Luna frowned as she sensed Violet's changing emotions, they suddenly sparked in alarm, only to shift to confusion, awe, back to confusion and then a contemplative silence. Curious about what could have caused this Luna asked. "Hey Violet what's got you so thoughtful? Did you see something I didn't?"

Violet took a moment to orient her thoughts before replying. "I think the giant snake spoke to me."

Luna startled, nearly falling off Violet's back in surprise at the statement. "Wh-what how? What did it say? What did it want? Are you alright? Are we in danger?" She unleashed a barrage of questions towards the dragon, clearly quite flustered at the implications of such a powerful beast speaking to her.

A hint of amusement traced through the bond, slightly reassuring Luna, still, she waited for Violet to reply. "It- she greeted me as the 'Wild one' she wished me luck on my quest and told me to beware of 'that which dwels below' whatever that means. Then she told me to seek out her sister in the largest lake in the region if we are being pursued by corruption. It was kinda ominous, but she also seemed… nice? Or at least not against us, she even told me both her name and her sisters."

A prolonged moment of silence dragged out as Luna processed that, trying to understand what was meant by 'that which dwels below' did it mean the beasts that lived in the water? Or something else, maybe underground? It was hard to tell with such a vague warning. Then the fact she mentioned fleeing from corruption, well they had already encountered some of that with the cursed willow.

So she agreed that it could be quite dangerous, in fact Luna was pretty sure that if any of the monsters they faced had been over level 80 they would not have been able to defeat that tree or invade the domain there. So imagining a monster on the same level as some of the more powerful beast lords they had witnessed, or dare she even imagine as powerful as that giant snake… she shivered, not even wanting to imagine such a horror.

But if they did come across such a threat they had been told to seek out the largest lake and request aid from the giant snakes sister. Well if that snake called the largest lake its domain, well it must be pretty damn powerful… right? But would such a beast not just slaughter them for leading corruption into its domain?

Luna shook her head and let out a heavy sigh, too many what ifs and speculations will do her no good. It was enough for them to know about the potential danger and a potential ally of the danger came to pass. For now they still had to worry about their immediate safety, it would not do to get distracted and be caught up in an ambush or something.

"Incoming! Swarm of birds heading straight for us." Came Violet's announcment as she changed the angle of her flight to intercept the small swarm. 'Sigh… I just had to think it didn't I' Luna bemoaned, before shaking her head and summoning forth a spear of ice and readying herself for the battle.

They had just passed over the eastern lake, and approaching them from the north was indeed a small swarm of birds, or was it a flock? It didn't matter for Violet, all she needed to know was that the birds were quite large, and seemed to have blades of air coating their wings allowing them to move with incredible speed.

Violet sent a quick message to Rhyana alleging her to the incoming attack before readiying herself for the upcoming battle, it had been a while since she and Luna fought in the air. So it would be a nice change of pace from fighting on the ground. A wide smile split Violet's face, excitement bubbling through the bond to Luna who, also seemed to be looking forward to the battle.

When the birds got close enough Violet launched her first attack, sticking to the basics and sending forth a barrage of void bolts. Luna atop her back sent forth a couple of ice spears, aiming for quality instead of quantity of attacks.

The flock of birds split, each one flying with such speed and grace that it was slightly unnerving, whilst most managed to avoid the initial barrage, not all of them escaped unscathed. From a quick count Violet spotted 8 of the birds, they looked like overgrown woodpeckers.

The birds had red speckled feathers along their head and down their back, a long sharp and powerful beak protruded from the front. Their wings moved like a blur, with wind coating the limbs and cutting through all air resistance and allowing them to move with stunning speed.

It was one near that back that was struck with both a void bolt and a ice spear, the bolt struck it on the side of its face whilst the spear tore off one of its wings. With a pained screech it plummeted down, its brethren not even looking back at their failed comrade. Instead a malevolent gleam appeared in their eyes as they rushed forth.

As the companions unleashed another barrage of attacks, this time Violet multicasting to unleash a truly overwhelming barrage of bolts. The birds unleashed their own attacks, blades and bolts of condensed wind flew forth. Only to be dodged or blocked by a shield of void or ice, together Luna and Violet defended each other whilst unleashing hell on their avian foes.

Another woodpecker soon fell when it got too close during a strafing run, aiming to strike out with its elongated beak. Luna did not allow it the chance, she threw her spear forth, not bothering to use a spell. The effect was much greater than she imagined, it punched straight through the beast, emerging from out its back in a spray of blood and guts.

Luna was momentarily surprised by how effective that attack was which was why she was a moment too late to defend from an incoming blade of air. Violet however tilted her body and took the attack on her side, not allowing her companion to be struck, her void costing managed to block a good chunk of the damage and her scales blocked most of the rest, leaving only a thin wound on her flank.

Still seeing Violet be hurt for her own mistake caused Luna to rage slightly. A storm of ice spears began to form around the leopardkin, shooting forth with chilling speed. The avians tried to defend by sending gusts of wind out to block the spears, yet the wind seemed to slow down when it got near to the fridgid spears, almost as if they were freezing the very air itself.

From that moment on it was not a true battle anymore. The remaining woodpeckers were rapidly picked off, one by one. When only 2 remained they turned tail and fled, using a skill of some kind to gain a huge burst of speed. Violet was tempted to chase after them but refrained when she spotted Rhyana approaching at rapid speeds.

Instead she looked over at her notifications to see what gains were made from that fight, she imagined that the birds must be close to their level so was hopeful about gaining another level. She wasn't disappointed.

[Your Group has defeated Zepher Peckers lvl 75~79 x 6 exp rewarded]

[You have leveled up]

Level 77->78

Violet grinned, only two more levels left till she could once more evolve!

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