He got to the base of the rock, Serin came running after him.
'Wonderful.'
Before them was a small deposit of slightly dense fluid exuding a gaseous substance flowing just underneath the first rock.
He looked around and saw some rocks a few meters away with small purple stones imbued into them.
"Serin, do you know what these are?"
"No, but why do you ask? And how are these supposed to help us?"
Kael thought for a bit before Serin would say anything else; Kael suddenly summoned Nyx right beside him.
The situation caught the girl off guard as she immediately drew her blade.
"Calm down. I wanted to wait until the fight started before showing her to you but I need her right now
I'll answer any question you have after we've won, so please help me."
Serin nodded her head in agreement.
Nyx looked at the innocent-looking elf without showing any expression, at least none Kael could notice.
"You called for me?"
"Yes, can you recognize any of the things in this area?"
Nyx looked at the places Kael pointed at and nodded in agreement.
"Yes.
The fluid over there is a fluid that comes from decayed shadow creatures; when some die, they usually liquify after a very long time. They found in most places, and the gas being released is actually their shadow essence being released over time."
'Just as I thought.'
"Wait, so why is there still essence left after so long? Does it release that slowly?"
"Yes, and some creatures possess more essence than others."
Kael pointed at the stone-imbued rock.
"What about that?"
"Those are crystal shards; they are precious stones that absorb the shadow essence over time."
A familiar grin appeared on his face.
"What is it now? Just what are you planning?"
Kael already knew half of what Nyx was saying; he could already see the essence stored in the crystal shards.
The very first thing that caught his attention was the essence the fluid was exuding in the form of steam.
He crouched to get a closer look at the substance.
Nyx, Serin, gather some moist sand—let's start baking.
Serin and Nyx looked at each other, puzzled.
"What are you talking about?"
Just gather the clay and let's get to work.
A few hours later, Nyx was staring at the large pack of hounds slowly approaching them from the top of a mountain.
She returned to where Kael and Serin were molding their "improvised explosives" at the base of the mountain.
"Nyx, how far are they?"
About a few kilometers ago, they should reach us in about an hour."
"Perfect."
"I can't believe you actually made something so crazy from such simple-looking ingredients. I've been around here a few times, but I never knew it could be used this way."
"One needs to learn to use the environment to his advantages.
Now that that's done, we should clear up a few details about our tasks."
He turned to Serin.
"Without a doubt you're the strongest amongst us, so you'll have to be in front.
I'll protect the rare."
"What about Nyx? She's obviously stronger than you."
They but turned to the masked figure leaning on a wall.
"She's very key to how this plan will work, since she's done with her task; she'll switch to the rear and I'll be in the middle."
Serin nodded in agreement.
"You've been talking about strategy, but you don't even know what my abilities are, and I don't know what yours are."
Kael knew this moment would come, and he had prepared a response since he left the hospital.
"I have an idea what yours is; your basic ability is a healing type, and your ascended ability is more of a defensive type, I assume? Mine allows me to turn abyss creatures into subordinates.
Nyx is an awakened tyrant, and her abilities include wrapping things in a thick shadow substance—it works as an armor; she can create a clone of herself; and she can teleport through shadows just like shadow hounds.
"Does that answer your question?"
The surprise was visible on the elf's face.
"Y-Yes, but you're not exactly correct about my abilities, though."
Kael folded his arms and stared at the girl.
"Oh, really now? So what are your abilities? If you would, please share them with us."
"First, my basic ability isn't exactly healing, it's improving the natural body processes; I can simply choose which one to improve.
Also, my ascended ability is a shield out of pure essence."
Nyx was the first to interrupt her.
"Isn't that mostly the same thing he said?"
The poor girl froze mid-speech, her cheeks and long ears growing pink as she stood without saying a word more.
So much that her already angelic face looked even more breathtaking than usual, Kael once again almost lost his breath.
"Anyways, let's focus on what's at hand, aside from a few extra advantages we gain from your abilities."
He moved closer to Serin, placed his hand on her shoulder, and looked straight into her radiant green eyes.
"No matter what happens, you're more important than any strategy.
If you get too weak to fight, just fall back and let me take care of the rest, okay?"
Her flushed expression changed into a sober one as she looked back into his crystal blue eyes.
"Kael? I didn't know you worry about me so much."
Before he could respond, she walked towards the mountain and leaped into the air.
Nyx walked to him.
"I only just knew you, but even I'm surprised."
"What do you mean?"
Nyx paused for a bit.
"I guess humans are indeed very strange; romantic proclamations after just knowing each other."
Kael looked at her with a surprised expression.
"Romantic? What are you even walking about?"
"The speech you said to that girl, what was that about?"
"There was nothing romantic about that; she's the strongest amongst us, but she's still not a combat specialist.
She needs to know that she's not fighting alone; we can't lose her. She also knows the people living in this realm."
Nyx paused for a bit, not showing any expression, but Kael couldn't help but feel a bit of surprise on the face behind the mask.
"I don't really remember much about people of this realm, but I'm sure that's not the way to tell the woman that."
She walked away without waiting for his response.
'What's she talking about?'
"I wanted to mention something before we begin."
"What is it?"
Kael looked at the cliff beyond the plains, further away from them.
"Someone—or more accurately, some people—are watching us."
Nyx turned around with her claws seeming tensed up.
"Are they here to attack us?"
"I doubt it; I noticed a trace of their essence since we started working on the explosives.
So they're probably observing, but we still shouldn't let our guard down."
"I'll go and tell the elf."
Kael nodded in agreement.
Nyx left, leaving him alone in the calm but chilly wind.
It blew past the rocks, producing a gentle tone to his ears.
'Now, shall we begin the show?'
He arrived at the top of the mountain, meeting only Serin since Nyx had gone to do her part of the task.
They looked over the edge and saw the hounds approaching.
"So let's straighten the facts; the reason we're fighting these hounds is to reach the civilization and claim soul stones along the way, right?"
Serin looked back at him.
"Exactly."
A few moments later, they heard explosions coming from the direction they were facing.
A wave of system messages hit his ears.
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
[You have killed a tainted tyrant.]
.......
'She must have killed about 20 of them; good job.'
He could feel the increase in strength almost immediately.
"Shall we begin?"
Once they got to the scene, a large portion of the hounds were already blown to pieces, mostly leaving only soul stones and bloody, dismembered parts.
'Who would have thought that the explosives they made from wrapping black fluid and crystal shards with hardened mud would work so well?'
The rest of the pack was still rushing at them when they suddenly changed direction and started charging from the flanks.
'Why don't we begin the main act?'