"I am looking for someone to make a cloak out of the wings of a demon. Zimmy said you were the only one she knew of who might be able to do it."

Raindrop says "A demon's wings? You actually killed a demon?"

"Yes, I did."

Raindrop says "Well, I can't guarantee anything since I have never worked with demon parts before. But let me take a look and I will see what I can do."

So I take out the demon's wings and hand them to her, she takes them and spends a few minutes inspecting them. I can tell just from her level of concentration as she examines them that she is a master of her craft. In most stories elves are superior craftsmen due to their longer life spans, but I find it weird to find an elf in this test.

Raindrop says "This is definitely a superior material! So, you just want a cloak?"

"Well, I normally wear armor so I thought a cloak was the only thing I would need. Do you have a better idea?"

Raindrop says "There is too much material here for just a cloak."

"Well, you are the expert, how about I just trust you to make what's best."

Raindrop says "Alright, describe the armor you are having made."

So I describe to her in detail the armor that I ordered, which is easy since I designed it in the first place. After I am done describing the armor she looks at me and thinks for a few minutes. It is a little disconcerting to have a beautiful elf staring at me but I do my best to ignore it and stand still.

Raindrop says "Alright, I have an idea of what to make for you, but it will require more materials."

"Okay, just tell me what you need and I will go get it or buy it."

Raindrop says "I can tell you right now you won't be able to buy any of it. If you can get everything I need I will be able to make a masterpiece for you."

"Sounds good. Just make me a list."

She pulls out writing materials and takes a minute to write out a list and then hands it to me. When I take a look at it I see that there are five items listed, all from monsters. Down feathers from griffins, hide from ice worms, mammoth fur, tendons from a giant fox, and the skin of a giant snake.

"Hmm, alright, give me a couple of days."

Raindrop says "Only a couple of days?"

"Yeah, it would be faster but I have a summons to see the king tomorrow."

Raindrop says "Well, whenever you can get all of them I can start working."

"Okay, I will be back once I have everything."

Once the conversation is obviously over she easily disappears into the forest. Even though I was watching her I lose track of her instantly, her skills are obviously superior to mine. On the list she included areas where I can find the monsters but first I return to town.

Since I have to go and kill them anyway I want to check the quest boards to see if any quests match what I need. Since it is still a few hours until dark I should have time to get at least one of the items today. When I enter the adventurer's guild everyone falls silent and quickly moves out of my way.

It is hard to tell if it is just fear or if it is out of respect, either way at least no one tries to slow me down. Once I reach the quest boards it doesn't take me long to find a griffin hunting quest. The quest is to kill five griffins so I take the notice up to the counter and receive a hunt crystal from Mapleleaf.

Before heading off to kill griffins I stop by the blacksmith's guild to check on my order. It isn't ready yet so I explain that I need it before noon tomorrow and pay an extra 100 gold as a rush fee. With that taken care of I leave town and head east towards the mountains where the griffins live.

The griffins as aerial predators will have a huge hunting range and it will be difficult to find enough of them. Unless I can find their nests I will have to lure them down one by one. The first griffin actually finds me as I am on the road into the mountains.

Luckily I spot it as it is diving down at me and am able to jump out of the way. Once it is on the ground all I have to do is avoid the beak and claws. Compared to other things I have fought it is actually simple to kill the griffin.

After I am done plucking all its feathers I start a fire to cook up some of the meat. A lot of the stories I have read say that griffin meat is a delicacy so I am eager to try some. As I am cooking it I realize I still didn't stop and pick up any spices, in frustration I tear a chunk out of the raw heart to eat.

*DING*

Devour Activated! Agility +10, Intelligence +5, Charisma +5!

'The agility I get, but why Int and Cha? What a weird set of stats!'

Despite the fact that I forgot to pick up any spices, the griffin meat really is delicious. After taking the rest of the meat and putting it in my backpack I resume my trek into the mountains. As I do I consider looking for someone in town who can turn the meat into jerky for me.

It would be a good idea to have some rations that will last a while if I can't return to town to restock for some reason. As tasty as the griffin meat is, it should make amazing jerky if the right spices are used. Then I reach the top of a ridge and for the first time I am able to see the extent of the mountains.

Finding griffins is going to be a lot harder than I thought, the mountains stretch as far as the eye can see. If I go wandering around in there it will take days just to find each griffin. It would be much better to somehow draw them to me, but how to do that is the question.

I sit down on the top of the ridge to think things through and try to come up with an idea. As I do I idly toss rocks down the slope, it is as I am listening to the echo bouncing around that I get an idea. Instead of continuing to follow the road I turn and start climbing towards one of the peaks.

Once I reach the highest area with enough space to fight that I can spot I turn to face the mountains. My eyes can pick out distant spots that should be griffins in flight. Taking several deep breaths I activate Lion's Rage and make it as loud as I possibly can.

The taunt range isn't very large, but I am hoping the griffins will hear it as a challenge and come to fight me anyway. It works, it works far better than I expected, as every spot I can see starts heading my way. More spots appear as they launch from perches where I didn't spot them, in total I see twenty heading for me.