93 Chapter 93 - Lions, Tigers, Bears, and Naked People (1/2)
Gren managed to kill a deer but he wasn't happy since Shenzi and Ahk accidentally killed the previous ones that they found.They still gave a couple thousand points but that left him just six hundred points shy of getting the last research point that he needed to research the Simple Mechanics project.”I just need to kill one more large animal.Do either you have any clues as to where they might be?”Gren didn't know how to track but hoped that there was something nearby.
”I'm not familiar with the animals that made any of these other tracks so I can't tell you how old they are.The deer ones are probably from the one you just killed.”Shenzi was out of her league.
”Big animal track here.We go that way.”Ahk was slowly improving her speech and it seemed like she found something.”Mother with young.Careful.Dangerous.”
Gren and Shenzi followed Ahk through the forest.”Is it just me or do these marks look a lot like the ones that Annie spotted the other day?”After Shenzi mentioned it, Gren noticed the large scratches on the trees.”What did she say they could be?”
”She didn't say anything about what it could be.Just that they were made by a large monster.”Gren just thought of something terrible.”Wait, if the animal is considered large by Ahk's standards...”Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud roar that came from in front of them.
Ahk prepared her shield which made it difficult for Gren to see what it was but he knew that it was coming since the ground was shaking.Gren dodged to the side and watched as Ahk was launched back.The culprit was a large lizard-like beast with wings on its back.”Isn't that a dragon!?”Shenzi yelled out what Gren was thinking.
Gren realized that he was out of his league but set up his ballista and fired while the dragon was distracted with Shenzi's yell, aiming for the dragon's neck.The bolt failed to pierce its scales but caused it to get knocked back.Gren only had one more loaded ballista since he forgot to have Ahk reload the previous one that he used against the boar.”The scales are too tough, try to find a weakness in its defenses.”
Gren enraged the dragon and caused it to charge at him.Gren threw his spear at it and rolled out of the way, narrowly dodging its bite.The spear just bounced off the dragon's snout, doing zero damage.Shenzi tried to stab it in the side but the dragon used its wings to block her weapons.Its attention was mostly on Gren but it didn't allow Shenzi to take it by surprise.
Ahk was just getting up and Shenzi was far away from the dragon so Gren launched a few explosive fireballs at it, hoping to do some damage.Other than some scorch marks, the scales were unharmed.”This thing is too tough!”Nothing was working against it and Gren was wondering if it could block even Ahk's hits?
Gren used the earth magic to lift himself up way up high as the dragon charged towards him once again.If he couldn't pierce the scales then he'd try to crush them.Besides the statue of his mother, the heaviest object in his pocket dimension was the Rat Trap XL.It was two tons of iron that came crashing down on top of the dragon's back.
The dragon roared in pain and its thrashing caused one of its wings to get caught in the trap, pinning it in place.Every time the dragon tried to move, the trap would drag against the ground.Gren landed on the ground and rolled but still took quite a bit of damage.After healing his broken leg, he watched on as Ahk used her shield to protect against the dragon's claws and tried to hack at its front left leg but couldn't connect with it.
”When I distract it, try to take out its limb!”Gren had one last ballista to fire and decided that this was the best time to use it.He needed to move to a place where the bolt wouldn't hit Ahk if it missed.”Shenzi, get behind Ahk!”The dragon's right side was the best place to strike since it would get its attention away from Ahk's position.”Get ready!”Ahk placed her shield down and gripped her axe with both hands.
Gren launched the ballista bolt and threw some flames towards the dragon's eyes.Ahk took advantage of Gren's distraction and brought her axe down upon its scaly arm.The tip of the axe dug in before the rest of the blade shattered against its tough scales.It had already received damage from previous battles and that was the axe's final straw.
Ahk jumped back as the dragon's front leg swiped back towards her.She was still hit but the thick iron on her forearms and the backwards momentum prevented her arms from breaking.With some distance gained, Ahk was safe from the dragon again.However, it was only a matter of time before the dragon would be able to free its wing from the trap.