Enter The Ninjaverse

CHAPTER 32

In the bubbling waters of the Toxic Wastes, hardly any creatures were stirring. The area was a massive marshland of acidic waters and fumes, meaning that few trees dared to grow along the sparse bits of earth that populated the area. The main settlement of the Poison Tribe was further to the north, nestled above large platforms of floating wood, a tribe that was said to eternally drift throughout their lands. According to those who lived there, the water was acidified by cracks at the bottom of the swamps. The tribe used their powers to remove the acidic substance from the water for their village. The acid they extracted could then be used in the creation of fertilizer for plants in other tribes and as important agents in the Metal Tribe's processing of ores. It often put the tribe in a position of interdependence with the other tribes, but with the way their territory was situated, invading them was near impossible.

Towards the southern part of the territory, large and twisted trees began to sprout up, forming a swampy area of forest that bubbled and hissed. Within this forest, bits of solid ground poked up in large clumps, allowing for someone to traverse. Walking through the forest would be a near impossible task for any army, or nearly any force that would wish to invade. Going over the land would take time, and to brave the acidic conditions would take longer.

That was, until the sound of an engine buzzing split through the quiet wastes. A hovercraft, built from the pieces of the Mechdragon using its secondary engines to act as the thrust to carry them over the acid, split through the waves. Massive curved walls made from its smooth sides prevented the acid from getting into the boat, even as those inside nervously huddled down against those walls in case any space droplets did. In the center of the hovercraft was a strange and awkward mash of pieces made from leftover bits, and on the front of the craft was the dragon's head. Lulloyd piloted it with his control sticks, which he found was a relatively difficult way of actually controlling something like this.

"How much further?" Monty, who was sitting in the dead center of the ship, taunting those unwilling to risk any potential acidic sprays, called out. The SoS was planted in front of him upside down, with his hands both placed on the bottom of the hilt with outstretched arms.

"N-Not much further!" The guard that had informed the group of the location called out, "We should be approaching the treeline soon enough!"

"Good," Monty growled, "We need to get this done with, and soon."

Lulloyd gulped nervously, navigating them further through the awkward patches of land and forcing them to slide over bits that he couldn't. The bottom of the craft was pure metal, taken from the rails leading to and from the Summit and built up to be a floor. The acid in the water wasn't strong enough to melt anything in this state, but Lulloyd heard it would eat through skin slowly and would kill if drunk. Whenever they went over land he looked down to the floor as if he was ready for it to completely break apart.

Despite the panic in them traveling over literal acid, Lulloyd soon did indeed see the treeline off in the distance. He slowed their speed, quieting down the engines as they approached it. The ground there was far more solid, and soon he found a large enough slab of earth for him to actually bring them up to gently slide onto. As soon as they were grounded, all those occupants on the boat quickly disembarked onto solid land.

Lulloyd jumped off and struck the boat, causing it to break into pieces and metal rails. With a few kicks, those rails sank down into the acid, disappearing rapidly down into depths. A few more seconds for him to build his dragon from memory and activate it, and the brick for the dragon was back on his back.

The group that stood in front of them was twelve in number, including the four universal travelers. Among them were two mind users, Chamille, two members speed users, a wind user and metal user, and Rina. Lloyd had asked for volunteers for this mission, and this had been what the group received. Many of the others were either injured, recovering, or wanting to return home to defend their tribes. Monty had muttered he would have liked a light user for some invisibility, but Paleman was nowhere to be found nor his tribe.