"Ore's? Are you talking about shiny looking rocks master?" One Eye decided to ask me as we had all gathered in my newly furnished living room.
"Shiny rocks? What kind of shiny? Do they look shiny like metal does?" I asked to which he nodded.
"There were a few around our old tribal village of those rocks but there was no caves or any of the mountains close by to where we lived so I can't say if the mountains in the distance have those ores." As while they were 'close' to the coastal mountains they weren't right at their base and were more like several miles from the base of the coastal mountains.
"Hmmm…. If there are deposits they would definitely be within those mountains then-" But as I said that One-Eye cut me off.
"It's not that easy master, Harpies, Rock Lizards and sometimes big one eyed monsters are found in those mountains, they're very dangerous to deal with so we just stayed away from the mountains as much as we can." He said with Urta, The Orc Black Mage, nodded in agreement.
"Our village was far enough out of the way that we weren't encroaching on their territory with only the occasional harpy passing by to harass us but my magics scared them off most the time, except for the time of the year that would be their mating season and they would come down to the village to make way with any man they could so they could lay their eggs, so every year we'd have to fight them off and if any men lost in battle they would be flown off to their nests, some would come back visibly drained and exhausted, others however never returned…." Urta said with a shake of her head at the things that have happened to the old village over the years.
"That…. Is concerning to hear….." I couldn't help but say as I thought about the problems I'd have to deal with if I wanted to secure an ore vein to help earn my freedom from my current situation.
Harpies existed in the old world and were half women half bird monsters that like to set up their nests in mountainous regions, while only a D-Grade Monster they can fly and most have some affinity for wind magic making them just as difficult as High C-Grade monsters like Aster.
But these Rock Lizards and the Big One Eyed Monsters don't exist in the Old World, I assumed Rock Lizards are a Mountain Type of Lizardmen or possibly a more beastly giant lizard with rock hard skin as for the One Eyed monsters if I had to guess must be a form of Giants but much smaller than actual Giants as those monsters stand well over 20ft tall in height but if the orcs are calling them Big they must be even larger than Asters 8ft height and they must stand at least 10ft or taller at that.
"These Rock Lizards, are they Lizardmen or are they big lizards with rock like skin?" I asked since only One-Eye and Urta had any general info on these new breeds of monsters at that.
"They are Lizardmen and Big Lizards as you call them at the same time, they are big brutes with strong muscles, long flat snouts with razor sharp teeth and skin that normal swords and arrows can't penetrate, only strong bashing weapons could even remotely hurt them, and don't get me started on their mounts that seem to be more ancient primal versions of themselves, they seem to keep closer to the water by the coast as they mainly eat fish for their primary food source but will eat any wild animals they can go out and find as well." One-eye went onto explain as I wrote this info down on Rock Lizards and what I would call 'Beast' Rock Lizards.
If I had to grade them I'd have to put them in upper C-Grade to Lower B-Grade Monsters from how they were explained as if they can be injured by conventional weapons without the use of a skill or any kind of magics to harm them instantly keep them out of the A-Grade rating of monster as only skills used on weapons to enhance them and magics can actually physically harm and monster of the A-Grade or higher with an example being any of those from the Dragon Race are all considered A-Grade unless proven otherwise by a Monster Tamer at that.
"But as for those One Eyed Monsters, we don't know much, but I did see the aftermath of a battle between a group of Rock Lizards and one of those One Eyed ones and the One Eyed one came out on top with not even any heavy injuries on them, out of all of them I'd steer clear of those ones if you can master, they are very dangerous." Urta explained the one and only encounter she had with those monsters which made me nervous at that.
'Has to be a High B-Grade monster that has the potential to become an A-Grade at that, if those monsters are fiercely territorial then they will be the most dangerous threat in those mountains, but they also seem to be few in number if the sighting of them are scarce at that so there's a chance they might never be a problem but I'm not too hopeful with that….' I couldn't help but think to myself as I wrote all the information that they were giving me down.
This in turn was telling me something I have been wanting to ignore but now I no longer can, the New World is an extremely dangerous place as unlike the wild monsters that have been tamed or culled back in the old world to be not that large of threats, excluding the occasional Dungeon Stampede that can occur once every few years, most monsters grades have degraded over time to be manageable for the humanoid races such as ourselves.
But in a completely new land that has little to no influence from the humanoid races the monsters had nothing stopping them from getting as strong as they were.
But then I had a thought, wherever Harpies nested then they have one thing in common, their must be plenty of shiny things and if they like shiny things then their must be ores nearby.
"I know what we have to do, so get your weapons ready." I said with a grin across my lips as I walked outside and looked towards the north.
"Because we are going Harpy hunting." I said with a firm look in my eyes as I grabbed my spear and bow.
Whether this will end in bloodshed or not will be determined if these wild Harpies can be reasoned with.
********
Sorry I've been gone, nasty cold has kept me out of commission for the most part.
Anyway I'm back now and if you want to support me you can see many chapters early by subscribing onto Patreon.
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As it's a new month I'm working on another story that the patreons asked that will stay on Patreon exclusively for the time being and that's a Remake of my old story Path of the Goblin King.
So if you like Goblin based monster stories like this one you can go give that one a read and if you want you can support me and see the remake I'm working on for it on Patreon.
But anyway that's all for now so I'll see you guys later!