucy, although their surroundings were covered in light, used what small shadows he could find to strengthen his magic and bind the legs of the Stone Balls. Since the Stone Balls weren't conscious the way other wild beasts were, the psychological torture and scare tactics he had used on the Scorched Earth Rat King and a tiny bit on Hugh wouldn't work.
Nil had just spent a lot of his mana on making containers, and since he was more specialized in setting up traps he started making preparations with what mana he had left. He didn't have enough mana to set up a trap that could be used effectively against the Stone Balls. Not even pitfalls would work since they could just climb up. The Stone Balls were earth attribute beasts, after all, despite not being able to use magic, they are good at traveling on the ground, and with their powerful legs, they could crawl straight up.
However, instead of focusing on the direct combat against the Stone Balls, Nil trusted that the other three would be able to handle their foes, and he started crafting a club. His mana didn't allow for a lot of leeway in design, so he made it simple. A ramrod straight unadorned handle that ended in a slightly uneven lump of metal. The club looked very crude, but since it would go up against the shell of the infamously hard-to-destroy Stone Balls, its durability was of greater import.
While Nil focused on making the club, perched on Toz's shoulder, the other three started their attack against the Stone Balls. While Toz wanted to be careful and not distract Nil too much, with the amount of Stone Balls swarming them, Toz had to be careful not to get struck by the stone legs wildly crashing down into the ground where he was just standing.
If Toz tried standing on top of a rock that wasn't a Stone Ball in disguise the Stone Balls would smash it to pieces forcing him to move again, and dodge the incoming strikes. And if it was a Stone Ball he stood on, it would flip upside down to get him off, and then turn its legs around to match.
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