Rise of the Devourer

Book 3: Chapter 35 — Wyvern Cliffs Pt. 5

The forest thinned around the group as they drew closer and closer to the giant wyvern cliffs. The structure started to dominate the landscape, the creatures around these parts becoming more and more draconic. Noah did not understand what the connection was between wyverns and dragons and this entire location, but it was certainly evident in the flora and fauna. They’d found a plant that shot fire sacks at you. A goddamn plant.

Noah had picked up some of the sacs and put them in his inventory. It seemed like the kind of thing Zax would have fun tinkering with. Perhaps he could tell the dragon what a molotov was.

Noah heard a high pitched call from above, and looked up to see some birds circling up above. He paused, squinting, as he took a better look with his enhanced vision. No… not birds.

“Are those wyverns?” He asked, surprised. From this distance they looked no larger than a small bird. They had to be flying really high above.

“Stay down, they can see you even from that high up,” Vion said, looking up at the sky as well, as she gestured for the group to walk through a different section of the forest, better hidden by the foliage.

Noah continued to walk, taking occasional glances up at the sky. More and more wyverns continued to fly around, the area soon teeming with them. He had to wonder just how this forest could sustain so many giant creatures like that? A wyvern had to eat a significant amount, surely, and the forest would only have so many creatures.

He decided to ask Vion, who had become more or less their guide through this forest. For a princess who supposedly didn’t get to go out a lot, she certainly knew a lot on the topic.

“Well, it’s simple. They can’t live off of this forest alone, this place is barely enough for a hundred wyverns, much less thousands.”

“Then… how does not one, but two hives exist?” Noah asked.

“I’d been wondering that too. No matter where you go, typically higher rank creatures and predators were fewer in numbers. Stronger monsters can survive for long periods of time without any food, but their mana is primarily divested in modifying their bodies, and as such, a certain amount of food and mana becomes required for them to survive. Same reason why a human ascendant can hang out in low rank areas without much issues, but a monster cannot,” Aurelia said.

“The answer is both simple and not. The wyverns here are maybe around a third of the wyverns, and they’re almost all females. They’re here, because they’re feeding their spawn and brood. They go out much farther away to gather food for themselves. All male juveniles are kicked out of the hive after breeding season, and often they just eat the weaker males to sustain themselves,” Vion said, pausing as a wyvern passed from above, flying surprisingly close by.

When the threat cleared, she continued. “This is also why the adult wyverns do not mind if you kill the juveniles. Almost all of them are males who are just a burden on the hive. I know a lot of wyverns often intentionally do not touch traps set by hunters, as it’s mostly the juveniles who fall for those, out of desperation and hunger,” Vion said.

“Wow… that’s… yikes. Talk about having it rough,” Noah said.

Aurelia nodded. “That… is quite harsh. Though I know it is not just wyverns that do something like this.”

“Nature can be quite brutal. Which is why, if we had to hunt a male wyvern, even an adult, we’d likely be done by now,” Vion said.

“The females are stronger?” Noah asked.

“Yes. But that’s not the main problem. It’s the fact that if you hurt or kill one, the entire hive will hunt you. Female adults are the leaders, and are the ones who look after all the children and raise them. The juvenile females go out to bring food, the adult females tend to the spawn in their rest alongside the elder wyvern, who both guards the entire hive and enforces order. Which is why this entire thing is such a pain. We need to kill a wyvern, which is the easy part, and then we need to somehow get out without being turned into wyvern food,” Vion said.

Noah hummed to himself thoughtfully. It looked like this task was not as simple as he’d initially expected. In his mind, he’d simply prepared himself to fight against a wyvern, till he won eventually. But perhaps a bit more tact would be required this time.

“You know quite a lot about wyverns, don’t you Vion?” Aurelia asked.

The woman paused, freezing in her tracks for the barest of moments, before she continued. Neither Noah nor Aurelia missed the reaction.

“A bit, I guess. I didn’t have a lot to do but read, which is why.”

“That’s impressive. You sound like you’re an expert and have a lot of experience handling wyverns.”

Vion didn’t reply.

“We should come up with a plan, on how exactly we’re going to get an adult wyvern. I’d prefer to keep the cause chaos and incite a hive war as our last resort if possible,” Aurelia said, not prodding the woman any further.

“Yes. So, I’ve been thinking about this. We’re likely going to be here for some time, and that means we’ll likely want some place where we can wind down, rest, recover, without having to worry about wyverns breathing down our necks all the time. And what I thought was that we could use an abandoned chamber. Wyvern hives have a lot of abandoned paths, and sometimes tunnels and such collapse, and the wyverns just leave the areas, as it’s not worth digging them out again. Older tunnels, especially at the bottom of the hive are often like this, as wyverns prefer to stay up top, and only the juveniles are forced down. It’s where I’ve been trying to lead us towards,” Vion said.

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“That sounds good. We could start by getting a safe place, and then we could try to slowly scout out the hive and find where the wyvern adults are, and then work out a plan to lure them out,” Aurelia said.

“So, here’s what I’m thinking right. Zax has sent us here, because we need to train. And, why specifically the heart of an adult wyvern? Like, I’m sure we can setup a trap and do it, probably. But how does it help out in our real goal, which is getting stronger?”

