The White Hare

Training A Hare

The next day Jack and Nyxia are following the buck's new instructor Alhrana Sylphchaser. They move away from both Hellhound and Goblin territory and move deeper into the forest into Elf controlled turf. The snow here seems less dense and the trees are much larger around here. Even someone who can't sense mana like Jack can feel it in the air. The number of creatures here is much higher than back where they were before.

Moving further in, the group are forced to scale a cliff. Nyxia and Jack use their claws to make holds where there is none and the elder elf just rolls his eyes at the group. Scaling up the vertical edge without pausing. His fingers grip the slight cracks and edges, pulling himself up with more fluidity and ease than the others. Reaching the top he looks around and then down at the other two.

"Come on you two, hop to it."

"I'm a leaper and she is a sprinter." Jack pipes up as he loses his footing a bit. "I'm surprised we are getting up this cliff as fast as we are."

The elf groans and looks around. Grinning a bit as he scratches his scar. "Maybe some incentive will get the two of you moving." He mumbles in the elvish tongue.

Taking a few steps back he draws a circle in the air with magic, the color coming off as green with flecks of gold. "Spirits of the Great Forest hear my request. Summon unto me my mighty companion of rock and earth. [Summon Greater Earth Elemental]." He directs his mana down to the base of the cliff with a grin. The path leading from the top to the base of the crag glitters with green light as it flows into the earth where the three started their climb. The ground trembles for a moment before a thin arm of black rock erupts from the ground. A four hook-clawed hand comes up and flexes briefly. Other stones of lighter coloration begin to roll and travel up the limb as it places its palm down on the ground and pushes upward. Another hand joining it as a reptilian skull forces it's way up. The fenestrae indicates it has a strong bite to go with those large serrated teeth. Once an outer layer of dark rocky shell covers the bones and the rest of its body is dragged up from the ground the creature lets out a high pitched cry like stone scraping against metal. Jack looks down just in time to see quartz pseudo feathers crop up along its body. Larger feathers appear on the forearms and legs of the creature while its long tail gains a fresh plume last.

"Nyxia, company!" Jack shouts as he activates [Appraisal].

<<Greater Earth Elemental (Summon) Lvl.???>>

"Alhranaaaaa!" He shouts as he digs his feet into the stone and begins leaping up alongside Nyxia. The hellhound picks up the pace as the dinosaur elemental begins scaling the cliff much faster than they are. Digging three claws into the face of the cliff before pulling itself up. Its larger toe claws dig deep into the stone as it nearly sprints upward on all fours now.

Jack's feet cramp as he tries to grit through it. Climbing a cliff was a whole different thing than climbing trees. Trying to do it quickly was putting a real strain on his lower limbs. The armor he was wearing wasn't helping any, nor was his backpack he insisted on bringing with him!

Once the both of them make it to the top the giant rock dino crawls on top with the same metallic hiss and bellow as it circles around them. "Easy old friend. You were meant to scare them, not kill them. You did your part flawlessly." He puts a hand on the temperamental creature's snout as it hisses a bit but doesn't attack its summoner.

"Really funny." Jack pants with a growl.

"Jack, I already hate your damn teacher." Nyxia snarls a bit as she pulls out loose rock from under her claws.

"Nothing we can do about it now." He sighs as he helps her straighten her outfit out again. The bones and fur of the clothing and armor are starting to glow at the edges. He wants to be mad. In fact he should be really mad at him for basically lighting a fire under their asses like that but now he was just curious. Approaching the creature he notes how it keeps an eye on him. Still not sure if he is friend or food despite the elf's instruction to not eat him and the hellhound.