Hera took a bite of her protein bar. Just watching the pangolins was really dull. They weren't fighting or doing anything aside from walking around and collecting rocks. The behavior reminded Hera of penguins, who collected rocks to make their nests. Even when one of them would steal the stones from another pangolin, they would only snarl and growl at each other, but it didn't lead to any fights.

"Maybe I should fight one of them. At least to figure out what kind of skill they can use. Although... it seems a bit mean just to attack them."

Looking at one of the rock piles, Hera decided to check why those specific stones were so attractive to the pangolins. They didn’t seem to be any different from rubble. She waited for the monster to leave, looking for a new rock before heading to the pile. Inspecting the stones, Hera realized why the beasts picked those specific pieces of rubble. Each of them had a small gemstone embedded inside. In this group, there were only blue, red, and green gems. The same colors that the Prism Pangolin that was gathering them had on its scales.

"Maybe this is their food or something," Hera mumbled before activating her [Inspect] in one of the green gems. After seeing the result, she used her Affinity Sight spell to see if it would help.

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Mana Residue Stone (Nature Affinity)

A piece of rock present in mana rich environments. The exposure to magic created a small deposit of elemental mana inside it. The mana can be used as nourishment for creatures or to power spells. However, the process will consume the stone.

Mana points: 15

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"Wow, this is barely any mana. It would take a lot of those even to cast a spell. Maybe that's why they need a lot. And it's not like they have other choices. Not all animals eat their kind. But this rock, I wonder if all the rocks give the same amount of mana, or if they have a weird element."

Among the rocks, she found more nature, fire and water affinities, and they all had slight variations in the amount of mana they had. While Hera was analyzing the rest of the pile, the pangolin returned and started growling at her.

"Wow, calm there, buddy. I didn't take any. They are all here," Hera stepped away from the pile, but the monster kept snarling at her.

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Prism Pangolin (Fire - Nature Affinity)

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The beast charged at her. Its scales glowed brighter as small embers raised from its body. Hera jumped to the side, avoiding the pangolin's charge. The monster stopped after passing through her. It turned to the side and spun its tail. Large green thorns were appearing on it, forming a mace. Hera raised her handaxe, trying to block the attack.

It was better than getting hit head-on, but the thorns still managed to go through her defense, stabbing her arm. Yet the impact was much weaker than what she expected. She pictured that a creature like that would be stronger, but the panther she faced the previous day was much more powerful. One lunge was enough to push her half a meter back, yet this attack barely disturbed her footing.

Her armor blocked some of the damage, but she felt something warm covering her arm. She looked at the wound and noticed a small stream of blood running through her arm. The pangolin attempted to headbutt her as the explorer was distracted, but Hera spun around, avoiding the tackle.

"Look, this is your last chance. Your stones are all there. Stop this, and we both go our separate ways," Hera was staring down the pangolin.

The monster rushed towards her once more, the thorns on its tail growing even larger. Hera gritted her teeth and sidestepped, grabbing the base of the pangolin's tail. She pulled it back with all her might, making the monster fall ass first in the ground. Taking advantage of the sitting position the creature was in, Hera swung her handaxe straight in the creature's neck. The attack wasn't enough to decapitate the pangolin, but she felt the spine breaking with her blade. The only thing that survived the impact was the armored back of the creature.

"Sorry," Hera said while looking at the monster.

She took one of its scales. They were gorgeous, and it felt wrong to leave the body there. Using her [Inspect], she realized that she might need more than just one scale.

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Prism Scale (Fire Affinity)

The scale of a Prism Pangolin, it works as a storage for the elemental mana accumulated by the creature.

It can be used to strengthen spells of the matching element.

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"Helena is going to love those. Especially if I can get one with double affinity," Hera made sure to get one scale of each color from the pangolin she had just killed.

As she turned around, she saw several other pangolins scavenging the pile of stones that belonged to the one she just killed. She still wanted to look at all the types of mana residue stone that the creature had gathered, but fighting a dozen scavengers wasn't on top of her list. It was better to look for another pile.

She moved away from the mayhem that had ensued and started looking for another unattended pile of stones. However, a loud growl caught her attention. The kaleidoscope pangolin had joined the brawl. With a single roar, all the other creatures stopped grabbing the stones. They were still hovering around and howling at the big one, but it didn't seem to mind. Hera took the opportunity to use her [Observe].

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Carbuncle - Prism Pangolin (Elemental Affinity)

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"Ok, now you are just being weird. What the hell is elemental affinity? All elements?" Hera said to herself.

Still, Carbuncle was a name that was she believed she had heard before. She just wasn't sure when or where. Hera kept watching the creature move. It was clearly the tyrant ruler of the plateau. All other monsters made sure to be far away from it, but at the same time had no qualms about showing their objection to its rule.

Hera watched the Carbuncle go through the pile of stones, but it left holding only two rocks.

"Why those two? What's so special about them?" Hera kept staring at the Carbuncle. She wanted to see the pile of stones it was making.

