For one thing, Tier 3 bows appeared to be a very, very bad idea. The reason for that was the difficulty in drawing them. It turned out, only Joshu and Xia could draw Joshu's Tier 3 bow. None of their students and neither of the other hunters could properly draw it to its full length. Most of them couldn't even manage to pull it halfway.

"So… crossbows?" Remian eyed the weapons used by the other two hunters.

They were twins, both girls, and both tanned brown like Xia. Neither of them were older than Mandy. Unlike Mandy, they had the advantage of living parents in town. It turned out, their father was the innkeeper of the Open Frontier Inn…

The hunter twins Candice and Denise used different kinds of crossbows. Candice used a heavier arbalest designed for power. Denise preferred a light crossbow that was quicker to aim, reload and fire. Denise's dream weapon was the mechanical repeating crossbow famous in the Dragon Empire. Candice, on the other hand, called dibs on the Ballista once it was built in the Guard Tower.

Remian was entirely willing to let her handle it. Maybe Denise would be willing to settle for the Scorpion during Beast Waves? Perhaps there was a way to modify it into a Repeating Scorpion…

He didn't understand why Joshu thought the two were troublesome. Certainly, they took their time was.h.i.+ng up in the mornings, but they didn't seem very problematic. They were friendly, if a bit shy, and they had nice smiles…

Maybe Mandy could understand it. She always seemed to get a bit defensive whenever one of them came near him. She, at least, seemed to think Joshu was right about them being troublesome.

Anyway. Crossbows seemed logical. They were easy to use; crank, load, aim, and fire. But they were going to be costly. Tier 3 versions were likely high quality steel constructs; rather than the materials, it was the skill needed for the workmans.h.i.+p that would burn a hole in Remian's pocket. All told, the biggest problem would be paying for them and for Tier 3 crossbow bolts.

Until recently, that cost would have been more than Remian was willing to bear. But now…

"If we can find that mana lode, we might just be able to afford it, and then some." Remian had to admit, he was counting on it very heavily. Even if it was of low quality yellow mana crystals, even if there were only a surface layer barely enough to supply a thousand crystals… that could easily mean 100,000 Lir. But to be honest, Remian's expectations were higher. Much, much higher. The map mentioned a detection radius of several dozen meters, with six cave openings marked as potential entrances to a mine. They still weren't entirely sure where it was, or whether it really was a mana crystal lode, but the detection instruments indicated that there was a high chance of a good deposit.

Whatever the case, having crystals to sell and coin to spend meant a lot. Finding that mana lode was Joshu's new priority mission. Remian hoped to hear good news from him by the time they got back.

But alas, when they did get back, the news was not good.

"We couldn't get to that hill." Joshu tapped on the map. "This entire area here is Rage Boar territory. Over on this side is a weird foggy poisonous bog. Here, there's a lake full of crocodiles, and over here, there's this big Tier 5 Screaming Mammoth. There's simply no safe way to reach it."

"There is one." Remian said. "But we'd need an airs.h.i.+p. The air balloon we have right now isn't big enough. It's fine for hanging small cargoes underneath, but we need to send people in there."

"If it's just a single scout, maybe I can just hang on to it and float over the boars…" Joshu suggested.

"You would need Mindy there to direct the winds and raise or lower the balloon. That means s.p.a.ce for at least two people, and Mindy would need both hands free. The balloon would need to be at least four times its current size. Ten times would be better." Remian grunted. "No, we're going to have to do this the violent way."

"You're going to fight through the Wilds?" Joshu asked doubtfully.

"If we have to. But I think if we brought in a pack of wolfcats, the boars might stay away without causing any fuss."

"Or they might charge right at us." Joshu predicted gloomily.

***

The next day, Joshu wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

The biggest Rage Boar they'd ever seen took one whiff of them and immediately charged headlong at Joshu with its head lowered and its tusks ready.

"Run!!" Remian dodged one way, Joshu dodged the other, as the leader of the Rage Boars stampeded right through where they'd stood a moment ago. It was a hulking Tier 4 beast, the chief of its own kind, and it brooked neither nonsense nor intruders of any sort.