“Fighting an adult wyvern is not an easy task, and. The levels would be significant. Even if we all fought it together. But Noah is right. I feel like we’re missing something,” Aurelia said.

“In the first place, it’s not that easy to lure an adult wyvern out. They don’t typically come out, our bait will just invite a bunch of juveniles. And if we cause enough of a stir, the hive will get alerted to our presence and we’ll be as good as dead meat,” Vion said.

“Is there something specific about a wyvern’s heart perhaps? Like, maybe it can be used to create something that helps us?” Aurelia asked.

“Given that he gave up a hundred days to get it, and intentionally mentioned we would not be under his surveillance or protection… I don’t think so. I think the intention is simple. We need to train and fight our way through,” Noah said.

“That’s suicide,” Aurelia replied.

Vion simply frowned, thinking about something. “It is suicide. But… no no way. There’s no way it’s that.”

“What?” Aurelia asked, looking at Vion.

The dragon woman looked at the party members present. “Noah… you have wyrmblood, don’t you?” Vion asked.

Noah nodded. “Of course, you saw them for yourself.”

“And you, Aurelia. You have your armor and have been in the presence of a dragon for a while now,” Vion said.

“I still don’t see what that has to do with us committing suicide via wyvern teeth, but yes, I do,” Aurelia said.

“Well, as… incomplete as I may be, I am still a part-dragon. A true-dragon, and not a draconian. And, if there’s one thing wyverns heed to, it is dragons. And… okay, so this is just a maybe, but the hive has a matriarch, or queen if you will, obviously. But she alone doesn’t lead all the groups, obviously. There are smaller tribes, and many other sub groups, which have their own leaders. And it is a position that younger wyverns do contest and fight for. If they lose, they are kicked or, if they don’t just die in battle. But if they win, typically by killing the older head, they then lead that particular group.”

“Wait… you think he wants us to… take over the hive?” Aurelia said, eyes wide.

Vion shook her head. “No, we could never. Not even a smaller tribe would tolerate us for long. But there have been cases when outsiders, including some people who have managed to become a part of a hive with this method. There’s a chance that we could become a part of the hive, if we kill an adult wyvern. Of course, this will mean not dying immediately as the wyverns try to kill us, and we’ll need to be strong enough to take on an adult wyvern individually for all of us… but… there is a chance.”

The three of them simply stood there for a long moment, taking that thought in.

“Let’s just get into the hive first, and then we can think further,” Vion said, heading ahead.

Noah and Aurelia looked at each other, before following behind the woman.

***

The suns hovered near the top of the mountains, as the group finally found what they had been looking for.

“There, there it is,” Vion said, and then whispered something so quietly even Noah’s enhanced hearing could barely make it out.

“I knew I’d remembered the way.”

He didn’t comment on it, but something was clearly going on here. The group walked into what looked like a cave mouth built into the ground, covered with vines and moss, and reminded Noah an awful lot of the cultist hideout he and Aurelia had first met.

That was not a pleasant thought to think about.

He tried not to let it linger, as he walked inside, feeling a powerful wave of mana hit him in the face.

You’re in a high mana concentration zone.

Mana regeneration increased by 100%

Arcane Body reacts to the mana in the environment.

Your attributes are all temporarily increased by 10%

“Whoa, what was that,” Noah said, looking at his notification, as he felt a burst of power starting to fill him, like the mana was seeping into his body on its own.

“Mana zone. They exist. People start wars over them. Big and deep dungeons are often like this, deeper in,” Vion said, continuing to walk with steady steps through the twisting pathways, as she led them deeper into the ground.

“I… kinda get why. I feel like I just drank two bottles of energy drink. My entire body is literally buzzing,” Noah said, seeing the arcane sigils on him faintly glowing with mana, as if sucking it all in greedily.

“Stay quiet, we’re near the main entrance,” Vion said in a whisper, a serious expression on her face.

Noah noticed light seeping in from further ahead, and he followed, keeping his aura hidden and his steps silent. As the group walked through the entrance, they arrived in a giant well lit cavern. What Noah saw here, made his jaw drop open in awe.

A massive area stood in front of him, covered in vegetation, moss and plants of all sorts, with massive stalactites and boulders jutting around the area, giving the place the feel that it was meant for giants, and they were merely ants in this location. Each surface inside seemed to be covered to the brim with wyverns.

Noah saw a bunch with fiery red stripes, others that were large and had a rocky exterior. Some with four wings instead of two and others with sleek thin bodies as they clung onto the walls, or sat on one of the ledges, or flew around in the central area, moving from one chamber to another. Beams of sunlight peered from the gaps above, lightning the place, making it looking ethereal.

It was like they’d just entered a brand new world. But more than anything, it was the numbers.

Though Noah had grown quite strong over the time, he could feel it here, the combined presence of hundreds… no, thousands of wyverns permeating the air.

And underneath it all, a powerful aura that permeated the entire hive, one that seemed to rival Zax in power.

He paused his inspection as a particularly large wyvern swooped by, landing nearby as it crushed a juvenile that had been acting up under its giant claws and feet, before licking the blood off. Noah didn’t even dare breathe, much less use Identify.

He simply stared.

Fuck me. And we have to kill one of these, here?!

He felt a lot less confident about his chances now.

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