She followed from a distance. Luckily, as long as she didn't bother the other pangolins, they didn't seem to mind her. As she went deeper into the plateau, she noticed that the creatures had even more complex patterns on their scales. There was one that even had a flower design inside each scale that looked like it was hand drawn by an artist. Hera changed her focus back to the Carbuncle. It was still walking to the other side of the area, towards a pile of rubble about twice its size.

"Holy crap, is that its pile?" Hera saw a few glimmers in the middle of the rubble. The creature placed the stones on the stack and started to move the rocks.

One of the stones in the top fell and hit an invisible wall behind the rubble before rolling away from the pile, stopping a few meters behind the Carbuncle. The creature seemed too interested in whatever it was looking for to notice the stone that had fallen. Hera activated her [Hide] and walked towards it. There had to be something special about those rocks.

She took a while to get to the stone. Every step was taken very carefully, not to make any noise. She had seen that the pangolins had sharp hearings and would confront anyone trying to sneak close to their hoard. Reaching the rock, she crouched and picked it up, moving one foot back to start getting away. At that moment, a pair of pangolins began growling at each other in the distance. By the sound, it was a couple of the larger ones, not as big as the Carbuncle, but big enough to be compared to a pony.

Hera snapped back towards the Carbuncle, worried that it might have seen her in her moment of distraction. The creature was still gleefully messing with its stones. The explorer went away from the pile of rubble and hid behind one of the large rocks in the plateau. She wanted to know why that specific rock was so interesting.

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Mana Residue Stone (Light - Shadow Affinity)

A piece of rock present in mana rich environments. The exposure to magic created a small deposit of elemental mana inside it. The mana can be used as nourishment for creatures or to power spells. However, the process will consume the stone.

Mana points: 45

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"Wasn't this supposed to be impossible? Light and shadow were opposed, right? Maybe I'm confusing things. Helena wanted to be a light-shadow mage. So that should have been possible," Hera looked back at the Carbuncle, “Do all stones there have dual affinities?"

"If I want to check, I need to knock out the Carbuncle, at least. I doubt it will be very keen on letting me rummage through its stuff. I'm also not sure if I should kill it. Helena might want to come here later," Hera looked to the sky, the clouds forming various shapes just like they did outside the MAZE, "If I weren't surrounded by monsters, this would be a great place for a picnic."

Hera looked at the Carbuncle one more time. She had an idea on how to neutralize it for a while, but it was a really bad idea. She tapped on Yarnball, "You never let me down, don't start now, please."

Hera grabbed her chakram and walked towards the monster, "Hey!"

The Carbuncle turned with an angry expression and saw a human holding one of its stones. Hera saw the monster's face distorting, its eyes turned red, large veins started to pulsate, and even the teeth grew sharper as the creature rushed towards her.

Hera jumped to the side, avoiding the initial attack, "Ok, maybe the stone was a bit much," she threw the chakram, already tied up on Yarnball, towards the monster's legs. She had to pretend that this was a rodeo of sorts.

The Carbuncle jumped, moving away from the string and the blade. Unlike what Hera had seen, the creature was very agile. It had never moved like that while roaming the area. Then again, it didn't have to. No one was brave or stupid enough to challenge it. Not until Hera showed up.

The monster opened its mouth, and a stream of fire and lightning came rushing towards the explorer. She ran to the side, staying a few centimeters ahead of the flames. Seeing a large rock on the path, Hera jumped behind it to wait out the attack. It took some time, but the Carbuncle finally ran out of breath.

Hera took that chance and came out of her hiding spot, sending a fire arrow towards it. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that the spell would barely do some damage, if any, but it would be a good distraction. She went for the sideswipe once more as the arrow hit the creature's head. This time, it caught its right leg. Hera pulled back the string to avoid wrapping it around the beast. The last thing she needed was to get her chakram stuck.

The Carbuncle rushed at her once more. Large bony protrusions appeared around its carapace. Hera rushed to the side, but she wasn't fast enough. The bones hit the back of her shoulder, creating a large gash on her back. She turned around and hit the monster's tail with her handaxe, but its scales were too strong for the blade.

Grabbing her chakram, Hera tossed it towards the legs of the beast one more time, pulling the string as the monster skidded to the side, trying to stop its momentum. The weapon wrapped around the creature as the chakram dug deep into its thighs. The Carbuncle tried to move as Hera felt as if someone was pulling her hair. The strength of the string was connected to her, and for the first time, she was feeling the strain. The creature tried to jump towards Hera, but one tug was enough to make it lose balance and fall sideways to the ground.

Hera rushed towards it and hit the side of its head using the blunt part of her handaxe. The Carbuncle snarled while its front claw scratched Hera's leg. She jumped over it and started hitting its head repeatedly. After a few moments, the creature stopped moving. Hera checked if it had any response when she poked it and quickly wrapped more of the thread on its arms, making sure it wouldn't be able to move easily. Feeling a bit safer about the creature, Hera turned her attention to the pile of rubble.

"What am I going to find here?"