Around them, pandemonium erupted. The rest of the Rage Boars charged; Carrie and the pack of wolfcats following her scattered and surrounded the boars. The field turned into a ma.s.sive melee where wolfcats and boars turned tusk and fang on each other.

[Now we hunt for real!] Carrie bared her fangs with a low growl. [Get out of the way, humans!]

"C-Carrie?!" Joshu spluttered.

"Humans, with me!" Remian yelled. "We have to get out of here! NOW!"

The wolfcats lunged. Carrie feinted a direct bite against the lead Rage Boar; it turned and began a new charge at her. The moment it did, she leapt out of the way, and from behind it, two other wolfcats pounced, teeth closing in on the muscles of its back legs. Hamstrung, the boar stumbled as all around it the maneuver was repeated on three of its fellows.

Tier for Tier, matching a Tier 4 leader for a Tier 4 leader, Tier 3 adults against Tier 3 adults and so forth, the Boars were actually stronger, being more numerous, but these were their natural predators. Their tactics and instincts were completely in a different league. As Carrie said; they weren't their match in battle. They were merely their prey in the hunt.

Nevertheless it was dangerous, especially for five clueless humans trying to get clear of the whole mess. Unable to make sense of what the wolfcats were about to do, unable to predict safe paths to Remian, Joshu, Xia, Candice and Denise all scattered in different directions in spite of their best efforts to reach him.

"Never mind!" Remian gave up. "Just… stay safe and search! We'll meet back at the hall!"

They knew the plan. They had copies of the map, and the possible entrances. They knew what to do. Remian left them to it and went to huddle with his back to a large tree. He wasn't much of a prospector or a scout, himself. His role here was mainly as a communicator with the wolfcats; their job was to get the scouts through. Having sort-of accomplished that, Remian basically just had to keep his own skin safe and keep out of the way.

Carrie and the wolfcats seemed to have things well in hand, anyway. The biggest five Rage Boars were separated from the rest of the herd; the other boars had run off in a mad stampede towards who-knows-where, abandoning their wounded to the hunting pack. Remian suspected that if they really wanted, the wolfcats could have wiped out the entire herd, but instead, they only took as much as they could eat in a week. None of them seemed to even consider bringing back more to sell or trade…

Remian wasn't about to complain. Somebody was going to have to drag those carca.s.ses back, and somebody was going to have to skin, clean and cook them. That was the deal they made with the pack; cooked meat and shelter for guards and a.s.sistance. You serve us, and we'll serve you.

Or at least, they'd serve Carrie. Carrie herself settled down near Remian as the last of the 'fighting' dwindled. Remian actually felt a bit bad for the boars thras.h.i.+ng on the ground trying to avoid that last kill-strike, but this was nature, and they did what they had to do for the sakes of their people.

It took roughly half an hour before the last boar laid still. Carrie barked instructions; the wolfcats began to drag their prey back to their new 'den', as far away as it might be. They had to work together, three or four to a boar, and Carrie herself was of a mind to escort and a.s.sist them when necessary.

"Can they manage without you?" Remian asked. "I was hoping you and I could snoop around the hillside a bit, see if we could find something."

Carrie hesitated, then nodded and sent the pack ahead. [We will catch up on the way.]

That was less time than he'd hoped, but Remian felt it was reasonable; Carrie wouldn't just leave all the work to the pack and run off on her own. That just wasn't her style. He would have to go with her, of course; he didn't fancy his chances of survival out here on his own, nor that of being able to walk back on foot.

[Which way?] Carrie asked, taking Remian up onto her back with the whisk of her long tail.

Remian lay low, hugging her neck and considered. "Straight ahead and a bit to the left. Up the hill."

[Up? Not down…?] Carrie was slightly puzzled. She, too, had seen the map. All the possible entrances marked were on different sides at or near the bottom of the hill.

"Up." Remian nodded. "I want to get a good look at the area, and I have this odd feeling."

[An odd feeling like you want to throw up, or an odd feeling like you can sense mana?]

"Both, actually." Remian admitted. "At least I'm hoping I can sense mana. Mages are supposed to be able to do that sort of thing, right?"

[Right.]

He really did feel something, maybe. It was faint, and unclear… and the churning of his stomach at the sight of the blood and gore of the hunt was definitely interfering… but it just might be the mana lode.